"But as you are not," said Ernest, slightly colouring, and in rather an abrupt tone, "I imagine that my presence is not wanting to restrain you."

"Most undoubtedly," I replied, carelessly; "and I wonder you think it necessary to take up a joke so seriously."

I said nothing further, although I perceived that there was half a lilac wafer in my standish, and that by some strange coincidence, there was a corresponding half in the album-but appearances are deceitful; and it looked freshly done too-but no matter for that. We walked down stairs in silence, and when we parted, each to go our own way, I thought Ernest shook me more cordially by the hand than he ever had done before. My business was quickly dispatched with the elector, and I obtained permission to pass through the inner apartments to pay my respects to his daughter. After I had been duly announced, and had waited a few minutes, I was shown in. The princess was seated in her boudoir, surrounded by several of her ladies. On all sides vases of flowers were prettily distributed, with a due regard to suit the complexion of the fair Leopoldine. A more charming sight could not meet the eye than was formed by these lovely dames, each occupied with some delicate ornamental work, while the princess, gracefully lolling on her sofa, was looking over different beautiful specimens of art, that were heaped on the little table before her. I felt afraid to advance and speak, lest the vision should dissolve before me, and should have remained much longer at the respectful distance of the threshold, had not the princess bid me welcome in her most amiable manner. Thus encouraged, I came forward, and was desired to sit, and I forthwith produced the long-wished-for album. Leopoldine made an exclamation of delight, which was faintly and respectfully echoed by her train of nymphs; but when one of the ladies drew her attention to the likeness, she coloured, and professed herself unworthy of the compliment, at the same time loading me with thanks and encomiums on my skill. By-and-by she rose and walked to the window, with the book in her hand, to view it nearer the light, and she remained some time, lost either in contemplation or reflection. During this interval I talked with the ladies, and, elated as I was by the approbation that had been bestowed upon me, I naturally fell into my best vein of light conversation. Anecdotes succeeded each other, and the princess occasionally, during her fit of abstraction, turned round on hearing my fair audience laugh, to inquire what that witty thing was which Colonel Heldenstein had said. All this was very flattering to one of my disposition, and I felt exceedingly happy for the time being, notwithstanding all the prudent advice I had received from my father. He had given me lectures innumerable on the danger of presuming too much on slight grounds, and, above all, had warned me against pleasing, or trying to please, handsome prin cesses. He had been in foreign service at one time of his life, and he had left it, as he often declared, because the queen had smiled at him three distinct times. My scruples, however, did not go so far besides, I thought, if princesses will be pleased with me, it is not my fault. While I was thus talking to the ladies, and stimulated to fresh exertions by the applause with which my sallies were received, at the

conclusion of a bon-mot I happened involuntarily to cast my eyes in the direction where the princess stood, when I saw her busily employed in pulling a leaf out of her album with as little noise as possible, and having slowly deposited it in her work-bag, she proceeded to tear out all the little fragments of paper, and throw them out of window, so that no appearance might remain in the book of what had been done. When this object had been attained, she came back to the sofa, and put the book down open at the place of my drawing; her eyes were sparkling, and her cheek a little flushed, and she again repeated her thanks in a way to deprive me of what little philosophy I might possess, and I went away completely charmed with her cordiality and kindness. All the way home I seemed to be treading on air, and I longed to meet some one to talk over the events of the morning with, and fortunately for me I met a young aide-de-camp, who was walking arm-in-arm with Ernest. I instantly invited them both to dinner. This was a real windfall, for the aide-de-camp was as curious as I could have wished, and he asked me the minutest questions, even down to the colour of the curtains, and coverings of the chairs. I had to repeat every word and action of the princess, all of which I faithfully did, except the circumstance of the leaves of the album, which I did not mention, not so much, perhaps, from discretion, as out of real pity for Ernest, who was listening attentively, though he said very little.

