“Hush! We may be observed.” And the Princess turned her head, as if occupied in watching the dancers. Then she leant over towards the Kaiser and whispered something in his ear.
He started, but controlled himself instantly, and they continued to converse for some time.
Maximilian danced on. And as he danced bright thoughts came crowding on him, and the spectres overshadowing his path melted away, and he felt himself again a king, happy in his youth and in his power, and needing only to crown his happiness, that greatest of all treasures, love that is returned.
So, after the waltz was over, and the music of the orchestra was hushed for a brief space, he led out Dorothea into the open air beneath the lamp-lit avenues of blossom. His example was followed by others, and ere long quite half the crowd had deserted the dancing-floor, and were wandering in couples or in larger parties through the fairyland outside. Some of the boats were unmoored, and sent gliding along the peaceful waters of the canals, while one party, still more daring, headed by the Prussian Prince, boldly launched upon the bosom of the lake in a yacht with silken sails, in which they glided past the floating raft of fireworks, and up into the deep shadows of the forest.
Maximilian did not stray very far. He brought Dorothea to a place where the lake formed a little natural bay, the edges of which had been carpeted with a thick bank of fine white sand specially brought from the coast of England. From this spot there was a view right down the lake to its farthest bend; and as the palace lay behind them it was possible to indulge in a sense of isolation almost like that enjoyed by a wanderer on some lonely seashore.
Here a low seat had been constructed of wicker-work, under the shelter of a magnolia, upon the edge of the sand. To this the King brought Dorothea, and they sat down side by side in silence.
Something warned the forester’s daughter that the King had come there with her for some serious purpose. She tried to calm the beating of her heart by taking in the cool night air in long deep breaths.
Maximilian, on his part, was at first too much agitated to speak. His whole being seemed to tremble in the grasp of an overmastering emotion, and it was as much as he could do to keep his very teeth from knocking together, in the violence of his agitation.
They sat, and watched the merry party on board the yacht sail past, and disappear in the darkness which overhung the distance of the waters. Then a great fountain of gold fire spouted upward as if out of the bosom of the lake, and fiery serpents darted and zig-zagged across the face of the heavens.
“See,” said Maximilian, speaking at length, in a low, dreamy voice, “like the wonders which art has brought about in this once desolate valley are the wonders which love works in the heart of man.”