“There, my boy!  Now you’ve seen the sun.  May you see it for seven and seventy years to come, and when they’ve run their course, may the Lord grant you a new lease of life.  Last night they lit millions of lamps for your sake.  But they were nothing to the sun up in heaven, which the Lord himself lighted for you this very morning.  Be a good boy, always, so that you may deserve to have the sun shine on you.  Yes, now the angel’s whispering to you.  Laugh while you sleep!  That’s right.  There’s one angel belongs to you on earth, and that’s your mother!  And you’re mine, too!  You’re mine, indeed!”

Thus spake Walpurga, the nurse, her voice soft, yet full of emotion, while she gazed into the face of the child that lay in her lap.  Her soul was already swayed by that mysterious bond of affection which never fails to develop itself in the heart of the foster-mother.  It is a noble trait in human nature, that we love those on whom we can confer a kindness.  Their whole life gradually becomes interwoven with our own.

Walpurga became oblivious of herself and of all that was dear to her in the cottage by the lake.  She was now needed here, where a young life had been assigned to her loving-charge.

She looked up at Mademoiselle Kramer, with beaming eyes, and met a joyful glance in return.

“It seems to me,” said Walpurga, “that a palace is just like a church.  One has only good and pious thoughts here; and all the people are so kind and frank.”

Mademoiselle Kramer suddenly smiled and replied:—­

“My dear child—­”

“Don’t call me ‘child’!  I’m not a child!  I’m a mother!”

“But here, in the great world, you are only a child.  A court is a strange place.  Some go hunting, others go fishing; one builds, another paints; one studies a role, another a piece of music; a dancer learns a new step, an author writes a new book.  Every one in the land is doing something—­cooking or baking, drilling or practicing, writing, painting, or dancing—­simply in order that the king and queen may be entertained.”

“I understand you,” said Walpurga; and Mademoiselle Kramer continued:—­

“My family has been in the service of the court for sixteen generations;”—­six would have been the right number, but sixteen sounded so much better;—­“my father is the governor of the summer palace, and I was born there.  I know all about the court, and can teach you a great deal.”

“And I’ll be glad to learn,” interposed Walpurga.