Meanwhile, both of Gisela's attendants were no longer trying to hide their panic. The younger of the two, who was still older than their mistress, was speaking this time.
"Princess Gisela, please," she said. "Just wait for your mother to return, we are not enough company for you in there."
"I don't see why not," Gisela replied in a pleasant tone. "Frieda and Captain Helmut were perfectly adequate company for Hilde, weren't they?"
Even though she seemed serious, Gisela said this partly to tease her companions. She understood perfectly well that what she wanted to do was ill-advised, but she found it difficult to stop herself from insisting on it. The funeral rites would take place in a couple of hours—social interactions would be set aside then. There was only this window for mundane min
