Elsa had trembled with fear at the thought of a union with Frederick of Telramund, yet she did not hesitate in the least to give herself to the strange knight who had saved her. Nor did she doubt him when he told her that she must never seek to know either his name or his origin.
These must remain a secret from her and from all the people or they would have to part forever.
Many knights and ladies attended the marriage ceremony. The young Lohengrin and his lovely bride lived peacefully and happily for many years. Their love for each other grew deeper and better as one by one three beautiful children came to add to their happiness.
But Elsa, though perfectly content with her husband’s unchanging love, could not but notice that many of her people secretly doubted him. They tried many times, and in many different ways to discover his name and origin.
Little by little, she, too, began to wonder. The more she thought of it, the more she longed to know her husband’s secret. Finally, as she was seated by him one day, she suddenly turned to him and asked the forbidden question.
“Elsa! Elsa! Is your faith dead?” cried the Swan Knight in broken voice. “Can you no longer trust me? I love you so, and now I must leave you. Our happiness is at an end! But, before I go, your question shall be answered. Come with me!”
His pale face and despairing glance brought Elsa to her senses. With a loving cry she flung herself on his breast, begging him to forgive and forget her question. He sadly shook his head.
“It is too late, Elsa,” he replied, “too late! You have doubted me; and I must leave you; but before I go you shall know all.”
The knights had gathered in the great banqueting hall near the Rhine. They started up in surprise when their master suddenly came in their midst. He led the pale and weeping Elsa gently by the hand.
“Listen, oh, knights,” he began. “The time has come when I must leave you. Before I go, it is right that you should know that I am Lohengrin, son of Parsifal, the great king. I was sent hither by the Holy Grail, to save your princess, Elsa, from Frederick of Telramund. Now the Holy Vessel calls me and I must go. Ere I depart, I ask you to watch faithfully over my little ones and to wipe away their mother’s tears. Farewell!”