wish a prayer to be
said aloud for my salvation.'

The Prelate was overwhelmed.

'Surely you do not wish to make public confession of repentance before
the congregation?' he questioned. The woman seemed mad to desire thus to
proclaim her shame, and yet he was filled with reverence for the faith
which could prompt so proud a being to humble herself in the eyes of all
men.

'Monseigneur le Prelat Osiander,' she said after a pause, 'I am the
Duke's wife before God, and it is my husband his Highness's command and
mine, that my name should be included in the official prayer for the head
of this Dukedom. I am ruler I would have you know.'

The preposterous demand was made, Osiander could no longer doubt. It was
no repentant sinner with whom he dealt, but the all-powerful mistress who
had but stooped for a moment to cajole him in the hope of gaining her
aim, and who, finding him uncompromising, had resumed her imperious
habit. The Prelate was aghast, indignant. He rose stiffly from his chair.

'Your Excellency cannot have considered this command, or even you,
Madame, would not have dared to make it. The only prayer that can be said
for you in church is that of intercession for the sinful.'

The Landhofmeisterin approached closely.

'Will you accede to my request? If not, you shall obey my order or it
will be the worse for you.' She was beside herself with anger. She hated
the word Sin; she always said it represented the bourgeois' criticism of
the life of gentlemen.

'No, Excellency, I will not obey you. With my consent the pure service of
the worship of God shall never be sullied with your name.' Osiander was
the sterner, the more relentless, because of his momentary weakness and
credulity.

'You are obliged to pray for me,' she retorted mockingly; 'each time you
petition Heaven for the health and happiness of the Duke, you pray for
me! For me, do you hear? I am his health and his happiness.'

To Osiander this was rank blasphemy, and, good man though he was, he lost
his temper.

'Indeed, Excellency, you say rightly. You are truly included in the
prayers of the congregation, for each time we say "Lord, deliver us from
evil," we pray for the end of your infamous reign.'

The Graevenitz laughed harshly. All traces of her softer mood, of her
fascination, had gone past; she had become once more the cold, proud
woman, the tyrant whose statue-like beauty seemed to the Wirtembergers to
be some devil's mask of false ou