oom, with his hands
folded behind his back. "This man, whom I once loved so warmly, wishes
to murder me. Ah! ye proud princes, who imagine yourselves gods on
earth, you are not even safe from a murderer's dagger, and you are as
vulnerable as the commonest beggar. Why does he wish my death? Were I a
fantastic, romantic hero, I might say he hoped to claim his sweetheart
over my dead body! But Amelia is no longer a person for whom a man would
risk his life; she is but a faint and sad resemblance of the past--her
rare beauty is tear-stained and turned to ashes, but her heart still
lives; it is young and warm, and belongs to Trenck! And shall I
dissipate this last illusion? Must she now learn that he to whom she
sacrificed so much is but a common murderer? No, I will spare her this
sorrow! I will not give Trenck the opportunity to fulfil his work; even
his intention shall remain doubtful. I shall not go to Konigsberg; and
if, in his presumptuous thirst for notoriety or for vengeance, he
should enter Prussia, he shall be cared for--he shall not escape his
punishment. Let him but try to cross my borders--he will find a snare
spread, a cage from which he cannot escape. Yes, so it shall be. But
neither the world nor Trenck shall suspect why this is done. If my
brothers and envious persons hold him up in future as an example of my
hardness of heart, what do I care for their approval, or the praise
of short-sighted men! I do my duty, and am answerable only to God and
myself. Trenck intends to murder me--I must preserve myself for my
people. My mission is not yet accomplished; and if a poisonous insect
crosses my path, I must crush it."

CHAPTER VIII. THE UNWILLING BRIDEGROOM.

Prince Henry had again passed eight days in arrest--eight tedious days,
days of powerless anger and painful humiliation. This arrest had been,
by the king's express orders, so strict, that no one was allowed to
see the prince but Pollnitz, who belonged, as the king said, to the
inventory of the house of Hohenzollern, and, therefore, all doors were
open to him.

Pollnitz alone had, therefore, the pleasure of hearing the complaints,
and reproaches, and bitter accusations of the prince against his
brother. Pollnitz always had an attentive ear for these complaints; and
after listening to the prince with every appearance of real feeling and
warm sympathy, he would hasten to the king, and with drooping eyelids
and rejoicing heart repeat the bitter and h