"I have seen yet more than this, Maria: I saw the headsman of the inhuman Joanna of France— he swung his ax over the head of your brother, and I saw that head fall on the dungeon floor!"
"Oh God!" cried Maria, "what horrible fancies!" She trembled, and her eyes glistened with tears.
"And I heard his voice—a voice that said, 'Farewell! farewell!'"
Overpowered by these hideous thoughts, Maria threw herself into Matilda's arms; her tears fell fast on the heaving breast of her unhappy friend, and the deep sobbing of the two maidens filled the room. After they had held each other in a long and motionless embrace, Matilda asked:
"Do you understand my sufferings now, Maria? Do you understand now why I am slowly wasting away?"
"Oh, yes," answered Maria, in an accent of despair; "yes, I understand and feel your sufferings. Oh, my poor brother!"
The two maidens sat down exhausted, and without uttering a word. They looked at each other a while with unutterable sorrow; but their tears gradually lightened their grief, and hope returned into the hearts of both, they knew not how. Maria, who was older than Matilda, and more self-possessed in suffering, first broke the deep silence, and said:
"Why should we allow our hearts to be thus crushed by false imaginations? There is nothing to confirm the painful apprehensions which torment us; I feel sure that no harm has befallen Lord Robert, your father, and that my brother has already set out on his return to his fatherland."
"Yet you have wept, Maria! Does one weep at the smiling expectation of a brother's return?"
"You are torturing yourself, noble damsel. Oh! anguish must have struck deep its roots in your heart ere you could cling with such passionate energy to the dark dreams which are overshadowing you. Believe me, your father yet lives; and who can say how near his liberation is? Think of the joy you will feel when his voice, the very voice that rings so frightfully in your disturbed fancy, shall say to you, 'My chains are broken!' when you shall feel his warm kiss on your brow, and his loving embrace shall call forth again the roses upon your blanched cheek. Once more shall the fair castle of Wynandael open its gates to welcome you; Messire de Bethune will ascend the throne of his fathers, and then shall you tend him again with loving care; then you will remember no more the sorrows of the present, or remember them only as sorrows which you endured for your father's sake. Tell me now, Matilda, will you not admit one solitary ray of hope into your heart? Can not these thoughts of joyful promise bring you any consolation?"
At these words a sensible change came over Matilda; a gentle gladness beamed again in her eyes, and a sweet smile played on her lips.
"Oh Maria!" she sighed, throwing her right arm around her friendly comforter, "you can not imagine what relief I feel, what happiness beyond hope you have poured, like a healing balm, into my heart! So may the angel of the Lord minister comfort to you in your last hour! With what soothing words has friendship endowed you, oh my sister!"
"Your sister!" repeated Maria. "This name beseems not your handmaiden, noble damsel; it is a sufficient reward to me that I have been enabled to dispel the gloom of death from your soul."
"Accept this title, my beloved Maria; I love you so tenderly. And has not your noble brother Adolf been brought up with me? Has not my father given him to me as a brother? Yes, we belong to one family. Alas! I pray the livelong night, that the holy angels may shield Adolf on his dangerous journey. Fie can yet comfort me, yet cheer me. But what do I hear? Can my prayer have been answered? Yes, yes, that is our beloved brother!"
She stretched forth her arm, and remained standing motionless, pointing toward the street. She stood like a marble statue, and seemed to listen eagerly to a distant sound. Maria was terrified; she thought the maiden had lost her senses. As she was about to reply, she heard the echo of a horse's hoofs in the street; and then the meaning of Matilda's words flashed upon her. The same hope filled her breast, and she felt her heart beat with redoubled energy.
After both had listened a while in silence, the noise suddenly ceased; and already was the glad hope deserting their hearts, when the door of the chamber was violently thrown open.
"There he is! there he is!" cried Matilda. "God be praised that mine eyes have seen him once more!"
She ran eagerly toward the knight, and Adolf as eagerly hastened to meet her, when a sudden emotion overcame him, and he well-nigh fell trembling to the ground.
Instead of the youthful blooming maiden whom he expected to see, he beheld before him a worn and wasted figure, with haggard cheeks and sunken eyes. While yet in doubt whether this shadow could be Matilda, a cold shudder ran through him; all his blood rushed to his oppressed heart, and he turned pale, pale as the white robe of his beloved one. His arms dropped, he fixed his eyes intently on Matilda's wasted cheeks, and remained as one struck by a thunderbolt. A moment he remained in this attitude; and then suddenly his eyes fell, and hot tears rolled down his cheeks. He spoke not a word—no lament, no sigh escaped his lips. He would probably have remained yet longer in this stupor of
