another law that dwells
within man. At the birth of each beast, the law of its life seems born
anew. Man, however, inherits that which has gone before, for he has a
history. And a king more than all others--

The king stood there in silence for a long time. Feeling chilled again,
he closed the window and sat down before the fire in which the embers
were still burning. Although he found it irksome to be alone, he yet
forced himself to remain so.

The fire was still flickering, and now and then a sharp tongue of flame
would dart forth. The king's hand still clasped the silver handle of
the tongs long after the fire had ceased to burn. For the first time in
his life, he felt conscious of a void within himself--a void which
could not be filled. What could it be? Hunting or drilling, jesting or
commanding, loving or ruling, none of these filled the aching void.
What could it be? this constant unrest, this longing for something that
was yet to come.

He had spent a happy youth. The free tone at his father's court had not
affected him. He had lived in an ideal world. He was on his travels and
far away from home, when the sudden news of his father's death reached
him. He had hardly arrived at man's estate, when he was called to the
throne. Others might test their affections, might choose--his consort
had been selected for him--there was no wooing; a throne, a country, a
wife were given to him. His wife was graceful and pretty. He was fond
of her, and she loved him intensely. Suddenly Irma entered their
circle, and the husband, the father, the king, became seized with
ardent love. And now she was dead, destroyed by her own rash deed.

Is it still possible for you to subordinate yourself to the law?

You have submitted to it reluctantly, as if it were a clog and a
fetter; but it is not submission to the law the highest, aye, the only
source of indestructible power? Yes, there is an eternal law that binds
you to your wife and to your people; in that alone dwells the life
eternal.

He was filled with the thought. It was like a deliverance; like the
first free breathing of the convalescent. He could not fully grasp the
idea, and yet it seemed to him as if he must cry aloud: I am free! free
and yet in accord with the law.

He rose quickly. He meant to send for Bronnen, but restrained himself.
He had wrestled with himself and would now bear this within himself. He
felt as if the aching void, the restless longing for change, ha