"Saved!" whispered she. "The danger is overcome, and again you are
the mighty queen, the adored wife!"
"And I have you to thank that I am so, princess! Without that
warrant of arrest which you brought me, I was lost. Oh, Elizabeth,
but what a martyrdom it was! To smile and jest, whilst my heart
trembled with dread and horror; to appear innocent and
unembarrassed, whilst it seemed to me as if I heard already the whiz
of the axe that was about to strike my neck! Oh, my God, I passed
through the agonies and the dread of a whole lifetime in that one
hour! My soul has been harassed till it is wearied to death, and my
strength is exhausted. I could weep, weep continually over this
wretched, deceitful world, in which to wish right and to do good
avail nothing; but in which you must dissemble and lie, deceive and
disguise yourself, if you do not want to fall a victim to wickedness
and mischief. But ah, Elizabeth, even my tears I dare shed only in
secret, for a queen has no right to be melancholy. She must seem
ever cheerful, ever happy and contented; and only God and the still,
silent night know her sighs and her tears."
"And you may let me also see them, queen," said Elizabeth, heartily;
"for you well know you may trust and rely on me."
Catharine kissed her fervently. "You have done me a great service
to-day, and I have come," said she, "to thank you, not with sounding
words only, but by deeds. Elizabeth, your wish will be fulfilled.
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