'Yes; I must marry the first one they give me; but that man shall not have my heart.'
'It's hideous!' interrupted Watzdorf. 'You do not wish to sacrifice anything for me.'
'For I do not wish to bring evil on you,' said the girl. 'They would catch us to-morrow if we fly today, you would be sent to Königstein, and they would marry me to the man whom they have selected for me.'
'I think I shall go to Königstein in any case,' said Watzdorf. 'I cannot shut my mouth looking at this horrible life, at this despotism of a lackey. I say what I think, and that is, as you know, the way to get there, where one speaks only to four walls of the prison.'
'Listen, Christian, instead of talking, we ought to be silent,' said the girl, 'instead of wishing to improve them, we ought to despise them and rule them.'
'Giving in to their fancies, and lying for a lifetime, cheating them, and soiling oneself--' said Watzdorf. 'What a lovely life!'
'Then is it better to give up everything?' said the girl laughing. 'I, a woman, I am not so tragical, I take life as it is.'
'I despise it,' muttered Watzdorf.
The girl put out her hand to him.
'Poor enthusiast!' she sighed. 'Ah! how I pity you and myself; there is no hope for us--and if we could catch a moment of happiness, it is amidst falsehood and lying.'