The beauteous Georgina fixed her affectionate gaze upon the beloved youth, but with softened feelings which filled her dark eyes with tears. 'By your dress I see,' said she with emotion, 'that this is our parting hour--and I thank thee that I have been hitherto kept in ignorance of it, so that I was enabled to enjoy the anticipation of this meeting without alloy.' 'Yes, dearest maiden,' answered Arwed: 'my wishes are accomplished, my father's kindness has opened to me the path of honor, which I dare to hope will enable me to deserve and obtain thee. That I may hereafter be entirely thine, I now leave thee. Thou wilt again see me, crowned with the laurels of victory, or thou wilt hear that I have bravely fought and fallen worthy of thee and myself.' 'Oh, Arwed,' faintly murmured the almost breathless maiden, reclining her beauteous head upon his breast and turning her eyes upon his face with a look of gentle reproach. 'Must it then be so? Thou hast indeed always asserted this sad necessity, but I could never bring myself to believe it. Credit me, my father is good, and by no means so haughty and violent as the Swedes consider him. Ungrateful men indeed, hate him--but he loves his newly adopted country. Thy house is one of the most honorable--and even if he had other plans respecting me, he would not be able to withstand my prayers if I dutifully opened my heart to him.' 'I love thee with all my soul, Georgina,' said Arwed with flashing eyes: 'but at the same time Swedish pride claims its rights. It would be disgraceful to a Gyllenstierna to be indebted to the prayers and tears of the daughter for the consent of the proud stranger. And if your father should now ask me what I had hitherto done for the honor of the name which his child is to bear, and I could answer him nothing except that I had read Greek and Latin with my tutor and listened to a few college lectures at Upsala, I should sink into the earth for shame. Yet not for that cause alone do I grasp the sword. With it I hope to gain the favor of the king and independence of my father, who, though he truly loves me, will hardly with a good will consent to the proposed connection. Besides, having long since decided on my course, I beg that you will not make more difficult by your sorrow a step which is already sufficiently afflicting, since it separates me from you.' 'Cruel, perverse man!' said Georgina, kissing him. 'Yes, your sex are our tyrants, and the worst of it is, that the more pitilessly you torment us through your pride and severity, the more ardently we love you. What can the poor feeble maiden do but submit to the hard fate which her Arwed decrees--and henceforth weep, hope, wish, until her lot is indissolubly united with his.' She dried her tears, and then with assumed resolution asked; 'when do you leave?' 'This night I depart for Norway,' answered Arwed, 'but whether for the north or the south, you must decide for me.' '_I_?' asked Georgina, trembling: 'you mock me.'