Regina wept much and bitterly, with all the violence of an intense passion which had been pent up for a long time. Meri with gentle hands removed the dark locks from her brow, and looking mildly and kindly into her tearful eyes, said with prophetic inspiration:
"Do not weep so, the day will arrive when you will be able to love without being obliged to curse him at the same time!"
"That day will never come, Meri."
"Yes, that day will come, when Gustaf Adolf is dead."
"Oh, may it never come, then! Rather would I suffer all my life ... It is still for his sake."
"Yes, lady, that day will come, not because you are younger and he is older. But have you never heard anyone say of a child which is brighter, kinder, and better than others, 'that child will not live long; it is too good for this world?' So does it seem to me about King Gustaf Adolf. He is too great, too noble, too good, to live long. God's angels wish to have him before his body withers and his soul grows weary. Believe me, they will take him from us."
Regina looked at her with an alarmed air.
"Who are you that speaks such words? How your eyes shine! you are not what you seem! who are you then? Oh, Holy Virgin, protect me!"
And Regina started up with all the superstitious terror that belonged to her time. Probably she could not account for her fear, but Meri's conversation had all along seemed strange and unaccountable, coming from the mouth of an uncultivated peasant woman in this barbarous land.
"Who am I?" repeated Meri, with the same mild look. "I am a woman who loves. That is all."