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+                               GOLD ELSIE
+
+
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost
+no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
+under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
+eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+
+
+Title: Gold Elsie
+Author: E. Marlitt
+Release Date: March 28, 2013 [EBook #42426]
+Language: English
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOLD ELSIE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines.
+
+
+                               GOLD ELSIE
+
+
+                            FROM THE GERMAN
+                                   OF
+
+
+                               E. MARLITT
+
+                AUTHOR OF "THE OLD MAM’SELLE’S SECRET."
+
+
+
+                                   BY
+                           MRS. A. L. WISTER.
+
+
+
+                             PHILADELPHIA:
+                         J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
+                                 1868.
+
+
+
+
+    Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
+                        J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
+
+In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States in and
+               for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
+
+
+
+
+                               GOLD ELSIE
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER I.
+
+
+It had been snowing all day long,—so steadily that the roofs and
+window-sills were covered deep with spotless white cushions.  And now
+the early twilight fell, bringing with it a wild gust of wind that raged
+among the falling snow-flakes like some bird of prey among a flock of
+peaceful doves.
+
+Although the weather was such that the comfort-loving inhabitants of any
+small town would hardly have sent their dogs out of doors, not to
+mention venturing their own worthy persons, yet there was little
+difference to be seen in the size of the crowd that usually frequents
+the streets of the large Capital, B——, between the hours of six and
+seven in the evening.  The gas lamps were an excellent substitute for
+those heavenly lights which would not make their appearance.  Carriages
+were whirling around corners in such tempestuous haste that many a
+pedestrian rescued life and limb only by a sudden leap aside, while
+curses both loud and deep were hurled after the coachmen enveloped in
+their comfortable furs, and the elegant coaches which contained behind
+their glass doors charmingly dressed women, whose lovely flower-crowned
+heads, as they peeped from among masses of muslin and tulle, certainly
+had no suspicion of the fire and brimstone called down upon them.  In
+the warm atmosphere, behind the huge shop windows, elaborately curled
+and frizzed wax heads, surrounded by blond and black scalps, stared out
+upon the passers-by.  Smiling shopmen displayed their fascinating
+merchandise, and withered old flower-sellers stood among their
+fresh-blooming bouquets, which exhaled beauty and fragrance beneath the
+light of the lamps that shed a brilliant glare upon the slippery
+pavement and upon the flood of human life streaming by, revealing the
+pinched, blue features and the desperately uncomfortable movements of
+all, old and young.
+
+But stay,—not of all!  A female figure has just entered one of the
+principal streets from a narrow by-way.  A small threadbare cloak
+closely envelopes her slender form, and a worn old muff is pressed
+against her breast, confining the ends of a black lace veil, behind
+which two girlish eyes are glowing with the sunlight of early youth.
+They look out joyously into the whistling snow-storm, rest lovingly upon
+the half-open rosebuds and dark purple violets behind the glass panes of
+the shop windows, and only veil their light beneath their long dark
+lashes when sharp hail-stones mingle with the driving snow-flakes.
+
+Whoever has listened while childish fingers, or sometimes fingers no
+longer childish, confidently begin upon the piano a well-known melody,
+which goes bravely on for a few bars, then is arrested by a frightful
+discord followed by a wild grasping after every key on the instrument
+except the correct ones, while the patient teacher sits by, ceasing to
+attempt to evoke order out of chaos by the usual steady marking of the
+time, wearily waiting until the panting melody is seized again and
+carried on with lightning rapidity through several easy bars as over
+some level plain,—whoever has thus had his ears stretched upon the rack,
+can understand the delight with which this young girl, who has just
+given two music lessons in a large school, offers her hot cheek to the
+wind as to an energetic comrade, whose mighty roar can breathe wondrous
+melodies through the pipes of an organ or over the strings of an Æolian
+harp.
+
+Thus she passes lightly and swiftly through the storm and crowd; and I
+do not for an instant doubt that if I should present her now upon this
+slippery pavement to the gentle reader as Fräulein Elizabeth Ferber, she
+would with a lovely smile make him as graceful a courtesy as though they
+both stood in a ball-room.  But this introduction cannot take place,—and
+we really do not need it, for I forthwith intend to relate to the reader
+my heroine’s antecedents.
+
+Baron Wolf von Gnadewitz was the last scion of a famous house whose
+remote ancestry could be traced back into the dubious twilight which
+even preceded that golden age when the travelling merchant, journeying
+through some sequestered pass, was forced to surrender his costly stuffs
+and wares to a knightly banner and shining steel-clad troup of retainers
+as often as to the buff-coated highway adventurer.  From those
+illustrious times there had been handed down, in the crest of the
+Gnadewitzes a wheel, upon which one of these same noble ancestors had
+breathed out his knightly soul in consequence of having spilt rather too
+much ignoble trading-blood in one of the above-mentioned assaults upon
+his merchant prey.
+
+Baron von Gnadewitz, the last of his race, was chamberlain in the
+service of the Prince Royal of X——, and possessor of various orders and
+large estates, as well as of those peculiarities of character and
+disposition which were, in his estimation, befitting the high-born, and
+which he was accustomed to designate as "distinguished," because all
+common men, bound by work-a-day moral considerations, and compelled by
+the stern necessities of life, lose all taste for the inimitable grace
+and elegance of vice.
+
+Baron Wolf von Gnadewitz was as fond of pomp and show as his
+grandfather, who had forsaken the old castle Gnadeck upon a mountain in
+Thuringia, the cradle of his line, and had built him in the valley below
+a perfect fairy palace in the Italian style.  The grandson allowed the
+old castle to fall into decay, while he enlarged and improved the modern
+mansion considerably.  Yes, it seemed as though he entertained not the
+smallest doubt but that his latest descendant would be found occupying
+this favourite palace at the day of judgment, for the old castle was
+quite dismantled in order that the vast chambers of the new abode might
+be thoroughly furnished.  But he reckoned without his host.  Wolf von
+Gnadewitz had a son, ’tis true,—a son who, at twenty years of age, was
+so complete and thorough a Gnadewitz that the illustrious image of his
+ancestor who had perished upon the wheel paled before him.  This
+promising youth one day, upon the occasion of the great autumn hunt in
+the forest, struck one of his whippers-in a fearful blow upon the head
+with the loaded handle of his hunting-whip—a fearful blow, but a
+perfectly just punishment, as every one of the guests invited to the
+hunt declared, for the man had stepped upon the paw of a favourite hound
+so clumsily as to render the animal entirely useless for a whole day.
+And thus it happened that, a short time afterward, Hans von Gnadewitz
+was to be found not only upon the boughs of the genealogical tree in the
+hall of the new castle, but suspended by a rope around his neck to a
+bough of one of the actual trees in the forest.  The beaten whipper-in
+expiated the deed upon the scaffold, but that could not bring the last
+of the Gnadewitzes to life again, for he was dead,—irrevocably dead, the
+physicians said; and the long tale of robber-knights, wild excesses,
+hunting orgies, and horse-racing came to an end.
+
+After this terrible catastrophe, Wolf von Gnadewitz left the castle in
+the valley, and indeed that part of the country, and dwelt upon one of
+his many estates in Silesia.  He took into his house to nurse him a
+young female relative, the last survivor of one of the collateral
+branches of his house. This young relative proved to be a girl of
+angelic beauty, at sight of whom the old baron entirely forgot the
+object for which he had invited her beneath his roof, and at last
+determined to clothe his sixty years in a wedding-garment.  To his
+exceeding indignation, however, he now learned that there might come a
+time, even to a Gnadewitz, when he could no longer be regarded as a
+desirable _parti_, and he fell into a violent rage when his young
+relative confessed that, in utter forgetfulness of her lofty lineage,
+she had given her heart to a bourgeois officer, the son of one of his
+foresters.
+
+The young man possessed no worldly gear, only his sword and a remarkably
+fine manly person; but he was rich in mind, accomplished, amiable in
+disposition, and of stainless character.  When Wolf von Gnadewitz, in
+consequence of Marie’s confession, turned her from his doors, young
+Ferber carried her home with delight as his wife, and for the first ten
+years of their married life would not have exchanged his lot with that
+of any king on earth.  Still less would he have made such an exchange in
+the eleventh year, for that was the eventful 1848; but with it came
+fierce struggles for him, and an entire alteration in his circumstances.
+He was obliged to decide between two duties.  One had been inculcated
+while he was in his cradle by his father, and ran thus: "Love your
+neighbour, and especially your German brother, as yourself;" the other,
+which he had in later years imposed upon himself, commanded him to draw
+the sword in his master’s interest.  In this strife the teachings of his
+childhood conquered entirely.  Ferber refused to draw the sword upon his
+brethren; but his refusal cost him his commission, and with it all
+assured means of subsistence.  He retired from the army, and soon
+afterward, in consequence of a severe cold, was stretched upon a
+sick-bed, which he left only after years of disheartening weakness.  He
+then moved with his family to B——, where he obtained quite a lucrative
+situation as bookkeeper in an extensive mercantile establishment.  It
+was high time, for his wife’s small property had been lost shortly
+before by the failure of a bank, and the remittances of money which came
+to the distressed family from time to time from Ferber’s elder and only
+brother, a forester in Thuringia, were all that kept them from extreme
+poverty.
+
+Unluckily this good fortune was of short duration. Ferber’s chief was a
+pietist of the most severe description, and spared no one in his zeal
+for proselytism.  His efforts to convert Ferber to his own narrow dogmas
+were met by such quiet but decided resistance, that the pious spirit of
+the saintly Herr Hagen was seized with holy horror.  Remorse at the
+thought of affording protection and subsistence to such an avowed
+free-thinker, gave him no peace by night or by day, until he had freed
+himself from such a burden of guilt, by a note of dismissal, which
+banished the tainted sheep from his fold.
+
+About the same time Wolf von Gnadewitz went home to his ancestors, and
+as during his earthly career he had strictly conformed to the Gnadewitz
+custom of leaving no insult, fancied or otherwise: unavenged, no
+worthier conclusion to his life could be found than the will which he
+drew up with his own hands shortly before he descended into the narrow
+chamber of lead which was to contain for all futurity his noble bones.
+
+This manly document, which constituted sole heir to his large estates a
+distant relative of his wife’s, concluded with the following codicil:
+
+"In consideration of the undeniable claim which she has upon my
+property, I bequeath to Anna Marie Ferber, born von Gnadewitz, the
+castle of Gnadeck in the mountains in Thuringia.  Anna Marie Ferber will
+understand my benevolent intention in her behalf in leaving to her a
+mansion crowded with memories of the noble race to which she once
+belonged.  In full remembrance and consideration of the good fortune and
+many blessings which have always hovered above this ancient pile, I hold
+it entirely superfluous to increase my legacy further. But if Anna Marie
+Ferber, blind to the value of my gift, should wish to sell or exchange
+it in any way, her right to it must be abdicated in favour of the orphan
+asylum of L——."
+
+And thus, with the utterance of a biting satire, Wolf von Gnadewitz
+betook himself to his funeral bed of state. Ferber and his wife had
+indeed never seen the old castle, but it was notoriously a crumbling
+heap of ruins, which the hand of improvement had not touched for fifty
+years, and which, when the modern abode in the valley was completed, had
+been stripped of furniture, tapestries, and, in the case of the main
+building, even of the metallic roofing.
+
+Since that time the ponderous oaken door of the principal entrance had
+remained closed, and the dusty, rusty bolts and bars had never once been
+withdrawn.  The huge forest trees which were growing before it spread
+abroad their mighty branches, and drooped them among the thick brushwood
+at their feet, so that the deserted castle lay behind the green
+impenetrable wall like a coffined mummy.
+
+The lucky heir, who was greatly annoyed by seeing so large a part of his
+woodland possessions in stranger hands, would gladly have purchased the
+old castle at a high price, but the cunning clause at the conclusion of
+the codicil forbade any such transaction.
+
+Frau Ferber laid the copy of the will which had been sent her, and upon
+which there dropped from her eyes a few tears of regret, upon her
+husband’s desk, and then took up her work,—some delicate
+embroidery,—with redoubled, almost feverish industry.  In spite of his
+exertions Ferber had been unable to procure another situation, and was
+now doing his best to maintain his family by translating, a labour but
+poorly paid, and even by copying law papers, while his wife eked out
+their scanty means by the proceeds of her needle, which she plied night
+and day.
+
+But dark as were the heavens above the struggling pair, one star rose
+quietly among the black clouds and seemed not unlikely to indemnify them
+by its radiance for all the storms with which fickle fortune had
+overwhelmed them.  A presentiment of this gentle light which was to beam
+upon his gloomy path possessed Ferber when he stood for the first time
+beside the cradle of his first-born, a daughter, and gazed into the
+lovely eyes which smiled upon him from the baby face.  All Frau Ferber’s
+friends had been unanimously of opinion that the little girl was a
+charming creature, a wonderfully gifted child; indeed, they had declared
+it did not look in the least like an ordinary baby, did not appear to
+belong to the class of miserable little wretches, who, red as lobsters,
+seem determined to scream their way through the world; but,—here they
+had broken off; and it was intimated that were it not for fear of the
+sneers of their liege lords, and the utterly prosaic tendencies of the
+nineteenth century, they should certainly suspect that some benevolent
+fairy had been at work in this case.
+
+They contended as to who should be so far favoured as to hold the little
+creature at the baptismal font, and should show the deepest tenderness
+for the little god-daughter, declaring that the day of her baptism could
+never be effaced from their remembrance; but this demand upon their
+memories was altogether too great, for when Ferber fell into
+difficulties, selfishness passed its finger over the recorded day, and
+no trace of it remained in their minds.
+
+This change, which little Elizabeth experienced in the ninth year of her
+existence, disturbed her not at all.  Her probable fairy protectress
+had, in addition to other rich gifts, endowed her in her cradle with an
+invincible joyousness of temperament and great force of will; so she
+took from her mother’s hand her scanty evening meal as gratefully and
+gaily as she had once received the inexhaustible delicacies presented to
+her by admiring god-parents; and when on Christmas-eve the room was
+adorned only by a poor little Christmas-tree hung with a few apples and
+gilded nuts, the child did not seem to remember the time when friends
+had crowded around to deck its boughs with all imaginable toys.
+
+Ferber educated his daughter himself.  She never attended a school of
+any kind, an omission in her training which cannot, unfortunately, in
+the present age, be regarded as anything but an advantage, when we see
+how many young girls leave school with far more knowledge upon some
+subjects than is at all desirable or pleasing to the anxious mother, who
+strives at home to preserve unsoiled her child’s purity of mind and
+heart, and often does not dream how her tender care is made of no avail
+by the taint which one impure nature in the school will communicate, and
+which may perhaps colour an entire after-life.
+
+Elizabeth’s pliant mind was finely developed beneath the control of her
+gifted parents.  Thoroughly to understand the study which occupied her,
+and to appropriate its results in such a manner as to make them
+inalienably her own were duties which she most conscientiously
+fulfilled.  But she gave herself to the study of music with an ardor
+that inspires a human being only when engaged in a pursuit felt to be
+especially his own.  She soon far outstripped her mother, who was her
+instructress, and as when a child she would often leave her playthings
+if she saw a cloud upon her father’s brow, to sit on his knee and divert
+him with some tale of wonder, thus, as a girl, she would charm away the
+demon of gloom from her father’s mind by strange and delicious melodies
+which lay like pearls in the depths of her soul, until she brought them
+to light for the first time for his relief and enjoyment.  And this was
+not the only blessing springing from her rare talent for music.  The
+exquisite touch upon the piano, in the garret in which the family lived,
+attracted the attention of several of the more aristocratic inhabitants
+of the house, and Elizabeth soon had two or three pupils in music, and
+had lately been employed in a large school as teacher of the piano, thus
+sensibly increasing the means of subsistence of the family.
+
+Here let us resume the thread of our story, and we shall not shrink, I
+hope, from the trouble that we must take in following our heroine
+through the wet streets upon this stormy evening to her home and her
+parents.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Even during the long walk through the streets, alternately straight and
+crooked, gloomy and bright, Elizabeth enjoyed in imagination the
+delicious sensation of comfort that the sight of the cosey room at home
+always caused her.  There sat her father at his writing-table with its
+little study-lamp, ready to raise his pale face with a smile when
+Elizabeth entered.  He would take his pen, which had been travelling so
+busily over the paper for hours, in his left hand, and with his right
+draw his daughter down beside him to kiss her forehead.  Her mother,
+who, with her work-basket at her feet, usually sat close beside her
+husband that she might share the light of his study-lamp, would welcome
+her with tender loving eyes, and point to Elizabeth’s slippers, which
+her care had placed by the stove to warm.  Upon the stove apples would
+be roasting with a cheering hiss, and in the warm corner beside it was
+the sofa-table, where the tea-kettle would be singing merrily above its
+spirit-lamp, whose weak, blue light illumined the regiment of tin
+soldiers, which her only brother, Ernst, a child six years of age, was
+busily drilling.
+
+Elizabeth mounted to the fourth story before she reached the dark,
+narrow passage which led to her father’s rooms.  Here she hastily took
+off her bonnet and placed upon her lovely fair hair a boy’s cap, trimmed
+with fur, which she drew from under her cloak.  Then she entered the
+room, where little Ernst ran toward her with a shout of joy.
+
+But this evening the light shone from the sofa-table in the usually dark
+corner by the stove, while the writing-table was left neglected in the
+gloom.  Her father sat upon the sofa, with his arm around her mother’s
+waist; there was a joyous light upon the countenances of both, and,
+although her mother had evidently been weeping, Elizabeth instantly
+perceived that her tears had been tears of joy.  She stood still upon
+the threshold of the door in great astonishment, and must have presented
+a most comical appearance with the child’s cap surmounting her amazed
+countenance, for both father and mother laughed aloud.  Elizabeth gaily
+joined in their laughter, and placed the fur cap upon her little
+brother’s dark curls.
+
+"There, my darling," she said, tenderly taking his rosy face between her
+hands and kissing it, "that is yours; and there is still something left
+to help on your housekeeping, mother dear," she continued, with a happy
+smile, as she handed her mother four shining thalers.  "They gave me my
+first five thalers of salary at school to-day."
+
+"But, Elsbeth," said her mother, with the tears in her eyes, as she drew
+her down to kiss her, "Ernst’s last year’s cap is still quite
+respectable, and you needed a pair of warm winter gloves much more."
+
+"I, mother? just feel my hands; although I have been in the street for
+an hour almost, they are as warm as if I had been holding them before
+the fire.  No; new gloves would be a most superfluous luxury.  Our boy
+is growing taller and stouter, and his cap has not kept pace with him;
+so I consider the cap a necessary expense."
+
+"Ah, you good sister!" cried the child with delight; "even the little
+baron on the first story has not such a charming cap as this.  How fine
+it will look when I go hunting, hey, papa?"
+
+"Hunting!" laughed Elizabeth; "are you going to shoot the unfortunate
+sparrows in the Thiergarten?"
+
+"Oh, what a miserable guesser you are, Madam Elsie!" the boy rejoined,
+gleefully.  "In the Thiergarten, indeed!" he added, more seriously;
+"that would be pretty sport. No, in the forest,—the real forest,—where
+the deer and hares are so thick that you don’t even have to take aim
+when you want to shoot them."
+
+"I should like to hear what your uncle would say to this view of the
+noble chase," said his father with a smile, taking up a letter from the
+table and handing it to Elizabeth.
+
+"Read this, my child," said he; "it is from your ’forester uncle,’ as
+you call him, in Thuringia."
+
+Elizabeth glanced over the first few lines, and then read aloud:
+
+"The prince, who sometimes prefers a dish of bacon and sauerkraut at my
+table to the best efforts of his French cook in the castle of L——,
+passed several hours with me at my lodge yesterday.  He was very
+condescending, and informed me that he purposed employing an assistant
+forester, or rather forester’s clerk, for he saw that my duties were too
+onerous.  I seized upon my opportunity,—the game was within shot, and if
+I missed I had nothing to lose but a couple of charges fired into the
+air; now was my time.
+
+"So I told him how the jade, fortune, had played the very devil with you
+for this many a year, and how, in spite of your fine talents and
+acquirements, poverty had knocked at your door.  My old master knew well
+what I was driving at, for I spoke, as I always do, in good German. Thus
+far in my life every one has understood what I had to say.  It is only
+the fops and fools of his court who fawn around him, who would persuade
+him that good, honest German is too coarse for royal ears, and that he
+must always be addressed in French.  Well, my old master said that he
+would like to offer you this situation as forester’s clerk, because he
+thought that with regard to myself,—and here he said a couple of things
+that you need not hear, but which delighted me,—old fellow as I
+am,—quite as much as when in old times, upon examination-day, the
+schoolmaster used to say, ’Carl, you have done yourself credit to-day.’
+Well, his highness has commissioned me to write to you, and he will
+arrange matters. Three hundred and fifty thalers salary, and your fuel.
+Now think it over; it is not so poor an offer, and the green forest is a
+thousand times pleasanter than your confounded attics, where the
+neighbours’ cats are forever squalling, and where your eyes are blinded
+by the smoke of a million chimneys.
+
+"You must not think that I am one of those wheedling, parasitical
+fellows who use their master’s favour to benefit all their own kith and
+kin.  No; I can tell you that if you were not what you are, that is, if
+you were not really talented and well educated, I would bite my tongue
+out before I would recommend you to my master; and, on the other side, I
+should always try to secure in his service such an honest, capable
+fellow as yourself. No offence; you know I always like a plain statement
+of a plain case.
+
+"But there is another matter to be considered.  You ought to live with
+me, and it could be very easily arranged if you were a bachelor, whom
+four walls would content, with a chest for his solitary wardrobe.  But,
+unfortunately, there is no possible room in my lonely old rat’s-hole of
+a forest-lodge for an entire family.  It is in rather a tumble-down
+condition, and has needed a doctor for some time, but I suppose the
+authorities will do nothing for it until the old balconies come
+crumbling about my ears.  The nearest village is half a league, and the
+nearest town a league from the lodge; you cannot possibly walk these
+distances every day, in the miserable weather that we have here
+sometimes.
+
+"Now old Sabina, my housekeeper, who was born in the nearest village,
+has made a wild suggestion which I herewith impart to you.  Old castle
+Gnadeck, the deceased Baron Gnadewitz’s brilliant legacy to you, is, as
+I have told you, situated at about a rifle’s shot distance from the
+lodge.  Well, Sabina says that when she was a strong hearty girl,—which,
+by the way, must have been something beyond a quarter of a century
+ago,—she was a chambermaid in the Gnadewitz household.  Then the new
+castle was not entirely furnished, and did not suffice to contain the
+crowd of guests yearly invited to the great hunt.  And so part of the
+building connecting the two principal wings of the old castle was
+somewhat repaired and furnished.  Sabina had to make and air the beds
+and attend to the rooms, to her great terror, and no wonder,—her old
+brain is perfectly crammed with all sorts of witch and ghost
+stories,—for the rest she is a most respectable person, and rules my
+household with a steady rein.
+
+"She maintains most firmly that this part of the castle cannot be in a
+crumbling condition, for it was then in an excellent state of
+preservation, and would, she is sure, afford a capital shelter for you
+and yours.  May be she is right; but are your children bold enough to
+brave the ghostly inhabitants that are said to haunt those old walls?
+
+"You know how vexed I was about your worthless legacy, and that I have
+never once been able, since the death of the sainted Wolf von Gnadewitz,
+to induce myself to visit the old ruin.  But after hearing Sabina’s tale
+yesterday afternoon, I made one of my men climb a tree which stood upon
+the only spot which could give you a glimpse into the robber’s nest, and
+he declared that everything had fallen into decay there.  And this
+morning I have been to the authorities in the town, but they would not
+give me the keys of the castle without special permission from your
+wife, and made, besides, as much fuss about it as if the treasures of
+Golconda lay hid in the mouldy old rooms.  None of those who placed the
+seals upon the doors could tell me what sort of a place it was, for they
+never entered it, under the impression that the ceiling might fall and
+dash out their prudent brains, but contented themselves with placing a
+dozen official seals as large as your hand upon the principal entrance
+door. I should very much like to investigate matters with you, so pray
+decide quickly and start with your family as soon as possible."
+
+Here Elizabeth dropped the letter and looked with sparkling eyes at her
+father.
+
+"Well, how have you decided, father dear?" she asked hastily.
+
+"Ah," he replied gravely, "it is quite a hard task to tell you our
+resolution, for I see by your face that you would not for the world
+exchange this gay populous city for the loneliness and quiet of the
+Thuringian forest. Still, you must know that my application to the
+Prince of L—— for the place in question lies sealed in that envelope.
+However, it is only reasonable that your wishes should be consulted in
+some degree, and we can be induced to leave you here in case——"
+
+"Ah, no; if Elizabeth will not go I would rather stay here, too,"
+interrupted the little boy, clinging anxiously to his sister.
+
+"Never fear, my darling," she said to him with a laugh; "I shall find a
+place in the carriage, and if I could not, you know I am as bold as a
+soldier, and can run like a hare. My longing for the greenwood, which
+has been the fairy-land of my imagination ever since I was a very little
+child, shall be my compass, and I shall get along bravely.  What will
+papa do when, some evening, a weary way-worn traveller, with ragged
+shoes and empty pockets, prays for admission at the gate of the old
+castle?"
+
+"Ah, then, indeed, we must admit you," said her father, smiling, "if we
+would not draw down upon our crumbling roof the hostility of all good
+spirits who protect courage and innocence.  But you will have to pass by
+the old castle if you wish to find us, and knock at some modest peasant
+hut in the valley, for the ruined old pile will scarcely afford us an
+asylum."
+
+"I am afraid not, indeed," said his wife.  "We shall work our way
+laboriously through wild hedges and thick underbrush, like the
+unfortunate suitors of the Sleeping Beauty, to find at last——"
+
+"Poetry itself!" cried Elizabeth.  "Why, the first delicious bloom will
+be brushed from our woodland life if we cannot live in the old castle!
+Certainly there must be four sound walls and a whole roof in some one of
+its old towers, and with heads to plan and strong willing hands to
+execute, the rest can be very easily arranged. We will stop up cracks
+with moss, nail boards over doorways that have lost their doors, and
+paper our four walls ourselves; we can cover the worm-eaten floors with
+homemade straw mats; declare war to the death upon the gray-coated,
+four-footed little thieves who would invade our larder, and soon banish
+all cobwebs by a good broom skilfully wielded."
+
+With glowing looks, quite carried away by her dreams of the future home
+in the fresh green forest, she went to the piano and opened it.  It was
+an old, worn-out instrument, whose hoarse, weak tones harmonized
+perfectly with its shabby exterior; but, nevertheless, beneath
+Elizabeth’s fingers Mendelssohn’s song, "Through the dark green Forest,"
+rang deliciously through the little room.
+
+Her parents sat quietly listening.  Little Ernst dropped asleep.
+Without, the howling of the storm was lulled, but the snow was driving
+noiselessly past the uncurtained window in huge flakes.  The opposite
+chimneys, no longer smoking, had put on thick white night-caps, and
+looked stiffly and coldly, like peevish old age, into the little attic
+room, which enclosed, in the midst of the snow-storm, a perfect spring
+of joy and gaiety within its four walls.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Whitsuntide!  A word that will thrill with its magic the human soul as
+long as trees burst into leaf, larks soar trilling aloft, and clear
+spring skies laugh above us.  A word which can awaken an echo of spring
+in hearts encrusted with selfishness and greed of gain, chilled by the
+snows of age, or deadened by grief and care.
+
+Whitsuntide is at hand.  A gentle breeze flutters over the Thuringian
+mountains, and brushes from their brows the last remains of the snow
+which whirls mistily into the air and leaves its old abiding-place in
+the guise of luminous spring clouds.  Freed from their wintry garments,
+the mountains deck their rugged brows with wreaths of young strawberry
+vines and bilberries.  In the valley below, the rippling trout-stream is
+flowing forth from the dark forest directly across the flower-strewn
+meadow.
+
+The lonely saw-mill is clacking merrily, while its low thatched roof
+shines white with the fallen blossoms of the sheltering fruit trees.
+
+Before the windows of the scattered huts of the wood-cutters and of the
+villagers many an accomplished bullfinch was singing in his little cage
+the airs which were the fruits of a course of instruction in high art,
+daring the winter in the hot, close room of his master.  And his
+brothers in the forest were trilling wilder but far sweeter lays, for
+their little throats inhaled the clear air of freedom.
+
+Where, a few weeks before, the melted snow had foamed down from the
+mountain tops in a bed created by its own torrent, beautiful moss was
+now weaving a soft carpet, that would soon quite conceal the scarred
+breast of the mountain, while here and there, through the thick green
+the silver thread of some little stream glittered in the sunlight.
+
+Upon the highway running through a charming valley of the Thuringian
+forest the Ferbers were travelling, in a well-packed carriage, toward
+their new home.  It was very early in the morning; the bell from a
+distant church-tower had just tolled the hour of three, wherefore only
+the shabby old sign-post by the roadside and a herd of stately stags
+were permitted the sight of a happy face that looked upon this lovely
+forest for the first time.
+
+Elizabeth leaned far out of the window of the dark carriage, and inhaled
+deep draughts of the invigorating air, which she maintained had already
+cleared away from her eyes and lungs all the dust of the city.  Ferber
+sat opposite, sunk in thought.  He too was refreshed by the beauty and
+tender grace of the forest; but he was more deeply moved by the delight
+in the eyes of his child, who was so susceptible to the charms of nature
+and so unspeakably grateful for the change in their circumstances. How
+busy her hands had been since the Royal answer to Ferber’s application
+for the new office had been received! There had been much to do.  She
+had shared faithfully in all the cares which their departure from the
+city brought upon her parents.  It is true the prince had sent his new
+official a considerable sum of money for travelling expenses, and the
+forester uncle, too, had shown his usual generosity; but with the
+greatest economy it did not suffice, and therefore Elizabeth had
+employed every hour which she usually had for recreation in sewing for a
+large ready-made linen establishment,—occupying herself thus with her
+needle for many a night, after her unsuspecting parents were sleeping
+soundly.
+
+There had been one bitter experience amid all the busy hurry, which had
+cost the young girl many tears.  She had seen her dear piano borne off
+upon the shoulders of two strong men to its new possessor.  It had to be
+sold for a few thalers, because it was old and frail,—too frail to be
+transported to the new home.  Ah, it had been so true a friend to the
+family!  Its thin, quavering voice had sounded in Elizabeth’s ears
+tender and dear as the voice of her mother.  And now, probably,
+unfeeling children would thrum upon its venerable keys, and tease the
+old instrument to speak more strongly, until it should be mute forever.
+But this sorrow was past, and lay behind her, with much beside which she
+had sacrificed and endured silently; and as she sat looking out into the
+morning twilight, with eyes sparkling with delight,—eyes that seemed to
+read behind the misty veil of the dawn all kinds of brilliant prophecies
+for the future,—who could have discerned in that figure, glowing with
+the elasticity of youth, one trace of the fatigue of the last busy
+weeks?
+
+For another half hour the travellers drove along the smooth, level
+highway, and then turned aside into the thick forest by a well-kept
+carriage-road.  The sun was just rising in the eastern sky, and shot his
+rays upon the earth in splendid amazement at the diamonds with which she
+had adorned herself during his absence.  In the night a heavy shower had
+come up, much rain had fallen, and the large drops were still hanging
+upon twig and leaf, falling pattering upon the roof of the carriage
+whenever the postillion touched one of the overarching boughs with his
+whip.  What a glorious forest!  From the thick underbrush at their feet
+the trees reared their colossal trunks, and above, their boughs
+intertwined in a fraternal embrace as though determined to defend their
+peaceful, quiet home from light and air as from two deadly enemies. Only
+here and there a slender, green-tinted sunbeam would slip from bough to
+bough down upon the feathery grass and the little strawberry-blossoms,
+sprinkled everywhere like snow-flakes, even laying their little white
+heads impertinently upon the road.
+
+After a short drive the wood grew less dense, and soon the retired Lodge
+appeared in the midst of a meadow in the heart of the forest.  The
+postillion sounded his horn. A tremendous barking of dogs was heard; and
+with a loud whirr a large flock of doves soared, terrified, into the air
+from the pointed gable of the house.
+
+A man in a hunting uniform was standing at the open door,—a gigantic
+figure, with a huge beard that almost covered his breast.  He shaded his
+eyes with his hands as he looked keenly at the approaching carriage, but
+suddenly running down the steps, he tore open the door, and threw his
+arms around Ferber, as the latter sprang out. For one instant the
+brothers stood in a close embrace; then the forester gently released the
+slender figure of the younger, and, holding him by the shoulder at arm’s
+length, gazed searchingly into his pale worn countenance.
+
+"Poor Adolph!" he said at last, and his deep voice trembled with
+emotion.  "Has fate brought you to this? But wait awhile, we will have
+you sound and well again; it is not too late.  A thousand welcomes to
+you!  And now let us stick together until the last great trumpet call,
+when we shall not be asked whether we will stay together or not."
+
+He tried to master his emotion, and helped his sister-in-law and little
+Ernst, whom he embraced and kissed, to descend from the carriage.
+
+"Well," said he, "you must have been knocked up at an early hour, I must
+say, and that’s hardly the thing for women."
+
+"What can you be thinking of, uncle?" cried Elizabeth. "We are no
+slug-a-beds, and know exactly how the sun looks when he says good
+morning to the world."
+
+"Halloa!" cried the forester with a laugh of surprise. "Who is that
+quarrelling with me in the corner of the carriage?  Come out instantly,
+little one."
+
+"I, little?  Well, sir, you will be finely surprised when I do get out
+and you see what a tall, stately maiden I am!"
+
+With these words Elizabeth sprang down from the high carriage and stood
+on tiptoe, drawing herself up to her full height beside him.  But
+although her slender, graceful figure was something above middle size,
+she seemed at this moment like a pretty king-bird measuring itself with
+an eagle.
+
+"Look," she said, in a rather disappointed tone, "I am nearly up to your
+shoulder, and that is more than tall enough for a respectable girl."
+
+Her uncle, holding himself as erect as possible, looked down upon her
+with a roguish smile of great self-satisfaction for a moment, then
+suddenly picked her up in his arms as though she had been a feather, and
+amid the laughter of the others carried her into the house, calling in a
+voice of thunder—
+
+"Sabina, Sabina, come here, and I will show you how the wrens look in
+B——."
+
+He put his terrified burden down in the hall as gently and carefully as
+though he were handling some brittle plaything, took her head tenderly
+between his large hands, kissed her forehead again and again, and said,
+"That such a queen of Liliput, such a moonshine elf, should dream of
+being as large as her tall uncle!  But, forest fairy as you are, you
+know all about the sun, for your head is covered with its beams."
+
+As she was carried into the house upon her uncle’s arm the girl’s hat
+had fallen from her head, revealing a mass of fair hair, the golden
+colour of which was all the more remarkable as her delicately pencilled
+eyebrows and long lashes were coal black.
+
+In the mean while an old woman entered from a side door, and at the head
+of the first flight of stairs several boyish faces appeared, which,
+however, vanished as soon as they found themselves perceived by the
+forester.  "Oh, you need not run away," he cried, laughing.  "I have
+seen you peeping.  They are my assistants," he turned to his brother;
+"the fellows are as curious as sparrows, and to-day I really cannot
+blame them," and he glanced archly at Elizabeth, who, standing aside,
+was binding her loosened braids around her head.  Then he took the old
+woman by the hand and presented her, with an air of comical solemnity:
+"Fräulein Sabina Holzin, Minister of the Interior to the Forest Lodge,
+High Constable in all stable and farm affairs, and to every one therein
+concerned, and, lastly, absolute monarch in the kitchen department.
+While she is putting the dinner on the table do just as she tells you,
+and all will go well with you; but, if she begins with her stock of old
+proverbs and ghost stories, get out of her way as quickly as possible,
+for there is no end to them.  And now,"—he turned to the smiling old
+woman, who was a miracle of ugliness, and who yet prepossessed all in
+her favour by her honest eyes, by an expression of roguery and fun that
+lighted up her face, and especially by the spotless cleanliness of her
+attire,—"now bring us as quickly as you can whatever pantry and cellar
+will afford: I know you baked our Whitsuntide cakes earlier than usual,
+that our travellers might have something to refresh them after their
+fatigue."
+
+With these words he opened the door opposite to the one from the kitchen
+through which the old woman disappeared, and showed his guests into a
+large apartment with bow-windows.  But Elizabeth lingered behind,
+looking through the door which led into the court-yard, for, between the
+white picket fences which shut in the feathered tribes on each side of
+the enclosure, she saw gay beds of flowers, while three or four
+late-blossoming apple trees stretched their rosy bloom-laden branches
+over one corner of the space.  The garden was large, climbing a short
+distance up the mountain side by terraces, and even enclosing within its
+realm a beautiful group of old beeches, outlying members of the forest.
+While Elizabeth, entranced, stood thus in the hall, the door of a side
+wing of the house opened and a young girl stepped out into the
+court-yard.  She was strikingly beautiful, although her figure was
+rather diminutive, a defect for which nature had seemed to wish to
+indemnify her by gifting her with a pair of large eyes that glowed like
+dazzling black suns.  Her abundant dark hair was arranged evidently with
+an eye to coquettish effect, and several charmingly curled locks had
+escaped just above the pale forehead.  Her dress, too, although of
+simple material, betrayed in its arrangement the greatest care, and the
+observer could not but suspect that the skirt was so artistically looped
+not merely that the hem might be kept from the dust, but also with an
+eye to the neat little boot which it revealed, and which certainly was
+not made to be hidden beneath the heavy woollen stuff of the dress.
+
+She had in her hand a bowl full of grain, and threw a handful upon the
+stones at her feet.  A great noise ensued; the doves fluttered down from
+the roof, the fowls left their roosts and nests with loud cacklings, and
+the watch-dog felt it his duty to assist in the universal clamour by
+barking loudly.
+
+Elizabeth was astonished.  It is true, her uncle had been married, but
+he never had any children, as she knew; who then was this young girl, of
+whom no mention had been made in his letter?  She descended the steps
+that led to the court-yard, and approached the stranger: "Do you live at
+the Lodge?" she asked, kindly.
+
+The black eyes were riveted searchingly upon her for one moment, with a
+look of unmistakable surprise, then an expression of annoyance flitted
+across her delicate lips, which closed more tightly than before; the
+eyelids fell over the glittering eyes, and she turned silently away, as
+though entirely unconscious of the presence or address of any one, and
+continued feeding the fowls with the grain.
+
+Just then Sabina passed through the hall with the coffee-tray.  She
+beckoned confidentially to Elizabeth, who stood amazed, and, when she
+drew near, bade her follow her into the house, saying: "Come, child, you
+can do nothing with her."
+
+In the sitting-room, Elizabeth found all as comfortable and happy as if
+they had lived together for years.  Her mother was sitting in a large
+arm-chair, which the forester had pushed near a window that commanded a
+lovely view down one of the vistas of the forest.  A large striped cat
+had sprung confidingly into her lap, where it was purring with
+satisfaction beneath the small hand that was gently stroking it.  And
+for little Ernst, the four walls of the room were a perfect museum of
+all imaginable curiosities.  He had climbed into one chair after
+another, and was then standing in speechless admiration before a glass
+case containing a gorgeous collection of butterflies.  The two men were
+seated, side by side, upon the lounge, in deep consultation concerning
+the future abode of the family, and, as Elizabeth entered, she heard her
+uncle say, "Well, if the old ruin on the mountain cannot afford you
+shelter, you must stay here with me.  I can move my writing-table and
+all my other matters out of your way for awhile, and then I will besiege
+the authorities in the town until they consent to add another story to
+the right wing of my old house."
+
+Elizabeth took off her travelling cloak, and assisted old Sabina to set
+the table.  The first shadow had fallen upon the enjoyment that had
+filled her soul.  Never before had any advance of hers been met with
+unkindness.  That she owed this exemption from the ill humour of others
+to her beauty, the charm of her manner, and the childlike purity of her
+nature, which exercised an unconscious influence upon all around her,
+had never occurred to her. She had taken it for granted that she should
+experience only kindness from all, since she was conscious of meaning
+well by all the world.  Her disappointment at the repulse was all the
+greater, because the sight of a young girl of about her own age had
+caused her such surprise and joy; and the beautiful face of the stranger
+had interested her deeply.  The studied arrangement of the girl’s dress
+had not struck her, as she herself had never yet known the desire of
+heightening her attractions by the aids of the toilet.  Her father and
+mother had always assured her that no time spent in the cultivation of
+mind and heart was lost, and that if they were what they should be, her
+exterior could never be unattractive, whatever might be the form with
+which nature had endowed her.
+
+The thoughtful expression of Elizabeth’s face did not escape her
+mother’s notice.  She called her to her, and her daughter began an
+account of the meeting; but at the first words the forester turned
+towards her.  A deep wrinkle appeared between his bushy eyebrows, and
+made his face dark and gloomy.
+
+"Indeed," he said, "have you seen her already?  Well, then, let me tell
+you who and what she is.  I took her into my house some years ago, that
+she might assist Sabina in her housekeeping.  She is a distant relative
+of my deceased wife, and has no parents, brothers nor sisters. I wished
+to do good, but I have provided myself with a perpetual
+scourge,—although I do not deserve it. She had not been here a month
+before I discovered that she had not a single healthy thought in her
+entire composition; she is a mass of exaggerated ideas and inconceivable
+arrogance.  I had half a mind to send her back to the place she came
+from, but Sabina, who has still less cause than I to love her, entreated
+me not to do it. Why, I cannot tell, for the girl gave her a great deal
+of trouble, and was insolent.  I did all I could to tame her haughty
+spirit by giving her regular duties to perform, and for awhile matters
+went on pretty well.  But about a year ago a certain Baroness Lessen
+came to live over at Lindhof,—that is the name of the former Gnadewitz
+property, which the heir-at-law sold to a Herr von Walde. The possessor
+himself, who has neither wife nor child, is a kind of antiquary, travels
+a great deal, and leaves his only sister under the charge of the
+aforesaid baroness, more’s the pity, for she turns everything upside
+down.  Years ago, when I used to hear great piety spoken of, all my
+veneration was excited, and I wished at least to take my cap off; but
+now, when I hear of such things, I clench my fist and pull my hat down
+over my eyes, for the world has greatly changed.  The Baroness Lessen
+belongs to those pious souls who grow cruel, hard, and narrow-minded out
+of what they call pure fear of the Lord; who persecute a fellow-creature
+who does not cast his eyes down hypocritically, but lifts them to heaven
+where God dwells, as persistently as a hound hunts down game.  This is
+the herd to which my excellent niece belongs; there could not be a
+better soil for all the weeds that her brain generates, and all sorts of
+annoyances are the consequence.  She made acquaintance with a
+lady’s-maid over there, and spent all her leisure time with her. At
+first I was content enough, until all at once she began with her
+plans,—for our conversion, as she calls it. Sabina was a miserable
+sinner, because she would not leave off work, at least ten times a day,
+to pray; the poor old thing, who never misses church every Sunday at
+Lindhof, even through wind and rain, and often with rheumatism racking
+her old bones, and who has lived a faithful, laborious life, infinitely
+more religious than sixty years of idleness spent upon her knees.  And
+then my fine moralist attacked me; but there she found her match, and
+contented herself with a single effort.  Then I forbade all intercourse
+with Lindhof; but my prohibition was of little use, for whenever my back
+is turned she takes occasion to slip over there.  Of course, there can
+be no question of any gratitude towards me; I have no bond of union with
+her as her guardian, and that makes my task of guiding and guarding her
+doubly difficult.  God only knows what insane idea has taken possession
+of her now, but for two months she has been perfectly dumb, not only
+here at home, but everywhere.  For that space of time not a single word
+has passed her lips.  Neither sternness nor gentle entreaty produces the
+slightest effect upon her.  She attends to her duties just as she used
+to do, eats and drinks like every one else, and is not one whit less
+vain or wise in her own conceit.  But because she grew pale, and did not
+look very well, I consulted a physician, who had formerly known her,
+with regard to her health.  He assured me that her physical health was
+excellent, and advised that she should be treated with gentle firmness,
+as the minds of several of her family had previously been somewhat
+affected.  He said, too, that she would grow tired of her entire
+silence, and would begin talking some fine day like a magpie.  I am
+content to wait; but in the mean time it is a sore trial to me. All my
+life I have longed to have happy faces around me, and would rather eat
+bread and salt with cheerful people than the costliest dainties with
+morose companions.  Come, my Fair one with the golden locks," he
+concluded, stroking Elizabeth’s head with his huge hand, "push your
+mother’s arm-chair up to the table, tie a napkin round the neck of that
+little rogue who is staring his eyes out at my case of rifles, and let
+us breakfast together, for you all need repose, and must rest your weary
+limbs after your long journey.  After dinner we must begin to think of
+Castle Gnadeck; but first strengthen your eyes with a little sleep, lest
+they should be dazzled by the splendour which will flash upon them up
+there."
+
+After breakfast, while her father and mother were asleep and little
+Ernst was dreaming in a large bed of the wonders of the forest-lodge,
+Elizabeth unpacked in the upper room, which her uncle had resigned to
+her, all that was necessary for the coming night.  She would not for the
+world have gone to sleep.  She went repeatedly to the window and looked
+across to the wooded mountain which arose behind the lodge.  There,
+above the tops of the trees, she could see a black streak, which stood
+out distinctly against the clear blue sky.  That was, as old Sabina
+said, an ancient iron flag-staff upon the roof of Castle Gnadeck, from
+which in times long gone by the proud banner of the Gnadewitzes had
+flouted the air. Was there behind those trees the asylum for which she
+longed, where her parents might rest their feet, weary with long
+wandering upon foreign soil?
+
+And then her eyes sought the court-yard below, but the dumb girl did not
+appear again.  She had not come to breakfast, and seemed to wish to
+avoid all intercourse with the guests at the lodge.  For this Elizabeth
+was very sorry.  Although her uncle’s account had not been promising, a
+youthful spirit is not quick to resign its illusions, and would rather
+be undeceived by the bursting of its gay bubble than admonished by the
+experience of age.  The beautiful girl, who could so determinedly
+conceal her secret behind closed lips, became doubly interesting to her,
+and she exhausted herself in conjectures as to the cause of this
+silence.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+After a most cheerful dinner, Sabina brought from the cupboard a pipe,
+which she filled and handed with a match to the forester.
+
+"What are you thinking of, Sabina?" he said, rejecting it with a comical
+air of displeased surprise.  "Do you think I could find it in my heart
+to sit here and smoke a quiet pipe while Elsie’s little feet are dancing
+with impatience to run up the mountain, and she is longing to poke her
+little nose into the magic castle?  No, I think we had better start at
+once upon our voyage of discovery."
+
+All were soon ready.  The forester gave his arm to his sister-in-law,
+and they started off through the court and garden.  After they had gone
+a little way, they were joined by a mason from the neighbouring village,
+whom the forester had sent for that he might be at hand if necessary.
+
+They walked up the mountain by a tolerably steep and narrow path through
+the thick forest, but this path gradually broadened, and at last led to
+a small open space, on one side of which arose what seemed like a tall
+gray rock.
+
+"Here I have the pleasure," said the forester to his brother, with a
+sarcastic smile, "of revealing to you the estate of the lamented Baron
+von Gnadewitz in all its grandeur."
+
+They were standing before a lofty wall, which looked like one solid
+block of granite.  They could see nothing of any buildings that might be
+behind it, because the surrounding forest was too thick and close to
+allow of a sufficiently distant point of observation.  The forester led
+the way along the wall, at the base of which thick underbrush was
+growing, until he reached a large oaken door with an iron grating in the
+upper half of it.  Here he had had the matted growth of underbrush
+cleared away, and he now produced a bunch of large keys which had been
+handed over to Frau Ferber as she had passed through L—— the day before.
+
+The utmost exertions of the three men were necessary before the rusty
+locks and bars would move, but at last the door creaked, or rather
+crashed upon its hinges, and a thick cloud of dust floated up into the
+air.  The explorers entered and found themselves in a court-yard bounded
+on three sides by buildings.  Opposite them was the imposing front of
+the castle, with a flight of broad stone steps, and a clumsy iron
+balustrade, leading to the entrance door upon the first story.  Running
+from each side of the main building were gloomy colonnades, whose
+granite pillars and arches seemed to defy the tooth of time.  In the
+centre of the court-yard a group of old chestnut trees stretched their
+aged boughs above a huge basin, in the midst of which couched four stone
+lions with wide open jaws.  Formerly four powerful streams of water must
+have poured through them from the bowels of the earth, filling the
+entire basin; but now there was only a small stream trickling through
+the threatening teeth of one of the monsters, sufficing to sprinkle with
+moisture the grass and weeds growing in the cracks of the stone basin,
+and, by its low, mournful ripple, giving a faint suggestion of life in
+this wilderness.  The outer walls of the structure and the colonnades
+were all that could be regarded without terror in this space.  The
+window frames, from which every pane of glass had been broken, showed
+the sad desolation within.  In some rooms the ceilings had already
+fallen in; in others, the joists were bent as though the lightest touch
+might send them crashing down.  Even the stone steps seemed half hanging
+in the air,—some mossy fragments had already become detached from them,
+and had rolled into the centre of the court-yard.
+
+"We can do nothing here," said Ferber.  "Let us go on."
+
+Through a deep, dark portal they entered another court-yard, which,
+although much larger than the first, by its striking irregularity
+produced an impression of far greater desolation.  Here, a dreary,
+crumbling pile of masonry projected far out, and formed a dark corner
+never visited by a sunbeam; there, a clumsy tower shot into the air,
+throwing a deep shadow upon the wing at its back.  An old elder bush,
+leading a straggling existence in one corner, with its leaves covered
+with fallen crumbs of mortar, and some dry grasses between the stones of
+the pavement, made the scene yet more desolate.  No noise disturbed the
+deathlike silence reigning here.  Even the jackdaws soaring in the air
+above ceased their chatter, and the echoes of the footsteps upon the
+stone pavement had a ghostly sound.
+
+"Yes, those old knights," said Ferber, almost appalled at the sight of
+the desolation around him, "have heaped up these piles of granite, and
+thought that this cradle of their race would proclaim the splendour of
+their name through all coming centuries.  Each has altered and arranged
+his inheritance after his own taste and convenience, as we see from
+these different kinds of architecture, and lived as if there were no end
+to it all."
+
+"And yet each lodged here but for a little space," interrupted the
+forester, "and paid his landlord, the earth, for his lodging with his
+own crumbling bones,—now turned to dust.  But let us go on.  Brr—rr!—it
+makes me shiver.  Death everywhere,—nothing but death!"
+
+"Do you call that death, uncle?" suddenly exclaimed Elizabeth, who had
+hitherto been awed and silent, pointing, as she spoke, through a door
+which was half concealed by an interposing column.  There, behind a
+grating, fresh sunny green was shining, and young climbing roses leaned
+their blossoms against the iron bars.
+
+Elizabeth ran towards the door, and, exerting all her strength, pushed
+it open.  The space upon which she entered had probably been the former
+flower-garden, but such a name could scarcely be applied to the tangled
+wilderness of green, where not even the narrowest vestige of a path
+could be discerned, and where here and there only the mutilated remains
+of a statue appeared among the mass of shrubs, bushes, and parasitical
+plants.  A wild grape-vine had climbed to the upper story of the
+building, and taken firm hold there of the window-sills,—its green
+branches and wreaths falling thence like a shower upon the wild roses
+and lilac bushes beneath.  And in this secluded, blooming spot of
+ground, a buzzing and humming were heard, as if Spring had assembled
+here her entire host of winged insects.  Countless butterflies fluttered
+over the flowers, and golden beetles were running glittering across the
+broad fern leaves at Elizabeth’s feet. And above this little world of
+bloom and busy life several fruit trees and magnificent lindens waved
+their leafy crests, while upon a slight elevation were seen the remains
+of what had once been a pavilion.
+
+The garden was surrounded upon three sides by buildings; the square was
+completed by a high, green wall, which had been constructed of earth,
+like a dam, and above which the trees of the forest waved a greeting to
+their neighbours within.  Here were also the same signs of
+decay,—tolerably well preserved outer walls,—complete ruin within.  Only
+one building of two stories, connecting two high wings, attracted
+attention from its closed appearance.  The light did not shine through
+it, as through its doorless and windowless companions; its flat roof,
+finished in front and at the back by a heavy stone balustrade, must have
+bidden defiance to time and tempest, as had also the gray window-panes
+which peeped out here and there from the tangled growth of vines that
+covered everything.  The forester measured it with a keen glance, and
+declared that this must be Sabina’s famous building,—possibly the
+interior might not be in as crumbling a condition as the rest of the
+castle,—only he could not understand how they were to get into the old
+swallow’s nest.  Certainly, the rank growth around the base of the walls
+would have obscured all trace of steps or door, even were there any such
+entrance.  They determined, therefore, to venture up into one of the
+large side wings by a worn but tolerably secure flight of stone steps,
+and thus attempt to arrive at the interior of the connecting building.
+They succeeded in gaining ingress to the tall wing, although they could
+keep their footing only by clinging to the uneven walls.  They first
+entered a large saloon which had the blue sky for a ceiling, and whose
+only decoration was a few green bushes growing through its walls.
+Remnants of galleries, worm-eaten joists, and various fragments of
+frescoed ceiling were heaped up in piles, over which the explorers had
+to scramble as best they might.  Then followed a long suite of rooms in
+the same utterly desolate condition.  Upon some of the walls fragments
+of family portraits were still hanging, upon which, strangely and
+comically enough, only an eye, or, perhaps, a pair of delicate folded
+hands, or a mail-clad, theatrically-posed leg, was yet distinctly to be
+traced. At length they reached the last apartment, and stood before a
+high-arched doorway which had evidently been bricked up.
+
+"Aha!" said Ferber, "here they intended to cut off this building from
+the universal desolation.  I think that before we venture any further
+upon this break-neck expedition it would be well to knock out these
+stones."
+
+His proposal was at once favourably received, and the mason began his
+task; he soon penetrated into a recess in the wall, which he assured
+them was double at this spot.  The other two men lent their assistance,
+and a thick oaken door was revealed behind the masonry that they cleared
+away.  This door was not locked, and yielded readily to the mason’s
+strong arm.  They entered an entirely dark, close room.  One slender
+sunbeam, straying through a crack showed them where to find a window;
+the bolt of the shutter, rusty from long disuse, resisted for some time
+the strength of the forester, and the trees upon the outside opposed an
+additional obstacle to their exertions.  At last the shutter yielded
+with a crash; the golden-green sunlight streamed in through a high
+bow-window and disclosed an apartment not broad, but very deep, the
+walls of which were hung with Gobelin tapestry.  Upon each of the four
+corners of the ceiling were painted the arms of the Gnadewitzes.  To the
+surprise of all, this room was entirely furnished as a sleeping
+apartment.  Two canopied beds, with hangings dingy with age, that
+occupied the two long walls of the room, were all made up; the pillows
+were covered with fine linen cases, and the silken coverlid still
+preserved its colour and texture.  Everything that could conduce to the
+comfort of an aristocratic occupant was here, buried, indeed, beneath a
+mass of dust, but in a state of excellent preservation.  Beyond this
+apartment, and opening into it, was another much larger, with two
+windows; it was also completely furnished, although in antique style,
+and evidently with furniture hunted up from various other rooms for the
+purpose.  An antique writing-table, its top most artistically inlaid and
+resting upon strangely carved claw feet, harmonized but poorly with the
+more modern form of the crimson sofa; and the gilt frames, in which hung
+several well-painted hunting pictures, did not accord with the silver
+mountings of the huge mirror. Nevertheless, nothing was wanting that
+could complete the solid comfort of the room.  A thick, though somewhat
+faded carpet was laid upon the floor, and a large antique timepiece
+stood beneath the mirror.  A small boudoir, also furnished, and from
+which a door led to a vestibule and a flight of steps, opened from the
+larger apartment.  Behind these rooms were three others of a similar
+size, with windows looking upon the garden; one of these, containing two
+beds and pine furniture, was evidently intended for the servants.
+
+"Well done!" cried the forester with a smile of satisfaction; "here is
+an establishment that exceeds the wildest flights of our modest fancy.
+If the sainted Gnadewitz could see us now he would turn in his leaden
+coffin. All this we owe, I suppose, to the neglect of a housekeeper or
+to the forgetfulness of some childish, old steward."
+
+"But do you think we ought to keep these things?" asked, in a breath,
+Frau Ferber and Elizabeth, who had been silent hitherto from wonder.
+
+"Most certainly, my love," said Ferber; "your uncle left you the castle
+with everything which it contained."
+
+"And little enough it was," growled the forester.
+
+"But in comparison with our expectations a perfect mine of wealth," said
+Frau Ferber, as she opened a beautiful glass cabinet containing
+different kinds of china; "and if my uncle had actually endowed me with
+an estate in my young days, when I was full of hope and enthusiasm, I
+doubt whether it would have made as much impression upon me as does this
+unexpected discovery, which relieves us all of so much anxiety."
+
+In the mean time Elizabeth had gone to the window of the first room
+which they had entered, and was trying to part the boughs and vines
+which grew so thick and strong all along this side of the building that
+they formed a barrier through which only a greenish twilight penetrated.
+"It is a pity," she said, as she found that her efforts were vain; "I
+should have liked some glimpse of the forest outside."
+
+"Why, do you think," said her uncle, "that I shall allow you to live
+behind this green screen, which shuts out air as well as light?  Rely
+upon me to take that matter in charge, my little Elsie."
+
+They next descended the stairs.  These, too, were in perfect
+preservation, and led to a large hall with a huge oaken table in the
+centre, surrounded by spindled-legged, straight-backed chairs.  The
+floor was of red tiles, and the panels on walls and ceiling were covered
+with beautiful carving.  This large apartment was provided with four
+windows and two doors opposite to each other; one of these led into the
+garden, and the other, which was opened with difficulty, into a narrow
+open court-yard lying between the building-and the outer wall.  Here the
+syringas and hazel bushes were growing everywhere, making an absolute
+thicket, through which, however, the three men penetrated, and reached a
+little gate in the outside wall which communicated with the forest
+without.
+
+"Now," said Ferber, delighted, "every obstacle to our living here is
+removed.  This entrance is most valuable. We shall never have to pass
+through the older court-yards, which are really dangerous places,
+surrounded as they are by crumbling ruins."
+
+They made one more tour through their newly found home with an eye to
+its future arrangement, and the mason was ordered to be upon the spot
+the next day that he might convert one of the back rooms into a kitchen.
+Then, after the oaken door leading into the large, ruinous wing had been
+well bolted and secured, they took their way through the gate in the
+wall, an undertaking difficult indeed, on account of the thick bushes
+which opposed their progress, but infinitely preferable to the perilous
+path by which they had entered.
+
+As the returning party entered the garden of the forest lodge, Sabina
+came towards them, in great anxiety to learn the results of their
+expedition, accompanied by little Ernst, who had been entrusted to her
+care while his mother and sister were away.  She had prepared the table
+with its snowy cloth and shining coffee-service upon a shady knoll under
+the beech trees, and now clapped her hands with delight upon hearing of
+all they had found.
+
+"Ah! gracious Powers," she cried, "I hope the Herr Forester understands
+now that I knew what I was talking about.  Yes, yes, all those things
+were left there and forgotten, and no wonder.  As soon as the young lord
+was buried, old Gnadewitz packed off as quick as he could, and took
+every servant with him except the old house-steward Silber, and he was
+childish with age, and besides had enough to do to take care of all that
+was left in the new castle; it was crowded with furniture and plate, and
+he had a hard time to keep it all right; so everything was left in the
+old rooms, and no one knew anything about them.  Ah, I’ve dusted and
+cleaned everything there often enough, and frightened indeed I was
+whenever I came to that old clock, for it plays such mournful music when
+it strikes, it used to sound like something unearthly, when I was all
+alone at work in the old place.  Ah, how time flies, I was young then!"
+
+Then came an hour of rest and comfortable discussion, while they drank
+their coffee.  As Elizabeth had decided that nothing could be more
+charming than to awaken in their own rooms upon Whit-Sunday
+morning,—when the ringing of the church-bells in the surrounding
+villages would come softly echoing through the forest glades,—a view of
+the matter in which her mother sympathized, they determined to undertake
+all the necessary repairs and cleaning immediately, that they might
+occupy the rooms upon the eve of Whit-Sunday, and the forester placed
+all his men at their disposal.
+
+Sabina had taken up her position upon a grassy bank at a short distance
+from the table, that she might be at hand if wanted; and that she might
+not be idle, she had pulled up a couple of handfuls of carrots from the
+garden and was busily scraping and trimming them.  Elizabeth sat down
+beside her.  The old woman gave a sly glance at the delicate white
+fingers, that contrasted so with her own brown, horny hands, as they
+picked some carrots up from her lap.
+
+"Don’t touch," she said, "that is no work for you,—you will make your
+fingers yellow."
+
+"What matter for that?" laughed Elizabeth.  "I will help you a little,
+and you shall tell me a story.  You were born here, and must know many a
+tale about the old castle."
+
+"You may be sure of that," replied the old housekeeper. "The village of
+Lindhof, where I was born, belonged to the Lords von Gnadewitz time out
+of mind, and you see in such a little place as that every one talks and
+thinks of the great people who rule over it.  Nothing happens of any
+account in the castle that is not described and handed down from father
+to son in the village, and, long after the lords and ladies are dust,
+their stories are told by the village girls and boys.
+
+"Now there was my great-grandmother, whom I remember perfectly, she knew
+many a thing that would make your hair stand on end; but she had a
+monstrous respect for every one at Gnadeck, and used to bob down my head
+with her trembling hands whenever a Gnadewitz drove by our cottage,—for
+I was but a little thing then, and did not know how to make a
+respectable courtesy. She knew about all the lords who had lived at the
+old castle for hundreds of years; yes, many a thing that had happened
+there, that must have outraged God and man.
+
+"Afterwards, when I lived at the new castle, and had to sweep the long
+gallery where their pictures were all hanging upon the wall,—pictures of
+people whose very bones had mouldered away,—I often used to stand still
+before them and wonder to see them looking so like everybody else, when
+they used to make such a fuss about themselves, as if God Almighty had
+brought them down to the earth with his own hands.  There were not many
+beauties among the women.  I often thought, in my stupid way, that if
+pretty Lieschen, the most beautiful girl in the village, could only have
+been painted and hung in such a rich gold frame, with a silken scarf and
+such quantities of jewels upon her neck and in her hair, and the
+blackamoor with his silver waiter standing just behind her lovely face
+and neck, she would have looked a thousand times prettier than the lady
+who was so ugly, and frowned so with pride and arrogance that two great
+wrinkles went up to the very roots of her hair.  And yet she was the
+very one that the family was proudest of.  She had been a very wealthy
+countess, but hard and unfeeling as a stone.
+
+"Among the men, there was only one whom I liked to look at.  He had a
+frank, kind, honest face, and a pair of eyes black as sloes; but he had
+shown how true it is that the good always get the worst of it in this
+world.  All the others had a fine time of it as long as they lived. Many
+of them had done harm enough in their time, and yet their death-beds
+were as calm and peaceful as if they had always been just and true; but
+poor Jost von Gnadewitz had a sad fate.  My great-grandmother’s
+grandmother had known him when she was a very little girl. Then they
+always called him the wild huntsman, because he never left the forest,
+but would hunt there from morning until night.  In the picture he had on
+a green coat and a long white feather in his cap, that was most
+beautiful to see dangling among his coal-black curls.  He was
+kind-hearted, and never harmed a child.  While he lived all the
+villagers prospered, and they wished he might live forever.
+
+"But all of a sudden he left this part of the country, and no one knew,
+for some time, where he had gone, until one night in a dreadful storm he
+came back as quietly as he had gone away.  But always after that he was
+a changed man.  The people of Lindhof prospered as before, but they saw
+no more of their master.  He dismissed all his servants, and lived alone
+in his old castle with only one favourite attendant.
+
+"And at last it began to be whispered that he was busy with magic and
+the black art up there, and no one dared to go near the castle even at
+high noon, let alone the dark night.  But my old great-grandmother was a
+bold, saucy girl, and used sometimes to pasture her goats right under
+the walls of the castle court-yard.  Well,—once as she was leaning
+against a tree there, gazing at the high walls, and lost in thoughts
+concerning all that might be going on behind them, suddenly an arm
+appeared above them white as snow, and then a face fairer than sun,
+moon, and stars, my grandmother said, and at last with a sudden spring a
+young maiden stood upon the top of the broad wall, and, stretching her
+arms up into the air, cried out something in a strange tongue that my
+grandmother could not understand, and was just about to leap down into
+the deep ditch full of water that then entirely surrounded the castle,
+when Jost appeared behind her, and, putting his arms around her, begged
+and implored her so that a stone would have melted at such entreaties
+wrung from a heart full of terror and anguish.  And finally he took her
+up in his arms like a child, and they both disappeared from the wall.
+But the veil became loosened from the maiden’s head and floated away
+across the ditch to where my grandmother was standing.  It was
+exquisitely fine, and she carried it home in great glee to her father;
+but he declared it was woven by the devil, and threw it into the fire,
+forbidding my grandmother ever to go up the mountain near the castle
+again.
+
+"Some time after,—certainly a whole year after Jost first shut himself
+up so closely at Gnadeck,—he came down the mountain very early one
+morning on horseback; but you would hardly have known him, his face was
+so haggard and pale, all the paler for the full suit of black that he
+wore.  He rode very slowly, and nodded sadly to every one whom he met;
+he never came back to this place again; he was slain in battle, and his
+old servant with him—’twas at the time of the thirty years’ war."
+
+"And the beautiful girl?" asked Elizabeth.
+
+"Ah, no one ever heard tale or tidings of her again. Jost left a large
+sealed packet in the town-house at L——, and said that it was his last
+will, and must be opened whenever news of his death should be received.
+But a short time after his departure, there was a terrible fire in L——;
+a great many houses, and even the church and the town-house, were burned
+to the ground with everything which they contained, and of course the
+packet was destroyed.
+
+"Before Jost left, the pastor from Lindhof went to see him several
+times; but the reverend gentleman kept as quiet as a mouse, and, as he
+was already very old, he soon departed this life, and everything that he
+knew was buried with him.  So no living being knows anything about the
+strange maiden, nor ever will know till the day of judgment."
+
+"Oh, never trouble yourself to keep the matter quiet, Sabina," called
+the forester to her from the table, as he shook the ashes out of his
+pipe.  "Elsie had better get used as soon as possible to the terrible
+conclusions to your stories.  Tell her at once—for you know all about
+it—how the beautiful maiden one fine day flew up the chimney and away
+upon a broomstick."
+
+"No, I don’t believe that, sir, although I know——"
+
+"That the whole country is swarming with such creatures, all ripe for
+the gallows," interrupted her master. "Yes, yes," he continued, turning
+to the others, "Sabina is one of the old Thuringian stock.  She has
+sense enough, and her heart is in the right place; but when there is any
+question about witchcraft she loses one and forgets the other, and is
+nearly ready to turn any poor old woman away from the door, just because
+she has red eyes, without giving her a morsel of food."
+
+"No, indeed, sir, I’m not quite so bad as that," the old woman declared
+with some irritation.  "I give her something to eat; but I always stick
+my thumbs in the palms of my hands, and never answer one of her
+questions,—there’s no harm in that!"
+
+Every one laughed at this charm against witches and witchcraft, which
+the old servant told with the utmost gravity as she arose and emptied
+the carrot-tops from her apron, that she might prepare the afternoon
+meal, which was to be eaten earlier than usual, as there was much to do
+in the old castle before nightfall.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V.
+
+
+As Elizabeth opened her eyes the next morning, the tall clock in the
+room below was striking eight, and she started up with the provoking
+consciousness that she had overslept herself; and it was all owing to a
+vivid and terrible dream.  The golden atmosphere of poetry, which had
+yesterday hovered around Sabina’s narrative, had become a gloomy cloud
+in the night, the shadow of which embittered and burdened the first
+moments of her awakening.  She had been flying in deadly terror through
+the spacious, dreary halls of the old castle, always pursued by Jost.
