ed lights in every
direction, irradiating the faces of the court cavaliers glittering with
stars and orders, and the rich toilets of the ladies. The effect was
dazzling.

In the middle of the open space two ladies were standing, one in royal
attire, sparkling in diamonds and gold embroideries, the other in
mourning, with no ornament but pearls, the emblem of tears. The one with
a happy, hopeful face gazed at the king; the other with a sad, weary
countenance, in which sickness, sorrow, and disappointment had drawn
their heavy lines, turned slowly toward him; her large eyes, red with
weeping, were fixed upon him with an angry, reproachful expression.

Frederick drawing near, recognized the queen and the Princess Amelia. At
the sight of this dearly-beloved face, the queen, forgetting her usual
timidity and assumed coldness, stepped eagerly forward and offered both
her hands to her husband. Her whole heart, the long-suppressed fervor
of her soul, spoke in her moist and glowing eyes. Her lips, which had so
long been silent, so long guarded their sweet secret, expressed, though
silently, fond words of love. Elizabeth Christine was no longer young,
no longer beautiful; she had passed through many years of suffering and
inward struggle, but at this moment she was lovely. The eternal youth
of the soul lighted her fair brow--the flash of hope and happiness
glimmered in her eyes. But Frederick saw nothing of this. He had no
sympathy for this pale and gentle queen, now glowing with vitality. He
thought only of the dearly-loved queen and mother who had gone down into
the cold, dark grave. Frederick bowed coldly to Elizabeth Christine, and
took both her hands in his a short moment.

"Madame," said he, "this is a sad moment. The queen my mother is missing
from your side."

Elizabeth Christine started painfully, and the hands which the king had
released fell powerless to her side. Frederick's harsh, cruel words had
pierced her heart and quenched the tears of joy and hope which stood in
her eyes.

Elizabeth was incapable of reply. Princess Amelia came to her relief.

"If my brother, the king, while greeting us after his long absence, is
unconscious of our presence and sees only the faces of the dead, he must
also be forced to look upon my unhappy brother, Prince Augustus William,
who died of a broken heart."

The king's piercing eyes rested a moment with a strangely melancholy
expression upon the sorrowful, sickly face of the Pr