"You wear my ring," she murmured through her fingers, "always?"
"Why, yes," he said, with a little laugh of wonder at her
question.
"And there is--no one else?"
"My queen!" said he, laughing again.
"No, I knew really, Rudolf, I knew really," and now her hands
flew out towards him, imploring his pardon. Then she began to
speak quickly: "Rudolf, last night I had a dream about you, a
strange dream. I seemed to be in Strelsau, and all the people
were talking about the king. It was you they meant; you were the
king. At last you were the king, and I was your queen. But I
could see you only very dimly; you were somewhere, but I could
not make out where; just sometimes your face came. Then I tried
to tell you that you were king--yes, and Colonel Sapt and Fritz
tried to tell you; the people, too, called out that you were
king. What did it mean? But your face, when I saw it, was
unmoved, and very pale, and you seemed not to hear what we said,
not even what I said. It almost seemed as if you were dead, and
yet king. Ah, you mustn't die, even to be king," and she laid a
hand on his shoulder.
"Sweetheart," said he gently, "in dreams desires and fears blend
in strange visions, so I seemed to you to be both a king and a
dead man; but I'm not a king, and I am a very healthy fellow.
Pages:
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117