+Thick curls were waving wildly above his pale forehead, beneath which
+his black eyes gleamed upon her, and she had just stretched out her arms
+in greater terror than she had ever experienced in her life before, to
+defend herself from him, when she awoke.  Her heart was still beating
+violently, and she thought with a shudder of the wretched girl upon the
+castle wall, who, pursued, perhaps, as she had been, had sought relief
+in death, when she was again captured by her tormentor.
+
+She sprang up and bathed her face in cold water; then she opened her
+window and looked out into the courtyard. There sat Sabina under a pear
+tree, busy with her churn.  All the feathered crowd of the place stood
+around, looking impatiently for the crumbs that she threw to them from
+time to time from a bowl upon the table by her side, while she improved
+the occasion to rebuke the arrogant and greedy, and to console the
+oppressed and down-trodden.
+
+When she saw the young girl, she nodded kindly, and called up to her to
+say that every one in the lodge had been busy up there in the old castle
+since six o’clock. When Elizabeth reproached her for letting her sleep
+so long, she assured her that she had done so by the express desire of
+her mother, who thought that her daughter had overtasked her strength in
+the last few weeks of excitement and exertion.
+
+Sabina’s kind, placid face, and the fresh air of the morning soothed
+Elizabeth’s nerves at once, and brought back her thoughts to the world
+of reality which was just now opening so brightly before her.  She took
+herself seriously to task that, despite her uncle’s fatherly admonition,
+she had leaned out of the open window until midnight upon the previous
+night, gazing across the moonlit meadow into the silent forest.  But
+common sense often plays a poor part when opposed to excited fancy.
+Where it should conduct a rigid examination and discriminate wisely, it
+suddenly finds itself deserted in the judgment-seat, and must retire in
+confusion, while the varied and motley spectacle which fancy conjures up
+proceeds without interruption.  Thus Elizabeth’s self-reproaches soon
+vanished before the picture which presented itself to her memory, and
+still threw around her all the magic of a moonlit night in the forest.
+
+As soon as she had dressed, and drank a tumbler of fresh milk, she
+hastened up to the castle.  The sky was overcast, but only with those
+light, thin clouds which foretell a fresh although not a sunny, spring
+day. Therefore the birds’ morning concert was of longer duration than
+usual, and the dew-drops lay as large and full in the cups of the
+flowers as if their existence for the day were not threatened.
+
+As Elizabeth entered the large gate of the castle, which stood wide
+open, a huge green mound, piled up by the fountain, met her eye.  It was
+formed of thistle stalks, ferns, and bramble bushes, which had been torn
+from their home in the garden, and were here bidding farewell to their
+long, merry life.  The path through the arched gateway of the second
+court-yard to the grating was strewn with green boughs and leaves, as
+though a joyous marriage train had been passing through the old ruins;
+and even on the sill of a high window, that showed the remains of
+coloured glass in the lacework of the stone rosette of its pointed arch,
+some boughs had been caught as they were carried past, and the trailing
+end of a wild vine was coiling its living green lovingly around the
+stone trefoil of the Holy Trinity, which betrayed unmistakably that the
+dark, dreary hall within had once been the chapel of the castle.
+
+The garden, where it had yesterday been impossible to take two steps,
+seemed to Elizabeth entirely changed. A considerable part of it had been
+cleared, and showed distinct traces of having been tastefully laid out.
+She could easily proceed along a partially cleared path, across which
+timid hares and squirrels ran fleetly now and then, until she reached
+the green rampart which had only been seen from a distance yesterday.
+At each end of the long, grassy embankment, broad, worn, stone steps led
+up to a low breastwork, over which one could look out into the forest,
+and there, where the trees were somewhat thin, through a green vista
+down into the valley, where the forest lodge, with the white doves
+dotting its blue-slated roof, was nestling cosily.  At the foot of the
+embankment, just where the broad path terminated, was a little stone
+basin, into which a strong stream of crystal water flowed through the
+mouth of a mossy little marble gnome.  Two lindens arched their boughs
+above this gurgling brook, and threw their grateful shade upon the
+tender forget-me-nots, which grew here in masses in the damp earth and
+wreathed the little basin with their heavenly blue.
+
+Directly opposite the embankment lay her future habitation, which, with
+its window-shutters thrown back and the large door on the ground-floor
+wide open, looked so bright and hospitable to-day that Elizabeth
+welcomed with joy the thought that she was looking upon her home. Her
+gaze wandered over the garden, and she thought upon those moments of her
+childhood when, her little heart full of unconquerable longing, she had
+lingered behind her parents during some pleasant walk, and, with her
+face pressed close against the iron grating, had gazed into some strange
+garden.  There she had seen happy children playing carelessly upon the
+greensward; they could bend down the lovely roses that hung in such
+clusters, and inhale their fragrance as long as they liked. And what a
+pleasure it must be to creep under the flower-laden boughs and sit there
+in the green, just like grown-up people in an arbour!  But there was
+nothing for her then but the look and the longing.  No one had ever
+opened the barred door to the child with the wistful eyes, who would
+have been only too happy if they would have thrust a few flowers through
+the grating into her little hands.
+
+While Elizabeth was standing upon the embankment, the forester appeared
+at one of the upper windows of the dwelling.  When he saw her graceful
+figure leaning against the low breastwork, as, with her beautiful head
+half turned towards the garden, she seemed sunk in a reverie, his
+features were illumined by an expression of pleasure and quiet delight.
+
+And Elsie soon found him out, and nodding to him gaily, bounded down the
+steps towards the house.  Little Ernst ran to her in the hall, and she
+took him up in her arms.
+
+The assistance which the little boy had afforded had been, according to
+his own enthusiastic account, invaluable indeed.  He had carried bricks
+for the mason who had been mending the hearth, had helped his mother to
+shake out the beds, and declared with pride that the lords and ladies
+upon the woollen hangings looked far handsomer since he had brushed off
+their dusty faces.  He threw his arms around his sister’s neck as she
+carried him up-stairs, assuring her all the way that he liked it a
+thousand times better here than in B——.
+
+The forester received Elizabeth in the antechamber above.  He scarcely
+gave her time to say good morning to her parents, but conducted her
+instantly into the gobelin-hung apartment.  Ah, what a transformation!
+The green lattice-work that had obscured the window had vanished.
+Without, beyond the outer wall, the forest retreated like side-scenes on
+either side, opening a full view of a distant valley that was to
+Elizabeth a perfect paradise.
+
+"There is Lindhof," said the forester, pointing to a large building in
+the Italian style, which lay tolerably near to the foot of the mountain
+upon which Gnadeck stood.  "I have brought you something that will show
+you every tree upon the mountains over there, and every blade of grass
+in the meadows of the valley," he continued, as he held an excellent
+spy-glass before her eyes.
+
+And then the grand, solemn mountain domes seemed to approach, their
+granite peaks, sometimes crowned by a solitary fir, breaking through the
+forest here and there. Behind these nearest summits towered countless
+ranges in the blue misty light, and from a distant, dim valley which
+separated two giant mountains, arose two slender, shadowy gothic towers.
+A little river, a highway bordered by poplars, and several gay villages
+enlivened the background of the valley.  In front lay Castle Lindhof,
+surrounded by a park laid out in princely style. Beneath the windows of
+the castle extended a closely shaven lawn, beset with small,
+quaintly-shaped beds glowing with all the colours of the rainbow.
+Thence Elizabeth’s eyes soon wandered, and rested delightedly upon the
+mysterious gloom of an avenue of magnificent lindens, their heavy
+foliage interlacing above their brown trunks, while here and there
+drooping boughs swept the ground beneath with their broad leaves.  They
+bordered a little crystal lake, which just now looked melancholy enough
+amid all its flowery surroundings, for its depths mirrored a cloudy sky.
+Now and then a swan stretched its white neck curiously among the
+low-hanging linden boughs, and sent a shower of feathery spray from its
+wings to sprinkle their old trunks.
+
+Hitherto Elizabeth had allowed the glass to range restlessly hither and
+thither, but now she attempted to hold it steadily, for she had made a
+discovery which excited her interest most powerfully.
+
+Under the last trees of the avenue stood a couch.  A young lady lay upon
+it, her charming head thrown back so that a part of her chestnut curls
+fell down across the pillow.  Beneath the hem of her long white muslin
+dress, which enveloped her form to the throat, peeped out two tiny feet
+encased in gold-embroidered satin slippers.  She held in her delicate
+almost transparent hands some auriculas, which she was thoughtlessly
+twisting and waving to and fro.  Her lips alone showed any colouring;
+the rest of her face was lily-pale; one would almost have doubted its
+being informed with life had not the blue eyes gleamed so wondrously.
+But these eyes with their depth of expression were riveted upon the
+countenance of a man who, sitting opposite, appeared to be reading aloud
+to her.  Elizabeth could not see his face, for his back was turned
+toward her.  He seemed young, tall, and well made, and had a profusion
+of light-brown hair.
+
+"Is that lovely lady over there the Baroness Lessen?" asked Elizabeth,
+eagerly.
+
+The forester took the spy-glass.  "No," said he, "that is Fräulein von
+Walde, the sister of the proprietor of Lindhof.  You call her charming,
+and certainly her head is lovely, but she is a cripple; she walks upon
+crutches."
+
+At this moment Frau Ferber joined them.  She too looked through the
+glass, and thought the countenance of the young lady most beautiful.
+She was particularly struck with the expression of gentle kindness
+which, as she said, "transfigured the features."
+
+"Yes," said the forester, "she is kind and benevolent. When I first came
+here the whole country around was full of her praises.  But matters are
+changed indeed, since the Baroness Lessen has had the control of affairs
+over there.  No more alms are distributed among the poor, unless they
+are earned by hypocrisy.  Woe to the wretch who asks any assistance
+there!  He will be turned away without a penny, if he ventures to hint
+that he would rather listen to the pastor in the village church on
+Sundays than go to the castle chapel, where the chaplain of the baroness
+every week calls down fire and brimstone, and every imaginable pain of
+hell, upon the heads of the ungodly."
+
+"Certainly such violent measures are poorly fitted to win souls to
+heaven and inspire people with Christian love," said Frau Ferber.
+
+"They destroy all good, and foster hypocrisy, I tell you!" cried the
+forester, angrily.  "Do they not set an example of it themselves?  They
+are always reading in the Bible of Christian humility, yet every day
+they grow haughtier and more supercilious.  Why, they would actually
+persuade us that their high-born bodies are moulded of a different clay
+from those of their poor brothers in Christ. It stands written, ’When
+thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand
+doeth;’ but no hen ever makes more to-do over her newly-laid egg than
+these people over their charities.  There are perpetual collections,
+fairs, and lotteries for the poor, and the whole neighbourhood is
+black-mailed, but when it comes to taking the money from, where it is
+plentiest, their own purses,—oh, that’s carrying the joke too far, as
+the saying goes.  I know people who have been for twenty years
+collecting subscriptions from others to found a poor-house.  These very
+people have a yearly income of six thousand thalers, but of course it
+never occurs to them to add one penny from their own store in aid of
+their charitable project.  They must purchase a reputation for
+benevolence and Christian self-sacrifice more cheaply than that. Zounds!
+how it enrages me to see people wearing their piety so pinned upon their
+sleeves!  Over there in the castle a bell is set ringing just so many
+times a day, that every one in the country around may say, when they
+hear it, ’They are having prayers at the castle.’  The closet, where God
+has commanded us to shut to the door and kneel in prayer, is altogether
+too small to suit their taste. And it is not only this trumpet-blowing
+that outrages me. I hold it to be actually wicked to make such a mere
+everyday form of the worship of the Holiest.  Do you suppose that the
+maid-servant, with a hot smoothing-iron in her hand, or the cook, who is
+just putting her roast to the fire, can rejoice in the sound of that
+bell?"
+
+"It is most certainly a dubious kind of piety," said Frau Ferber,
+smiling.
+
+"Or even the gracious ladies themselves, who are busy with the last
+novel or a piquante bit of court scandal—for an interest in all such
+things is quite consistent with the loftiest piety—do you suppose they
+are able to divert their thoughts in one instant from worldly affairs
+and turn them all heavenwards?  But these people run in and out of the
+kingdom of heaven without any thought or preparation, and congratulate
+themselves upon the honour that they are doing to the Creator."
+
+"And does Herr von Walde sympathize with these reforms of the baroness?"
+asked Frau Ferber.
+
+"From everything that I can gather from the villagers, I should judge
+not; but how does that mend the matter? He is probably at this moment
+prying into the pyramids that he may throw light upon antiquity; how
+should he know that his cousin here is zealously doing her best to blow
+out the advancing light of the present?  Besides, I dare say he has a
+crack in his own brain.  The prince of L——, who knows him well, wished
+some years ago to make a match between him and a young person of quality
+at court, but, as I hear, my gentleman refused the alliance because the
+fair one’s pedigree was not sufficiently long."
+
+"Why, perhaps then he may install as mistress of Lindhof some fair
+daughter of a fellah, whose ancestors lie among the mummies at Memphis,"
+said Elizabeth, laughing.
+
+"I don’t believe he will marry at all," rejoined the forester.  "He is
+no longer young, is too fond of a wandering life, and has never shown
+any love for women’s society.  I’ll wager my little finger that that
+fellow there with the book in his hand thinks just as I do, and already
+in his inmost soul regards Lindhof and all the other charming estates in
+Saxony, and God only knows where else, as his own."
+
+"Has he any claims to them?" asked Frau Ferber.
+
+"Most certainly.  He is the son of the Baroness Lessen, whose family is
+the only one in the world related to the brother and sister von Walde.
+The baroness was first married to a certain Herr von Hollfeld; that
+young man is the fruit of that marriage, and by the death of his father
+he came into possession of Odenberg, a large estate on the other side of
+L——.  The fair widow was fully conscious that her freedom must be made
+available to assist her up at least one step in the ladder of human
+happiness and perfection, and naturally this could only be attained by a
+marriage with high rank, wherefore Frau von Hollfeld one day became
+Baroness Lessen.  ’Tis true the baron’s name had been made somewhat
+notorious by several acts on his part which people of common, low-born
+ideas might call dishonourable; but what matter for that? Was he not a
+lord chamberlain, and did not the keys of his office unlock many a door
+for him where St. Peter’s would have availed nothing, in spite of the
+power given to them?  However, the baron died after two years of
+marriage, leaving his widow a little daughter and an enormous amount of
+debts.  I have no doubt she is glad enough to queen it at Lindhof, for I
+hear that she has no part or parcel in her son’s property."
+
+Here a maid from the lodge interrupted them with bucket and broom,
+giving unmistakable signs that she was about to begin the duties of her
+office in this apartment.  The spy-glass was hastily closed, and while
+the forester went into the garden to renew his labours there in clearing
+away the luxuriant green from the lower window-sills, Frau Ferber and
+Elizabeth busied themselves with dust-cloths and brushes in restoring
+the furniture of the room to something of its original appearance.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Whitsuntide was over.  The brazen bells had retired into private life,
+and looked black and silent through the loopholes in the bell-towers,
+that seemed like the coffins of the melodious life which had so lately
+streamed forth from them during the holidays.  But the bright
+flower-bells in the forest, hanging loosely on their stalks, could not
+forget the festival.  They had joined in bravely when the air had
+quivered with the brazen clang, and still rang gently with every breeze
+that swept through the underbrush.  What did they care that the
+wood-cutter, his holiday clothes and face all laid aside, tramped past
+them in his heavy boots, whistling some rude melody!  The forest heeded
+not, but kept up the same mysterious murmur amid its branches like a
+thousand-voiced whisper of prayer, and the little birds sang as before
+their matin and vesper hymns in God’s praise.
+
+Up in old Castle Gnadeck, as in the forest, the festal spirit of the
+holidays still reigned, although Ferber had already entered upon the
+duties of his office, often making unavoidable visits to L——, while Frau
+Ferber and Elizabeth had, through Sabina, received several large orders
+from a ready-made linen establishment in L——, and were besides busy
+every day for some hours in the garden which even in this first year
+gave promise of abundant fruit and flowers.  Notwithstanding this
+constant industry, there was a holiday air pervading the whole place,
+arising from the consciousness in the minds of each one of the family
+that there had come a happy turn in their affairs; they were continually
+comparing their present with their former situation, and the new and
+unaccustomed life of the forest had an almost intoxicating effect upon
+their spirits.
+
+Her parents had given Elizabeth the gobelin room, because there was the
+finest prospect from its windows, and because the girl when she had
+first entered it had declared that she liked it best of all.  The gloomy
+door which led into the huge old wing Had been walled up and gave no
+sign that such a dreary waste lay beyond it.  The further end of the
+room was filled by one of the renovated canopied bedsteads, and by the
+window stood the antique writing-table, with its quaint inkstand and
+writing utensils of porcelain, and two vases filled with lovely flowers;
+while just outside the window, embowered in the topmost branches of a
+syringa bush, was the canary’s cage; its occupant vying with the forest
+songsters in its shrill trilling with all the envy of some spoiled
+bravura singer.
+
+While they were arranging the room, and Frau Ferber was every moment
+bringing in some new piece of furniture to add to it a greater air of
+comfort and luxury, her husband went to the longest wall, and,
+stretching his arms across it, banished to the anteroom the lounge that
+had just been placed there.
+
+"Stay,—this space I appropriate," he said with a smile.  Then he brought
+a large bracket of dark wood and nailed it upon the wall, which was
+wainscoted neatly to the ceiling on this side.  "Here," he continued, as
+he placed upon the bracket a bust of Beethoven, "this mightiest mortal
+shall be enthroned alone."
+
+"But that looks so blank and bare," said Frau Ferber.
+
+"Only wait until to-morrow or the day after, and you will, I am sure,
+admit that my arrangements are not to be despised, and that Elizabeth
+will have both pleasure and profit from them."
+
+And on the next day, which had been Whitsun-eve, he went to town with
+the forester.  They returned toward evening, but did not enter through
+the gate in the garden wall.  The great gate was flung wide open, and
+four strong men bore in a large and shining object through the ruins.
+Elizabeth was standing near the kitchen window, engaged, for the first
+time in her new home, in preparing the evening meal, when the men
+entered the garden with their burden.
+
+She cried out, for it was a piano—a large, square piano, which was
+immediately borne up stairs and placed in the gobelin room under
+Beethoven’s bust.  Elizabeth laughed and wept at the same moment, as she
+rapturously embraced her father, who had expended his little capital,
+the proceeds of the sale of their furniture in B——, that he might
+provide her again with what had been the delight of her life.  And then
+she opened the instrument and a flood of rich melody filled the rooms
+where the silence of death had reigned for so many years.
+
+The forester had come with her father to enjoy Elizabeth’s surprise and
+delight.  He now leaned silently against the wall, as the wondrous
+sounds flowed forth from beneath the girl’s touch.  For the first time
+he heard the true speech of the glowing life that animated the delicate
+young frame.  How thoughtful and inspired was the air of the
+finely-shaped head which crowned her graceful form, so suggestive of
+earnest maidenhood!  Hitherto only jests and merry repartee had been
+exchanged between uncle and niece.  He often called her his butterfly,
+because of the airy grace of her motions and her quickness of mind,
+which never left her at a loss for a reply to his merry attacks; but his
+favourite name for her was "Gold Elsie," for he maintained that her hair
+was such perfect gold that he could see it shining and shimmering in the
+darkest parts of the forest as she approached, and that it heralded her
+coming to him as the jewel in the giant’s shield had once announced his
+approach to Childe Roland.
+
+When Elizabeth had finished she spread her arms above the instrument as
+if to embrace it, and, leaning her head upon it, smiled the happiest
+smile; but her uncle approached her softly, gave her a silent kiss upon
+the forehead, and departed without a word.
+
+From this time he came up every evening to the old castle.  As soon as
+the last rays of the setting sun had faded from the tree-tops, Elizabeth
+sat down at the piano. The little family took their places in the large
+low window-seat, and lost themselves in the fairy world, which was
+opened to them by the great master whose image looked down from the wall
+upon the inspired young performer.  And then Ferber would think of how
+Elizabeth had portrayed the free life in the forest when the letter from
+her uncle had first arrived in B——.  ’Tis true no elves or gnomes
+appeared, but the spirits which the mightiest of the masters of music
+had imprisoned in sound floated forth from their prison-house on a flood
+of melody, breathing into the solemn silence around a mysterious life—a
+life of whose joys and sorrows every sympathetic human soul is
+conscious, although to genius alone is granted power to embody and
+reveal them.
+
+One afternoon they were all sitting together at their coffee.  The
+forester had brought his pipe and newspaper, and begged of Elizabeth a
+cup of the refreshing beverage. He was just about to read aloud an
+interesting article in his paper, when the bell at the garden gate
+sounded.  To the astonishment of every one, when little Ernst ran to
+open it, a servant in livery entered and handed Elizabeth a note.  It
+was from the Baroness Lessen.  She began by saying much that was
+flattering with regard to the young girl’s masterly performance upon the
+piano, to which she had listened for the two or three previous evenings
+while walking in the forest, and concluded by preferring a request that
+Elizabeth would consent, of course for a stipulated consideration, to
+come to Castle Lindhof every week and play duets with Fräulein von
+Walde.
+
+The style of the letter was extremely courteous; nevertheless the
+forester, after a second perusal of it, threw it angrily upon the table,
+and said, looking steadily at Elizabeth,—
+
+"I hope you will not consent?"
+
+"And why not, my dear Carl?" asked Ferber in her stead.
+
+"Because Elizabeth is, and always will be, far too good for those people
+down there!" cried the forester, with some irritation.  "But if you
+choose to see what you have carefully planted, choked up and ruined by
+poisonous weeds and mildew—why, do it."
+
+"It is certainly true," replied Ferber quietly, "that my child has known
+until now none other than a parent’s care. We have endeavoured most
+conscientiously, as was our duty, to cherish every germ of good, to
+foster every plant of tender growth.  But we have had no idea of
+producing a mere hot house flower, and alas for us and for her, if all
+that we have unweariedly tended and nourished for eighteen years is so
+loosely planted in the soil that it can be torn thence by the first
+blast of life!  I have educated my daughter to live in the world; she
+must battle her way among its storms, as we all must.  If I should be
+taken from her to-day, she must herself guide the helm which I have
+hitherto held for her.  If the people in the castle below are not fit
+associates for her, matters will soon arrange themselves.  Either both
+parties will feel their unsuitability to each other and all intercourse
+will cease, or everything that offends Elizabeth’s principles will pass
+by her like idle wind, leaving no impression. Why, you yourself never
+avoid a danger, but rather prove your strength by meeting it bravely."
+
+"But, zounds!  I am a man, and can take care of myself!"
+
+"And how do you know that Elizabeth hereafter will possess any support
+except what she finds in herself, or have any sharer in the
+responsibility of her actions?"
+
+The forester cast a keen glance at his niece, whose earnest eyes were
+riveted upon her father’s face.  He who was to her the embodiment of
+wisdom and tenderness was echoing her own ideas, and the expression of
+her beautiful face showed what she felt.
+
+"Father," she said, "you shall see that you have not been mistaken—that
+I am not weak.  I never could endure the trite image of the ivy and the
+oak, and shall most certainly not illustrate it in my own person.  Be
+comforted, uncle dear, and let me go down to the castle," she said,
+smiling archly at the forester, whose forehead showed a deep frown of
+decided irritation.  "If the people there are heartless, don’t suppose
+for one moment that they will make a cannibal of me, and that I shall
+eat my own heart up.  If they try to crush me with supercilious
+arrogance, my own inner standard of action shall be so high that I can
+look down in pity upon the harmless arrows of their scorn; and if they
+are hypocrites, I shall turn with all the more delight to gaze into the
+sunny face of truth, and be more deeply convinced of the ugliness of
+their black masks."
+
+"Fairly spoken, oh incomparable Elsie, and incontestably true,—if only
+these same people would kindly hand you their masks to examine.  But you
+will awake some day to find that what you have believed to be gold is
+only the merest tinsel."
+
+"No indeed, dear uncle; I will not foolishly allow myself to be imposed
+upon.  Remember, we have had many trials since my childhood; they have
+not been borne without teaching me some good lessons.  Certainly we must
+all trust somewhat in our own strength, and I shall not despair for a
+long time, even if upon my first experience of the world I plunge into
+an abyss of Egyptian darkness, full of frightful monsters.  But look,
+uncle dear, to what your zeal for my soul’s welfare has brought
+you,—your coffee looks as though it could be skated upon, and your
+meerschaum is at its last gasp."
+
+The forester laughed, although the laugh was not from his heart.  And
+while Elizabeth refilled his cup for him and handed him a lighted match,
+he said to her: "You must not suppose that my ammunition is exhausted
+because I say to you, ’Well, well, go and try it.’  I look forward to
+the satisfaction of seeing the courageous chicken come flying back again
+some day, only too thankful to creep under the sheltering wing of home."
+
+"Aha!" laughed Frau Ferber, "you have no idea of the stern determination
+in that little head.  But let us decide.  I advise Elizabeth to pay her
+respects to the ladies to-morrow."
+
+The next afternoon at about five o’clock Elizabeth descended the
+mountain.  A broad, well-kept path led through the forest, which melted
+imperceptibly into the park.  No gateway separated its carefully-tended
+grounds, with their clumps of trees and feathery grass, from the wild
+woods beyond.
+
+Elizabeth had put on a fresh light muslin dress, and a small, white,
+round straw hat.  Her father walked with her as far as the first meadow,
+and then she went bravely on alone.  No human being crossed her path
+during her long walk; it even seemed as though the trees rustled more
+softly here in the leafy avenues and arcades than in the forest beyond,
+and as if the birds modulated their notes more gently.  She started at
+the noise of the crunching gravel beneath her tread as she approached
+the castle, and wondered to find how timid the intense quiet had made
+her.
+
+At last she reached the principal entrance, and caught sight of a human
+face.  It was a servant, who was busy in an imposing vestibule, but who
+moved as noiselessly as possible.  Upon her request that he would
+announce her to the baroness, he slipped up the broad staircase fronting
+the hall door, at the foot of which stood two lofty statues, their white
+limbs half concealed by the orange trees placed at their bases.  He soon
+returned, and assuring her that she was expected, led the way quickly up
+the stairs, scarcely touching the steps with the tips of his toes.
+
+Elizabeth followed him with a beating heart.  It was not the grandeur
+around her that oppressed her, it was the sensation of standing all
+alone in this new untried sphere.  The servant conducted her through a
+long corridor, past the open doors of several apartments, which,
+furnished with extraordinary splendour, were heaped with such a
+profusion of elegant trifles that a simple child, unused to such luxury,
+would have supposed herself in a fancy-shop.
+
+Her guide at last carefully opened a folding-door, and the young girl
+entered.
+
+Near the windows, opposite Elizabeth, upon a couch lay a lady in
+apparently great suffering.  Her head was resting upon a white pillow,
+and warm coverings were spread over her entire figure, which, in spite
+of its wrappings, betrayed decided embonpoint.  In her hand was a
+vinaigrette.
+
+She raised her head slightly, so that Elizabeth could see her face
+distinctly; it was round and pale, and at first sight by no means
+unprepossessing.  Upon a closer view, the large blue eyes, that
+glittered beneath light eyelashes and elevated eyebrows as light, looked
+cold as ice, an expression in nowise softened by the supercilious lines
+about her mouth and nostrils, and by a broad, rather projecting chin.
+
+"Oh, Fräulein, it is very kind of you to come!" cried the baroness in a
+weak voice, which nevertheless sounded harsh and cold, as she pointed to
+a lounge near her, and motioned to Elizabeth, who courtesied politely,
+to sit down.  "I have begged my cousin," she continued, "to arrange
+matters with you in my room, as I am really too ill to take you to
+hers."
+
+This reception was certainly courteous, although there was a
+considerable amount of condescension in the lady’s tone and manner.
+
+Elizabeth sat down, and was just about to reply to the question how she
+liked Thuringia, when the door was suddenly flung open, and a little
+girl of about eight years of age ran in, holding in her arms a pretty
+little dog, struggling and whining piteously.
+
+"Ali is so naughty, mamma, he will not stay with me!" cried the child,
+breathlessly, as she threw the dog upon the carpet.
+
+"You have probably been teasing the little thing again, my child," said
+her mother.  "But I cannot have you here, Bella; you make so much noise,
+and I have a headache.  Go away to your room."
+
+"Oh, it’s so stupid there!  Miss Mertens has forbidden me to play with
+Ali, and gives me those tiresome old fables to learn; I cannot bear
+them."
+
+"Well, then, stay here; but be perfectly quiet."
+
+The child passed close to Elizabeth with a stare and an examination of
+her dress from top to toe, and mounted upon an embroidered footstool
+before the mirror in order the easier to reach a vase of fresh flowers.
+In a moment the tastefully arranged bouquet was thrown into the wildest
+disorder by the little fingers, which busied themselves with sticking
+single flowers into the delicately embroidered eyelet-holes of the
+muslin curtain.  During this operation large drops of the water, in
+which the flowers had been placed, dropped from the stems upon
+Elizabeth’s dress, and she was obliged to move her chair, as there
+seemed no likelihood that any stop would be put to the proceeding,
+either by the little Vandal herself or by her mother’s prohibition.
+
+Elizabeth had only had time to move, and to reply to the reiterated
+question of the baroness, that she already felt very happy and, quite at
+home in Thuringia, when the lady hastily arose from her reclining
+posture, and, with an amiable smile upon her lips, nodded towards a
+large portière, which was drawn noiselessly aside and on the threshold
+of the door appeared the two young people whom Elizabeth had lately seen
+through the spy-glass; but how strangely ill-assorted they now seemed to
+be, as she saw them thus standing together.  Herr von Hollfeld, a
+slender figure of great height, was obliged to bend very much on one
+side to afford any support to the little hand that rested upon his arm.
+The sylph-like little figure, which had lain upon the couch in the park,
+was no taller than a child’s.  The exquisitely lovely head was sunk
+between the shoulders, and the crutch in her left hand showed how
+helpless was her crippled condition.
+
+"Forgive me, dearest Helene," cried the baroness, as the pair entered,
+"for troubling you to come to me; but, as you see, I am again the poor
+wretched creature upon whom you are so ready to bestow your angelic pity
+and kindness.  Fräulein Ferber," here she motioned towards Elizabeth, as
+if presenting her, and the young girl rose, blushing, "has had the
+kindness to come, in compliance with my note of yesterday."
+
+"And, indeed, I am very grateful to you fordoing so!" said the little
+lady, turning towards Elizabeth with a smile of great sweetness, and
+holding out her hand.  Her glance measured the blushing girl before her
+with an expression of surprise, and then rested upon the heavy golden
+braids that appeared below the hat.  "Oh, yes," she said, "I have
+already seen your lovely golden hair; yesterday as I was walking in the
+forest you were leaning over a wall up there at the old castle."
+
+Elizabeth blushed yet more deeply.
+
+"But because you were there," continued the little lady, "I lost the
+pleasure for which I had clambered up the height, the pleasure of
+hearing you play, which I had enjoyed on the previous evening.  So young
+and child-like, and yet with such a thorough appreciation of classic
+music! it seems impossible!  You will make me very happy if you will
+play often with me."
+
+Something like a shade of displeasure flitted across the features of the
+baroness, and a close observer might have noticed a scornful contraction
+of her lips, but it was lost upon Elizabeth, whose attention was
+entirely absorbed by interest in the unfortunate little lady whose
+delicate silvery voice seemed to come fresh from the depths of her
+heart.
+
+In the mean time, Herr von Hollfeld pushed a chair for Fräulein von
+Walde close to the lounge, and left the room without uttering a word.
+But as he went out by the door directly opposite to Elizabeth, she could
+not help noticing that he directed a last long look at her before slowly
+closing it after him.  It disturbed her, for his expression was of so
+strange a kind that she hurriedly glanced over her dress to see if
+anything there could have struck him as odd or unsuitable.
+
+For the last few moments Bella had been sitting upon the carpet, playing
+with the dog.  It would have been a charming picture, if the whinings
+and uneasy movements of the little animal had not betrayed that the
+child was teasing it.  At each loud cry from the dog, Fräulein von Walde
+started nervously, and the baroness said, mechanically, "Don’t tease him
+so, Bella!"  At last, however, when the animal uttered a most piteous
+howl, the mother raised her forefinger threateningly, and said, "I must
+call Miss Mertens."
+
+"Oh," replied the child contemptuously, "I don’t care for her!  She
+doesn’t dare to punish me, for you told her she mustn’t."
+
+At this moment, the portière was gently drawn aside, and a pale, faded
+gentlewoman appeared.  She courtesied to the ladies, and said, timidly:
+"The chaplain is waiting for Bella."
+
+"But I won’t have a lesson to-day!" the little girl cried, taking a ball
+of worsted from the table and throwing it at the speaker.
+
+"Yes, my child, you must," said the baroness.  "Go with Miss Mertens,
+and be a good little girl, Bella."
+
+Bella, as though the matter affected her no more than it did Ali, who
+had retreated behind the sofa, threw herself into an arm-chair and drew
+her feet up under her. The governess was about to approach her, but at
+an angry look from the baroness she retired to the door again.
+
+This disgraceful scene would probably have lasted much longer if the
+baroness had not brought up a _corps de reserve_ to her assistance in
+the shape of a box of bonbons. The child, after she had crammed her
+mouth and pockets full, left her seat, and, pushing aside the hand which
+her governess held out to her, ran out of the room.
+
+Elizabeth sat petrified with astonishment.  The delicate features of
+Fräulein von Walde also showed evident disapproval; but she said
+nothing.
+
+The baroness sank back among her pillows.  "These governesses will be my
+death," she sighed.  "If Miss Mertens could only learn how to treat,
+judiciously, a child of Bella’s sensitive, nervous temperament!  She
+never takes into account social position, temperament, and physical
+constitution.  She would model all after the same pattern—the daughter
+of a grocer or a peer; a finely-strung, sensitive nature, or a robust,
+rude, day-labourer physique—’tis all the same thing to her.  Miss
+Mertens is a disagreeable, pedantic schoolmistress; her English, too, is
+detestable.  Heaven only knows in what mean little English county she
+learned her native tongue!"
+
+"But really, dear Amalie," said Fräulein von Walde, "I do not find her
+English impure," and her voice sounded exquisitely kind and soothing.
+
+"There you come with your never-failing angelic amiability; but,
+although I do not understand English, I can always hear, in one instant,
+how much more high-bred your accent is, my dear, when you are talking
+with her."
+
+Elizabeth inwardly doubted the value of this estimate, and Fräulein von
+Walde blushed with a deprecating gesture.
+
+But the baroness continued: "And Bella hears it, too; she will not open
+her lips when her governess speaks English to her, and I cannot blame
+her in the least; it provokes me excessively when this person blames the
+child for obstinacy."
+
+Under the influence of her irritation the voice of the baroness, which
+had at first been very weak and suffering, had grown perceptibly
+stronger.  She suddenly seemed to become aware of this herself, and
+closed her eyes with an expression of great weariness.  "Oh heavens!"
+she sighed, "my unfortunate nerves are too much for me.  I grow excited
+instead of being kept quiet; these vexations are poison both to my mind
+and body."
+
+"I would advise you, Amalie, when you are as nervous and weak as you are
+to-day, to leave Bella without a fear to Miss Mertens’ care.  I am
+convinced that nothing can be better for her.  While I fully understand
+your touching anxiety on the child’s account, I can confidently assure
+you that Miss Mertens is far too gentle and cultivated a person to do
+anything that would not conduce to her welfare.  You look quite worn
+out," she continued, sympathizingly.  "We had better leave you alone;
+Fräulein Ferber will certainly have the kindness to accompany me to my
+room."
+
+So saying she arose, and leaning over the baroness imprinted a gentle
+kiss upon her cheek.  Then she laid her hand upon the arm of Elizabeth,
+whom the baroness dismissed with a gracious nod, and left the apartment.
+
+As they slowly walked through the various corridors, she told Elizabeth
+that it would be a special delight to her brother, who was so far from
+her, if she should resume her music.  He used to sit alone with her
+listening to her playing for hours, until a nervous malady that had
+attacked her had forced her to give up her beloved music for a long
+time.  Now she felt much stronger, and her physician had also given his
+consent; she would be very diligent, that she might surprise her brother
+upon his return home.  Elizabeth then took leave.
+
+She hastened with winged speed through the park, and along the path
+which ascended the mountain.  In the forest glade just before the open
+garden gate her parents were awaiting her return, and little Ernst ran
+lovingly to meet her.  What an air of home breathed all around her here!
+The greeting that she received showed how she had been missed; the
+canary was singing merrily in his green embowered cage, the garden
+laughed in beauty, and in the background, under the group of lindens
+above the cool spring, the snowy table was spread for supper.
+
+The Italian castle with all its splendour, its aristocratic air, and its
+oppressive silence, only broken by the clamour of a spoiled child, faded
+behind her like a dream of the night; and when she had imparted her
+impressions of all that she had seen and heard to her parents, she
+concluded with the words: "You have taught me, father dear, never to
+form any settled judgment of others upon a slight acquaintance with
+them, for such judgment runs a fair chance of being unjust, but what can
+I do with my unruly fancy?  Whenever I think of the two ladies, I see in
+imagination a lovely young weeping willow, whose elastic graceful
+branches are the constant sport of a furious tempest."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+From this time Elizabeth went regularly to Lindhof twice a week.  The
+day following her first visit Baroness Lessen had arranged the hours for
+the lessons in a very courteous note, and had insisted upon a most
+generous compensation for Elizabeth’s time.  These lessons soon proved a
+source of much enjoyment.  Helene von Walde, owing to the absence of all
+practice for many years, was very deficient in technical knowledge and
+capacity, and could not be compared at all with Elizabeth; but she
+played with much feeling, her taste was refined and cultivated, and she
+was entirely free from the wretched habit, common to most dilettanti, of
+depreciating whatever lay beyond her reach.  Baroness Lessen was never
+present during the music lessons, and therefore the moments of rest
+gradually became especially delightful to Elizabeth.  At such times a
+servant usually brought in some light refreshments.  Helene leaned back
+in her armchair, and Elizabeth seated herself upon a cushion at her
+feet, and listened enchanted to the flute-like silvery voice of the
+unfortunate lady as she recounted many an experience of the past.  The
+image of the absent brother here played a principal part.  She was never
+weary of telling of his care and thoughtfulness for her, of how,
+although he was many years her senior, he was continually studying how
+to gratify and humour her childish whims and peculiarities.  She related
+how he had purchased Lindhof only because, upon a visit which she had
+formerly made in Thuringia, she had experienced great benefits from the
+pure Thuringian air; everything showed how dearly he loved her.
+
+One afternoon, when they had been practising unusually long, a servant
+entering announced a visitor.
+
+"Stay and drink tea with me this afternoon," said Fräulein von Walde to
+Elizabeth.  "My physician is here from L——, and several ladies from the
+neighbourhood have just arrived; I will send some one up to the castle
+that your mother may not be anxious about you.  My tête-à-tête with the
+doctor will not last long, and I shall soon be with you again."
+
+And so saying she left the room.  Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed
+before the door opened and Fräulein von Walde entered, leaning upon the
+arm of a gentleman whom she presented to Elizabeth as Doctor Fels, from
+L——. He was tall, with an intellectual countenance, and as soon as he
+heard Elizabeth’s name he entered into a lively conversation with her,
+comically assuring her that his own surprise and horror, as well as that
+of the entire respectable population of L——, had really known no bounds
+when it was reported that old Castle Gnadeck had received within its
+crumbling walls inhabitants of flesh and blood.
+
+Suddenly there was a rustling in the antechamber, and upon the threshold
+of the door appeared two figures of rather singular exterior.  Their
+great resemblance of feature plainly revealed their relationship as
+mother and daughter.  Both wore dark dresses, which, contrary to the
+prevailing mode, fell limp and close around them, large scarfs of black
+woollen stuff, and brown, round straw hats, tied, in the case of the
+mother, with black ribbon, while the daughter had a lilac bow beneath
+her chin.
+
+Helene von Walde received the ladies courteously, presenting them as
+Frau and Fräulein Lehr, and Elizabeth afterwards learned that, residing
+in L——, they spent their summers in lodgings in the village of Lindhof.
+
+Immediately after their entrance the Baroness Lessen appeared, leaning
+upon her son’s arm, and accompanied by a gentleman who was addressed by
+those present as Herr Möhring, the chaplain.
+
+The baroness was dressed in dark silk, but with the greatest elegance,
+and made a most imposing appearance. She paused for an instant upon the
+threshold of the door, and seemed to be disagreeably surprised at
+Elizabeth’s presence.  She measured her with a haughty look of inquiry,
+and replied to her courtesy by a scarcely perceptible inclination of the
+head.
+
+Helene noticed the look, and approaching her said in a soothing whisper,
+"I kept my little favourite with me to-day—I had already detained her so
+long."
+
+This excuse did not escape Elizabeth’s ear.  It offended her, and she
+would willingly have flown away through the window near which she was
+standing, had not pride induced her to stay and brave the arrogance of
+the baroness.  The great lady seemed entirely pacified by the
+explanation of what had occurred without her consent. She put her arm
+around Helene, stroked her curls tenderly, and said a hundred caressing
+things to her.  Then she requested those present to follow her to the
+adjoining room, where tea was prepared.  She did the honours of the
+tea-table, and discovered a talent, by no means to be despised, for
+leading and carrying on the conversation. With admirable tact, she
+contrived always to make Helene the centre of attention without in the
+least wounding the self-love of the others.
+
+Elizabeth sat silent between the doctor and Fräulein Lehr.  The
+conversation possessed little interest for her, inasmuch as it related
+to people and circumstances entirely strange to her.  Frau von Lehr had
+much to say, and seemed perfectly instructed in every matter, private or
+public, that had taken place during the last few weeks among the people
+living around Lindhof.  She spoke in a peculiarly mournful, suppressed
+tone of voice, and at the conclusion of the rehearsal of each exciting
+piece of news cast down her eyes and inclined her head with great
+apparent humility and resignation, as though she were a lamb suffering
+for the sins of the world.  Now and then she drew forth from a huge
+reticule which she carried a small bottle of rose-water, with which she
+moistened her eyes, as they seemed weak with perpetual casting towards
+heaven.
+
+What a contrast between her and Helene’s madonna face, as it leaned
+against the dark plush of the lounge, reminding Elizabeth more than ever
+of the water-lily lying dreamily with its snow-white leaves upon the
+dark surface of the lake!  To-day there was a strange glow upon the
+delicate features.  It was not that all traces of suffering had
+vanished, but there was a peaceful light of content in her eyes, and a
+happy smile wreathed the pale lips as often as she took up from her lap
+the bouquet of rosebuds which Herr von Hollfeld had presented to her
+when he entered.  He sat beside her, and sometimes joined in the
+conversation.  As soon as he opened his lips the ladies were silent,
+listening with the greatest attention, although his talk was anything
+but fluent, and, as Elizabeth soon discovered, betrayed not the
+slightest originality of mind.
+
+He was a very handsome man, of about four and twenty.  There was great
+repose in the finely-cut features, which at first seemed to indicate
+manliness and strength of character; but any such impression which their
+regularity might have produced was effaced by a searching glance into
+his eyes.  Those eyes, although they were large and faultless in shape,
+had no depth whatever, and never lighted up with that meteoric flash
+which so often reveals the man of intellect, even when he does not
+speak.  Its want can be atoned for by that mild glow which speaks of
+deep sensibility, and which, although it does not instantly impress us,
+gradually attracts and enchains us.  But there was nothing of this to be
+discovered in Herr von Hollfeld’s fine blue orbs.
+
+This sentence, however, would have been echoed by but few, for it was
+the present fashion, especially at the court of L——, to regard Herr von
+Hollfeld as a prodigy, whose silence gave warrant of unfathomable depths
+of intellect and sensibility,—in which opinion the ladies in and around
+Lindhof most cordially joined, as was illustrated by the conduct of Frau
+von Lehr’s very stout daughter, who leaned forward, directly across the
+modestly shrinking Elizabeth, and listened, as if to the enunciation of
+a new gospel, whenever Herr von Hollfeld opened his lips.  And she, too,
+appeared quite willing to allow her light to shine.
+
+"Were you not charmed with the lovely sermons with which Herr Möhring
+edified us during the holidays?" she asked, turning to Elizabeth.
+
+"I regret not having heard them," she answered.
+
+"Then you did not attend divine service?"
+
+"Oh, yes!  I went with my parents to the village church at Lindhof."
+
+"Indeed!" said the Baroness Lessen, turning for the first time toward
+Elizabeth, and smiling sarcastically. "And were you greatly edified at
+the village church at Lindhof?"
+
+"Most truly was I, gracious lady," Elizabeth quietly replied, looking
+calmly into the contemptuous eyes that were turned upon her.  "I was
+deeply affected by the simple, earnest words of the preacher.  His
+discourse was not delivered in the church, but under the trees outside.
+When the service was about to begin it was evident that the little
+church could not contain the crowd of worshippers, and an altar was
+constructed under God’s free sky. Such altars might often be erected."
+
+"Unfortunately, they often are," said Herr Möhring, who until then had
+spoken little, contenting himself with confirming all Frau von Lehr’s
+remarks by an amiable smile or an assenting nod.  Now, however, his
+broad, shiny face grew purple, and, turning to the baroness, he
+continued, contemptuously: "Yes, most gracious lady, it is only too
+true; the old idols are being replaced in the sacred groves, and we
+shall have druids sacrificing to them beneath the oaken shades."
+
+"Really, that never occurred to me.  With the aid of my wildest
+imagination I should never have dreamed at the time that I was assisting
+at a heathen sacrifice," rejoined Elizabeth.  She smiled, but continued
+with serious warmth: "It seemed to me, on that glorious spring morning,
+as the tones of the organ streamed forth from the open doors and windows
+of the church, and that reverend old man spoke in such devout tones, as
+it did when I entered the temple of God for the first time in my life."
+
+"You seem to have an excellent memory, Fräulein," Frau von Lehr here
+remarked: "How old were you at that time, if I may ask?"
+
+"Eleven years old."
+
+"Eleven years old!  Oh, heavens! how can such a thing be possible?"
+cried the lady in holy horror.  "How possible with Christian parents!
+Why, my children were familiar with the house of God from their earliest
+years, as you can testify, my dear doctor."
+
+"Yes indeed, madame," he replied with great gravity. "I remember that
+you ascribed the attack of croup, by which you lost your little son at
+two years of age, to a couple of hours in the cold church."
+
+Elizabeth looked up quite terrified at her neighbour. The doctor had
+joined in the conversation hitherto only by throwing in a sarcastic word
+here and there very drily, which amused Elizabeth greatly, inasmuch as
+he was always met by a reproving glance from the baroness. When the
+young girl began to speak she had not noticed him any more than had the
+others, whose entire attention had been occupied with the wretched
+heathen child, so that no one had observed how he was bursting with
+inward laughter at the daring replies of the young stranger, and their
+effect upon those present.  His answer appeared thoughtless and cruel to
+Elizabeth; but he must have known his companions well, for Frau von Lehr
+was not at all offended, but replied with great unction: "Yes, the Lord
+took the pious little angel to himself; he was too good for this world;"
+then, turning to Elizabeth, she said: "And so you were shut out from the
+Lord’s kingdom for the first eleven years of your life?"
+
+"Only from His temple, gracious lady.  As a little child I was
+instructed in the history of Christianity, and with my first thoughts
+were blended ideas of God’s wisdom and love.  I cannot remember the time
+when I did not hear of them from my father; but it is a firm principle
+of his never to allow very young children to go to church; he says they
+are entirely incapable of appreciating the importance and meaning of
+what they see and hear there; the sermon, which must be entirely beyond
+their comprehension, wearies them, and they conceive a dislike to the
+place.  My little brother Ernst is seven years old, and has never yet
+been to church."
+
+"Oh, happy father, who has the courage to frame and execute such plans
+for his children’s culture!" exclaimed Doctor Fels.
+
+"Well, what hinders you from letting your children grow up without care,
+like mushrooms?" asked the baroness with malice.
+
+"That I can readily tell you in a very few words, most gracious lady.  I
+have six children, and cannot afford to have masters for them at home.
+My profession prevents me from teaching them myself, and, therefore, I
+am obliged to send them to the public school and subject them to its
+laws, which require them to attend church regularly.  Just as little can
+I carry out my views with regard to another subject,—the putting of the
+Bible into the hands of young children.  The Sacred Book, which contains
+the holy principles that should regulate all our thoughts and actions,
+and, as such, should be regarded with veneration by the young,—does not
+belong in their hands at a time when childhood, with rare exceptions,
+seeks amusement instead of instruction, and is always curious to
+investigate whatever is forbidden and mysterious. And, therefore, I
+know,—and any observant teacher will admit,—that children who devote
+themselves constantly to the perusal of the Bible, for which they are
+commended by thoughtless parents, do not always search for the text of
+the last sermon,—but read much else beside,—often meeting with words and
+expressions which a careful mother would guard them from hearing at
+home, but whose significance is often made only too clear by their
+intercourse with other children not so carefully educated, left to the
+charge of ignorant and vulgar servants. And suppose, even, that they
+seek explanation of certain words and phrases from their mothers only;
+an intelligent mother will always know, ’tis true, how to reply to their
+queries, but she must, most certainly, forbid them the use of many
+expressions which they find in the Bible,—let us recall to mind the Song
+of Solomon,—and so the first seeds of doubt and unbelief are sown in the
+childish mind, which is wanting in the strength that only moral culture
+and riper understanding can give."
+
+Here the Baroness Lessen arose with a gesture of impatience.  Upon her
+full cheeks, usually so pale, two round, crimson spots had appeared, a
+sign to all who knew her, of great irritation.  Fräulein von Walde, who
+had been a passive listener to the conversation, also arose, took her
+cousin’s arm, and, leading her to the window, asked whether she would
+not like to hear a little music from Elizabeth and herself.
+
+This propitiatory proposal was received with a gracious inclination of
+the head,—the more especially as the baroness did not feel herself quite
+equal to the doctor in a war of words; and, as everyone must have seen
+her indignation, she was quite willing to have it supposed that the
+beautiful, soothing music was the cause of her refraining from
+annihilating the impious defamer of her holy zeal, for she was
+perpetually presenting Bibles to poor children.
+
+She took her seat in a windowed recess, and looked out upon the
+landscape, upon which the first shadows of approaching evening were
+falling.  Her look was cold and cruel,—an expression often seen in a
+certain kind of light-blue eye, shaded by white eyelashes.  The corners
+of her mouth were drawn down, a sign of great displeasure, which did not
+vanish even when Schubert’s Erlking, arranged for four hands, was
+performed in a masterly manner by Helene and Elizabeth.  The waves of
+melody broke against that breast unfelt, as the waves of the ocean upon
+a rocky shore.
+
+When the last chord died away, the ladies arose from the instrument, and
+the doctor, who had stood immovably, listening, hastened towards them.
+His eyes sparkled as he thanked them for a treat which, as he assured
+them, was richer than any he had enjoyed for years.  Here Fräulein von
+Lehr’s face grew scarlet, and her mother cast a malicious glance at the
+unlucky enthusiast.  Had not her daughter the preceding winter played
+several times in public in L——, for the benefit of some charitable
+association, and had he not attended every concert?  However, the doctor
+did not appear to notice the storms that he was calling down upon his
+head.  He discussed Schubert’s compositions in a manner that manifested
+refined perception and a thorough knowledge of his subject.
+
+Suddenly there was a harsh clash of chords upon the piano; it seemed as
+though fingers of bone were belabouring the keys.  They looked round
+with a start.  The chaplain was seated at the instrument, with head
+thrown back and inflated nostrils.  He raised his hands for a second
+attack, and began a beautiful choral, which his horrible playing
+converted into torture for sensitive ears. Still it might have been
+endured, when, to Elizabeth’s horror, he began to sing in a nasal,
+snuffling tone;—that was too much.  The doctor seized his hat, and bowed
+to Helene and the baroness, the latter only vouchsafing him a slight
+wave of the hand in token of dismissal, without turning her face from
+the window.
+
+An incomparable expression of humour hovered upon the doctor’s features.
+He pressed Elizabeth’s hand cordially as he departed, and took leave of
+the rest with a courteous bow.
+
+As soon as the door closed behind him, the baroness arose with
+excitement and approached Helene, who was sitting in a corner of the
+sofa.
+
+"It is intolerable!" she cried, and her sharp voice sounded muffled, as
+if suppressed anger were choking her, while her searching gaze rested
+full upon the little lady, who looked up to her almost timidly.  "How
+can you, Helene, here in your own house, hear our rank, our dignity as
+women,—yes, even our holy of holies, which we are bound so faithfully to
+defend,—assailed so grossly without one word of reply?"
+
+"But, dear Amalie, I cannot see."
+
+"You will not see, child, in your inexhaustible patience and
+long-suffering, that this doctor insults me whenever he can.  Well, I
+must submit to that, for this is not my house, and besides, as a
+Christian, I would rather endure wrong than resort to retaliation.  But
+this submission must cease when the sacred claims of the Lord are
+assailed.  Here we should strive and struggle, and not grow weary.  Is
+it not actually blasphemous for this man to seize his hat, and, _sans
+façon_, take his departure from the room while our hearts are being
+stirred and elevated by the lofty thoughts which the truest form of
+music, the choral, can alone express?"
+
+She had spoken louder and louder, until she did not perceive that her
+voice was entirely destroying the effect of a touching phrase, just
+delivered by the unwearied chaplain, whose efforts had not been
+intermitted for an instant.
+
+"Ah, you must not blame the doctor for that," said Fräulein von Walde.
+"His time is precious; most likely he has a patient to see in L——; he
+was about to leave just before we began to play."
+
+"While that heathenish Erlking was going on, the worthy man entirely
+forgot his patients," the baroness interrupted contemptuously.  "Well, I
+must submit. Unfortunately, in our degenerate days, the scoffers of our
+faith have gained the upper hand."
+
+"But, for heaven’s sake, Amalie, what do you want me to do?  You know
+only too well that Fels is indispensable to me.  He is the only
+physician who knows how to relieve me when I am in great suffering,"
+cried Helene, and her eyes filled with tears, while her cheeks were
+suffused with a blush of irritation.
+
+"I thought, Fräulein Helene,"—began Frau von Lehr, who had hitherto sat
+in her corner silently, and on the watch, like a spider in its web,—"I
+thought that the welfare of our souls should be our first consideration;
+care for our poor bodies should, in my estimation, rank second in our
+view.  There are many other skilful physicians in L——, with as great a
+reputation for learning as Dr. Fels enjoys.  Believe me, my dear, it
+often gives great pain to our Christian friends in L—— to know that a
+scoffer, an infidel, is admitted to your confidence as your friend and
+adviser."
+
+"Even if I consented to sacrifice myself so far," replied Helene, "as to
+employ another physician, I dare not take such a step without first
+obtaining my brother’s consent; and I know that I should meet with
+determined opposition there, for Rudolph is warmly attached to the
+doctor, and puts entire confidence in him."
+
+"Yes, more’s the pity!" cried the baroness.  "I have never been able to
+comprehend that weakness in Rudolph’s character.  Doctor Fels imposes
+upon him utterly with his seeming frankness, which might better be
+called insolence.  Well, I wash my hands of the affair, only for the
+future I must decline any visits from the doctor, and entreat you, my
+dear Helene, to excuse me when he is with you."
+
+Fräulein von Walde made no reply.  She arose and looked sadly around the
+room for an instant, as if missing something.  It seemed to Elizabeth
+that her eyes sought Herr von Hollfeld, who had left the room
+unperceived a short time before.
+
+The baroness took up her lace shawl, and Frau von Lehr and her daughter
+prepared for departure.  Both paid several compliments to the chaplain,
+who had finished his performance, and was standing at the piano rubbing
+his hands with embarrassment; and then all took leave of Helene, who
+replied to their good-nights in a tone of great exhaustion.
+
+As Elizabeth descended the stairs she saw Herr von Hollfeld standing in
+a retired, dimly-lighted corridor. During his mother’s outbreak of anger
+he had sat quietly turning over the leaves of a book, never joining in
+the conversation by word or look.  His conduct had disgusted Elizabeth,
+who had hoped that he would have stood by Helene and silenced his mother
+by a few serious words.  She was still more displeased when she noticed
+that he was steadily regarding herself while he was apparently occupied
+with his book.  He might easily have seen her displeasure in her face,
+but he continued to stare most insultingly.  She felt herself at last
+blush deeply beneath his gaze, and she was the more provoked at feeling
+this, as the same thing had occurred against her will several times
+before.  It was remarkable that she never went home from Castle Lindhof
+without chancing to meet Herr von Hollfeld either in the hall, upon the
+stairs, or stepping suddenly from behind a tree in the park.  Why these
+meetings at last became painfully embarrassing to her she could not have
+explained to herself.  She thought no more about it, and usually forgot
+him entirely before she reached her home.
+
+He was standing now in the dark passage.  A black slouched hat was
+pulled down over his face, and his summer coat had been exchanged for a
+light cloak.  He seemed to be waiting for some one, and as soon as
+Elizabeth had reached the last stair approached her hastily, as though
+about to address her.
+
+At the same moment Frau von Lehr and her daughter appeared on the
+landing above.
+
+"Aha, Herr von Hollfeld," cried the elder lady, "are you going to walk?"
+
+The young man’s features, which had seemed to Elizabeth strikingly
+animated, instantly assumed a quiet expression of entire indifference.
+
+"I have just come in from the garden," he said negligently, "where I
+have been refreshing myself in the soft night air.  Attend Fräulein
+Ferber home," he said authoritatively to a servant who issued from the
+servants’ room with a lantern, and then with an obeisance to the ladies,
+he retired.
+
+"How glad I am," said Elizabeth, as an hour later she was sitting at her
+mother’s bedside relating the events of the afternoon, "that to-morrow
+will be Sunday.  In our dear little simple village church I shall forget
+all the disagreeable impressions which the last few hours have left upon
+my mind.  I never could have believed that I could have listened to a
+choral without being moved to aspiration and devotion.  But to-day I was
+really angry, when, amid the clatter of the teacups, and after an hour
+passed in talk certainly not inspired by love of our neighbour, I
+suddenly heard those tones which have always been sacred to hours of
+meditation and serious thought. Behind all this religious zeal there
+lies hidden boundless arrogance,—that I saw clearly to-day; but if
+others feel as I do, these people will scarcely make many proselytes.
+Acknowledge, mother dear, that I am not naturally antagonistic, and yet
+to-day I felt for the first time in my life an irresistible desire to
+defy and contradict."
+
+And then she spoke of Herr von Hollfeld and his strange behaviour in the
+hall, adding that she could not understand what he could possibly have
+wished to say to her.
+
+"Never mind, we will not puzzle ourselves about that," said Frau Ferber.
+"If he should ever propose to accompany you on your way home, do not
+fail to reject such an offer peremptorily.  Do you hear, Elizabeth?"
+
+"But, dearest mother, what are you thinking of?" cried the girl with a
+laugh.  "The skies will fall before such a thing happens.  If he could
+allow Frau Lehr and her daughter, who consider themselves persons of
+distinction, to go home without an escort, he will hardly condescend to
+notice my insignificant self."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+About a week after the arrival of his relatives the forester had
+published an edict in his domicile, which, as he said, had been hailed
+with joy by his prime minister, and in accordance with which the duty of
+taking their mid-day meal every Sunday at the Lodge was imposed upon the
+Ferber family.  Those were joyous days for Elizabeth.
+
+Long before the first sound of the church bell they usually set out for
+church.  In her fluttering white dress, her soul filled with the
+consciousness of youth and happiness, convinced that such a clear,
+lovely day, must bring joy with it, Elizabeth walked beside her parents,
+and looked eagerly for the moment when the round gilt ball upon the
+village church tower at Lindhof emerged from the waves of green in the
+valley below them; then from the dark and silent forest paths to the
+right and left, groups of church-goers from the different hamlets around
+would appear and join them with kindly greetings, until, while the bells
+were ringing, the whole assembly arrived in the meadow just before the
+church, where the forester was usually awaiting them.  He welcomed them
+from a distance with sparkling eyes and a flourish of his hat in the
+air.  In every movement of his tall figure, in his whole bearing, might
+be read that inflexible integrity which never bowed to the mighty ones
+of the earth, that expression of manly power and force of character from
+which we expect to see quick resolve and bold action result, but which
+never suggests the tender emotions of a sensitive nature.  Elizabeth
+declared that it was always a touching surprise when a single gentle
+star beamed forth at night from a sky covered with clouds, and that the
+sudden look of melting tenderness that occasionally illumined her
+uncle’s frank, determined countenance, affected her in like manner.  And
+she had many an opportunity of observing this change of expression, for
+she had grown to be the apple of his eye.  He had never had any
+children, and now poured forth all the paternal affection of which his
+large, warm heart was capable, upon his brother’s lovely child, who, he
+felt with pride, resembled himself in many points of character, although
+in her they were transfigured by the charm of feminine delicacy and
+refinement.
+
+And she repaid his affection with the clinging love and filial care of a
+daughter.  She soon discovered how to make many an addition to his
+domestic comfort, and where Sabina’s penetration or capacity were at
+fault, she effected many an improvement, with so much tact that the old
+servant was never offended, whilst a new life opened upon her uncle,
+surrounded by Elizabeth’s tender care.
+
+On the return from church, her uncle led Elizabeth by the hand, "just
+like a little school-girl," as she said, and, indeed, it looked like it.
+The excellent sermon which they had just heard, furnished matter for
+abundant conversation and exchange of newly-developed thoughts and
+sentiments; while the birds twittered and sang as though determined to
+vindicate their right to speak here, and the golden-green sunshine came
+quivering through the tops of the trees, flecking their heads as they
+passed with its transfiguring light.
+
+At the farthest end of the long dim forest aisle, for it was a very
+narrow path which led from the Lodge to the village of Lindhof, a little
+point of light indicated the meadow, in the middle of which stood the
+old house. With every step the picture grew more distinct, until at last
+they could distinguish Sabina waiting for them at the door, shading her
+eyes with the corner of her white apron, and retreating into the house
+when she saw them, that she might take her stand behind the soup tureen,
+which was smoking upon the table beneath the beeches, where she
+fulfilled her duty with the air of a general upon a rampart.
+
+But to-day Sabina had prepared a particularly delicious repast, for in
+the centre of the table was piled a huge crimson pyramid, the first
+wood-strawberries of the year, hailed with delight by little Ernst, and
+by full-grown Elizabeth too.  The forester laughed at the enthusiasm of
+the big and little child, and declared that he had a surprise to offer
+as well as Sabina,—he would have the horse harnessed and take Elizabeth
+to L——, where he had a little business to attend to,—a long-promised
+pleasure. The young girl accepted his proposal with delight.
+
+At table Elizabeth related the occurrences of the previous evening.  Her
+uncle shook with laughter.
+
+"The doctor’s a bold fellow," he said, still laughing; "but ’tis of no
+use, he has drunk his last cup of tea at Lindhof."
+
+"Impossible, uncle,—it would be outrageous!" cried Elizabeth, earnestly.
+"Fräulein von Walde would never permit such a thing, she will resist
+with all her might."
+
+"Well," he said, "I wish we could question the little lady to-day with
+regard to her sentiments towards the doctor, and you would see.  How can
+a strong will inhabit such a frail dwelling?  That imperious woman will
+soon influence her, and there is none to resist, for ’Heaven is high,
+and the Czar afar,’ as the Russians say.  We know, Sabina, that many a
+strange thing has happened since the rule of the baroness began, eh?"
+
+"Ah, yes indeed, Herr Forester!" replied the old woman, who was just
+putting a dish upon the table.  "When I think of poor Schneider,—she is
+the widow of a day-labourer in the village," she said, turning to the
+others; "she always worked hard to make both ends meet, and no one could
+say a word against her, but she had four children to feed, and lived
+from hand to mouth.  And matters went badly with her last harvest, and
+she had nothing to give her children to eat, so she was driven to do
+what was wrong, and took an apron full of potatoes from a splendid field
+belonging to the castle.  But the overseer, Linke, who happened to be
+standing behind a tree not far off, saw her, sprang out upon her
+instantly, and knocked her down.  Even if he had stopped there ’twould
+not have been so bad, but he kicked her brutally as she lay upon the
+ground.  I had been to Lindhof, and as I was passing beneath the cherry
+trees near the village, on my way home, I saw some one lying upon the
+ground,—it was the poor woman, bleeding profusely, and with not a soul
+near her.  She could not move, so I called some people, who helped me to
+carry her home.  The Herr Forester was absent, but I was sure of his
+permission, and so I nursed and tended her as well as I could.  The
+people in the village were furious at the overseer,—but what could they
+do?  There was some talk of arresting him, but it all came to nothing.
+Linke is one of the saints, he is the baroness’ right-hand man, turns up
+his eyes, and does everything in the name of the Lord.  It must never
+get abroad that such a pious man could behave so inhumanly, and so the
+baroness drove to town every day, and was wonderfully condescending,
+and, in short, the story was hushed up, and the poor woman, who has
+never entirely recovered, had to get along as best she might, for
+neither she nor her children ever had a bite or a drop from the castle
+all the while that she was sick.  Ah! yes, the overseer and the
+baroness’ old waiting-maid make a hard time of it for the poor people,
+they keep a close watch to see who misses prayers or chapel over there,
+and they have been the means of depriving many an honest man of work at
+the castle."
+
+"Don’t say any more about it," said the forester.  "I cannot relish my
+food when I think of these things, and our pleasant Sunday, to which I
+look forward all the week, must have no other shadows upon it than those
+cast by the white, fleecy clouds up there."
+
+As soon as the meal was concluded the forester’s modest little equipage
+made its appearance.  He handed in Elizabeth, and seated himself by her
+side.  As she nodded a farewell to the others, she glanced up at the
+house, and started with actual terror at the eyes which were gazing down
+upon her from a window in the upper story.  ’Tis true, the head
+disappeared instantly, but Elizabeth had time to recognize the mute
+Bertha, and to convince herself that she was the object of that look of
+rage and hate, although she could not divine its cause.  Until now
+Bertha had withdrawn herself entirely from all intercourse with the
+Ferber family.  She never appeared when Elizabeth was at the Lodge.  She
+took her Sunday dinner alone in her own room, and the forester allowed
+her to please herself in the matter.  He had no desire to establish any
+relation between the two girls.
+
+Frau Ferber had once made an attempt to address the unfortunate girl.
+Her gentle feminine nature could not believe that mere wilfulness was
+the spring of Bertha’s extraordinary behaviour.  She suspected the
+existence of some deeper cause, perhaps of some secret grief, which made
+her indifferent to her surroundings, or rendered her so irritable that
+she chose to remain silent rather than be engaged in perpetual strife.
+A gentle word from her, a kindly advance on her side, would, she hoped,
+unseal Bertha’s lips; but she succeeded no better than Elizabeth had
+done.  She was even so outraged by the girl’s manner that she strictly
+forbade all further attempt at intercourse with her upon Elizabeth’s
+part.
+
+After a charming drive, Elizabeth and her uncle reached their
+destination.
+
+L—— was certainly a small town, and bore the unmistakable impress of a
+small town, although the court resided there from the appearance of the
+first primrose to the fall of the last autumn leaf, and its inhabitants
+took the greatest pains to adapt themselves, in their social life, to
+the manners and customs of a large Capital.  But the loud, uneasy
+creaking of the machinery of a most complicated domestic economy could
+not be drowned by the rustle of the most flowing and elegant crinoline.
+The honest townsfolk, who left their dwellings, with doors wide open, in
+perfect safety, to earn their daily bread in the little uneven streets,
+or in the strips of meadow land between their houses, fell as far short
+of being peacocks as did the ducks, that daily delighted to swim in the
+little brook running directly through the town, of becoming stately
+swans.
+
+The situation of the place was undeniably delightful. In the centre of a
+not very spacious valley, nestled at the foot of an eminence whose
+summit was crowned by the royal castle and domain, it lay buried in the
+dark, rich green of avenues of lindens, and surrounded in spring by the
+lovely blossoms of countless orchards.
+
+The forester took Elizabeth to the house of an assessor, one of his
+friends.  She was to wait for him there until he had concluded his
+business.  Although made cordially welcome by the lady of the house, she
+would gladly have turned round and followed her retreating uncle,—for
+she found herself, to her vexation, in the midst of a large assemblage
+of ladies.  Her hostess informed her that, in honour of her husband’s
+birthday, she had gotten up a set of tableaux from mythology, to
+rehearse which was the cause of the present gathering.  At the
+coffee-table, in a pleasantly-furnished apartment, eight or ten ladies
+were seated, already dressed in mythological costume, and upon the
+arrival of the stranger, they measured her with glances that seemed to
+penetrate every plait and fold of her simple attire.
