“An evil omen!” cried she, pointing upward.  With a mysterious sympathy, Trenck had looked up at the same moment.

“The heavens will not deceive us, Amelia; they warn us, but this warning comes too late.  You are mine, you have sworn that you love me; I have accepted your vows.  May God also have heard them, and may He be gracious to us!  Is it not written that Faith can remove mountains? that she is more powerful than the mightiest kings of the earth; stronger than death—­that conquerors and heroes fall before her?  Let us, then, have faith in our love; let us be strong in hope, in patience, in constancy.”

“My brother says we shall soon have war.  Will you not win a wreath of laurel upon the battle-field? who can know but the king may value it as highly, may consider it as glorious, as a princely crown?  All my sisters are married to princes; perhaps my royal brother may pardon me for loving a hero whose brow is bound by a laurel-wreath alone.”

“Swear to me, Amelia, to wait—­to be patient, to give me time to reach this goal, which you paint in such heavenly colors.”

“I swear!”

“You will never be the wife of another?”

“I will never be the wife of another.”

“Be it prince or king; even if your brother commands it?”

“Be it prince or king; even if my brother commands it, I will never obey him.”

“God, my God! you have heard our vows.”  While speaking, he took Amelia’s head in his hands softly and bowed it down as if it were a holy sacrifice which he offered up to Heaven.  “You have heard her oath:  O God, punish her, crush her in your wrath, if she prove false!”

“I will be faithful to the end.  May God punish me if I fail!”

“And now, beloved, you are mine eternally.  Let me press our betrothal kiss upon your sweet lips; you are my bride, my wife.  Tremble not now, turn not away from my arms; you have no other refuge, no other strong fortress than my heart, but it is a rock on which you can safely build; its foundation is strong, it can hold and sustain you.  If the storm is too fierce, we can plunge together into the wild, raging sea, and be buried in the deep.  Oh, my bride, let me kiss your lips; you are sanctified and holy in my eyes till the glorious day in which life or death shall unite us.”

“No, you shall not kiss me; I embrace you, my beloved,” and she pressed her soft full lips, which no untruthful, immodest word had ever desecrated, to his.  It was a kiss holy, innocent, and pure as a maiden’s prayer.  “And now, my beloved, farewell,” said Amelia, after a long pause, in which their lips had been silent, but their hearts had spoken to each other and to God.  “Go,” she said; “night melts into morn, the day breaks!”

“My day declines, my night comes on apace,” sighed Trenck.  “When do we meet again?”

Amelia looked up, smilingly, to the heavens.  “Ask the stars and the calendar when the heavens are dark, and the moon hides her fair face; then I expect you—­the window will be open and the door unbarred.”