"'I transfer all my rights to him; for the future, he will be the head of the family, and you must love, honor, and obey him as such,'" repeated her brother, in an elevated voice. "Do not forget this, my sister. I, as the head of the family, demand of you that you become the benefactress of your family, of your queen, and of your whole country. A grand and holy task devolves upon you. You are to liberate the land, the queen, and the king himself, from the domination of sin and indecorum. In a word, you are to displace this Rietz and her abominable husband, and inaugurate the reign of virtue and morality in this court. Truly, this is a noble mission, and one well worthy of my beautiful sister." "It will not succeed," said the maid of honor. "The king will never consent to banish this hateful Rietz." "The greater would be the honor, if you succeeded in liberating the king from this scandalous woman, the queen from this serpent, and the country from these vampires. Ah, the whole royal family, yes, all Prussia, would bless you, if you could overthrow this Rietz and her self-styled husband!" "Yes," said Julie, in a low voice, "it would be a sublime consummation; but I should have to purchase it with my own degradation. And that I will not--cannot do. Brother, my dear brother, be merciful, and do not demand of me what is impossible and horrible. The daughter of my mother can never become a king's mistress!" "And who said that you should? Truly, I would be the last to require that of you. No, not the mistress, but the wife of the king. You shall become his wedded wife; and your rightful marriage shall be blessed by a minister of the Reformed Church!" "But that is impossible!" exclaimed the maid of honor, whose eyes sparkled with joy, against her will, "that cannot be. The queen lives, and she is the king's wedded wife." "Yes, the wedded wife of the right hand," said her brother, quietly; "but the king, like every other mortal, has two hands; and he has a privilege which other mortals have not--the privilege of wedding a wife on the left hand." "Impossible, quite impossible, as long as the wife of the right hand lives!" exclaimed Julie. "Of that, the consistory of church matters is alone competent to decide," replied her brother, with composure; "or rather, I expressed myself badly, the consistory has only a deliberative voice; and the decision rests with the king alone, who, in our country, represents the church, and is its head--the evangelical pope. It is his province to say whether such a marriage of the left hand is possible, notwithstanding a marriage of the right hand. Demand it of him; make it a condition. Remember the words which the beautiful Gabrielle said to Henry the Fourth, when he inspected her dwelling, and asked the lady he adored, 'Which is the way to your chamber?' 'Sire,' she replied, 'the way to my chamber goes through the church.' Remember this when you speak to the king."