"She has returned to the crystal," said the skryer. "She asks what you want of her?"
"Let us know the future," said Count Louis. "Let us know the fate of the four who sit here—not from wanton curiosity or irreverent meddling in matters beyond us—but that, with God's help, we may know how to shape our lives as becomes men and Princes."
"She says," replied Duprès, in the same tense tone, "that it is best you should not know, but she can answer your questions—one question to each knight."
Adolphus spoke first—
"Shall I gain honour before I die?"
"The answer is—'Great honour.'"
"Who will our wives be?" asked Duke Christopher.
"The answer is—'All three shall die unwed.'"
Louis of Nassau, almost as pale as the skryer, raised his fair face as he put his question—
"Will the House of Nassau endure, or fall into decay?"