Frederick the Great and His Family [324]
me to all fetes and balls, and to prevent you from approaching me."
"Am I then so dangerous?" said Kindar, with a faint smile.
"These gentlemen at least appear to think so; and if I did not care so much for you, I should really hate you, I have suffered so much on your account."
Baron von Kindar covered her hand with burning kisses for an answer to this.
"Be reasonable, beau cousin, and listen to me," said Camilla, as she laughingly withdrew her hand. "My husband has been, as I said, in Copenhagen for eight weeks, and has already entreated me to join him with the child, as I have entirely recovered."
"The barbarian!" murmured Kindar.
"I have declined up to this time under one pretext or another. But yesterday I received a letter from my husband, in which he no longer entreats me, but dares, as he himself expresses it, to command me to leave Berlin two days after the receipt of his letter."
"But that is tyranny which passes all bounds," cried Kindar. "Does this wise lord think that his wife must obey him as a slave? Ah, Camilla, you owe it to yourself to show him that you are a free-born woman, whom no one dare command, not even a husband."
"How shall I show him that?" asked Camilla.
"By remaining here," whispered Kindar. "You dare not think of leaving Berlin, for you know that the hour of your departure would be the hour of my death. You know it, for you have long known that I love you entirely, and that you owe me some recompense for the cruel pain I suffered when you married another."
"And in what shall this recompense consist?" asked Camilla with a coquettish smile.
Baron von Kindar placing his arm around her, whispered: "By remaining here, adored Camilla, for my sake--in declaring to your hated husband that you will leave Berlin on no account--that your honor demands that you should prove to him in the face of his brutal commands, that these are no commands for you--and that you will follow your own will and inclination. Therefore you will remain in Berlin."
"Will you write this letter for me?"
"If I do so, will you consent to remain here, and to open your door to me in spite of the orders of your husband, or the argus-eyes of your stepfather?"
"Write the letter, the rest will arrange itself," said Camilla.
"I will write it to-night. May I bring it to you myself to-morrow morning?"
"If I say no, will you then be so kind as to give it to my maid?"
"I swear by my honor that I will only give the letter into your own hands."
"Well, then, my tyrannical cousin, you force me to open my door to you in spite of my husband and my stepfather, and in the face of this Cerberus of a tutor who guards my stronghold."
"But what do I care for these open doors so long as your heart remains closed against me, Camilla? Ah, you laugh--you mock at my sufferings. Have you no pity, no mercy? You see what I suffer, and you laugh."
"I laugh," she whispered, "because you are so silly, beau cousin. But listen, there is the call of my huntresses--I must hasten to them, or they will surround this cabin and they might enter. Farewell. To-morrow I will expect you with the letter. Adieu." Throwing him a kiss with the tips of her fingers, she hastily left the hut.
Baron von Kindar looked after her with a singular smile. "She is mine," he whispered. "We will have a charming little romance, but it will terminate in a divorce, and not in a marriage. I have no idea of following up this divorce by a marriage. God protect me from being forced to marry this beautiful, frivolous, coquettish woman."
While this scene was taking place in one part of the forest, the fete continued gayly. They sang and laughed, and jested, and no one dreamed that dark sin was casting its cold shadow over this bright scene--that the cowardly crime of treachery had already poisoned the pure air of this forest. None suspected it less than Prince Henry himself. He was happy and content that this fete had succeeded so well--that this bright autumn day had come opportunely to his aid. The sun penetrated to his heart and made
"Am I then so dangerous?" said Kindar, with a faint smile.
"These gentlemen at least appear to think so; and if I did not care so much for you, I should really hate you, I have suffered so much on your account."
Baron von Kindar covered her hand with burning kisses for an answer to this.
"Be reasonable, beau cousin, and listen to me," said Camilla, as she laughingly withdrew her hand. "My husband has been, as I said, in Copenhagen for eight weeks, and has already entreated me to join him with the child, as I have entirely recovered."
"The barbarian!" murmured Kindar.
"I have declined up to this time under one pretext or another. But yesterday I received a letter from my husband, in which he no longer entreats me, but dares, as he himself expresses it, to command me to leave Berlin two days after the receipt of his letter."
"But that is tyranny which passes all bounds," cried Kindar. "Does this wise lord think that his wife must obey him as a slave? Ah, Camilla, you owe it to yourself to show him that you are a free-born woman, whom no one dare command, not even a husband."
"How shall I show him that?" asked Camilla.
"By remaining here," whispered Kindar. "You dare not think of leaving Berlin, for you know that the hour of your departure would be the hour of my death. You know it, for you have long known that I love you entirely, and that you owe me some recompense for the cruel pain I suffered when you married another."
"And in what shall this recompense consist?" asked Camilla with a coquettish smile.
Baron von Kindar placing his arm around her, whispered: "By remaining here, adored Camilla, for my sake--in declaring to your hated husband that you will leave Berlin on no account--that your honor demands that you should prove to him in the face of his brutal commands, that these are no commands for you--and that you will follow your own will and inclination. Therefore you will remain in Berlin."
"Will you write this letter for me?"
"If I do so, will you consent to remain here, and to open your door to me in spite of the orders of your husband, or the argus-eyes of your stepfather?"
"Write the letter, the rest will arrange itself," said Camilla.
"I will write it to-night. May I bring it to you myself to-morrow morning?"
"If I say no, will you then be so kind as to give it to my maid?"
"I swear by my honor that I will only give the letter into your own hands."
"Well, then, my tyrannical cousin, you force me to open my door to you in spite of my husband and my stepfather, and in the face of this Cerberus of a tutor who guards my stronghold."
"But what do I care for these open doors so long as your heart remains closed against me, Camilla? Ah, you laugh--you mock at my sufferings. Have you no pity, no mercy? You see what I suffer, and you laugh."
"I laugh," she whispered, "because you are so silly, beau cousin. But listen, there is the call of my huntresses--I must hasten to them, or they will surround this cabin and they might enter. Farewell. To-morrow I will expect you with the letter. Adieu." Throwing him a kiss with the tips of her fingers, she hastily left the hut.
Baron von Kindar looked after her with a singular smile. "She is mine," he whispered. "We will have a charming little romance, but it will terminate in a divorce, and not in a marriage. I have no idea of following up this divorce by a marriage. God protect me from being forced to marry this beautiful, frivolous, coquettish woman."
While this scene was taking place in one part of the forest, the fete continued gayly. They sang and laughed, and jested, and no one dreamed that dark sin was casting its cold shadow over this bright scene--that the cowardly crime of treachery had already poisoned the pure air of this forest. None suspected it less than Prince Henry himself. He was happy and content that this fete had succeeded so well--that this bright autumn day had come opportunely to his aid. The sun penetrated to his heart and made