But the Court did not permit itself long to be deceived by the royal hypocrite. It was not the pale, pious Duchess who had so suddenly fascinated Henry, but the maid of honour, radiant in black Genoa velvet and silver spangles, into whose clear blue eyes Henry's brown ones looked so willingly.
It soon became perfectly well known to Henry when Eva was on duty in the antechamber of the Duchess, and half-hidden by the heavy hangings of the deep windows, he chatted with her by the hour, and no favourite maid dared tell her royal mistress who entertained the lady-in-waiting while she sat alone.
At last, one day, the Mistress of the Robes, who had more than once reproved Eva for frivolity, and whose curiosity had got the better of her dignity, listens and hears Henry ask Eva to meet him in the evening at ten o'clock in the linden allée for a walk to the arbour at the end of it, and the thoughtless girl consents. At the same time she sees Henry present her with a watch and his portrait.
Horrified, she at once informs the Duchess of this proposed rendezvous, and persuades her to accompany her in disguise to the arbour at the appointed hour, where, concealed behind the thick foliage, she might learn what was best to be done.
Later on this same day Eva sat alone in her boudoir gazing at the portrait, an exquisite enamel set in diamonds. It was a beautiful chamber, adorned with frescoes and paintings, mirror panellings, books, and flowers.
Opposite where Eva was sitting hung a life-size portrait of Duke Henry the Lion in tapestry. The old nurse Magda had just left her beloved young mistress, and Eva held the portrait in her hand, while a tumult of emotions shook her heart.
She was interrupted by a knock, and slipped the portrait hastily out of sight. It was her foster-sister Alice, who was her favourite maid.
"Why do you disturb me at this hour, Alice?" inquired her mistress, who struggled to conceal her emotion. "You know I am in the habit of spending this hour alone."
"Pardon, gracious lady, but I have something to tell you which admits of no delay," replied Alice, who had caught a glimpse of the portrait, and noticed the agitation of her mistress. "I wish to leave the Court. It is my wish to enter the convent of Gandersheim. I intend to become a nun."
"Become a nun! When did that insane idea enter your head?"