"No! you must wait. You will be sent for."
"That'll suit me just as well. But I want to ask a favor of you. Call me 'Du'."[1]
"Quite willingly, if the first lady of the bedchamber does not object."
"And so nothing can be done here without asking leave. But now we've done talking, let's be quiet. Ah, yes! there's one thing more. Whose picture is that hanging up there?"
"The queen's."
"Is that the queen? Oh, how lovely! But she's very young."
"Yes, she's only eighteen years old."
Walpurga gazed at the picture for a long while. Then, turning away from it, she sank on her knees beside the great chair, folded her hands and softly whispered a paternoster.
Walpurga was still kneeling, when a knock at the door was heard. A lackey entered and said:
"Her majesty has sent for his royal highness's nurse."