that she still loves you?"

The prince sighed, and his brow clouded, but only for a few moments,
and his countenance was again bright and his eyes sparkled.

"Yes, I have this belief; and why should I not have it, as my own
heart had stood the trial? I have not seen her for twelve days, have
not heard of her, and still my love is as great and as ardent as
ever. Yes, I believe that at the thought of her my heart beats more
quickly, more longingly than if I had her in my arms."

"The reason of this," said Pollnitz, almost sympathetically, "is
that it is your first love."

Prince Henry looked at him angrily.

"You are wrong and most unjust to this beautiful woman, who remained
good and pure in the midst of the corrupting and terrible
circumstances in which destiny placed her. She preserved a chaste
heart, an unspotted soul. Her misfortunes only refined her, and
therefore I love her, and believe that God has placed me in her way
that, after all her sufferings, I might make her happy. Oh,
precisely because of her sorrows, the shameful slanders with which
she is pursued, and all for which she is reproached, I love her."

"Well, my prince," sighed Pollnitz, with a tragical expression, "I
never saw a bolder hero and a more pious Christian than your
highness."

"What do you mean by that, Pollnitz?"