Beneath me, in the shady valley, deer bounded fearless from their covert in the wood, following greedily with their eyes the bright figure of that lady who greets with kind and hospitable welcome all who enter the precincts of the castle--men, and all living things.

The repose of evening lay on hill and dale; no sound was heard save the occasional roll of thunder from afar above the bright and cheerful landscape.

On this very evening, leaning against the wall of the ancient castle, your highness gazed with troubled aspect into the gloomy distance.

What my noble prince then said about the conflicts of the last few years, the relaxed and utterly despondent temper of the nation, and the duty of authors, at such a time especially, to show the people, for their encouragement and elevation, as in a mirror, what they are capable of doing--those were golden words, revealing a great grasp of intellect and a warm heart, and their echo will not soon die away in the heart of him who heard them.

It was on that evening the desire awoke within me to grace with your highness's name the work whose plan had been already in my mind.
Nearly two years have passed since then.