+
+All the goddesses, without exception, had submitted themselves, in their
+costume, to the sceptre of the royal fair of France, and wore their
+white robes over abundant crinoline, which was then the fashion, "For,"
+said Ceres, a trig little blonde, upon whose flushed brow a whole
+harvest was waving, "one looks so forlorn without crinoline;" and how
+else could her dress have supported the huge bunches of wheat ears and
+red poppies with which it was adorned?  How Dame Ceres had managed this
+difficulty in her days of splendour was a problem which no one took the
+pains to solve.
+
+Perhaps the artificial light of the evening would be favourable to the
+remarkable arrangement of some of the toilets, but now the bright
+sunlight illuminated and revealed with cruel sincerity every pasted bit
+of gold-paper, every paper-muslin scarf that should have represented
+satin, and every basting stitch in the improvised tunics. Several
+old-fashioned paste shoe-buckles glittered in the girdle of Venus; and
+the silver crescent upon the forehead of Diana showed the blotting-paper
+behind it at every movement of the head which it adorned.
+
+The hostess went from one to the other of her guests, exerting herself
+for the entertainment of all.
+
+"What a shame!" she said, entering the room after a short absence, "Frau
+Räthin Wolf has sent to say that her Adolph cannot come to-night; he is
+in bed with a fever.  As soon as the note came, I ran across myself to
+Doctor Fels; but there is no doing anything with that man upon the
+subject of his children’s education.  He repeated his former refusal,
+and so ungraciously, that I am quite outraged.  He says that he
+considers any part in such entertainments with grown-up people entirely
+unfit for half-grown boys like his Moritz, who get their heads filled
+with a sense of their own importance, their minds distracted from their
+lessons,—and Heaven knows what besides.  He told me, most insolently,
+that he thinks I should have done better this evening to have provided
+my suffering husband—suffering, indeed, he is as lively as a fish in the
+sea, except for a touch of rheumatism—with a supper that he liked, than
+to have worried him with such buffoonery, which will only deprive him of
+his usual comfort and night’s rest, and do no living creature any
+earthly good."
+
+"How coarse! how rude!  He is always pretending to be a connoisseur of
+art, and doesn’t understand it one whit better than my little finger,"
+was heard from one and the other of the ladies.
+
+"Let my experience console you, dear Adele," said Ceres.  "Were it not
+that my husband cannot dispense with his services as a physician, Fels
+should never darken my doors again.  When I had that children’s
+fancy-ball last winter, which was acknowledged to be a great success, he
+refused my invitation to his children; and what do you think he said to
+me, when I begged him to allow his little girls to come,—’Does it really
+give you pleasure to see such monkey-tricks?’  I never will forgive
+him!"
+
+Elizabeth suddenly seemed to see the doctor’s intellectual face, with
+its searching glance, sarcastic smile, and the slightly contemptuous
+play of its finely-formed lips.  She laughed inwardly at his rude
+replies; but she was struck at the same time by the depressing thought,
+how hard it is for a man to live up to his convictions.
+
+"But what would you have, Frau Director?" broke in Flora, a delicate,
+languishing figure with a pretty but very pale face, who had hitherto
+been entirely occupied in smiling upon her flower-decked reflection in
+an opposite glass.  "He has treated us no better.  Two years ago he told
+my father and mother to their faces, that it was not only folly but want
+of principle—just think of such a thing!—to allow me to go into society
+so young, with my constitution.  Papa and mamma were furious,—as if they
+did not know best about their own children!  It was well that we all
+knew what prompted such tender care on his part.  His youngest sister
+was then still unmarried, and, naturally enough, she was by no means
+pleased to see young girls usurping her place in society. Papa would
+have dismissed the doctor upon the spot, but mamma depends upon his
+prescriptions.  Well, they paid no attention to his advice, and, as you
+see, I still live."
+
+The silence of the assemblage confirmed Elizabeth’s conviction that the
+triumph which Flora spoke of was a very doubtful one, and that this
+delicate creature, with her narrow chest and pallid face, would still
+have to atone severely for the physician’s neglected counsel.
+
+Suddenly a barouche slowly passing down the street attracted the ladies
+to the window.  Where she was sitting Elizabeth could plainly see the
+object of the universal curiosity.  In the elegant vehicle sat the
+Baroness Lessen and Fräulein von Walde.  The latter had her face turned
+towards the assessor’s house, and she looked as if she were diligently
+counting the windows of the lower stories.  Her cheeks were slightly
+flushed, always a sign in her of inward agitation.  The baroness, on the
+contrary, was leaning back negligently among the cushions, and appeared
+to be entirely unconscious of everything around.
+
+"The Lindhof ladies," said Ceres.  "But, Heavens! what is the meaning of
+that?  They are entirely ignoring Doctor Fels’ windows.  There stands
+the doctor’s wife.  Ha, ha! what a long face; she tried to bow, but the
+ladies have no eyes in the backs of their heads."
+
+Elizabeth looked across at the opposite house.  A very beautiful woman,
+with a lovely fair-haired child in her arms, was standing at the window.
+There certainly was a puzzled look in her pleasant blue eyes, but the
+delicate oval of her face was not in the least lengthened. Attracted by
+the movements of the child, who stretched out his little arms towards
+the fantastic heads at the windows of the assessor’s house, she looked
+across, and, archly smiling, nodded to the ladies, who kissed their
+hands, and replied to her salutation by all sorts of tender pantomime.
+
+"Strange!" said the hostess; "what could the ladies mean by passing by
+her house without nodding to her? They never went by without stopping
+before to-day. Frau Fels would stand on the carriage-step for ever so
+long, and Fräulein von Walde seemed to like her so much—the baroness,
+’tis true, often made a wry face.  It certainly is very strange; but we
+must wait and see what the future will bring forth."
+
+"Herr von Hollfeld must have stayed at Odenberg. He was with the ladies
+this morning when the carriage passed," said Diana.
+
+"How will Fräulein von Walde endure the separation?" asked Flora, with a
+sneer.
+
+"Why, is there anything in that quarter?" asked the hostess.
+
+"Don’t you know that, child?" cried Ceres.  "We can’t tell yet what his
+sentiments are, but beyond all doubt she loves him passionately.  In
+fact, it is almost certain that the love is all on one side; for how can
+such an unfortunate cripple inspire affection,—and in such a cold nature
+as Hollfeld’s, which has been unmoved by the greatest beauties?"
+
+"Yes, true enough," said Venus, with a glance at the mirror, which
+Flora, in spite of her emaciation, had entirely monopolized.  "But
+Fräulein von Walde is enormously rich!"
+
+"Oh, he can have the wealth at a cheaper rate," said Flora.  "He is said
+to be heir to the sister and brother too."
+
+"Oh, the brother!" rejoined Venus.  "He had better not rely upon his
+chances there.  Herr von Walde is a man in the prime of life, and may
+marry at any time."
+
+"Nonsense!" cried Ceres, excitedly.  "The woman is yet to be born, or
+rather sent down from heaven, who can touch him.  He is haughtiness
+itself, and has less heart than his cousin.  How provoked I used to be
+at the court-balls, to see him standing in the doorway with his arms
+crossed as if they were glued together, and looking down so arrogantly
+upon the crowd.  Only when the princess, or one of the royal family,
+requested him to dance did he stir from the spot, and then he was at no
+pains to conceal that he cared not a bit for the honour. Well, we know
+well enough what his requisitions are for the woman at whose feet he
+will lay the proud name of von Walde—Ancestors! ancestors she must have,
+and her pedigree must date from Noah’s ark."
+
+All laughed, except Elizabeth, who remained very grave.  Fräulein von
+Walde’s behaviour had made a deep impression upon her.  She was annoyed,
+and felt that her views of human nature had been lowered.  Was such a
+change possible in the course of a few short hours?  The fact just
+stated by the ladies, that Helene von Walde loved the son of the
+Baroness Lessen, would have fully explained the influence exercised by
+the latter to any one of a practical, matter-of-fact nature,—but not to
+Elizabeth.
+
+The elevating sentiment, described by the poets of all ages and all
+climes as the truest and most ennobling of which human nature is
+capable, could not possibly be an incentive to unworthy conduct; and it
+was equally hard to imagine how Herr von Hollfeld could inspire that
+sentiment.  Here she judged from the one-sided, personal point of view
+from which we are prone to pass sentence on others; but whether from the
+instinct of her true womanly nature, or whether she really possessed the
+clear insight that sees in the lines of the face the clear indications
+of the soul within and traces them to their source, we cannot
+say,—certainly, in this case, her judgment of a man with whom she had
+had scarcely any intercourse was entirely correct.
+
+Herr von Hollfeld was certainly not calculated to personate the ideal of
+a refined feminine nature.  He neither possessed intelligence nor wit,
+was inordinately vain, and by no means content with the interest excited
+by his fine person.  He was fully aware that most women will forgive
+defects of person sooner than defects of mind; and therefore he adopted
+the mask of silence and reserve, behind which the world is so ready to
+see great intelligence, originality, and strength of character.  There
+was no man living who could boast of being upon intimate terms with Herr
+von Hollfeld; he was cunning enough to elude every attempt to test the
+quality of his mind, and avoided all earnest conversation with men,
+while women, as soon as they perceived the rough shell of his repellant
+behaviour, were only too ready to cry, "the sweeter the kernel."  Herr
+von Hollfeld understood his part,—he was moved by secret desires and
+hopes, which were strengthened by the difficulty attending their
+attainment.  Animated by no lofty aspirations, he was the slave of
+avarice and sensuality. To make his position a brilliant one from a
+worldly point of view, he disdained no petty intrigue, and his office as
+chamberlain at the court of L—— opened the way to many such.  He
+deceived and lied, and was all the more dangerous on account of the
+frank honest seeming behind which men never suspected the low schemer,
+or women the vulgar sensualist.
+
+Elizabeth was glad when she saw her uncle turn the corner and approach
+the house.  With a sigh of relief she took her place in the carriage at
+his side.  She took off her hat, and bathed her hot forehead in the
+fresh, delicious evening breeze that swept gently by.  The last rays of
+the sun were just gilding the trembling leaves of the poplars by the
+roadside, and there was a rosy light upon the fields of blooming grain;
+but the forest that enclosed in its bosom Elizabeth’s home lay dark and
+gloomy beyond, as if it had already forgotten the sunny life which had
+penetrated its inmost recesses so short a time before.
+
+The forester glanced several times at the silent young girl at his side.
+Suddenly he transferred both reins and whip to one hand, took hold of
+Elizabeth’s chin, and turned her face up to him.
+
+"Come, let me see, Elsie!" he said.  "What! why, zounds! you have got
+two wrinkles there in your forehead as deep as old Sabina’s furrows.
+What has happened?  Come, out with it!  Something has vexed you, hey?"
+
+"No, uncle, I am not vexed, but pained that you were so right in your
+estimate of Fräulein von Walde," replied Elizabeth, while a deep blush
+of emotion covered her face.
+
+"Pained because I was right, or because Fräulein von Walde has acted
+unworthily?"
+
+"Well, because what you prophesied was evil, and——"
+
+"And therefore it follows that you should be angry with me.  He is
+always the criminal who tells the truth in such a matter.  And pray,
+which of the utterances of my worldly wisdom has been justified by
+time?"
+
+She told him of Helene’s conduct, and of what the ladies had said.  The
+forester smiled meaningly.
+
+"Oh women, women, and those women in especial! They prophesy an
+immediate marriage if two people only say good morning to each other.
+But perhaps they are right in this case,—it clears up much to my mind
+that has hitherto seemed inexplicable to me."
+
+"But, uncle, you cannot believe that any one would sacrifice the best
+feelings of our nature to such a preference?"
+
+"Many other things have happened, my child, for the sake of such a
+preference, and although I do not for one moment defend Fräulein von
+Walde’s weakness and submission; still, I shall henceforth judge her
+more leniently. She succumbs to the power which leads us to forget
+father and mother for another’s sake."
+
+"Ah! that is just what I cannot understand," said Elizabeth, earnestly.
+"How can any one love a stranger better than father or mother?"
+
+"Hm!" rejoined the forester, touching the horses lightly with his whip,
+to accelerate their speed.  This "hm" was followed by a clearing of his
+throat, and he changed the subject, for he justly thought, "If that be
+so, she will never understand my definition of love, although I should
+speak with the tongues of angels."  And he himself?—Far, far in the past
+lay the time when he had carved the dear name upon the trees, and
+trained his deep voice to sing love songs; when he had walked miles for
+a single smile, and had hated as his bitterest enemy the man who dared
+to regard with favour the object of his adoration.  He looked back and
+rejoiced in that wonderful time, but to paint it with its tempests of
+excited feeling,—its tears and laughter, its hopes and fears,—was more
+than he could do.
+
+"Do you see that perpendicular black streak just above the forest
+there?" he asked, after a long silence, pointing with his whip to the
+mountain which they were approaching.
+
+"Yes, indeed, it is the flag-staff upon Castle Gnadeck. I saw it a few
+moments ago, and am now rejoicing unspeakably in the thought that there
+lies a spot of earth that we may call our own,—a place from which no one
+has the right to drive us.  Thank God, we have a home!"
+
+"And such a home!" said the forester, as his beaming eyes looked around
+the horizon.  "When I was quite a little child, how I longed for the
+Thuringian forest!  It was all because of my grandfather’s stories.  In
+his youth he had lived in Thuringia, and had the tales and legends of
+his home at his tongue’s end; and when I had reached man’s estate, I
+came hither.  Then all the forest which we see before us belonged to the
+Gnadewitzes, but I would not enter their service,—my father had told me
+too much about them.  I was the first Ferber from time immemorial who
+had renounced their service.  I applied to the Prince of L——.  The last
+of the Gnadewitzes divided his forests because the Prince of L—— was
+willing to pay an immense sum of money that he might enlarge his own
+woodland possessions.  And thus it happened that the most ardent desire
+of my youth was gratified, for I live now in the house that may be
+called the cradle of the Ferbers. You know that we came at first from
+Thuringia?"
+
+"Oh yes, I have known that from my childhood."
+
+"And do you know the story of our origin?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Well, it was long ago, and perhaps I am the only one who now knows
+anything about it, but it shall not be lost, for remembrance is all the
+gratitude that posterity can show for a brave action,—so now you shall
+hear the story, and then you can tell it again.
+
+"About two hundred years ago,—you see we can trace back a considerable
+pedigree,—the only pity is that we have no idea who the mother of our
+race was,—if you should ever be asked any questions concerning her by
+the Baroness Lessen, or others, you can answer with confidence that we
+suspect her to have been either Augusta von Blasewitz,—for the story
+dates from the thirty years’ war,—or a vivandiere: perhaps she was a
+good, honest woman, who clung to her husband through all the hardships
+of the war, although I cannot forgive her for forsaking her child,—well,
+then, about two hundred years ago, as the wife of the huntsman Ferber
+opened her door in the morning—the very door that now shuts upon my
+home—she saw a little child lying upon the threshold. She clapped the
+door to again in a great hurry, for the forest was then swarming with
+gypsies, and she thought it would prove to be one of their dirty brats.
+But her husband was more of a Christian, and took the child in. It was
+scarcely a day old.  A paper was pinned upon its breast, stating that
+the child was born in holy wedlock, that he had been baptized by the
+name of Hans, and that whoever would take care of him should receive
+further revelations concerning him at some future day.  Hidden in the
+child’s dress was found a purse containing some money.  The huntsman’s
+wife was a good woman, and when she heard the child was born of
+Christian parents, and was probably the son of some honest soldier who
+had left it here that it might not be exposed to the dangers of the war,
+she took it to her heart and brought it up with her own little girl as
+if they had been brother and sister.  It was well for him that she did
+so, for no one ever heard another word about his relatives.  His
+foster-father afterwards adopted him, and, to make his happiness
+complete, he married his foster-sister.  He, as well as his son and
+grandson, lived where I live now, as foresters to the Gnadewitzes, and
+they all died there.  My grandfather was the first who left this place
+with his master for one of the estates in Silesia.  As a boy, I was much
+disappointed that some countess mother did not turn up in the end who
+should recognize the foundling as her son, stolen from her by the malice
+of an enemy, and bear him home in triumph to her castle.  Later in life
+I learned to endure the want of this romantic termination to the story
+with a good grace, as I considered that in such case my own appearance
+here would have been very dubious, and my honest name pleased me too
+much to wish it changed for any other; but imagine my sensations when I
+stood for the first time upon the threshold where the little foundling
+had passed the most helpless moment of his life, when, deserted by his
+natural parents, sympathy had not yet supplied their place.  The worn
+stone is undoubtedly the same upon which the child lay, and as long as I
+live here or have anything to do with the place, it shall never be
+removed."
+
+Suddenly the forester leaned forward and pointed through the boughs, for
+they had entered the wood.
+
+"Do you see that white spot?" he asked.
+
+The white spot was the cap of Sabina, who was sitting at the door of the
+Lodge waiting for them.  When she saw the carriage, she rose quickly,
+shook the contents of her apron, which proved to be a quantity of
+forget-me-nots, into a basket, and came to assist Elizabeth to alight.
+
+The horse trotted, neighing, behind the house, where he was awaited and
+received with a caressing pat.  Hector laid himself down upon the
+ground, wagging his tail contentedly, and the doves and sparrows, which
+the noise of the arrival had frightened away, returned and hopped
+fearlessly about upon the green painted bench and table under the
+linden, where, as the little rogues well knew, the forester was in the
+habit of taking his morning and evening meals.  He went into the house
+for a moment that he might exchange his uniform for the more comfortable
+garment worn at home, and soon returned, pipe and newspaper in hand, to
+the linden, where Sabina soon began to lay the table.
+
+"’Tis a fact, it’s a silly piece of Sunday work for such an old woman as
+I am," said the housekeeper, laughing, as she passed Elizabeth, who,
+sitting upon the stone step which now possessed such an interest for
+her, continued the weaving of the wreath which Sabina had begun.  "But I
+have been used to such work from my youth.  I have two little black
+pictures up in my room, likenesses of my blessed father and mother; they
+certainly deserve that I should honour them and hold them in loving
+remembrance, so I hang fresh flowers around them every Sunday, as long
+as there is a blossom to be had. A couple of children from Lindhof bring
+me fresh ones every Sunday, and to-day they brought me so many that
+there is enough for a wreath for Gold Elsie; if she puts it in a dish of
+water it will keep fresh all through the week."
+
+Elizabeth sat a long time this evening with her uncle. A flood of
+memories came rushing over his mind, called forth by his narration of
+the old story of two hundred years before.  He recalled many a wish,
+plan, and aspiration of his youth, which now provoked only a smiling
+sigh of sympathetic pity,—they had all vanished before the actual, like
+dust before the wind.  He talked them over now, as one who, standing
+upon the land, hears the dash of the breakers afar that cannot reach
+him.  Sometimes he would make some witty attack, in the midst of his
+recollections, upon Elizabeth, who would parry his thrusts and retort
+merrily.
+
+Meanwhile a light arose behind the trees, which had blended
+undistinguishably with the dark heavens, but which now stood out in
+strong relief against the bright background.  Single rays shot like
+silver arrows between interlacing boughs, and lay motionless like oases
+of light upon the dim meadow, until at last the moon arose, large and
+victorious, above the tops of the trees, and its full lustre flooded the
+landscape.  The gentle breeze of evening had long since folded its
+wings,—you could have counted the shadows of the linden leaves upon the
+moonlit earth, so distinct and motionless they lay.  All the clearer was
+heard the gurgle of the little fountain in the court-yard of the Lodge,
+and the low, indefinite murmur from the woods, which Elizabeth called
+"the sleepy rain" of the forest.
+
+"There," said Sabina, crowning Elizabeth’s head lightly with the
+forget-me-not wreath, which she had just completed.  "Carry it home so,
+and you’ll not crush it."
+
+"Then it may stay there," said she, laughing, as she arose.  "Many
+thanks for my ride!  Good-night, uncle, good-night, Sabina!"
+
+And then she hastened through the house and garden, and was soon outside
+the gate, which she closed behind her, and flew along up the narrow
+moonlit forest path. In the dwelling-room above, the lamp was burning;
+in spite of the bright moonlight, its beams were distinctly visible, for
+the front of her home lay in deep shade.
+
+As she reached the little clearing, a remarkable shadow fell across her
+path.  It was neither a tree nor a post, but the figure of a man, a
+stranger, who had been standing upon one side of the path, and now, to
+her terror, approached her.  The apparition courteously removed its hat,
+and Elizabeth’s terror vanished on the instant, for she saw before her
+the smiling, good-humoured countenance of a well dressed, rather elderly
+man.
+
+"I pray your pardon, Fräulein, if I have frightened you," he said, as he
+looked kindly over the large, shining glasses of his spectacles into her
+face.  "I assure you, I have no designs either upon your life or your
+purse, and am simply a peaceful traveller, returning to his home, who
+greatly desires to know what the light in the ruins yonder may betoken;
+and yet this moment convinces me that my question is quite superfluous.
+Fairies and elves are holding their revels there, while the fairest
+among them keeps guard in the forest around, that none may invade their
+charmed circle with impunity."
+
+This gallant comparison, trite as it may appear, was not ill applied at
+this moment, for the slight girlish figure in white robes, with the blue
+wreath crowning her angelic countenance, and bathed in moonlight, might
+well have been mistaken for a fairy vision, as it glided so lightly
+among the trees of the wood.
+
+She herself laughed inwardly at the quaint compliment, but with a little
+pique at the thought of resembling such a mercurial elfish being, and
+she replied to the old gentleman with maidenly dignity.
+
+"I am really sorry," she said, "to be forced to lead you back to
+realities, but I fail to see anything in the light yonder, except a
+commonplace lamp in the dwelling-room of a forester’s clerk in the
+service of the Prince of L——."
+
+"Ah!" laughed the gentleman, "and does the man live all alone in those
+uncanny old walls?"
+
+"He might do so with a quiet mind, for over those whose consciences are
+pure nothing uncanny can have any power.  Nevertheless some loving
+creatures bear him company, among the rest, two well-fed goats and a
+canary bird, not to mention the owls, who have retired into private life
+in great indignation, since the frivolous conduct of human beings does
+not assort at all well with the solemn views of life entertained by
+their grave worships."
+
+"Or perhaps because they shun the light and cannot endure——"
+
+"That the new arrival should adore the truth?"
+
+"Perhaps that, too; but I was about to suggest that they fly from the
+two suns that have suddenly arisen in the old ruins."
+
+"Two suns at once?  That would be a terrible experience for their poor
+owls’ eyes, and might even prove too much for a fire-worshipper,"
+replied Elizabeth, laughing, as she passed him with a slight
+inclination, for her parents had just emerged from the gate in the wall,
+and were advancing towards her.  They had come out with some anxiety
+when they heard Elizabeth’s voice and that of a stranger, and they
+gently reproved her, after she had related her little adventure, for
+entering so thoughtlessly into conversation with strangers.
+
+"Your badinage might have had unpleasant consequences for you, my
+child," said her mother.  "Fortunately, they were gentlemen."
+
+"Gentlemen?" interrupted her daughter, with surprise. "There was only
+one."
+
+"Look around," said her father; "you can see for yourself."
+
+And certainly just where the path began to descend into the valley, two
+hats were plainly to be seen.
+
+"So you see, mother dear," said Elizabeth, "what an entirely harmless
+encounter it was.  One never stepped out from behind the bushes, and
+there was certainly not an atom of the brigand to be seen in the kind
+old face of the other."
+
+When she went to her room she carefully took the wreath from her head,
+laid it in fresh water, and placed it before the bust of Beethoven, then
+she kissed the forehead of the sleeping Ernst, and said good-night to
+her father and mother.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+"Hallo, Elsie, do not run so!" shouted the forester, the next day at
+three o’clock in the afternoon, as he came out of the forest with his
+rifle on his shoulder and crossed the meadow towards the Lodge.
+
+Elizabeth was running down the mountain, her round hat hanging upon her
+arm instead of resting upon the braids that glanced in the sunlight, and
+as she reached the house she flew laughing into her uncle’s arms, which
+he extended to receive her.
+
+She put her hand into her pocket, and stepped back a few paces.  "Guess
+what I have in my pocket, uncle," she said, smiling.
+
+"Well, what can it be?  No need to puzzle one’s brains long about it.
+Probably a little sentimental hay,—a few dried flowers, kept for the
+sake of the melancholy associations that they recall,—or some printed
+sighs over the woes of the world, bound in gilt pasteboard?"
+
+"Wrong, indeed; twice wrong, Herr Forester, for, in the first place,
+your wit glances harmlessly aside from me, and in the next—look here!"
+
+She drew a little box from her pocket, and lifted the cover.  There,
+upon green leaves, was comfortably lying a large lemon-coloured
+caterpillar, with black spots, broad bluish-green stripes upon its back,
+and a crooked horn upon its tail.
+
+"By all that is wonderful, Sphinx Atropos!" cried the delighted
+forester.  "Ah, my sunbeam, where did you find that exquisite specimen?"
+
+"Over at Lindhof, in a potato-field.  Isn’t it beautiful? There, let us
+shut the box carefully, and put it back in my pocket."
+
+"What! am I not to have it?"
+
+"Oh yes; you can have it,—that is if you are inclined to pay for it."
+
+"Zounds!  What a girl you have become!  Come, give it to me,—here are
+four groschen."
+
+"Not for the world.  You can’t have it for one farthing less than
+twelve.  When many a ragged, yellow old bit of parchment,—that one can
+hardly bear to touch,—is paid for with its weight in gold, certainly
+such a perfect piece of Nature’s workmanship is worth twelve groschen."
+
+"Yellow old parchment! never breathe such a word into scientific ears,
+if you value your reputation."
+
+"Ah, there are none such to be breathed into here in the forest."
+
+"Take care; Herr von Walde——"
+
+"Is hiding in the Pyramids."
+
+"But he might suddenly return and take a certain self-conceited young
+person to strict account.  He is cock-of-the-walk among learned men."
+
+"Well, for aught I care, they may raise monuments in his honour, and
+strew laurels in his path, as much as they choose.  I cannot forgive him
+for forgetting, in the midst of all that dead lumber, the claims that
+the living have upon him.  While he is engaged in an enthusiastic
+search, perhaps, for some wonderfully preserved receipt by Lucullus, or
+lost in investigations as to whether the Romans did actually feed their
+fish upon the flesh of slaves, the poor employed upon his estate starve
+under the baroness’ rule—actually crushed beneath the yoke of modern
+slavery."
+
+"Hallo! how his left ear must burn!  What a pity that he cannot hear
+this confession of faith!  Here are your twelve groschen, if you must
+have them.  You want to buy some trinket or other, a feather, or ribbons
+for your hat, hey?" he said, smiling.
+
+She held her hat out at arm’s length before her, and contemplated with
+admiration the two fresh roses which she had stuck into the simple band
+of black velvet that encircled it.  "Does not that look lovely?" she
+asked. "Do you think I would voluntarily hide my head beneath nodding
+plumes when I can have roses, fresh roses?  And there is your
+caterpillar, and now you shall know why I want to black-mail you.  This
+morning the poor widow of a weaver in Lindhof came to my mother, begging
+a little assistance.  Her husband had had a fall, which injured his arm
+and his foot, so that he has not been able to earn anything for weeks.
+My mother gave her some old linen and a large loaf of bread.  She could
+do nothing more, as you know.  See, here I have fifteen groschen,—from
+my money-box,—there is not another farthing in it just now, and three
+from little Ernst, who would gladly have sold his tin soldiers to help
+the poor woman, and with the price for the caterpillar I shall have a
+whole thaler, which I shall carry to the poor thing immediately."
+
+"Let me see.  Here is another thaler; and, Sabina," he called into the
+house, "bring out a piece of meat from your pickling-tub, and wrap it up
+in green leaves.  You shall take that too," he said, turning again to
+Elizabeth.
+
+"Oh, you dearest of splendid uncles!" cried the girl, taking his large
+hand between her slender palms and pressing it tenderly.
+
+"But take care," he continued, "that the piece of good salt meat does
+not turn into roses.  It would be a sad change for the poor weaver’s
+wife.  You seem to be following in the steps of your saintly namesake."
+
+"Yes; but fortunately I have here no cruel Landgrave to fear.  And if I
+had, I would tell the truth in spite of him."
+
+"Gracious gods, what a heroic soul it is!"
+
+"But I think the courage to tell a lie would be far greater, even though
+it were a pious one."
+
+"True, true, my daughter.  I think I could hardly have done it either.
+Ah, here comes Sabina!"
+
+The old housekeeper issued from the door, and whilst she wrapped up the
+meat for Elizabeth, in accordance with the forester’s directions, she
+whispered to him that Herr von Walde, who had yesterday arrived from
+abroad, had been waiting for him for some time.
+
+"Where?" he asked.
+
+"Here in the dwelling-room."
+
+Now they had been standing directly beneath the open windows of this
+room.  Elizabeth turned quickly round, blushing scarlet, but could see
+no one.  Her uncle, without turning, shrugged his shoulders with an
+infinitely comical gesture, stroked his long moustache, and whispered,
+with a suppressed laugh: "Here’s a nice state of things!  You have
+settled matters finely,—he has heard every word.7"
+
+"So much the better," replied his niece, throwing her head back with an
+air of defiance.  "He does not hear the truth very often, perhaps."
+Then bidding farewell to her uncle and Sabina, she walked slowly away
+through the forest in the direction of Lindhof.
+
+At first she was annoyed at the thought that Herr von Walde had been
+obliged, entirely against his will, to listen to the judgment which had
+been passed upon him.  Then she was sure that she should have told him
+just the same truth to his face.  And as it was scarcely to be supposed
+that he would ever trouble himself about her estimate of him, it
+certainly could do him no harm that he had been involuntarily the
+auditor of a frank, impartial sentence passed upon him, even although
+such sentence came from the lips of a young girl.  But how had it
+happened that he had returned so suddenly and unexpectedly?  Fräulein
+von Walde had always spoken of her brother’s absence as likely to
+continue for several years, and the day before she had had not the
+slightest expectation of his return. And then her encounter of the
+previous evening flashed into her mind.  The old gentleman had said that
+he was a traveller returning home; but it was impossible that he, with
+his smiling, good-humoured face, could be the grave, haughty proprietor
+of Lindhof, who, perhaps, was the person that had remained concealed
+beneath the trees while his companion was getting an answer to his
+inquiries. But what could Herr von Walde want with her uncle, who, as
+she knew, had never stood in any relation to him whatever?
+
+These and similar thoughts occupied her mind upon her way to the
+weaver’s.  Husband and wife were delighted by the unhoped-for
+assistance, and heaped Elizabeth with profuse professions of gratitude
+as she left the house.
+
+She passed through the village, and directed her steps to Lindhof, where
+she had promised to practice as usual. The lesson had not been
+postponed, notwithstanding the return of Herr von Walde.  The
+proprietor’s return had worked a great change in the whole look of the
+castle. All the windows of the lower story on the south side, which had
+so long been dark and closed behind their white shutters, now reflected
+the sunlight in a long, shining row.  The apartments within were
+undergoing a thorough airing and dusting.  A glass door stood wide open,
+revealing the interior of a large saloon.  Upon one of the steps which
+led down to the garden at the back lay a snow-white greyhound, with his
+slender body stretched out upon the hot stone and his head resting upon
+his forepaws; he blinked at Elizabeth as though she had been an old
+acquaintance.  At an open window the gardener was arranging a stand of
+flowers, and the old steward Lorenz was walking through the rooms,
+superintending everything.
+
+It was remarkable that all the people whom the young girl met had, as if
+by magic, entirely altered their whole expression.  Had a tempest swept
+through the sultry atmosphere and a fresh breeze filled all the rooms,
+so that voices sounded clearer, and bent forms grew straight and
+elastic?  Even old Lorenz, whose face had always worn so grim and
+depressed a look, as though there were a weight of lead upon his
+shoulders, shot real sunshine from his eyes, although he was scolding
+one of the maids; Elizabeth looked on in surprise.  She had only seen
+him before gliding about upon the tips of his toes, and in low,
+suppressed tones announcing guests to the ladies in the drawing-room.
+
+In amazement at this sudden bursting into bloom of new life and
+activity, Elizabeth turned towards the wing appropriated to the ladies.
+Here the deepest silence still reigned.  In the apartments of the
+baroness the curtains were closely drawn.  No noise penetrated through
+the doors by which Elizabeth passed.  The air of the passages was heavy
+with the odour of valerian, and when at the lower end of one of the
+halls, Elizabeth saw through an open door one human face, what a change
+met her eye!  It was the baroness’ old waiting-maid who looked out,
+probably to see who was so bold as to invade the solemn repose of the
+corridor.  Her cap was set upon her false curls all awry, and the curls
+themselves were but loosely put on.  Her countenance wore a troubled
+expression, and a round, red spot on each cheek, betokened either high
+fever or some violent, mental agitation.  She returned Elizabeth’s
+salute shortly and sullenly, and disappeared into the room, closing the
+door noiselessly behind her.
+
+When Elizabeth reached Fräulein von Walde’s apartment, she thought that
+she had arrived at the last act in the mysterious drama which had begun
+in the baroness’ rooms, for no "come in" answered her repeated knock.
+Not only were the curtains here drawn, but the shutters also were closed
+as she saw when she gently opened the door.  The profound quiet and the
+darkness deterred her from entering, and she was about to shut the door
+again when Helene, in a weak voice, called to her to enter.  The little
+lady lay on a couch at the farther end of the room, her head resting on
+a white pillow, and Elizabeth could hear that her teeth were chattering
+as if with cold.
+
+"Ah, dear child," she said, and laid her cold, damp hand upon her young
+friend’s arm, "I have had a nervous attack.  None of my people have
+observed that I am lying here so ill, and it has been terribly lonely in
+this dark room.  Pray open the windows wide,—I need air, the warm air of
+heaven."
+
+Elizabeth immediately did as she desired, and when the daylight streamed
+in upon the pale face of the invalid, it revealed traces of violent
+weeping.
+
+The sunshine aroused more life and motion in the room than Elizabeth had
+anticipated; she was startled by a loud scream which proceeded from one
+corner.  There she discovered a cockatoo, with snow-white plumage and a
+brilliant yellow crest, swinging to and fro upon a ring.
+
+"Heavens! what a fearful noise!" sighed Helene, pressing her little
+hands upon her ears.  "That terrible bird will tear my nerves to
+pieces!"
+
+Elizabeth’s glance rested amazed upon the little stranger, and then
+explored the rest of the apartment, which looked like a bazaar.  Upon
+tables and chairs were lying costly stuffs, shawls, richly-bound books,
+and all kinds of toilet articles.  Fräulein von Walde noticed
+Elizabeth’s look, and said briefly, with averted face: "All presents
+from my brother, who returned home quite unexpectedly yesterday."
+
+How cold her voice was as she said it!  And there was not the slightest
+hint of pleasure to be discovered in her features, swollen with weeping;
+the large eyes, usually so soft and gentle, expressed only vexation and
+annoyance.
+
+Elizabeth stooped silently and picked up a gorgeous bouquet of
+camellias, that was lying half faded upon the floor.
+
+"Oh yes," said Helene, sitting up, while a slight flush appeared on her
+cheeks, "that is my brother’s good-morning to me; it fell down from the
+table, and I forgot it. Pray put it in that vase there."
+
+"Poor flowers," said Elizabeth, half aloud, as she looked at the brown
+edges of the white petals, "they never dreamed when they opened their
+tender buds, that they were to bloom in such a cold atmosphere!"
+
+Helene looked up into her friend’s face with a searching, troubled
+glance, and for an instant her eyes expressed regret.  "Put the flowers
+on the sill of the open window," she whispered quickly, "the air there
+will do them good.  Oh, heavens!" she cried, sinking back among her
+cushions.  "He is certainly a most excellent man, but his sudden return
+has destroyed the harmony of our delightful home life."
+
+Elizabeth looked almost incredulously at the little lady who lay there,
+her clasped hands raised, and her eyes lifted to heaven, as if fate had
+decreed her a most bitter trial.  If she had failed yesterday to find
+the key to Helene’s conduct, she was certainly more puzzled than ever
+to-day by this incomprehensible character.  What had become of all those
+sentiments of fervent gratitude that had breathed from every word
+whenever Helene had spoken of her absent brother?  Had all the sisterly
+tenderness which had seemed to fill her heart vanished in a single
+moment, so that she now lamented what, according to her own words, she
+had so lately regarded as the most delightful thing that could happen?
+Even supposing that the returned brother did not sympathize with the
+circle in which alone she felt happy, if he should oppose her dearest
+wishes, was it possible that coldness and anger could exist between two
+beings whom fate had bound together by so close a tie, a tie which must
+bring them all the nearer to each other, since one was so helpless, and
+the other so alone in the world?  Elizabeth suddenly felt profound pity
+for the man who had sailed on distant seas and wandered through strange
+lands so long, only to be greeted as a disturbing element when he once
+more appeared at his own fireside.  Apparently there was one tender spot
+in his proud heart, love for his sister; how deeply wounded he must be
+that she had no loving welcome for him, and that her heart was cold and
+hard towards him!
+
+Occupied with these thoughts, Elizabeth arranged the flowers in the
+vase.  She returned not a syllable to Helene’s outbreak, which had so
+maligned her brother to stranger ears.  And Helene herself, shamed
+probably by Elizabeth’s silence, seemed to be conscious that she had
+lost her self-control, for she suddenly, in an altered voice, begged her
+to take a chair and stay with her for awhile.
+
+At this moment the door was violently flung open, and a female figure
+appeared upon the threshold.  Elizabeth was at some trouble to recognize
+in this apparition in its neglected, careless dress, betraying every
+sign of great agitation, the Baroness Lessen.  Her scanty locks, usually
+so carefully arranged, were streaming from under a morning-cap across
+her forehead, no longer white and smooth as ivory, but flushing scarlet.
+The stereotyped self-satisfaction had vanished from her eyes, and she
+presented a most insignificant appearance as she looked shyly into the
+room!
+
+"Ah, Helene!" she cried anxiously, without noticing Elizabeth, and her
+corpulent figure advanced with unwonted rapidity.  "Rudolph has just
+sent for the unfortunate Linke to come to his room, and he abused the
+poor man so violently and loudly that I heard him in my bed-room on the
+other side of the court—Heavens! how wretched I am!  The morning has
+agitated me so that I can scarcely stand, but I could not listen to such
+injustice any longer, and sought refuge here.  And those servile
+wretches, the other servants, who, while Rudolph was away, scarcely
+dared to wink their eyes,—there they stand now boldly beneath the
+windows, taking a malicious pleasure in the misfortunes that are
+befalling a faithful servant.  Everything is destroyed that I had
+arranged so carefully and with such pains for the salvation of this
+household.  And Emil is at Odenberg!  How miserable and forlorn we are,
+dearest Helene!"
+
+She threw her arms around the neck of the little lady, who started up
+pale as ashes.  Elizabeth took advantage of this moment to slip out of
+the room.
+
+As she passed along the corridor leading to the vestibule she heard some
+one speaking loudly.  It was a deep, sonorous, manly voice, which grew
+louder now and then under the influence of excitement, but there was no
+sharpness in its tones even when they were loudest.  Although she could
+not distinguish a word, the tone thrilled through her,—there was
+something inexorable in the intonation of the emphasized sentences.
+
+The echo in the long corridor was deceptive.  Elizabeth did not know
+whence the voice proceeded, and she therefore ran forwards quickly that
+she might the sooner reach the open air.  But after a few steps she
+heard, as though the speaker were directly beside her, the words,
+"To-morrow evening you will leave Lindhof."
+
+"But, most gracious Herr!"—was the answer.
+
+"I have nothing else to say to you! now go!" was uttered in a commanding
+tone; and just then Elizabeth, to her terror, found herself opposite a
+wide-open folding door.  The tall figure of a man stood in the middle of
+the room, his left hand behind him, and his right pointing to the door.
+A pair of flashing, dark eyes met her own as she passed hastily through
+the vestibule and into the garden.  It seemed as if that look, in which
+there glowed an indignant soul, pursued her and drove her onward.
+
+As the Ferber family were sitting at supper, her father told with
+expressions of pleasure how he had made the acquaintance of Herr von
+Walde that day at the Lodge.
+
+"Well, and how does he please you?" asked his wife.
+
+"That is a question, dear child, that I might be able to answer if I
+should happen to have daily intercourse with him for a year or so,
+although even then I cannot tell whether I should be able to give a
+satisfactory reply.  The man is very interesting to me—as one is
+continually tempted to try to discover whether he really is what he
+appears,—a perfectly cold, passionless nature. He came to my brother to
+learn the particulars concerning the affair between his superintendent
+and the poor labourer’s widow, because he had been informed that Sabina
+had been an eye-witness of the ill treatment she had received.  Sabina
+was obliged to tell how she discovered the poor woman.  He asked about
+everything, even the smallest circumstance, but in a very short, decided
+manner.  What impression Sabina’s account made upon him no one could
+tell; his looks were utterly impenetrable, not the smallest change of
+countenance betrayed his thoughts.  He comes directly from Spain.  From
+the few remarks that he let fall, I judge that his sudden return to
+Thuringia is owing to a letter from some one of his friends here,
+telling him of the mismanagement of affairs upon his estate and the
+unhappiness among his tenantry."
+
+"And his exterior?" asked Frau Ferber.
+
+"Is pleasing, although I have never seen so much reserve and
+inaccessibility expressed in a man’s bearing I entirely understand how
+he has the reputation of boundless haughtiness; and yet I cannot, on the
+other hand, convince myself that such exceeding folly can lurk behind
+such remarkably intellectual features.  His face always wears the look
+of cold repose of which I have spoken; but, between the eyebrows, there
+is what I might call an involuntary, unguarded expression of what a
+superficial observer might think sternness; to me it seems settled
+melancholy."
+
+Elizabeth listened thoughtfully to this description. She had already
+learned how that cold repose could be entirely laid aside for a time,
+and she told her father of the scene which she had witnessed.
+
+"Then sentence has been passed sooner than I anticipated," said Ferber.
+"Possibly your uncle may have done his part towards this end by his
+strong language,—he does not hesitate when asked for an opinion.  He was
+so frank with Herr von Walde, that he felt quite relieved and retained
+not an iota in his heart of all that had been vexing him in the course
+of the past year."
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Scarcely a week had passed since the evening mentioned in the last
+chapter, but these few days had brought about great changes in the
+household at the castle of Lindhof.  The dismissed superintendent had
+already been replaced by a new man, whose power, however, was very
+limited, as Herr von Walde had undertaken the chief oversight of affairs
+himself.  Several day-labourers who had been summarily dismissed, either
+because they were warm adherents of the village pastor, and had, on
+account of their work, been frequently absent from prayers at the
+castle, or because they did not care to listen to the chaplain’s
+sermons, were again working on the estate.
+
+The day before, Sunday, Herr von Walde, accompanied by the Baroness
+Lessen and little Bella, had attended service in the village church at
+Lindhof.  To the surprise of all, the chaplain, Herr Möhring, had
+appeared in the organ-loft as one of the audience, and at noon the
+worthy pastor had taken dinner with the family at Castle Lindhof. Doctor
+Fels paid daily visits there, for Fräulein von Walde was sick.  That was
+the reason why Elizabeth had not been requested to give her another
+lesson, and also, as the forester said, why the Baroness Lessen "had not
+been banished to Siberia, for," said he, "Herr von Walde would not be
+such a savage as to make his ailing sister still more ailing, by
+depriving her of the society which was dearest to her.  He knew that if
+his mother left, Herr von Hollfeld’s visits would also cease."  It was
+malicious to say so, but, as he added, "incontrovertibly just."
+
+In the village it was well known that it had required several terrible
+tempests to clear the air at Castle Lindhof.  For the first three days
+after his arrival Herr von Walde had taken his meals alone in his
+private apartments, and the letters which the baroness’ waiting-maid had
+delivered to him, at all times of the day, from her mistress, were
+returned unopened, until at last the violent illness of his sister had
+brought about a meeting between her brother and her cousin by her
+bedside. Since that day intercourse had again been apparently
+established between the two, although the servants declared that they
+exchanged scarcely a word at table. Herr von Hollfeld had been over once
+to greet the returned traveller, but it was observed that he rode away
+with a perceptibly lengthened face, after a very short stay.
+
+On a melancholy, rainy day in August, Elizabeth was again requested by
+Fräulein von Walde to spend half an hour with her at the castle.  The
+lady was not alone when she entered the room.  Herr von Walde sat in the
+recess by the window.  His tall figure was leaning back on a couch, his
+head nearly touching the light-coloured wall behind him, so that his
+dark-brown hair stood out in strong relief against it.  His right hand,
+which carelessly held a cigar, was resting upon the window-sill, while
+his left was raised as if he had just been speaking.  His neighbour, the
+Baroness Lessen, was bending towards him, and, with a most winning smile
+upon her face, seemed to be listening intently to his words, although,
+as it appeared, they were not addressed to her, but to Helene.  She was
+sitting tolerably near him, and had some crochet work in her hand.
+Fräulein von Walde was lying upon a lounge.  A full dressing-gown
+entirely enveloped her small figure, and her beautiful brown curls
+escaped from beneath a morning-cap, trimmed with pink ribbons, which
+heightened, by force of contrast, the pallor of her countenance.  The
+cockatoo was perched upon her hand, and from time to time she held him
+caressingly to her cheek.  "The terrible bird" was now called "darling,"
+and might scream as loud as it liked,—it was only soothed by a tender
+"What’s the matter with my pet?"  Here, then, all was peace and
+reconciliation.
+
+Upon Elizabeth’s entrance Helene beckoned to her kindly, but it did not
+escape her that there was a slight embarrassment in the little lady’s
+manner.
+
+"Dear Rudolph," she said, as she took Elizabeth’s hand, "let me present
+you to the delightful artiste to whom I owe so many pleasant
+hours,—Fräulein Ferber, called by her uncle, and in all the country
+around, Gold Elsie.  She plays so deliciously that I entreat her to make
+us forget the gray and gloomy skies above us this afternoon.  You see,
+dear child," she continued, turning to Elizabeth, "that I am still too
+weak to assist you at the piano; will you have the great kindness to
+play something alone for us?"
+
+"With all my heart," replied Elizabeth.  "But I shall play timidly, for
+there are two formidable powers to oppose me,—the gloomy heavens, and
+the favourable expectations that you have awakened of my performance."
+
+"Pray allow me to excuse myself for an hour," said the baroness, as she
+collected her working materials and arose; "I should like to drive out
+with Bella,—it is so long since the poor child has taken the air."
+
+"Really, I should suppose that she could easily take it here at any
+time, by simply putting her head out of the window," said Herr von Walde
+dryly, knocking the ashes from his cigar as he spoke.
+
+"Heavens! are you unwilling, Rudolph, that I should take a drive?  I
+will instantly remain at home, if——"
+
+"I can conceive of no reason why I should be unwilling. Drive as often
+and as much as you like," was the indifferent reply.
+
+The baroness compressed her lips, and turned to Helene: "We have
+decided, then, to take coffee in my room.  I shall not stay out long, on
+account of the mist. I shall be back punctually in an hour, and shall
+depend upon the pleasure of conducting you to my room myself, dearest
+Helene."
+
+"That pleasure you must resign," said Herr von Walde.  "It has been my
+office for many years, and I hope my sister does not think me grown too
+awkward during my absence to discharge it."
+
+"Most certainly not, dear Rudolph; I shall be greatly obliged, if you
+will be so kind," cried Helene, quickly, looking anxiously from one to
+the other.
+
+The baroness conquered her vexation bravely.  She held out her hand to
+Herr von Walde, with a smile of great sweetness, kissed Helene upon the
+cheek, and rustled out of the room with an "au revoir."
+
+During this conversation, Elizabeth observed more closely the features
+of the man, whose glance and voice had impressed her so profoundly.  It
+is true, her terror, for really the emotion caused by her first meeting
+with him was nothing less, had been renewed for a moment, as on entering
+she caught sight of Herr von Walde. How quiet the eyes were now, which
+had seemed before to flash fire; his look, as it rested upon the
+baroness, was icy cold.  With this expression in his eyes, the upper
+part of his face, which bore the stamp of great sternness, grew to iron.
+A carefully arranged chestnut-brown moustache covered his upper lip, and
+his beard; which was unusually fine and silky, fell in soft waves upon
+his chest.  Herr von Walde did not look young, and although his
+well-knit figure had preserved all its elasticity, there was that
+indescribable composure and self-possession in his whole manner and
+heaping peculiar to the man of riper age, and which inspires involuntary
+respect.
+
+When the baroness had left the room, Elizabeth opened the piano.
+
+"No, no! no notes!" Helene cried to her, as she saw her turning over the
+music-sheets.  "We want to hear your own fancies; pray extemporize."
+
+Elizabeth seated herself immediately, and soon the outer world was all
+forgotten by her.  A wealth of melody welled up in her soul, which
+carried it far aloft. At such moments she knew that she was gifted
+beyond thousands of her fellow-mortals, for she had the power of giving
+expression to the most hidden emotions of her heart.  The purity of her
+whole inner world was mirrored in sound; she had never been obliged to
+seek for a melody which should embody her feeling, it lay ready in her
+soul,—ready as the feeling itself.  But to-day there was something
+blended with the tones that she could not herself comprehend; she could
+not possibly pursue and analyze it, for it breathed almost imperceptibly
+across the waves of sound.  It seemed as though joy and woe no longer
+moved side by side, but melted together into one. As she was herself
+impressed by this strange presence, she penetrated still deeper into her
+world of feeling,—gradually the clear depths of her pure, maidenly soul
+were revealed to the listeners; they stood, as it were, by some
+transparent, magic fountain, and saw within its quiet waters the lovely
+form of the young girl reflected, with twofold distinctness, for there
+was a perfect harmony between her exterior and her interior being.
+
+The last faint chord died away.  Large tear-drops hung from Helene’s
+lashes, and her pallor was almost supernatural.  She glanced towards her
+brother, but he had turned his face away, and was gazing out into the
+garden.  When at last he looked towards her, his features were as calm
+as ever, only a slight flush coloured his brow; the cigar had dropped
+from his fingers and lay upon the ground.  He said not one word
+concerning her playing to Elizabeth, as she rose from the piano.
+Helene, whom this silence distressed, exhausted herself in flattering
+expressions, that she might induce her young friend to forget, or, at
+least, not to notice the coldness and indifference which her brother
+displayed.
+
+"Was it not delicious?" she cried.  "The people in B—— could have had no
+idea of the golden fountain of music bubbling up in Elsie’s heart, or
+they would never have allowed her to wander into the Thuringian forest."
+
+"Have you lived until now in B——?" asked Herr von Walde, fixing his eyes
+upon Elizabeth.  She met his gaze for an instant; the ice had all
+melted, and was replaced by a wondrous radiance.
+
+"Yes," she answered, simply.
+
+"It was a sad experience to come suddenly from a large beautiful city,
+which offers every imaginable diversion and enjoyment, to the silent
+forest, and live upon a lonely mountain.  You were, of coarse,
+inconsolable at the exchange?"
+
+"I regarded it as a piece of undeserved good fortune," was the
+unembarrassed reply.
+
+"Indeed?  Most strange!  It seems to me that one would hardly choose the
+thistle when the rose might be had."
+
+"Of course, I cannot presume to pass judgment upon your opinions."
+
+"True, because you do not know me; but my idea is almost universal."
+
+"Yet surely it is very one-sided."
+
+"Well, then, I will not combat further your peculiar taste, with which
+you would scarcely find any one to sympathize among companions of your
+own age.  I will rather believe, for your credit, that it was not so
+easy to leave your friends."
+
+"But it was very easy, for I had none."
+
+"Is that possible?" cried Fräulein von Walde.  "Did you have no
+intercourse with any one?"
+
+"Oh, yes, with the people who paid me."
+
+"You gave lessons?" asked Herr von Walde.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But did you never feel the want of a female friend?" cried Helene
+quickly.
+
+"Never, for I have a mother," replied Elizabeth in a tone of deep
+feeling.
+
+"Happy child!" she murmured, and drooped her head.
+
+Elizabeth felt that she had unwittingly touched a sore place in Helene’s
+heart.  She was sorry, and longed to efface the impression.  Herr von
+Walde seemed to read her thoughts in her face, for, without noticing
+Helene’s emotion, he asked: "And did you desire to live in the
+Thuringian forest especially?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And why?"
+
+"Because I had been told from my earliest childhood that my family had
+its origin in the Thuringian forest."
+
+"Ah, yes, you belong to the Gnadewitzes."
+
+"My mother’s name was Gnadewitz.  I am a Ferber," answered Elizabeth,
+with decision.
+
+"You say that as if you were thankful that you did not bear the name of
+Gnadewitz."
+
+"I am thankful for it."
+
+"Hm!—in its time it has made a fine noise in the world."
+
+"None pleasant to hear."
+
+"Why, what would you have?  At every court it was pure gold, for it was
+very old, and the last of those who bore it were heaped with dignities
+and honours, on account of the antiquity of their name."
+
+"Pardon me, but I cannot possibly understand how—" she blushed, and was
+silent.
+
+"Go on; you have begun the sentence, and I depend upon hearing the end."
+
+"Well, then, how sin can be honoured, because it is old," she rejoined,
+with hesitation.
+
+"Softly! they say that several of the Gnadewitz lineage were brave and
+true."
+
+"That may be; but is there not great injustice in the idea of rewarding
+their merit, centuries after, by honouring those who are neither good
+nor true?"
+
+"Should not noble deeds live forever?"
+
+"Most certainly; but, if we refuse to emulate them, we certainly are not
+worthy to share in their rewards," was Elizabeth’s prompt answer.
+
+A carriage rolled up the avenue.  Herr von Walde frowned, and passed his
+hand across his eyes as if he had been rudely awakened from a dream.  In
+a moment the door opened, and the baroness entered.  She, as well as
+Bella, who was walking by her mother’s side to-day with quite an air of
+grown-up dignity, had not yet laid aside her bonnet and mantle.
+
+"I am glad to be at home again," she cried.  "The air to-day is
+horrible.  I repented a hundred times having left the house, and shall
+probably atone for my maternal solicitude by a heavy cold.  Bella was so
+anxious to see for herself how you are, dear Helene, that I allowed her
+to come in with me."
+
+The child went directly up to the lounge.  She did not appear to notice
+Elizabeth, who was sitting close by, and brushed past her so rudely, as
+she bent to kiss Helene’s hand, that a button upon her sack caught in
+the delicate trimming of Elizabeth’s dress and tore it.  Bella lifted
+her head and glanced at the mischief she had done; then she turned and
+went across to Herr von Walde to give him her hand.
+
+"Well," said he, withholding his hand, "have you no apology to make for
+your awkwardness?"
+
+She made no reply, and retired to the side of her mother, upon whose
+cheeks the ominous red spots appeared.  The look which she cast upon
+Elizabeth showed that her daughter was not the cause of her irritation.
+
+"Well, child, can’t you speak?" asked Herr von Walde, rising.
+
+"Fräulein Ferber sat so close," said the baroness in a tone of excuse,
+as Bella continued obstinately silent.
+
+"Indeed, I should have moved aside.  There is no great harm done," said
+Elizabeth, and she held out her hand to Bella with an enchanting smile.
+But the child took no notice of it, and hid both her hands in her dress.
+
+Without a word, Herr von Walde approached her, took her by the arm, and
+led her directly to the door, which he opened.  "Go instantly to your
+room," he said, "and do not come where I am again unless I particularly
+desire you to do so."
+
+The baroness was raging inwardly.  Her countenance worked for a moment,
+but what could she do?  She was powerless to contend with the violence
+and barbarism of this man, who was master here, and who now took his
+seat again with a composure that betrayed an utter unconsciousness of
+the cruelty of his behaviour.  Her prudence obtained the upper hand.
+
+"I hope, dear Rudolph," said she, and her voice trembled a little, "that
+you will not reckon this slight misdemeanour against Bella.  Pray, make
+some allowance,—it is all the fault of her governess."
+
+"Miss Mertens?  Indeed, it must have cost her, with her innate
+gentleness and refinement, infinite pains to train Bella to conduct
+herself as she has just done."
+
+The baroness blushed scarlet; but she controlled herself.  "Heavens!"
+she cried, determined to change the subject; "this stupid circumstance
+has made me forget to tell you that Emil has ridden over from Odenberg.
+He got wet through on horseback, and is just changing his dress.  May he
+pay his respects?"
+
+Helene’s cheeks glowed, and a ray of happiness shot from her eyes; but
+she said not a word, only drooping her face so as to conceal every sign
+of her inward agitation.
+
+"Certainly," replied Herr von Walde.  "Does he intend to make some stay
+here?"
+
+"He will be here for a few days, with your permission."
+
+"By all means.  Then we shall see him in your room when we come to take
+coffee."
+
+"He will be most happy.  Will you not come immediately? My maid tells me
+that all is in readiness there to receive you."
+
+Elizabeth arose, and prepared to take her leave.  Herr von Walde, as
+soon as he saw this, looked inquiringly at the baroness.  Doubtless he
+expected that she would extend an invitation to the young girl, but just
+at this moment the lady discovered that the gardener’s arrangement of
+the flower-stand in the window was "too charming," and in enraptured
+contemplation of a bunch of azaleas she turned her back upon Elizabeth.
+
+Fräulein Ferber courtesied profoundly and left the room, after Helene
+had repeated, in a trembling voice, her expressions of gratitude.
+Without, in the corridor, she met Herr von Hollfeld.  At sight of her he
+quickened his pace, casting a lightning glance around to assure himself
+that no listener was near.  Before she was aware of it, he had seized
+Elizabeth’s hand, imprinted a glowing kiss upon it, and whispered: "How
+rejoiced I am to see you once more!"
+
+Her astonishment was so great that she could not at first find a word to
+say.  She drew back her hand as though she had been stung, and he
+accepted her repulse, because at that very moment the door of Helene’s
+room opened, and Herr von Walde appeared.  Hollfeld raised his hat to
+Elizabeth as if he had just seen her, and his features subsided
+instantly into an expression of utter indifference as he walked towards
+his relative.
+
+Elizabeth was disgusted with his farce,—first, at the insulting
+familiarity, which made her blood boil with indignation, and then, at
+the denial of any acquaintance before a third person.  Her maidenly
+pride was deeply wounded. She reproached herself that she had not
+rebuked his impertinence boldly upon the spot.  A crimson flush glowed
+in her cheeks with shame that she should have been treated so by any
+man; it seemed as if the spot upon her hand, where his hot lips had
+rested, still burned, and she hastily held it beneath the stream of a
+fountain in the park, that the imaginary stain might be washed away.
+
+Much agitated, she reached her home, and complained with tears to her
+mother of the insult that she had received.  Frau Ferber was a sensible
+woman, possessed of clear, calm insight.  She was convinced by
+Elizabeth’s resentment that her child’s heart was not in the least
+danger, and her fears were laid to rest.  It was easy to defend her from
+attacks from without; but who could guard her from the grief that a
+misplaced attachment would entail upon her?
+
+"You know now what manner of man Herr von Hollfeld is," she said.  "It
+will not be difficult strictly to avoid all future contact with him, and
+if he should presume in spite of your efforts, he must be sternly
+repulsed. His conduct seems to be the result of aristocratic conceit and
+cowardice, two qualities which will probably deter him from any further
+advances, when he discovers how disagreeable they are to you.  But at
+all events, familiarize yourself with the thought that your behaviour
+towards him must of necessity create an enemy who will, at some future
+day, put a stop to your intercourse with Fräulein von Walde.  Of course
+such a consideration cannot for one instant lead you to hesitate as to
+your line of conduct.  Go on your way then, my child, quietly and with
+self-possession.  I should certainly not advise you to give up your
+visits to Castle Lindhof."
+
+"Assuredly not! no, that I will not do!" cried Elizabeth, quickly.
+"What would my uncle say if the chicken should actually come flying back
+to creep beneath the shelter of home?" she added, smiling through her
+tears.  "It would be wretched indeed, if with all the strength of which
+I have boasted, I am not strong enough to repulse an impertinent man so
+effectually that he shall desist from all future advances."
+
+She recalled her conversation with Herr von Walde, and found, to her
+great satisfaction, that she must certainly be exceedingly brave, for
+assuredly it had required no small exercise of courage, while
+confronting that stern countenance, to declare her own convictions,
+which attacked so decidedly the proud edifice of his ancestral pride.
+She had expected every moment to see his glance sheathe itself in ice
+again, as it had done in conversation with the baroness; but the
+singular glow and expression which had so struck her when first he
+addressed her, had not faded from his eyes,—she could almost, in fact,
+believe that she detected beneath his moustache a smile lurking around
+the corners of his mouth.  Perhaps he had determined to-day to enact the
+part of the lion towards the mouse.  He had magnanimously permitted a
+little girl to pour out her naive ideas at his feet, where they might
+remain lying, since to bend his aristocratic back to pick them up and
+examine them was not to be thought of,—they probably amused him as
+exemplifying the saying of the dog "baying the moon."  She repeated all
+this continually to herself, that she might stamp afresh upon her
+treacherous memory his general reputation for boundless arrogance.
+
+She could not tell how she became conscious of it, but she was now
+perfectly aware that she should suffer unspeakably if Herr von Walde’s
+arrogance was ever exercised towards her; so she must be doubly on her
+guard and not allow herself to be misled by his observance of the usual
+forms of common politeness, of his high regard for which the next day
+brought her a most convincing proof.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+She had just gotten ready, the next afternoon, to go into the garden
+with her work-basket, when the bell rang at the gate in the wall.  In
+consideration of the scene of the day before, her surprise was certainly
+justifiable, when, as the gate was opened, she saw Bella standing before
+her.  Behind the child stood Miss Mertens and the elderly gentleman with
+whom Elizabeth had lately had an evening encounter. As she entered Bella
+extended her hand, but looked shy and confused and said not a word.
+Elizabeth, much amazed, at once guessed the reason of her coming, and
+tried to help her in her embarrassment by saying how glad she was to
+have a visit from a little girl, and by asking her to come into the
+garden.  But Miss Mertens stepped forward.
+
+"Do not make it all so pleasant for Bella, Fräulein Ferber," said she,
+"she has been expressly ordered to make an apology to you for her
+misconduct yesterday.  I must insist upon her speaking."
+
+These words, spoken with much firmness, and still more, perhaps, the
+sheltering darkness of the hall through which Elizabeth was leading her
+by the hand, at last loosened Bella’s tongue, and she softly begged
+pardon for her fault, and promised never to be so naughty again.
+
+"And now that is happily settled," cried the gentleman, as he advanced
+to Miss Mertens’ side, and with an arch smile made a low bow to
+Elizabeth.
+
+"It may, perhaps, strike you as very odd," he said, "that I should
+attach myself to this reconciliation deputation, with which I have no
+concern; but I have an idea that on such occasions people are rather
+inclined to overlook all slight transgressions, and so,—there can be no
+more favourable moment for the smuggling in of a stranger.
+
+"My name is Ernst Reinhard; I am the secretary and travelling companion
+of Herr von Walde, and I have had no more earnest desire for a week past
+than to become acquainted with the interesting family at Castle
+Gnadeck."
+
+Elizabeth kindly extended her hand.  "These old walls have witnessed so
+many of the misdeeds of the robber knights of old, that we have no right
+to condemn smuggling; you will be cordially welcomed by my parents."
+
+She led the way, and opened the huge oaken door leading into the garden.
+
+Her parents and uncle, who, with little Ernst, were sitting under the
+lindens, arose as the strangers entered, and came towards them.
+Elizabeth introduced them all round, and then, at a sign from her
+mother, returned to the house to order some refreshments for the guests.
+When she came back again, Bella had already laid aside her sack and
+parasol, and with a joyous face was sitting in a swing, which had been
+hung between two trees. Ernst was swinging her, and seemed not a little
+proud of his new playmate.
+
+"Indeed," said Reinhard, pointing to Bella as she flew up in the swing,
+shouting with delight, "no one who had seen that child this morning and
+her sullen bearing, as she went into Herr von Walde’s apartment to ask
+forgiveness for yesterday’s misconduct, or her defiant and angry
+expression, when he told her that he could not receive her again until
+she had personally begged pardon of Fräulein Ferber,"—here Elizabeth
+reddened, and became absorbed in the preparation of some bread and honey
+for the two children,—"would recognize her for the same being, whose
+face is now beaming with the innocent joy of childhood."
+
+The hour passed very pleasantly.  Miss Mertens was both refined and
+cultivated, and Reinhard told many delightful stories of his travels and
+researches.
+
+"Probably we should not have thought of returning home for some time,"
+he said in concluding an interesting account of adventures in Spain,
+"had we not received unfavourable accounts from Thuringia, which,
+following fast upon each other, induced Herr von Walde to give up new
+plans for travel.  The ambition of power often makes its possessor
+blind.  The incautious request from a feminine pen that Herr von Walde
+would pension off the good old village pastor at Lindhof, because he had
+grown prosy and was incapable of training the souls under his care,
+capped the climax of our unwelcome hews, and we set out for home
+immediately.
+
+"When, late in the evening, as we approached Lindhof, we left the
+highroad and our carriage, that we might go the rest of the way on foot,
+we met with a most charming adventure.   How odd! look, Reinhard, what
+do you suppose is the meaning of that light in the ruins of Castle
+Gnadeck?’ asked Herr von Walde.  ’It means that there is a lamp there,’
+was my reply.  ’We must investigate this,’ said he, and we ascended the
+hill. The light grew brighter, and at last, to our astonishment, we saw
+that it streamed from two high illuminated windows.  And then, light
+steps were heard behind us, something white fluttered among the bushes,
+and suddenly, what I took for a being of ethereal mould hovered before
+us upon the moonlit sward.  I took heart and approached, expecting every
+moment that the airy form would vanish before the breath of my lips; but
+alas! its own lips opened, and told of two well-trained goats and a
+canary bird."
+
+All laughed at this account.
+
+"While we were descending the mountain," Reinhard continued, "my master
+said not a word; but from certain signs I judged that he was quite as
+ready to laugh at me as you were; it would have been a fine thing if you
+could have accompanied us as a good fairy, for we left all the moonlight
+and beauty behind us upon the mountain, and had to walk on through the
+dim valley, where the mists were rising, and where there was nothing,
+not even a wandering zephyr to bid us welcome home.  At Castle Lindhof
+numberless lights were flitting to and fro like will-o’-the-wisps.  The
+carriage, with our luggage, had already arrived, and seemed to have
+produced the same effect by the sound of its rolling wheels, as that
+ascribed to the thunder at the day of judgment, for there was such
+hurry, confusion, and disorder reigning there when we arrived, that, for
+my part, I should have been thankful to retrace my steps, and lay my
+weary head upon the first quiet, mossy spot that I could find in the
+forest.  The only person who, in the midst of the universal agitation,
+presented an appearance of placid self possession was the chaplain,
+Möhring.  He had put on a white cravat with great despatch, and welcomed
+the master of the house at the foot of the grand staircase in a speech
+full of unction."
+
+"The reign of that stern gentleman is at an end now, is it not?" asked
+the forester.
+
+"Yes, indeed, thank God!" replied Miss Mertens. "He will leave Lindhof
+in a short time.  Baroness Lessen’s influence has procured him a good
+parish.  He could not endure to sink back into insignificance where he
+had so lately held sway.  I can readily understand it, for he had ruled
+with all the persecuting zeal of a tyrant who seeks to tread every one
+beneath his feet.  He would not allow a thought in his kingdom without
+his permission, and even the baroness, his mistress, upon whom he smiled
+so servilely, felt his iron rule.  Every one in the household, without
+exception, was obliged to write down, in the evening, the thoughts and
+sentiments that had occurred to them during the avocations of the day. I
+can see before me now the poor housemaids, to whom even a short letter
+to their friends at home is a greater task than a long ironing-day,
+sitting in that cold room on the winter evenings, holding the pen in
+their tired clumsy fingers, and beating their poor brains for something
+to say.
