"
Then I kissed her lips. "Gretchen?"
"What is it?"
"I have an idea that we shall be very happy. Now let us go and make
terms of peace with the innkeeper."
We found him alone in the barroom.
"Gretchen," said I, "read this note."
As her eyes ran over those six words, she blushed.
"Hermann," she said, "you have betrayed me."
"And when will Your Highness order me out to be shot?" asked he,
smiling.
"At sunrise; but I shall blindfold the soldiers and take the charges
from their guns. I forgive you."
"Now, Hermann," said I, "fill me up a stein." I held it high above my
head. "A health! Long live the King! Long live Her Serene Highness
the Princess--"
"Elizabeth," said Gretchen, gently. "I fear she has lost something
which is never to be found again."
I drained the stein, and as I set it down I thought: Phyllis is so far
away and Gretchen is so near!
"Let us go into the garden," said I.
For a long time we wandered here and there, saying nothing. I was
thinking that I had found a castle at last which neither tides nor
winds nor sudden awakenings could tumble down.
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