Suddenly she drew away from
him.
"There is some one coming," she whispered.
"Nothing matters now," said Roland breathlessly. "There is no one in the
world to-day but you and me."
Hildegunde drew her hands down her cheeks, as if to brush away their
tell-tale color and their warmth.
"'Tis like," said Roland, "that you marry a poor man."
"Nothing matters now," she repeated, laughing tremulously. "I am said to
be the richest woman in Germany. I shall build you a forge and enlist
myself your apprentice. We will paint over the door 'Herr Roland and
wife; sword makers.'"
Two men appeared at the end of the alley, and stood still; the one with
a frown on his brow, the other with a smile on his lips.
"Oh!" whispered the Countess, panic striking from her face the color
that her palms had failed to remove, "the Archbishop and the Count
Palatine!"
His Lordship strode forward, followed more leisurely by the smiling
Count.
"Prince Roland," said Cologne, "I had not expected this after our
conference of last night.
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