“Who was it that spoke to you?”
“I hardly know whether I have a right to say.”
“You must. For the King’s sake, Dorothea!”
“Well, it was the Lady Gertrude von Sigismark.”
“Von Sigismark! The Chancellor’s daughter!”
Johann ground his teeth together. That name revealed all. He pondered for a minute.
“I understand everything now,” he said at length. “You have done the greatest service in telling me this; Heaven grant it may not be too late. This is evidently some plot to dethrone the King, because he has dared to take up the cause of the people. And I am responsible for this! It is the result of my coming to Neustadt! Well, I must save him; that is all. There is not a moment to be lost. I will warn him at once, and as soon as I have put him on his guard, I will go to Mannhausen, and expose the whole plot to the people.”
Dorothea stood listening intently, her cheeks flushed with admiration for the young man’s energy and resolution.
He noticed her emotion, and a new thought occurred to him.
“But, Dorothea,” he said inquiringly, “surely you must have come to love the King at last, since you are so much concerned about him?”