"He, too, will weep, for he loved her as if she were his sister. I know it."
The look which Countess Brinkenstein now gave the doctor seemed to say: "I never gave the queen credit for so much tact and self-command. How naturally she acts, while trying to make us believe that she never knew or suspected that aught was wrong."
"I will go to her!" suddenly exclaimed the queen. "No one shall prevent it. I will go to her and stand by her coffin, by her grave."
Countess Brinkenstein stared at the queen.
The doctor approached and said:
"Your Majesty cannot see the countess. Grief for her father's death affected her mind--"
"Then she's not dead?"
"The countess has undoubtedly drowned herself in the lake."
The queen cast a look of horror at the doctor. She attempted to speak, but could not. Gunther added:
"She has not left us without a farewell; she left a letter, which I am to deliver to Your Majesty. It must surely be intended to atone for the frightful tidings; even in her last moments, she was true to her affectionate nature."