He shrank under the touch. “I? I should not dare to; I could not.”
“Why not?” And she increased the pressure on his shoulder.
There was no help for it—the impulse was stronger than he. He seized the dear hand and kissed it passionately on the palm which he pressed to his face. Then he sprang to his feet and leaned against the tree under which Franka was sitting. He looked down upon her as she had just before looked down on him. Her features betrayed no sign of anger—on the contrary, they were brightened by a gentle smile.
“You ask why I cannot come, why I dare not—very well, I will tell you. I wanted to hide it from you forever, but now you must know it—I love you, Franka! I have always loved you from the first hour. But always you have been and are the unattainable, the unapproachable! Even if the high destiny to win you had fallen to no one else, I should never have dared raise my desires to your starry distance.... I knew you would sometime be another’s, and when such a brilliant and worthy suitor drew near you, I almost made it easier for him. But now, when Fate has actually brought to you what I had dreamed might be yours, I am the prey of wild jealousy.... If you knew what I have suffered during the past days.... I shall fight it down, I shall certainly conquer it, but I must avoid your presence and I dare not be the witness of his happy love:—that would drive me mad! Since this adoration which I have kept for years like a religion, so to speak, has been goaded by jealousy, such a fire, such a fierce, agonizing craving has taken its place.... Oh, I am confessing too much.... Why do you let me speak so, Franka?—Why do you look at me with that strange smile?... Am I ridiculous?... That must not be! My love is not a funny thing.... It comes to me as too great, too sacred! When we shall be separated, and when years pass, it may change—and I hope it will—into warm friendship again. Then you can summon me ... to your royal court.... I shall keep my courage.... I am no sentimental boy who goes to destruction or commits suicide because of disappointment in love. I have my art and great tasks still beckon to it, and I still have a mission to fulfill.... But now, now, Franka, I am profoundly unhappy.... What self-control I have to exercise, not to seize you and for once, only once, hold you close in my arms, only once press my lips....”
Franka stood up. Chlodwig raised his hands imploringly:—
“No, do not hasten away; be assured.... I know what is due to you. Never must you think of Brother Chlodwig with regret or anger.”
But Franka had no thought of escaping. With the enigmatical smile still on her lips, she came quite close to him, flung both arms around his neck, and with a little cry hid her face on his heart. Something like an electric shock went through him. He pressed her to his heart:—
“Franka, thou only one, thou great-hearted, thou generous....” he stammered.
It seemed to him that this was a gift which she was offering him in token of farewell—the indelible remembrance of a blissful moment. As he held her there in his arms, a cuckoo’s note sounded in the distance. Franka raised her head as if to listen; then her lover’s lips found hers.
Twelve times the cuckoo called; when he ceased, Franka released herself. She sank down into her former place in the grass, and with a gesture invited Helmer to sit by her side.