"Frederick William, come with us!" cried the Elector, but the Prince did
not or would not hear his call. He hurried through the antechamber and the
long corridor, and when he had gained the solitude of his own gloomy
apartments, and not until then, rang forth from his breast the long
restrained scream of agony, streamed from his eyes the long-restrained
tears. He sank down upon the old creaking armchair and wept bitterly.




VI.--REBECCA.


"Well, Master Gabriel Nietzel, here you are," said Count Schwarzenberg,
greeting the painter, who had just entered, with a gracious nod. "And it
must be granted that you are a very punctual man, for I agreed to meet you
here at Spandow by twelve o'clock, and only hear, the clock is just now
striking the hour."

"Most gracious sir, that comes from my already having stood an hour before
the gates of your palace, waiting for the blessed moment to arrive when I
might enter. I have been gazing this whole hour up at the dialplate of the
steeple clock, and it seemed to me as if an eternity of torture would
elapse while the great hour hand slowly, oh, so slowly, made its circuit
of sixty minutes."

"You are a queer creature!" cried Count Schwarzenberg, shrugging his
shoulders. "Romantic as a young girl, full of virtuous desires, and yet
not at all loath to commit certain delicate little crimes, and to pass off