"Why, dear, you have only to close this door behind you, and you may laugh at your prison and your jailer!"
"Oh, I could not, Nino; and besides, I am weak, and cannot walk very far. And we should have to walk very far, you know."
"You, darling? Do you think I would not and could not bear you from here to Rome in these arms?" As he spoke he lifted her bodily from the step.
"Oh!" she cried, half frightened, half thrilled, "how strong you are, Nino!"
"Not I; it is my love. But I have beasts close by, waiting even now; good stout mules, that will think you are only a little silver butterfly that has flitted down from the moon for them to carry."
"Have you done that, dear?" she asked, doubtfully, while her heart leaped at the thought. "But my father has horses," she added, on a sudden, in a very anxious voice.
"Never fear, my darling. No horse could scratch a foothold in the place where our mules are as safe as in a meadow. Come, dear heart, let us be going." But Hedwig hung her head, and did not stir. "What is it, Hedwig?" he asked, bending down to her and softly stroking her hair. "Are you afraid of me?"
"No,—oh no! Not of you, Nino,—never of you!" She pushed her face close against him, very lovingly.
"What then, dear? Everything is ready for us. Why should we wait?"
"Is it quite right, Nino?"