+
+"’Yes, if the chaplain had worked as hard as I have done the whole day,’
+one would whisper softly but angrily to another, ’he would not relish
+writing much.’"
+
+"Indeed, I think so," cried the forester.  "What a shameful system of
+torture and oppression has been carried on there under the cloak of
+service to the Lord!"
+
+"The worst of it all is," said Ferber, "that unless a man is possessed
+of great culture, or of a special fund of good humour, he ends by
+detesting not only his tormentors but the whole subject of religion that
+causes him such suffering.  Thus, he is led more and more astray from
+all faith, while his outward observance of forms must be stricter than
+ever, his subsistence depending upon his wearing the mask well.  All
+this gives the death-blow to true religion among the people."
+
+"Well, we are fortunate in at least having one among us who has force of
+character enough and sufficient strength of will, to say, ’Thus far
+shalt thou go and no farther!’  Zounds! it came upon us like a second
+deluge!" said the forester.
+
+"True, Herr von Walde is possessed of an energy and force of character
+such as falls to the lot of but few," replied Miss Mertens, quickly.
+"His mouth is closed, but his eyes are wide open, and servility, malice,
+and hypocrisy quail before them and drop their masks."
+
+In the mean while Reinhard had been attentively examining the walls of
+the ruinous wing of the old castle which bounded the garden on the
+south.  Three large, pointed, arched windows, faultless in shape,
+extended upward to the height of the second story from about six feet
+from the ground.  Close beside them a curious jutty projected far into
+the garden, forming a deep corner, where grew a giant oak, which
+stretched some of its boughs through the two nearest sashless windows
+far into the airy, cool apartment within, which must once have been the
+chapel of the castle, intended to accommodate a large number of
+worshippers, for it extended through the entire depth of the wing.
+Opposite these windows were three others of like dimensions; they had
+been less exposed to wind and weather, and had preserved some fragments
+of coloured glass in their delicately carved stone rosettes.  Through
+them could be seen the dark court-yard, with its crumbling, ghostly
+walls like a picture painted in gray.  The garden side of this wing
+looked gay and odd enough.  The most extravagant caprice had here heaped
+together all styles of windows and decorations; judging by the exterior,
+the old building must have been a perfect labyrinth of rooms, passages,
+and staircases.  The jutty alone seemed to be in a most dangerous state
+of decay.  It inclined perceptibly to one side, and appeared to be
+awaiting the moment when it should bury the blooming life of the oak
+beneath its masses of stone.  It had thrown a green mantle coquettishly
+over its falling form,—an impenetrable garment of ivy wreathed it all
+over from the ground to the ruinous roof, and effectually concealed
+every crack and aperture in the masonry.  Some sprays of the ivy had
+crept across the oak and climbed up to the sculptured arms on the
+principal front of the chapel, which looked forth grimly enough from
+beneath its intrusive decoration.
+
+"I attempted," said Ferber, "to explore this wing as far as I could,
+shortly after my arrival here, for its peculiar style of architecture
+interests me greatly; but I could not get farther than the chapel,
+where, indeed, it seemed dangerous to stay long.  You see the whole
+upper story has fallen in, and the weight of the ruins has caused the
+ceiling of the chapel to sink considerably, so that it seems ready to
+tumble at the slightest breath of wind. The jutty has only lately looked
+so threatening in consequence of several severe storms.  It must be
+taken away, for it makes a part of the garden inaccessible to us. If I
+could have engaged any workmen, it should have been pulled down before
+now."
+
+After this explanation, Reinhard had no further relish, as he expressed
+it, for wandering about in the old ruins. But he was all the more
+interested in the connecting building, and Ferber arose to show his
+guests his dwelling. And first, they ascended the rampart behind them.
+Ferber was very capable and skilful, and employed every moment of his
+leisure in improving his new possession. With his own hands he had
+mended the steps which led to the top of the rampart, and they arose now
+smooth and white from the close-shaven turf which clothed its sloping
+side.  On top, the tolerably wide plateau was strewn with fresh gravel,
+and in the centre of it, embowered in the linden boughs which
+overshadowed the basin below, stood a group of home-made garden chairs
+and a table.  While they leaned against the breastwork and enjoyed the
+confined but lovely view from the steep mountain over the valley
+beneath, Elizabeth told the story of Sabina’s ancestress, for doubtless
+this rampart had been the scene of her narrative.
+
+"Br-rr!" said Reinhard, shuddering.  "What a leap it would have been!
+The wall is high, and when I imagine below there, instead of that mossy
+carpet, the sluggish, slimy waters of a castle-ditch full of frogs and
+lizards, I cannot possibly understand the resolution required to throw
+one’s self over."
+
+"But," said Miss Mertens, "despair has led many a one to seek a death
+even more horrible."
+
+At this moment Elizabeth saw with her mind’s eye the glowing, passionate
+expression with which Hollfeld had hastened towards her on the preceding
+evening.  She remembered the disgust that she had experienced at his
+touch, and she thought to herself that it was not very difficult to
+imagine the position of the persecuted girl.
+
+"Come in, child," said her uncle, rousing her from her reverie.  "Are
+you listening to hear the grass grow that you stand there so silent?"
+
+Beneath his clear gaze, and at the sound of his strong, honest voice,
+the terrible vision vanished in an instant. "No, uncle," she replied,
+laughing, "that I shall not attempt, even though I do boast that I have
+wonderfully keen eyes and ears for the processes of nature."
+
+He took her hand, and led her after the others, who were just entering
+the house.  At the top of the steps, Bella came running to Miss Mertens.
+She had several picture-books in one hand, and with the other she drew
+her governess into Elizabeth’s room.
+
+"Only think, Miss Mertens, you can see our castle from here!" she cried.
+That they were the owners of Lindhof she seemed firmly to believe, and
+no wonder.  The way in which the baroness had, until now, wielded her
+sceptre, had left no doubt in the child’s mind that her mother was the
+indisputable mistress of Lindhof.  "Look," she continued gaily, "do you
+see the path down there?  Uncle Rudolph has just ridden past.  He saw
+me, and waved his hand to me.  Mamma will be glad that he is kind to me
+again."
+
+Miss Mertens admonished her to be a good little girl, and get her hat
+and sack, for it was time to go.
+
+Elizabeth and Ernst accompanied them out into the park.
+
+"We have stayed too long," said Miss Mertens anxiously, as she took
+leave of the Ferbers and stepped out into the forest-clearing.  "I must
+be prepared for a tempest this evening."
+
+"You think the baroness will be vexed at your remaining here so long?"
+
+"Without doubt."
+
+"Never mind,—you must not repent it.  We have spent such a delightful
+afternoon," said Reinhard.
+
+The children had wandered on before them, hand in hand, and disappeared
+now and then among the trees on either side of the path, plucking
+flowers.  Hector, who had forsaken his master to accompany them, leaped
+joyously hither and thither, never forgetting to return now and then to
+be stroked and patted by the gentle hand of Elizabeth, the lady of his
+love, as her uncle said.
+
+Suddenly he stopped, and stood still in the centre of the path.  They
+had nearly reached the borders of the park.  Through the forest they
+could see the vivid green of the lawn, and the plashing of the nearest
+fountain was audible.  Hector had discovered a female figure hastily
+approaching.  Elizabeth recognized her instantly as silent Bertha,
+although her whole appearance seemed strangely altered.
+
+She could have had no idea that any one was near, for, as she walked,
+she gesticulated violently with her arms.  Her cheeks were crimson, her
+eyebrows contracted as though in the greatest agony of mind, and her
+lips moved as though she were talking to herself.  Her white hat, which
+she had decked with flowers, had slipped from her dark braids, and was
+hanging upon her neck by its loose red strings, which, as her motions
+grew still more earnest, became wholly untied, and the hat fell on the
+ground without the knowledge of its owner.
+
+She came rapidly forward, and did not raise her eyes until just as she
+stood close to Elizabeth.  Then she started as though stung by an adder.
+In a moment the expression of anguish upon her countenance was changed
+to one of the bitterest anger.  Hate flashed from her eyes, her hands
+clenched convulsively, and while something like a low hiss escaped her
+lips, she seemed as if about to spring, raging, upon the young girl.
+Reinhard instantly placed himself by Elizabeth’s side, and drew her
+slightly back.  When Bertha saw him, she uttered a low cry, and rushed
+madly into the thicket, through which she forced a path, although her
+clothes were torn by the thorns, and she struck her forehead against the
+drooping boughs.  In a few moments she was lost to sight.
+
+"That was Bertha, from the Lodge!" cried Miss Mertens, with surprise.
+"What can have happened to her?"
+
+"Yes,—what can have happened?" repeated Reinhard.  "The young creature
+was in a state of terrible excitement, and seemed to grow actually
+furious at sight of you," turning to Elizabeth.  "Is she related to
+you?"
+
+"No indeed," she replied.  "She is only distantly connected with my
+uncle, and I do not even know her. She has avoided me from the beginning
+most resolutely, although I wished much to be on friendly terms with
+her.  It is clear that she hates me, but I cannot tell why.  Of course
+it troubles me, but her character is not sufficiently pleasing to induce
+me to attach much importance to her dislike."
+
+"Good Heavens, my child, there is no question of dislike here!  The
+little fury would have gladly torn you to pieces with her teeth."
+
+"I am not afraid of her," replied Elizabeth, smiling.
+
+"But I would advise you to be careful," said Miss Mertens.  "There was
+something actually demoniac in her looks.  Where could she have been?"
+
+"Probably at the castle," remarked Elizabeth, as she picked up Bertha’s
+hat, and brushed the moss and dried leaves from it.
+
+"I think not," rejoined Miss Mertens.  "Since she has been dumb she has,
+very strangely, ceased visiting Lindhof.  Before then she came every
+day, attended the Bible Class, and was a great protegée of the baroness,
+but suddenly it all came to an end, to the surprise of all.  Only now
+and then, in my solitary rambles in the park, I have seen her gliding
+through the bushes like a snake,—indeed she seems to me to bear an
+affinity to that reptile."
+
+They had already reached one of the gravelled paths leading through the
+park, and it was time to take leave of each other.  They separated with
+mutual cordiality.
+
+"Now, Elsie," said Ernst, as the other three vanished behind a group of
+trees, "we’ll see which of us will reach the corner first."  The corner
+was the entrance to a narrow forest-path which led directly to the foot
+of the mountain.
+
+"Agreed, my darling," laughed Elizabeth, and began to run.  At first she
+kept even step with the little boy who was beside her; but just before
+the goal was reached, she flew forward lightly as a feather, and stood
+in the entrance of the path, and, to her terror, close to the head of a
+horse which snorted violently.  Hector, who was by her side, barked
+loudly.  The horse leaped aside and stood erect upon his hind legs.
+
+"Back!" cried a powerful voice.  Elizabeth snatched op the little boy
+and sprang with him out of the way, while the horse rushed out of the
+forest, and, scarcely touching the ground with his hoofs, galloped madly
+across the meadow.  Herr von Walde was seated upon the frightened
+animal, which did its best to throw its rider.  He, however, sat firm as
+a rock; only once he leaned from his saddle and struck with his
+riding-whip at Hector, who was leaping and barking about the horse,
+greatly increasing its fright.  For awhile it bounded wildly over the
+meadow, then suddenly turned away and disappeared into the forest.
+
+Elizabeth’s teeth fairly chattered with fright at the horrible accident
+which she had no doubt would shortly occur. She took Ernst by the hand
+and was about to run to the castle for assistance, when, before she had
+gone many steps, she saw the horseman returning.  The animal was much
+more quiet, his bit was covered with foam, and his legs trembled.  Herr
+von Walde patted his neck caressingly, sprang off, tied him to a tree,
+and then approached Elizabeth.
+
+"Pray forgive me," she said in a trembling voice, as soon as he stood
+beside her.
+
+"What for, my child?" he rejoined gently.  "You have done nothing.
+Come, sit down upon this bank, you are deadly pale."
+
+He moved as if to take her hand and lead her to the spot which he had
+designated, but his arm dropped instantly by his side.  Elizabeth
+mechanically obeyed him, and without another word he seated himself
+beside her.  Little Ernst leaned against his sister and fixed his large
+beautiful full eyes upon Herr von Walde’s face.  The boy had been
+frightened for one moment when the horse had first appeared, but the
+gallop around the meadow had amused him, for he had no suspicion of
+danger.
+
+"What did you intend to do when you came running so hastily into the
+forest?" Herr von Walde asked Elizabeth after a short silence.
+
+An arch smile played about the still pale lips of the young girl.  "I
+was pursued," she replied.
+
+"By whom?"
+
+"By this boy," pointing to Ernst, "We were running a race."
+
+"Is the little one your brother?"
+
+"Yes;" she looked lovingly in the boy’s face and passed her hand over
+his dark curls.
+
+"And she is my only sister," said the little fellow with great emphasis.
+
+"Indeed!  Well, you seem quite fond of this only sister," said Herr von
+Walde.
+
+"Oh yes; I love her dearly.  She plays with me just like a boy."
+
+"Is it possible?"
+
+"Oh yes; if I want to play soldiers she puts on just the same kind of
+paper hat that she makes for me, and marches, drumming up and down the
+garden, just as long as I choose.  And before I go to bed she tells me
+lovely stories while I am eating my supper."
+
+A bright smile broke over Herr von Walde’s face. Elizabeth had never
+seen it before, and she found that it gave an indescribable charm to
+features which she had thought immovably stern; it seemed to her like a
+clear sunbeam breaking through a thick, cloudy sky.
+
+"You are quite right, my boy," he said, drawing the child towards him;
+"those are most valuable talents to possess; but is she never angry?" he
+asked, pointing to Elizabeth, who was enjoying like a child, Ernst’s
+revelations, which seemed comical enough to her.
+
+"No, never angry," replied the boy, "only serious sometimes, and then
+she always plays on the piano."
+
+"But, Ernst——"
+
+"Oh yes, Elsie," he interrupted her eagerly; "don’t you remember when we
+were so poor in B——?"
+
+"Ah, there you are right," she replied with composure; "but it was only
+when papa and mamma had to work so hard that we might have bread to eat;
+it was much better afterwards."
+
+"But you still play on the piano?"
+
+"Yes," answered Elizabeth laughing, "but no longer for the reason which
+Ernst gives.  My father and mother are now provided for."
+
+"And you?" Herr von Walde persisted.
+
+"Oh, I?  I am quite brave enough to fight life’s battle and win my own
+independence in the struggle?"
+
+"How do you propose to do it?"
+
+"Next year I shall go somewhere as a governess."
+
+"Does not Miss Mertens’ example deter you?"
+
+"Not at all.  I am not so weak as to wish for a luxurious life while so
+many others in my circumstances take upon themselves so bravely the yoke
+of service."
+
+"But here there is question not only of service but of endurance.  You
+are proud.  It is not only your look at this moment which tells me so,
+but every sentiment which you uttered yesterday."
+
+"Indeed, it may, perhaps, be pride that induces me to rank real dignity
+of character far above any mere exterior advantages which egotism has
+invented and maintains, and for that very reason I believe that one
+human being can humble another only by setting before him an example of
+moral and intellectual greatness which it is impossible for him to
+imitate,—never by insulting treatment."
+
+"And you think that these views will steel you against all the
+mortifications great and little which a heartless, capricious mistress
+might heap upon you?"
+
+"Oh no, but I need never bow before her."
+
+A short pause ensued, during which Ernst approached the horse, examining
+him attentively.
+
+"From what you said yesterday, I gathered that you are attached to your
+present home," Herr von Walde began again.
+
+"Yes, more than I can tell."
+
+"Ah!  I can understand that, for this is the loveliest spot in
+Thuringia.  How then can you so easily endure the thought of leaving it
+again?"
+
+"On the contrary, I shall not find it at all easy; but my father has
+taught me that our pleasures must yield to our necessities, and I
+understand perfectly that it must be so.  I confess that I cannot easily
+comprehend how one can give up what is so pleasant except at the command
+of necessity."
+
+"Ah! that was aimed at me.  You cannot conceive how a man can
+voluntarily hide himself in the pyramids when he might breathe the cool,
+sunny air of Thuringia."
+
+Elizabeth felt a burning blush suffuse her cheeks.  Herr von Walde had
+humourously alluded here to the jesting conversation that she had had
+with her uncle, to which he had been an involuntary listener.
+
+"If I should attempt to explain this to you I should fail, for you seem
+to me to find all that you look for in your home circle," he said after
+a moment’s silence. He had leaned forward and was mechanically drawing
+figures with his riding-whip upon the ground at his feet. He spoke in
+those deep tones which always appealed powerfully to Elizabeth’s mind.
+"But there is a time for some of us," he continued, "when we rush out
+into the world, to forget in its whirl and novelty that we cannot find
+happiness at home.  If a man cannot fill up a painful void in his
+existence, he can at least ignore it by devoting himself to science."
+
+This, then, was the sore spot in his heart.  He had not found the
+affection in his own home that he longed for, and that he had a right to
+claim and expect from a sister for whom he manifested always the purest
+and most self-sacrificing tenderness.
+
+Elizabeth had comprehended this pain, even before she had seen Herr von
+Walde, and, at this moment, when he alluded to it so openly, she longed
+most fervently to console him.  Words of sympathy hovered upon her lips,
+but she was possessed suddenly by an unconquerable shyness which
+prevented her from speaking; and as she glanced up at him and marked the
+firm lines of his profile and his brow which was so proud and
+commanding, while his voice sounded so gentle and melancholy, the
+embarrassing suspicion flashed upon her that he had forgotten for a
+moment who was sitting beside him; his aristocratic ideas would cause
+him bitterly to repent the moment when, under the influence of a sudden
+self-forgetfulness, he had revealed a glimpse of his sternly guarded
+consciousness to an insignificant girl.  This thought dyed her cheeks
+again; she arose quickly and called Ernst.  Herr von Walde turned in
+surprise, and for an instant his eyes rested searchingly upon her face;
+then he also arose, and, as if to confirm her suspicion, stood at once
+proudly calm and composed before her,—but she noticed for the first time
+that sad, gloomy expression between the eyebrows, which her father had
+spoken of, and which impressed her just as his voice had done.
+
+"You are usually very quick to think,"—he said, evidently trying to give
+the conversation a gayer turn, and slowly walking along by Elizabeth’s
+side,—she was going for Ernst who had not heard her call.  "Before one
+has quite finished a sentence the answer is plainly ready on your lips.
+Your silence, therefore, at this moment, tells me that I was quite right
+when I said that you would not understand me, because you have found all
+the happiness that you look for."
+
+"The idea of happiness is so different with different people, that
+indeed I hardly know."
+
+"We all have the same idea," he interrupted her; "it may still slumber
+in you."
+
+"Oh, no!" she cried, forgetting her reserve and with enthusiasm,—"I love
+my friends with my whole heart, and am most happily conscious that I am
+loved in return!"
+
+"Ah, then you did not quite misunderstand me!  Well,—and your
+friends,—there must be a large circle to whom you open your heart?"
+
+"No," she cried, laughing,—"their tale is soon told! My parents, my
+uncle, and this little fellow here," and she took Ernst by the hand as
+he came running to her, "who grows larger and makes more demands upon me
+every year.  But now we must go, my darling," she said to the child, "or
+mamma will be anxious."
+
+She bowed courteously to Herr von Walde,—it seemed to her that the shade
+upon his brow had disappeared. He raised his hat to her and shook hands
+with Ernst,—then he walked slowly towards the horse that was pawing
+impatiently, untied it, and led it away by the bridle.
+
+"Do you know, Elsie," said Ernst, as they were ascending the mountain,
+"whom Herr von Walde looks like?"
+
+"Whom?"
+
+"The brave knight of St. George, just when he has killed the dragon."
+
+"Aha!" she laughed.  "But you have never seen any picture of the brave
+knight."
+
+"I know that.  Still I think he looks like him."
+
+And she too had thought of the resemblance when she had seen him
+controlling his unruly steed.  At this moment she remembered the pang
+she had suffered at the thought of a probable accident, and her
+unspeakable delight at seeing him return from the thicket unharmed.  She
+stood still, and with a smile of wonder laid her hand upon her throbbing
+heart.
+
+"Now see," said Ernst, "you have been running too quickly up the
+mountain.  I could not keep up with you. What would uncle say if he knew
+it?"
+
+She walked slowly on, like one in a dream.  She scarcely heard the
+child’s reproof.  What then was this strange half-consciousness which
+had yesterday mingled itself with her melodies, causing them to mourn
+and to rejoice at the same moment?  Again she felt it take possession of
+her soul more mightily and intoxicatingly than before, but it was just
+as mysterious and incomprehensible.
+
+"But, Elsie," cried Ernst, impatiently, "what is the matter with you?
+You are walking so slowly that it will be dark before we reach home."
+
+He took hold of her dress, and tried to pull her on. This call from the
+outer world was too energetic to be any longer withstood,—Elizabeth
+roused herself and walked on quickly, to the child’s entire content.
+
+When they reached the castle Elizabeth laid Bertha’s hat, which was
+still hanging upon her arm, upon the table. She was unwilling to mention
+her meeting with the girl to her parents, for she rightly judged that it
+would make them anxious, and that they would relate the occurrence to
+her uncle, who had been so angry and bitter of late whenever Bertha was
+alluded to, that Elizabeth feared that if he heard of the meeting in the
+wood he would put a stop to the annoyance by immediately dismissing the
+cause of it from the Lodge.  Ernst had noticed neither the hat nor her
+desire to conceal it, so there was no danger that he would betray her.
+
+After supper Elizabeth walked down to the Lodge.  She met Sabina in the
+garden, and heard to her satisfaction that her uncle had gone to
+Lindhof.  She gave the hat to the old housekeeper, and told her of
+Bertha’s extraordinary behaviour, asking in conclusion whether she were
+at home yet.  Sabina was indignant.
+
+"Indeed I think, child, that if you had been alone she would have
+scratched your eyes out.  I don’t know what will become of her.  These
+last few days she has been worse than ever.  She does not sleep at
+nights, but walks up and down in her room, talking again—but only to
+herself.  If I had but the courage to open her door just when she is at
+the worst,—but I could not do it though you would give me heaps of gold.
+You will laugh at me, I know; but she’s not right.  Look at her
+eyes—they sparkle and glow as though all the fire of the Blocksberg were
+burning in them.  No, I shall hold my tongue; the Herr Forester sleeps
+soundly, and so do the rest,—but I wake at the slightest noise, and I
+know perfectly well that Bertha is up and away many a night, and when
+she goes the great watch-dog is gone too from his kennel.  He is the
+only one in the house that loves her; and, fierce as he is, he never
+touches her."
+
+"Does my uncle know this?" asked Elizabeth with surprise.
+
+"Not for the world!  I wouldn’t for my life tell him, for who knows what
+mischief would come of it?"
+
+"But, Sabina, only think.  You may do great harm to my uncle by
+remaining silent.  The house is so lonely if there is no dog in the
+yard——"
+
+"But I stand at the window of my room and watch until she comes from the
+mountain and chains up the dog again."
+
+"What a tremendous sacrifice to make to your superstition! Why not tell
+Bertha——"
+
+"Hush! not so loud, there she sits!"  Sabina pointed through the fence
+to the pear tree in the court-yard.  Upon the stone bench under the tree
+Bertha was sitting, apparently quite composed, trimming carrots.  The
+crimson of excitement had passed away from cheek and brow, and given
+place to a livid pallor.  Elizabeth could see now that the girl had
+lately grown much thinner.  Her delicate nose looked pinched, and her
+cheeks had lost their lovely oval.  There were dark ridges around her
+eyes, and between her eyebrows there were two deep wrinkles in the
+delicate skin which gave a sullen expression to the face, but, in
+connection with certain lines around the mouth, lent an air of deep
+melancholy to her look. The sight cut Elizabeth to the heart.  Some
+misery was burdening the soul of that lonely creature, misery all the
+harder to endure because it was borne in silence.  She forgot all the
+dislike of her which Bertha had always shown, and took several quick
+steps towards her, that she might lay that weary head upon her breast
+and say, "Rest here, poor child!  Tell me of the grief that you are
+struggling with in such loneliness, and I promise to aid you to
+endure——" but Sabina seized her arm and detained her.
+
+"You must not go," she whispered in terror; "I will not let you.  She is
+just in a condition to stick that knife into you."
+
+"But she is so terribly unhappy.  Perhaps I can convince her that only
+the kindliest sympathy moves me."
+
+"No, no!  I’ll soon show you whether anything can be done with her."
+
+Sabina descended the steps into the court-yard.  Bertha let her approach
+without raising her eyes.
+
+"Fräulein, Elizabeth found it," said Sabina, holding the hat towards
+her; then she laid her hand upon the girl’s shoulder, and continued
+kindly: "She would like to say a few words to you."
+
+Bertha started up as if she had received a deadly insult.  She angrily
+shook off Sabina’s hand, and darted a furious glance towards the spot
+where Elizabeth was standing,—a proof that she had known before that she
+was there.  She threw her knife upon the table, and by a hasty gesture
+overset the basket at her feet, so that the carrots were scattered
+around upon the pavement. She ran into the house.  They heard her
+through the open window shut the door of her own room and bolt it behind
+her.
+
+Elizabeth was stupefied with surprise mingled with much pain.  She would
+have so liked to console the wretched girl, but she now perceived that
+it was not to be thought of.
+
+For a week past she had been daily to the castle. Fräulein von Walde had
+been steadily improving in health since the afternoon when, as the
+baroness tenderly expressed it, she had found a cure in the coffee which
+she herself had prepared, and in Herr von Hollfeld’s arrival. She was
+diligently practising several duets, and at last confided to Elizabeth
+that she wished to celebrate her brother’s birthday fête the last of
+August.  It was to be a very splendid celebration, for she intended to
+make it also a welcome home to the long absent traveller.  On that day
+he should first hear her play again after so many years, and she knew
+what a pleasant surprise it would be to him.
+
+Elizabeth always looked forward with a mixture of pleasure and dread to
+these practisings.  She did not know why herself; but the castle and
+park had suddenly become dear and attractive to her; she even had a kind
+of tender regard for the bank where she had sat with Herr von Walde, as
+if it were an old friend; she made a little circuit in order to pass by
+it.  Herr von Hollfeld’s behaviour inspired her, on the contrary, with
+very different feelings.  After she had several times foiled his
+attempts to meet her by a hasty avoidance of him, he came to Fräulein
+von Walde’s room, one day, and begged permission to remain there during
+the lesson.  To Elizabeth’s terror, Helene, with delight beaming in her
+eyes, assured him that he was doubly welcome as a convert who had
+hitherto had no taste whatever for music.  He now made his appearance
+regularly, silently laying some fresh flowers upon the piano before
+Helene as he entered, in consequence of which she invariably struck
+several false chords.  Then he retired to a deep window-seat whence he
+could look the players directly in the face.  As long as the practising
+continued he covered his eyes with his hand, as if he wished to shut out
+the world that he might resign himself entirely to the charms of music.
+But, to Elizabeth’s vexation, she soon observed that he only covered his
+face so as to conceal it from Helene; from behind his hand he stared the
+whole time fixedly at Elizabeth, following her every motion.  She
+shuddered beneath those eyes which, usually so dull and expressionless,
+always burned with a peculiar fire when he looked at her.  Under this
+hateful ordeal she often had to exercise great self-control in order to
+play correctly.
+
+Helene apparently had no suspicion of the cunning which Hollfeld had
+employed to attain his end.  She often stopped playing for awhile and
+conversed with him, that is, she talked herself, and, usually, very
+well.  She listened to his monosyllabic replies,—which were empty and
+foolish enough,—as if they were the words of an oracle wherein more
+meaning than met the ear was to be found.
+
+He always departed a few minutes before the end of the lesson.  The
+first time that he did so, Elizabeth discovered him from one of the hall
+windows that commanded an extensive view of the park, standing waiting
+at the entrance of the forest-path, by which she must pass. She defeated
+his intention, not without secret self-gratulation, by paying a visit of
+an hour to Miss Mertens, who received her with open arms; and she grew
+so fond of the governess that she never passed the door of her room
+without entering for an hour’s quiet talk.
+
+Miss Mertens was almost always depressed and sad. She saw that her stay
+at Lindhof was becoming impossible. The baroness, suddenly deprived of
+her sovereign authority and its consequent manifold occupations, was
+often bored nearly to death.  She was obliged to wear her mask of
+gentleness and content while she was with her relatives, which was hard
+enough, and therefore all her ill humour had to be pent up within the
+locked doors of her own apartment.  But she never vented it upon Bella,
+for, looking upon her child more as a born baroness than as a daughter,
+she restrained herself; nor upon her old waiting-maid, for whom she had,
+no one knew why, what the old steward Lorenz called "an ungodly sort of
+respect."  Nor could she scold the lower servants without offending the
+master of the house, and therefore all her malice was wreaked upon the
+unfortunate and defenceless governess.
+
+In order to torment her victim most thoroughly, the lady ordered the
+lessons to be daily conducted beneath her own most illustrious eyes.  In
+presence of the pupil, the methods of the teacher were perpetually
+analyzed and criticised.  It was no wonder that Bella did not improve
+under such instructions, and her nerves, too, were sure to be ruined,
+for Miss Mertens had the most disagreeable voice in teaching in the
+world,—how, too, could the child be expected to be graceful while she
+had constantly before her eyes the angular, clumsy manner in which her
+governess held her book and turned over the leaves, etc.? In history,
+Miss Mertens’ reflections were quite too sentimental, or too plebeian,
+and, besides, she was so outrageously impertinent "as to have opinions
+of her own."  In some cases the lesson was deliberately interrupted; the
+baroness placed herself in the teacher’s chair, and the governess was
+obliged to listen reverentially to a lecture full of supercilious scorn
+and aristocratic arrogance. If the lady needed support, the chaplain,
+Herr Möhring, was sent for.  And then, the nettle-stings of her
+discourse vanished into insignificance by the side of the cruelty with
+which the unappreciated martyr invoked upon the head of the wretched
+governess all the gall of his suppressed sermons.  The baroness must
+have known that the chaplain’s French was execrable,—but she requested
+him to be present during the French hour that he might correct Miss
+Mertens’ accent.  Bella’s improvement was forgotten in the overflow of
+her mother’s petty malice.
+
+Sometimes Miss Mertens would declare, with tears, that only love for her
+mother, who looked to her for support, induced her to submit to this
+martyrdom.  The old lady was almost entirely dependent upon the
+exertions of her daughter, and therefore any change of situation was
+very undesirable in view of the pecuniary loss which must attend it But
+however depressed her spirits might be, her gentle face brightened
+whenever Elizabeth knocked at the door, and asked, in her sweet, fresh
+accents, if she might come in.  At sight of the young girl all her care
+and anxiety took flight, and as they sat together on the little sofa by
+the window they had many a happy hour, and the poor governess seemed to
+live over again her own youthful days, and Elizabeth gained not a little
+from the fund of knowledge and riper experience of her more mature
+friend.
+
+These brief afternoon visits had also a secret charm for Elizabeth,
+which she would not for the world have confessed, and which,
+nevertheless, caused her heart to throb quickly, and an undefined
+sensation of mingled joy and anxiety to possess her as she knocked at
+the door.
+
+The windows of Miss Mertens’ room looked out upon a large court-yard,
+which Elizabeth used to call the convent garden,—it lay so retired and
+quiet, encircled by its four high walls.  Some spreading lindens cast
+their green shade upon the rich grassy soil, only intersected here and
+there by narrow paved paths.  In the centre of the space was a fountain,
+which supplied the house with delicious water, and upon the edge of the
+large basin several marble figures were reposing their white limbs,
+bathed in the green light that broke through the overhanging trees. When
+the sun poured his fierce rays, like melted lead, upon the open parts of
+the park and garden, this spot was always refreshingly cool.  A door
+upon the ground-floor, leading from the court-yard directly into Herr
+von Walde’s library, almost always stood open.  Now and then he himself
+would issue from it, and pace to and fro with folded arms.  What
+thoughts lay hidden behind that fine white forehead, when, after walking
+thus for awhile, with his head sunk upon his breast, he suddenly raised
+it, as if roused from some delightful dream!  Miss Mertens often
+remarked that he seemed to have returned from his travels much altered.
+
+Before his departure, she said, Herr von Walde’s face had seemed to her
+like that of a statue, so serious and immovable; and although she had
+always known him to be a man of genuine nobility of character, she had
+been oppressed when near him by the icy coldness of his manner.  Now it
+seemed to her as if some revivifying hand had passed over his nature;
+even his step was lighter and more elastic, and she would maintain that,
+in his pacings to and fro in the court yard, a smile frequently broke
+over his face, as if he saw, in imagination, some vision that delighted
+him.  While she talked thus, Miss Mertens would smile and declare
+mysteriously that he must certainly have brought home some very
+agreeable memories with him, and that she could not refrain from
+suspecting that matters at Lindhof would soon wear a different aspect.
+She never noticed the involuntary start of her young friend when she
+arrived at this conclusion, and Elizabeth was equally unaware of it, for
+the pang that she felt at such an idea, made her utterly incapable of
+controlling her external behaviour.
+
+The quiet pacing to and fro beneath the lindens was, however, often
+interrupted, not only by Herr von Walde’s workmen and men upon business,
+but by the needy and unfortunate, who would come timidly down the steps,
+ushered by a servant, and stand with bowed heads before the commanding
+figure that confronted them, until they were encouraged by the gentle
+tones of his voice to speak, as he kindly bent down to catch their
+whispered words. They always left him greatly cheered, for those who
+were not worthy of his assistance did not dare to present themselves
+before him.
+
+One day Elizabeth set out for Castle Lindhof a half hour earlier than
+usual.  The fact was that her father, in returning at noon from the
+Lodge, had met Miss Mertens in the forest.  She had evidently been
+weeping, and was unable to speak at the moment; she had merely bowed and
+passed hurriedly on.  This intelligence made Elizabeth very anxious.
+She would not for the world have postponed her visit to the governess
+until the end of her lesson,—the lonely woman was certainly in need of
+love and friendly sympathy.
+
+Just across the large meadow which bordered upon the forest was a
+charming pavilion.  A dark grove surrounded the graceful structure upon
+three sides, so that its white front stood out in shining contrast with
+the green shade.  It had hitherto been kept closed, although the outside
+shutters to the windows were thrown back and Elizabeth had seen that the
+room within was furnished most luxuriously.  But to-day, as she issued
+from the forest, she saw that the doors of the pavilion were wide open.
+A servant, with a waiter in his hand, stepped out and requested her to
+enter.  As she approached she could see that Fräulein von Walde, the
+baroness, and Hollfeld were drinking coffee in the pretty room which
+constituted the whole interior of the building.
+
+"You are a little too early to-day, my child," said Helene, as her young
+friend appeared upon the threshold. Elizabeth replied that she wished to
+pay a visit to Miss Mertens before the practising.
+
+"Ah! pray let that go to-day," said Helene, quickly, but evidently
+confused, while the baroness looked up from her crotchet-work with a
+malicious smile.  "Do you know that a large package of new music has
+just come from Leipzig?" continued Fräulein von Walde; "I have looked
+over it slightly, the pieces are beautiful.  Perhaps we can find among
+them just the thing that we want for our concert.  Sit down, we will go
+to the castle together."
+
+She offered Elizabeth a basket of cake, and put a magnificent pear upon
+her plate.
+
+At this moment, Herr von Walde’s dog came bounding into the room;
+instantly both ladies were on the alert and expectant; Helene looked
+towards the door with a manifest effort to seem quiet and unconstrained,
+but the baroness threw her work into a basket, examined the coffee-pot
+to see whether the coffee was still hot, placed a cup near the sugar
+basin, and drew a chair up to the table.  The malicious smile was
+replaced by an air of grave reserve, and she was apparently resolved to
+make as dignified and imposing an appearance as possible.  At sight of
+the dog, Hollfeld hastened into the garden, and came back in a few
+moments with Herr von Walde, who had evidently just returned from a
+drive, for he wore a gray dust coat and a round felt hat.
+
+"We were afraid, dear Rudolph," Helene cried out to him as soon as he
+appeared, while she half arose and held out her hand,—"that we should
+not see you at all to day."
+
+"I found more business awaiting me at L—— than I had anticipated," he
+replied, seating himself, not upon the chair which had been placed for
+him, but upon the sofa by the side of his sister, so that when Elizabeth
+raised her eyes she looked him full in the face, for he sat directly
+opposite to her.  "Besides," he continued, "I have been at home full
+half an hour, but Reinhard wished to speak with me upon private business
+which required immediate action, and so I nearly lost the pleasure of
+taking coffee with you, my dear Helene."
+
+"That miserable Reinhard!" and Fräulein von Walde pouted a little; "he
+might have waited awhile,—the world would still have turned around."
+
+"Ah! dear child," sighed the baroness, "we cannot alter these things.
+We are condemned all our lives long to be the slaves of our inferiors."
+
+Herr von Walde quietly turned towards her, and his glance measured her
+slowly from head to foot.
+
+"Well, why do you look at me so, my dear Rudolph?" she asked, not
+without a tinge of uneasiness in her tone.
+
+"I looked to see whether you really seemed fitted to play one of those
+sad parts in Uncle Tom’s Cabin."
+
+"Always ridicule when I look for sympathy," rejoined the lady,
+endeavouring to lend a gentle, melancholy tone to her harsh voice.  "I
+might have known it, but——"  She sighed again.  "We do not all possess
+your enviable equanimity, which is never affected by the petty
+annoyances and necessary evils of this life.  We poor women have our
+miserable nerves, which make us doubly sensitive to everything that jars
+upon our minds.  If you had seen me this morning, in what a wretched
+condition I was——"
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+"I have been tried inconceivably.  Well, Miss Mertens must answer for
+it."
+
+"Has she injured you?"
+
+"What an expression!  My dear Rudolph, how could a person in her
+situation injure me?  She has vexed me,—made me exceedingly angry!"
+
+"I am greatly pleased to see that you do not bend without a struggle to
+the yoke of bondage."
+
+"I have lately had to endure more than I can tell with that stupid
+creature," the baroness continued, without heeding her cousin’s comment.
+"My maternal duties are sacred in my eyes, and therefore I have been
+obliged to superintend my child’s instruction.  It is, of course, a
+matter of great moment to me that her youthful mind should be rightly
+trained.  Unfortunately, I have become more and more convinced that Miss
+Mertens’ knowledge is very limited and her views and principles not
+those which I should wish adopted by a young girl of Bella’s rank in
+life.  This morning I heard the silly woman telling the child that
+nobility of soul was far superior to nobility of birth—as though the one
+could be separated from the other,—and that she ranked a beggar with a
+clear conscience above a crowned head whose conscience was not pure; and
+a quantity more of the same stuff.  When I tell you that Bella, the Lord
+willing, will live at court,—I have all but secured the post of maid of
+honour at the court of B—— for her,—you will readily conclude that I
+interrupted such teaching upon the spot.  You must admit, my dear
+Rudolph, that, with such views, Bella would play a poor part at
+court—nay, even her stay there would be quite impossible."
+
+"Certainly, there is no doubt of that."
+
+"Thank Heaven!" cried the baroness, breathing freely. "I was really in a
+little doubt as to how you would receive Miss Mertens’ dismissal.  You
+know you always valued her far above her deserts.  She was so
+impertinent when I interfered with her lessons that there was nothing
+for me to do but to send her away."
+
+"I have no right to lay down laws to you with regard to your people,"
+replied Herr von Walde, coldly.
+
+"But I always try to please you as far as I can, my good Rudolph.  I
+cannot tell you how rejoiced I am that I shall see no more of that
+repulsive English face."
+
+"I am sorry that you will not be able entirely to avoid it, since she
+will still remain under the same roof,—my secretary Reinhard was
+betrothed to her about half an hour ago."
+
+The work dropped from the baroness’ fingers.  This time not only her
+cheek but also her brow was suffused with crimson.
+
+"Has the man lost his senses?" she cried at last, recovering from her
+stupefaction.
+
+"I think not, since he has just given such proof of being in full
+possession of them," said Herr von Walde, with composure.
+
+"Well, I must say that he plays his part of antiquary well.  Such a
+lovely, blooming, young bride!" cried the lady contemptuously,
+endeavouring to laugh heartily. Hollfeld joined in her laughter, thus
+giving the first sign of his having heard the conversation.  Helene cast
+a troubled glance at him; but this mirth cut Elizabeth to the soul,—she
+felt the greatest indignation stirring within her.
+
+"I hope," the baroness began again, "that you will not take it ill of
+me——"
+
+"What now?"
+
+"That I cannot consent to associate with that person any longer."
+
+"I cannot force you to anything, Amalie, any more than I can forbid my
+secretary to marry."
+
+"But you can dismiss him if he chooses a wife who makes his residence
+beneath your roof disagreeable to your nearest relatives."
+
+"That I cannot do either; he has been engaged by me for life, and I have
+just secured to his future wife a pension in case of his death.
+Besides, you make a slight mistake, my good cousin, if you suppose that
+anything in the world could induce me to allow a man to leave me whom I
+have always found faithful.  I am much pleased with Reinhard’s choice,
+and have allotted him the use of the apartments upon the ground-floor of
+the north wing during his life.  His mother-in-law will reside with
+him."
+
+"Well, I congratulate him upon that valuable acquisition," replied the
+baroness, and her sharp voice trembled with anger.  "I will, however,
+make one remark: as I cannot bring myself to endure the presence of that
+person in my apartments for a day longer, she must provide herself with
+some place where she can stay until her marriage.  Probably even you
+will see, my dear Rudolph, that there is a manifest impropriety in the
+interesting pair’s still living, under present circumstances, beneath
+the same roof."
+
+"Permit me," said Elizabeth, here turning to Helene, "I am very sure
+that my parents would extend a warm welcome to Miss Mertens,—we have
+quite room enough."
+
+"Ah, thank you!—matters could not be better arranged," answered Fräulein
+von Walde,—extending her hand to her young friend.  The baroness shot an
+angry glance at Elizabeth.
+
+"The affair will thus be settled very satisfactorily," she said,
+preserving her composure with difficulty.  "I will contain myself, and
+hope in all humility that the future Frau Reinhard will vouchsafe me a
+spot where I shall be relieved from the sight of her disagreeable
+countenance.  Apropos, Fräulein Ferber," she continued after awhile, in
+a careless tone, "I have just remembered that the money for your lessons
+has been for several days in the hands of my maid; just knock at her
+door as you go by, and she will give it to you with a receipt, which you
+will please sign."
+
+"But, Amalie!" exclaimed Helene.
+
+"I will do as you desire, madame," replied Elizabeth, quietly.  She had
+noticed that while the baroness was speaking a lightning flash of rage
+shot from Herr von Walde’s eyes, a thunder-cloud seemed to pass over his
+countenance, but in a moment these witnesses to his agitation gave place
+to a look of withering sarcasm.
+
+"If I might offer a little advice, Fräulein," he said, turning to
+Elizabeth,—"I should counsel you not to venture rashly into the
+baroness’ apartments,—they are uncanny.  Evil spirits are seen there in
+broad daylight, and they have often worked mischief.  Do not give
+yourself the slightest trouble in the matter,—my steward shall attend to
+it; he is thoroughly trustworthy, and manages such affairs with so much
+delicacy that he would really shame even a lady."
+
+The baroness hastily folded her work together and arose.
+
+"It would be better for me to pass the rest of the day in my solitary
+room," and she turned to Helene, and her lips quivered; "there are times
+when our most harmless words and actions are misunderstood and resented.
+I pray you, therefore, to excuse me from appearing at tea."
+
+She made a ceremonious courtesy to the brother and sister, took the arm
+of her son, who looked much confused, and rustled out of the room.
+
+Helene arose with tears in her eyes, and was about to follow her, but
+her brother took her hand with kindly gravity, and drew her down again
+upon the Sofia beside him.
+
+"Will you not give me the pleasure of your company while I drink my
+coffee?" he said gently, and as quietly as if nothing had occurred.
+
+"Oh, yes, if you wish it," she replied hesitatingly and without looking
+at him; "but I am sorry to tell you that you must hurry a little, for
+Fräulein Ferber has come to practise with me, and she has already been
+kept waiting an unconscionable time."
+
+"Well, let us go to the piano immediately,—but upon one condition,
+Helene."
+
+"And that is?"
+
+"That you allow me to listen."
+
+"No, no, that I cannot permit,—I am not far enough advanced,—your ears
+could not endure my bungling.
+
+"Poor Emil!  He does not dream that he owes the delight of listening to
+you to his uncultivated ear!"
+
+Helene blushed.  She had hitherto never mentioned Hollfeld’s visits to
+her brother for reasons that may easily be imagined.  Besides, she
+supposed that they would have been a matter of entire indifference to
+him, and now it appeared that he really attached importance to them.
+She seemed to herself to be a detected deceiver, and for a few moments
+she could not speak.  Elizabeth suspected what her sensations were; she
+too grew confused, and felt her face flush painfully.  Just at this
+moment Herr von Walde turned towards her, his keen, searching glance
+scanned her countenance, and the gloomy wrinkle appeared between his
+eyebrows.
+
+"Does Fräulein Ferber improvise during these hours for practice as they
+are called?" he asked his sister, speaking more quickly than was his
+wont.
+
+"Oh no," she answered, glad to recover her composure,—"had she done so I
+should not have spoken of bungling. I admitted Emil because I think that
+where there is a budding taste for music, it should be encouraged."
+
+Herr von Walde smiled slightly, but it was not the smile which had
+lately possessed such a peculiar charm for Elizabeth.  The dark lines in
+his brow did not disappear, and his look was gloomy as he still observed
+Elizabeth keenly.
+
+"You are right, Helene," he said at last, not without a tinge of irony.
+"But what magnetism there must be in these musical practisings that they
+have worked such miracles!  A very short time ago Emil would much rather
+have listened to his Diana’s baying, than to Beethoven’s sonatas."
+
+Helene was silent, and cast down her eyes.
+
+"But we have forgotten Miss Mertens," said her brother suddenly, in a
+different tone.  "Would it not be advisable for Fräulein Ferber to
+settle that matter as soon as possible?"
+
+"Yes, indeed," replied Helene, quickly, seizing upon any pretext to
+divert the conversation from its present painful direction.  "We had
+better omit the lesson for to-day,—while you, dear child," and she
+turned to Elizabeth, "take the necessary steps,—pray go now, then, to
+your parents, and ask them in my name to offer an asylum to the poor
+lady."
+
+Elizabeth arose, and Helene also stood up.  When her brother saw that
+she wished to leave the pavilion, he put his arm about her little form,
+raised her from the ground like a feather, and carried her to the
+wheeled chair that stood outside the door.  After he had arranged the
+cushions at her back, and covered her little feet carefully with a
+shawl, he raised his hat to Elizabeth, who saw that the wrinkle between
+his eyebrows was not yet gone, and pushed the chair along the nearest
+path leading to the castle.
+
+"She quite fills his heart," thought Elizabeth, as she ascended the
+mountain, "and Miss Mertens must be wrong if she imagines that he will
+ever give to another a higher, or even a like place in his affections.
+He is jealous of his cousin, and rightly so.  How can it be—" and here
+she stood still for a minute as two masculine figures arose to her
+mind’s eye,—"that such a man as Hollfeld can have any charms for Helene
+by the side of Herr von Walde?  The one retreats behind an appearance of
+wise silence because he has nothing to say, while the other, through
+whose noble external repose breaks such fire, possesses a world of power
+trained and restrained by force of character.  Hence his seeming great
+reserve, which commonplace people cannot possibly understand."
+
+She suddenly remembered the look that Herr von Walde had fixed upon her.
+Did he think her an accomplice,—his sister’s confidante,—and was he
+vexed with her when, in fact, she had, at this present moment, no more
+earnest desire than that Herr von Hollfeld’s passion for music might
+subside as quickly as it had been aroused?  Of course, she could not say
+so to any one,—least of all to Herr von Walde,—and, therefore, she must
+silently pay the penalty for those painful blushes that had suffused her
+cheeks just at the wrong moment, and when there was no earthly reason
+for them.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+Her father and mother instantly acceded to Elizabeth’s request; and she
+hastened back to the castle to carry to Miss Mertens their cordial
+invitation.  The governess, when Elizabeth entered her room, was leaning
+with folded hands against the wall.  At her feet stood a trunk half
+packed, closets and wardrobes were wide open, and the chairs were heaped
+with books, dresses, and linen.  The young girl hastened to her friend,
+threw her arms around her, and looked into her face, which, while it
+bore traces of tears, was beaming with happiness.
+
+"I am so astounded by the sudden change in my lot," said Miss Mertens,
+after Elizabeth had offered her congratulations, "that I am obliged to
+close my eyes how and then and collect my senses.  Only this morning
+everything seemed so dark before me,—I actually could not tell where to
+go,—the ground seemed slipping from under my feet.  And just in the
+midst of my anxiety a home is suddenly provided for me.  A man whom I
+esteem thoroughly, but whose regard for the poor governess I had never
+suspected, will be forever faithful to me, and I can fulfill the warmest
+desire of my heart and have my dear good mother to live with me!  What
+will she say when she receives the news,—she, who has suffered so much
+in thinking that I must battle with the storms of life alone, and that
+she could not recall me to her loving heart!"
+
+She told Elizabeth that in a few weeks Reinhard would go to England for
+her mother.  His employer had himself proposed the journey, and insisted
+upon defraying all the expenses.  Whenever Miss Mertens mentioned Herr
+von Walde the tears filled her eyes,—she declared that all the wrong
+done her by the baroness was more than overbalanced by his kindness and
+generosity; he could not endure to have any one beneath his roof suffer
+injustice.  Elizabeth completed the measure of her happiness by the
+invitation which she brought.  Miss Mertens had intended to go to the
+little village inn until she could find lodgings.
+
+"But now we will go to your house together as soon as possible," she
+said, her face beaming with joy.  "The baroness, a short time ago, sent
+me my salary, requesting that I would not again enter her presence, and
+Bella passed through my room without even looking at me,—that grieves
+me, grieves me very deeply, for I have cherished her like the apple of
+my eye.  Her health used to be very delicate, and while her mother has
+been absent, attending the court balls, I have sat by her bedside and
+watched her feverish slumbers night after night. Now it is all
+forgotten,—but I only meant to let you know that I need not take leave
+of either of them."
+
+While Miss Mertens went to bid good-by to Fräulein von Walde and a few
+others in the house who were fond of her, Elizabeth packed up a
+travelling bag for her. The new inmate of Gnadeck only took a few
+necessary articles with her; the rest of her possessions were sent to
+the future apartments of the betrothed pair.
+
+It was an amusement for Elizabeth to arrange Miss Mertens’ books in a
+bookcase in one of these apartments.  Herr von Walde had allowed all the
+furniture in the rooms to remain for the use of their new inhabitants.
+Many of these books were most interesting; she not only glanced at their
+title pages, but, as she stood there, ran over several pages.  Miss
+Mertens and her affairs were all forgotten for the moment as if they had
+never existed.  While she was buried in Goethe’s appearance in the crowd
+at the coronation of Joseph II., a fresh rose fell over her shoulder
+upon the pages of the book Elizabeth started, but instantly smiled,
+shook off the rose, and went on reading.  Miss Mertens, who was
+doubtless standing behind her, should not exult in any effect of her
+teasing. But she suddenly uttered a low cry,—a white, well-formed man’s
+hand appeared and was gently laid upon hers.  She turned round,—not Miss
+Mertens, but Hollfeld, was standing behind her and spreading out his
+arms with a smile, as if to seize the startled girl.
+
+Instantly her alarm was converted into indignation; but before she could
+breathe a word, a harsh commanding voice cried out: "Emil, everybody is
+looking for you.  Your superintendent from Odenberg is here to see you
+upon business of importance.  Pray go to him instantly!"
+
+Beside Elizabeth was an open window.  Outside of it stood Herr von
+Walde, with his arms leaning upon the broad sill looking in.  It was his
+voice which banished Hollfeld on the instant in great embarrassment.
+What an angry expression there was upon the uncovered forehead, in the
+compressed lips, and in the eyes that flashed upon Hollfeld’s retreating
+figure as it vanished through the opposite door!
+
+At last his glance returned to Elizabeth, who had hitherto stood still,
+but who now, recovering from her two-fold fright, was about to retreat
+into the recesses of the apartment.
+
+"What are you doing here?" he asked, brusquely; his voice had not lost
+its former harsh tone.  Elizabeth, deeply wounded by the manner and
+style of his address, was about to return a defiant answer, when she
+suddenly recollected that she was in his house, and therefore she simply
+answered:
+
+"I am arranging Miss Mertens’ books."
+
+"There was another answer upon your lips,—I saw it, and I wish to know
+what it was."
+
+"Well, then,—I was about to say that I do not reply to questions asked
+in such a manner."
+
+"And why did you suppress this reproof?"
+
+"Because it occurred to me that you have the right to command here."
+
+"I am glad,—it is well that you think thus,—for I should like just at
+this moment to exercise this obvious right of mine: tread upon that rose
+which lies languishing there at your feet."
+
+"That I shall not do,—it has done no wrong."  She picked up the rose, a
+beautiful half-open centifolia, and laid it upon the window-sill.  Herr
+von Walde took the flower, and without more ado tossed it away over the
+lawn.
+
+"There let it die a poetic death," he said with a sneer, "let the
+grasses bend above it, and the evening dews shed sympathetic tears over
+the poor victim."
+
+The rigid expression had passed away from his features, but there was
+still the same inquisitorial look in his eyes, and his voice was not
+much gentler, as he asked:
+
+"What were you reading when it was my misfortune to interrupt you?"
+
+"Goethe’s ’Wahrheit und Dichtung.’"
+
+"Do you know the book?"
+
+"Only selections from it."
+
+"Well, how do you like the touching story of Gretchen?"
+
+"I do not know it."
+
+"You have it open in your hands."
+
+"No, I was reading the coronation of Joseph II., at Frankfort."
+
+"Let me see it."
+
+She handed him the open book.
+
+"It is even so!  But look how ugly that is!  Just where Goethe describes
+the emperor ascending the throne, there is an ugly green spot.
+Doubtless you pressed the green rose leaves too tenderly upon the leaf
+of the book; the Emperor, Goethe, and Miss Mertens will hardly forgive
+you for it."
+
+"That spot is old—I did not touch the rose."
+
+"But you smiled at sight of it."
+
+"Because I thought it came from Miss Mertens."
+
+"Ah, there is something touching in this friendship! It must have been a
+great disappointment when, instead of your friend, you saw my cousin’s
+handsome face behind you."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"’Yes.’  How that sounds!  I like laconic brevity, but it must not be
+ambiguous.  What does that ’yes’ mean?  It sounds neither sweet nor
+bitter; and then your face!—why is that defiant frown there between your
+eyebrows?"
+
+"Because I think that there are limits to every right."
+
+"I did not know that I was making use of my right just at present."
+
+"But you will know it if you will ask yourself whether you would address
+me thus harshly in my father’s house."
+
+Herr von Walde grew pale.  He compressed his lips, and retreated a few
+paces.  Elizabeth took the book which he had laid upon the window-sill,
+and went to the bookcase to close it.
+
+"Under the same circumstances, I should have spoken exactly so in your
+father’s house," he said, after awhile, somewhat more gently, as he
+again approached the window.  "You make me impatient.  Why do you answer
+so ambiguously?  How could I tell from that simple syllable whether the
+disappointment of which you spoke were a disagreeable or a pleasant one?
+Well?"
+
+He leaned far across the window-sill, and looked full into her face, as
+though to read the answer upon her lips; but she turned away with
+irritation.  Hateful thought!  How could any one suppose that Hollfeld
+could ever be agreeable to her?  Did not her face, her whole bearing
+towards the man, show how thoroughly disagreeable she thought him?
+
+At this moment Miss Mertens entered the room to seek Elizabeth.  She had
+completed all her preparations, and was quite ready to leave the house.
+With a sigh of relief, Elizabeth hastened to her, while Herr von Walde
+left the window and paced to and fro several times on the lawn.  When he
+again approached, Miss Mertens went towards him, and courtesied
+profoundly.  She told him that she had in vain endeavoured to obtain
+access to him several times that day, and that she rejoiced to have an
+opportunity to thank him for his kindness and thoughtfulness.
+
+He made a deprecating gesture, and offered his congratulations upon her
+betrothal.  He spoke very calmly. Again his whole presence breathed an
+atmosphere of dignity and reserve, so that Elizabeth could not
+understand how she had ever found the courage to remind this man of the
+laws of common politeness.  The eyes that had flashed so passionately
+now looked serenely into Miss Mertens’ face.  The deep, gentle tones of
+his voice obliterated all remembrance of the cutting irony that had
+rendered it so sharp a few moments before, when it had given to his
+words such an accent of irritation, and had sounded as if designed only
+to wound and avenge.
+
+That Herr von Walde was filled with bitterness towards his cousin,
+Elizabeth had already noticed once before that day.  But why should she
+be made to suffer whenever he encountered him?  Was not Hollfeld’s
+continual intrusiveness sufficient annoyance to her?  Why should she be
+made the victim of an irritation for which Helene alone was to blame?  A
+sharp pang shot through her as she remembered how tenderly and
+forgivingly Herr von Walde had taken his sister in his arms, never
+casting a single look of reproach upon her when Hollfeld’s visits had
+been alluded to.  She, the poor piano-player, who was of necessity
+forced to endure Hollfeld’s presence, must be the scapegoat.  Or had he
+perhaps seen how Hollfeld had thrown the rose upon her book, and was his
+aristocratic pride wounded that his cousin should pay such homage to an
+untitled maiden?  This thought flashed upon Elizabeth as an explanation
+of everything.  Yes, thus only could his conduct be explained.  She was
+to crush the poor flower, that all proof might be destroyed that Herr
+von Hollfeld had for one moment forgotten his aristocratic descent.
+That was the reason why he had suddenly spoken in such a harsh tone of
+command,—a tone which only those heard from him who had committed some
+fault, and why she was called upon to explain the impression which
+Hollfeld’s sudden appearance had made upon her.  At this moment she
+would have liked to confront him, and tell him frankly how odious his
+high-born cousin was to her,—that so far from feeling honoured by his
+attentions, she looked upon them as nothing less than insults.  But it
+was too late. Herr von Walde was discussing Reinhard’s journey to
+England with Miss Mertens so calmly and kindly that it would have been
+ridiculous, in the midst of such a discussion, suddenly to resume the
+thread of the previous stormy conversation.  Besides, he did not once
+look at her again, although she stood tolerably near to Miss Mertens.
+
+"I am really half persuaded to go with him," he said in conclusion to
+the governess.  "Reinhard shall return with your mother, for I intend to
+give him the entire charge of Lindhof here, and I will pass the winter
+in London, and go to Scotland in the spring."
+
+"And not return for years?" Miss Mertens interrupted him, anxiously.
+"Has Thuringia, then, no attraction for you?"
+
+"Oh, yes; but I suffer here, and you know that prompt and active
+treatment will often cure where cautious, cowardly delay might bring
+danger.  I hope much from the air of Scotland."
+
+The last words were spoken in a tone meant to be gay, but the lines
+between his brows were stronger than ever, and caused Elizabeth to doubt
+much whether his cheerfulness were genuine.
+
+He shook hands with Miss Mertens, and walked slowly away, soon
+disappearing behind a clump of trees.
+
+"There it is," said the governess, sadly; "instead of bringing a lovely
+young wife home to Lindhof, as I hoped he would, he is going away again,
+and perhaps will not return for years.  He is restless, and no wonder,
+when one thinks of the comfortless home that he has. Baroness Lessen he
+cannot endure, and yet he is forced to see her daily at his fireside,
+for his sister, whom he loves so tenderly, has declared to him, that in
+the society of this woman she is able to forget the bitter trials of her
+life.  And his cousin, too, is an unbidden guest.  Herr von Walde’s
+nature is too frank and open to allow him to conceal his dislikes; but
+these people are made of iron and steel,—the indifference of the master
+of the house never affects them in the least; they have neither eyes nor
+ears when he hints at their leaving.  And as for Herr von Hollfeld, he
+seems to me a very insignificant creature, and very repulsive.  I cannot
+conceive how he could have won Fräulein von Walde’s heart."
+
+"Do you know that too?" asked Elizabeth.
+
+"Ah, child, that has been a secret known to everybody for a long time.
+She loves him as truly and deeply as only a woman can love.  But this
+unfortunate attachment, on which she now lives and breathes as in
+sunlight, will one of these days cast the darkest shadow that has yet
+fallen upon her sorrowful existence.  All this Herr von Walde
+comprehends; but he cannot open the eyes of his sister without
+inflicting a mortal wound, and so he sacrifices everything to his
+fraternal tenderness, and leaves the home where he is made so unhappy."
+
+During this conversation, Miss Mertens and Elizabeth had left the
+castle, and were now ascending the mountain path.  Reinhard, who had
+been to the village, soon joined them.  Miss Mertens told him of her
+interview with Herr von Walde, and all that he had said about going to
+England.
+
+"He has not yet mentioned it to me," said Reinhard; "but he often looks
+as if he longed to leave Lindhof. Such a household!  The master of the
+house is considered by his relatives in the light of a fifth wheel to a
+coach,—he maintains them, and they show their gratitude by estranging
+his sister’s heart from him.  Good Heavens! if I could only take his
+place for two days, I would soon exorcise the evil spirit and not a
+trace of it should ever appear again.  However, I hope that Herr von
+Hollfeld will at least soon return to Odenberg for a few days.  His
+superintendent has just arrived with the intelligence that the
+housekeeper has left,—no one stays there long—my gentleman is too
+stingy.  And several other matters are in disorder there."
+
+When they reached Castle Gnadeck, the guest was most cordially welcomed
+by the Ferbers.  How comfortable and homelike did Miss Mertens’ room
+seem to its new inmate!  It shone with neatness; the counterpane and
+table-covers were spotless, a beautiful Schwarzwald clock was ticking
+softly just above the prettily arrayed writing-table, and a vase of
+roses and mignonette upon the window-sill filled the air with fragrance.
+Through the open door could be seen the dwelling-room of the family.
+There the table was already laid, and Elizabeth lighted the spirit-lamp
+beneath the tea-kettle, while Miss Mertens was arranging in drawers and
+wardrobe the few articles that she had brought with her.
+
+In the mean while the forester, with his long pipe and Hector, had
+arrived, and Reinhard also stayed, so that a merry circle was soon
+assembled.  The forester was in a particularly happy humour.  Elizabeth
+sat beside him, and did her best to join in his gaiety; but it had never
+seemed so difficult to her before, and he, who had an acute perception
+of the most delicate modulations of her voice, soon perceived it.
+
+"Holla, Gold Elsie, what is the matter with you?" he cried, suddenly.
+"All is not right here."  He took her by the chin and looked into her
+eyes.  "I see,—there is a veil over your eyes, and over your heart, too!
+Zounds! what a sudden change!  And what does this sad nun’s face mean?"
+
+Elizabeth blushed deeply beneath his scrutinizing gaze. She did all that
+she could to parry his questions by jest and laughter, but she did not
+succeed very well, and at last there was nothing for her but to seat
+herself at the piano, where he never teased nor laughed at her.
+
+How much good it did her heavy heart to give it voice in full rolling
+chords, as the sound floated sadly out into the gathering
+twilight,—telling of the gloom that had fallen upon her at the thought
+of Herr von Walde’s again leaving Thuringia!  Where now were all her
+dreamings and all her endeavours to read the meaning of that mysterious
+warning that had of late breathed through her melodies?  It rung out
+clearly now in mighty tones, at the sound of which all the former gentle
+breathings of her inward emotions died away in an inaudible whisper.  A
+fairy land, full of golden promise, was revealed before her; her
+enchanted eyes gazed rapturously upon the fair landscape,—but never,
+never might she tread that magic ground, for nothing could bridge the
+abyss at her feet. The veil beneath which her heart had hitherto lain in
+blissful self-ignorance was rent, and with joy and pain unspeakable she
+knew—that she loved.
+
+She did not know how long she had been playing. But she was suddenly
+aroused from her utter forgetfulness of the world without by a bright
+gleam of light falling directly on the pale bust of Beethoven.  Her
+mother had just lighted the large lamp, and Elizabeth saw her uncle
+sitting near her on the broad window-seat. He must have entered
+noiselessly.  As her hands dropped from the keys, he gently smoothed her
+hair with his hand.
+
+"Do you know, child," he said, after the last faint sound had died away,
+and his voice trembled with emotion, "if I had not already seen that
+something was the matter, I should soon have learned it from your
+playing,—it was tears, nothing but tears!"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+Miss Mertens’ presence lent an additional charm to the circle at
+Gnadeck.  For the first time for long, dreary years the governess found
+herself an object of interest and affection, and at home.  Her gentle
+nature, so long chilled and repressed, now showed itself, and, combined
+with her varied culture, made her a most attractive addition to the
+household.  She longed to be of use whenever she could, and took great
+pains with little Ernst, who had a lesson every day in French and
+English; while Elizabeth, too, gathered all the advantage that she could
+from her visitor, and studied diligently, knowing that it was the best
+resource to ward off sad reveries.
+
+In the mean while, the practisings at Castle Lindhof went on as before.
+Hollfeld, who had only been absent at Odenberg for one day, was still an
+enthusiastic auditor, trying by every means in his power to obtain a
+private interview with Elizabeth.  Once or twice he had cunningly
+contrived that, in the intervals of rest, Helene should leave the room
+to find something that he wanted, but he gained nothing by these
+manoeuvres, for Elizabeth always left the room at the same time to
+procure a glass of water.  His attempts to meet her upon her return to
+her home she frustrated also, for Miss Mertens and little Ernst were
+always awaiting her at the borders of the park.  This perpetual
+frustration of his endeavours at last made him impatient and less
+cautious.  He no longer held his hand before his face.  His looks were
+entirely unguarded, and it was only owing to her near-sightedness that
+Helene was spared a most painful discovery.  Thus Elizabeth’s visits to
+the castle grew more and more annoying, and she was thankful that the
+fête day was at last close at hand, since with that celebration the
+daily practisings would, at all events, be discontinued.
+
+The day before Herr von Walde’s birthday, Reinhard announced at Gnadeck
+that a guest had already arrived at Castle Lindhof.
+
+"That scatter-brain completes our misery," he said, with vexation.
+
+"Who is she?" said Miss Mertens and Frau Ferber, laughing at the same
+moment.
+
+"Oh, she is said to be a friend of Fräulein von Walde,—a lady from court
+at L——.  She is to assist in the ordering of the fête.  Heaven help us
+all, for she turns everything upside down."
+
+"Ah, it must be Fräulein von Quittelsdorf," cried Miss Mertens, still
+laughing.  "Yes, indeed, there is quicksilver in her veins.  She is
+terribly frivolous, but she is not really bad at heart."
+
+Later in the afternoon Reinhard accompanied Elizabeth to Lindhof.  As
+she approached the castle, Herr von Walde’s horse was led up to the
+great entrance on the southern front of it.  He himself immediately
+issued from the glass door, riding-whip in hand, and descended the
+steps.  Elizabeth had not seen him since the afternoon when he had
+treated her with such harsh want of consideration.  She thought he
+looked very pale and stern.
+
+Just as he was mounting, a young lady, dressed in white, came out upon
+the steps.  She was extremely pretty, and with much grace she hastened
+down to pat the horse upon the neck and give him a lump of sugar.
+
+Fräulein von Walde, who also appeared leaning upon Hollfeld’s arm, stood
+at the top of the steps, and kissed her hand in token of farewell to her
+brother.
+
+"Is not that young lady Fräulein von Quittelsdorf?" asked Elizabeth.
+
+Reinhard assented, with a wry face.
+
+"She is certainly very pretty," said the young girl. "Herr von Walde
+seems much interested," she added, in a lower tone, as the rider leaned
+from his saddle, and appeared to be listening intently to what the young
+lady was saying.
+
+"Oh, he does not wish to be rude, and therefore gives her a moment’s
+attention.  She would talk the moon out of the sky, and, I verily
+believe, would seize and hang upon the horse’s bridle if she saw any
+danger of his leaving before she had finished what she had to say."
+
+In the mean time they had reached the vestibule.  Here Elizabeth took
+leave of Reinhard, and betook herself to the music-room, where she found
+Fräulein von Walde and Hollfeld.  The former retired for a moment to her
+dressing-room, to arrange her curls, that were somewhat out of order,
+and Hollfeld took advantage of this moment to approach Elizabeth, who
+had retired to the recess of a window, and was turning over the leaves
+of a music-book.
