"Is this the only thing your majesty has to ask of me?"
"The only one."
"Then denounce me—for I cannot answer your majesty."
Gassner turned, and his hand was upon the lock of the door.
"Stay!" cried the empress, haughtily. "I command you, as your sovereign, to speak the truth."
"The truth?" cried Gassner, in a voice of anguish, and his large eyes opened with an expression of horror.
What did he see with those eyes that seemed to look far out into the dim aisles of the terrible future?
"The truth!" echoed the unhappy mother. "Tell me, will my Antoinette be happy?"
Deep sighs convulsed the breast of the priest, and, with a look of inexpressible agony, he answered, solemnly:
"Empress of Austria, WE HAVE ALL OUR CROSS TO BEAR!"
[Footnote: "Memoires de Madame Campan," vol. ii., p. 14.]