"Thus was I sent to become the Lady Elsa's champion; and I had fondly hoped to dwell among you and be worthy of her love and trust. But now this cannot be. Enemies have persuaded her that my name and rank must be revealed; so it only is left for me to tell my lineage. I am not ashamed of this. I am the son of Parsifal, chief Guardian of the Grail. My name is Lohengrin."
As he ceased speaking, amid the profound silence, voices were heard from the river's bank.
"The swan! the swan! See, he comes again!"
Elsa threw herself upon the ground in an agony of grief.
"Ah, do not go away!" she moaned, clasping the knight's feet. "Do not go away and leave me! I shall die!"
Lohengrin extended his finger sadly toward the bend in the stream, where the swan drew the boat majestically forward.
"It is the summons of Heaven," he said. "I have no other choice. Farewell, beloved, forever!"
He raised her and she clung wildly to him as though she could not let him go. He gently resisted her.
"See!" he said. "Here is my sword and ring and bugle, which will bring victory in every battle-field. Keep them for your brother, of whom I give you good news. He is alive and may return in safety one day. I had hoped to bring him back to you within the year if I had been permitted to remain."
"But you have failed, my fine hero!" cried a taunting voice which made them all turn quickly. It was Ortrud who had come forward for one last bitter triumph. "You have failed, so you and your pretty little bride may now hear the truth. It was I who caused her to ask those troublesome questions! And it was I who made away with her precious brother! I know one or two tricks of magic myself, and one of them turned the boy——into yonder swan! Ha, ha, ha!"