"What have I done for her to scorn me as she does!" cried the unhappy little bridegroom.
"You have opposed her, that is all. My niece is an Amazon, and cannot bear to give up her heart at another's will! Had she been left free, it might have been otherwise."
"Do you really think she will come to love me?" asked Esterhazy, surveying his diminutive comeliness in the mirror opposite.
"I am quite sure of it, and so is the emperor. Take courage, then; bear with her whims for a while; they are nothing but harmless summer lightnings. Do not heed the storm; think of the flowers that will spring up to beautify your life, when the showers of her tears shall have passed away."
"Oh, I will be patient. She shall exhaust herself."
Here the door opened, and the countess's maid entered with a request that Count Esterhazy would follow her to her lady's apartment.
The count kissed his hand to Count Starhemberg and hurried away. When he entered the countess's sitting-room, she was standing in all the pride of her bridal attire, and seemed more transcendently beautiful than ever. The court-dress, with its long trail, heightened the elegance of her figure, and the silver-spotted veil, that fell to her feet, enveloped her like a white evening cloud. But how little did her face accord with this superb festive dress Her cheek was deadly pale; her exquisite mouth was writhing with anguish, and her great, glowing eyes darted glances of fiery hatred.
"You really have the courage to persevere, Count Esterhazy? You will perpetrate the crime of marriage with me?"
"When a man opens his arms to receive the most enchanting woman that ever was sent on earth, do you call that a crime?" said Esterhazy, tenderly.
An impatient shrug was the answer to this attempt at gallantry.