"It is true," said the king.
"At nineteen, a line extends both towards the brain and towards the Mount of the Sun—a nervous seizure on one side; on the other, something resembling death, but which is not death—an eclipse! And worse than that, an eclipse is momentary one night!"
"The gipsy told me literally the same as you—something that resembles death, but is not death! The fact is that at the age of nineteen I passed through great trouble."
"Stay! Here, sire, on Jupiter there is a marvellous gleam; one of the highest seats of human fortune—about the age of thirty-nine."
"Again the words of the gipsy. At thirty-nine I became king."
"I was ignorant of the precise dates," said Benedict, "but it might be supposed that I knew them. Let me look for a fact that I could not have known. Ah, I see it. Yes, it is certainly here. An agony of terror, an accident due to water. What is it? A boat in danger? A tempest watched from the shore? The imminent wreck of a vessel containing some one beloved? There is fearful terror, but terror only; for there is a rescue traced close to the line of fate. Your Majesty undoubtedly experienced terrible anxiety for the life of some one greatly beloved.'
"Do you hear this, Ernest?" said the king addressing his son.
"Oh, my father!" said the young prince, throwing his arms around his father's neck. Then, to Benedict: "Yes, indeed, my poor father was in terrible fear. I was bathing in the sea at Nordeney. I can swim fairly well; but without perceiving it I let myself be carried away on a current; and, upon my word, I was on the point of sinking when I grasped the arm of an honest fisherman who had come to my assistance. One second more, and all would have been over with me."
"And I was there," said the king. "I could hear his cries, I stretched my arms towards him—it was all I could do. Gloucester offered his kingdom for a horse: and I would gladly have given mine for a ray of light. Do not let us think of it. All the misfortunes of the future together are not more terrible than the shadow of that misfortune which did not happen."
"And so, sire?" said Benedict.