Page:German Stories (Volumes 2–3).djvu/413

Rh my dear sainted daughter to rest in her tomb. For the rest, you may talk as it pleases you.’ He waved his hand, and the two servants retired. ‘Well, my dear Marquis,’ said he, ‘are you inclined to carry your usual faith so far as to believe also in this apparition of my Hildegarde?’—‘At least,’ answered I, ‘it is not by the gardener alone that she has been seen. Think also of the scene in the picture gallery at Paris.’—‘There you are in the right,’ replied he; ‘that was another admirable invention, of which, it must be owned, I do not yet well understand either the foundation or object. I can assure you, however, that I was much more inclined, at that time, to break off all connection with the Duke, because he had told us such a downright falsehood, than on account of his inconstancy which we afterwards discovered.’—‘On that point,’ said I, ‘it seems impossible for us to agree; for, if you find my credulity unaccountable, your doubts appear to me no less so.’

“Meanwhile, the party began to retire for the night, till, by degrees, no one remained in the room but myself, with our host and hostess. What was our astonishment, therefore, when we saw Libussa in ball costume, enter, not from the bed-