Six o'clock struck, and the king did not appear. A few moments
later, a message came from the queen, requesting our presence on
the terrace in front of the chateau. The place commanded a view
of the road by which the king would ride back, and we found the
queen walking restlessly up and down, considerably disquieted by
the lateness of his return. In such a position as ours, every
unusual or unforeseen incident magnifies its possible meaning,
and invests itself with a sinister importance which would at
ordinary times seem absurd. We three shared the queen's feelings,
and forgetting the many chances of the chase, any one of which
would amply account for the king's delay, fell to speculating on
remote possibilities of disaster. He might have met
Rischenheim--though they had ridden in opposite directions;
Rupert might have intercepted him--though no means could have
brought Rupert to the forest so early. Our fears defeated common
sense, and our conjectures outran possibility. Sapt was the first
to recover from this foolish mood, and he rated us soundly, not
sparing even the queen herself. With a laugh we regained some of
our equanimity, and felt rather ashamed of our weakness.
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