. And there are many other matters of
which you have no idea, and of which you will, I trust, ever remain
ignorant. But all you meet are wondrous polite. Try to remain just as
you now are, and when you leave the palace, let it be as the same
Walpurga you were when you came here."

Walpurga stared at her in surprise. Who could change her?

Word came that the Queen was awake and desired Walpurga to bring the
Crown Prince to her.

Accompanied by Doctor Gunther, Mademoiselle Kramer, and two
waiting-women, she proceeded to the Queen's bedchamber. The Queen lay
there, calm and beautiful, and with a smile of greeting, turned her face
towards those who had entered. The curtains had been partially drawn
aside, and a broad, slanting ray of light shone into the apartment,
which seemed still more peaceful than during the breathless silence of
the previous night.

"Good morning!" said the Queen, with a voice full of feeling. "Let me
have my child!" She looked down at the babe that rested in her arms, and
then, without noticing any one in the room, lifted her glance on high
and faintly murmured:--

"This is the first time I behold my child in the daylight!"

All were silent; it seemed as if there was naught in the apartment
except the broad slanting ray of light that streamed in at the window.

"Have you slept well?" inquired the Queen. Walpurga was glad the Queen
had asked a question, for now she could answer. Casting a hurried glance
at Mademoiselle Kramer, she said:--

"Yes, indeed! Sleep's the first, the last, and the best thing in the
world."

"She's clever," said the Queen, addressing Doctor Gunther in French.

Walpurga's heart sank within her. Whenever she heard them speak French,
she felt as if they were betraying her; as if they had put on an
invisible cap, like that worn by the goblins in the fairy-tale, and
could thus speak without being heard.

"Did the Prince sleep well?" asked the Queen.

Walpurga passed her hand over her face, as if to brush away a spider
that had been creeping there. The Queen doesn't speak of her "child" or
her "son," but only of "the Crown Prince."

Walpurga answered:--

"Yes, quite well, thank God! That is, I couldn't hear him, and I only
wanted to say that I'd like to act towards the--" she could not say "the
Prince"--"that is, towards him, as I'd do with my own child. We began on
the very first day. My mother taught me that. Such a child has a will of
its own from the very start