+
+"We were provokingly disturbed the other day," he whispered.
+
+"We?" she asked, with emphasis, retreating a step or two.  "I, indeed,
+had reason to complain of being disturbed.  I was much provoked, I
+assure you, by the interruption of my reading."
+
+"Oh, every inch a queen!" he cried jestingly, but in a low tone of
+voice.  "I certainly did not intend to offend you,—on the contrary, do
+you not know what that rose meant?"
+
+"It would most certainly say that it would a thousand times rather be
+left to perish upon its stalk than be plucked for such idle purposes."
+
+"Cruel girl!  You are hard as marble.  Can you not guess, then, what
+lures me hither daily?"
+
+"Admiration, doubtless, for our great composers."
+
+"You are wrong."
+
+"Then the hope of improving your musical taste."
+
+"Oh, no!  That would not bring me a step hither. For me, music is only a
+bridge——"
+
+"From which you might easily fall into cold water."
+
+"And would you allow me to drown?"
+
+"Most certainly—yes.  I am not ambitious of a medal from the Humane
+Society," replied Elizabeth, dryly.
+
+Fräulein von Walde returned.  She seemed surprised to find the pair
+conversing, for until this moment there had never been a word exchanged
+between them.  She looked keenly at Hollfeld, who could not control his
+feeling of annoyance, and then seating herself at the piano, began to
+prelude, while Elizabeth arranged the notes.  Hollfeld took his usual
+place, and leaned his head upon his hand with a melancholy air.  But
+never had his gaze rested upon Elizabeth with such glowing and
+passionate intentness.  She repented having entered into conversation
+with him.  Her endeavour to repulse him by coldness and severity
+appeared to have had quite a contrary effect.  Repugnance and fear
+overcame her at sight of him, and, notwithstanding the thought of her
+uncle’s probable smile of triumph, the determination rather to resign
+the practisings entirely than to subject herself any longer to these
+insolent glances, gained ground in her mind.
+
+The hour was nearly ended, when Fräulein von Quittelsdorf entered in
+haste.  In her arms she carried a little creature in a long, white,
+infant’s cloak, pressing its head down upon her shoulder with one hand.
+
+"Frau Oberhofmeisterin von Falkenberg sends her compliments," she said
+with formality,—"regrets excessively that a cold will prevent her
+presence to-morrow, but she takes the liberty of sending her lovely,
+blooming grandchild——"
+
+Here the creature in her arms made desperate exertions, and, with a loud
+howl, jumped down upon the ground, and ran under a chair, dragging the
+long robe after it.
+
+"Ah, Cornelie, you are too childish," cried Fräulein von Walde, with a
+laugh of amusement and vexation, as Ali’s distressed face, surrounded by
+a baby’s cap, peeped out from beneath the chair.  "If our good
+Falkenberg could hear of this, you would play no more tricks at the
+court of L——."
+
+Bella, who had also just entered, shrieked with laughter, only
+endeavouring to control herself when her mother, amazed at the noise,
+appeared and represented to her how unbecoming such loud merriment was.
+The baroness, smiling, shook a threatening forefinger at Fräulein von
+Quittelsdorf when Helene told her what had happened, and then approached
+Elizabeth.
+
+"Perhaps Fräulein von Walde has not told you," she said rather
+graciously, "that all invited to the fête to-morrow will assemble at
+four o’clock in the large saloon.  Pray be punctual.  The concert will
+not be over until near six.  I tell you this that your parents may not
+expect you at home before that time."
+
+At these words, Helene looked down upon the keys of the piano in great
+confusion, while Fräulein von Quittelsdorf took her stand beside the
+baroness, and stared Elizabeth impertinently in the face.  Beautiful as
+were the black eyes that were fastened upon her, Elizabeth was annoyed
+by their steady stare.  She bowed to the baroness, assuring her that she
+would be punctual, and then looked full and gravely at the fair
+impertinent.  The effect was instantaneous.  Fräulein von Quittelsdorf
+looked away, and, in some confusion, turned upon her heel like a spoiled
+child.  Just then she discovered Herr von Hollfeld in the recess of the
+window.
+
+"How, Hollfeld," she cried, "are you here, or is it your spirit?  What
+are you doing here?"
+
+"I am listening, as you see."
+
+"You are listening?  Ha, ha, ha!  And of coarse enjoying such
+indigestible food as Mozart and Beethoven! Don’t you remember telling
+me, four weeks ago, at the last court concert, that you always suffered
+from dyspepsia after listening to classical music?"
+
+She laughed boisterously.
+
+"Ah, pray let nonsense go now, dearest Cornelie," said the baroness,
+"and aid me in this programme for the fête with your inventive genius.
+And you, dear Emil, would do me a great favour if you would come too.
+You know that I am obliged now to enforce my authority by the presence
+of a masculine supporter."
+
+Hollfeld arose with visible reluctance.
+
+"Oh, take me too, pray!  Would you be so cruel as to leave me here alone
+until tea-time?" cried Helene, reproachfully, as she stood up.  She
+looked displeased, and it seemed to Elizabeth that she noticed, for the
+first time, an envious expression in the lovely blue eyes as they looked
+at the tripping feet of Cornelie, who, without another word, had taken
+Hollfeld’s arm, and was leaving the room.  Elizabeth closed the piano,
+and took a hasty leave.
+
+In all the passages of the castle through which she went there was hurry
+and bustle.  The servants were carrying baskets of china, glass, and
+silver to the rooms adjoining the grand saloon.  From the subterranean
+regions of the kitchens there streamed a fragrant odour, and through the
+open door of one of the servants’ rooms were seen heaps of green
+garlands and wreaths.
+
+And he in whose honour all were exerting themselves to-day was riding
+alone in the forest, gloomily devising ways and means for fleeing from
+the joyless, unquiet life in his home.
+
+Elizabeth went down to the village to execute a commission for her
+father.  A few days before, a violent storm in the night had so shaken
+the ruinous jutty in the corner of the garden that there was danger that
+the slightest jar might send it toppling down upon the garden, burying
+beneath its fragments the beds and paths which had just been so
+laboriously arranged.  Two Lindhof masons had promised to take down the
+ruin the following Monday, but as the forester had declared that he knew
+from experience that small reliance was to be placed upon their
+promises, Elizabeth was to remind them of their engagement, and impress
+upon them the urgent necessity for keeping it.
+
+The result of her expedition was favourable.  One of the workmen swore
+by all that was Holy that he would be upon the spot, and she was now
+wandering through the quiet, lonely path towards her home.  About midway
+upon the path leading from the village to the forest Lodge, a much
+narrower path branched off, and ascended the mountain to Castle Gnadeck.
+It was seldom used, and might have escaped stranger eyes, for in some
+places it was overgrown with low bushes, and fallen leaves lay so thick
+among the gnarled roots of the trees that it seemed never to have been
+trodden by the foot of man.  Elizabeth loved the path, and now chose it
+for her return home.
+
+She had never encountered a human being here, but to-day she had not
+penetrated far into the green twilight before she observed, about twenty
+paces in front of her, towards the right, just by the trunk of an
+enormous beech tree, something like an arm slowly projected and then
+dropped.  She could distinctly perceive this movement, as just at that
+spot the trees separated, and encircled a light spot of grass which
+shone like an oasis in the dark forest.  Elizabeth advanced noiselessly
+and slowly, but as she arrived opposite to the beech tree she suddenly
+stood still in terror.
+
+A man was leaning against the tree.  His back was turned towards her;
+his head was uncovered save by masses of coarse, uncombed hair.  For one
+moment he stood motionless, apparently listening, then advanced a step,
+raised his right arm, and pointed the barrel of a pistol towards the
+light spot in the forest, after awhile letting his arm fall again by his
+side.
+
+"He is practising at a mark," thought Elizabeth, but she only thought so
+to compose herself, for an indescribable terror had at once taken
+possession of her; she did not know whether to run backward or forward
+in order to escape observation, and so she stood still, rooted to the
+spot.
+
+Suddenly the noise of a horse’s hoofs struck upon her ear.  The man
+started and stood erect as though electrified.  A few moments afterwards
+a horseman appeared where the forest was more open.  The horse walked
+slowly over the soft turf; its rider, lost in thought, had dropped the
+bridle upon its neck.  The man with the pistol rapidly advanced a couple
+of paces; raised his arm in the direction of the horseman, and at the
+same moment turned his head so that Elizabeth instantly recognized the
+former superintendent, Linke, his features deadly pale and distorted
+with rage and hate, while the horseman, who was slowly coming within
+range of the deadly weapon, was Herr von Walde.  An instantaneous
+transformation took place in Elizabeth.  The girlish terror that had
+caused her to tremble at sight of the villain, gave place to a wondrous
+courage and an incomprehensible calmness and self-control at the thought
+that she was destined to come to the rescue here.  She glided
+noiselessly through the trees and stood suddenly, as if she had risen
+from the earth, beside Linke, who, his eyes riveted upon his victim, had
+no suspicion of her approach.  With all the strength of which she was
+mistress she seized his arm and threw it up.  The pistol was discharged
+with a loud report, and the ball whistled through the air and lodged in
+the trunk of a tree; as the startled wretch fell upon the ground, a
+woman’s loud scream for help rang through the forest.  The assassin
+tottered to his feet and plunged into the thicket.  In the mean time the
+horse had reared and plunged with fright, but, speedily controlled by
+its rider, came galloping across the clearing to the spot where
+Elizabeth was leaning against a beech tree, pale as death.  The danger
+was past, and her feminine nature was reasserting itself.  She trembled
+in every limb, but a happy smile illuminated her countenance when she
+saw Herr von Walde coming towards her safe and unharmed.
+
+At sight of her he leaped from his horse; but she, who had just
+manifested such extraordinary self-possession, screamed with fright and
+turned suddenly as she felt two hands laid upon her shoulders from
+behind,—Miss Mertens’ agitated face was close to her own.
+
+"Good God!  Elizabeth," cried the governess, breathlessly, "what have
+you done! he might have killed you!"
+
+Herr von Walde pushed through the underbrush that separated them from
+him.
+
+"Are you wounded?" he asked Elizabeth, hurriedly and earnestly.
+
+She shook her head.  Without another word he raised her from the ground
+and carried her to the fallen trunk of a tree, where he gently placed
+her.  Miss Mertens sat down beside her and leaned the girl’s head upon
+her shoulder.
+
+"Now pray tell me what has happened," said Herr von Walde to the
+governess.
+
+"No, no," cried Elizabeth in terror; "not here, let us go,—the murderer
+has escaped,—perhaps he is lurking among the bushes, and may yet
+accomplish his design."
+
+"Linke was about to murder you, Herr von Walde," said Miss Mertens, in a
+trembling voice.
+
+"Miserable wretch! that shot then was for me," he calmly observed.  He
+turned and went into the thicket where Linke had disappeared.  Elizabeth
+almost lost her self control, and was on the point of following him when
+he returned.
+
+"Reassure yourself," he said to her; "there are no traces of him to be
+seen; he will not shoot again to-day. Come, I beg you, Miss Mertens,
+tell me all about it."
+
+It appeared that knowing that Elizabeth was going to the village, the
+governess had gone to meet her in the narrow forest path.  As she was
+slowly descending the mountain she saw all that Elizabeth had seen.  The
+villain’s intentions were plain, but she had been so paralyzed by fright
+that she had not been able to move nor cry out. She stood fastened to
+the spot with deadly terror, when suddenly Elizabeth, whom she had not
+seen, stood behind the assassin.  In her horror at her friend’s danger,
+the cry for help escaped her which had been heard simultaneously with
+the report of the pistol.  She related all this hurriedly, and in
+conclusion added: "Where did you get the courage, Elizabeth, to seize
+the man?  I shudder at the mere thought of touching him, and should have
+screamed loudly instead."
+
+"If I had screamed," replied Elizabeth, simply, "Linke might have
+accomplished his purpose, in his involuntary start of alarm."
+
+Herr von Walde listened quietly but intently to Miss Mertens’ account.
+Only when she described how Elizabeth had seized the murderer’s arm, did
+his face lose colour for an instant, as he riveted a keen, anxious
+glance upon the girl, to assure himself that she had actually escaped
+the danger unhurt.  He leaned over her, took her right hand and pressed
+it to his lips, and Elizabeth plainly perceived that his hand trembled.
+
+Miss Mertens, who observed how this expression of gratitude confused
+Elizabeth and called up a burning blush in her cheeks, left her seat,
+and picking up the pistol Linke had thrown from him in his flight,
+handed it to Herr von Walde.
+
+"Horrible!" he murmured.  "The wretch would have murdered me with one of
+my own weapons."
+
+Elizabeth now arose, and assured Miss Mertens that all traces of her
+fright had vanished, and that she was quite able to resume her walk
+towards Gnadeck.  They would both have taken leave of Herr von Walde,
+but he tied his horse to the terrible beech tree, and said, lightly:
+
+"We know well that Linke’s nature is most revengeful; he may perhaps
+hate her to whom I owe my life even more than he hates me.  I cannot
+permit you to proceed without a protector."
+
+They ascended the mountain.  Miss Mertens hastened on, that she might
+incite Herr von Walde to greater speed, in order to take steps for the
+apprehension of the criminal as quickly as possible; but her exertions
+were all in vain.  He walked slowly by the side of Elizabeth, who, after
+a few moments of conflict with herself, begged him, in a gentle, timid
+tone, not to go back alone to his horse, but to send for him from Castle
+Lindhof.
+
+He smiled.  "Belisarius is wild and obstinate; you know him already," he
+said.  "He obeys no one but myself, and would never allow any one but
+his master to take him home.  Besides, I assure you, that cowardly
+wretch will attempt nothing further to-day.  And if he should, I bear a
+charmed life.  Has not my happy star risen to-day in my heavens?"
+
+He stood still.  "What do you think," he asked, suddenly, in a low tone,
+and his eyes flashed as he looked at her, "shall I listen to the
+delicious hope that it may shine upon me for the rest of my life?"
+
+"If it is to tempt you to run repeated risks, it were certainly better
+not to place such unconditional faith in your star."
+
+"And yet I run the greatest risk of all in trusting such a hope," he
+murmured, half to himself, as his face darkened.
+
+"I do not understand you," said Elizabeth, surprised.
+
+"It is quite natural that you should not," he replied, bitterly.  "Your
+wishes and hopes lie in quite another direction.  Notwithstanding all
+our stern self-discipline, we are sometimes overmastered by a beautiful
+dream. No, no, say nothing more!  I am punished already, for I am
+awaking."
+
+He quickened his pace, and walked by Miss Mertens’ side, while Elizabeth
+followed more slowly, lost in wonder at the harsh tone which he had
+suddenly assumed, and which so wounded her.  He spoke not another word;
+and when at last the walls of the old castle appeared through the trees,
+he took his leave, coldly and shortly, and descended the mountain.
+
+Miss Mertens looked after him in surprise.  "Incomprehensible man!" she
+said at last, and shook her head. "Even though he attaches but little
+value to his life, as would seem to be the case, surely a word or two of
+gratitude at parting from you would not be superfluous, when he knows
+that you have risked your life for his sake."
+
+"I see no necessity for anything of the kind," rejoined Elizabeth.  "You
+attach altogether too much importance to what I have done.  I simply
+fulfilled my duty to my neighbour; and would," she added, with a strange
+defiance in her tone and manner, "have done the same if the case had
+been reversed, and Linke’s had been the threatened life.  I hope
+sincerely that Herr von Walde understands this, for to his haughty
+nature the feeling of obligation to another must be intensely painful,
+and I would not for the world be that other."
+
+At this moment anxiety and anger were striving within her for the
+mastery.  In thought she followed Herr von Walde, and shuddered with
+horror as she remembered that perhaps he was just passing some spot
+where the assassin was lying in wait for him; then she reminded herself,
+as she quickened her steps, of what utter folly it was to waste so much
+thought and feeling upon a man who persistently turned the roughest side
+of his nature towards her.  Even in intercourse with the baroness, who
+was so utterly distasteful to him, he preserved his repose of manner,
+never for one moment forgetting the laws of common courtesy, although he
+invariably maintained his convictions with the greatest decision.  He
+had never been seen by those about him except when surrounded by an
+atmosphere of the serenest dignity.  It was only when talking with her
+that he did not appear to consider it worth his while to control
+himself.  How violent and bitter he could be then!  How his eyes flashed
+as he waited impatiently for her replies, when they were not prompt and
+decided!  And he required besides that she should understand him almost
+before he spoke, and yet was often utterly incomprehensible even when he
+did speak.  Perhaps every one else was cleverer than she, and could more
+easily comprehend his manner of speaking, which was such a riddle to
+her.  Was it unwise to determine to avoid all intercourse with him for
+the future?  Certainly not.  Well, fortunately, his departure was at
+hand.  Fortunately? The structure of self-deception, which her pride and
+defiance had erected, crumbled to ruins at this thought; yes, it so
+utterly vanished, that, to Miss Mertens’ surprise, she turned and walked
+quickly down the path that led to Castle Lindhof.  She must satisfy
+herself that he reached his home in safety.  Miss Mertens followed her
+to a grove whence they could see the door where he usually dismounted,
+and they were greatly relieved when he shortly emerged from the forest.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+In the evening the Ferber family were sitting in the shade of the
+lindens at the spring.  Frau Ferber and Miss Mertens were busied in
+making a rug which was to lie upon the floor under the piano in winter
+time.
+
+Frau Ferber had lost for awhile that dignified composure that so well
+became her still beautiful face.  She could not forget the afternoon’s
+occurrence; for, although she saw her child before her safe and sound,
+she had been very much agitated by Miss Mertens’ account.  She looked
+frequently at Elizabeth, fearing, as she remarked her slightest change
+of colour, that some illness would ensue from the excitement that she
+had passed through.  The father’s views were different.  "That’s my
+brave daughter!" he said with sparkling eyes, "determine coolly and
+execute quickly,—thus I would have you do."
+
+To Frau Ferber, her husband had always seemed the ideal of what a man
+should be.  Even now, after so many years of married life, she followed
+blindly where he led; and in her estimation his opinions admitted of no
+question.  But to-day, as she listened to his paternal praises, a sigh
+escaped her as she remarked that a mother loved her children infinitely
+more than a father possibly could.
+
+"Certainly not more, only differently," was Ferber’s quiet rejoinder.
+"It is because I love them that I educate them to be full-grown,
+responsible beings, capable of thinking and acting courageously and
+independently, that they may never belong to the miserable class whom
+want of all force of character condemns to constant suffering."
+
+Elizabeth had also brought her work-basket into the garden, but little
+Ernst looked greatly disappointed as he saw her take out her sewing.
+
+"Very well, then, Elsie," he said petulantly.  "Herr von Walde may ask
+me a dozen times if I love you,—I shall not say yes again.  You never
+play with me any more; and, I suppose, you think you are as big a girl
+as Miss Mertens!  But you needn’t think that,—you won’t be for a long
+while yet."
+
+They all laughed at this odd confounding of age with size.  But
+Elizabeth rose immediately to amuse the little boy, tucked up her long
+dress, and drew lots which should chase and which run from the other;
+and then they were both off like a flash, up and down the rampart,
+hither and thither through the garden.
+
+In the mean time there was a ring at the gate in the wall.  Herr Ferber
+opened it, and Dr. Fels, Reinhard, and the forester appeared upon the
+threshold.  Elizabeth was just running along the principal walk, and did
+not immediately see the visitors.
+
+"Well, I must say," laughed Dr. Fels, standing still, "this is a
+wonderful transformation.  In the afternoon Valkyria, and in the evening
+a butterfly!"
+
+But the forester advanced, threw his arm around his niece, and then held
+her off at arm’s length, that he might scan her delicate figure.  "My
+fine darling!" he cried with sparkling eyes, "she looks as fragile and
+delicate as though she were made of ivory, and yet she has the force of
+a man in her heart and hands; ’tis an immense pity you are not a boy.  I
+would clap you into a green hunting-coat in spite of all that your
+father could say."
+
+In the mean while Dr. Fels also drew near, and held out his hand to
+Elizabeth.  "Herr von Walde rode to town to-night," he said, "and
+requested me to come hither.  He is very anxious to know that your
+fright and terror have produced no evil consequences."
+
+"None whatever," she replied, blushing deeply.  "As you see," she added,
+laughing, "I am perfectly well able to perform my sisterly duties, and
+Ernst has just assured me that I am very hard to catch."
+
+"Well, I will carry Herr von Walde this message, word for word," said
+the doctor with an arch smile.  "Let him decide whether it is a
+comforting one, or the contrary."
+
+Ferber now invited the gentlemen to join the circle beneath the lindens.
+The doctor lighted a cigar and seemed most content.  They discussed
+Linke’s attempt very fully.  After his dismissal from Lindhof, many of
+the underhand dealings by which he had taken advantage of his master’s
+absence, had come to light. Although Herr von Walde had taken no steps
+to bring the offender to justice, the knowledge of his dishonesty spread
+abroad, and was the means of preventing the superintendent from
+procuring another situation.  Undoubtedly this had filled the measure of
+his desire for revenge, and had excited him to to-day’s deed.  Every
+means had been tried for the apprehension of the assassin; the forester
+with his men had searched the forest, but their exertions had been
+followed by no result.  Reinhard said that every one at Castle Lindhof
+had been forbidden to mention the matter to Fräulein von Walde, lest the
+fright should injure her.  And the baroness, Hollfeld, and the old
+waiting-maid were to know nothing of it.
+
+"Herr von Walde has also requested," he continued, "that the matter
+should be kept as secret as possible in L——, for he knows that half the
+town is invited for to-morrow’s fête."
+
+"That is, everything that creeps or flies upon a golden, silver, or
+coloured field," interrupted the doctor sarcastically; "every coat of
+arms that can be found, and all the court-councillors, and officials.
+Oh, the selection has been made upon the strictest principles of court
+etiquette, I assure you.  So I have enjoined it upon my wife to conduct
+herself with becoming humility, like a crow among soaring falcons.  To
+our surprise the baroness,—for she manages the whole affair,—has sent us
+an invitation."
+
+"Apropos, my dear doctor!" cried Reinhard laughing, "they told me in L——
+to-day that the old Princess Catharine wished to install you as her
+physician, but you declined the honour,—is that true?  All L—— is
+actually standing on its head with surprise."
+
+"Ah, that is nothing new; the dear little town passes half its time in
+that posture, and the consequence is that the light of intelligence
+shines upon the tough soles of its feet.  But you have heard correctly.
+I was sufficiently bold to decline that honour."
+
+"But why?"
+
+"First, because I have no time to be coddling the hysterical whims of
+her aristocratic head every day; and then my sacred respect for court
+etiquette is too great."
+
+"Yes, yes," cried the forester, laughing, "that is the reason why I
+always cross myself three times when I leave the royal castle behind me.
+The prince and princess,—our good princess especially troubles no
+one,—they shut their eyes when mere matters of ceremony are not
+according to stiff, prescribed rules; but that court mob, that lisps and
+crawls and wags its tail about them,—heaven help us! it absolutely
+shrieks murder if a man walks boldly and uprightly, and goes into fits
+at the sound of a voice that comes clear and full from the chest just as
+God meant it should."
+
+It had grown very dark.  The family and Miss Mertens accompanied the
+visitors to the gate in the wall; and, as they all stepped forth upon
+the open sward, they heard sweet sounds floating up from the valley
+through the forest, which lay steeped in the silence of night, and where
+the birds had ceased to flit among the boughs, and even the breeze had
+fallen asleep in the tree-tops in the midst of the strange tales from
+distant lands that it whispered to them every evening.  The band from
+the town was serenading Herr von Walde.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+The next morning at five o’clock the inmates of Gnadeck were awakened by
+a discharge of artillery.  "Aha!" said Ferber to his wife, "the
+celebration is beginning."  But Elizabeth was startled from a fearful
+dream, in which the misfortune which she had yesterday averted seemed
+actually to take place.  She had just seen Herr von Walde fall dying to
+the ground, when the cannon in the valley awoke her.  It was some time
+before she could collect herself.  For one moment she suffered
+fearfully.  It seemed as if heaven and earth were vanishing from her as
+that noble figure fell; and even now, when she saw the golden light of
+morning falling upon the familiar objects in her room and not upon the
+blood-stained sward, her agitated nerves still quivered; she had never,
+not even the day before, when she had so fearlessly risked her life for
+his, felt so deeply that his death would be hers also.
+
+Again and again the cannon thundered up from the valley.  The
+window-panes shook slightly, and the little canary fluttered in terror
+from side to side in his cage. At each report Elizabeth shuddered; and
+when her anxious mother, who could not quite allay her fears for the
+result of the previous day’s occurrence, although her child had seemed
+unharmed and well, came to her bedside to ask how she had slept, the
+girl threw her arms around her neck and burst into an uncontrollable fit
+of tears.
+
+"Good heavens, my child!" cried Frau Ferber, much frightened, "you are
+ill.  I knew that you would suffer from yesterday’s shock, and there is
+that terrible shooting going on in the valley."
+
+Elizabeth had some trouble in convincing her mother that she felt
+perfectly well, and that she could not be induced to lie in bed, but was
+resolved to take her breakfast with the family.  And to put a stop to
+all further remonstrance, she immediately arose, bathed and dressed, and
+assisted her mother in preparing the simple breakfast.
+
+The sound of the cannon suddenly ceased, and before long all traces of
+tears vanished from Elizabeth’s eyes. The world looked brighter to her;
+for, although a life of renunciation lay before her, he still lived;
+this thought had, in consequence of her fearful dream, a soothing effect
+upon her restless heart.  Even if he went away to distant lands, and she
+was forced to live years without seeing him, a time must come when he
+would return. And she could still love and think of him, for he belonged
+to no one else.
+
+Later in the day she went with her family and Miss Mertens to the Lodge,
+where they had been invited to dine.  There was a dark cloud upon the
+forester’s brow as he came to meet them.  Elizabeth soon discovered that
+he was troubled about Bertha.
+
+"I cannot and will not bear it any longer!" he cried angrily.  "Must I
+turn spy in my old age, and constantly be upon the watch to prevent a
+wayward, foolish child, who has no possible claim upon me, from making a
+perpetual fool of herself?"
+
+"But remember, uncle, she is unhappy," said Elizabeth, somewhat alarmed.
+
+"Unhappy?—she is a deceitful fool!—I am no ogre, and when I thought her
+really unhappy, that is, when she lost both her parents, I did all that
+I could to protect and guide her.  But that is not what is the matter
+with her, for scarcely two months after her loss she went singing about
+and chattering like a magpie, so that I was really grieved to see such
+heartlessness and frivolity.  What is she unhappy about, eh?  But I
+don’t want to know her state secret if she has no confidence in me;—let
+it alone. For all I care she may wear that die-away look upon her face
+for the next year; but to pretend to be dumb, to run about in the forest
+at night like a maniac, and perhaps one of these fine days burn down my
+house about my ears, it is more than I can bear, and I must have a word
+or two to say about the matter."
+
+"Did you not heed the warning that I gave you?" asked Ferber.
+
+"Certainly I did; I put her into another room; she sleeps now just above
+me, so that I can hear her lightest step.  At night both the house doors
+are not only bolted, as they have always been at night, but locked too,
+and I take the key into my room.  And oh! the cunning of women,—but
+that’s an old story.  At any rate my precautions ensured us some rest.
+But last night I could not get to sleep; the affair with Linke was
+running through my brain, and I heard steps above me, cautious steps,
+soft as a cat’s.  Aha! I thought, she is at her nightly promenades
+again, and I rose, but when I went up-stairs the nest was already empty.
+On a table at the open window a light was burning, and as I opened the
+door the curtain flew into the flame.  Zounds! if I had not been quick
+as a flash we should have had a blaze that would have been well fed by
+those old balconies.  And how did she get out?  Through the kitchen
+window.  I would rather take care of a swarm of ants than of such a sly,
+deceitful creature."
+
+"I am convinced that some love affair is at the bottom of the girl’s
+conduct," said Frau Ferber.
+
+"Yes, you told me so once before, sister-in-law," replied the forester
+with irritation, "and if you would be kind enough to tell me with whom,
+I should be infinitely obliged to you.  Look around us and see if there
+is any one here to turn a girl’s brain.  My assistants,—they are not
+half good enough for her; she never would have a word to say to them; it
+cannot be the rogue Linke, with his crooked legs and carroty wig, and
+there is no one else here."
+
+"You have forgotten one," said Frau Ferber significantly, with a glance
+towards Elizabeth, who had lingered behind to cut a whip for Ernst.
+
+"Well?" asked the forester.
+
+"Herr von Hollfeld."
+
+The forester remained silent for awhile.  "Hm!" he muttered at last, "I
+should never in the world have thought of him.  No, no," he continued
+quickly, "I do not believe it, for in the first place the girl cannot
+possibly be such a fool as to believe that he would make her my lady von
+Odenberg, and——"
+
+"Perhaps she hoped that he would, and finds herself mistaken,"
+interrupted Frau Ferber.
+
+"She is vain and arrogant enough for it, but he,—he cares nothing for
+women,—he is a cold, heartless egotist," said the forester.
+
+"An egotist, I grant you," said Frau Ferber, "and that explains Bertha’s
+conduct and manner."
+
+"That would be a fine affair," cried the forester angrily, "to think
+that I should have been hoodwinked like any old fool in a comedy!  I
+will sift the matter now to the bottom, and woe to the girl if she has
+really dared to bring disgrace upon herself and me!"
+
+The dinner was a very quiet one.  The forester was out of sorts, and
+would have extorted a confession from Bertha upon the spot had not Frau
+Ferber prayed him to wait for a few days.  After coffee the guests left
+the Lodge; the forester threw his rifle across his shoulder, and plunged
+into the forest, which, as he said, always soothed and brought him to
+reason.
+
+Elizabeth dressed herself for the concert, that is, she put on a simple,
+white muslin dress, whose only decoration was a bouquet of fresh wild
+flowers.  Her mother tied around her neck a little locket attached to a
+very narrow black velvet ribbon, and this was her toilet, which would
+certainly have seemed most embarrassingly simple to most young girls
+going for the first time among a large assemblage of brilliantly-dressed
+people; but Elizabeth, if she thought of it at all, congratulated
+herself upon the delicate neatness of her muslin, and would rather not
+have worn her mother’s little ornament on this occasion, as she
+considered that she was to appear only as a musician and not as one of
+the guests, and that her fingers were all that she need be anxious
+about.  She was rather annoyed that the arms above these same fingers
+were bare, and that her dress was low-necked.  She had hitherto never
+worn a dress that did not cover her neck to her chin, and could not see
+why the fashionable world had decided that women should be _decolleté_
+in large assemblies.  She thought as little of the exquisite form and
+dazzling whiteness of her shoulders and arms as of the beauty and grace
+of her head, which, with its heavy braids of golden hair, was set so
+exquisitely upon her finely-moulded neck.  Her mother herself had
+arranged her hair to-day, and it clustered in short shining curls above
+her forehead, contrasting wondrously with the delicately pencilled but
+decided arch of the dark eyebrows.  And Frau Ferber could not but agree
+with Miss Mertens, who, as she watched Elizabeth disappear upon the
+forest path, declared with enthusiasm that she was supernaturally
+lovely.  The mother had just acknowledged to herself that her child’s
+beauty had unfolded in a most striking degree.
+
+When Elizabeth entered the vestibule of Castle Lindhof she encountered
+Dr. Fels, who, with his wife upon his arm, was just turning down one of
+the corridors.  She hastened towards him, and accosted him gaily, for
+her heart had been beating anxiously as she approached the castle, at
+the thought that she should be obliged to enter entirely alone the
+spacious saloon, where the greater part of the company were doubtless
+already assembled.  The doctor received her most cordially, and
+presented her to his wife, in an undertone, as "yesterday’s heroine."
+Both gladly took her under their protection.  The large folding-doors
+were flung open, and Elizabeth was grateful for the lucky star that had
+allowed her to take shelter behind the tall, commanding figure of the
+doctor’s wife, for she was at first rather overcome at sight of the
+large, richly-decorated apartment, over whose highly-polished floor
+glided the costly dresses of the ladies and the polished boots of the
+gentlemen.  In the centre of the saloon stood the Baroness Lessen,
+arrayed in magnificent dark-blue moire-antique, and receiving the
+guests.  She returned the salutations of the doctor and his wife very
+politely, but very coolly, and replied to the doctor’s question, "Where
+is Herr von Walde?" by pointing to a knot of men standing near a window,
+whence issued a murmur like the Babylonish confusion of tongues.
+
+While Fels and his wife walked towards the spot, Elizabeth gladly and
+gratefully obeyed a gesture from Helene, who, sitting at another window,
+hurriedly and agitatedly informed her that she had suddenly had an
+attack of what is called "stage fright;" that she was in overwhelming
+terror at playing before so many people, and would rather creep into a
+mouse-hole.  And then she begged Elizabeth, instead of the four-handed
+composition with which the concert was to open, to play a sonata of
+Beethoven’s, a wish with which Elizabeth immediately complied.  Her
+embarrassment vanished.  She stepped up to the table where the music was
+lying, and selected the sonata which she was to play.  Meanwhile,
+carriage after carriage rolled into the court-yard.  The folding-doors
+opened and closed incessantly upon such quantities of tulle and velvet
+and lace, which were crowded into the saloon, that Elizabeth smiled
+pityingly at the thought of her simple white muslin, so soon to loose
+its unwrinkled smoothness in such a crush of crinoline.
+
+She could very easily decide, from the manner of the baroness, upon the
+social rank of the guests.  One gracious wave of the feather-crowned
+head of the great lady answered every social requirement whenever she
+received untitled guests, and these untitled guests did their part well
+in acknowledging and respecting this aristocratic reserve.  All, in
+obedience to a gesture from the baroness, first made their way towards
+the window where stood Herr von Walde,—who, however, remained entirely
+invisible to Elizabeth,—and then scattered into single groups, either
+awaiting the opening of the concert, or engaged in conversation among
+themselves.
+
+Suddenly the doors flew open again, and a corpulent old lady hobbled in
+upon the arm of an equally aged gentleman, whose coat glittered with
+orders,—and with them came Fräulein von Quittelsdorf.  The baroness
+hastened toward these guests, and Fräulein von Walde also arose with
+difficulty, and, taking Hollfeld’s arm, went to meet the aged pair,
+while all the ladies standing around her followed like the tail of a
+comet.  The crowd of men at the window divided suddenly as by magic, and
+Herr von Walde’s lofty figure appeared.
+
+"We must come to you, if we wish to see you, naughty man!" cried the old
+lady, shaking her forefinger at him, as she hobbled towards him.  "You
+see, in spite of my poor feet, and although you have neglected me
+shamefully, I am here to-day to offer you my congratulations."
+
+He bowed, and said a few words to her, to which she replied by
+laughingly tapping him upon the shoulder with her fan.  Then he
+conducted her to an arm-chair, where she seated herself with much
+majesty.
+
+"The Countess of Falkenberg, chief lady in waiting at the court of L——,"
+was the reply of the doctor’s wife when Elizabeth asked who the old lady
+was.  Fräulein von Quittelsdorf looked exquisitely beautiful to-day in
+her white crape dress, with a wreath of scarlet euphorbia in her dark
+hair, as she busied herself about the noble lady, while she did not
+forget to cast a roguish glance now and then at Fräulein von Walde.
+
+The arrival of the guests from the court was the signal for the
+beginning of the concert.  Elizabeth could almost hear her own heart
+beat.  She was standing behind the doctor’s wife, and was hidden from
+all the eyes which would in one moment be directed towards her,
+following every one of her movements.  Suddenly she was overcome with
+timidity, and she repented bitterly having consented to play first
+alone.  She trembled when Fräulein von Walde motioned to her to begin,
+but there was no time to withdraw.  She took a long breath, and walked
+slowly, with downcast eyes, to the piano, where she courtesied timidly.
+
+At first there was a breathless silence; then a whisper ran from mouth
+to mouth, which was instantly hushed when the young girl struck the
+keys.  Elizabeth’s fear and embarrassment all vanished at the sound of
+the first chords.  She was no longer alone.  He with whom she had so
+often wandered along meadow paths in brilliant sunshine, and past gloomy
+abysses in storm and rain, was with her,—the one who had so often
+aroused within her joyous presentiments, and who had expressed in
+immortal harmonies all the loftiest and most sacred aspirations of her
+nature,—who was as dear and familiar to her as her mother’s face,
+although her gaze fell dazzled by the fiery glories which wreathed his
+majestic head.  The flower-crowned heads ranged against the walls, the
+lorgnettes and spectacles which, glittering in the sunlight, shot their
+lightning directly upon the lonely performer in the midst of the saloon,
+all vanished.  She was alone with the great master, following with
+rapture every manifestation of his creative spirit.
+
+An actual storm of applause startled her when she had finished.  She
+courtesied, and then almost flew to her protectress, Frau Fels, who,
+speechless with emotion, held out both hands to her.  The concert did
+not last very long.  Four young gentlemen from L—— sang a delightful
+quartette, and then there was a performance by a famous violin player.
+Fräulein von Quittelsdorf sang two songs in a charming voice, but
+without any ear, so that at every high note the guests either moved
+involuntarily and nervously upon their chairs, or cast their eyes down
+in confusion.  And then came one of the well-practised duets.  Fräulein
+von Walde had recovered her composure, and played excellently well with
+Elizabeth.
+
+When the concert was over, Elizabeth went towards the door of an
+anteroom, where she had left her shawl. She was closely followed by an
+elderly gentleman, who had been sitting opposite her, and had regarded
+her attentively.  At his request, Frau Fels presented him to the young
+girl as the Military Inspector-general Busch. He said many flattering
+things about Elizabeth’s performance, and added that he was much pleased
+to become acquainted with the heroic preserver of the life of the lord
+of the castle; he had accepted to-day’s invitation with all the greater
+pleasure, since within the last few hours he had been deprived of all
+hope of claiming her assistance in the investigation of the murderous
+attempt.
+
+He laughed heartily at Elizabeth’s sudden alarm.
+
+"No, no, I pray you not to look so horror-stricken, Fräulein," he said
+at last.  "As I have just told you, we shall have no occasion to subject
+you to a cross-examination. Linke has himself put a stop to our
+proceedings by a single blow.  His dead body was taken from the lake in
+the park this afternoon," he added, in a low tone.  "They informed me of
+it at the inn, where I alighted.  I proceeded, accompanied by the
+Waldheim physician, who happened to be at the inn, to the scene of the
+suicide, and convinced myself that that hand will never again be raised
+against the life of another.  The condition of the body shows that Linke
+must have sought death immediately after the failure of his murderous
+purpose."
+
+Elizabeth shuddered.  "Does Herr von Walde know of his fearful end?" she
+asked in a trembling voice.
+
+"No; I have had no opportunity to speak with him alone."
+
+"None of the company present appear to have any suspicion of yesterday’s
+occurrence," said Frau Fels.
+
+"Fortunately they have not, thanks to our foresight and reserve,"
+replied the inspector-general, ironically. "As it is, poor Herr von
+Walde has been quite overwhelmed with congratulations upon being born
+into the world.  What would his friends have done to him had they known
+how fortunately his life has been preserved?"
+
+The butler, Lorenz, at this moment approached Elizabeth and held out to
+her a little silver waiter, upon which lay several folded slips of
+paper.  She looked up in questioning surprise, and he said respectfully:
+
+"Will you have the kindness to take one of the papers?"
+
+Elizabeth hesitated.
+
+"This is probably part of our entertainment," said Frau Fels.  "Take it
+quickly, that the butler may not be detained."
+
+Almost mechanically she took up one of the slips of paper, but started
+in alarm as the Baroness Lessen suddenly appeared at the door, and
+looked searchingly around the room.
+
+"Come, Lorenz," she said hastily, stepping towards the servant, "what
+are you doing here?"
+
+"I have just handed Fräulein Ferber the salver, gracious lady," replied
+the old man.
+
+The baroness gave him an angry look, and then measured Elizabeth from
+head to foot.  "How, Fräulein Ferber," she said sharply, "are you still
+here?  I thought you were at home long ago, resting upon your laurels."
+
+Without waiting for a reply, she turned to leave the room; but just upon
+the threshold she looked back at the old butler with a frown and
+shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"What can you be thinking of, Lorenz?  You grow very thoughtless.  This
+infirmity has grown upon you of late."
+
+With these words, she bustled out, and the old man quietly followed.  He
+replied not one word to her harsh reproof,—only contracted his bushy,
+gray eyebrows, so that his honest eyes almost disappeared.
+
+The others remained looking at each other in astonishment, when the
+doctor entered.  He made a profound, comical obeisance to his wife, and
+said solemnly:
+
+"In consideration of the fact that Fräulein von Quittelsdorf has just
+had the clemency to unite us again as closely as by the priestly
+blessing fifteen years ago, I am content still further to endure the
+conjugal yoke, and particularly on this day to enjoy by your side, and,
+cherished by your tender care, O true and faithful spouse, all the
+delights prepared for us!"
+
+"My dear husband, what do you mean?" cried his wife, laughing.
+
+"Pardon me,—I mean nothing at all.  Ah, I see you have not heard
+Fräulein von Quittelsdorf’s directions. What a pity!  I am then
+compelled to inform you that every married couple here present, whether
+now upon a war footing or otherwise, must repair, within the next
+quarter of an hour, to the convent tower in the forest, where a rural
+festival will be held.  There it will be your duty to provide me with as
+much to eat and drink as my soul may desire, and in every way to attend
+upon my wishes, after the pattern of the famous Penelope.  But that the
+unmarried men who are present in large numbers may have no reason to
+complain,—that their mouths also may be filled,—a sort of lottery has
+been ingeniously devised. Every unmarried lady is provided with a slip
+of paper, upon which stands written the name of some unmarried man, and
+it is left to Cupid and Fate either to unite or to separate faithful
+hearts."
+
+At these words Elizabeth was seized with actual terror.  She had never
+thought of other entertainments following upon the concert; but now she
+clearly understood why the baroness, on the previous day, had so
+distinctly alluded to her return home after the conclusion of the music.
+Her cheeks glowed with shame, for she had exposed herself to the charge
+of being very assuming by taking from the butler’s salver the little
+slip of paper, which now burned like fire in her hand.  Always quick to
+decide, she went into the saloon where the opening of the mysterious
+papers was going on amid the laughter of the ladies and their assigned
+partners.
+
+"What a senseless idea this, of Fräulein von Quittelsdorf’s," a young
+sprig of nobility was just exclaiming peevishly to his neighbour as
+Elizabeth passed them.  "Here I have that stout, pious Fräulein Lehr
+upon my hands. _Fi donc!_"
+
+Elizabeth had not long to look for the baroness.  She was standing
+apart, near a window, in lively, but, as it seemed, not entirely
+agreeable conversation with Fräulein von Quittelsdorf, the chief lady in
+waiting, and Helene. The countess seemed to be remonstrating with
+Fräulein von Quittelsdorf, who did nothing but shrug her pretty
+shoulders helplessly from time to time.  Intense vexation was expressed
+in the baroness’ countenance,—there was no need of the round, red spot
+on either cheek to show that she was angry.  Not far from the group Herr
+von Walde was leaning with folded arms against a pillar. He seemed to be
+only half listening to the words of the be-ribboned old courtier who was
+standing beside him,—his eyes were fixed upon the gesticulating ladies.
+
+Elizabeth hurriedly approached the baroness.  It did not escape her
+that, at sight of her, Fräulein von Quittelsdorf gently nudged the
+countess, whereupon the latter turned and regarded her with a malevolent
+air.  She saw that she was the subject of their discussion, and she
+quickened her pace, that she might avert from herself as soon as
+possible any unworthy suspicion.
+
+"Most gracious lady," she said, with a slight courtesy, "in consequence
+of a misunderstanding, I have become possessed of this slip of paper,
+and have just learned that it entails upon me duties which I cannot
+possibly undertake, for my parents are expecting me at home."
+
+She handed the little slip to the baroness, who took it immediately,
+while a ray of actual sunshine broke over her features.
+
+"I think you are in error, Fräulein Ferber," Herr von Walde suddenly
+interposed, in a clear, melodious voice. "It is incumbent upon you to
+excuse yourself to the gentleman whose name the paper contains; it rests
+with him whether he will release you or not."  He scanned, with a
+peculiar smile, the company, who were dividing into couples and making
+ready for departure; even the old gentleman beside him approached the
+countess, and offered her his arm.  Herr von Walde continued, as he
+slowly approached: "As master of the house, I cannot permit any want of
+consideration of one of my guests, wherefore I must beg you, Fräulein
+Ferber, to open the paper."
+
+Elizabeth obeyed, and then handed him the open slip, with a crimson
+blush.  He glanced at it.
+
+"Ah!" he cried, "I have, as I see, defended my own rights.  You must
+admit that I am fully justified in either accepting or refusing to
+accept your excuses.  I prefer the latter course, and must entreat you
+strictly to comply with the injunctions laid upon you by that paper."
+
+The baroness approached him, and laid her hand upon his arm.  It looked
+as if she were almost struggling to suppress her tears.
+
+"Forgive me, dear Rudolph," she said, "it is really not my fault."
+
+"I do not know to what fault you allude, Amalie," he replied, with icy
+coldness; "but you certainly choose the right time in which to ask
+forgiveness,—-just at this moment I could easily forgive an injury."
+
+He took his hat which a servant handed to him, and made the signal for
+departure.
+
+"But my parents!" stammered Elizabeth.
+
+"Are they ill, or about to leave Gnadeck immediately?" he asked,
+standing still.
+
+"Neither."
+
+"Well, pray then let me see to it that they receive intelligence of the
+cause of your delay."
+
+He called a servant, and despatched a message to Gnadeck.
+
+While the saloon was gradually emptied, the group of ladies which had
+been joined by the aged cavalier and Hollfeld, who looked much
+chagrined, remained standing near the window.
+
+"It serves you quite right, Cornelie," said the countess.  "You have set
+the crown upon your folly to-day. What a silly idea this lottery is!
+How often have I endeavoured to put a stop to your nonsense, to which,
+unfortunately, our gracious princess lends only too willing an ear?  How
+should the butler know any better, when you gave him no instructions?
+You consider yourself to belong naturally to the court, and yet do not
+know that that sort of person has not an idea of his own.  I should not
+for an instant grudge you this lesson, if only poor von Walde were not
+the victim of your frivolity.  There he goes with that little white
+goose upon his arm; he who, with his haughty, aristocratic
+self-consciousness, has many a time been regardless of the wishes of
+some high-born lady, who would have been charmed to take his arm. What
+must he suffer to be tied for several hours to that little piano-player,
+the daughter of a—forester’s clerk?"
+
+"Why does he sacrifice himself so very readily?" rejoined Fräulein von
+Quittelsdorf.  "It was quite unnecessary for him to meddle at all in the
+matter.  The girl had made up her mind to go, when suddenly he steps
+forth like a knight without fear or fault, and takes up the burden
+voluntarily."
+
+"At all events the burden is dazzlingly beautiful," said the old
+cavalier with a conceited smile.
+
+"What are you thinking of, count?" cried the countess.  "That is just
+like you, who rave about every round-faced peasant girl that you meet.
+I do not deny that the girl is pretty; but was not poor Rosa von Bergen
+an actual angel of beauty?  Hundreds were languishing at her feet; but
+von Walde, whom she really preferred, was like a glacier to her.  No, he
+has not the smallest sensibility to feminine beauty and loveliness.  I
+long ago erased his name from my list of eligibles for my young
+protegées.  He has just declared, most distinctly, his reason for
+sacrificing himself to-day.  He is evidently much pleased and delighted
+with the attentions that we have lavished upon him, and wishes to see
+every one happy and contented about him,—even the little thing who
+played the piano.  I advise my dearest Lessen for the future not to
+trust implicitly to the tact and ingenuity of our charming
+Quittelsdorf."
+
+The maid of honour bit her lips, and dragged her lace shawl over her
+lovely shoulders.  The carriage now drew up in which the countess and
+Helene, accompanied by the baroness and the count, were to be driven to
+the place of rendezvous.
+
+"The old cat!" cried Fräulein von Quittelsdorf, after she had assisted
+the countess into the carriage.  "She is furious because she was not
+asked to assist in the arrangements for to-day.  Did not you see,
+Hollfeld, how very nearly that false front of hers slipped down upon her
+nose when she was waggling her head in such agitation?  I should have
+laughed for two weeks without intermission if her bald head had suddenly
+made its appearance underneath that flower garden on top!"
+
+She was convulsed with laughter at the idea.  Her companion walked,
+without a word, and with accelerated pace, by her side, as though he
+heard nothing of her chatter. His whole bearing manifested hurry and
+disquiet.  He seemed most desirous to overtake the rest of the
+assemblage as quickly as possible.  He cast searching glances through
+the bushes on either side of the way, and, whenever he caught a glimpse
+of a white dress, stopped for a moment, as though to identify the
+wearer.
+
+"Indeed, you are too tiresome, Hollfeld; you weary me to death!" cried
+the lady peevishly.  "To be sure it is your privilege to be as mute as a
+fish and yet enjoy the reputation of a clever man.  Where your wits are
+now I am sure I cannot imagine.  What, in Heaven’s name, are you running
+so fast for?  Allow me to entreat you to have some regard for my crape
+dress, which will be torn to rags by these bushes through which you are
+hurrying me, with such speed."
+
+The convent tower,—the only uninjured remnant of a former nunnery,—was
+situated in the depths of a grove of oaks and beeches in a part of the
+forest domain appertaining to the Lindhof estate, which here extended
+far towards the east.
+
+A certain lady of Gnadewitz, a sister of the ancestor of the wheel, had
+built the nunnery, whither she, with twelve other young maidens, retired
+to pray for the soul of her brother, cut off so ignominiously in the
+flower of his days.  Year after year the giant boughs of the oaks had
+tapped at the windows of the cells and leaned above the high wall over
+the small garden of the convent.  They had seen many a fresh young
+creature pass hurriedly along the dim narrow forest path to ring the
+bell at the convent portal with feverish impatience, as though unable to
+wait one instant longer for the promised peace abiding within those
+walls.  They had seen how, behind those irrevocable bolts and bars, the
+mute lips of the nun grew white,—how convulsively her waxen hands
+clutched the crucifix, while her agonized looks would seek the ground;
+for the sight of the clear, blue heavens, arching above the gay children
+of the outer world, awakened joyous memories within her, and breathed a
+keen desire for pleasure and life into the soul and heart muffled
+forever in the folds of the sackcloth of her order.
+
+The Reformation, which overthrew the convents like card houses, had
+stridden through this still forest also, and had passed its mighty hand
+over the walls of this gloomy pile, which had, in expiation of the
+misery and crime that had cursed its origin, been the perpetual abode of
+unhappiness.  And even the hollow mockery of existence within its walls
+had vanished to the four winds.  One stone after another had tumbled to
+the feet of the lofty oaks, whose branches had brushed against it while
+it formed part of some carved arch or window-frame, and which now
+strewed leaves upon it till it sank away far more softly bedded than the
+poor bodies of the nuns, which were, so said the legend, all sleeping
+together in a subterranean dungeon.
+
+The tower was square, clumsy, and ugly.  On the flat roof above, that
+was surrounded by a stone balustrade, the stairs were capped by a very
+small, square apartment, from which egress upon the roof was obtained
+through a massive oaken door.  Here there was a magnificent prospect and
+distant view of L——.  For the sake of this prospect the tower had been
+rebuilt and kept in constant repair.  Immense iron clamps bound the
+walls together at the corners, and numberless lines of fresh mortar
+meandered across its blackened surface, so that the old building looked
+at a distance like a gigantic piece of agate.
+
+But to-day the old pile was decked out like some old fellow dressed for
+a wooing.  Fresh flowers,—that is to say, four gigantic fir trees—were
+sticking in his hat; and from their tops gay banners were floating, like
+large birds above the green waves beneath.  The old fellow, who, until
+to-day, had only whispered nightly and daily confidences to his comrades
+the oaks but had never made an advance towards them from his dignified
+position, was now clutching them with green wide-spread arms; huge
+garlands were draped from his topmost walls, and were lost among the
+boughs of the surrounding forest; while from one side a white sail-cloth
+was extended and attached to the trunks of two tall hemlocks.  Beneath
+the shade of this tent were several refreshing-looking casks, a whole
+battery of dusty red-sealed flasks and countless silver-capped bottles
+in ice-buckets,—all presided over by a very pretty girl in the dress of
+a vivandiere.
+
+Elizabeth had silently and passively left the large hall upon Herr von
+Walde’s arm.  In spite of her determination to go home, she had not had
+the courage to gainsay him, or to tell him of her desire,—he had spoken
+in a tone of such authority; and, what had influenced her still more,
+had entered the lists, as it were, for her, and sought to help her out
+of her embarrassment.  Any opposition on her part would have seemed like
+obstinate defiance of him, and would have served only to increase her
+painful apprehension of drawing to herself general attention.
+
+The silken garments of the ladies rustled along the walls of the
+corridor behind her.  Laughing and chattering, the gay crowd followed
+Herr von Walde in a long train until it issued from the chief entrance
+door, and then it scattered hither and thither, taking the various
+forest paths which led to the convent tower.  Those whose elaborate
+toilets required special care took the broad, well-kept path.  Herr von
+Walde certainly never dreamed that his companion’s simple, snowy muslin
+could be as precious in her eyes as were the rich dresses of the other
+ladies in theirs, or he certainly would not have selected the narrow,
+lonely pathway into which he suddenly turned.
+
+"It is usually very damp here," Elizabeth broke silence
+timidly,—hitherto no words had passed between them. Her feet trembled as
+though they would far rather retreat than advance, and yet it is
+possible that her thoughts were not of her dress nor her thin shoes, but
+rather of the long, narrow, leafy way before them, through which she
+must pass alone by his side, and of the voice that would suddenly sound
+in her ears with that harsh, authoritative tone almost always adopted by
+him when alone with her.
+
+"It has not rained for a long time,—see how dry the ground is," he
+quietly replied, as he walked slowly on and broke off a twig which
+threatened to brush Elizabeth’s cheek.  "This path is the shortest, and
+we can for a quarter of an hour at least escape from the buzz and
+clatter with which my friends and relatives are celebrating the
+completion of my thirty-seventh year.  But perhaps you are afraid of
+meeting Linke in this sequestered spot?"
+
+A shudder passed through the young girl’s frame.  She thought upon the
+criminal’s desperate end, but she could not control herself sufficiently
+to impart her knowledge to Herr von Walde.
+
+"I do not fear him any longer," she said gravely.
+
+"He has probably left the country, and if not, he would hardly be so
+discourteous as to intrude upon the pleasures of people who are seeking
+to indemnify themselves for the pains they have taken with their formal
+congratulations. By-the-way, you cannot have failed to observe that
+every member of the company to-day has honoured me with a few moments of
+special attention, even the youngest slip of a girl in white muslin has
+made me her courtesy and uttered her studied desire for my health and
+happiness. You, perhaps, do not think me old enough yet to need the
+wishes of others for a prolongation of my life?"
+
+"I should suppose that such wishes were as appropriate to youth or the
+prime of life as to advanced age; the one possesses as little as the
+other a monopoly of existence."
+
+"Well, then, why did you not come to me?  Yesterday you saved my life,
+and to-day you care so little about it that you do not even take the
+trouble to open your lips and say ’God protect it for the future.’"
+
+"You have just said yourself ’every one of the company.’  I did not
+belong to the company, and therefore could not intrude myself among
+those who offered their congratulations."  She spoke quickly, for there
+was discontent in his tone, and the arm upon which her hand rested moved
+impatiently.
+
+"But you were invited——"
+
+"To entertain your guests."
+
+"Was that modest view of the case the only reason why you did not wish
+to come with me?"
+
+"Yes; most certainly my refusal could not have had anything to do with
+the gentleman who had fallen to my lot, whose name I could not possibly
+know."
+
+"You can hardly persuade me of that; you must have seen at the first
+glance that all the gentlemen present, with the exception of myself,
+were already appropriated; you must have known that my sister, without
+drawing a paper, had requested Hollfeld to accompany her, as she can
+walk more easily leaning upon his arm than upon any other.  Confess——"
+
+"I knew and saw nothing.  I was far too much troubled when I entered the
+ball-room to return the paper, for the hour at which I was expected to
+return home had been particularly mentioned to me yesterday. I had no
+idea that any special festivity was to follow the concert, and in taking
+the folded slip of paper I committed an indiscretion, for which I cannot
+forgive myself."
+
+He suddenly stood still.
+
+"I pray you look at me," he said, in a tone of command.
+
+She raised her eyes, and although she felt her cheeks glow, she
+sustained unflinchingly the gaze which at first rested sternly upon her
+and then became indescribably gentle.
+
+"No, no," he muttered softly, as if to himself, "it were a crime to
+suspect deceit here.  Yes, double-dyed," he continued in an altered,
+sarcastic tone; it sounded as though he wished to sneer away some
+momentary weakness,—"was I not the involuntary auditor of your
+declaration: ’It needs more courage to tell a lie boldly than to confess
+a fault?’"
+
+"That is my conviction, I repeat it."
+
+"Ah, what a splendid thing strength of character is! But I should
+suppose that if one were too upright to soil the lips with deceit, a
+strict watch should be kept upon the eyes also, lest they lie.  I know
+one moment in your life when you appeared what you were not."
+
+Elizabeth, wounded, attempted to withdraw her hand from his arm.
+
+"Oh, no—you do not escape me so easily!" he cried, retaining it.  "You
+must either deny or acknowledge it. You looked indifferent lately, when
+I threw away my cousin’s tender token, the rose."
+
+"Should I have flown after it?"
+
+"Certainly, if you had been true."
+
+Elizabeth knew now why he had entered this lonely path with her,—she was
+to confess her feelings towards Hollfeld.  She was confirmed in her
+former suspicions,—Herr von Walde was evidently most anxious lest she
+should prize his cousin’s homage too highly and perhaps imagine that he
+could forget her social position.  The moment had come when she could
+declare her sentiments. By a hasty movement she released her hand from
+his arm, and stepped a little aside.
+
+"I grant you," she said, "that if my face that day expressed
+indifference, it was not in harmony with my thoughts."
+
+"I thought so!" he cried, but there was no triumph in the exclamation.
+
+"I was in fact indignant."
+
+"At my interference?"
+
+"At the unauthorized levity of Herr von Hollfeld."
+
+"He startled you greatly; but——"
+
+"No, he insulted me!  How dared he intrude upon me?  I abhor him!"
+
+She must have been right in her solution of his manner; but she had
+never dreamed that her declaration would be so highly prized by him.  A
+weight seemed to fall from his heart.  A ray of purest joy broke from
+the eyes which had gazed at her with a mixture of mistrust, contempt,
+and sarcasm.  He drew a deep breath, and half extended his arms.
+Elizabeth involuntarily looked round to discover what it was that caused
+his eyes to flash and glow so.  She saw nothing, but she felt his hand
+tremble as he laid hers once more upon his arm. They walked on a few
+paces without a word.  Suddenly he stood still again.
+
+"Now we are entirely alone," he said, in the gentlest possible tone.
+"See, only one small eye of heavenly blue looks down upon us,—no prying
+faces are near to come between us,—I cannot,—I will not be deprived of a
+birthday greeting from you.  Give it to me now, when no one can hear it
+but myself alone."
+
+She was silent and confused.
+
+"Well, do you not know how it is done?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, yes," she replied, and an arch smile hovered upon her lips.  "I am
+well practised in such things.  My parents, my uncle, Ernst——"
+
+"All have birthdays," he interrupted her, smiling. "But you cannot
+wonder that I want a birthday greeting all to myself,—that I desire that
+it may sound quite different from any that you have hitherto
+uttered,—for I am neither your father, nor your bluff forester uncle,
+and certainly I cannot lay claim to the rights of the brother with whom
+you play.  Come, speak!"
+
+Still she said nothing.  What should she say?  Her eyes were cast down,
+for she could no longer endure that searching glance, that seemed to
+penetrate her very soul with its troubled expression of entreaty.
+
+"Then come," he cried abruptly, drawing her forward, after waiting in
+vain for some moments for one word from her lips.  "It was a foolish
+wish of mine.  I know that your tongue, which is always ready to say
+what is kind and gentle to others, is dumb for me, or only ready with
+some rebuke."
+
+At these words she grew pale, and involuntarily stood still.
+
+"You will, then?" he asked more gently, "and cannot find the words?" he
+continued, shaking his head, as she was silent but looked up at him
+beseechingly.  "Well, then, I have a plan.  Let me say what I should
+like to hear from your lips, and you will repeat it after me word for
+word."
+
+Again the smile played around Elizabeth’s mouth, and she murmured
+assent.
+
+"In the first place, you give your friend your hand," he began, and took
+her hand in his,—she trembled, but did not withdraw it,—"and then you
+say, ’You have hitherto been a wretched wanderer upon the face of the
+earth,—it is high time that the clouds above you should break, and be
+penetrated by the pure ray of light which has transformed your whole
+existence.  It is my true and earnest wish that this light may never
+forsake you. Here is my hand, as the pledge of a happiness so
+inconceivable——"
+
+So far she had repeated this strangely-worded greeting after him, but at
+the last words she hesitated.  He seized her other hand also, and urged
+passionately, "Go on, go on!"
+
+"Here is my——" she began at last.
+
+"Oh, Herr von Walde," suddenly cried Cornelie’s voice from the thicket,
+"what a delightful meeting!  Now I shall enjoy in company with you the
+triumph of being received with a flourish of trumpets!"
+
+Never in her life had Elizabeth seen such a sudden change take place in
+a human countenance as now transformed Herr von Walde’s features.  One
+strong blue vein stood out upon his pale forehead, his eyes flashed, and
+he involuntarily stamped his foot.  It really seemed as if he would have
+liked to hurl back into the thicket the unwelcome intruder, who, holding
+up her crape skirt, came hurrying through the bushes towards them.  He
+could not command his emotion as quickly as usual; perhaps he did not
+wish to do so, for he frowned angrily as Hollfeld made his appearance
+behind the lady.  As he came in sight, Herr von Walde drew Elizabeth’s
+hand through his arm with gentle violence, as if he feared lest she
+should be snatched from him.
+
+"Why, how you look, Herr von Walde," cried Fräulein von Quittelsdorf,
+stepping into the middle of the path; "actually as if we were bandits,
+with designs upon your life; or, at all events, upon your property!"
+
+Without replying a word to this attack, he turned to his cousin and
+asked, "Where is my sister?"
+
+"She was afraid of the long rough path," the latter replied, "and
+preferred to drive."
+
+"Well, I suppose you will hardly leave Helene to be lifted out of the
+carriage by the old Count Wildenau; I cannot understand how, as her
+faithful knight, you could leave the principal path.  A few, quick steps
+will enable you to rejoin her.  I will not prevent you from doing so,"
+said Herr von Walde sharply, while a sarcastic smile quivered around the
+corners of his mouth. He stepped aside with Elizabeth to allow the pair
+to pass.
+
+"And pray, if one may ask, why did you leave the principal path
+yourself?" asked Fräulein von Quittelsdorf flippantly, much more like a
+pert chamber-maid than a maid of honour.
+
+"That you can easily learn; simply because I hoped, by coming along this
+lonely path, to escape the eloquent tongues of certain ladies," replied
+Herr von Walde drily.
+
+"Ah, how cross you are!  Heaven shield us from such an irritable
+birthday hero!" cried the lady, shuddering, and retreating a few paces
+with a comical assumption of terror.  "It was a mistake that we did not
+come to you to-day with funereal faces, and muffled to the eyes in black
+crape!"
+
+She pouted, and, taking Hollfeld’s arm, would have dragged him forward;
+but he, strangely enough, seemed inclined, for the first time in his
+life, to set his cousin’s wishes at defiance.  He walked on slowly, and
+as if weary of existence, peering right and left into the bushes,
+apparently intensely interested in every stone in the pathway, every
+squirrel that ran swiftly past.  Then he began a conversation with his
+companion, whose answers absorbed his attention so entirely that he
+paused and stood still to listen to them.
+
+Herr von Walde muttered something between his teeth; Elizabeth could not
+understand it; but the hostile glance that he cast after his cousin
+showed how the behaviour of the latter incensed him.  He said not
+another word to her.  He turned slowly towards her, and she felt that he
+continued to regard her steadfastly, but she was unable to lift her eyes
+to his.  Had she done so he must have discovered on the spot how greatly
+she was moved by the strange words that he had just whispered to her
+with so much emotion in his voice.  One look would have betrayed the
+conflict within her, and then,—she could not pursue the thought,—he
+would doubtless have repented the simple wish that he had expressed.
+Thus deeply agitated, it was natural enough that the young girl’s
+eyelids fell low over her eyes, and that she failed to observe the
+inaudible sigh that escaped her companion, or mark how all signs of
+irritation vanished from his features to give place to the shade of
+melancholy that was so wont to rest upon his brow.
+
+A faint and dying trumpet note, which was doubtless the result of the
+impatience of the musicians who were waiting upon the roof of the tower,
+betrayed the close vicinity of the scene of festivity.  And soon a buzz
+and noise, as of some neighbouring gypsy encampment, broke upon their
+ears; the path grew broader, gay throngs were seen fluttering through
+the bushes, and suddenly a loud flourish of bugles and trumpets sounded
+over their heads. Elizabeth availed herself of the opportunity to slip
+her hand from the arm of her conductor and to lose herself in the crowd
+that gathered around the lord of the feast; while a young girl, habited
+as a Dryad, and accompanied by four other wood-nymphs, approached, and,
+in limping hexameters, welcomed him to the forest.
+
+"Well, von Walde has gotten rid of his Dulcinea at the right moment.  I
+don’t see the girl at all, now," the Countess Falkenberg whispered
+smilingly to Count Wildenau, who was sitting beside her upon a kind of
+raised dais, beneath the shade of a group of oaks.  "He will never
+forgive the baroness and our flippant Cornelia for so stupidly forcing
+him into playing the knight, even for a few moments, to such a creature.
+My child," and she turned to Helene; seated at her right, who was
+anxiously searching the crowd with troubled eyes, "when those people
+release him we must take him in here among us, and do everything in our
+power to make him forget the provoking beginning of the festival."
+
+Helene nodded mechanically.  Apparently she had only heard half of what
+the lady had whispered in her ear. Her poor little figure, enveloped in
+a heavy, light-blue silk, leaned helplessly and wearily back in her huge
+armchair, and her cheeks were whiter than the lily-wreath that crowned
+her brow.’
+
+Meanwhile Elizabeth had encountered in the throng Dr. Fels and his wife.
+The latter immediately took the young girl under her care, that they
+might not be separated again.
+
+"Only stay until the dancing begins," she replied to Elizabeth’s remark
+that the moment seemed to have arrived when she could slip away
+unnoticed, and go home. "I do not wonder that you wish to leave as soon
+as possible," she added, with a smile.  "We, too, shall not stay long.
+I am anxious about my children at home.  I made a great sacrifice to my
+husband’s position in coming at all.  Herr von Walde, to whom you are
+assigned for the day by lot, does not dance.  So never fear, you will be
+released."
+
+Suddenly the crowd separated.  From the top of the tower sounded a grand
+march, and while the gentlemen sought the shade of the trees, the
+ladies, according to the rules of the feast, hastened to provide them
+with refreshments from the tent.
+
+Herr von Walde walked slowly across the sward, his hands clasped behind
+him, talking with the military-inspector Busch, by his side.
+
+"My dear Herr von Walde, now pray come to us!" the Countess Falkenberg
+cried out to him, extending her hand with an air almost caressing.  "I
+have kept such a charming place here for you.  Come, rest upon your
+well-earned laurels.  ’Tis true, all the young ladies present are
+disposed of by lot, but here are our fair and lovely wood-nymphs all
+ready to wreathe your goblet, and furnish you from the tent with all
+that your heart can desire."
+
+"I am deeply touched by your kindness and care for me, gracious lady,"
+the gentleman replied, "but I cannot think that Fräulein Ferber will
+leave me to appeal to the general sympathy."
+
+He spoke loudly, and turned to Elizabeth, who was standing quite near.
