"Oh, my princess!" cried _Heinrich_, in delight. "How long it is since you have bestowed any such words upon me! how your returning favor soothes and cheers me!" "God is my witness that my favor was never withdrawn from you, count." She raised her sparkling blue eyes, and her lips parted to say more; then she recollected herself: her lids drooped again, and she was silent. After a pause she began, in an altered tone, "The prince wishes through me to learn the cause of the change in you, that he may help you; but I can aid you without telling him your secret, and thus save both, and betray no one. Is that right?" "Perfectly! But, my beloved, noble princess, how can you help me?" "You have been deserted by the young girl you loved. Is it not so?" "Yes, yes; but how do you know?" "The unhappy fate that has come between you is a secret to me, and one I do not wish to fathom. The fault, my friend,--pardon my usual frankness,--must be with you; for I know her, and will answer for it that you were loved with a rare, pure, and fervent affection." "Oh, your Highness, you cut me to the heart!" "I must do so, count, if I am to be of use to you; and this is the only occasion upon which I can. That you love Cornelia Erwing with the first real passion of your life I see by the deep sorrow expressed in your outward appearance, as well as your acts and conduct; and I hail this mood with joy, count, as the gloomy twilight which precedes the dawn of a new day." "Princess, you do not know what I suffer. If I ever sinned against a noble heart, I am now making bitter atonement. Pity me; do not triumph in my anguish." "Oh, how greatly you misunderstand me, count I triumph in your anguish! May God keep me from such a thought! I rejoice because your sorrows are a proof of a salutary change in your heart! I rejoice that you love deeply, truly, sadly; because I hope to be able to restore that to which your heart clings so loyally!" "Could you do so, your Highness?" whispered _Heinrich_, his eyes sparkling with new life. "Cornelia Erwing conceals her residence from you. Have you searched for her?" "I have summoned the police of the whole country to my aid, left no means untried, but all in vain." "Why did you do that?" "Why?" asked Ottmar, in astonishment. "Because I wished to win her, to have her again." "And will you permit me to ask one more bold question? If you did succeed in winning her again, what would be her fate?" Ottmar drew back a step in astonishment and looked doubtfully at Ottilie. Should he tell her? was she strong enough to hear it? should he confess the resolution which, during months of agony and exhausting struggle, had obtained such a powerful influence over him that it governed his whole character and conduct? "Would you make Cornelia Erwing your wife?" "Your Highness!" "If this is the case, I am ready, on my own responsibility, to tell you her present residence."