After we had drunk a few glasses of wine, the aide-de-camp, whó was a gay, light-hearted (and I may say light-headed) young man, began to compliment me in a burlesque style, and to insist, from what he had heard, that Leopoldine must be in love with me. "For," said he, “to give albums to young colonels in that way, must mean something beyond a mere wish to have a drawing. If you had had two grains

nay, half a grain of sense, you would have answered not by lines but by words." And then he laughed with a little shrill ridiculous laugh, at his own intended wit. Ernest, whose countenance I had watched, grew very serious, and was evidently displeased. He seemed almost debating whether he should box the aide-de-camp's ears, in order to obtain the privilege of shooting him, or whether he should let it pass, as the mere extravagant folly of a man whose head was a little discomposed by the exhilarating fumes of the wine. Hẻ seemingly resolved on the latter interpretation of the case, for shortly after he took his hat and bade me excuse him, as his duty called him elsewhere. I begged him to suit his own convenience, but the aidede-camp filled him a glass, and told him he should not stir till he had drunk to the happy marriage of Leopoldine and Colonel Heldenstein. Ernest stopped and turned round, seemed strongly tempted to throw the luckless glass in the offender's face to punish him for his impudence, and then casting a look of such contempt on him, as to abash even the effrontery of the aide-de-camp, he said, "For your sake, Heldenstein, I desist:" and with that he was out of the room in an instant, though my boisterous friend, rendered bolder by his disappearance, kept calling out to him to stay and join a few toasts more.

The next day, when Ernest and I met, he never mentioned the aide-de-camp's name, or alluded in any way to the scene that had

taken place. And there was something in his manner, junior officer though he was, that overawed me, and I felt unable to broach a topic that I saw he studiously avoided. Yet, after all, if he had been guilty of the presumption of committing to paper "words instead of lines," as I suspected so strongly, I did not see what business he had to lord it over me, and to disapprove of a joke that had joined my name and that of the princess. I stood higher in my profession, and whatever his pretensions were, they must necessarily be inferior to mine. If he ventured to harbour so ambitious, so daring a hope, why might not I? And the more he persisted in his silence on the subject, the more I thought with complacent vanity of all the foolish things the aide-de-camp had said, and even General B, the day he had called on me.

About this time our good elector gratified me by an appointment to a place at court, that I might not, as he said, be entirely idle in times of peace. The place, in fact, was not much more than an honorary one, but it brought me nearer his person, and gave me my entrée at the palace. Very soon after I was installed in my new office, the annual fète for the princess's birthday was celebrated. In the morning there was a mock fight on the water, which was chiefly superintended by me, and in the evening there was a ball. All the foreign ambassadors and people of distinction were present. Besides many handsome presents that were offered to the princess, there were innumerable nosegays elegantly tied up, many of which contained laudatory verses and compliments for the occasion, from the stilted ode down to the humble sonnet. But there was one nosegay amongst them humbler than all the rest, composed only of forget-me-nots and scabiuses; the latter, as the adepts in flowers well know, being the symbol of mystery, the former need no explanation,-and this nosegay, which was offered by Ernest, and which was rather too pointed, as I thought, in its meaning, was the one that the princess chose to wear in her sash all day long, and when evening came and she changed her dress, again the favoured flower, having had a temporary refreshment in water, appeared as her only ornament. Before dancing commenced, there was a superb display of fireworks, and everybody went to the windows, which were all open on account of the warmth of the weather, and I was standing looking in the last room of the suite where there was the least crowd, when I heard the elector and his daughter walk up to the neighbouring window, which was instantly cleared by its occupants who respectfully left them to themselves. The depth of the embrasure hindered them seeing me at the time, and I heard the elector say, 66 Leopoldine, I must request you to lay aside those flowers. It is highly offensive to the ambassador who presented you with a nosegay to see his gift neglected for that of a young subaltern. Slighter causes have sufficed to produce a war: you should remember that people of our rank have all eyes upon them, and I beg you will act accordingly."

"That fat ambassador's peonies made my head ache," said Leopoldine mournfully, at the same time slowly drawing the offending flowers from her belt.

The elector laid them on a marble slab between the windows, say

ing, "Let him who had the triumph, now have the mortification of seeing his nosegay neglected. It will serve to convince everybody no undue preference was intended."

I felt for the princess and pitied Ernest also, that he should see his flowers thrown away; so I advanced, and taking them up from the slab put the guilty nosegay into my pocket. The elector saw my action. I quickly said, "When the gods refuse the offerings that are made them, it is a very bad sign."

"What, colonel!" said he, "was it your nosegay after all ?"

I bowed an assent, thinking it wisest to father it.

"Well, Leopoldine," continued he, “ you were not so much out, for he is decidedly the hero of the day;" (alluding to the mock fight;) "I really thought I had seen the flowers in the hands of that little Lieutenant Hohenfels."

"We all know your highness is short-sighted," said I.