+She had heard every word, and instantly walked quietly towards him,
+placing herself at his side, as though she were by no means inclined to
+delegate to others one jot of her duty.  As he saw her approach him
+thus, something of a joyful surprise lit up his countenance.  He cast an
+answering glance at the face that, unembarrassed now by those around,
+looked smilingly up at him.  Strangely enough, he seemed entirely to
+forget the charming place that the countess had reserved for him, for,
+after a slight obeisance to her stately ladyship and her court of young
+ladies, he offered his arm to Elizabeth, and conducted her to the shade
+of a giant oak, where Doctor Fels had just provided comfortable places
+for his wife and himself.
+
+"Now, that is carrying his revenge a little too far," said the great
+lady, with irritation, turning for sympathy to Count Wildenau and the
+five disconcerted Dryads. "He really throws scorn upon the entire fête
+by taking so much notice of that young person.  I begin to be really
+vexed with him.  No one is more ready than I to grant that he is
+entirely right to be angry, but I really think that he should not allow
+himself to be so carried away by his indignation as to forget those of
+his guests who have had no share in the absurdities of the baroness or
+of von Quittelsdorf.  I’ll wager that that little fool there attributes
+his attentions to the influence of her beautiful eyes."
+
+The small band of amiable Dryads shot annihilating looks at Elizabeth,
+who was quietly proceeding to the refreshment tent, whence she presently
+issued with a flask of champagne and four glasses, which she placed upon
+the table beneath the oak, where Herr von Walde was sitting with the
+doctor and his wife.
+
+"Our young ladies to-day are wearing perfect flower gardens upon their
+heads," said Frau Fels, as the young girl approached the table.
+"Fräulein Ferber alone is as destitute of ornament as Cinderella.  I
+cannot have it so."
+
+She took two roses from the large bouquet which she held in her hand,
+and stood up to place them in Elizabeth’s hair.
+
+"Stop, I pray you," cried Herr von Walde, detaining her hand, "nothing
+should adorn that hair but orange blossoms."
+
+"But they are only worn by brides," said the doctor’s wife naively.
+
+"I know that well," he replied quietly; and as if he had said the most
+natural thing in the world, he filled the glasses, and turned to Dr.
+Fels.  "Clink glasses with me, doctor," he said; "I drink to the welfare
+of the saviour of my life—of Gold Elsie of Castle Gnadeck!"
+
+The doctor smiled, and the glasses clinked with a loud ring.  At this
+signal, a group of gentlemen approached, glasses in hand.
+
+"You come at the right moment, gentlemen," the lord of the feast cried
+out to them.  "Drink with me to the fulfilment of my dearest wish!"
+
+A loud "vivat" resounded through the air, and the glasses clinked
+merrily.
+
+"Scandalous!" cried the old court lady, and dropped her fork, with its
+choice morsel, upon her plate; "really, they are conducting themselves
+over there like students at a carouse!  I am positively shocked!  What
+an unseemly noise!  Actually the mob in the street is better behaved
+when they shout ’vivats’ to our gracious Prince. Apropos, my love," she
+continued, turning to Helene, "I observe that your brother seems quite
+intimate with Doctor Fels."
+
+"He esteems him highly as a thoroughly upright man of great scientific
+attainments," replied Helene.
+
+"That is all very well,—but he certainly cannot be aware that the man
+just now is in very bad odour at court.  Only imagine, he has had the
+inconceivable insolence to refuse our beloved Princess Catharine——"
+
+"Yes; I know that story," said Fräulein von Walde, interrupting the
+irritated lady; "my brother related the circumstance to me himself a few
+days ago."
+
+"How!—is it possible that the facts are known to him, and that he has so
+little regard for the sentiments of the court,—which has always
+distinguished him so highly! Incredible!  I assure you, dear child, my
+conscience pricks me sorely; I shall scarcely be able to lift my eyes in
+the presence of their Serene Highnesses, when they arrive in L——, at the
+thought of having been in the society here of that impertinent
+creature."
+
+Helene shrugged her shoulders, and left the lady to her qualms of
+conscience and a brimming glass of champagne, with which she probably
+intended to fortify herself in anticipation of the dreaded arrival.
+
+In the society of this lady Fräulein von Walde suffered all the galling
+annoyance that conventionalities inflict;—she was obliged to listen,
+with an amiable and interested smile, to a thousand wretched trifles,
+while her heart was tortured with pain; indeed, only just such a person
+as the Countess Falkenberg, who sought and found her highest earthly
+happiness in a gracious glance from a Princely eye, a person whose whole
+intellectual capacity was exercised in standing sentinel before the
+domain of etiquette and in guarding religiously the hardly-won prestige
+of her social position,—only such a one could have been blind to the
+signs of the deepest suffering in the countenance of the younger lady.
+
+Hollfeld had not only been so inattentive as to leave Helene, upon her
+arrival at this spot, to the care of Count Wildenau, he had even, upon
+his tardy appearance, omitted all explanation or apology for his delay,
+and had finally seated himself beside her in a sullen and abstracted
+mood. She thought him strangely altered, and she racked her restless
+heart and brain with vain surmises.  At first her suspicions rested upon
+Cornelie, who, true to her mercurial temperament, fluttered hither and
+thither like a will-o’-the-wisp, talking and laughing incessantly.  But
+she was soon reassured upon this point, for she could not catch a single
+glance of Hollfeld’s directed towards the coquettish and graceful court
+beauty.  The anxious inquiries that she made of him were answered in
+monosyllables.  She beckoned to one of the servants who was bearing past
+a tray of delicacies, and herself placed them before Hollfeld,—but he
+did not eat a morsel, and only swallowed in quick succession several
+glasses of fiery wine which he procured for himself at the refreshment
+tent. This careless conduct, which she now observed for the first time,
+caused her unspeakable pain.  At last she was silent, and closed her
+eyes as though fatigued; no one noticed the crystal drops trembling on
+their lashes.
+
+Suddenly a shadow was cast upon the universal merriment, which had been
+all the more unrestrained from the fact that the lord of the feast,
+usually so grave and serious, had joined in it so cordially,—at least
+Elizabeth felt convinced that the face of the butler, Lorenz, who now
+appeared in the distance, boded no good.  The old man took the greatest
+pains to attract his master’s attention without being seen by the other
+guests.  At last he succeeded. Herr von Walde arose, and stepped aside
+with him into the thicket, while the group of gentlemen around him
+dispersed.  He soon returned, with marks of dismay in his countenance.
+
+"I have just received sad news, which will compel me to leave you
+immediately," he said, in a low voice, to the doctor.  "Herr von
+Hartwig, in Thalleben, one of my oldest friends, has met with a terrible
+accident; the injury is fatal; they write me that he cannot live a day
+longer.  He summons me to him that he may entrust his young children to
+my care.  I pray you inform the Baroness Lessen of my departure, and its
+cause; she will see that the festivities are not interrupted.  Let my
+sister and my guests suppose that I am called away for a few minutes by
+some trifling matter of business, and will return hither shortly.  I
+shall not be missed after the dancing begins."
+
+The doctor went instantly to find the baroness.  His wife had strayed
+away from the spot a few moments before, so Elizabeth was left alone
+with Herr von Walde. He turned to her quickly:
+
+"I thought we should not part from each other to-day without the
+conclusion of my birthday greeting," he said, while striving to meet her
+eyes, which shyly avoided his, "but I seem to be one of those
+unfortunate ones whose unlucky stars snatch from them the prize when it
+seems almost within their grasp."  He endeavoured to give an air of
+humour to his words, but they only sounded the more bitter.  "However, I
+submit," he continued, in a determined tone; "I must go.  It cannot be
+helped, but my duty may be made easier and sweeter for me by a promise
+from you.  Do you remember the words which you lately repeated after
+me?"
+
+"I do not forget so quickly."
+
+"Ah, that encourages me greatly!  There is a fairy tale which tells of a
+realm of inexhaustible riches and endless delights, revealed by a single
+word.  Such a word the conclusion of your greeting can be to me.  Will
+you aid me in having it uttered?"
+
+"How can I help you to the attainment of riches and delights?"
+
+"That is my affair.  I do most earnestly entreat you at this moment to
+make no further attempt at evasion, for time presses.  Let me ask
+you,—will you endeavour to retain in your memory, during my absence, the
+beginning of that birthday greeting?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And will you be ready, when I return, to hear the conclusion?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Good; in the midst of the sorrow and gloom to which I am summoned there
+will be a glimpse of clear blue sky above me, and for you——may my good
+angel whisper in your ear the word that will unlock that fairy realm for
+me.  Farewell!"
+
+He gave her his hand, and disappeared upon the path leading directly to
+the castle.
+
+Elizabeth stood still for a few moments in a state of delicious
+stupefaction, from which she was roused by the surprise of the doctor’s
+wife at finding the gentlemen gone.  Elizabeth told her what had
+happened, and the doctor shortly returned and related that the baroness
+had been greatly piqued that her cousin had not considered it worth his
+while to inform her in person of the cause of his departure.  The
+unlucky doctor had been obliged to bear the brunt of the lady’s ill
+humour, which had vented itself in several biting remarks, but he had
+been so discourteous as to allow them to pass him by without in the
+least disturbing his serenity.  He seated himself at the table and began
+to eat with an excellent appetite.
+
+Meanwhile Elizabeth went to take leave of Fräulein von Walde.  There was
+nothing now to detain her any longer.  She longed to be alone with her
+thoughts, to recall undisturbed every word that he had spoken, and to
+ponder upon its meaning.
+
+"Are you going?" asked Helene, as Elizabeth stood behind her chair and
+bade her farewell.  "What does my brother say to that?"
+
+"Rudolph has been summoned to the castle upon some business matter," the
+baroness, who just now appeared, answered in Elizabeth’s stead.
+"Fräulein Ferber is released from all necessity of remaining any
+longer."
+
+Helene cast a glance of displeasure at the speaker. "I cannot see why,"
+she said.  "His business cannot detain him long, he will certainly
+return."
+
+"Probably," rejoined the baroness; "but he may be delayed quite late.
+Fräulein Ferber, meanwhile, will be very much fatigued in a circle where
+she is such an utter stranger."
+
+"Has my brother released you?"  Helene turned to Elizabeth, hardly
+allowing the baroness to complete her sentence.
+
+"Yes," answered she, "and I pray you to allow me to take my departure."
+
+During this short dialogue the Countess Falkenberg leaned back and
+measured Elizabeth from head to foot with her cold, piercing eyes; but
+Hollfeld arose and departed without saying a word.  Fräulein von Walde
+looked after him with an air of anxious discontent, and at first did not
+reply to Elizabeth’s request; but at last, with evident absence of mind,
+she held out her hand and said, "Well, then, go, dear child, and a
+thousand thanks for your kind assistance to-day."
+
+Elizabeth took a hasty leave of Doctor Fels and his wife, and then
+entered the forest with a light heart.
+
+She breathed more freely as the throng was left behind her, and as a few
+sounding chords concluded the waltz whose bewildering notes had for a
+short distance accompanied her.  She could now yield herself up
+undisturbed to the magic that had laid so sweet a spell upon her entire
+mind and being, and forced her to listen still to the tones of that
+voice which had died upon her ear, ensnaring her heart with its
+thrilling melody, and at the sound of which all the suggestions of
+maidenly reserve, all the arguments of her understanding, vanished.  She
+called to mind how passively she had followed him, although her deeply
+offended pride had prompted her instantly to leave the circle where she
+seemed to be so unwelcome a guest; she still experienced the delight
+with which she had hastened to his side when he had so emphatically
+declared, before all present, that he belonged to her for the day, and
+would accept of no substitute in her place. He might have conducted her
+to the end of the world,—she would have followed him blindly with
+unhesitating reliance and the most entire abandonment of herself to his
+guidance.  And her parents?  She understood now how a daughter could
+forsake father and mother to follow a man whose path in life had been
+widely separated from her own, leading, perhaps, in directly an opposite
+direction,—a man who had known nothing of the inclinations, influences,
+occurrences great and small, by which every fibre of her life had been
+previously intertwined with the life of her family.  Two months before,
+all this would have been an inexplicable riddle to her.
+
+She turned into a path which she had often trodden with Miss Mertens.
+It led, by many a narrow winding, through the thicket, out upon the
+broad path which traversed the forest, and for some distance formed the
+boundary line between the Prince’s domain and the estate of Herr von
+Walde.  On the other side of this broad path opened the wide road which
+led through the forest to her uncle’s Lodge.
+
+Lost in her day-dreams, Elizabeth did not hear the sound of hasty
+footsteps approaching; she therefore started in alarm when she heard her
+name pronounced, close to her, by a man’s voice.  Hollfeld stood just
+behind her.  She suspected why he had followed her, and she felt her
+heart beat quickly, but she collected herself, and, standing aside, made
+room for him to pass her in the narrow pathway.
+
+"No, that was not what I wished, Fräulein Ferber," he said smiling, and
+in a tone of such familiarity as deeply offended her.  "I wished to have
+the pleasure of accompanying you."
+
+"I thank you," she coldly replied, "it would be giving you needless
+trouble; I always greatly prefer walking alone in the forest."
+
+"And have you no fear?" he asked, stepping so close to her that she felt
+his hot breath upon her cheek.
+
+"Only of unwelcome companionship," she replied, retaining her
+self-possession by an effort.
+
+"Ah! here is the same dignified reserve again in which you always
+entrench yourself with me; and wherefore? I shall soon put an end to it,
+however.  To-day, at least, I shall not respect it as I have hitherto
+been forced to do,—I must speak to you."
+
+"Is what you have to say of such consequence as to require you to absent
+yourself from your friends and the fête?"
+
+"Yes; it is a wish upon which my life depends; it pursues me day and
+night; I have been ill and wretched at the idea that it may never be
+gratified—I——"
+
+In the mean time Elizabeth had accelerated her pace. It was hateful to
+her,—the presence of this man, in whose eyes glowed all the passion
+which he had hitherto partly repressed and which had already inspired
+her with such deep aversion and disgust; but she was perfectly conscious
+that absolute self-possession was her only weapon, and therefore she
+interrupted him, while her lips quivered with the sickly semblance of a
+smile.
+
+"Ah!" she said, "our practisings, then, have had most desirable results;
+you wish my assistance in music, if I understand you rightly?"
+
+"You misunderstand me intentionally," he exclaimed.
+
+"Accept the misunderstanding as an act of forbearance on my part," said
+Elizabeth seriously; "I should else be obliged to say much to you which
+it might please you still less to hear."
+
+"Go on, I pray.  I know your sex sufficiently well to be quite aware
+that they delight in wearing the mask of coldness and reserve for
+awhile,—their favours are all the more welcome.  I do not grudge you the
+pleasure of this innocent coquetry, but then——"
+
+Elizabeth stood for one moment dumb and stupefied at his insolence; such
+hateful words had never before shocked her ears.  Shame and indignation
+drove the blood to her face, and she sought in vain for terms in which
+to punish such unexampled temerity.  He interpreted her silence
+otherwise.
+
+"I knew it," he cried triumphantly.  "I see through you; the blush of
+detection becomes you incomparably! You are beautiful as an angel!
+Never have I seen so perfect a form as yours!  Ah! you know well enough
+that you made me your slave the first time I saw you; since then, I have
+languished at your feet.  What shoulders and what arms!  Why have you
+hitherto veiled them so enviously?"
+
+An indignant exclamation broke from Elizabeth’s lips:
+
+"How dare you," she cried loudly and violently, "offer me these insults!
+If you have not understood me hitherto, let me tell you now, clearly and
+distinctly, that your society, which you force upon me thus, is hateful
+to me, and that I wish to be alone."
+
+"Bravo! that authoritative tone becomes you excellently well," he said,
+with a sneer; "the noble blood that you inherit from your mother shows
+itself now. What have I done to make you suddenly play this indignant
+part?  I have told you that you are beautiful, but your mirror must tell
+you the same thing fifty times a day, and I do not believe that you
+break it for the telling."
+
+Elizabeth turned her back upon him contemptuously, and walked quickly
+onward.  He kept pace with her, and seemed quite sure of a final
+victory.  She had just reached the broad forest-road when a carriage
+dashed past.  A man’s head appeared at the window, but at sight of her
+was drawn back quickly, as though surprised. He looked out once more, as
+if to convince himself that he had seen correctly, and then the carriage
+vanished around a sharp turn in the road.
+
+Elizabeth involuntarily extended her arms after the retreating carriage.
+Its inmate well knew how she detested Hollfeld; after the declaration
+that she had made to him a few hours before, how could he doubt that she
+was most unwillingly in the society of this man?  Could he not delay his
+journey for one moment, to free her from such odious importunity?
+
+Hollfeld observed her action.
+
+"Aha!" he cried, with a malicious laugh, "that looked almost tender.  If
+it were not for my cousin’s seven and thirty years, I might actually be
+jealous!  Perhaps you supposed that he would immediately descend from
+his vehicle and gallantly offer you his arm to escort you to your home!
+You see he is too conscientious; he denies himself that indulgence, and
+prefers to fulfil a sacred duty.  He is an iceberg, for whom no woman
+possesses a single charm.  You owe his behaviour to you to-day, which
+was so very courteous, not to your enchanting eyes, O bewitching Gold
+Elsie, but to his desire to provoke my honoured mamma."
+
+"And does nothing deter you from ascribing such mean motives to the man
+whose hospitality you enjoy so freely?" cried Elizabeth, provoked.  She
+had determined not to reply to him again by a single syllable, in hopes
+that she might thus weary out his pertinacity; but the manner in which
+he spoke of Herr von Walde overcame her self-control.
+
+"Mean?" he repeated.  "You express yourself strongly. I only call it a
+little revenge which he was fully justified in taking.  And as for his
+hospitality,—I am only using now what will be all my own at some future
+period; I cannot see that it should alter my opinion of my cousin.
+Besides, I am the one to sacrifice myself, I deserve all the gratitude.
+Is my devotion and attention to Fräulein von Walde to go for nothing?"
+
+"It must be a hard task to pluck a few flowers and carry them to a poor
+invalid!" said Elizabeth ironically.
+
+"Aha! you are, as I am happy to observe, jealous of these little
+attentions of mine," he cried triumphantly. "Did you seriously suppose
+for one moment that I could really be in love with her, while my sense
+of beauty was so perpetually outraged?  I esteem my cousin, but I never
+forget for one instant that she is a year older than I, that she limps,
+is crooked, and——"
+
+"Detestable!"  Elizabeth interrupted him, beside herself with the
+abhorrence he inspired; she hastily crossed the broad forest-road.  He
+followed her.
+
+"Detestable, say I, too," he continued, endeavouring to keep pace with
+her; "especially when I see your Hebeform by her side.  And now I beg
+you, do not run so fast; let there be the peace between us of which I
+dream day and night."
+
+He suddenly passed his arm around her waist and forced her to stand
+still, while his glowing face, with eyes sparkling with unholy fire,
+approached her own.  At first she gazed at him speechless and stupefied,
+then a shudder convulsed her frame, and with a gesture of utter aversion
+she pushed him from her.
+
+"Don’t dare to touch me again!" she cried in a clear ringing voice,—and
+at the same moment she heard the loud barking of a dog near her.  She
+turned her head in joyful surprise towards the spot whence the noise
+proceeded.
+
+"Hector!  Hector! here, good dog!" she called; and the forester’s huge
+hound burst through the thicket and fawned upon her.
+
+"My uncle is not far off," she turned coldly and quietly to her
+discomfited companion; "he will be here in a moment.  As you can hardly
+desire that I should request him to rid me of your society, I advise you
+to return immediately to the castle."
+
+And, in fact, he stood still like a coward, while she, accompanied by
+the dog, proceeded towards her home. Hollfeld stamped his feet in his
+rage, and cursed the blind passion that had robbed him of all prudence.
+He did not for one instant imagine that he could really be disagreeable
+to Elizabeth,—he, the pet of society, whose slightest word, were it only
+an invitation to dance, made such a sensation in the little world of
+L——, and was so often an occasion of envy and discord among the ladies!
+The idea was absurd.  It was far more likely that the daughter of the
+forester’s clerk was a coquette, who intended to make conquest as
+difficult as possible for him. He had no faith in the existence of that
+virgin purity of soul which made Elizabeth thus insensible, and the
+magic of which affected even him most powerfully, although he did not
+understand its influence.  He had no faith in the sacred reserve of a
+young girl’s inner life, and therefore could not possibly conceive of
+the instinctive aversion which his selfish, unprincipled nature
+inspired. He reproached himself angrily for having been too sudden and
+violent, thus defeating his own ends, and deferring indefinitely the
+accomplishment of his hopes.  He wandered about in the forest for an
+hour before he could master his emotions; for the guests, who were still
+dancing on the green before the convent tower whence the gay music
+reached his ears, must not suspect the volcano seething beneath that
+cold and interesting exterior.
+
+Elizabeth had apparently walked away with a firm, decided step, but she
+took care to look neither to the right nor the left, lest she should
+suddenly see his hated face beside her.  At last she ventured to stand
+still and look around her.  He had disappeared.  With a sigh of relief,
+she leaned against the trunk of a tree to collect her thoughts, while
+Hector stood beside her sagely wagging his tail, seeming thoroughly to
+understand that he was playing the part of her protector.  Doubtless he
+had been taking a forest walk for his own amusement, for there were no
+signs of his master.  Elizabeth felt her knees tremble beneath her.  Her
+terror, when Hollfeld had clasped her waist, had been extreme.  In her
+innocence she had never imagined such rudeness, and hence his sudden
+touch had made her for one moment rigid with horror.  She shed bitter
+tears of shame as she recalled Herr von Walde’s image, not clothed in
+the gentleness of the last few hours, but stern and reserved.  She
+thought she should scarcely dare ever to look up at him again since that
+wretch had touched her.  All her happy visions lay shattered at her
+feet.  This unhappy encounter with Hollfeld had ruthlessly brought her
+back to reality.  What he had said of Herr von Walde, coarse and
+slanderous as it was, had revived much in her mind which she had once
+believed, and considered as a bar to her growing interest in him.  She
+thought of his invincible pride of descent, of his self-renouncing love
+for his sister, and of the universal opinion that his heart was cold as
+ice where women were concerned.  All the gay brilliant dreams which had
+hovered around her path through the forest now folded their wings and
+vanished beneath the searching gaze of her awakened consciousness. She
+could hardly tell what it was that formerly made her so happy.  Was it
+not most likely that only a strong sense of justice had induced him to
+show her such gentle kindness and consideration to-day,—to protect her
+from the insolent annoyance of his relatives?  Had he not in like manner
+protected Miss Mertens, and endeavoured to indemnify her for the
+injustice that she had encountered beneath his roof?  And the birthday
+greeting!  Ah, she must not think of that, or its unfinished conclusion,
+for then all her dead visions would instantly celebrate a blissful
+resurrection!
+
+As she entered the Lodge Sabina came towards her, pale as ashes, in
+great distress.  She pointed mutely to the door of the dwelling-room.
+Within the apartment her uncle was speaking loudly, while he was pacing
+heavily to and fro.
+
+"Oh dear! oh dear!" whispered Sabina, "everything is going wrong in
+there.  Bertha has kept out of your uncle’s way most carefully for the
+last few weeks, but a little while ago she was standing at the great
+door and did not see that he was coming into the yard.  He gave her no
+time to run off, but took her by the hand and led her instantly into the
+room there.  She was as white as the wall, in her fear of him,—but that
+didn’t help her,—go she must.  Ah, Lord have mercy upon me!  I should
+not like to have the Herr Forester for a father confessor——"
+
+A loud burst of sobbing, that sounded almost like a stifled shriek,
+interrupted Sabina’s whispering.
+
+"Better so!" they now heard the forester say in a far gentler tone of
+voice; "at least that is a sign that you are not quite hardened.  And
+now speak out!  Remember that I stand here in place of your good
+parents.  If you have a sorrow confide it to me; be sure that if it has
+befallen you without fault on your part, I will faithfully assist you to
+bear it."
+
+Only stifled sobs ensued.
+
+"You cannot speak?" asked the forester after a short pause.  "I know of
+a certainty that there is no physical obstacle in the way of your
+speaking, for you talk to yourself continually when you believe yourself
+unobserved; you must be putting some force upon yourself,—have you made
+a vow against the use of your tongue?"
+
+Probably an assenting nod must have confirmed him in this supposition,
+for he continued, with great irritation, "What an insane idea!  Do you
+suppose that you can do your Heavenly Father good service by renouncing
+one of his best gifts, the power of speech?  And are you going to be
+silent all your life long?  No!  You will speak, then, if that which you
+hope to effect by means of your vow fails to come to pass?  Very well, I
+cannot force you to speak,—then endure alone what depresses you and
+makes you so unhappy, for that you are unhappy any one can read in your
+face.  But let me tell you that you will find an inexorable judge in me,
+if it should ever appear that you have done anything that shuns the
+light and should not be told to honest men; for in your boundless
+arrogance you have hitherto rejected every well-meant piece of advice,
+every attempt to guide and direct you, making it impossible for me to
+care for you as it is my duty and desire, standing as I do in the place
+of your parents.  I will bear with you a little longer; but should I
+find you once leaving the house after nightfall, this is your home no
+longer,—you must go.  And let me tell you also, to-morrow I shall send
+for the doctor to tell me whether you are really ailing; you have looked
+wretchedly for the last few weeks.  Now go!"
+
+The door opened, and Bertha staggered out.  She did not notice Sabina
+and Elizabeth, and when she heard the door close behind her, she
+suddenly wrung her hands above her head in the speechless agony of
+despair, and rushed up the stairs as though hunted by the furies.
+
+"That girl has something on her conscience, whatever it may be," said
+Sabina, shaking her head.  Elizabeth went in to her uncle.  He was
+leaning against the window, and drumming upon one of the panes with his
+fingers, a common habit with him when irritated.  He looked very gloomy,
+but his features lighted up as Elizabeth entered.
+
+"I’m glad you are come, Gold Elsie!" he exclaimed; "I need to see some
+true, pure face beside me; I shudder at the black eyes of that girl who
+has just gone out. Never mind, I have taken up my domestic cross again,
+and shall bear it on for awhile; I cannot see the child cry, even though
+I were sure that the effect of every tear was exactly calculated."
+
+Elizabeth was heartily glad that the dreaded encounter between Bertha
+and her uncle was well over.  She hastened to divert his thoughts
+entirely from the unfortunate girl by describing to him the festivities
+she had just witnessed, telling him cursorily of Herr von Walde’s sudden
+departure.  She informed him also of Linke’s dreadful end, at which,
+however, he was not greatly surprised, as he had expected some such
+termination to the affair.
+
+He accompanied Elizabeth to the garden gate.
+
+"Be very careful not to ring too loudly at the gate in the wall," he
+warned her as she left him.  "Your mother had an attack of headache
+to-day, and has gone to bed. I was up there a little while ago."
+
+Elizabeth ran up the mountain in some anxiety, but Miss Mertens, leading
+little Ernst by the hand, came to meet her on the sward before the
+castle, and soothed her fears. The attack was over, and her mother was
+enjoying a refreshing sleep when Elizabeth softly went to her bedside.
+
+It was already twilight; the most profound quiet reigned throughout the
+house,—the striking clocks had been stopped,—the window shutters were
+closed that the rustling of the leaves without might not be heard,—not
+even a fly buzzed,—for Ferber had tenderly taken care that nothing
+should disturb the stillness that surrounded the sleeper.
+
+If her mother had been sitting in her arm-chair in the window recess of
+the dwelling-room behind the protecting curtains, looking upon the green
+domain without, above which stretched the calm evening skies,—the dear
+familiar corner would have become a confessional, where Elizabeth,
+kneeling upon the cushion at her mother’s feet, would have poured out
+her overcharged mind and heart.  But now she thrust back her precious
+secret into the inmost recesses of her soul: and who knows whether she
+will ever find courage to reveal what must fill her mother’s heart with
+the keenest anxiety?
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+The ruins of Gnadeck might well listen in amazement to the strange noise
+which had resounded through their crumbling walls from the first peep of
+dawn.  It was not the familiar sound of destruction caused by furious
+storms, or the melting of the snow when spring appeared. Then the water
+softly excavated little gutters between the stones, and lifted from its
+niche, without any other warning, one block of granite after another,
+that, the instant before its final downfall, looked proudly and
+threateningly down upon the world; for its overthrow had been planned
+more secretly than that of a royal favourite or an unpopular ministry.
+And then a violent storm would arise some midnight,—a mighty crash would
+come, and the rays of the rising sun would wander for the first time
+over walls and floors that they had never touched before.  There would
+be a huge pile of masonry heaped upon the pavement, and all through the
+day, with every gentle breeze, broken bits of mortar and little rills of
+sand would trickle down from the wound; but before long, tender grass
+would sprout from the jagged edges, and years, long years, would again
+ensue before the mischievous water beneath the green garment would
+prepare a new victim for the tempest.  It was a slow, scarcely
+perceptible decline.  The ruins might be as easy as the invalid whose
+disease, though incurable, may permit him to rival the Old Testament
+patriarchs in length of days.
+
+It was human hands to-day that were effecting the work of destruction.
+With incredible speed and activity they dislodged stone after stone.
+The old jutty, which had advanced so boldly for years, like a valiant
+sentinel keeping watch before this wing of the castle, presented a most
+deplorable appearance.  It had already been shorn of much of its height;
+its ivy mantle was torn, and dark window niches and mossy masonry came
+to light, which, perhaps, once were rich in stone carving.  The workmen
+were very diligent.  It interested them greatly, hazardous as was their
+task, to obtain a glimpse down into the dark nooks and corners of the
+old pile, that popular superstition had peopled with countless ghastly
+apparitions.
+
+In the afternoon, Frau Ferber was sitting upon the shady rampart with
+Miss Mertens and Elizabeth, when Reinhard, who, always made his
+appearance at a certain hour of the day, interrupted their reading.  He
+announced that Linke’s body had been committed to the earth as privately
+as possible that morning, and that Fräulein von Walde had learned,
+through the carelessness of a servant, of the attempt upon her brother’s
+life.  But he remarked, with some bitterness, that Herr von Walde’s
+anxiety, lest his sister’s fright upon hearing of the assault should
+have disastrous consequences, had been wholly unnecessary, since the
+lady had heard of it with entire composure, and even the terrible
+accident that had befallen Herr von Hartwig, whose wife was one of her
+friends, had apparently produced very little impression upon her. "But
+if the life of her fair-haired favourite had been in danger," he
+declared angrily, "she would most certainly have torn her chestnut
+curls.  That Herr von Hollfeld is utterly odious to me!  He has been
+walking about the house to-day, looking as if he would like to poison us
+all.  I’ll wager that this charming mood of his is the cause of Fräulein
+von Walde’s red and swollen eyes, which she tried to conceal from me
+when I met her in the garden just now."
+
+At the mention of the hated name, Elizabeth bent low over her work.  The
+blood rushed to her face at the thought of Hollfeld’s insolence the day
+before, of which she had not yet told her mother, for fear that it might
+cause a return of her headache; and perhaps there were other reasons for
+her silence; but she would not acknowledge to herself how much she
+dreaded lest her parents, upon learning of Hollfeld’s rudeness, should
+prohibit her from going to Lindhof again, in which case all chance of
+seeing Herr von Walde would be at an end.
+
+In the mean time, the destruction of the jutty was going on
+uninterruptedly.  After awhile Ferber entered the garden.  He had been
+to the Lodge, and had brought the forester home with him to take coffee.
+Ernst came running to them in a great state of excitement.  The child
+had obediently forborne to transgress the bounds which his father had
+set for him, that he might not be exposed to danger; but he had been
+looking on from his post of observation, following the progress of the
+workmen with the greatest interest.
+
+"Papa! papa!" he cried, "the mason wants to speak to you,—come right
+away; he says he has found something!"
+
+And in fact one of the workmen made signs to the brothers to come
+nearer.
+
+"We have come to what seems to be a small chamber," the man called down
+to them, "and, as well as I can see, there is a coffin in it.  Will you
+not examine into the matter, Herr Ferber, before we proceed?  You can
+come up here with entire safety; we have firm foothold."
+
+Reinhard had heard the call and came hastily down the terrace steps.  A
+concealed apartment, containing a coffin!—the words were music to his
+antiquarian ears.
+
+The three men cautiously ascended the ladder.
+
+The workmen were standing just where the huge jutty sprang forth from
+the main building, and they pointed down to a tolerably large opening at
+their feet. Until now they had come upon no room that had been closed;
+the roof of the main building was partly gone, and standing upon this
+spot, you could look in all directions through a labyrinth of open
+rooms, half ruinous passages, and through great gaps in the floors down
+into the castle chapel.  The old ruins did not seem half so desolate
+from within as from without; the blue heavens peeped in everywhere, and
+the fresh breeze swept through as often as it would.  But now a space
+suddenly appeared at their feet surrounded by firm walls, and covered by
+a tolerably well-preserved ceiling.  As well as they could judge from
+where they stood, the room lay like a wedge between the chapel and the
+space behind.  At all events, there must be a window somewhere at the
+extreme corner formed by the wall of the jutty and that of the main
+building, for from that direction a weak reflection streamed in through
+coloured glass, and flickered upon the object which was dimly visible,
+and which the masons took for a coffin.
+
+Immediately a ladder of greater length was procured, as the room was
+quite a high one, and one by one all went down in a state of
+highly-wrought expectation. In descending, there was within reach a
+wainscoted wall almost black with age.  The profusion of strange, rich
+carving that adorned it startled the eye.  Close to the ceiling a plain
+strip of wood, of much more modern date, had been nailed, upon which
+were still hanging some rags of black cloth; while the rest of what had
+once been the mourning drapery of the apartment lay in mouldering,
+shapeless heaps upon the floor.
+
+Doubtless concealment had been the purpose of the room from the
+beginning, for there had been no heed paid to symmetry of form in its
+construction.  It represented an irregular triangle, and in one somewhat
+rounded corner was the very small window whose existence they had
+suspected.  It lay so close to the chapel that Reinhard’s supposition
+that in old Catholic times the church treasures had been secreted here
+seemed most probable; all the more so as on one side five or six worn
+stone steps led down to a door in the chapel wall, which had been walled
+up from within. The window was just behind the evergreen oak, which
+pressed its thick branches against it, and the ivy had twined a tender
+lattice-work across the panes; but nevertheless the sun stole through
+the coloured glass in the graceful, delicate stone rosette, which was in
+a state of perfect preservation.
+
+It was in fact a coffin,—a small, narrow, leaden coffin,—standing out in
+strong contrast with the black velvet covering of its pedestal, which
+was thus found lonely and forgotten within these three walls.  At its
+head was a huge candelabrum, in the branches of which were still to be
+seen the remains of wax candles; but at its foot was a footstool, upon
+which lay a mandolin, its strings all broken.  It had been an old
+instrument in the hands of its last possessor, for the black colour of
+its neck was worn away in spots, and the sounding-board was slightly
+hollowed where the player had pressed her little fingers. At the
+approach of the intruders the last fragments of the withered heap of
+flowers fluttered down from the coffin, upon whose lid in gilt letters
+was inscribed the name "Lila."
+
+Set in the thick wall of the most extensive side of the apartment was a
+kind of press, of dark oak, which Reinhard at first supposed had been
+appropriated to the safe-keeping of the priestly robes and ornaments.
+He opened the doors, which stood ajar; as they shook in opening there
+was a rustle within, and little clouds of dust flew forth from a
+quantity of female garments hanging inside.  They formed a strange,
+fantastic wardrobe,—gay, and most coquettish in fashion, they contrasted
+oddly enough with the grave solemnity of their surroundings.
+
+She who had worn these garments must have been a wonderfully small and
+delicate creature, for the silk skirts,—most of them bordered with
+embroidery in gold thread,—were as short as though made for a child; and
+the shape of the black and violet velvet bodices, with their silken
+ribbons and tinsel trimmings, must have fitted an exquisite, pliant,
+maiden waist.  Many, many years must have elapsed since a human being
+had breathed within these walls,—since any hand warm with life had
+touched these hidden objects.  The hooks in the press had, in some
+cases, pierced the mouldering stuffs; and the threads, which had once
+confined the pearls and spangles of the trimming, hung loose and broken.
+
+Against one wall was placed a little table with a stone top.  Its legs,
+grown weak with age, appeared scarcely able to sustain it, and it leaned
+forward, endangering the safety of a casket that stood upon it.  This
+casket was a master-piece of workmanship in ivory and gold. The cover
+did not seem to be locked; it looked rather as if it had been lightly
+closed, in order to preserve a broad parchment which projected from the
+box and had obviously been arranged with the view of attracting
+attention.  It was yellow with age and covered deep,—as was all
+else,—with dust; but the large, stiff, black characters upon it were
+distinctly visible, and the name, "Jost von Gnadewitz," was perfectly
+legible.
+
+"Good Heavens! what have we here?" cried the forester, whose speech
+almost failed him with amazement "Jost von Gnadewitz!—the hero of
+Sabina’s tale of her great-grandmother!"
+
+Ferber approached the table, and carefully raised the cover of the
+casket.  Within, upon a dark velvet cushion, lay ornaments of antique
+workmanship, bracelets, brooches, a necklace of gold coins, and several
+strings of costly pearls.
+
+The parchment had fallen to the ground.  Reinhard picked it up, and
+offered to read the contents aloud.  It was, even for the time when it
+had been composed,—about two hundred years before,—very clumsily
+written, and very badly spelled.  The writer had evidently understood
+how to wield the hunting-spear better than the pen,—nevertheless an air
+of poesy breathed through the lines. They ran thus:
+
+"Whoever you may be who are the first to enter this room, by all that is
+sacred to you, by everything that you love or that has a home in your
+heart, do not disturb her repose.  She lies there sleeping like a child.
+The sweet face beneath the dark curls smiles again now that death has
+touched it.  Once more, whoever you are, whether noble or beggar,
+descendant of hers or not, let my eyes be the last to rest upon her!
+
+"I could not lay her in the dark, cold ground.  Here the golden light
+will play around her, and birds will alight upon the branches of the
+tree outside with the breath of the forest ruffling their feathers,
+while the songs that hushed her in her cradle gush from their throats.
+
+"The golden sunlight was quivering in the forest, and the birds were
+singing in the trees, when the graceful roe parted the bushes, and gazed
+with shy, startled eyes at the young huntsman who was lying in the
+shade. His heart beat quickly and wildly at sight of her; he threw his
+weapons from him, and pursued the maiden-form that fled before him.
+She, the child of the forest, a daughter of that people which the curse
+of God pursues making them wanderers upon the face of the earth, with no
+home for their weary feet, not a foot of land that they can call their
+own whereon to lay their dying heads,—she had vanquished the heart of
+the proud, fierce huntsman.  Suing for her love, he haunted the camp of
+her tribe, day and night; he followed her footsteps like a dog, and
+entreated her passionately until she was touched, to leave her people
+and fly with him in secret.  In the silence of night he bore her away to
+his castle, and, alas! became her murderer.  He did not heed her
+prayers, when she was suddenly seized by the uncontrollable longing for
+her forest liberty.  As the prisoned bird flutters wildly about its
+cage, beating its delicate wings against the confining wires, so she
+wandered in despair through the halls which had once resounded to her
+intoxicating song and the delicious music of her lute, but which now
+only echoed to her sighs and complaints.  He saw her cheeks grow pale,
+saw her eyes averted from him in hate; his heart died a thousand deaths
+when she thrust him from her, and shuddered at his touch; despair
+possessed him, but he doubly bolted every door, and guarded them in
+deadly terror, for he knew that she was lost to him forever if once
+again her foot should press the woodland turf.  And then there came a
+time when she grew less restless,—’tis true she glided past him as
+though he were a shadow, a nothing,—she never lifted her eyes when he
+approached her and addressed her in the tenderest tones of entreaty,—it
+was long since she had spoken to him, and still no words passed her
+lips; but she no longer beat her tiny hands against the window-bars,
+tearing her hair, and calling with shrill shrieks upon those who passed
+through the forest without, enjoying all the sweets of liberty.  She no
+longer fled madly, like some hunted thing, through halls and corridors,
+nor mounted the castle wall to throw her fair body into the gloomy
+waters of the moat.  She sat beneath the evergreen oak with a sad,
+patient look upon her lily-white face; she knew of the life within her
+own,—she was about to become a mother. And when night came, and the
+huntsman bore her up the broad stairway in his arms,—she did not resist,
+but she turned her face from him, that his breath might not touch her
+cheek, that no glance of his loving eyes might fall upon her.
+
+"And one day the pastor of Lindhof came to the castle.  The people
+declared that Jost, a lamb of his flock, had dealings with the devil,
+and he came to rescue the lost soul.  He was admitted, and saw the
+creature for whose sake the wild huntsman had renounced his merry life
+in the forest, and heaven itself.  Her beauty and purity touched him.
+He spoke to her in gentle tones, and her heart, paralyzed with
+suffering, melted at his addresses. For the sake of the child that was
+to come, she was baptized, and the unholy tie that had bound her to her
+lover was hallowed by the sanction of the church.  And when her dark
+hour of pain had passed, she pressed her cold lips upon the brow of her
+child, and, with that kiss, her spirit burst its bonds,—she was free,
+free!  The triumph of that moment transfigured the earthly tenement from
+which the soul had departed.  The wretched man saw those glorious eyes
+darken in death; he writhed at her feet in an agony of remorse and
+despair, and implored her in vain for only one last glance of love.
+
+"The boy was christened, and received his father’s name,—my baptismal
+name.  I gazed with a shudder into his eyes,—they are my eyes.  Together
+we have murdered her. My old servant, Simon, has taken the boy away.  I
+cannot live for him.  Simon says, and the pastor also, that no woman can
+be found willing to nourish my child at her breast, for, in the eyes of
+the people I am lost,—doomed eternally to hell-torments.  The wife of my
+forester, Ferber, has adopted the child without knowing whence it
+comes——"
+
+Here the reader paused, and looked up over the parchment at the
+brothers.  The forester, who, until now, had been leaning against the
+opposite wall listening with the greatest attention, suddenly stood by
+his side, and clutched his arm convulsively.  The colour left his
+sun-burnt cheeks for one moment.  It seemed as if his heart ceased to
+beat, so great was his agitation.  And Ferber also drew near, testifying
+in his face and gestures extreme surprise.
+
+"Go on, go on!" cried the forester at last, in stifled accents.
+
+"Simon laid him upon the threshold of the forest lodge," Reinhard read
+further, "and to-day he saw Ferber’s wife kissing and tending him like
+her own little girl.  By the laws of my family, he has no claim upon the
+Gnadewitz estate, but my maternal inheritance will preserve him from
+want.  My directions I have confided, in a sealed packet, deposited in
+the town-house at L——, to the public authorities.  They will
+substantiate his claim to be my son and heir.  May he, as Hans Jost von
+Gnadewitz, found a new race.  The Almighty will provide kind hearts to
+protect his youth,—I cannot.
+
+"Everything which adorned that lovely form in happier days shall
+surround it in death, and yield to the same decay.  Her child has a
+claim upon her jewels, but my heart revolts at the thought that what has
+rested upon her dazzling brow, her pure neck, may perhaps be torn
+asunder and desecrated by faithless hands.  Better to leave all here to
+fade and fall to ruin.
+
+"Once more I implore you, whom chance may lead to this sanctuary, after
+the lapse of centuries perhaps,—honour the dead, and pray for me,
+
+"JOST VON GNADEWITZ."
+
+
+The two brothers clasped each other’s hands, and, without a word,
+approached the coffin.  In their veins flowed the blood of that strange
+being who had once kindled to a flame the heart of the fierce, proud
+lord of the castle,—of that woman whose ardent soul, thirsting for
+freedom, exultingly fled from the idolized body which had crumbled to a
+little heap of ashes here in its narrow leaden tomb.  Two tall figures
+stood there, descendants of him who, with his dying mother’s
+consecrating kiss upon his brow, was borne out into the forest, and laid
+upon the low threshold of a servant, while his nobly-born father,
+despair in his heart, rushed madly to death.
+
+"She was the mother of our race," Ferber said at last, with much
+emotion, to Reinhard.  "We are the descendants of the foundling whose
+parentage has been a mystery until this hour, for the papers which would
+have established him in his rights were destroyed when the townhouse at
+L—— was burned down.  We must suspend work here for a few days," he
+said, turning to one of the masons, who, prompted by a pardonable
+curiosity, had descended the ladder half way, and, from this post of
+observation, had listened in speechless amazement to the unfolding of a
+tale which would afford a subject for winter evenings in the large,
+peasant spinning-rooms, for a long time to come.
+
+"Instead, you must prepare a grave to-morrow in the church-yard at
+Lindhof," the forester called up to him; "I will speak to the pastor
+about it afterwards."
+
+He went again to the press, and looked at the garments that had once
+enveloped the delicate limbs of the gypsy maiden, and had evidently been
+adjusted with great care, that they might recall the times when they had
+been seen upon the beautiful Lila by the enraptured eyes of her lover.
+Upon the floor of the press were ranged shoes.  The forester took up a
+pair of them; they were scarcely longer than the width of his broad
+hand,—only Cinderella’s feet could ever have worn them.
+
+"I will take these to Elsie," he said, smiling, holding them carefully
+between his forefinger and thumb, "she will be surprised to find what a
+Liliputian her ancestress was."
+
+Meanwhile Ferber, after brushing the dust from the mandolin, took it
+carefully under his arm, while Reinhard closed the jewel-box and lifted
+it from the table by the exquisitely wrought handle on the lid.  Thus
+the three men ascended the ladder again.  Arrived at the top, all the
+boards that they could procure were placed over the opening, so as to
+afford a temporary protection from wind and rain, and then they
+descended from their perilous position upon the summit of the ruin.
+
+Below, the ladies had been awaiting them for some time, in a state of
+great expectation, and were not a little surprised at the strange
+procession that descended the ladder.  But not one word did they learn
+of what had been seen or heard, until the whole party were once more
+seated beneath the linden.  Then Reinhard placed the casket upon the
+table, described minutely the hidden apartment and its contents, and, at
+last producing the parchment, read again what we have already learned;
+of course with far greater fluency than before.
+
+In breathless silence the ladies listened to these outpourings of a
+passionate, burning heart.  Elizabeth sat pale and still; but when
+Reinhard came to the words that suddenly threw such a glare of light
+upon the dim past of her family, she started up, and her eyes rested in
+speechless surprise upon the smiling face of her uncle, who was
+observing her narrowly.  Even Frau Ferber sat for awhile after the
+reader had finished, fairly dumb with amazement.  To her clear, calm
+mind, accustomed to reason carefully, this romantic solution of family
+questions, which had been unanswered for centuries, was almost
+incomprehensible.  But Miss Mertens, to whom the whole bearing of the
+discovery was explained by Ferber, as she did not even know the story of
+the foundling, clapped her hands above her head at such a revelation.
+
+"And does not this parchment give you a claim to your inheritance?" she
+asked quickly and eagerly.
+
+"Undoubtedly," replied Ferber, "but how can we tell in what that
+maternal inheritance consisted?  The family has died out, the very name
+of Gnadewitz is extinct. Everything has passed into strange hands; who
+can tell to what we may lay claim?"
+
+"No, let all that rest," said the forester with decision; "such matters
+cost money, and in the end we might come into possession of only a few
+thalers.  Oh no! let it go! We have not starved yet."
+
+Elizabeth musingly took up the shoes which her uncle had placed before
+her.  The faded silk of which they were made was torn here and there,
+and showed perfectly the shape of the foot.  They had been much worn,
+but not apparently upon the soil of the forest; the soles showed no
+traces of such contact; probably they had covered the restless feet at
+the time of her imprisonment, "when she fled madly through halls and
+corridors like some hunted thing."
+
+"Aha!  Elsie, now we know where you got your slender waist and those
+feet that trip over the sward, scarcely bending the blades of grass,"
+said her uncle.  "You are just such a forest-butterfly as your
+ancestress, and would flutter just so against the bars of your cage if
+you were shut up within locked doors; there is gypsy blood in your veins
+were you ten times Gold Elsie and though your skin is like a snowdrift.
+There, put on those things, you will find that you can dance in them
+easily."
+
+"Oh no, uncle," cried Elizabeth deprecatingly, "they seem to me like
+sacred relics; I could not put them on without fearing that Jost’s fiery
+black eyes might suddenly glare out at me."
+
+Frau Ferber and Miss Mertens agreed with her, and the former declared
+that in her opinion the press, with all that it contained, ought to be
+carefully removed to some quiet, dry place, where it might be preserved
+untouched as a family relic until it fulfilled its destiny, which was to
+decay with all else that is mortal.
+
+"Well, with regard to the press, let it be as you say," Reinhard here
+interposed; "but it seems to me that a different fate should await these
+articles."
+
+He opened the casket.  The sunlight penetrating, its interior came
+flashing back in a thousand sparkling rays, dazzling the eyes that
+looked on.  Reinhard took out a necklace,—it was very broad, and of
+admirable design.
+
+"These are brilliants of the purest water," he explained to the
+rest,—the necklace was set thick with precious stones,—"and these rubies
+here must have gleamed magnificently from the dark curls of the
+beautiful gypsy girl," he continued, as he took two pins from their
+velvet cushion with heads formed like lily-cups of red stones, from
+which chains, set thick with rubies, fell like a glittering little
+shower.
+
+Elizabeth, smiling, held a costly agraffe above her forehead.
+
+"And so you think, Herr Reinhard," she said, "that we should let all
+reverence for the past go, and recklessly adorn ourselves with these
+jewels?  What would my white muslin dress say if I should some day
+introduce it into such distinguished society?"
+
+"The brilliants are exquisitely becoming to you," replied Reinhard,
+smiling; "but to my mind a nosegay of fresh flowers would be far more
+suitable with the white muslin; and therefore I should advise that these
+precious stones be transformed at the jeweller’s into shining coin."
+
+Ferber nodded assentingly.
+
+"What!  Reinhard," cried Miss Mertens, "do you think these family jewels
+should be sold?"
+
+"Certainly," he replied; "it would be both foolish and sinful to let
+such capital lie idle.  The stones alone must be worth full seven
+thousand thalers, and then there are these very fine pearls, and this
+wrought gold, which will bring a very clever little sum besides."
+
+"Zounds!" exclaimed the forester; "let them go then on the spot,——See,
+Adolph," he continued more gently, and rested his arm upon his brother’s
+shoulder, "Heaven has been kind to you here.  Did I not tell you that
+all would go smoothly with you in Thuringia, although I never dreamed
+that eight thousand thalers were waiting for you?"
+
+"For me?" cried Ferber with surprise.  "Does it not all belong to you as
+the elder?"
+
+"None of that!  What, in Heaven’s name, should I do with the trash?  Am
+I to begin to invest capital in my old days?  I think I see myself at
+such work!  I have neither chick nor child in the world, hold an
+excellent office,—and when my old bones fail me, there is a pension for
+me, which, try as I may, I shall never be able to spend.  Therefore I
+resign my birthright in favour of the girl with the golden hair and
+Ernst, the rogue, who shall perpetuate our stock; I will not even have a
+mess of lentil pottage in exchange, for Sabina says it is not good with
+venison.  Don’t touch me!" he cried, with a comic gesture of refusal,
+clasping his hands behind him, as Frau Ferber, with tears in her eyes,
+came to him with outstretched arms, and his brother would have
+remonstrated with him.  "It would be much better for you, sister-in-law,
+to go and see about our coffee.  It is really past hearing! four o’clock
+and not a drop of the usual refreshments, for the sake of which I
+dragged myself up here."
+
+He accomplished his aim in diverting from himself all grateful
+acknowledgments.  Frau Ferber hastened into the house, accompanied by
+Elizabeth, and the others laughed.  The whole party were soon seated
+upon the terrace, busy with the brown, fragrant beverage.
+
+"Yes, yes," said the forester, leaning comfortably back in his chair; "I
+never thought, when I awoke this morning, that I should lie down at
+night a Herr von Gnadewitz.  I shall gain a step in my profession, of
+course, instantly; that yellow parchment, with its crooked letters, has
+done for me in an instant what thirty years of hard service have failed
+to accomplish.  As soon as his Highness arrives in L—— I shall make my
+best bow, and introduce myself by my new name.  Zounds! how those people
+will stare!"
+
+A peculiar side glance was directed, as these words were spoken, towards
+Elizabeth, and at the same moment the speaker puffed away at his pipe so
+vigorously that his face was quite concealed by a thick cloud of smoke.
+
+"Uncle," cried his niece, "say what you will, I know that you can never
+intend to patch up again the shattered crest of the Gnadewitzes."
+
+"I can’t see why not, ’tis a beautiful coat of arms, with chevrons,
+stars——"
+
+"And a wheel covered with blood," interrupted Elizabeth.  "God forbid
+that we should swell the number of those who revive the sins of their
+ancestors to prove the antiquity of their race, and thus make nobility
+ignoble,—nothing in the world seems to me more detestable.  I should
+think that all those who have been tortured and hunted down in life by
+that pitiless, haughty race, would arise, like accusing ghosts, from
+their graves, if the name should ever be revived, beneath whose shelter
+such oppression and tyranny existed for centuries.  When I compare the
+two fathers,—one seeking death like a coward, never considering for an
+instant that his poor child had the most sacred claims upon him; the
+other, a poor servant, taking the outcast compassionately to his heart,
+and bestowing upon it his own honest name,—then I know well which was
+the noble, which name deserves to be perpetuated.  And think what sorrow
+that haughty race has caused my poor, dear mother."
+
+"True enough, true enough," Frau Ferber declared with a sigh—"in the
+first place, I owe to it a stormy, unhappy childhood, for my mother was
+a beautiful, amiable girl, whom my father married against the will of
+his relatives, who could not forgive her ignoble extraction.  This
+misalliance was a source of endless suffering and annoyance to my poor
+mother, for my father had not sufficient strength of character to break
+with the chief of the Gnadewitz family, and live only for his wife.
+This weakness on his part was the cause of constant strife between my
+parents, which I could not but be cognizant of.  And we"—here she held
+out her hand across the table to her husband—"we can never forget all we
+had to contend with before we could belong to each other.  I would not
+for the world return to the class who so often ruthlessly stifle every
+warm, humane sentiment, that outward rank and show may be preserved."
+
+"And you never shall return, Marie," said her husband, with a smile, as
+he pressed her hand.  He glanced mischievously at his brother, who was
+still puffing forth immense clouds of smoke, while he was doing his
+best, most unsuccessfully, to keep up the frown upon his brow.
+
+"Ah! my fine plans," he sighed at last, with a comical look of
+disappointment.  "Elsie, you are a cruel, foolish creature.  You forget
+what a fine life we should lead, if I had a position at court, and you
+were a fine lady.  There, does not that tempt you?"
+
+Elizabeth shook her head, smilingly, but most decidedly
+
+"And who knows," added Miss Mertens, "but that, before we could turn
+round, some noble knight, of stainless lineage, would bear away from old
+Gnadeck our high-born Elsie as his wife!"
+
+"Do you think I would go with him?" cried Elizabeth, indignantly, her
+cheeks aglow.
+
+"And why not?—if you loved him."
+
+"No, never," replied the girl in a suppressed voice, "not even if I
+loved him,—for I should then be all the more wretched in the
+consciousness that the prestige of my name had weighed heavier in the
+balance than my heart, that in the eyes of that man all aspiration after
+spiritual elevation and moral excellence was worthless in comparison
+with a phantom, which the miserable prejudices of men had tricked out
+with tinsel."
+
+Frau Ferber gazed with surprise at her daughter, whose face showed
+evident signs of deep emotion.  The forester, on the other hand, held
+his pipe firmly between his teeth, and clapped his hands loudly.
+
+"Elsie, child of gold!" he cried at last, "give me your hand! that’s my
+brave girl! true metal, through and through!  Yes, I say, too, God keep
+me from swelling the number of those who give up an honest name for the
+sake of their own personal advantage.  No, Adolph, we will not cast
+scorn upon the parish register of the little Silesian village where we
+were christened; we will go on writing our names as they are written
+there."
+
+"And as they have faithfully clung to us in joy and sorrow for half a
+century," added Ferber with his quiet smile, "I will keep this document
+for this fellow," and he laid his hand upon little Ernst’s curly head,
+"until his judgment is clear and ripe.  I cannot and must not decide for
+him, but I trust I shall train him so that he will prefer to carve out a
+path for himself by his own energy, rather than to lie idly in the
+hot-bed of old traditions and wrongs enjoying privileges which should be
+the reward only of lofty endeavour.  The Gnadewitzes in their long
+career added nothing to the world, but took much from it; let them
+moulder in their graves, and their high-sounding, undeserved titles with
+them!"
+
+"Selah!" cried the forester, knocking the ashes from his pipe.  "And now
+let us go," he said to his brother, "and advise with the Lindhof pastor.
+A spot beneath the beautiful lindens in our village church-yard seems to
+me infinitely preferable to those three gloomy walls, within which the
+mother of our line has lain for so long; and that the ’dark, cold
+ground’ may not touch her coffin, let us have a grave built in the earth
+and closed with a tombstone."
+
+He departed, accompanied by Ferber and Reinhard, and, whilst her mother
+and Miss Mertens were putting the jewel-box away in a place of security,
+Elizabeth climbed the ladder placed against the ruined jutty, pushed
+aside the boards, and descended into the secret chamber.  A slender ray
+of the setting sun touched a ruby pane in the little window and threw a
+bloody stain upon the name "Lila," on the lid of the coffin.  Elizabeth,
+with head bowed and hands clasped, stood for a long while beside the
+lonely bier, whereon that burning heart had slept undisturbed since the
+moment when death had stilled its wild beating and ended its sorrow.
+Centuries had flown by, effacing, as if they had never existed, all the
+transporting charm of that short life,—all the stormy emotion which had
+worked its ruin,—and yet the young heart that was throbbing restlessly
+in that chamber of death beside that bier, fancied that the emotions
+causing it to throb so wildly could never die.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+The news of the occurrence at Gnadeck had reached Lindhof Castle even
+before Reinhard returned thither. The masons on their way home to the
+village had related the wonderful story to a servant whom they met in
+the park, and the tale had flashed like lightning from mouth to mouth
+until it reached the boudoir of the ladies of the castle, where it
+produced the effect almost of a bombshell.
+
+One of the favourite themes of the baroness had always been her own
+infallibility with regard to blue blood.  She maintained that by means
+of a very delicate and sensitive organization she could recognize the
+existence of this life-giving stream even in people whose names she did
+not know.  It was thus only natural that she should be able to detect
+immediately every noble drop happening to flow in plebeian veins.  She
+always had admitted that "the little Ferber" had something distinguished
+in her appearance in right of the noble descent of her mother. But with
+regard to the forester, that delicate perception of hers had been so
+much at fault that she had never dreamed of acknowledging his bow except
+by an almost imperceptible inclination of the head, which was all she
+deigned to bestow upon people of so low a rank in life.  Why, in her
+noble rage at the rude blasphemer, who could forbid his ward, Bertha, to
+attend the Bible-class at the castle, she had often gone so far as to
+declare that she could detect his low origin a hundred paces off.  And
+this was the man to bring to nought her reputation for this keen
+perception of aristocracy!  He was the descendant of a lofty line,—the
+possessor of a name which, centuries back, had glowed in all the light
+of feudal splendour!
+
+To be sure, there was great consolation for her in the thought that two
+centuries of ignoble marriages had rendered the noble blood very
+difficult to recognize.  She declared as much very earnestly to Fräulein
+von Walde, who, reclining upon her lounge, was observing the baroness’
+agitation with a slight, rather contemptuous, smile.  Personal interest
+in Fräulein Ferber, or the more unprejudiced mind of the younger lady,
+may have prompted some little reproof to her cousin; at all events she
+lifted her head and said quickly, not without a slight appearance of
+irritation: "Pardon me, Amalie, but that is a mistake. I know for a
+certainty that the wife of the forester’s clerk is not the only
+nobly-born person who has married into the Ferber family.  They have
+always been a fine, remarkably intellectual race, whose personal
+advantages have often conquered the prejudices of birth.  I really do
+not believe that there have been more plebeian marriages in their family
+than can be found in the pedigree of the Lessens, and you would hardly
+maintain that there is not a drop of genuine noble blood in Bella’s
+veins."
+
+A delicate colour flickered over the elder lady’s faded cheek, and the
+glance which she directed towards her companion from beneath her
+half-closed eyelids, was anything but gentle or amiable.  A sickly smile
+still hovered upon her lips.  Since the previous day she had, to her
+horror, frequently felt the ground tremble beneath her feet.  It was
+actually terrifying suddenly to meet with contradiction in a quarter
+where for years she had found only complete adherence and blind
+submission.
+
+She was, however, quite right in attributing the change in Helene’s
+demeanour not only to the "unhappy" influence exercised upon her by her
+brother, but far more to her own son, who had conducted himself so
+strangely during the last few days.  Helene’s was, in reality, a noble
+nature, capable of appreciating all that was lofty and honourable, and
+animated by the purest desire for the good and true; but she had been
+accustomed from childhood to consider herself as the centre of the
+loving care and attention of all around her.  Notwithstanding her
+physical infirmity, she had never known the bitterness of being
+slighted.  That she might forget her weakness, every one around her made
+her the object of marked attention. While she knew that she could never
+occupy a wife’s position, her heart, overflowing with tenderness, had
+joyously welcomed a first love; and although, when alone, she might
+bewail with tears the neglect of nature, which had denied her the
+crowning joys of life, still she possessed the blissful conviction that
+her love was returned.  Hollfeld’s constant attentions, his frequent
+sojourn at Lindhof, his continual expressions of tenderness, were well
+calculated to plant this conviction ineradicably in her mind.
+
+Suddenly he had appeared altered and constrained in her presence, and
+neglected her in the most unaccountable manner.  She suffered greatly;
+her inner self revolted; insulted feminine dignity, an irritation
+hitherto unknown, and devoted affection, were all at war within her; she
+was yet far from that height to which, early or late, every noble nature
+attains: resignation and forgiveness.  She grew bitter and violent, and
+she manifested this change less towards him who had caused her suffering
+than, by way of indemnifying herself, towards those whose tyranny she
+had endured for the sake of her love.
+
+Hollfeld had been reading aloud to the ladies, when the old waiting-maid
+of the baroness entered the room upon some errand, and, before leaving,
+glibly narrated the remarkable discovery at Gnadeck.  If Helene’s eyes
+had not been riveted upon the lips of the speaker, the change in her
+cousin’s features could not have escaped her.  He listened breathlessly,
+with an expression of the intensest delight.  In passing from mouth to
+mouth, the discovered jewels had come to be of "priceless value," and
+the beautiful Lila’s coffin was now pure silver.
+
+The baroness also had not observed the striking change in her son’s
+sullen aspect; and in consequence of Helene’s reproof, very naturally
+darted at him an angry glance, which was not seen by Fräulein von Walde.
+She was greatly amazed to see him suddenly approach his cousin.  He
+smoothed the embroidered cushion beneath her head, and pushed the
+bouquet of flowers in the vase nearer to her, that she might more easily
+inhale their fragrance.
+
+"Helene is quite right, mother," he said with a kindly glance at his
+cousin, who replied by a happy smile.  "You should be the last to bring
+in question the nobility of that family."
+
+Although the baroness was tortured by the thought that those who had
+been so far beneath her, might now be her equals,—nay, even rank
+considerably above her in wealth; still she wisely suppressed the bitter
+retort that rose to her lips, and contented herself with observing that
+the whole story at present had altogether too much the air of a legend
+or fable to be implicitly believed.  For her part, she should require
+the testimony of more competent eye-witnesses than the two masons,
+before she could consider it worthy of credit.
+
+A competent eye-witness was just passing beneath the windows.  It was
+Reinhard, who was returning from the mountain.  He smiled as his
+attendance upon Fräulein von Walde was immediately required; for, from
+the curious looks of the servant, he guessed that the story of the
+discovery at Gnadeck had reached the castle, and that information from
+him upon the subject was what the ladies desired.
+
+At his entrance he was immediately assailed by Helene with questions.
+He answered them in his usual calm manner, and took a malicious pleasure
+in detecting the keenest curiosity and the greatest irritation behind
+the apparently careless and indifferent remarks and questions of the
+baroness.
+
+"And will the Ferbers venture to lay claim to the old name on the
+strength of that scrap of parchment?" she asked; taking a large dahlia
+from the vase of flowers, and smelling it.
+
+"I should like to know who could dispute their claim," replied Reinhard.
+"It only remains to be proved that they are the descendants of Jost von
+Gnadewitz, and that can be done at any moment."
+
+The lady leaned back in her large arm-chair, and dropped her eyelids, as
+if she were weary or bored.
+
+"Indeed! and those treasures of Golconda, are they really as priceless
+as Dame Rumour reports them to be?"  The tone of voice was meant to be
+contemptuous, but Reinhard’s practised ear detected with great
+satisfaction that it betrayed great eagerness, and something like secret
+anxiety.
+
+He smiled.
+
+"Priceless?" he repeated.  "Well, in such cases so much depends upon the
+estimation in which such things are held by their possessors, that I can
+hardly judge."
+
+He might, we know, have told their value, but he thought, rather
+ungallantly, that a little uncertainty would prove a healthy excitement
+for the lady.
+
+The examination would probably not have concluded here, if Bella had not
+suddenly burst into the room with her usual violence.
+
+"Mamma, the new governess has come," she cried, out of breath, shaking
+back, with a toss of her head, the sandy locks that had fallen over her
+forehead; "why, she is uglier than Miss Mertens!" she went on, without
+taking the least notice of Reinhard’s presence.  "She has a bright red
+ribbon on her bonnet, and her mantilla is even more old-fashioned than
+Frau von Lehr’s.  I won’t go to walk with her, you need not tell me to,
+mamma!"
+
+The baroness put both hands to her ears.
+
+"My child, I pray you, for Heaven’s sake, do not speak so loud," she
+gasped; "your voice goes through and through me; and what nonsense you
+talk! you will have to walk out with Mademoiselle Jamin whenever I bid
+you."
+
+This reproof, uttered with considerable emphasis, causing Bella to pout
+angrily while she secretly tore a piece of the fringe from one of her
+mother’s cushions, was the result of what might have been called the
+period of martyrdom that had followed Miss Mertens’ departure. The
+baroness had been forced to take upon herself the care of Bella, and it
+was, as she declared, death to her nerves. To Fräulein von Walde she
+always maintained that all her trouble was in consequence of the defects
+of Miss Mertens’ educational system; but in the depths of her soul she
+acknowledged, that her daughter strikingly resembled in disposition the
+deceased Lessen,—among whose characteristics an indomitable obstinacy
+and a determined proclivity to a perpetual _dolce far niente_, were the
+most prominent.  She was, however, far from admitting that any injustice
+had been done to Miss Mertens; that person had been paid to educate her
+daughter, and consequently should have known, without ever acting in
+opposition to the mother’s views, or reproving the child, how to correct
+all her faults.  Therefore, the glimpse that she had just had perforce
+of Bella’s character, was of no advantage for the new governess; the
+unfortunate French woman, with the gay ribbons on her bonnet, had no
+presentiment of the joyless days that awaited her. Just now, her arrival
+removed a weight from the mind of the baroness, to whom nothing could
+have been less desirable than a dispute at present between teacher and
+pupil, and hence her rebuke of Bella’s impertinent remarks.
+
+The baroness arose and went to her apartments, accompanied by her sullen
+daughter, to receive the stranger. At the same time, Reinhard departed.
+
+"Do you wish me to go on reading, Helene?" asked Hollfeld, after the
+three had left the room.  As he took up the newspaper his manner was
+almost caressing.
+
+"By and by," she replied with hesitation, looking at him searchingly,
+with a kind of timid anxiety in her eyes. "I should like to ask you, now
+that we are once more alone together, to tell me what has changed you so
+during these last few days.  You know, Emil, that it pains me deeply
+when you refuse to let me share in what delights or troubles you.  You
+know that it is not idle curiosity which leads me to pry into your
+affairs, but a sincere and heartfelt interest in your weal or woe.  You
+see how I suffer from your reserve.  Tell me frankly if I have done
+anything to make you think me unworthy of your confidence."
+
+She stretched out her hands towards him as if in entreaty.  The gentle
+melancholy in the tones of her voice would have melted a stone.
