She snatched the note from me, read it, and put it
into her bosom. "And now," said Herr Lionardo, "we must hasten to the
castle, where they are all waiting for us. In conclusion, as a matter
of course, and as is fitting for every well-bred romance--discovery,
repentance, reconciliation; but we are all happy together once more,
and the wedding takes place the day after tomorrow!"
Just as he had finished, a terrific racket of drums and trumpets,
horns and clarionets, was suddenly heard in the shrubbery; guns were
fired at intervals, loud cheers were given, the little girls began to
dance again, and heads appeared among the bushes as if they had grown
out of the earth. I ran and leaped about in all the hurry and scurry,
but as it began to grow dark I only gradually recognized all the
faces. The old gardener beat the drum, the students from Prague in
their cloaks played away, and among them the Porter fingered his
bassoon like mad. When I suddenly perceived him thus unexpectedly, I
ran to him and embraced him with enthusiasm, causing him to play quite
out of time. "Upon my word, if he should travel to the ends of
the earth he would never be anything but a goose!" he said to the
students, and then went on blowing away at his bassoon in a fury.
Meanwhile, the lovely Lady fair had privately escaped from all the
noise and confusion, and had fled like a startled fawn far into the
depths of the garden.
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