“The victory I owe to thy innocence alone,” said Lohengrin to Elsa. “All that thou hast suffered shall now be atoned to thee.” Then Lohengrin and Elsa were lifted on the shields of the nobles, and all the people marched round them in a triumphal procession, shouting a hymn of joyful thanksgiving, in which the good King Henry himself joined lustily.
Only Ortruda and the defeated Telramund stood sullenly apart. “Woe is me! Mine honor and fame are undone,” muttered the count. “It would seem indeed that Heaven is against me.”
Ortruda, with clenched hands, asked herself in dismay: “Who can this be? Before whom even I feel my powers weaken! Who? and from whence?”
ORTRUDA PLOTS FOR REVENGE
By Constance Maud
The stars came out in the deep blue sky of night, waiting for the summer moon.
The stately walls of the royal palace of Antwerp threw mysterious shadows all around. And in the darkness of these shadows crept two figures stealthily. They seated themselves at length under a tree which faced the windows of the Princess Elsa’s apartments.
Looking up, they saw a light still burning.
Then they talked together earnestly in muffled tones.