er sister with two ladies of the court, chatting and laughing,
looking hither and thither at birds and flowers, and, by her frequent
pauses of admiration before some rare plant or chatting parrot, more than
once detaining the whole company, so that there was an empty space between
the first two couples and those following.

"I could fall at the feet of the Princess and kiss her hands in fervent
gratitude," whispered Count Adolphus, when again the procession tarried
behind them.

"Why so?" asked Charlotte Louise, smiling. "What has my sister done to
merit such gratitude?"

"What? Why, she has granted me a blessed moment, in which I can tell you
that I love you, boundlessly love you. Ah! why can I not speak this word
aloud, that like a flash of lightning it may flame through this hall? That
would be a fire which should unfold all blossoms and ripen all fruits. I
love you, Charlotte Louise! I could kneel down here and repeat in strains
of perpetual adoration to you, my mistress, my goddess, I love you, I am
yours; but, alas! you--"

"Well," asked she with a beaming glance--"well, why do you not complete
your sentence?"

"You are not mine," sighed he. "Were you so, then you would not answer the
words which gush forth hot and ardent from my heart in such strange, cold
fashion; then would you listen to my supplications, and grant me a
moment's interview."

"Did I not tell you, Adolphus," whispered she, "that you were to meet old
Trude on the castle square to-morrow morning early? She will be the bearer
of a message for you."

"You said so; but I tell you, if you loved me you would not need time for
reflection, but even yesterday, as soon as you heard of my arrival, your
heart would have suggested the importance of our meeting in private, and
devised some scheme whereby this might be accomplished without making use
of old Trude's intervention so late as to-morrow morning."

Princess Charlotte Louise laughed and blushed at the same time. "Perhaps I
am not so cold and indifferent as you think, Count Adolphus
Schwarzenberg," she said, with a charming expression of bashfulness and
coquetry. "Perhaps I had already reflected that a conference would be
desirable, were it only for the purpose of scolding you for your impulsive
manners. Perhaps, too, I already know a place where we can see each other
without old Trude's help."

"If you speak earnestly, then am I the happiest of men. But I can not
believe you, can not believe