human
This divine dream must not fade, he said with a sigh, as Elizabeth gently extricated herself from his embrace.
gpt
Leave me your hand at least, Elizabeth, I must learn to believe in my bliss. If you leave me now, I shall be crushed by doubt again to-night. You are thoroughly conscious that you are irrevocably mine? Do you know that you must leave father and mother, and the dear home upon the mountain, for my sake?
human
I know it, and will do so gladly, Rudolph,
gpt
God bless you, my darling, for those words! But you must know the depths of my doubt. Is it not pity for my boundless love that induces you to yield your consent to my suit?
human
No, Rudolph, it is love,—a love which first awoke in my heart,—does not this sound strangely,—when I saw in your angry eyes, and heard in the tones of your voice, how you detested cruelty and injustice! And since that moment it has never left me; on the contrary, it has increased and grown stronger, in spite of all my efforts to destroy it, notwithstanding all the harsh words that have so often wounded it sorely.
gpt
Who spoke such words?
human
You, yourself; you were harsh and unkind to me.
gpt
Oh, child, those were the outbreaks of insane jealousy! I have struggled for and exercised self-control all my life long, but I could not conceal how I was tortured then. And would you, on that account, have closed upon me the heaven that is opening before me?
human
Not on that account,—for one kind look from you made me happy again; but another obstinate opponent entered the lists,—my reason. It had grown well aware of everything that report declared concerning your incredible aristocratic arrogance, and, at every wild throb of my heart, dinned into my ears your reasons for refusing the alliance which the prince proposed to you.
gpt
Ah! those sixteen quarterings! cried Herr von Walde, smiling,
human
But see, my little Gold Elsie, what a Nemesis that was! he continued more gravely.
gpt
To avoid annoyance, I seized upon the first means at hand, and, as I now know, it almost cost me the happiness of my life. I like the Prince of L——, but any residence at his court was rendered, for a time, utterly odious to me, by the matrimonial alliances proposed for me, principally by the Princess Catharine. She had taken it into her head that I must marry one of the ladies of her court. No one could believe that the girl was entirely indifferent to me, for she passed for a brilliant beauty, and had broken many a heart. All that I could say was of no avail; they continued to plot and intrigue, and so one day I cut the whole matter short by declaring to her Highness that her plan for me would cost me one of my estates, since, as is true, by my uncle’s will it was devised to the State if I should marry a wife who could not show sixteen quarterings in her escutcheon. This declaration put an end to my torment; no such person was to be found in the length and breadth of the little kingdom, and all thought it natural that I should wish to retain my estate.
human
And will you suffer this loss for my sake?
gpt
It is no loss, Elizabeth; it is an exchange,—an exchange by which I gain a priceless treasure,—the happiness of an entire existence.
human
Halt! this way!