PART II.
The spell of this moonlight night mounted to the heads of the two
silent watchers on the balcony like an intoxicating draught, and sent
cold chills down their spines. Almost without being aware what he was
doing, Bergmann offered Ada his arm, which she accepted, leaning
against him with a gentle, clinging movement of her whole figure.
There they stood, letting their dreamy eyes wander over the woods, the
river, and the city. They would have forgotten the castle and the
entertainment had not the subdued notes of the dance music reached them
from the ball-room, whose windows opened upon the balcony on the
opposite side of the facade, filling the night with low harmonies which
were continued in the vibrations of their own nerves.
At this moment the clock in the Marktbreit steeple struck twelve,
directly after the sound of a night watchman's horn was heard, and a
wailing voice, rising in the sleeping streets of the city, called a few
unintelligible words.
"What was that?" Ada whispered.
"The night watchman, according to the custom of the country, called the
hour with a verse," replied Bergmann.
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