the queen?' answered Arwed. 'I fight for my
father-land, and to protect the tomb of that heroic king whose life I
was not allowed by fate to defend.'

'Noble man!' cried the uncle. 'You shame me. The prospect of good
fortune for my house caused me to forget the miseries of my country,
while you are ready to shed your blood in the service of a government
which has thwarted your dearest hopes. Well, act according to the
dictates of your heart. Something must also be done to satisfy mine,
before you leave us, and that even now, for here comes my daughter.'

'Alas!' sighed Arwed, as the pale and trembling maiden slowly
approached them.

'My father, you have commanded my presence,' said she, with a failing
voice.

'Arwed's beloved,' answered the governor, 'has married another. He
leaves us in the morning, once more to meet the enemies of Sweden. You
know my wishes, Christine. He must leave Gyllensten only as your
affianced lover; the marriage can follow in more peaceable and happier
times. So extend to him your hand and give him the troth-kiss.'

'Oh, my God!' stammered Christine, wringing her hands.

'Why this affectation?' asked her father with displeasure.

'You afflict your daughter,' said Arwed, and then turning to Christine,
'calm yourself, cousin! this storm has not been raised by me. Bound or
free, I will never permit your heart to be constrained.'

'Nothing is more intolerable,' angrily interposed the governor, 'than a
young knight's feigning a coldness towards the other sex which is
foreign to his heart. However strong have been, or may now be, your
feelings for Georgina, yet it has not escaped a father's eye that my
daughter is not an object of indifference to you. The glances which you
now and then cast upon her when you think yourself unobserved, the warm
interest which you take in her conversation, even the reproofs you
often give her, have but the more clearly proved the state of your
feelings.'

Arwed cast his eyes bashfully down.

'And, not to mention many other indications,' continued the old man,
addressing himself to Christine, 'what impelled you to mount your horse
so quickly when Megret brought us the news of Arwed's danger? When a
maiden breaks through all obstacles to fight for a young man, one may
confidently swear she has an attachment for him.'

'Oh, my father!' cried Christine in the deepest affliction, hiding her
face in his bosom.

'Then give him the hand which would have fought