Forgiveness -- Fiction; Guilt -- Fiction; Love -- Fiction
Mademoiselle Kramer showed all the self-command befitting one who could
boast of a line of sixteen ancestors. A slight start and an odd,
nervous twitching of the features, as if suppressing a yawn, were the
only visible effects of Walpurga's words. But of laughter there was not
a sign. An upper servant of the right sort must hear and see all that
is going on, and yet stand by as if he were no more than the table or
plate that can be moved about at will; and although Walpurga was not
her superior, it would not do to laugh at her, for she was nurse to his
royal highness the crown prince. Mademoiselle Kramer therefore
refrained from laughing, and, as if to evade answering, merely said:
"When we pass the guard on our way home, the same thing will happen
again."
"And may I ask what's the good of it all?"
"Certainly; there is a good reason for everything, and this serves to
accustom the people, and especially the soldiers, to show proper
respect to their superiors."
"But our prince don't know anything of that."
"We must show our respect for him, even though he know nothing of it;
and now let me tell you something which it would be well for you to
know. Whenever you speak or think of their majesties, the king and
queen, let it be as 'his majesty' or 'her majesty,' but never simply as
king and queen, so that you may never so far forget yourself as to
speak of them in a disrespectful manner. Bear this in mind."
Walpurga scarcely heard a word of what she said.
"Oh, Lord!" she exclaimed, "how wisely they've arranged everything. It
must have taken many thousand years before they could get so far."
"It has, indeed. But you needn't nod to everyone you see bowing. It
isn't meant for you."
"But I'd like to do it for my prince, until he can attend to it
himself. They all show how glad they'll be to get a look at him. They
all bow to you, my child--you're well off, indeed--oh, what a lovely
carriage this is. It's as soft as a bed, and as comfortable as a room,
and you can sit here and see all that's going on outside, and--dear me,
how fast we're going."
They turned into the park. The carriage drove slowly while they passed
the lake, and Walpurga was ever saying:
"I feel as if I were in fairyland."
They alighted by the shady and fragrant Grove of the Nymphs. As soon as
she had left the carriage, Walpurga, who was carrying the child in her
arms, said:
"Open your eyes! Look about you! The whole world's yours. There are
trees and meadows and, overhead the blue sky. But your father can't
give you that; you'll have to earn it by being good, and if you and I
both remain good, we'll meet again, up above."
"Sit down here, Walpurga, and pray cease talking," said Mademoiselle
Kramer.
She was terribly anxious about Walpurga, who talked incessantly and
incoherently, and was as unmanageable as a young foal that had just
been let loose in the meadow.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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