+
+Hollfeld crushed and twisted the rustling newspaper uneasily in his
+hands.  He held down his head, and avoided meeting the pure, frank gaze
+of the poor girl. Any one with any knowledge of the world could not have
+failed to perceive in his attitude, and in the restless eyes that sought
+the ground, the crafty plotter endeavouring to hit upon some device by
+which to deceive.  To Helene’s innocent, loving eyes, the lofty figure,
+slightly leaning forward, the face beneath the thick, light curls,
+rather suggested a thoughtful Apollo.
+
+"You will always have my confidence, Helene," he broke silence at last.
+"You are indeed the only being in the world in whom I can
+confide,"—Helene’s eyes sparkled at these words, the poor child was so
+proud of the distinction,—"but there are obligations in life whose
+existence we can hardly acknowledge to ourselves, far less have the
+courage to confess to others."
+
+Fräulein von Walde sat upright, in eager expectation.
+
+"I am forced," Hollfeld continued, with a stammer, "to adopt a certain
+resolution, and it has been weighing heavily upon me for days."
+
+He looked up to see what impression his words had made.
+
+Helene seemed to have no suspicion of what he was about to say, for she
+never changed her attitude, and looked as if she would have read the
+words upon his lips. He was therefore compelled to proceed without any
+assistance from her.
+
+"You know, Helene," he slowly continued, "that for the last year I have
+had constant trouble with my housekeepers.  They are continually leaving
+me, often without warning even, and I have no way of ordering my
+domestic affairs.  The day before yesterday, the last one, who only
+entered my house two weeks ago, declared she would not stay.  I cannot
+tell what to do about it; my house is nothing but an annoyance to me
+under these circumstances—"
+
+"Ah, you want to sell Odenberg?" Helene interrupted him eagerly.
+
+"No, that would be folly, for it is one of the finest estates in
+Thuringia; but I am forced to find some other way out of my troubles,
+and nothing is left for me but—to marry."
+
+If some unseen and mysterious agency had suddenly opened a yawning abyss
+at Helene’s feet, her face certainly could not have expressed more
+horror and amazement than at this moment.  She opened her white,
+quivering lips, but no sound issued from them, and, entirely incapable
+of concealing her pain, she covered her face with her hands, and sank
+back among the cushions with a low cry.
+
+Hollfeld hastened to her side, and took both her hands in his.
+
+"Helene," he whispered, in a low, tender tone,—his manner was
+perfect,—"will you let me speak and show you how sore my heart is?  You
+know only too well that I love, and that this love will be my first and
+only one as long as I live."
+
+His tongue did not stammer over this odious lie; on the contrary, it
+aided his plans with such insinuating tones that the poor girl’s heart
+was torn by a wild conflict of emotions.  If some good angel would only
+have whispered to her to lift her eyes for one moment, she could not but
+have been undeceived, for the look that accompanied his protestations
+was utterly contemptuous as it glanced at her crippled figure; and
+perhaps, in the first moments of her indignation, she might have found
+strength enough to have extricated herself from the snares of the wily
+egotist.  But her eyes were closed as if she would shut out all the
+world, and revel only in the sound of the voice which for the first time
+spoke of love to her.
+
+"Would to Heaven," he continued, "that I might follow the dictates of my
+heart, and live for this love only, for I desire nothing beyond the
+pleasure of constant intercourse with you, Helene.  But you know I am
+the last of the Hollfelds and must marry.  My sacrifice can be lessened
+only in one way,—I must choose a wife who knows you, and——"
+
+"O tell me quickly!" cried Helene, giving way to her grief, while the
+tears burst from her eyes.  "Your choice is already made!  I know it,—it
+is Cornelie!"
+
+"The Quittelsdorf?" he cried, with a laugh.  "That will-o’-the-wisp?
+No, I would far rather leave the administration of my domestic affairs
+to the most repulsive of housekeepers!  What should I do without an
+enormous income with such an extravagant, frivolous wife!  Besides, let
+me tell you most emphatically, my sweet Helene, my choice is not yet
+made,—hear me, and do not weep so violently, you break my heart; I must
+have a wife who knows and loves you; a simple-hearted woman, of genuine
+understanding, to whom I can say: my heart belongs to another who never
+can be mine, be my friend and here."
+
+"And do you imagine that any one could understand you?"
+
+"Most certainly, if she loved me."
+
+"No, I could not,—never, never!"  She buried her face in the cushions,
+sobbing convulsively.
+
+And now an ugly frown appeared on Hollfeld’s smooth forehead.  His lips
+were compressed, and for an instant the colour left his cheeks.  He was
+evidently very angry. An expression of hatred lighted up the eyes that
+rested upon the young creature who was unexpectedly rendering his part
+so difficult to play.  But he controlled himself, and lifted her face
+with a light, caressing touch.  The poor thing trembled beneath his
+hypocritical contact, and let her delicate head rest passively upon his
+hand.
+
+"And would you then forsake me, Helene," he asked sadly, "if I were
+compelled to fulfil so hard a duty? Would you turn away and leave me
+lonely, with a wife whom I did not love?"
+
+She raised her swollen eyelids, and from beneath them broke a ray of
+inexpressible love.  He had played his part admirably, and that glance
+told him that the game was in his own hands.
+
+"You are now fighting the same battle," he continued, "which I have
+struggled through during the last few days, before I could arrive at any
+fixed determination.  At first the thought that any third person may
+interfere with our relations to each other may well appall you, but I
+give you my word that shall not be.  Think, Helene, how much more I can
+do for you; how much more truly I can live for you then than now.  You
+can come to me at Odenberg.  I will guard your every footstep, and
+cherish you as the apple of my eye."
+
+Hollfeld possessed very little intellect, but he had a vast amount of
+cunning, which, as we see, served his turn better than intellect could
+have done.  His poor victim flew into the net, her heart torn and
+bleeding, her force of will utterly annihilated.
+
+"I will try to endure the thought," Helene at last whispered almost
+inaudibly.  "But what a being that woman must be who could bear with me,
+and whom I might at last learn to love like a sister!  Do you know any
+such lofty-minded, self-sacrificing creature?"
+
+"I have an idea,—it occurred to me just now quite suddenly,—at present
+it is vague and unformed.  After due consideration I shall certainly
+unfold it to you.  But you must first be more composed, dear Helene.
+Think for a moment.  I place the choice of my future wife solely and
+entirely in your hands.  It depends upon you to approve or condemn what
+I propose."
+
+"And are you strong enough to pass your life with a woman to whom you
+cannot give your love?"
+
+He suppressed a contemptuous smile, for Helene’s eyes were riveted upon
+his lips.
+
+"I can do all that I resolve to do," he answered; "and to have you near
+me will give me strength.—But let me entreat one favour of you,—say
+nothing as yet to my mother of this important matter, as you know she
+wishes to control everything and everybody, and I could not now endure
+her interference.  She will learn all soon enough when I present my
+future wife to her."
+
+At any other time, this heartless, unfilial speech would have disgusted
+Helene; but, at this moment, she scarcely heard it, for every thought
+and feeling had been thrown into the wildest uproar by the words,
+"future wife," which suggested, in spite of the multitude of unhappy
+wives, the idea of supreme contentment and bliss.
+
+"Oh, my God!" she cried, wringing in an agony of grief the little hands
+that lay in her lap.  "I always hoped to die before this; I was not,
+indeed I was not so selfish as to think you could lead a lonely life for
+my sake; but I hoped that the necessarily short period of my life might
+induce you to let this cup pass from me,—to wait until my eyes should be
+closed upon my misery."
+
+"But, Helene, what do you mean?" cried Hollfeld, still controlling his
+temper with difficulty.  "At your age, who would think of dying?  We
+will live—live, and in time be, as I confidently hope, happy indeed.
+Think of the matter, and you will see it all as I do."
+
+He pressed her hand affectionately to his lips, imprinted a kiss upon
+her brow, for the first time,—took his hat, and left the room.
+
+Outside, as the door closed upon the suffering girl, he gave full play
+to the expression of contempt that he had so long suppressed, and which
+gave place only to a look of self-satisfaction still more detestable.
+One hour before, his heart had been filled with rage.  His passion for
+Elizabeth, fanned into a flame by her rejection of his advances, had
+been a consuming fire, and had robbed him of all his boasted
+self-control.  But the idea of marriage with the daughter of the
+forester’s clerk had never occurred to him,—such a thought would have
+seemed to him insane.  He had exhausted his ingenuity in contriving
+plans to procure a return of affection from the object of his passion.
+The late occurrence at Gnadeck had given his thoughts another direction.
+Elizabeth was now a most desirable match, noble and wealthy.  No wonder,
+then, that he exulted at the news, and immediately formed the
+magnanimous resolution of honouring the fair flower of Castle Gnadeck
+with an offer of marriage.  There was, of course, no doubt that she
+would accept the offer, for although coquetry had led her to reject his
+advances hitherto, she could not possibly pursue such a line of conduct,
+in view of the brilliant prospect of becoming the envied wife of Herr
+von Hollfeld.  He was so secure upon this point that not a cloud of
+distrust darkened the horizon of his future.  It was not only his
+intense desire to possess Elizabeth that urged him on to act as quickly
+as possible,—the thought, that as soon as the discovery in the ruins
+became known, other suitors would present themselves for the hand of
+Gold Elsie, already so famous for her beauty,—this thought made his
+blood boil in his veins.
+
+Only one obstacle stood between him and the fulfilment of his
+determination, and that was Helene.  It was not that he hesitated,
+through sympathy, at the thought of how the fondly-loving girl would
+suffer,—he knew no pity with regard to her,—but he was in dread lest too
+hasty a marriage might cost him the inheritance which he looked for from
+her.  It was a case for prudence and forethought.  We have seen how, in
+cold blood, he made use of the unhappy girl’s deep and blind affection,
+and, while pretending to submit to her decision the weightiest questions
+concerning his future life, riveted the chain that bound her to him.
+
+As soon as he had left the room Helene tottered to the door, and bolted
+it after him.  And then she resigned herself to utter despair.
+
+They who have never known the hours of torture that ensue upon the
+sudden hearing of some unexpected misfortune,—hours when we would fain
+shriek out our misery into the ears of the universe, and when, needing
+the sympathy and support of others as never before, we are driven, as by
+some evil spirit, to darkness and loneliness, as though light and sound
+were deadly poison to our wound,—they, we say, who have never known the
+pangs that threaten to efface all the landmarks of a previously
+harmonious inner life, will scarcely be able to conceive that Helene
+sank down upon the floor, with her little hands plucking wildly at her
+fair curls, and her frail, diminutive form shivering as from a fever
+fit.  She had lived and breathed only in her absorbing affection for
+this man.  If a few gloomy looks, some slight neglect of his, had
+sufficed to plunge her into the deepest melancholy, and make her utterly
+careless of an event that would once have wrung her sisterly affection
+to the very soul, how much greater must her agony now be in the
+conviction that she was about to lose him forever!
+
+In the wild chaos of thought filling her brain, she was entirely
+incapable of one clear, decided conclusion. The humiliating
+consciousness of her physical infirmities, which caused her to be thrust
+out of an earthly paradise; Hollfeld’s confession of love to which she
+had just listened, and which brought such infinite joy and woe; a
+frantic jealousy of the woman, whoever she might be, who was to stand
+beside him as a wife,—all these emotions were seething in her mind,
+threatening to sever the frail thread that bound together soul and body.
+
+It was late, and night had already fallen, when she admitted her anxious
+maid, and yielded to her entreaties to retire to rest.  She emphatically
+refused to see the physician, sent word to the baroness, who asked to
+come in to say good-night, that she could not be disturbed, her need of
+rest was so great,—and then passed the most wretched night of her life.
+
+She grew a little more quiet, that is, the fearful tension of her nerves
+relaxed somewhat, when the first beam of morning light pierced the
+curtains of her room.  The thin golden ray seemed to glide into her
+darkened soul, and illumine thoughts which had hitherto been hidden in
+the wild tumult of her mind.  She began to believe that Hollfeld’s
+course was one of the purest self-sacrifice. She had never been able to
+disguise or thrust from her the haunting conviction that his marriage
+might one day become an imperative necessity, and she could not fail to
+be conscious that her idea of his waiting until she should be no more
+had never occurred to him.  Was not his sacrifice great?  Loving her,
+and her only, he must belong to another; ought she to make the
+performance of a sacred duty difficult for him by her grief?  He had
+asked her to tread a thorny path with him.  Should she draw back like a
+coward when he set her such an example of strength and endurance?  And
+if another woman could be found content with friendship instead of love,
+should she allow herself to be outdone in self-renunciation?
+
+In feverish haste she rang the bell by her bedside, and summoned her
+maid.  Yes, she would be strong; but she was conscious that only entire
+certainty could give her courage and the power of endurance; she must
+know, as soon as possible, the name of the woman whom Hollfeld thought
+capable of undertaking so hard a part in life.  She had passed before
+her, in review, every unmarried woman of her acquaintance, but had
+rejected on the instant each and all.
+
+The hour had not yet arrived at which she was accustomed to take
+breakfast with the baroness and Hollfeld; her brother always avoided
+this early meeting of his household, but she could not remain in her
+lonely room, and, as she was greatly exhausted, was pushed in her
+wheeled chair into the dining-room.  To her surprise, she heard from one
+of the servants that the baroness had gone to walk half an hour
+previously,—a very strange piece of news, but one that she was most glad
+to learn, for just as she was wheeled into a recess of one of the
+windows she discovered Hollfeld pacing to and fro upon the lawn without.
+He seemed to have no suspicion that he was observed.  His fine, manly
+figure moved with elastic grace.  Now and then he put a cigar to his
+lips with evident enjoyment, and the delicate aroma floating through the
+air reached Helene at her window.  At first the little lady was
+painfully impressed by his unusually gay and cheerful expression; she
+could not but confess to herself that youthful exuberance of spirits,
+love of life, and an unwonted exhilaration of mind were manifest in his
+every look and motion, even in the half-unconscious smile that now and
+then parted his lips, discovering his wonderfully white teeth.  There
+was no trace there of those struggles which she had passed through
+during the night; he certainly did not look much like the victim of an
+inexorable combination of circumstances.  But was not his
+self-possession the result of great mental force and a strong manly
+will?  He must have reached a height almost too lofty for human nature
+to attain.
+
+The little lady’s brow contracted in a frown.
+
+"Emil!" she cried loudly, almost harshly.
+
+Hollfeld was evidently startled, but in a second he stood beneath her
+window, and waved a "good-morning" to her.
+
+"What!" he cried, "are you there already?  May I come up?"
+
+"Yes," she replied more gently.
+
+And in a few moments he entered the room.  Helene had reason to be
+better pleased with his present air and manner; there was an expression
+of great gravity upon his countenance as he threw his hat upon the table
+and pushed a chair close to her side.  Taking both her hands tenderly
+within his own, he gazed into her face, and really seemed struck by her
+ashy cheeks and the lustreless eyes that met his.
+
+"You look ill, Helene," he said pityingly.
+
+"Do you wonder at it?" she asked, with a bitterness that she was unable
+to conceal.  "Unfortunately I am denied the gift of such perfect self
+control as could enable me in a few hours after a crushing experience to
+look forward with content and gaiety to the future.  I envy you."
+
+"You are unjust, Helene," he replied quickly, "if you judge me from my
+exterior.  Is it the part of a man to whine and cry when he submits to
+the inevitable?"
+
+"You certainly do not seem inclined to any such course."
+
+He was provoked beyond measure.  The puny, little creature at his side,
+who, with her crippled figure, ought to be thankful to God if a man
+could so far control himself as not to treat her with absolute rudeness
+and aversion, and who had previously been so grateful for the smallest
+attention, had suddenly taken upon herself to reprove him!  Although he
+had done all he could to inspire her with faith in his ardent love for
+her, in his soul he thought it showed a measureless vanity in the child
+to imagine herself capable of inspiring any man with such a passion, and
+with great irritation he acknowledged to himself that in her case he had
+to contend with most determined obstinacy and disgusting sentimentality.
+It cost him great pains to control himself, but he even accomplished a
+melancholy smile, which became him infinitely.
+
+"When I tell you of the cause of my cheerful looks you will repent your
+reproaches," he said.  "I was just picturing to myself the moment when I
+could go to your brother and say, ’Helene has decided to live in my
+family for the future,’ and I cannot deny that the thought gave me
+satisfaction, for he has always regarded my love for you with an eye of
+disfavour."
+
+They say Love is blind, but in most cases he closes his eyes
+voluntarily; knowing that perfect vision would kill him, he fights
+desperately against annihilation.
+
+Helene did her best to reconcile what he said with his previous
+appearance, and succeeded excellently.  With a deep sigh she held out
+her hand to him.
+
+"I believe and have faith in you," she said fervently. "The loss of this
+faith would be my death-blow.  Ah, Emil, you must never, never deceive
+me, not even although you think it would be for my good.  I would rather
+learn the harshest truth than harbour the faintest suspicion that you
+were not perfectly true to me.  I have had a terrible night, but now I
+am composed, and I beg you to tell me more of what you spoke of
+yesterday. I am but too sure that I shall not regain entire self-command
+until I know with certainty who it is that is to stand between us.  At
+present she is a phantom, and in her unreality lies the cause of the
+tormenting anxiety that is consuming me.  Tell me the name, Emil, I
+entreat you."
+
+Hollfeld’s eyes sought the ground.  Affairs just then did not look very
+promising.
+
+"Do you know, Helene," he began at last, "that I hesitate to discuss
+this subject with you to-day?  You are greatly agitated.  I am afraid
+that such a conversation will make you ill.  And, as I must say that the
+project which I spoke of yesterday seems more and more feasible to me
+the more I ponder it, I fear much lest in your agitation you should
+overlook its great advantages."
+
+"Indeed I will not!" cried Helene, as, sitting upright she riveted her
+unnaturally bright eyes full upon him. "I have overcome myself, and am
+ready to submit to the inevitable.  I promise you I will be thoroughly
+impartial; as impartial as if I—did not love."  She blushed as the
+confession escaped her for the first time.
+
+"Well, then," said Hollfeld, with hesitation,—he could not quite master
+his emotion,—"what do you think of the young girl of Castle Gnadeck?"
+
+"Elizabeth Ferber?" cried Helene, in the greatest astonishment.
+
+"Elizabeth von Gnadewitz," he hastily corrected her. "The sudden change
+in her social position first suggested the girl to me.  Hitherto I have
+scarcely noticed her, except that her modest demeanour and the repose of
+her countenance impressed me favourably."
+
+"What! did you see nothing to admire in that lovely, wondrously-gifted
+creature, except repose and a modest demeanour?"
+
+"Well, yes," he replied, with an air of indifference, "I remember that
+several times, when you were provoked at some mistake that you had made,
+she never altered a muscle, but patiently went over the passage with you
+again and again, until you were perfect in it.  That pleased me.  I
+believe her to possess great equanimity of mind, and that is the
+characteristic that my wife will need above all others.  I know, too,
+that she fairly adores you, and that is the chief consideration.
+Besides, she has been educated in the strictest economy, her
+requirements will be few, and she will readily assume her right position
+with regard to you and me.  I believe that she has a certain amount of
+tact, and she has been notably brought up,—a great advantage to——"
+
+Helene had sunk back upon her pillows, and covered her eyes with her
+hand.
+
+"No, no," she cried, sitting up once more, and interrupting his eager
+flow of panegyric,—"not that poor, darling child!  Elizabeth deserves to
+be truly loved."
+
+A loud and sudden howl here caused her to give a little cry of fright.
+Hollfeld had just stepped upon the paw of his pointer, Diana, who had
+accompanied him into the room, and was lying stretched out at her
+master’s feet.  The interruption was most welcome to him,—for Helene’s
+last words sounded to him so comical, in connection with his own
+vehement desires, that he could hardly restrain his laughter.  He opened
+the door and sent the limping brute from the room.  When he returned to
+the young girl he was all grave composure again.
+
+"Well, we will both love the girl, Helene," he said with apparent
+indifference, as he resumed his seat.  Helene was in a state of too
+great excitement to notice the flippancy of his tone and manner.  "Let
+her only leave you the first place in my affections.  She must do that.
+She certainly has enough coolness and presence of mind; she testified
+those qualities abundantly the day she saved Rudolph’s life."
+
+"Oh, how?" cried Helene, opening wide her eyes in amazement.
+
+The servant, who had on the previous day involuntarily let slip some
+mention of the occurrence in the forest, had, in terror at his
+oversight, instantly refrained from all further particulars relating to
+it, simply asserting that the bullet intended for Herr von Walde had
+fortunately fallen wide of its mark.  Hollfeld had heard the exact
+account of the murderous attempt only an hour before from the gardener.
+Elizabeth’s fearless conduct naturally lent her a new charm in his eyes,
+and goaded afresh his desire to win her as soon as possible.  He related
+the story, which he had just heard, to Helene, concluding his account by
+saying: "You now have one more reason to love the girl, and her conduct
+strengthens my conviction that she is the only one whom I should
+select."
+
+This was his last round of ammunition.  He stroked back the hair from
+his brow with his delicate white hand, and from beneath it narrowly and
+eagerly watched the little lady, whose head was so sunk amid the pillows
+that only her profile was visible.  The tears were gushing from her
+closed eyelids; she said not a word; perhaps she was struggling with
+herself for the last time.
+
+But why did it never occur to her that Elizabeth might fail to accede to
+Hollfeld’s wishes?  Any loving woman can answer this question for
+herself, if she will only reflect that the loving heart believes the
+object of its passion irresistible, and learns with difficulty that all
+the world does not share its conviction.
+
+The silence, which began to be painful, was interrupted by the return of
+the baroness from her walk.  Helene started, and quickly dried her
+tears.  With evident impatience she submitted to the caresses with which
+the lady overwhelmed her, replying in monosyllables to the tender
+inquiries with regard to her health.
+
+"Ah!" cried the baroness, as she shook the scarf from her shoulders and
+left it in her son’s hands, while she sank clumsily into an arm-chair.
+"How very warm I am!  That path up the mountain is terrible!  No power
+upon earth shall take me over it again!"
+
+"Did you go up the mountain, mother?" asked Hollfeld incredulously.
+
+"Why, yes; you know the physician prescribed an early morning walk for
+me."
+
+"Oh yes; but that was so many years ago, and I thought you always
+maintained that the trouble with your heart made any such exercise
+impossible."
+
+"Still, everything ought to have a fair trial," replied his mother, a
+little embarrassed, "and as I could not sleep last night, I determined
+to try once more; but it will do no good,—I have just had fresh cause
+for vexation.  Only think, Helene, just outside in the gravel walk I met
+Bella with her new governess,—would you believe it, the woman had the
+impertinence to let the child walk by her left side!  And she looks,
+too, like a perfect simpleton.  I was really angry, and defined her
+position to her as clearly as I could.  But tell me yourself, is it not
+hard that I cannot even attempt to refresh myself with a walk without
+encountering what makes me miserable and ill?"
+
+Just as she leaned her forehead in a melancholy manner upon her hand,
+she discovered that the false curls upon her temples had been pushed
+considerably awry by her bonnet.  She arose hastily, and begged for a
+little time before breakfast that she might arrange her dress.
+
+"By the way," she said carelessly, turning round to her son and cousin
+as she reached the door, while she set her bonnet firmly upon the
+rebellious front, "that fellow, Reinhard, imposed upon us finely
+yesterday.  I accidentally encountered the forester’s clerk, Ferber, up
+there near the ruins,—I congratulated him——"
+
+"Ah! now I understand the ascent of the mountain!"  Hollfeld interrupted
+his mother ironically.  "And you actually spoke to the man, mother?"
+
+"Oh! now there is no reason why I should not.  The jewels principally
+interested me."
+
+"Did you wish to buy them?" asked her son contemptuously, remembering
+the constant ebb in her finances.
+
+"Hardly," she replied with an angry glance; "but I have always had a
+perfect passion for precious stones; and if your father had not died so
+suddenly, I should now have had a charming set of diamonds, which he had
+promised me, and you would have been six thousand thalers the poorer.
+But to return to the discovered jewels. Ferber told me just what they
+were, and, when I asked him, frankly replied that they would bring about
+eight thousand thalers,—that is what that fellow, Reinhard, calls
+inestimable wealth.  Once more adieu for a few minutes."
+
+The contemptuous smile disappeared from Hollfeld’s face, as he listened
+to his mother’s words, and gave place to a decided expression of
+disappointment; he had suddenly experienced a sensation like the shock
+of a shower-bath.
+
+Scarcely was the door closed behind the baroness, when Helene aroused
+herself from her apparent apathy, and stretched out both hands to
+Hollfeld.
+
+"Emil," she said quickly, in a low voice, with trembling lips, "if you
+succeed in gaining Elizabeth’s love, and I cannot doubt that you will, I
+agree to your plan, but I must always live with you at Odenberg."
+
+"Of course," he replied, although with some hesitation; his voice had
+lost its former decision of tone, "but let me warn you that you will
+have to resign many luxuries. My income is not large, and as you have
+just heard, Elizabeth has nothing."
+
+"She shall not come to you poor, Emil,—rely upon that," the little lady
+rejoined in a tender voice, and with eyes unnaturally bright.  "From the
+moment she promises to be yours I regard her in the light of a sister; I
+will share faithfully with her, and will instantly make over to her the
+rents of my estate of Neuborn, in Saxony; I will talk to Rudolph about
+it as soon as he returns, and when death closes my eyes, all that I
+possess will be hers and yours.  Are you content with me?"
+
+"You are an angel, Helene," he cried; "you shall never repent your
+magnanimity,—your generous devotion."
+
+And this time there was no dissimulation in his delight, for the rents
+of Neuborn made Elizabeth a very wealthy bride.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+Two days had passed since the morning upon which Helene had, as she
+thought, won such a victory over herself, and had been convinced that
+the conflict within her would be quieted by absolute certainty.  But she
+had been far from fathoming the depths of her sentiments; she had
+snatched at a straw in the whirling flood, and it had afforded her not
+one instant’s support.  Only two days!—but they outweighed in suffering
+her whole previous life.  She constantly repeated to herself that the
+long desired repose that she had dreamed of was close at hand, and yet
+she shuddered at the thought of the time that must intervene before
+death should bring her release, with the same horror with which the
+sceptic looks forward to the moment of dissolution.  She became
+distinctly aware that her promise to pass her days at Odenberg converted
+her remaining years into a period of superhuman self-sacrifice, and yet,
+for worlds, she would not have retracted one iota of all that she had
+vowed to Hollfeld.  She would be worthy of his love.  No sacrifice was
+too great that was rewarded by his esteem. Poor dupe!
+
+Her nerves suffered intensely during this protracted mental conflict.
+She had constant fever, and could scarcely sleep at all.  The subject
+that occupied her whole mind was constantly hovering upon her lips, but
+she refrained from all mention of it in accordance with Hollfeld’s
+request.  He had also entreated her to forego Elizabeth’s society for a
+few days; he feared that, in her agitation, she might stand in the way
+of his wishes.  He himself had already taken the first steps towards a
+continuation of his pursuit of Elizabeth.  He had twice presented
+himself at Gnadeck at the gate in the wall, to make inquiries after the
+health of the "von Gnadewitzes," but although he had nearly pulled off
+the bell-handle the door had not been opened.  The first time no one had
+been in the house, and upon the last occasion Elizabeth had observed him
+coming.  Her parents had gone with little Ernst to the Lodge, and Miss
+Mertens had agreed to Elizabeth’s idea of not admitting the unwelcome
+visitor.  They sat together in the dwelling-room, laughing, while the
+little bell rang till it was quite hoarse.  Of the conspiracy against
+his admission the visitor of course had no suspicion.
+
+It was seven o’clock in the morning; Helene was already lying dressed
+upon her lounge, she had passed a restless, sleepless night.  The
+baroness was still in bed, and Hollfeld had not yet made his appearance;
+but the little lady could not be alone, and therefore her maid was
+sitting sewing in the room.  Her replies to Helena’s remarks were
+unheard by the poor sufferer, but there was something soothing in the
+mere sound of a human voice after her wretched, lonely night.
+
+The noise of an approaching carriage was heard. Helene opened the window
+and leaned out.  Her brother’s travelling carriage was just driving up
+the sweep, its wheels sinking deep in the smooth gravel; but it was
+empty.
+
+"Where is your master?" Helene cried out to the coachman, as the vehicle
+passed beneath her window.
+
+"My master got out at the entrance of the park road," the old man
+replied, taking off his hat, "and is coming home on foot over the
+mountain, past Castle Gnadeck."
+
+The little lady shut the window, and shivered as though she were cold;
+the single word "Gnadeck" had acted upon her nerves like an electric
+shock.  Every word that brought Elizabeth to her mind produced the same
+effect upon her that one’s imagination would experience from some sudden
+apparition.
+
+She arose, and leaning upon the arm of her maid, went down to her
+brother’s apartments.  She ordered breakfast to be served in the room
+opening with glass doors upon the grand staircase, and seated herself in
+an armchair to await the traveller’s return.  She took up one of the
+gorgeously bound books that were lying about, and mechanically turned
+over the leaves; but, although her eyes rested upon the engravings that
+filled its pages, she could not have told whether it were portrait or
+landscape that lay open before her.
+
+After she had waited half an hour, her brother’s tall form appeared
+behind the glass door.  The book slipped from her lap as she held out
+her hands to welcome him. He seemed surprised at this reception; but he
+was evidently much pleased at finding his sister alone and glad to see
+him.  He hurried towards her, but started in alarm at a nearer view of
+her face.
+
+"Do you feel worse, Helene?" he asked with anxious tenderness, as he
+seated himself beside her.  He put his arm around her and raised her
+head a little, that he might see her face more closely.  There was so
+much kindness and caressing sympathy in his accent and manner that
+suddenly it was as if the warm air of spring breathed over her heart,
+that had been as it were congealed with pain.  Two large tears rolled
+down her cheeks as she leaned her head upon her brother’s shoulder.
+
+"Has not Fels been to see you while I have been away?" he asked
+anxiously.  The little lady’s aspect evidently caused him great alarm.
+
+"No.  I gave express orders that he should not be sent for.  I am taking
+the drops that he prescribed for my nervous attacks, and he can do
+nothing more for me. Don’t be concerned, Rudolph, I shall be better
+soon.  You have had a sad time at Thalleben?"
+
+"Yes," he answered, but his eyes still rested anxiously upon his
+sister’s altered features.  "Poor Hartwig died before I arrived; he
+suffered fearfully.  He was buried yesterday afternoon.  You would
+scarcely know his unfortunate wife, Helene; this blow has added twenty
+years to her life!"
+
+He imparted to her some further particulars concerning the sad event,
+and then passed his hand across his eyes, as though desirous of
+banishing from his mind all the trouble and sorrow that he had witnessed
+during the last few days.
+
+"Well, and is all going on here as usual?" he asked after a short pause.
+
+"Not quite," Helene replied with some hesitation. "Möhring left us
+yesterday."
+
+"Ah, Heaven speed him!  I am glad that I escaped a final interview with
+him.  Well, I have one more enemy in the world, but I cannot help it; he
+belongs to a class of men whom I despise."
+
+"And at Gnadeck a piece of good fortune has befallen the Ferbers,"
+Helene continued in an unnaturally quiet voice, averting her face.
+
+The arm-chair in which she was sitting was suddenly pushed aside by the
+arm upon which her brother had been leaning.  She did not look up, and
+therefore could not see the livid pallor that overspread his face for a
+moment, while his quivering lips essayed twice to frame the simple
+monosyllable "Well?"
+
+Helene related the story of the ruins, to which her brother listened
+breathlessly.  Every word that she spoke seemed to lift a weight from
+his heart, but he never dreamed how it cut into the very soul of the
+narrator like a two-edged sword, and that all this was only the prelude
+to her announcement of the terrible sacrifice that she was about to
+make.
+
+"This is, indeed, a most wonderful solution of an old riddle," he said,
+when Helene had finished.  "But I question whether the family will think
+it great good fortune to belong to the von Gnadewitz race."
+
+"Ah! you think so," Helene interrupted him quickly, "because Elizabeth
+has always spoken so slightingly of the name.  I cannot help, however,
+in such cases, thinking of the fable of the fox and the grapes."  She
+spoke these last words with cutting severity.  Her passionate excitement
+and agitation had brought her to the point of denying her nobler nature
+and of attributing mean motives to one who had never injured her, and
+whom, in cooler moments, she knew to be all purity and honour.
+
+An expression of intense amazement appeared upon Herr von Walde’s
+countenance.  He stooped and looked keenly into his sister’s averted
+face, as if to convince himself that her lips had actually spoken such
+harsh words.
+
+Just at this moment Hollfeld’s large hound rushed up the staircase and
+into the room, where he made two or three playful bounds, and then
+vanished again at the sound of a shrill whistle from the lawn without.
+His master was passing by, who apparently did not know of Herr von
+Walde’s return, or he would certainly have appeared to welcome him.  He
+walked on quickly, and turned into the path that led up the mountain to
+Gnadeck.  Helene’s gaze followed the retreating form until it was lost
+to sight, and then, clasping her hands convulsively, she sank back in
+her chair.  It seemed as if for a moment all strength failed her.
+
+Herr von Waldo poured a little wine into a glass, and held it to her
+lips.  She looked up gratefully, and tried to smile.
+
+"I am not yet at the end of all I have to tell," she began again, rising
+from her half-reclining position.  "I am like all novelists,—I reserve
+my most interesting facts until the last."  She could not hide her
+struggle for firmness and composure beneath the mask of playfulness
+which she attempted to assume in these words.  Her gaze was riveted upon
+the trees outside the window, as she said: "A happy event is about to
+take place among us,—Emil’s betrothal."
+
+She had certainly expected some instant expression of astonishment from
+her auditor, for, after a moment’s silence, she turned around to him in
+surprise.  His brow and eyes were covered by his hand, and the uncovered
+portion of his face was deadly pale.  At Helene’s touch he dropped his
+hand, arose hastily, and went to the open window, as if for a breath of
+fresh air.
+
+"Are you ill, Rudolph?" she cried, with anxiety.
+
+"A passing faintness, nothing more," he replied, again approaching her.
+His face looked strangely altered as he walked several times up and down
+the room, and then resumed his seat.
+
+"I told you of Emil’s approaching betrothal, Rudolph," Helene began
+again, emphasizing each word.
+
+"I heard you," he replied mechanically.
+
+"Do you approve this step on his part?"
+
+"It is no affair of mine.  Hollfeld is his own master, and can do as he
+pleases."
+
+"I believe his choice is made.  If I dared, I would tell you the young
+girl’s name."
+
+"There is no need to do so.  It will be time enough to hear it when the
+banns are published in church."
+
+His expression was icy; the tone of his voice sounded rough and harsh;
+the blood seemed to have forsaken his cheeks.
+
+"Rudolph, I implore you not to be so rough," Helene begged, in a tone of
+entreaty; "I know that you are no friend to much speaking, and I am
+accustomed to your laconic replies; but now you are too cold and silent,
+just, too, when I have a request to make of you."
+
+"Tell me what it is; am I to have the honour of playing the part of
+groomsman to Herr von Hollfeld?"
+
+Helene recoiled at the bitter contempt expressed in these words.
+
+"You do not like poor Emil, it is more evident to-day than ever before,"
+she said reproachfully, after a little pause, during which Herr von
+Walde had arisen and traversed the room with hasty steps; "I entreat you
+earnestly, dear Rudolph, listen to me patiently; I must talk over this
+matter with you to-day."
+
+He folded his arms and stood still, leaning against a window-frame,
+whilst he said briefly: "You see I am ready to listen."
+
+"The young girl," she began, with a hesitation which was the result less
+of her own internal agitation than of her brother’s icy demeanour, "the
+young girl whom Emil has selected is poor."
+
+"Very disinterested on his part; proceed."
+
+"Emil’s income is not large."
+
+"The poor man has only ten thousand a year; starvation in his case seems
+unavoidable."
+
+She paused, evidently surprised.  Her brother never exaggerated; the
+sum, then, which he had mentioned, must be correct to a farthing.
+
+"Well, he may be wealthier than I thought," she went on after a short
+pause; "that is not the question at present; his choice is a girl who is
+very dear to me, very dear."  What effort this cost her!  "She has done
+what must forever fill my sisterly heart with gratitude."  Herr von
+Walde unfolded his arms, and drummed with such force upon the
+window-pane with the fingers of his left hand, that Helene thought the
+glass would be broken.
+
+"She will be as a sister to me," she continued, "and I do not wish that
+she should come into Hollfeld’s house without a dowry.  I desire to make
+over to her the rents of Neuborn.  May I?"
+
+"The estate belongs to you,—you are of age.  I have no right either to
+consent or refuse."
+
+"Oh yes, Rudolph, you are my next of kin, and should inherit all that I
+have.  Then I may be sure of your consent?"
+
+"Perfectly so, if you really think it necessary——"
+
+"Oh, thank you, thank you!" she interrupted him, extending to him her
+hand.  But he did not seem to notice it, although he was looking fixedly
+at her.  "You are not angry with me for this?" she asked, anxiously,
+after a few moments.
+
+"I am never angry when you are striving to make others happy.  You must
+remember how I have always encouraged and assisted you in such efforts.
+But here I do think you are in too great haste.  You seem to me very
+ready to plunge that young creature into misery."
+
+She started up as though a viper had stung her.  "That is a cruel
+accusation!" she cried.  "Your prejudice against poor Emil, which is
+founded, Heaven only knows upon what, leads you beyond all bounds.  You
+know the man far too slightly."
+
+"I know him far too well to wish to know him any better.  He is a
+dishonourable villain, a miserable fellow of no character, by whose side
+a woman, let her claims for honour and uprightness in a man be ever so
+small, must be wretched.  Woe to the poor creature when she finds him
+out!"  His voice trembled with suppressed pain; but Helene heard in it
+only anger and violence.
+
+"Oh Heavens! how unjust!" she cried, raising her tearful eyes to the
+ceiling.  "Rudolph, you are committing a great sin.  What has poor Emil
+done to you, that you should persecute him so unrelentingly?"
+
+"Must a man be personally aggrieved in order to estimate correctly
+another’s character?" he asked, angrily. "My child, you have been
+grossly deceived; but your eyes are blinded.  The time will come when
+you will acknowledge it with shame.  If I should try to remove this cup
+of suffering from your lips, it would avail nothing; you would repulse
+me, seeing in me only a barbarian treading under foot all your holiest
+affections.  You force me to leave you to pursue your path alone, until
+the moment when you will fly to me for consolation and succour. My heart
+will always be open to you; but what will become of that other, bound
+irrevocably to her dreadful fate?"
+
+He went into the next room, and locked the door after him.  For awhile
+Helene sat as if paralyzed,—then she arose with difficulty, and
+supporting herself by the walls and the furniture, left the apartment.
+
+Her soul was filled with bitterness, almost with hatred, towards her
+brother, who had to-day roughly and ruthlessly handled all that she had
+tenderly encircled with the most delicate fibres of her heart.  That
+heart was well nigh broken as she called vividly to mind the
+self-sacrifice which her lover proposed.  She seemed to herself to have
+already wronged him deeply in allowing such terrible abuse of him to
+fall upon her ears.  He should never, never learn how her brother’s
+prejudices had carried him away.  No sacrifice, not the greatest, would
+now be sufficient to atone for the injustice which he was forced
+unconsciously to endure.  And since her brother had so openly declared
+his opinion of Hollfeld, she would not allow that he should longer share
+the hospitality of Lindhof.  She would herself request him to return to
+Odenberg, of course suppressing her reason for such a request.  But
+first his engagement to Elizabeth should be concluded.
+
+Occupied with these thoughts, she entered the dining-room, and when
+Hollfeld appeared shortly afterward, she received him with a quiet
+smile, and announced to him that her brother, without even hearing the
+name of the future bride, had approved of her resolution with regard to
+her dowry.  She desired to see Elizabeth now as soon as possible, and
+Hollfeld, greatly rejoiced to observe her repose of manner, assented.
+It was agreed that the interview should take place at four o’clock that
+afternoon, in the pavilion.  Hollfeld left the room to despatch a
+servant to Gnadeck with a request, in Helene’s name, to that effect.
+How surprised the little lady would have been, could she have heard it
+expressly enjoined upon the servant to name three, as the appointed
+hour, while the butler was ordered to have everything arranged in the
+pavilion at that time!
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+When the servant from Lindhof rang the bell at the gate in the wall,
+Elizabeth was sitting in the hall.  She was weaving a long garland of
+evergreens and ivy, and Miss Mertens, sitting beside her, had in her
+hand a half-finished wreath of asters.  The grave had been made ready in
+the Lindhof church-yard, and in the afternoon, between five and six
+o’clock, the leaden coffin containing the mortal remains of the
+beautiful Lila was to be consigned to the earth.  If Jost’s dreaded eyes
+could have gazed upon his lovely descendant, they would certainly have
+beamed with a mild and tender light to see her engaged in preparing an
+offering of fresh flowers and green vines with which to adorn the bier
+of his idolized love.
+
+After consulting her mother, Elizabeth accepted the invitation, all the
+more willingly as it referred only to "an hour’s talk."  Soon after the
+servant’s departure, Reinhard appeared.  He looked very grave, and told
+Miss Mertens that his master had returned from Thalleben in the
+strangest state of mind.
+
+"He must have been greatly shocked by the misery that he witnessed in
+the desolate home," he remarked, "for I really do not recognize my kind
+master.  I had several unavoidable communications to make to him, but I
+saw that I spoke in vain; he did not listen, but sat opposite me,
+looking utterly crushed, evidently lost in the most painful reflections.
+He started up hastily when I began at last to tell him of our discovery
+up here in the ruins, and interrupted me angrily with ’I have heard all
+about that matter already; I pray you leave me alone.’"
+
+Miss Mertens plainly perceived that Reinhard was really wounded by Herr
+von Walde’s manner towards him.
+
+"Dear friend," she said soothingly, "in moments of great mental
+suffering we either are not aware of the external world, or the
+consciousness of it increases our pain; we cannot endure that all around
+us should pursue its customary course while all within has received such
+a shock, a shock that we cannot recover from.  Herr von Walde was
+doubtless warmly attached to his unfortunate friend, and—but, good
+Heavens!  Elizabeth, what are you doing?" she interrupted herself, "do
+you really think that looks well?"
+
+She pointed to the garland.  In fact, whilst Reinhard had been speaking
+Elizabeth had, with trembling hands, picked up two or three large
+dahlias and woven them into her graceful green wreath.  She now looked
+down, and was aware for the first time of what she had been doing.  The
+poor flowers were instantly torn from the soft green pillow where they
+had laid their heavy heads so comfortably, and treated with as much
+severity as if they had insisted on going where they were not wanted.
+
+Three o’clock had long since struck in the Lindhof church-tower when
+Elizabeth hurried down the mountain. Her uncle had detained her in
+conversation; he was provoked that she had accepted the invitation.
+"For," he said, and with some justice, "surely the poor creature whom we
+consign to her resting-place to-day deserves that we should consecrate
+at least one day to her memory."  He had no idea of what was passing in
+the heart of his niece.  He did not dream that for the last few days his
+darling had counted the hours which must pass before she could think,
+"He is at home again;" and, to his vexation, his usually obedient child
+slipped from him and vanished through the garden gate.
+
+Her feet scarcely touched the ground.  She hoped by walking quickly to
+overtake the time which she had lost, and could have cried, when her
+thin dress caught upon a bramble, and could only be extricated by
+patience and skill.  At last, almost out of breath, she reached the
+pavilion.  Both of the folding-doors were open; the room was still
+empty.  Upon the table stood a salver of refreshments, and Helene’s
+corner of the sofa was arranged for her.
+
+Much relieved, Elizabeth entered, and was leaning against one of the
+opposite windows which looked out upon some tall shrubbery, when she
+heard, a slight noise behind her.  Hollfeld had hitherto been concealed
+by one of the open folding-doors, and he now approached her. She turned
+to leave the apartment without even honouring the object of her aversion
+by a look; but he placed himself in her path, although his manner was no
+longer insolent,—on the contrary, it was respectful and even submissive,
+as he assured her that the ladies would appear directly.  Elizabeth
+looked up surprised; there was not in his voice the faintest trace of
+that impertinent tone that had so irritated and outraged her.
+
+"I give you my word that Fräulein von Walde will be here in one moment!"
+he repeated, as she again attempted to reach the door.  "Is my presence,
+then, so disagreeable to you?" he added more gently, with a tinge of
+sadness.
+
+"Most assuredly it is," Elizabeth replied coldly and decidedly; "if you
+will remember your late conduct towards me, you will know that to be
+left one moment alone with you must be odious to me."
+
+"How stern and implacable that sounds!  Must, then, my punishment for my
+thoughtless jest be so severe?"
+
+"I advise you, in future, to be more prudent in your choice of those
+with whom you wish to jest."
+
+"Good Heavens!  I see now that it was a mistake; I regret my
+impetuosity, but how could I dream——"
+
+"That any respect was due to me?" Elizabeth interrupted him, with
+flashing eyes.
+
+"No, no!——, I never doubted that!—Heavens! how angry you can be!  But I
+could not possibly know that you possessed the right to claim more, far
+more, than mere respect."
+
+Elizabeth looked at him inquiringly; she evidently did not understand
+him.
+
+"Can I do more than sue on my knees for pardon?" he continued.
+
+"It shall be granted upon condition that you leave me instantly."
+
+"What cruel obstinacy!  I should be a fool indeed to lose this precious
+moment.  Elizabeth, I have told you already that I love you
+ardently,—that I am dying of love for you!"
+
+"And I am quite aware of having distinctly told you that it is a matter
+of utter indifference to me."  She began to tremble, but her glance was,
+nevertheless, firm and composed.
+
+"Elizabeth, do not drive me to extremities!" he cried in great
+agitation.
+
+"I would especially request you to remember the common rules of
+politeness, which require us not to address strangers by their Christian
+names."
+
+"You are a very imp of coldness and malice!" he cried, now trembling
+with rage.  "Well, I grant that there is some show of reason for your
+irritation with me," he added, controlling himself by an effort; "my
+conduct towards you has not been what it should be, but I will atone for
+it abundantly.  Listen to me quietly for one moment, and you will relax
+your severity.  I offer you my hand.  You must know that I can give a
+brilliant position, as far as rank and wealth are concerned, to my
+future wife."
+
+He looked down at her with a smile of triumph.  It was so natural that
+his lovely opponent should be paralyzed with joyful surprise at this
+unexpected disclosure of his intentions; yet, strange to say, the result
+that he anticipated did not ensue.  Elizabeth stood proudly erect, and
+retreated a pace or two.
+
+"I regret this, Herr von Hollfeld," she said with quiet dignity.  "You
+might have spared yourself this humiliating moment.  After all that I
+have hitherto said to you, I scarcely comprehend what you have just
+declared.  Since you force me to it, I must tell you most emphatically
+that our paths in life lie in opposite directions; and——"
+
+"What!"
+
+"And that nothing could induce me to connect my lot with yours."
+
+He stared at her for a moment vaguely, as though perfectly incapable of
+understanding her words.  His face grew livid, and his white teeth were
+buried in his underlip.
+
+"And would you really carry the farce so far as to give me such an
+answer?" he asked at last in a hoarse voice.
+
+Elizabeth smiled contemptuously, and turned away. Her behaviour
+transported him with rage.
+
+"Your reasons?  I will know your reasons!" he ejaculated, stepping
+between Elizabeth and the door which she was trying to reach.  He caught
+at her dress to detain her.  She shrunk from him, and retired a few
+steps farther into the room.
+
+"Leave me!" she cried, gasping for breath.  Terror almost choked her
+utterance; hut, nevertheless, she once more took courage, and raised her
+head proudly, with an air of command.  "If there is no spark of honour
+in you to which I can appeal, you force me to use the only weapons at my
+command, by declaring to you that I thoroughly despise you; I detest the
+sight of you; the hiss of a poisonous viper could not inspire me with
+the aversion and disgust with which I listen to the words by which you
+would awaken my affection.  I have never harboured one sentiment of
+regard for you; but, if I had, it must have been instantly annihilated
+by your despicable conduct towards me.  Let me go now in peace, and——"
+
+He did not allow her to finish her sentence.  "That I shall certainly
+not do," he hissed between his teeth; his face that had hitherto been so
+pale, flushed crimson, and his eyes flashed as he darted towards her,
+like some raging wild beast.  She fled to the window, as she saw it was
+impossible to reach the door, and tried to lift the sash, hoping to be
+able to leap from the low sill to the ground without.  But she stood
+still, transfixed with horror.  A terrible face was looking into the
+room from the shrubbery outside.  The features were deadly pale, and
+distorted by a fiendish grin, while the fire of madness gleamed in the
+eyes that were riveted upon Elizabeth’s face.  She hardly recognized in
+the dreadful apparition dumb Bertha; shivering with terror, she
+recoiled; Hollfeld’s extended arms encircled her form,—blinded by
+passion, he did not perceive the ghastly face at the window.  Elizabeth
+pressed her ice-cold fingers upon her closed eyes to shut out the
+horrible sight; she felt her persecutor’s hot breath upon her hands; his
+hair brushed her cheek; she shuddered, but her physical force failed
+her; she succumbed beneath the twofold horror,—no sound escaped her
+lips.  At sight of Hollfeld, Bertha raised her clenched fists as though
+to dash them through the window panes,—then, suddenly she paused as if
+listening to some noise near, dropped her hands, and with a shrill
+laugh, vanished among the shrubbery.
+
+All this was the work of a few seconds.  The sound of the shrill
+laughter startled Hollfeld, and he looked up. For one moment, his gaze
+sought to penetrate the bushes, behind which Bertha had disappeared, and
+then it returned to the form which lay in his arms, and which he clasped
+to his heart.  His cunning foresight, his prudent hypocrisy, that had
+always enabled him to conceal his baseness from the eyes of the world,
+were all forgotten.  He did not remember that the time that Helene had
+appointed had arrived,—that through the wide open door the gardener, or
+any of the servants, might enter the room; his passion had mastered him,
+and he never observed that, in fact, Fräulein von Walde was standing
+upon the threshold of the door, leaning on her brother’s arm, while,
+behind them, the baroness was stretching out her long neck, with an
+unmistakable air of great displeasure.
+
+"Emil!" she cried, her voice vibrating with anger.  He started, and
+looked wildly around; involuntarily he opened his arms; Elizabeth’s
+hands dropped from her eyes, and she staggered towards the nearest
+couch.  The harsh, rude voice of the baroness sounded like sweet music
+in her ears, for it brought her succour.  There too stood the tall,
+manly form, at sight of which her failing pulses throbbed wildly again.
+She could have thrown herself at his feet, and prayed him,—"Save me from
+that man, whom I detest and flee from, as I would from sin itself."  But
+what a look met hers!  Did that annihilating glance really come from the
+same eyes that a few days previously had so tenderly sought her own?
+Was this man, with the stern, erect head, and the pale, cold brow, the
+same who had bent over her, saying with such unutterable
+gentleness,—"may my good angel whisper in your ear the word that will
+unlock that fairy realm for me?"  He stood there now like an evil angel,
+whose mission is to avenge and to crush to the dust some poor,
+quivering, human heart.
+
+Helene, who had stood as though lifeless or rooted to the ground during
+the scene in the interior of the apartment, now withdrew her arm from
+her brother’s and approached Elizabeth; she did not for one instant
+doubt that Hollfeld had prospered in his wooing, and that the matter had
+been happily concluded.
+
+"A thousand welcomes to you, dearest Elizabeth!" she cried in great
+agitation, and, while tears broke from her eyes, she took the young
+girl’s trembling hands between her own.  "Emil brings me a dear
+sister,—love me as a sister, and I shall be grateful to you as long as I
+live.  Do not look so stern, Amalie," she turned beseechingly to the
+baroness, who was standing like a pillar of stone just outside the
+pavilion; "Emil’s future happiness is at stake.  Look at Elizabeth!
+Does she not satisfy every desire that you can have with regard to the
+one who will occupy such a close relation to you?  Young, richly endowed
+by nature, of an ancient family and distinguished name."
+
+She stopped, startled.  At last the life seemed to return to Elizabeth’s
+stiffened limbs, and she was capable of understanding what was said.  By
+a hasty movement she released her hands from Helene’s, and stood erect
+before her.
+
+"You are mistaken, gracious lady," she said in a clear ringing voice; "I
+have no claim to such distinction."
+
+"What! have you not an undeniable claim to the name of von Gnadewitz?"
+
+"Doubtless; but that claim will never be asserted."
+
+"Would you really reject such happiness?"
+
+"I cannot see that true happiness has anything to do with an empty
+sound."  Her endeavour to lend firmness to her faithless voice was
+distinctly perceptible.
+
+Meanwhile the baroness had drawn near.  She was inwardly furious that
+her son had made his choice without in the faintest degree consulting
+her, or asking her maternal consent; besides, the object of his choice
+was detestable to her.  But she knew well that her interference would
+accomplish nothing,—her son would shrug his shoulders, perhaps smile
+contemptuously, and be confirmed in his resolve.  It was most fortunate,
+too, for her and her interests, that Helene had taken up the matter as
+she had, determined, as it seemed, to carry it through with an
+enthusiastic degree of self-sacrifice.  Although she was thoroughly in
+the dark as to the little lady’s motives for such a line of conduct, she
+could not fail to perceive that she was in earnest, and therefore,
+however discontented at heart, she resolved to put a good face upon the
+matter, and to play the part of a forgiving and blessing parent.
+Elizabeth’s replies suddenly closed her lips.  She conceived a hope that
+Elizabeth might put a stop to the matter by her own obstinacy; if so,
+she would pour oil on the flames.
+
+"We have to contend here with a plebeian prejudice, my love," she said
+to Helene, who had listened in amazement to Elizabeth’s answers.  "You
+may, however, have most excellent reasons for shunning the light of
+loftier realms," the lady continued, in a cutting tone, turning to
+Elizabeth.
+
+"I have no reason to shun that light," the young girl replied, "even
+should it suddenly reveal faults hitherto unsuspected, as it sheds a
+brilliant glare on the stains upon the crest of the Gnadewitzes.  But we
+love our name because it is true and honest, and we would not exchange
+this stainless inheritance for a title made famous by the tears and toil
+of others!"
+
+"Heavens, what exalted sentiments!" cried the baroness with a sneer.
+
+"You cannot be serious, Elizabeth," said Helene.  "Do not forget that
+the earthly happiness of two human beings hangs upon your decision."
+She cast a meaning glance at Elizabeth, which of course was utterly
+incomprehensible to her.  "You must bring a noble name with you into the
+sphere to which you will now belong, and you certainly would not destroy
+your own hopes and those of others?"
+
+"I am utterly at a loss to understand you,"’ said Elizabeth with some
+irritation.  "It never occurred to me to connect the name of von
+Gnadewitz with any hopes whatever; least of all can I conceive how the
+wishes or happiness of others can depend upon the resolution of such a
+poor, insignificant girl as I."
+
+"You are not poor, dear child," rejoined Helene. "Come," she continued,
+with emotion, "let us from to-day be sisters indeed!  You too, dear
+Rudolph," and she turned with some embarrassment to her brother; "you
+will welcome Emil’s bride into our family, and permit me to share
+everything with her like a sister?"
+
+"Yes," was the reply, spoken sternly, but firmly.
+
+Elizabeth put her hand to her forehead; what she had heard sounded so
+incredible.  "Emil’s bride" was what Fräulein von Walde had said; was
+she speaking of her?—impossible!  Had these people conspired to terrify
+her thus?  And he,—he who knew how she detested Hollfeld, had sided with
+them; he was standing there with folded arms, the perfect image of
+implacable sternness and reserve.  He had been, hitherto, quite silent,
+and had opened his lips only to utter the "yes," which had so crushed
+her.  Had he not, previously, endeavoured almost rudely to prevent his
+cousin’s advances?  At thought of that, it suddenly flashed upon her
+that she was now of noble rank,—that explained everything.  Hollfeld’s
+nobility could not be dishonoured now by an alliance with her; his
+relatives were, therefore, all quite willing to accede to his suit, and
+Helene’s surprise at her announcement that she despised the name which
+they thought noble, was perfectly natural; still, how they could
+possibly imagine an understanding, upon her part, with the man whom she
+detested, was utterly beyond her comprehension, for her brain reeled
+with the wild uproar of her thoughts.  One thing only was quite clear,
+she must immediately convince them of their error.
+
+"I find myself the object of a misunderstanding, the origin of which I
+cannot possibly comprehend," she said hastily.  "It is Herr von
+Hollfeld’s duty to make an explanation here; but as he prefers to be
+silent, I am forced to declare that he has had no encouragement whatever
+from me."
+
+"But, dear child," said Helene, in great confusion, "did we not see with
+our own eyes as we entered that——" she did not proceed.
+
+These words sounded like a thunder clap in Elizabeth’s ears.  The idea
+that that moment of helpless terror could be misunderstood by any one,
+had never entered her pure and innocent mind.  And now she found, to her
+unutterable pain, that it had placed her in a hatefully false light. She
+turned, for an instant, toward Hollfeld, but one glance convinced her
+that she had no satisfaction,—no concern for her honour, to look for
+from him.  With his back turned to the rest, he was standing at the
+window like a detected school-boy.  If the ladies only had been present,
+he would doubtless have extricated himself by some bold and cunning lie;
+but Herr von Walde was there, and he was utterly at a loss.  He
+contented himself by preserving an ambiguous silence, which gave
+unlimited scope for conjecture.
+
+"God in heaven, how terrible!" cried the young girl, wringing her hands.
+"As you entered you saw," she continued, averting her face, and drawing
+a deep breath, "a defenceless girl striving vainly to repel the
+insolence of a man lost to all sense of honour.  The reiterated
+declaration on my part that I thoroughly despise and utterly detest him
+was of no avail in freeing me from his presence.  I have never concealed
+these sentiments from Herr von Hollfeld,—on the contrary——"
+
+Here she was interrupted by a loud noise.  Helene had sunk back upon the
+couch, and her right hand clutched the table near her, shaking it so
+that the china and glass upon it rattled.  The little lady’s face was
+ashy-pale,—her despairing glance sought Hollfeld.  In vain she
+endeavoured to conquer her agitation.  The light that suddenly revealed
+such a hateful web of intrigue was too lurid,—its glare had the
+annihilating effect upon her hitherto unsuspicious mind of a flash of
+lightning.
+
+Elizabeth, although she was herself much agitated, and prepared to give
+further expression to her indignation, felt her heart melt with sympathy
+at sight of the little lady.  In vindicating her own honour she had torn
+the bandage from Helene’s eyes, and she was filled with sorrow for her,
+although she knew that she must have been undeceived sooner or later.
+She hastily approached her, and took the icy little hands, which had
+dropped from the table, between her own.
+
+"Forgive me if I have terrified you by my hasty words," she said
+beseechingly, but firmly.  "You can readily understand my position.  A
+few explanatory words from Herr von Hollfeld would have sufficed to
+clear me from every degrading suspicion.  I should not then have been
+forced to declare so emphatically what I thought of his character and
+conduct.  I regret what has happened, but I cannot retract one word that
+I have said."
+
+She kissed Helene’s hand, and silently left the pavilion.  She fancied
+that Herr von Walde extended his hand to her as she passed him, but she
+did not look up.
+
+Outside, she followed the narrow, winding way that led through a grove
+to the pond.  She passed by the castle, along the broad gravel-walk, and
+entered the little forest-path leading to the convent tower, without
+knowing whither she was going, or remembering that every step took her
+farther from her home.
+
+She was in a state of fearful excitement.  A wild chaos was seething in
+her brain.  Hollfeld’s offer of marriage,—his insolent passion,—Bertha’s
+sudden appearance at the window of the pavilion,—the inconceivable fact
+that Helene had received her with joy as the bride of the man whom she
+herself loved,—all these things passed through her mind, and in the
+midst of the confusion she distinctly heard Herr von Walde’s "yes."  He
+too, then, would have welcomed her as Herr von Hollfeld’s bride!  It
+would have cost him nothing to see her his cousin’s wife.  This marriage
+had doubtless been decided upon in family conclave.  Herr von Walde had
+weighed the for and against with his usual cool judgment, and had
+finally agreed with Helene that Emil’s choice would not prove a blot
+upon the von Hollfeld escutcheon.  She could be graciously received, and
+they would themselves provide the dowry which the bride was deficient
+in.
+
+At these thoughts Elizabeth set her teeth, as if she were enduring
+physical agony.  She was filled with unutterable bitterness; her sincere
+and ardent sentiments had been misunderstood and crushed under foot by
+that cold-blooded, calculating aristocrat.  How could she ever have
+imagined that he could sympathize in the least with a young, earnest
+heart, enamoured of freedom, and giving no heed to the belittling, often
+ridiculous institutions of the world,—he who found the pride and glory
+of woman only in the ruins and ashes of a long ancestral line?
+
+Several times she paused, lost in thought, and then she walked on
+quickly, heedless that she was traversing the same path along which she
+had gone in such confusion by his side a few days before.  The
+overhanging boughs and branches brushed her forehead; she forgot how he
+had bent them aside, lest they should annoy her.  The underbrush was
+still trodden down, and the stripped leaves were not quite withered upon
+the spot where Fräulein von Quittelsdorf and Hollfeld had broken through
+the bushes to reach the two lonely wanderers.  Here was the place where
+the unfinished birthday greeting had been whispered; Elizabeth passed
+unheeding by, and it was well that she did so, for there were no tears
+in her burning eyes; here where she could have wept her very heart out.
+
+At last she looked around her with surprise.  She stood before the
+convent tower.  Hers was perhaps the first human foot that had pressed
+this turf since the place had been deserted by the latest guests or the
+weary servants on the night of the fête.
+
+It looked sadly out of order; the grass had been trodden down by the
+dancers, whose tread had not been fairy-like.  The two hemlocks, which
+had sustained the refreshment tent, lay prostrate upon the ground in the
+midst of fragments of broken bottles and the remains of the fireworks.
+Above, the shrivelled garlands were still hanging between the tower and
+the oaks, while a gentle breeze swept whispering among the poor flowers,
+which hung crushed together in the air, their short season of triumph
+long since ended.
+
+It was already twilight beneath the oaks, although a golden light
+illumined their topmost boughs, and played upon the gray roof of the
+tower.
+
+It was with a slight shudder that Elizabeth became aware of her
+loneliness in the heart of the dim, silent forest; nevertheless she was
+irresistibly drawn towards the spot where Herr von Walde had taken leave
+of her. She stepped across the trampled sward,—then stood for an instant
+as if rooted to the earth,—for the evening breeze brought to her ear
+single broken tones of a human voice.  At first she seemed to hear
+something like a distant ejaculatory cry for help; then gradually the
+sounds grew more connected, and rapidly drew near.  It was a shrill,
+piercing, female voice, shouting, rather than singing, a hymn.
+Elizabeth could hear that the singer, whoever she might be, was running
+quickly as she sang.
+
+All at once the melody ceased, or rather it was interrupted by a burst
+of horrid laughter, and then by a shriek, which ran through a perfect
+scale of scorn, triumph, and bitter agony.
+
+A foreboding of evil filled Elizabeth’s mind.  She looked anxiously in
+the direction, in the dark wood, whence the noise was approaching.  It
+was hushed for a moment, and then the hymn began again, while the singer
+came rushing on like the wind.
+
+Elizabeth stepped within the open door of the tower, for she did not
+wish to encounter the strange singer; scarcely had she crossed the
+threshold, when the laughter was repeated close at hand.
+
+On the opposite side of the open sward Bertha rushed out of the thicket,
+and by her side ran Wolf, the forester’s savage watch-dog.
+
+"Wolf, seize her!" she shrieked, pointing with both hands to Elizabeth.
+The animal came tearing, barking, across the open space.
+
+Elizabeth shut the door behind her, and ran up the tower stairs.  She
+thus gained a moment’s advantage; but before she had reached the roof of
+the tower the door below was opened.  The growling dog rushed up the
+stairs followed by the maniac cheering him on.
+
+The terrified and hunted girl reached the topmost stair,—she heard the
+growl of the savage brute behind her,—he was just at her heels,—with one
+last effort she stepped out upon the roof, closed the oaken door, and
+leaned her whole weight against it.
+
+For a few moments Bertha rattled at the latch upon the other side,—it
+did not yield.  She raved, and threw herself against the oaken panels,
+while Wolf, barking and growling, scratched at the threshold.
+
+"Amber witch out there!" she shrieked.  "I’ll throttle you!  I’ll drag
+you through the thicket by your long, yellow hair!  You have stolen his
+heart from me, with your moonshine face,—vile hypocrite that you are!
+Seize her, Wolf, seize her!"
+
+The dog whined, and tore at the door with his paws.
+
+"Tear her in pieces, Wolf; bury your teeth in her white fingers that
+have bewitched him with their devilish music! curse her! cursed be the
+tones that come from her fingers! may they turn to poisonous arrows, and
+bury themselves in her own heart and destroy it!"
+
+Again she threw herself against the door; the old oaken planks creaked
+and groaned, but it did not yield to the little powerless feet.
+
+Elizabeth meanwhile leaned against the door on the other side, with lips
+tightly closed and a face pale as death.  She had seized a piece of wood
+that lay at her feet that she might defend herself, if need should be,
+against the dog.  Her whole frame shuddered at the curses which Bertha
+shrieked out, but she nerved herself with new resolution.
+
+Had she only glanced at the latch of the door, she would have seen that
+any effort upon her part to keep it closed was wholly needless,—a huge
+bolt had slipped forward, against which the maniac’s utmost strength
+could avail nothing.
+
+"Open the door!" Bertha shouted again.  "Transparent, brittle creature!
+Ha! ha!  Old Bruin, whom I hate, calls her Gold Elsie.  The old fellow
+despises heaven, and may go to hell for all I care, for I shall be
+blessed, eternally blessed.  He calls her Gold Elsie because she has
+hair of amber.  Fie! how ugly you are! my hair is black as the raven’s
+wing.  I am a thousand times the fairer.  Do you hear me, moonlight
+face?"
+
+She paused exhausted, and Wolf, too, ceased his whining and scratching
+at the threshold.
+
+At the same moment the tolling of a distant bell broke the evening
+silence of the forest.  Elizabeth well knew what it signified,—a funeral
+train was descending the mountain from the ruins of old Castle Gnadeck.
+Lila’s mortal remains were leaving the walls which had once echoed the
+sighs and groans of the lovely gypsy girl. She was borne through the
+forest, in longing for which her heart had broken two centuries before.
+
+Bertha, too, seemed to listen to the sound of the bell; for a moment she
+did not stir.
+
+"They are ringing," she cried suddenly; "come, Wolf, let us go to
+church; let her stay up here with the clouds that will fall upon her in
+the night,—the tempest will tear her hair, and the ravens will come and
+pick out her eyes, for she is accursed, accursed!"
+
+And then she began the hymn again.  Her terrible voice echoed eerily
+against the narrow walls of the tower.  She ran down and out of the door
+below, then rushed singing across the open space, and disappeared in the
+thicket whence she had issued at first,—the dog following her.  She
+never once turned round towards the tower.  As soon as she turned her
+back upon it she seemed to forget entirely that the object of her hatred
+was standing up there upon the gray stone platform.  Elizabeth caught a
+last glimpse of her scarlet jacket among the dark bushes, and then, with
+her savage companion, she was seen no more.  Gradually her song died
+away, and soon the gentle breeze wafted only the tolling of the bell to
+the ears of the lonely girl upon the roof of the tower.
+
+With a deep-drawn breath of relief she relinquished her constrained
+position, which she had until now retained mechanically, and tried to
+lift the latch of the door.  It was rusty and resisted her efforts as it
+had Bertha’s. She now discovered with alarm that the bolt had sprung,—it
+had, indeed, defended and protected her, but it was also her jailer,—for
+she could not possibly stir it; worn out at last with her fruitless
+attempts to withdraw it, she dropped her hands at her sides.
+
+What was to be done?  She thought with distress of her parents who had
+probably been made anxious by her prolonged absence,—for they knew that
+she fully intended to be present at the interment of her ancestress.
+
+Around her were grouped the mighty monarchs of the forest, their topmost
+boughs still tipped here and there by the fading western light.  Far in
+the distance gleamed a strip of light,—there lay L—— with its lofty
+castle, whose long rows of windows glittered for a few moments, and then
+disappeared in gloom.  And there towered the mountain crowned by the
+ruin of Gnadeck; but the forest hid from her her dear home, she could
+not even see the lofty flagstaff.
