And
you--you'll be the man to set every tongue in Strelsau talking,
and every finger pointing in suspicion at her?
Rudolf made no answer. When Sapt had first uttered the queen's
name, he had drawn near and let his hand fall over the back of
her chair. She put hers up to meet it, and so they remained. But
I saw that Rudolf's face had gone very pale.
"And we, your friends?" pursued Sapt. "For we've stood by you as
we've stood by the queen, by God we have--Fritz, and young
Bernenstein here, and I. If this truth's told, who'll believe
that we were loyal to the king, that we didn't know, that we
weren't accomplices in the tricking of the king--maybe, in his
murder? Ah, Rudolf Rassendyll, God preserve me from a conscience
that won't let me be true to the woman I love, or to the friends
who love me!"
I had never seen the old fellow so moved; he carried me with him,
as he carried Bernenstein. I know now that we were too ready to
be convinced; rather that, borne along by our passionate desire,
we needed no convincing at all. His excited appeal seemed to us
an argument. At least the danger to the queen, on which he dwelt,
was real and true and great.
Then a sudden change came over him.
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