"And why?"
"Because I am ill; because I can no longer do what the others do. I only like you here, Herr Doctor."
And she looked at him as at a sacred image, with reverence and almost with fear.
"But why?" he asked, without showing surprise.
"Because you, mein Herr, know the secret of my life and death. Won't you come to Gotha?"
"No, Your Highness."
"Not even for me?"
"Not even for you, Your Highness."
"Are you so fond of this country? Why do you like it so much?" she asked weakly, still a little discouraged.
"Because it has a secret of life and not of death, Your Highness," added Doctor Karl Ehbehard mysteriously, with a slight bow.