"Mamma. Do not tempt me, for the love of heaven!" he cried trying to
free himself from the arms which held him so fast, but the passionate
voice still whispered in his ear:

"What alarms you in the thought? You but go with your mother, who loves
you with a boundless love and will live only for you. You have often
complained to me that you hate the service into which you are forced.
Have you forgotten your longing for freedom? If you go back you have no
option, for your father will bind you fast in the chains, and he will
but shorten the links, when he sees you are intolerant of them."

She had no need to tell her son this, for he knew it all better than she
could tell him. Scarcely an hour since, had he not heard the words: "You
shall obey and learn to yield while yet there is time."

His voice was full of bitterness as he replied.

"In any case, I must go back. I have given my word to be at Burgsdorf
again in two hours."

"Really?" asked Zalika, sharply and scornfully. "I thought as much. I
see he treats you like a child, marks out your every step for you and
gives you your allotted time, as if you had no judgment or mind of your
own; but the time has gone by to treat you thus, you are old enough to
assume the prerogatives of a man. The day has come when you must show
that you are a man in action as well as word. A promise wrung from one
is valueless; tear asunder this invisible chain by which you are held,
and set yourself free."