of his country. That Gunther was not afraid of having
to wear the crown one day, was this a reason why Othomar should be
without his fear? Did Othomar not possess the gentler qualities, which
are valued in the narrow circle of intimate surroundings and arouse
esteem among a few sympathetic natures, rather than that fiercer
brilliancy of character, which makes its possessor stand out in clear
relief in high places and awakens admiration in the multitude? Was this
boy, with his soul full of scruples, his nostalgia after justice, his
yearning for love, his easily wounded sensitiveness, was he the son of
his ancestors, the descendant of Berengar the Strong, Wenceslas the
Cruel, son of the warlike Xaveria, or was he not rather the child of his
gentle mother alone?

It was not in Herman's way to reflect much and long on all this, but it
came to him suddenly, abruptly, like a new view that is opened out in a
brighter light. And what had been antipathy in him became compassion,
friendship and astonishment at the disposition of the universe, which
knew not what else to do with a soul like Othomar's but to crush it
beneath a crown.

The simple family-life at Altseeborgen worked on Othomar like a cure. He
felt himself reviving amid natural surroundings, his humanity developing
wide and untrammelled. Accustomed as he was to the ceremonial life of
the Imperial, with its court-etiquette strictly maintained by the
Emperor Oscar, he was at first surprised, but soon delighted by the
almost homely simplicity of his Gothlandic relations. In former years,
it is true, he had paid an occasional brief visit to Altseeborgen, but
had never stayed long enough to be able to count himself, as now, quite
one of themselves.

Othomar was at this moment the only visitor from abroad, except the
Archduchess Valerie, a niece of the Emperor of Austria. Did the young
people suspect anything, or not? Were their names coupled together by
the younger princes and princesses? Not so, to all outward seeming: only
once or twice had Princess Sofie or Princess Wanda found it necessary to
hush her young brothers with a glance. And yet it was with a serious
intention that the Queen of Gothland, in concert with the Emperor of
Liparia and Valerie's parents--the Archduke Albrecht and the Archduchess
of Eudoxie, who lived at Sigismundingen Castle--had brought the young
people together. The Emperor Oscar would certainly have preferred one of
the young Russian grand-du