Margarita blushed a ready autumn of rosy-ripe acquiescence.
'A marriage registered yonder!' said the Kaiser, pointing upward.
'I am thine, murmured Margarita, as Farina drew near her.
'Seal it! seal it!' quoth the Kaiser, in hearty good humour; 'take no
consent from man or maid without a seal.'
Farina tossed the contents of a flask in air, and saluted his beloved on
the lips.
This scene took place near the charred round of earth where the Foulest
descended to his kingdom below.
Men now pervaded Cologne with flasks, purifying the atmosphere. It became
possible to breathe freely.
'We Germans,' said Kaiser Heinrich, when he was again surrounded by his
courtiers, 'may go wrong if we always follow Pfalzgraf Nase; but this
time we have been well led.' Whereat there was obsequious laughter.
The Pfalzgraf pleaded a susceptible nostril.
'Thou art, I fear, but a timid mortal,' said the Kaiser.
'Never have I been found so on the German Field, Imperial Majesty!'
returned the Pfalzgraf. 'I take glory to myself that this Nether reek
overcomes me.
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