Page:Anthony Hope - Rupert of Hentzau.djvu/117

Rh and now her hands flew out towards him, imploring his pardon. Then she began to speak quickly: "Rudolf, last night I had a dream about you, a strange dream. I seemed to be in Strelsau, and all the people were talking about the King. It was you they meant; you were the King. At last you were the King, and I was your Queen. But I could see you only very dimly; you were somewhere, but I could not make out where; just sometimes your face came. Then I tried to tell you that you were King—yes, and Colonel Sapt and Fritz tried to tell you; the people, too, called out that you were King. What did it mean ? But your face, when I saw it, was unmoved and very pale, and you seemed not to hear what we said, not even what I said. It almost seemed as if you were dead, and yet King. Ah, you mustn't die, even to be King," and she laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Sweetheart," said he gently, "in dreams desires and fears blend in strange visions, so I seemed to you to be both a king and a dead man; but I'm not a king, and I am a very healthy fellow. Yet a thousand thanks to my dearest Queen for dreaming of me."

"No, but what could it mean?" she asked again.

"What does it mean when I dream always of you, except that I always love you?"