Mademoiselle von Haak has still not yet arrived.  But now the door opens—­she is there, but her face is pale, her eyes tearful; and this pale lady in black, whose noble and beautiful features recall to Amelia such charming and delightful remembrances—­who is she?  What brings her here?  Why does she hurry forward to the princess with streaming eyes?  Why does she kneel, raise her hands imploringly, and whisper, “Mercy, Princess Amelia, mercy!”

Amelia rises from her seat, pale and trembling, gazes with widely extended eyes at the kneeling figure, and, almost speechless with terror, asks in low tones, “Who are you, madame?  What do you desire of me?”

The pale woman at her feet cries in heart-rending accents, “I am the mother of the unfortunate Frederick von Trenck, and I come to implore mercy at the hands of your royal highness.  My son attempted to escape, but God did not favor his undertaking.  He was overtaken by misfortune, after having overcome almost all obstacles, when nothing but the palisades separated him from liberty and safety; he was attacked by his pursuers, disarmed, and carried back to prison, wounded and bleeding.” [Footnote:  Trenck’s Biography, i., 80.]

Amelia uttered a cry of horror, and fell back on her seat pale and breathless, almost senseless.  Mademoiselle von Haak took her gently in her arms, and, amid her tears, whispered words of consolation, of sympathy, and of hope.  But Amelia scarcely heeded her; she looked down vacantly upon the pallid, weeping woman who still knelt at her feet.

“Have mercy, princess, have mercy!  You alone can assist me; therefore have I come to you; therefore have I entreated Mademoiselle von Haak with tears until she could no longer refuse to conduct me to your presence.  Regardless, at last, of etiquette and ceremony, she permitted me to fall at your feet, and to cry to you for help.  You are an angel of goodness and mercy; pity an unfortunate mother, who wishes to save her son!”

“And you believe that I can do this?” said Amelia, breathlessly.

“You alone, royal highness, have the power to save my son’s life!”

“Tell me by what means, countess, and I will save him, if it costs my heart’s blood.”

“Conduct me to the king.  That is all that I require of you.  He has not yet been informed of my son’s unfortunate attempt.  I must be the first to bring him this intelligence.  I will confess that it was I who assisted my son in this attempt, who bribed the non-commissioned officer, Nicolai, with flattery and tears, with gold and promises; that it was I who placed the horses and loaded pistols in readiness beyond the outer palisade; that I sent my son the thousand ducats which were found on his person; that I wrote him the letter containing vows of eternal love and fidelity.  The king will pardon a mother who, in endeavoring to liberate her son, left no means of success untried.”

“You are a noble, a generous woman!” exclaimed the princess, with enthusiasm.  “You are worthy to be Trenck’s mother!  You say that I must save him, and you have come to save me!  But I will not accept this sacrifice; I will not be cowardly and timidly silent, when you have the courage to speak.  Let the king know all; let him know that Trenck was not the son, but the lover of her who endeavored to give him his freedom, and that—­”