Weeping she answered: “How couldst thou think, my brother, that I would wed King Hartmut? Ever have I remained true to my plighted troth and therefore am I forced to bear much evil.”
“Well indeed have we succeeded in our task!” cried Herwig. “Come let us hasten to the boat and thy maiden with thee. Our fleet is close at hand and we will guide thee thither. Now of a truth are all thy sorrows ended!”
“This may not be,” replied Ortwin, “dear as my sister is to me. Aye, had I an hundred sisters like to Gudrun I would lose them every one, rather than steal them thus away like any thief!”
“Yet bethink thee how Gudrun’s danger will increase when our presence here is known,” remonstrated Herwig. “Perchance we shall never find her then!”
“Have no fear, Herwig!” answered Ortwin. “Though my sister be buried in their deepest dungeon—thou still shalt see her on the morrow. Yet even should it be otherwise, I would be hacked to pieces with her on this spot ere she should with my consent be taken away in secret!”
Gudrun said reproachfully: “What evil have I done to thee, my brother, that thou wouldst leave me longer in servitude? Didst thou know what I am forced to bear, thou wouldst take me hence this very hour!”
“Think not, dear sister,” replied Ortwin, “that I fail in love for thee. But to do thus, believe me, were no knightly deed.”
Reluctantly Herwig agreed with Ortwin in this, and they accordingly took leave of the maidens and returned to their boat. Gudrun wept bitterly, crying: “Alas! are my troubles never to cease? For years have I waited and longed for this, only to be once more forsaken when I scarce have looked upon your faces?”
“’Tis but for a brief space that we leave thee, dearest maid,” cried Herwig from the boat, “that we may bear thee homeward in all honor. To-morrow morn at sunrise we shall be before the castle with a host. Be of good cheer and let no one know that thou hast seen us. God will be our aid!”
So saying, they seized their oars, and soon the boat was lost to sight behind the bend in the shore.