“Forgiveness, my lady, forgiveness! I have surely expressed myself badly, for otherwise my lady could not desire to leave the most devoted of her servants in anger. I only intended to say, that—”
“That you are the wedded husband of Wilhelmine Enke,” cried the young lady with a mocking peal of laughter; and she withdrew her garment as violently as if a venomous serpent had touched it. She then left the room, still laughing, and without even once looking at the kneeling chamberlain.
Rietz arose from his knees; and his countenance, before all smiles, now assumed a dark and malignant expression. He shook his fist threateningly toward the door through which she had left the room, and his lips muttered imprecations. And now he smiled grimly. “Yes,” said he, “I am Wilhelmine Enke’s husband, and that will be your ruin at some future day! Threaten and mock me as you please; you are, nevertheless, nothing better than the bird that flies into the net to eat the alluring red berries placed there to entice it to inevitable destruction. The net is set, the red berries are scattered around; and you will not resist the temptation, my charming bird; you will be caught, and will perish!” And, laughing maliciously, he turned and left the room.
The maid of honor, Julie von Voss, had not heard his malignant words, and yet her heart was filled with anxiety and tormenting disquiet; and when the door opened, and her brother, the royal chamberlain, Charles von Voss, entered, she cried out in terror, and sank into a chair, covering her face with her hands.
“But, Julie,” said her brother, angrily, “what does this childishness mean—what is the matter? Why does my presence terrify you?”
“I do not know,” said she, “but when you appeared in the doorway, just now, it seemed to me that I saw the tempter coming to allure me to sin and shame!”
“Very flattering, indeed,” observed her brother, “but there may be something in it. Only you forget to add that the tempter intends to offer you a world. What did Satan say to Christ when he had led Him up a mountain and showed Him the world at His feet? ‘This will I give Thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me.’ Julie, I also come to offer you a part of the world; to lay a kingdom, a crown, and a king at your feet.”
“Have you seen the king? Has he spoken with you?” asked Julie, breathlessly.
“He sends me in advance, as postillon d’amour, and will soon be here himself.”
“I will not see him,” cried the maid of honor, stretching out both hands as if to ward off his approach. “No, never! He shall not visit me; I will lock my door, and not open it until he has gone, until he ceases to pursue and torment me!”