But the lady Bertalda, though she was glad that the knight had
returned, was sad when she saw that he had not come back alone. She
herself had loved him, and had hoped that, if ever he should return,
he would claim her as his bride.

Yet though Bertalda was sad, she was a wise maiden, and she received
Undine kindly, thinking that she was a princess whom Huldbrand had
rescued from a wicked wizard. For the true story of the beautiful
Undine was known to none, save to the knight alone.

As for Undine, she no sooner saw Bertalda than she loved her, and
begged her to stay in the city until she and her husband left it.
Nay, more, she even asked the maiden to promise to go with them when
they set out for the castle of Ringstetten, which stood on the banks
of the river Danube, and Bertalda was well pleased with this request.

One evening they three together walked up and down in the public
square. In the midst of the square stood a beautiful fountain, and
here they lingered to watch the water as it tumbled and tossed. So
violently did it do this that it seemed as though the fountain must
break, and the water, bursting its bonds, must flow away far and free.

At that moment a tall man came towards them from the market-place,
and, bowing to the knight and Bertalda, he drew the young wife aside
that he might speak to her alone.

Huldbrand looked at the stranger, and as he looked he felt sure that
he had seen him before. He grew a little angry, this hasty knight, as
he watched his wife and the stranger whispering together. He caught a
few words too, and they seemed to him to be in a foreign language, and