The princess thanked me with a look I shall never forget. The band now struck up for dancing, and we repaired to the scene of action. I had the honour of figuring once with Leopoldine. She said in a quick low tone, "Colonel Heldenstein, I cannot expressbut here the exigencies of the figure separated us, and I waited vainly for the other half of the phrase; but I fancied that a slight pressure of the hand had accompanied the words, and I was a happier man than if she had concluded the sentence, because left at liberty to make up the rest as I pleased.

All the rest of the evening, and all the way home, did I repeat to myself" What can't she express? There is only one thing which a young lady of her age can't express, and that must be love.' Then I thought again of the aide-de-camp's words, and the fat old General B, and I felt not at all inclined to follow my father's prudential advice. In the midst of my pleasant reflections I fell asleep, still muttering-"What the deuce can't she express?" Now it must not be thought that I had the folly or mad vanity to go and talk all over the town of this circumstance which delighted me so much: far from it; I thought it indiscreet to publish a lady's weakness, if such it was, in my favour, and I determined, at any rate, not to act the part of the milk-maid in the fable. It is always time to sound the trumpet when circumstances begin to take a tangible form; and it is well I did not make myself ridiculous on this head, as I had ample reason to know a few days afterwards. I happened one morning to indulge myself with a stroll through the beautiful garden of the palace, and was walking behind a high-cut hedge, when I suddenly perceived the figure of the princess advancing in the direction where I was standing, but on the other side of the wall of verdure which concealed me from her sight. I had stopped involuntarily on perceiving her, doubting whether I should retire or not, whether I should show myself and bow, or conceal myself altogether, when I perceived that she was not alone, and that my friend Ernest von Hohenfels was close behind her. My embarrassment now became painful: I feared to stir lest my movements should be heard, and I be thought guilty of listening, and it was scarcely possible, placed as I was, to move without giving them the alarm; so what between doubt, fear, and irresolution I committed

the very indiscretion I so feared to be suspected of. I remained ri vetted to the spot, scarcely daring to draw my breath; and, in truth, my agitation hardly allowed me to hear, except at broken intervals, what passed between them. What I did hear, however, was enough to enable me to fill up the rest of the outlines with tolerable certainty. It was Ernest that first began to speak within my hearing; he seemed urging his point most passionately to know if his love was returned by the princess. He then-impudent fellow that he was-fell on his knee before her, declaring he would not rise till she had answered him. I could see between the leaves his gestures and action, and that, as is well known, always helps one to guess the purport of the words, even at a greater distance than I stood. Then I could perceive the agony of alarm of the fair Leopoldine as she intreated him to rise, hurriedly giving him the answer he requested, to induce him to obey her the sooner. I could hear her "Yes, Ernest," with her look of tender appeal to heaven as a witness of the truth of her assertion. How beautiful, how angelic did she appear at that moment! I forgot, at once, all my foolish ideas about a prepossession in my favour: all selfish thoughts vanished before the fervid love that I saw depicted in her countenance; I felt they were worthy of one another; I looked on with emotion, and could have knelt beside Ernest to worship her as a being of a superior order. While immersed in this trance, I was suddenly roused by seeing from afar the elector issuing forth from the palace into the great alley to take his morning walk. What was to be done? Could I suffer them to be surprised for want of a friendly warning? I preferred letting them think what they liked as to how I came there, for they would thank me in their hearts for averting the danger, at any price whatever. I therefore called out, not too loud, the names of two of my friends, saying, "Major Sor Lieutenant N-9 if you are there, turn to the right about, for the elector is coming down the great walk. The effect was instantaneous. Leopoldine rushed out towards the alley; Ernest retired with more composure than I should have expected. I walked off in a third direction, and we cleared the stage as rapidly as any opera dancers would in a ballet. It was either a mistake in the princess caused by her extreme confusion and alarm, to run to meet the elector, or else she trusted too much to her power of concealing her agitation; for if she could have concealed it, it would have been the very best and safest

measure.

"Good morning, Leopoldine," said he as soon as he perceived her.

She could only faintly murmur an answer, and her face was glowing with the deepest crimson.

"What is the matter, princess ?" said he; "you seem strangely agitated to-day."

The princess endeavoured to deny it. It was the wind, it was the exercise, it was walking too fast, as she always did when alone; but every word she uttered increased her confusion; and then, as her back was turned to the hedge and his face towards it, she kept dreading that he would espy the retreating uniform through the leaves and branches.