l mandate: The world and, above all, my wife,
are to forget that there ever was a Countess Irma; such is my royal
will."

The king gazed at his wife in astonishment. Was this the same tender,
sensitive being? What great change had come over her?

"Let the dead rest!" said he, at last.

"But the dead do not let us rest. She looks at me through your eyes,
speaks to me with your lips, touches me with your hand; for your hand,
your lips, your eyes, were hers."

"I will withdraw until you regain your composure."

"No, stay! I am quite composed. Perhaps you would rather not hear what
I have to say?"

"I will listen to it all," said the king, seating himself; "proceed."

"Well, then let me tell you that you have desecrated a sanctuary,
lovelier and more beautiful than any that ever existed on earth--the
sanctuary in which you were worshiped. I may tell you this, for the
temple is no more and you are no longer in it. I desired to be one with
you in everything; in every breath, in every word, in every glance,
even though it was directed to Him who is on high. It was for that,
that I offered to sacrifice my faith--"

"Do you wish to balance accounts between us? Then remember that I
didn't ask you to make that sacrifice; it would have been a burden. The
idea of its being a sacrifice is out of the question."

"Very well; I'll say no more about that. I merely wished to tell you
that what I regarded as a sacrifice, you looked upon as weakness.
Enough of that, however. You were false to your marriage vow, and that,
too, with her whom I regarded as my friend! I know the way of the
world, in such matters. The Steigeneck whom your father--"

"Don't insult my father's memory! Say what you choose of me, but don't
insult my father!"

"I don't insult him; I honor him. Compared with you, he was pure and
virtuous. He was free, from all affectation of morality, from lying,
deceit and treachery!"

"Who is it that speaks?" said the king, interrupting her. "Is this my
wife? Is it a queen who utters these words?"

"They ought not to be my words; you have forced them upon me. But let
us not dispute about words. Your father bestowed his affections on a
stranger who lived at a distance, and who did not know his wife.
Compared with your conduct, his was virtue itself. You were false to
me, and that, too, with a friend who was constantly at my side; we
conversed together of love, of the stars, of the trees, the mountains
and the valleys