with the passionate exclamation: "Oh, hear
me, hear me, thou inexhaustible fountain of mercy, for if I do not fulfil
what he expected when he entreated me to sing before him, and I see that
he lets me go disappointed, the peace of this heart will be destroyed!
Hear, oh, hear me, august Queen of Heaven!"

Relieved and strengthened, she at last sprang up, and a few minutes after
Frau Lerch, with loud exclamations of admiration, was combing her long,
thick, waving locks of fair hair.

Overflowing with delight at such beauty, the thin little woman then
helped her "darling Wawerl," her "wonderfully sweet nightingale," to
change her dress.

Wolf's gift, the velvet robe with the marten border, would have been too
heavy and oppressive for singing, and, besides, was not yet finished.
Barbara, she declared, had done right to choose the white one, which was
intended for the next dance at the New Scales. Nothing could be more
becoming to her enchanting little princess, and Barbara yielded herself
entirely to the experienced assistant, who had all the laces and ribbons
she needed close at hand. She could even supply her with new and dainty
satin shoes.

While Frau Lerch was working with wonderful dexterity, she also permitted
her nimble tongue no rest. In the tenderest accents of faithful maternal
solicitude she counselled her how to conduct herself in his Majesty's
presence. Hurriedly showing Barbara how the stiff Spanish ladies of the
court curtsied, she exclaimed: "And another thing, my darling pet: It is
important for all ladies, even those of royal blood, to try to win the
favour of so great a monarch when they meet him for the first time. You
can use your eyes, too, and how effectually! I saw you a short time ago,
and, if I had been a young gentleman, how gladly I would have changed
places with the handsome recruiting officer Pyramus at the New Scales!
That was a flaming fire! Now, isn't it true, darling--now we no longer
have even a single glance for such insignificant fellows! Consider that
settled! But things of that sort have no effect upon his august Majesty.
You must cast down your sparkling blue eyes in modest embarrassment, as
if you still wore the confirmation wreath. All the fashionable sons of
the burghers complain of your repellent coldness. Let his Majesty feel it
too. That will pour oil on the flames, and they must blaze up high; I'd
stake both my hands on it, much as I need them. But if it results as I
expe