XV.--THE TRIP TO VIENNA
For some time after this adventure they led a quiet and peaceful life
in the castle. The Knight was deeply touched by his wife's angelic
goodness, so signally displayed by her pursuing and saving them in the
Black Valley, where their lives were threatened by Kuehleborn. Undine
herself was happy in the peace of an approving conscience; besides
that, many a gleam of hope now brightened her path, as her husband's
love and confidence seemed to revive; Bertalda meanwhile was grateful,
modest, and timid, without claiming any merit for being so. If either
of her companions alluded to the sealing up of the fountain, or the
adventures in the Black Valley, she would implore them to spare her on
those subjects, because she could not think of the fountain without a
blush, nor the valley without a shudder. She was therefore told
nothing further; indeed, what would have been the use of enlightening
her? Nothing could add to the peace and happiness which had taken up
their abode in the Castle of Ringstetten; they enjoyed the present in
full security, and the future lay before them, all blooming with fair
fruits and flowers.
The winter had gone by without any interruption to their social
comfort; and spring, with her young green shoots and bright blue
skies, began to smile upon men; their hearts felt light, like the
young season, and from its returning birds of passage, they caught a
fancy to travel. One day as they were walking together near the
sources of the Danube, Huldbrand fell into talk about the glories of
that noble river, how proudly he flowed on, through fruitful lands, to
the spot where the majestic city of Vienna crowned his banks, and how
every mile of his course was marked by fresh grandeur and beauty.
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