At length Maria reported that Serenissimus had returned, and once more a
feverish unrest seized the Graevenitz. Would he come to her? Would he
summon her? The night drew near, and no word came from the palace. The
Landhofmeisterin's fears reawoke. She paced restlessly up and down the
Favorite terrace whence she could see his Highness's windows. The lights
were lit. She watched; gradually the palace grew dark. It was as though
the light of her youth was extinguished when his Highness's windows grew
black. She waited; perchance he would come yet? A terrible weariness fell
on her. The night was very beautiful, moonlit and enchanted; the scent of
the lilac smote heavy on the air--the lilac and the red thorn blossom----
How beautiful it was, how still, how divinely young it all seemed; and
she was old, old and weary, and forsaken and unutterably sad!

'Your Excellency must rest; come, dear Madame!' It was Maria, the
faithful friend, the only one who had not profited by her mistress's vast
power; she alone who had never sought gain.

'Maria, I am too weary to sleep, and I dream so cruelly,' the Graevenitz
said sadly.

'Come and rest, and I will sit beside you all night,' the good soul
replied; and indeed, it seemed as though her honesty had driven away the
Dream Demon, for the great Landhofmeisterin slept like a tired child
watched over by this faithful peasant woman.

The next day the Graevenitz was utterly deserted. No word came from the
palace, no Secret Service officers came to report to her, no courtiers
thronged the antehall. It was Sunday, and the bells of the palace chapel
rang. Maria had heard that Serenissimus had intimated his intention of
attending church twice that Sunday. The Landhofmeisterin's thoughts
followed him wistfully. Would he sit in his accustomed chair in the
gilded pew? Would his eyes wander to the sculptured figures in the
chapel, the figures which bore her features? Would he remember how often
she had sung to that organ? Alas! Change is Death, and more cruel than
Death.

The day passed, and still came no sign from Serenissimus. Then the
Landhofmeisterin sent Maria to the town to gather news, and the maid
returned and told her that it was rumoured his Highness would start on
the following morning to attend the grand military review at Berlin. She
had met one of the palace grooms, and he had said that the horses were to
be in readiness soon after dawn. Good God! was Eberhard Ludwig taking
this w