Perhaps had you given me any great
work to do for your sake I should have done it! Had _you_ inspired
me to achieve some great conquest, either for myself or others, I
should no doubt have conquered! But I have lived for twenty-one years
in your admirable company without being commanded by you to do anything
worthy of a king;--I am now about to command Myself!--in order to leave
some notable trace of my name in history."
While he thus spoke, a faint flush coloured the Queen's cheeks, but it
quickly died away, leaving her very pale. Her fingers strayed among the
great jewels she wore, and toyed unconsciously with a ruby talisman cut
in the shape of a heart, and encircled with diamonds. The King noted
the flash of the gems against the whiteness of her hand, and said:
"Your heart, Madam, is like the jewel you hold!--clear crimson, and
full of fire,--but it is not the fire of Heaven, though you may
perchance judge it to be so. Rather is it of hell!--(I pray you to
pardon me for the roughness of this suggestion!)--for one of the chief
crimes of the devil is unconquerable hatred of the human race. You
share Satan's aversion to man!--and strange indeed it is that even the
most sympathetic companionship with your own sex cannot soften that
aversion! However, we will not go into this;--the years have proved you
true to your own temperament, and there is nothing to be said on the
matter, either of blame or of praise.
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