+
+Elizabeth soon relinquished all hope of being seen by passers-by,—and
+she knew that her feeble cry for help must die away unheard, for the
+tower lay hidden in the depths of the forest; no frequented road passed
+near it; and who would be likely to be walking at nightfall in the quiet
+path which led nowhere except to the convent tower?
+
+Nevertheless she made one attempt, and uttered a loud cry.  But how weak
+it sounded!  It seemed to her that the boughs of the nearest tree
+absorbed it entirely; it only startled some ravens in the vicinity, and
+they flew croaking away overhead; then all was still again,—fearfully
+still.  The Lindhof church bells were silent. A faint red yet glimmered
+in the west, tinging a few little floating clouds,—the forest lay in
+deep shadow.
+
+Utterly at a loss, Elizabeth walked to and fro upon the flat roof.
+Sometimes she stood still at the corner looking toward Castle Lindhof,
+which was the nearest inhabited mansion, and raised her voice in a vain
+cry for help.  At last she ceased all such efforts, and seated herself
+upon the bench which was set into the outer wall of the small landing,
+at the top of the stairs, and which was tolerably protected by the
+projecting roof from wind and weather.
+
+She was not afraid of passing the night here, for she did not doubt that
+search would be made for her in the forest; but how many anxious hours
+her friends must pass before she could be found!
+
+This thought troubled her greatly and increased her nervous agitation.
+She had passed through so much during the day, and had had no
+assistance, nothing but her own force of character to sustain her.  She
+was still trembling from the terror of the last shock.  What could have
+caused poor Bertha’s outbreak of insanity?  She had spoken of a heart
+which Elizabeth had stolen from her,—was it possible that Hollfeld had
+played some part in this sad story, as Frau Ferber had lately so often
+insisted?
+
+Such a suspicion revived all the painful sensations that had before
+possessed her.  But now, sitting motionless against the old wall, while
+the darkening heavens seemed to draw near her, and nothing spoke of life
+around save the damp night air that swept soothingly across her hot
+cheek,—now her moistened eyes bore witness that the stern stoicism with
+which her crushed heart had armed itself, had vanished.  All, all was
+over; she had broken with the inmates of Lindhof forever.  She had
+shattered Helene’s ideal, and she had thrown back to Herr von Walde the
+gift of his consent to her marriage which he had offered her; doubtless
+his pride had been mortally wounded.  Most probably she should never see
+him again.  He would soon set out upon his travels, glad to efface the
+impression made upon him by the ingratitude of the poor music-teacher.
+
+She covered her face with her hands, and the tears trickled through the
+slender white fingers.
+
+In the mean time the night had fallen, still it was not quite dark.  The
+crescent moon was reigning in the skies, where all the other shining
+wanderers appeared and went their way, never heeding that their sister
+planet, the earth, careering in space with them, contained millions of
+little worlds, each inclosing in its sphere heights and depths, tossing
+waves with their ebb and flow, mighty storms, and only too rarely a
+sacred repose.
+
+And now life began to stir in the old tower.  There was a low murmur and
+moaning upon the stairs; slight blows were struck from within upon the
+oaken door, and wings brushed the inner wall; the owls and bats were
+longing to be abroad, and could not find their accustomed place of
+egress.  And in the forest below there arose a rustling and
+crackling,—the deer broke through the thicket and roamed about in entire
+security.  From the distant east, where the forest almost in its
+primeval luxuriance descended into the valley and then again climbed an
+opposing range of mountains, a faint shot was occasionally heard.  Every
+time Elizabeth heard the sound she nestled closer against the wall
+beneath the protecting roof, as if in fear lest she should be discerned
+by some unfriendly eye gazing thence;—those hunting there were outlaws.
+
+Still no succour came.  Her fear, then, lest her parents should be
+anxious, had been unfounded.  Of course, they supposed her to be yet at
+the castle,—perhaps they were displeased at her long absence from home;
+but they would possibly wait until ten o’clock for her return.  It might
+be midnight before she was released.
+
+It grew quite cold.  With a shiver, she drew her thin shawl close about
+her, and tied a handkerchief around her throat.  She was obliged to
+leave her seat, and walk to and fro on the roof, to prevent herself from
+becoming chilled.  Occasionally she leaned over the balustrade and
+looked down.
+
+White cloud-like phantoms were hovering hither and thither over the open
+space beneath,—the mists rising from the damp ground.  Elizabeth no
+longer thought of the motley spectacle,—the ostentation and vanity that
+had filled this place a few days before.  She forgot the countless idle
+words that had filled the air, causing such a confusion of tongues that
+the old tower, instead of standing upon honest Thuringian soil, might
+have challenged the skies upon the banks of the Euphrates. Forth from
+the billows of mist floated the shadowy forms of the nuns buried under
+these walls, their features pale and passionless, their desolate hearts
+stilled within their long-flowing robes, and their waxen brows, beneath
+their white bands, haunted no longer by restless doubts and longings.
+They would fain have trodden the path leading from the world to heaven,
+had they not been so often dragged down to earth again.
+
+Elizabeth thought of those dark times, when these gloomy walls were
+erected in expiation of the crime of a knightly assassin,—cold stone
+walls to appease Him from whom has come the Word made life,—who is the
+source of Eternal Love.  Could all the prayers, breathed by the inmates
+of that living tomb,—all the masses,—the organs rolling thunder, blot
+out the stain of blood which the criminal carried to the foot of the
+eternal throne? No, a thousand times no!  He heeds no incense wafted
+before the shrine of Baal.  His eternal edicts are not reversed by the
+creatures whom He has made.
+
+What a terrible episode in the family history of the Gnadewitzes those
+crumbling ruins commemorated! And could it be possible that a being,
+conscious of a fervent desire for moral elevation and spiritual growth,
+should be duly respected only when permitted to bear that name?  Must
+she learn that a spotless life was nought, laid in the balance with a
+human device, which was, in fact, a phantom of the brain,—an absolute
+nothing?
+
+Was the superstition that committed witches to the flames darker than
+this delusion of the privileges of birth, by which many a true and
+richly-gifted human life is as ruthlessly destroyed as by the faggot of
+the executioner,—the delusion, that flatly contradicts the Almighty
+decree, which declares all God’s children to come alike from His
+creating hand,—alike in outward form, in physical structure, in the
+possession of senses, whereby both king and beggar enjoy and suffer,
+alike in the possession of that vital spark that animates these outward
+shapes?  Where is there a soul, even although it has attained the summit
+of human perfection, that is not conscious of some weakness, or a human
+being so depraved, that one good quality at least does not glimmer forth
+from the slough of vice into which he has sunk?—And can he be influenced
+by such narrow prejudice,—he, whose brow bears the impress of high
+intelligence, whose glance and voice can melt with a tenderness that
+reveals a soul alive to the best and deepest emotions of our nature?
+Could he rank the hollow form above the immortal rights of humanity,
+which accord freedom of thought and action to all?  Did not that false
+system continually crush out the highest and holiest sentiment of the
+human heart, love?  If Elizabeth had loved Hollfeld, what would her lot
+have been without the discovery in the ruins?  And if,—here a sarcastic
+smile hovered upon her quivering lips,—if one thought of affection for
+her had ever stirred Herr von Walde’s heart, and he should come now and
+offer his hand?——Never, never would she consent to give herself to him,
+with the consciousness that her unutterable love had only been returned
+when such return was no longer forbidden by the old worn-out laws of
+society.  The pain of renunciation lost much of its torture, contrasted
+with the torment that would be the result of such a life.
+
+With looks full of gloom, Elizabeth once more walked to the corner of
+the balustrade looking towards Castle Lindhof, and stood gazing in that
+direction.  One and the same star rose above that graceful pile and the
+poorest hut in the neighbouring village, casting its mild light
+impartially upon each,—or was there really a stronger gleam upon the
+spot where the park opened into the forest?  No; that light came from
+below, and penetrating quickly farther and farther into the forest,
+faintly tinged the boughs above with its rays.  It was most certainly a
+torch borne along the narrow path by which Elizabeth had reached the
+convent tower.
+
+Once the light was, for an instant, immovable, and a faint shout reached
+her ears.  She felt convinced now that help was at hand,—that search was
+made for her,—and she raised her voice in reply, although she knew that
+the faint sound could not reach the bearer of the torch. The light
+hesitated but for a moment, and then quickly came nearer and nearer.
+She could soon plainly distinguish the flame of the torch, and see the
+shower of sparks that fell from it to the ground.
+
+"Elizabeth!" suddenly resounded through the forest.
+
+The voice thrilled through her every nerve,—for it was his voice.  Herr
+von Walde was calling her in tones of unutterable anxiety.
+
+"Here," she called down to him; "I am here, upon the convent tower."
+
+The torch-bearer plunged through the thickets and hurried across the
+open sward.  In a few moments he stood upon the landing without, shaking
+the door with a powerful hand.  Several stout blows followed, and the
+old planks were burst open.
+
+Herr von Walde stepped out upon the roof.  In his left hand he held the
+torch, while with his right he drew Elizabeth within the circle of its
+light.  His head was uncovered, his dark hair lay in dishevelled locks
+upon his forehead, and his face was very pale.  He hastily scanned her
+figure, as if to convince himself that she was unhurt. He was evidently
+in a state of great agitation, the hand which grasped her arm trembled
+violently, and for a moment he could not speak.
+
+"Elizabeth, poor child!" he ejaculated at last, with a gasping sigh,
+"did the insult that you received in my house to-day drive you hither to
+this dreary ruin, and the gloomy night?"
+
+Elizabeth explained to him that her stay here had not been voluntary on
+her part, as the bolted door testified, and related in a few words, as
+she descended the stairs, all that had occurred.  He went before and
+offered her his hand to support her, but she took hold of the rope which
+served for a hand-rail, and turned away her eyes that she might ignore
+his proffered aid.
+
+At this moment a strong draught of air extinguished the torch, which had
+burnt only dimly, and all was enveloped in darkness.
+
+"Now give me your hand!" he said, in the tone of command which she knew
+so well.
+
+"I can take hold of the rope, I need no other support," she replied.
+
+The last word had scarcely left her lips when she felt herself lifted
+from the ground like a feather by two strong arms and carried down the
+steps.
+
+"Foolish child!" he said, as he set her down upon the grass outside.  "I
+will not have you dashed to pieces upon the stone pavement of that
+dreary tower."
+
+She entered the path which led directly to Castle Lindhof,—it was the
+shortest.  Herr von Walde walked silently by her side.
+
+"Do you intend to leave me to-night without saying one kind word to me?"
+he suddenly asked, standing still.  Pain and suppressed auger strove in
+his voice for the mastery.  "Have I had the misfortune to offend you?"
+
+"Yes, you have wounded me grievously."
+
+"Because I did not instantly chastise my cousin?"
+
+"You could not,—his suit had your entire approbation. You, as well as
+the others, would have forced me to accept Herr von Hollfeld."
+
+"I force you?  Oh, child, how little you understand a man’s heart?  I
+was the victim of a terrible error when I uttered that ’yes.’  I longed
+to try if it were a delusion, and to free myself from it.  Now you shall
+learn that I will banish everything that can remind you of to-day’s
+terror.  You like Lindhof?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"The Baroness Lessen is about to leave the castle. Let me entreat you to
+be my sister’s stay and support when I leave her again, when I begin my
+wanderings anew.  Will you consent?"
+
+"I cannot promise to do so."
+
+"And why not?"
+
+"Fräulein von Walde will not desire my society, and even if——.  I have
+already declared once to-day that I shall not bear the new name."
+
+"What a strange reply!  What has that to do with the matter?  Ah, now I
+understand.  At last I begin to see clearly.  Then you think that I
+agreed to Hollfeld’s suit because you suddenly had a right to an ancient
+name? Speak, is not this the fact?"
+
+"Yes, I believe this to be the fact."
+
+"And you suppose further, that the same reason leads me to desire your
+companionship for my sister.  You are convinced that aristocratic pride
+prompts all my thoughts and actions?"
+
+"Yes, yes."
+
+"Pray let me inquire of you what name you bore when I asked you for a
+birthday greeting, when we last walked together here in this path?"
+
+"Then we did not know of the secret hidden in the ruins," said
+Elizabeth, in an almost inaudible tone.
+
+"Have you forgotten the words which I dictated to you that afternoon?"
+
+"No,—I remember every syllable of them with the greatest distinctness,"
+she replied quickly.
+
+"And do you think it possible that such words can end with, ’I hope the
+coming year will prove a happy one,’ or the like?"
+
+The girl did not speak, but looked up at him with a crimson blush.
+
+"Listen to me quietly for one moment, Elizabeth," he continued, but he
+himself was so far from quiet that his voice sounded faint and
+faltering, as though half stifled by the throbbing of his heart, "a man
+who might have been regarded as fortune’s favourite, so richly did she
+endow him in his cradle with rank and wealth, mistrusted these
+advantages when he arrived at years of discretion. He feared that they
+would stand in the way of what he considered the true happiness of his
+life.  He had created for himself an ideal of her by whose side alone he
+could find real peace,—not that he required extraordinary physical
+beauty or intellectual power,—he sought a pure, true heart, that should
+be influenced by no consideration of worldly advantages, but should give
+herself to him for his own sake alone.  He gradually arrived at the
+conviction that his ideal must remain an ideal, for in his search for
+its realization, he came to be thirty-seven years old.  When hope has
+folded her wings, and night is falling around us, there is something
+overpowering in the sudden flushing of a morning light, at the eleventh
+hour.  The mind is unhinged, the long, weary waiting has rendered it
+almost incapable of believing in great, unexpected happiness.  At last,
+Elizabeth, he found the heart he had sought,—a heart accompanied by a
+clear, well-balanced intellect that was infinitely superior to all
+narrow, sordid considerations,—but this heart throbbed in a youthful
+form adorned with every imaginable grace.  Was it to be wondered at that
+the man of riper years, possessing, as he knew, no personal advantages,
+regarded with mistrust another who could lay in the balance youth and a
+fine person?  Was it to be wondered at that he allowed himself to be
+carried away one moment, inspired by the boldest hopes, by some word,
+some act on the young girl’s part, only to be cast down utterly the
+next, when he saw that other in her society? Was it not natural that he
+should fear that youth only could attract youth?  Never did heart of man
+long more wildly than his for the accomplishment of his desire,—never
+was there a man more possessed, in moments of despair, by a cowardly
+doubt as to its fulfilment.  And when they told him that his little
+idolized darling belonged to that other, he emptied the bitter cup to
+the dregs, and said ’yes’ because he imagined that she had already said
+it.  Elizabeth, I stood on the threshold of the pavilion to-day in a
+state of utter despair.  You do not know what it is, when a merchant
+heaps all his treasure, every jewel that he possesses, in a single ship,
+and sees it sink before his eyes.  Shall I try to tell you what I felt
+when you so decidedly rejected the rank which you might have claimed,
+and so made an alliance with Hollfeld impossible?  Shall I tell you that
+my sister’s condition, and consideration for you yourself, alone
+prevented me from chastising that scoundrel upon the spot? He has
+already left Lindhof, and will never cross your path again.  Will you
+forget the insult that you received in my house to-day?"
+
+He had taken her hands in his, and held them pressed close to his
+breast.  Without withdrawing them she assented to his question with
+trembling lips.
+
+"And shall we not forget everything, my darling little Gold Elsie, that
+has occurred between the beginning and the conclusion of the birthday
+wish?  My golden darling, the delight of my eyes, my own Elizabeth
+Ferber stands again before me, and will repeat after me what I say, will
+she not?  The last sentence which was so cruelly interrupted—tell me
+what it was."
+
+"Here is my hand as the pledge of an unutterable bliss," faltered
+Elizabeth.
+
+"In life, in death, and for all eternity, I will be your own."
+
+But she opened her lips in vain to repeat after him the words which he
+uttered so solemnly, with the most profound emotion.  She burst into
+tears and threw her arms around the neck of her lover, who clasped her
+to his heart.
+
+"This divine dream must not fade," he said with a sigh, as Elizabeth
+gently extricated herself from his embrace.  "Leave me your hand at
+least, Elizabeth, I must learn to believe in my bliss.  If you leave me
+now, I shall be crushed by doubt again to-night.  You are thoroughly
+conscious that you are irrevocably mine?  Do you know that you must
+leave father and mother, and the dear home upon the mountain, for my
+sake?"
+
+"I know it, and will do so gladly, Rudolph," she said smiling, but firm.
+
+"God bless you, my darling, for those words!  But you must know the
+depths of my doubt.  Is it not pity for my boundless love that induces
+you to yield your consent to my suit?"
+
+"No, Rudolph, it is love,—a love which first awoke in my heart,—does not
+this sound strangely,—when I saw in your angry eyes, and heard in the
+tones of your voice, how you detested cruelty and injustice!  And since
+that moment it has never left me; on the contrary, it has increased and
+grown stronger, in spite of all my efforts to destroy it,
+notwithstanding all the harsh words that have so often wounded it
+sorely."
+
+"Who spoke such words?"
+
+"You, yourself; you were harsh and unkind to me."
+
+"Oh, child, those were the outbreaks of insane jealousy!  I have
+struggled for and exercised self-control all my life long, but I could
+not conceal how I was tortured then.  And would you, on that account,
+have closed upon me the heaven that is opening before me?"
+
+"Not on that account,—for one kind look from you made me happy again;
+but another obstinate opponent entered the lists,—my reason.  It had
+grown well aware of everything that report declared concerning your
+incredible aristocratic arrogance, and, at every wild throb of my heart,
+dinned into my ears your reasons for refusing the alliance which the
+prince proposed to you."
+
+"Ah! those sixteen quarterings!" cried Herr von Walde, smiling, "But
+see, my little Gold Elsie, what a Nemesis that was!" he continued more
+gravely.  "To avoid annoyance, I seized upon the first means at hand,
+and, as I now know, it almost cost me the happiness of my life.  I like
+the Prince of L——, but any residence at his court was rendered, for a
+time, utterly odious to me, by the matrimonial alliances proposed for
+me, principally by the Princess Catharine.  She had taken it into her
+head that I must marry one of the ladies of her court.  No one could
+believe that the girl was entirely indifferent to me, for she passed for
+a brilliant beauty, and had broken many a heart.  All that I could say
+was of no avail; they continued to plot and intrigue, and so one day I
+cut the whole matter short by declaring to her Highness that her plan
+for me would cost me one of my estates, since, as is true, by my uncle’s
+will it was devised to the State if I should marry a wife who could not
+show sixteen quarterings in her escutcheon.  This declaration put an end
+to my torment; no such person was to be found in the length and breadth
+of the little kingdom, and all thought it natural that I should wish to
+retain my estate."
+
+"And will you suffer this loss for my sake?" cried Elizabeth, in
+surprise.
+
+"It is no loss, Elizabeth; it is an exchange,—an exchange by which I
+gain a priceless treasure,—the happiness of an entire existence."
+
+A torch glimmered through the thicket.
+
+"Halt! this way!" cried Herr von Walde.
+
+In a few moments one of the servants appeared, and was ordered to hasten
+as quickly as possible to Gnadeck and announce Fräulein Ferber’s safety.
+
+The servant hurried away.
+
+"I have been very selfish, Elizabeth," said Herr von Walde, putting her
+hand within his arm, and no longer loitering.  "I knew that your family
+was most anxious about you; that your father and uncle were ranging the
+forest in search of you, while my people, and many of the Lindhof
+peasants, were traversing the country in all directions upon the same
+errand, and yet I forgot everything when I found you."
+
+"My poor father and mother!" sighed Elizabeth, not without a slight
+twinge of conscience; the whole world had ceased to exist for her when
+he appeared.
+
+"Friedrich runs quickly," von Walde said, soothingly; "he will reach the
+summit of the mountain long before us, and tell them you are safe."
+
+They entered the park and passed by the castle.  It lay in darkness and
+silence.  Only from Helena’s chamber window gleamed a faint light.
+
+"There is a life-and-death struggle going on there," murmured Herr von
+Walde, looking up.  "She loved that wretch devotedly; how fearful her
+awakening must be!"
+
+"Go and comfort her," begged Elizabeth.
+
+"Comfort her?  At such a moment?  My child, who could have come to me
+with comfort when I thought I had lost you?  Helene shut herself in her
+room when I ordered Herr von Hollfeld’s horse to be brought to the door;
+her maid is near her.  A long time must elapse before she wishes to see
+me; when we have been grossly deceived we do not immediately turn to
+those who warned us of the deceit.  Besides, I will not enter my house
+again until I am sure that your parents will not snatch you from me."
+
+The path branched aside to the well-known bank in the forest.
+
+"Do you remember?" asked Elizabeth, smiling, as she pointed to it.
+
+"Yes, yes.  There you told me so bravely of your determination to go out
+into the world as a governess, and I took the liberty of declaring to
+myself that I never would permit it.  I had to exert all my self-control
+to prevent myself from then and there clasping my little bird in my arms
+and pressing its golden head, filled with such bold resolve, to my
+breast.  And there I drew from you the unconscious naive confession that
+your parents still held the first place in your heart.  But you adopted
+a cold, repellant demeanour, as soon as I attempted to be confidential."
+
+"It was shyness,—and I am not yet quite sure that to-morrow, when I see
+your stern face by daylight, I shall not fall into the same
+embarrassment."
+
+"It will never be stern again, my child; joy has touched it with its
+gentle finger."
+
+Soon afterwards, the old beeches which look in at the windows of the
+Ferber’s dwelling-room saw a strange sight.  A man of fine presence, his
+face pale with profound emotion, conducted the daughter to her parents,
+and then asked them to give her back to him as his future wife,—his
+other self.  The old beeches saw him take his young love in his arms,
+and receive the blessing of her agitated parents.  They saw the mother’s
+face, smiling through tears, raised gratefully to Heaven, and little
+Ernst shaking the canary’s cage, that he might awaken that sleepy
+songster and announce to him, with great solemnity, that Elsie was
+betrothed.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+While happiness was reigning in the home upon old Gnadeck, a sad event
+occurred in the valley.
+
+Two peasants from Lindhof, who, provided with torches, had been looking
+for Elizabeth, heard, as they were proceeding from their village to the
+forest, a loud growling at a little distance,—it sounded like an angry
+dog.  Not far from them lay stretched across the road a human form,
+while a large dog lying beside it, as if to defend it, had placed both
+his forepaws upon its breast.  The animal became infuriated at the
+approach of the men, and, gnashing its teeth, threatened to fly at them.
+They were afraid, and ran back to the village, where they met a party
+bearing torches, and among them the forester, who had just heard from
+Herr von Walde’s servant of Elizabeth’s safety.
+
+Instantly all hastened to the spot which the frightened peasants
+described.  This time the dog did not growl. He whined, and crept to the
+forester’s feet; it was Wolf, his watch-dog, and there lay Bertha,
+apparently lifeless. She was bleeding profusely from a wound in her
+head, and her face was as pale as death.
+
+The forester did not speak, he shunned the sympathetic glances of the
+by-standers; anger and pain strove for the mastery in his features.  He
+raised Bertha from the ground, and carried her into the first house in
+the village; it was the poor weaver’s.  Then he sent a messenger for
+Sabina.  Fortunately, the Waldheim physician was with one of his
+patients in the village.  He was sent for, and soon brought the poor
+girl to herself.  She recognized him, and asked for water.  Her wound
+was not dangerous, but the physician shook his head and looked meaningly
+at the forester, who was anxiously watching him.
+
+The doctor was a blunt man, with rather rude manners. He suddenly
+approached the forester, and said a few words to him in a slight
+undertone.  The old man staggered back as though from a mortal blow,
+stared absently at the doctor without replying a word,—and then left the
+house without looking at the sick girl.
+
+"Uncle, uncle, forgive me!" she cried after him in heart-breaking tones,
+but he had already vanished into the dark night.
+
+And now Sabina made her appearance in the doorway. A maid followed her,
+bearing a huge bundle of linen upon her head, and a basket upon her arm,
+containing bandages, provisions, and all manner of necessary articles.
+
+"Gracious Powers! what have you been doing with yourself, Bertha?" cried
+the old woman with tears in her eyes, as she saw the pale face, and the
+bandaged head lying upon the pillow.  "And to-day, too, when I thought
+you went out looking so much better,—you had such beautiful red cheeks!"
+
+The girl buried her face in the bedclothes, and began to sob
+convulsively.
+
+The physician told Sabina what was to be done, and strictly forbade the
+invalid to converse or even to speak.
+
+"Must I be silent?" cried Bertha, raising herself in bed.  "Ah! silence
+may be easy for such an old man, whose blood runs cool and calm in his
+veins.  But I must speak, Sabina, and if it kills me,—so much the
+better!"
+
+She drew the old housekeeper towards her upon the bed, and, weeping
+bitterly, confessed all to her.
+
+She had had a love affair with Hollfeld, who had promised to marry her,
+and had induced her to swear solemnly that she would keep silent
+concerning their relations to each other, and not claim her rights until
+he should authorize her to do so; for, as he told her, he must first
+influence his mother and his relatives at Lindhof to accede to his
+wishes.  The unthinking girl promised all that he asked,—and in addition
+vowed solemnly that no human being should hear one word from her lips
+until she could proclaim her proud secret to the world. The meetings of
+the pair usually took place in the convent-tower or in the pavilion in
+the park.  No one discovered them.  The baroness’ suspicions were
+aroused by some slight circumstance,—she fell into a violent rage, and
+forbade Bertha ever to show her face at Lindhof Castle.
+
+Still Bertha’s lofty hopes were unshaken, for Hollfeld consoled her, and
+referred to the future.  But then came Elizabeth Ferber, and he was an
+altered man from that moment.  He avoided Bertha, and when she compelled
+him by threats to an interview, he treated her with a coldness and
+contempt that excited the girl’s passionate nature to frenzy.
+
+When at last she became convinced that she had to do with a man utterly
+devoid of honour, the whole horror of her situation was laid bare before
+her.  She fell into a state of the wildest despair, and then began her
+nightly escapades.  Sleep scarcely visited her eyes, and she grew more
+composed only when she could shriek out her agony and woe in the lonely
+forest.
+
+At last came the end to the tragedy,—the same end that has befallen such
+tragedies hundreds of times before, and that will continue to befall
+them,—for the warning example convinces the understanding but never
+touches an unsuspecting, loving heart.  Hollfeld offered the poor girl a
+sum of money if she would relinquish her claims and leave that part of
+the country.  He pretended that his mother and his Lindhof relatives
+forced him to marry the newly-made Fräulein von Gnadewitz.  Bertha
+denounced him as an unprincipled liar, and rushed from his presence. In
+a frenzy of rage she presented herself before his mother and told her
+all.
+
+Thus far Bertha continued her sad tale connectedly, only interrupted by
+her violent gestures, sobs, and tears. She paused for a moment, and an
+expression of inextinguishable hatred distorted her countenance.
+
+"That horrible woman," she cried at last, gasping for breath, "has the
+Bible always upon her lips.  She knits and sews night and day for
+missionaries, who are to carry the word of God to the heathen, that they
+may be converted; but they cannot in their ignorance be more inhuman and
+cruel than this Christian in her pride. She wishes to root out
+idol-worship, and sets up herself for an idol, surrounding herself by a
+crowd of fawning, flattering hypocrites, who declare that she is one of
+the elect,—not as other people are.  Woe to the upright, honest man who
+refuses to consider her as such,—his crime is blasphemy!  She thrust me
+from her doors, and threatened to have the dogs hunt me from the park,
+if I ever showed my face there again.  From that time I do not know what
+became of me," she said, sinking back exhausted among the pillows, and
+pressing her hands upon her aching forehead.  "I only know that I awaked
+and saw the doctor’s face bending over me.  He told my uncle of my
+disgrace,—I heard him.  What will become of me!"
+
+Sabina had listened to this confession with horror and grief.  She had
+always advocated the strictest purity and decorum, and had been, as
+Bertha well knew, a stern and inflexible judge in such unhappy cases as
+that of the wretched girl.  But her heart was full of love and pity.
+She looked down upon the crushed sinner before her with tears of
+compassion, and soothed the weary head upon her kind old breast.  She
+was rewarded by seeing the poor girl fall asleep in her arms, like a
+child worn out with weeping.
+
+Soon nothing was heard in the little room but the quiet breathing of the
+sick girl and the ticking of the clock. Sabina put on her spectacles,
+drew an old worn copy of the New Testament from her basket, and watched
+faithfully by the bedside until the bright dawn looked in at the
+windows.
+
+Bertha did not die, as she had hoped to do in consequence of her
+agitating confession.  On the contrary, she recovered very quickly,
+nursed and tended by Sabina and Frau Ferber.  There was no return of her
+insanity.  The wound in her head, which had been caused by a fall upon a
+sharp stone, had produced a most beneficial result in the copious loss
+of blood which had ensued.
+
+The forester was beside himself at the disgrace which Bertha had brought
+beneath his honest roof.  For some days he would not even listen to his
+brother’s calm, soothing words.  After Sabina had communicated to him
+Bertha’s confession, he rode to Odenberg to call "the worthless
+scoundrel to account;" but the servants there informed him, shrugging
+their shoulders, that their master had started upon a journey; they
+could not tell whither, or when he would return.  Herr von Walde’s
+search for him was also without result.
+
+Bertha herself declared that she would never again hear of her betrayer,
+whom she now regarded with a hate as fervent as had been her love.  A
+few weeks after her recovery she left the weaver’s hut,—she never again
+entered the Lodge,—to go to America.  But she did not go alone.  One of
+her uncle’s assistants, a fine young fellow, begged for his dismissal,
+because he had always loved Bertha in silence, and could not find it in
+his heart to let her go alone into the wide world.  She had promised to
+be his.  They were to be married in Bremen, and sail thence for the New
+World, where he would lead a farmer’s life.  Herr von Walde provided the
+pair with a considerable sum of money; and, at Frau Ferber’s and
+Elizabeth’s request, the forester silently consented that Sabina should
+rob the overflowing store of linen that his deceased wife had
+accumulated, to furnish the household of the emigrants.
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
+
+Upon a gloomy autumn day a well-packed travelling carriage left Castle
+Lindhof and slowly rolled towards L——.  Her haughty arrogance all
+vanished, the baroness sat huddled together in one corner of it.  Her
+brilliant part at Lindhof was played; she was reluctantly returning to
+her small rooms and reduced circumstances.
+
+"Mamma," said Bella, in her shrill, childish accents, as she opened and
+shut the carriage window and drummed against the seat with her feet,
+"does the castle belong now to Elizabeth Ferber?  Will she drive in our
+beautiful carriage with the white damask cushions?  Can she go into your
+room whenever she pleases and sit in the embroidered arm-chairs?  Old
+Lorenz says that she will be the mistress there now, and that all her
+orders must be obeyed."
+
+"Child, do not torment me so with your chatter," groaned the baroness,
+burying her face in her pocket-handkerchief.
+
+"It is very unkind of Uncle Rudolph to send us away," the child
+continued, without heeding what her mother said.  "You know we have no
+silver dishes to eat from in B——, have we, mamma?  Shall we dine at a
+restaurant, mamma? and will you dress your own hair while Caroline
+washes and irons?  Why——"
+
+"Silence!" her mother interrupted the flood of speech that so tormented
+her.
+
+Bella cowered terrified in a corner, and did not look up until the
+carriage was rolling over the stone pavement of L——.  The baroness cast
+a hasty glance at the Princely castle, then drew her veil over her face
+and burst into tears.
+
+In consequence of Bertha’s confession there had been a stormy interview
+between Herr von Walde and the baroness, which had ended in the
+departure of the latter. Helene repulsed her with aversion when she
+appealed to her, and she was forced to enter the travelling carriage,
+which appeared punctually before the castle at the hour appointed by its
+master.  There was one consoling drop in her cup of misfortune,—Herr von
+Walde had provided the means for Bella’s education, upon condition that
+it should be more sensibly conducted than heretofore.
+
+Almost at the same hour in which the Baroness Lessen was leaving Lindhof
+forever, the Countess von Falkenberg presented herself in the boudoir of
+the princess, who had returned with her husband a few days before from
+the baths.
+
+The countess made as profound an obeisance as her uncertain limbs would
+permit, but showed a degree of haste that she would have stigmatized in
+another as contrary to all rules of etiquette.  She held an open letter
+in her hand, which had been somewhat crushed by her trembling fingers.
+
+"I am most unhappy," she began in an unnatural tone of voice, "to be
+obliged to impart to your highnesses a most scandalous piece of news.
+Oh, mon Dieu, who would have thought it!  Well, if even in our own
+sphere all sense of shame, all dignified self-consciousness, is at an
+end,—if every one is to heed the dictates of low and vulgar impulses,—no
+wonder that the halo surrounding us is dimmed, and the mob ventures to
+attack the throne itself!"
+
+"Calm yourself, my dear Falkenberg," said the prince, who was present,
+with evident amusement.  "Your preface is somewhat after the magnificent
+style of a Cassandra. But as yet I see no signs of earthquake; and to my
+great satisfaction I observe,"—and he glanced out of the window at the
+quiet market-square with a smile,—"that my faithful subjects are quite
+composed.  What have you to tell us?"
+
+She looked up surprised,—his sarcastic tone made her falter.
+
+"Oh, if your highness only knew!" she cried at last. "That man, upon
+whose pride of birth I so relied, Herr von Walde, informs me that he is
+betrothed.  And to whom? to whom?"
+
+"To Fräulein Ferber, the niece of my brave, old forester," the prince,
+smiling, replied.  "Yes, yes, I have heard something of this; Walde
+knows what he is about, I see. The little girl is a miracle of beauty
+and loveliness they say.  Well, I hope he will not keep us waiting long
+to make her acquaintance, but will present her to us soon."
+
+"Your highness," cried the paralyzed countess, "she is the daughter of
+your highness’ forester’s clerk!"
+
+"Yes, yes, my good Falkenberg," chimed in the princess, "we know that.
+But be calm; she is I assure you of noble rank."
+
+"Will your highness graciously permit me," rejoined the old lady, her
+face crimson, as she pointed to the crumpled letter, "here it stands in
+black and white,—his betrothal with a person of low birth,—here is the
+name, Ferber, and no other, and just so it will be written upon von
+Walde’s genealogical tree forever.  It actually seems as if the man
+paraded it with a sort of ostentation.  The inconceivable indifference
+of these people in refusing to assume the name of von Gnadewitz shows
+plainly enough that they have nothing in common with that aristocratic
+family.  Their noble blood has utterly degenerated in the course of
+years, and, according to my notions of nobility, the girl is and always
+will be of low birth.  I sincerely pity poor Hollfeld, who is, as your
+highness knows, of stainless descent; by this misalliance he will lose
+at least half a million,—and the poor Lessen, too, from whom I have just
+had a few sad lines,—she leaves Lindhof to-day, of course to escape from
+such scandalous proceedings."
+
+"Those are matters affecting your own personal feeling, and of course I
+say nothing with regard to them," rejoined the prince, not without
+severity.  "But I herewith request you to announce to the princess and
+myself the fact, as soon as Herr von Walde wishes to present his bride
+to us."
+
+In the next room, the door of which was open, Cornelie was merrily
+turning upon her heels and snapping her fingers.
+
+"Aha! and that was why Sir Bruin wished to escape the tongues of certain
+eloquent ladies!" she cried, with a stifled laugh.  "Cornelie, where was
+your usual penetration with regard to the masculine heart?  Oh, the
+thing delights me for old Falkenberg’s sake," she said, in a whisper, to
+another young lady who sat at the window embroidering.  "Now for at
+least two weeks we shall have the pleasure of seeing how the loyal
+creature will look daggers at their highnesses whenever their backs are
+turned, while all the honey of the promised land will overflow her
+withered lips as soon as the sun of their royal smile shines upon her.
+I could wish that every man whom we know would follow Herr von Walde’s
+silly example!"
+
+"Good Heavens!  Cornelie, are you insane?" cried her companion at the
+window, dropping her needle from her fingers.
+
+At the same time that every drop of blood in the Falkenberg’s
+aristocratic veins was so outraged, Doctor Fels returned to his home,
+and went to the nursery, where his wife was bathing her baby and
+superintending the knitting fingers of her two little daughters.
+
+"Rejoice with me, dear love!" he cried, with sparkling eyes, as he stood
+upon the threshold of the door. "Lindhof will have a mistress, and such
+a mistress!  Gold Elsie, our beautiful Gold Elsie!  Do you hear, my
+darling?  Now the sun will shine brightly there.  The healthy atmosphere
+has conquered, and the evil spirit that actually dropped mildew upon
+poor human souls has fled.  I have just seen it drive past in Herr von
+Walde’s travelling carriage.  The announcement of the betrothal has
+fallen upon our worthy town like a bomb-shell.  I tell you it is
+wonderful to see the long, incredulous faces! But the news has not
+surprised me at all.  I have known what must happen ever since Linke’s
+murderous attempt.  Since I drove that evening to Lindhof by Herr von
+Walde’s side, to see whether the excitement had produced no ill effects
+upon the brave child, I have known well that his hour had struck, that
+he had a heart indeed, a heart full of fervent, passionate love."
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
+
+Let us pass over a space of two years, and once more enter the old
+Gnadeck ruins.  We shall ascend the mountain by a broad well-kept road,
+leading to the castle gate, which has exchanged its rusty bolts and bars
+for more convenient fastenings.
+
+We remember with a shiver the cold, damp court-yard behind this gate,
+shut in by gloomy colonnades on three sides, while the crumbling
+buildings threatened to bury us beneath their ruins.  We remember the
+lonely basin in the centre, that, surrounded by the lions of stone, has
+waited in vain during so many years for the silver stream that should
+fill it.
+
+Remembering all this, we ring the bell.  At its clear sound, a fresh,
+trim maiden opens the massive gate, and invites us to enter.  But we
+start back almost dazzled, for from the open gate what a flood of light
+and colour greets us!  The ruins have vanished, the high wall that
+surrounded them alone remains, and we are for the first time aware how
+extensive is the space which it encloses.
+
+We do not tread upon the echoing pavement of a courtyard, a smooth
+gravel-walk is beneath our feet; before us stretches a level, well-kept
+lawn.  In its centre stands the granite basin, and from the threatening
+jaws of the lions are pouring four powerful streams of water.  The
+chestnuts still remain the faithful guardians of the fountain, but since
+their boughs have been bathed in heaven’s air and light they have grown
+strong and young again, and are now covered with a wealth of fan-like
+blossoms. We wind among the gravel paths that intersect the lawn,
+delight our eyes with the groups of shrubbery, still very young, that
+are so tastefully scattered here and there, and with the gay beds of
+carefully tended flowers.
+
+Before us lies the home.  Its four walls are free now to the air and
+light, and have put on a fresh bright garment; but its front is far more
+stately than it used to be. New windows are seen on every side.  Ferber
+has had four rooms added to it; for when the forester retires to private
+life, he and Sabina are to live there also.  In the family
+dwelling-room,—from whose two high windows can now be seen the same view
+formerly seen only from Elizabeth’s room above,—Herr von Walde has had
+the trees thinned so that her parents might always have the home of
+their darling before their eyes,—stands the young Frau von Walde.  She
+has been kept in the house for several weeks, and her first expedition
+has been to carry her first-born to her parents’ home.  There he lies in
+her arms.  Miss Mertens, or rather the happily married Frau Reinhard,
+has just removed the veil from the little thing. The minute, plump, red
+face shows, in the eyes of the mother, an unmistakable resemblance to
+Herr von Walde. Ernst is laughing loudly at the vague movements of the
+fat little fists, which are stretching out in all directions. But the
+forester stands with his own powerful hands behind him, and an
+expression of great anxiety, as if he feared that if he moved he might
+do the frail atom an injury.  He is no less delighted with his
+grand-nephew than are Elizabeth’s parents with their grandchild.  He has
+outlived his distress concerning Bertha, and basks in Elizabeth’s
+happiness, which was a great surprise to him at first, and which he
+maintained he was obliged to become accustomed to anew every morning.
+Not, indeed, that he thought such good fortune one whit too great for
+his darling,—he would have thought the richest of earthly crowns well
+placed upon Elizabeth’s head; but it was so strange to him to see his
+sunny Gold Elsie by the side of her grave, thoughtful husband.
+
+Elizabeth is happy in the fullest sense of the word. Her husband adores
+her, and his words have proved true,—the expression of stern melancholy
+has faded forever from his brow.
+
+Just now the young wife is looking tenderly at the little creature in
+her arms, and then down into the valley, whence Herr von Walde will soon
+appear to conduct her to her home.  Her glance grows sad for a moment,
+and tears fill her eyes, as they rest upon a lofty gilded cross,
+glimmering among the trees upon the shore of the lake,—beneath those
+rustling boughs Helene has slept for a year.  She died in Elizabeth’s
+arms, praying God to bless the dear sister who had so helped her to bear
+her burden of woe until her spirit could soar away from its frail mortal
+tenement.
+
+Hollfeld has sold Odenberg, and no one knows in what corner of the earth
+he hides his discontent at the overthrow of all his plots.
+
+
+
+
+                                THE END.
+
+
+
+
+           *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+
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+                               GOLD ELSIE
+
+
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost
+no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
+under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
+eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+
+
+Title: Gold Elsie
+Author: E. Marlitt
+Release Date: March 28, 2013 [EBook #42426]
+Language: English
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOLD ELSIE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines.
+
+
+                               GOLD ELSIE
+
+
+                            FROM THE GERMAN
+                                   OF
+
+
+                               E. MARLITT
+
+                AUTHOR OF "THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET."
+
+
+
+                                   BY
+                           MRS. A. L. WISTER.
+
+
+
+                             PHILADELPHIA:
+                         J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
+                                 1868.
+
+
+
+
+    Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
+                        J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
+
+In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and
+               for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
+
+
+
+
+                               GOLD ELSIE
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER I.
+
+
+It had been snowing all day long,--so steadily that the roofs and
+window-sills were covered deep with spotless white cushions.  And now
+the early twilight fell, bringing with it a wild gust of wind that raged
+among the falling snow-flakes like some bird of prey among a flock of
+peaceful doves.
+
+Although the weather was such that the comfort-loving inhabitants of any
+small town would hardly have sent their dogs out of doors, not to
+mention venturing their own worthy persons, yet there was little
+difference to be seen in the size of the crowd that usually frequents
+the streets of the large Capital, B----, between the hours of six and
+seven in the evening.  The gas lamps were an excellent substitute for
+those heavenly lights which would not make their appearance.  Carriages
+were whirling around corners in such tempestuous haste that many a
+pedestrian rescued life and limb only by a sudden leap aside, while
+curses both loud and deep were hurled after the coachmen enveloped in
+their comfortable furs, and the elegant coaches which contained behind
+their glass doors charmingly dressed women, whose lovely flower-crowned
+heads, as they peeped from among masses of muslin and tulle, certainly
+had no suspicion of the fire and brimstone called down upon them.  In
+the warm atmosphere, behind the huge shop windows, elaborately curled
+and frizzed wax heads, surrounded by blond and black scalps, stared out
+upon the passers-by.  Smiling shopmen displayed their fascinating
+merchandise, and withered old flower-sellers stood among their
+fresh-blooming bouquets, which exhaled beauty and fragrance beneath the
+light of the lamps that shed a brilliant glare upon the slippery
+pavement and upon the flood of human life streaming by, revealing the
+pinched, blue features and the desperately uncomfortable movements of
+all, old and young.
+
+But stay,--not of all!  A female figure has just entered one of the
+principal streets from a narrow by-way.  A small threadbare cloak
+closely envelopes her slender form, and a worn old muff is pressed
+against her breast, confining the ends of a black lace veil, behind
+which two girlish eyes are glowing with the sunlight of early youth.
+They look out joyously into the whistling snow-storm, rest lovingly upon
+the half-open rosebuds and dark purple violets behind the glass panes of
+the shop windows, and only veil their light beneath their long dark
+lashes when sharp hail-stones mingle with the driving snow-flakes.
+
+Whoever has listened while childish fingers, or sometimes fingers no
+longer childish, confidently begin upon the piano a well-known melody,
+which goes bravely on for a few bars, then is arrested by a frightful
+discord followed by a wild grasping after every key on the instrument
+except the correct ones, while the patient teacher sits by, ceasing to
+attempt to evoke order out of chaos by the usual steady marking of the
+time, wearily waiting until the panting melody is seized again and
+carried on with lightning rapidity through several easy bars as over
+some level plain,--whoever has thus had his ears stretched upon the
+rack, can understand the delight with which this young girl, who has
+just given two music lessons in a large school, offers her hot cheek to
+the wind as to an energetic comrade, whose mighty roar can breathe
+wondrous melodies through the pipes of an organ or over the strings of
+an �olian harp.
+
+Thus she passes lightly and swiftly through the storm and crowd; and I
+do not for an instant doubt that if I should present her now upon this
+slippery pavement to the gentle reader as Fr�ulein Elizabeth Ferber, she
+would with a lovely smile make him as graceful a courtesy as though they
+both stood in a ball-room.  But this introduction cannot take
+place,--and we really do not need it, for I forthwith intend to relate
+to the reader my heroine's antecedents.
+
+Baron Wolf von Gnadewitz was the last scion of a famous house whose
+remote ancestry could be traced back into the dubious twilight which
+even preceded that golden age when the travelling merchant, journeying
+through some sequestered pass, was forced to surrender his costly stuffs
+and wares to a knightly banner and shining steel-clad troup of retainers
+as often as to the buff-coated highway adventurer.  From those
+illustrious times there had been handed down, in the crest of the
+Gnadewitzes a wheel, upon which one of these same noble ancestors had
+breathed out his knightly soul in consequence of having spilt rather too
+much ignoble trading-blood in one of the above-mentioned assaults upon
+his merchant prey.
+
+Baron von Gnadewitz, the last of his race, was chamberlain in the
+service of the Prince Royal of X----, and possessor of various orders
+and large estates, as well as of those peculiarities of character and
+disposition which were, in his estimation, befitting the high-born, and
+which he was accustomed to designate as "distinguished," because all
+common men, bound by work-a-day moral considerations, and compelled by
+the stern necessities of life, lose all taste for the inimitable grace
+and elegance of vice.
+
+Baron Wolf von Gnadewitz was as fond of pomp and show as his
+grandfather, who had forsaken the old castle Gnadeck upon a mountain in
+Thuringia, the cradle of his line, and had built him in the valley below
+a perfect fairy palace in the Italian style.  The grandson allowed the
+old castle to fall into decay, while he enlarged and improved the modern
+mansion considerably.  Yes, it seemed as though he entertained not the
+smallest doubt but that his latest descendant would be found occupying
+this favourite palace at the day of judgment, for the old castle was
+quite dismantled in order that the vast chambers of the new abode might
+be thoroughly furnished.  But he reckoned without his host.  Wolf von
+Gnadewitz had a son, 'tis true,--a son who, at twenty years of age, was
+so complete and thorough a Gnadewitz that the illustrious image of his
+ancestor who had perished upon the wheel paled before him.  This
+promising youth one day, upon the occasion of the great autumn hunt in
+the forest, struck one of his whippers-in a fearful blow upon the head
+with the loaded handle of his hunting-whip--a fearful blow, but a
+perfectly just punishment, as every one of the guests invited to the
+hunt declared, for the man had stepped upon the paw of a favourite hound
+so clumsily as to render the animal entirely useless for a whole day.
+And thus it happened that, a short time afterward, Hans von Gnadewitz
+was to be found not only upon the boughs of the genealogical tree in the
+hall of the new castle, but suspended by a rope around his neck to a
+bough of one of the actual trees in the forest.  The beaten whipper-in
+expiated the deed upon the scaffold, but that could not bring the last
+of the Gnadewitzes to life again, for he was dead,--irrevocably dead,
+the physicians said; and the long tale of robber-knights, wild excesses,
+hunting orgies, and horse-racing came to an end.
+
+After this terrible catastrophe, Wolf von Gnadewitz left the castle in
+the valley, and indeed that part of the country, and dwelt upon one of
+his many estates in Silesia.  He took into his house to nurse him a
+young female relative, the last survivor of one of the collateral
+branches of his house. This young relative proved to be a girl of
+angelic beauty, at sight of whom the old baron entirely forgot the
+object for which he had invited her beneath his roof, and at last
+determined to clothe his sixty years in a wedding-garment.  To his
+exceeding indignation, however, he now learned that there might come a
+time, even to a Gnadewitz, when he could no longer be regarded as a
+desirable _parti_, and he fell into a violent rage when his young
+relative confessed that, in utter forgetfulness of her lofty lineage,
+she had given her heart to a bourgeois officer, the son of one of his
+foresters.
+
+The young man possessed no worldly gear, only his sword and a remarkably
+fine manly person; but he was rich in mind, accomplished, amiable in
+disposition, and of stainless character.  When Wolf von Gnadewitz, in
+consequence of Marie's confession, turned her from his doors, young
+Ferber carried her home with delight as his wife, and for the first ten
+years of their married life would not have exchanged his lot with that
+of any king on earth.  Still less would he have made such an exchange in
+the eleventh year, for that was the eventful 1848; but with it came
+fierce struggles for him, and an entire alteration in his circumstances.
+He was obliged to decide between two duties.  One had been inculcated
+while he was in his cradle by his father, and ran thus: "Love your
+neighbour, and especially your German brother, as yourself;" the other,
+which he had in later years imposed upon himself, commanded him to draw
+the sword in his master's interest.  In this strife the teachings of his
+childhood conquered entirely.  Ferber refused to draw the sword upon his
+brethren; but his refusal cost him his commission, and with it all
+assured means of subsistence.  He retired from the army, and soon
+afterward, in consequence of a severe cold, was stretched upon a
+sick-bed, which he left only after years of disheartening weakness.  He
+then moved with his family to B----, where he obtained quite a lucrative
+situation as bookkeeper in an extensive mercantile establishment.  It
+was high time, for his wife's small property had been lost shortly
+before by the failure of a bank, and the remittances of money which came
+to the distressed family from time to time from Ferber's elder and only
+brother, a forester in Thuringia, were all that kept them from extreme
+poverty.
+
+Unluckily this good fortune was of short duration. Ferber's chief was a
+pietist of the most severe description, and spared no one in his zeal
+for proselytism.  His efforts to convert Ferber to his own narrow dogmas
+were met by such quiet but decided resistance, that the pious spirit of
+the saintly Herr Hagen was seized with holy horror.  Remorse at the
+thought of affording protection and subsistence to such an avowed
+free-thinker, gave him no peace by night or by day, until he had freed
+himself from such a burden of guilt, by a note of dismissal, which
+banished the tainted sheep from his fold.
+
+About the same time Wolf von Gnadewitz went home to his ancestors, and
+as during his earthly career he had strictly conformed to the Gnadewitz
+custom of leaving no insult, fancied or otherwise: unavenged, no
+worthier conclusion to his life could be found than the will which he
+drew up with his own hands shortly before he descended into the narrow
+chamber of lead which was to contain for all futurity his noble bones.
+
+This manly document, which constituted sole heir to his large estates a
+distant relative of his wife's, concluded with the following codicil:
+
+"In consideration of the undeniable claim which she has upon my
+property, I bequeath to Anna Marie Ferber, born von Gnadewitz, the
+castle of Gnadeck in the mountains in Thuringia.  Anna Marie Ferber will
+understand my benevolent intention in her behalf in leaving to her a
+mansion crowded with memories of the noble race to which she once
+belonged.  In full remembrance and consideration of the good fortune and
+many blessings which have always hovered above this ancient pile, I hold
+it entirely superfluous to increase my legacy further. But if Anna Marie
+Ferber, blind to the value of my gift, should wish to sell or exchange
+it in any way, her right to it must be abdicated in favour of the orphan
+asylum of L----."
+
+And thus, with the utterance of a biting satire, Wolf von Gnadewitz
+betook himself to his funeral bed of state. Ferber and his wife had
+indeed never seen the old castle, but it was notoriously a crumbling
+heap of ruins, which the hand of improvement had not touched for fifty
+years, and which, when the modern abode in the valley was completed, had
+been stripped of furniture, tapestries, and, in the case of the main
+building, even of the metallic roofing.
+
+Since that time the ponderous oaken door of the principal entrance had
+remained closed, and the dusty, rusty bolts and bars had never once been
+withdrawn.  The huge forest trees which were growing before it spread
+abroad their mighty branches, and drooped them among the thick brushwood
+at their feet, so that the deserted castle lay behind the green
+impenetrable wall like a coffined mummy.
+
+The lucky heir, who was greatly annoyed by seeing so large a part of his
+woodland possessions in stranger hands, would gladly have purchased the
+old castle at a high price, but the cunning clause at the conclusion of
+the codicil forbade any such transaction.
+
+Frau Ferber laid the copy of the will which had been sent her, and upon
+which there dropped from her eyes a few tears of regret, upon her
+husband's desk, and then took up her work,--some delicate
+embroidery,--with redoubled, almost feverish industry.  In spite of his
+exertions Ferber had been unable to procure another situation, and was
+now doing his best to maintain his family by translating, a labour but
+poorly paid, and even by copying law papers, while his wife eked out
+their scanty means by the proceeds of her needle, which she plied night
+and day.
+
+But dark as were the heavens above the struggling pair, one star rose
+quietly among the black clouds and seemed not unlikely to indemnify them
+by its radiance for all the storms with which fickle fortune had
+overwhelmed them.  A presentiment of this gentle light which was to beam
+upon his gloomy path possessed Ferber when he stood for the first time
+beside the cradle of his first-born, a daughter, and gazed into the
+lovely eyes which smiled upon him from the baby face.  All Frau Ferber's
+friends had been unanimously of opinion that the little girl was a
+charming creature, a wonderfully gifted child; indeed, they had declared
+it did not look in the least like an ordinary baby, did not appear to
+belong to the class of miserable little wretches, who, red as lobsters,
+seem determined to scream their way through the world; but,--here they
+had broken off; and it was intimated that were it not for fear of the
+sneers of their liege lords, and the utterly prosaic tendencies of the
+nineteenth century, they should certainly suspect that some benevolent
+fairy had been at work in this case.
+
+They contended as to who should be so far favoured as to hold the little
+creature at the baptismal font, and should show the deepest tenderness
+for the little god-daughter, declaring that the day of her baptism could
+never be effaced from their remembrance; but this demand upon their
+memories was altogether too great, for when Ferber fell into
+difficulties, selfishness passed its finger over the recorded day, and
+no trace of it remained in their minds.
+
+This change, which little Elizabeth experienced in the ninth year of her
+existence, disturbed her not at all.  Her probable fairy protectress
+had, in addition to other rich gifts, endowed her in her cradle with an
+invincible joyousness of temperament and great force of will; so she
+took from her mother's hand her scanty evening meal as gratefully and
+gaily as she had once received the inexhaustible delicacies presented to
+her by admiring god-parents; and when on Christmas-eve the room was
+adorned only by a poor little Christmas-tree hung with a few apples and
+gilded nuts, the child did not seem to remember the time when friends
+had crowded around to deck its boughs with all imaginable toys.
+
+Ferber educated his daughter himself.  She never attended a school of
+any kind, an omission in her training which cannot, unfortunately, in
+the present age, be regarded as anything but an advantage, when we see
+how many young girls leave school with far more knowledge upon some
+subjects than is at all desirable or pleasing to the anxious mother, who
+strives at home to preserve unsoiled her child's purity of mind and
+heart, and often does not dream how her tender care is made of no avail
+by the taint which one impure nature in the school will communicate, and
+which may perhaps colour an entire after-life.
+
+Elizabeth's pliant mind was finely developed beneath the control of her
+gifted parents.  Thoroughly to understand the study which occupied her,
+and to appropriate its results in such a manner as to make them
+inalienably her own were duties which she most conscientiously
+fulfilled.  But she gave herself to the study of music with an ardor
+that inspires a human being only when engaged in a pursuit felt to be
+especially his own.  She soon far outstripped her mother, who was her
+instructress, and as when a child she would often leave her playthings
+if she saw a cloud upon her father's brow, to sit on his knee and divert
+him with some tale of wonder, thus, as a girl, she would charm away the
+demon of gloom from her father's mind by strange and delicious melodies
+which lay like pearls in the depths of her soul, until she brought them
+to light for the first time for his relief and enjoyment.  And this was
+not the only blessing springing from her rare talent for music.  The
+exquisite touch upon the piano, in the garret in which the family lived,
+attracted the attention of several of the more aristocratic inhabitants
+of the house, and Elizabeth soon had two or three pupils in music, and
+had lately been employed in a large school as teacher of the piano, thus
+sensibly increasing the means of subsistence of the family.
+
+Here let us resume the thread of our story, and we shall not shrink, I
+hope, from the trouble that we must take in following our heroine
+through the wet streets upon this stormy evening to her home and her
+parents.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Even during the long walk through the streets, alternately straight and
+crooked, gloomy and bright, Elizabeth enjoyed in imagination the
+delicious sensation of comfort that the sight of the cosey room at home
+always caused her.  There sat her father at his writing-table with its
+little study-lamp, ready to raise his pale face with a smile when
+Elizabeth entered.  He would take his pen, which had been travelling so
+busily over the paper for hours, in his left hand, and with his right
+draw his daughter down beside him to kiss her forehead.  Her mother,
+who, with her work-basket at her feet, usually sat close beside her
+husband that she might share the light of his study-lamp, would welcome
+her with tender loving eyes, and point to Elizabeth's slippers, which
+her care had placed by the stove to warm.  Upon the stove apples would
+be roasting with a cheering hiss, and in the warm corner beside it was
+the sofa-table, where the tea-kettle would be singing merrily above its
+spirit-lamp, whose weak, blue light illumined the regiment of tin
+soldiers, which her only brother, Ernst, a child six years of age, was
+busily drilling.
+
+Elizabeth mounted to the fourth story before she reached the dark,
+narrow passage which led to her father's rooms.  Here she hastily took
+off her bonnet and placed upon her lovely fair hair a boy's cap, trimmed
+with fur, which she drew from under her cloak.  Then she entered the
+room, where little Ernst ran toward her with a shout of joy.
+
+But this evening the light shone from the sofa-table in the usually dark
+corner by the stove, while the writing-table was left neglected in the
+gloom.  Her father sat upon the sofa, with his arm around her mother's
+waist; there was a joyous light upon the countenances of both, and,
+although her mother had evidently been weeping, Elizabeth instantly
+perceived that her tears had been tears of joy.  She stood still upon
+the threshold of the door in great astonishment, and must have presented
+a most comical appearance with the child's cap surmounting her amazed
+countenance, for both father and mother laughed aloud.  Elizabeth gaily
+joined in their laughter, and placed the fur cap upon her little
+brother's dark curls.
+
+"There, my darling," she said, tenderly taking his rosy face between her
+hands and kissing it, "that is yours; and there is still something left
+to help on your housekeeping, mother dear," she continued, with a happy
+smile, as she handed her mother four shining thalers.  "They gave me my
+first five thalers of salary at school to-day."
+
+"But, Elsbeth," said her mother, with the tears in her eyes, as she drew
+her down to kiss her, "Ernst's last year's cap is still quite
+respectable, and you needed a pair of warm winter gloves much more."
+
+"I, mother? just feel my hands; although I have been in the street for
+an hour almost, they are as warm as if I had been holding them before
+the fire.  No; new gloves would be a most superfluous luxury.  Our boy
+is growing taller and stouter, and his cap has not kept pace with him;
+so I consider the cap a necessary expense."
+
+"Ah, you good sister!" cried the child with delight; "even the little
+baron on the first story has not such a charming cap as this.  How fine
+it will look when I go hunting, hey, papa?"
+
+"Hunting!" laughed Elizabeth; "are you going to shoot the unfortunate
+sparrows in the Thiergarten?"
+
+"Oh, what a miserable guesser you are, Madam Elsie!" the boy rejoined,
+gleefully.  "In the Thiergarten, indeed!" he added, more seriously;
+"that would be pretty sport. No, in the forest,--the real forest,--where
+the deer and hares are so thick that you don't even have to take aim
+when you want to shoot them."
+
+"I should like to hear what your uncle would say to this view of the
+noble chase," said his father with a smile, taking up a letter from the
+table and handing it to Elizabeth.
+
+"Read this, my child," said he; "it is from your 'forester uncle,' as
+you call him, in Thuringia."
+
+Elizabeth glanced over the first few lines, and then read aloud:
+
+"The prince, who sometimes prefers a dish of bacon and sauerkraut at my
+table to the best efforts of his French cook in the castle of L----,
+passed several hours with me at my lodge yesterday.  He was very
+condescending, and informed me that he purposed employing an assistant
+forester, or rather forester's clerk, for he saw that my duties were too
+onerous.  I seized upon my opportunity,--the game was within shot, and
+if I missed I had nothing to lose but a couple of charges fired into the
+air; now was my time.
+
+"So I told him how the jade, fortune, had played the very devil with you
+for this many a year, and how, in spite of your fine talents and
+acquirements, poverty had knocked at your door.  My old master knew well
+what I was driving at, for I spoke, as I always do, in good German. Thus
+far in my life every one has understood what I had to say.  It is only
+the fops and fools of his court who fawn around him, who would persuade
+him that good, honest German is too coarse for royal ears, and that he
+must always be addressed in French.  Well, my old master said that he
+would like to offer you this situation as forester's clerk, because he
+thought that with regard to myself,--and here he said a couple of things
+that you need not hear, but which delighted me,--old fellow as I
+am,--quite as much as when in old times, upon examination-day, the
+schoolmaster used to say, 'Carl, you have done yourself credit to-day.'
+Well, his highness has commissioned me to write to you, and he will
+arrange matters. Three hundred and fifty thalers salary, and your fuel.
+Now think it over; it is not so poor an offer, and the green forest is a
+thousand times pleasanter than your confounded attics, where the
+neighbours' cats are forever squalling, and where your eyes are blinded
+by the smoke of a million chimneys.
+
+"You must not think that I am one of those wheedling, parasitical
+fellows who use their master's favour to benefit all their own kith and
+kin.  No; I can tell you that if you were not what you are, that is, if
+you were not really talented and well educated, I would bite my tongue
+out before I would recommend you to my master; and, on the other side, I
+should always try to secure in his service such an honest, capable
+fellow as yourself. No offence; you know I always like a plain statement
+of a plain case.
+
+"But there is another matter to be considered.  You ought to live with
+me, and it could be very easily arranged if you were a bachelor, whom
+four walls would content, with a chest for his solitary wardrobe.  But,
+unfortunately, there is no possible room in my lonely old rat's-hole of
+a forest-lodge for an entire family.  It is in rather a tumble-down
+condition, and has needed a doctor for some time, but I suppose the
+authorities will do nothing for it until the old balconies come
+crumbling about my ears.  The nearest village is half a league, and the
+nearest town a league from the lodge; you cannot possibly walk these
+distances every day, in the miserable weather that we have here
+sometimes.
+
+"Now old Sabina, my housekeeper, who was born in the nearest village,
+has made a wild suggestion which I herewith impart to you.  Old castle
+Gnadeck, the deceased Baron Gnadewitz's brilliant legacy to you, is, as
+I have told you, situated at about a rifle's shot distance from the
+lodge.  Well, Sabina says that when she was a strong hearty
+girl,--which, by the way, must have been something beyond a quarter of a
+century ago,--she was a chambermaid in the Gnadewitz household.  Then
+the new castle was not entirely furnished, and did not suffice to
+contain the crowd of guests yearly invited to the great hunt.  And so
+part of the building connecting the two principal wings of the old
+castle was somewhat repaired and furnished.  Sabina had to make and air
+the beds and attend to the rooms, to her great terror, and no
+wonder,--her old brain is perfectly crammed with all sorts of witch and
+ghost stories,--for the rest she is a most respectable person, and rules
+my household with a steady rein.
+
+"She maintains most firmly that this part of the castle cannot be in a
+crumbling condition, for it was then in an excellent state of
+preservation, and would, she is sure, afford a capital shelter for you
+and yours.  May be she is right; but are your children bold enough to
+brave the ghostly inhabitants that are said to haunt those old walls?
+
+"You know how vexed I was about your worthless legacy, and that I have
+never once been able, since the death of the sainted Wolf von Gnadewitz,
+to induce myself to visit the old ruin.  But after hearing Sabina's tale
+yesterday afternoon, I made one of my men climb a tree which stood upon
+the only spot which could give you a glimpse into the robber's nest, and
+he declared that everything had fallen into decay there.  And this
+morning I have been to the authorities in the town, but they would not
+give me the keys of the castle without special permission from your
+wife, and made, besides, as much fuss about it as if the treasures of
+Golconda lay hid in the mouldy old rooms.  None of those who placed the
+seals upon the doors could tell me what sort of a place it was, for they
+never entered it, under the impression that the ceiling might fall and
+dash out their prudent brains, but contented themselves with placing a
+dozen official seals as large as your hand upon the principal entrance
+door. I should very much like to investigate matters with you, so pray
+decide quickly and start with your family as soon as possible."
+
+Here Elizabeth dropped the letter and looked with sparkling eyes at her
+father.
+
+"Well, how have you decided, father dear?" she asked hastily.
+
+"Ah," he replied gravely, "it is quite a hard task to tell you our
+resolution, for I see by your face that you would not for the world
+exchange this gay populous city for the loneliness and quiet of the
+Thuringian forest. Still, you must know that my application to the
+Prince of L---- for the place in question lies sealed in that envelope.
+However, it is only reasonable that your wishes should be consulted in
+some degree, and we can be induced to leave you here in case----"
+
+"Ah, no; if Elizabeth will not go I would rather stay here, too,"
+interrupted the little boy, clinging anxiously to his sister.
+
+"Never fear, my darling," she said to him with a laugh; "I shall find a
+place in the carriage, and if I could not, you know I am as bold as a
+soldier, and can run like a hare. My longing for the greenwood, which
+has been the fairy-land of my imagination ever since I was a very little
+child, shall be my compass, and I shall get along bravely.  What will
+papa do when, some evening, a weary way-worn traveller, with ragged
+shoes and empty pockets, prays for admission at the gate of the old
+castle?"
+
+"Ah, then, indeed, we must admit you," said her father, smiling, "if we
+would not draw down upon our crumbling roof the hostility of all good
+spirits who protect courage and innocence.  But you will have to pass by
+the old castle if you wish to find us, and knock at some modest peasant
+hut in the valley, for the ruined old pile will scarcely afford us an
+asylum."
+
+"I am afraid not, indeed," said his wife.  "We shall work our way
+laboriously through wild hedges and thick underbrush, like the
+unfortunate suitors of the Sleeping Beauty, to find at last----"
+
+"Poetry itself!" cried Elizabeth.  "Why, the first delicious bloom will
+be brushed from our woodland life if we cannot live in the old castle!
+Certainly there must be four sound walls and a whole roof in some one of
+its old towers, and with heads to plan and strong willing hands to
+execute, the rest can be very easily arranged. We will stop up cracks
+with moss, nail boards over doorways that have lost their doors, and
+paper our four walls ourselves; we can cover the worm-eaten floors with
+homemade straw mats; declare war to the death upon the gray-coated,
+four-footed little thieves who would invade our larder, and soon banish
+all cobwebs by a good broom skilfully wielded."
+
+With glowing looks, quite carried away by her dreams of the future home
+in the fresh green forest, she went to the piano and opened it.  It was
+an old, worn-out instrument, whose hoarse, weak tones harmonized
+perfectly with its shabby exterior; but, nevertheless, beneath
+Elizabeth's fingers Mendelssohn's song, "Through the dark green Forest,"
+rang deliciously through the little room.
+
+Her parents sat quietly listening.  Little Ernst dropped asleep.
+Without, the howling of the storm was lulled, but the snow was driving
+noiselessly past the uncurtained window in huge flakes.  The opposite
+chimneys, no longer smoking, had put on thick white night-caps, and
+looked stiffly and coldly, like peevish old age, into the little attic
+room, which enclosed, in the midst of the snow-storm, a perfect spring
+of joy and gaiety within its four walls.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Whitsuntide!  A word that will thrill with its magic the human soul as
+long as trees burst into leaf, larks soar trilling aloft, and clear
+spring skies laugh above us.  A word which can awaken an echo of spring
+in hearts encrusted with selfishness and greed of gain, chilled by the
+snows of age, or deadened by grief and care.
+
+Whitsuntide is at hand.  A gentle breeze flutters over the Thuringian
+mountains, and brushes from their brows the last remains of the snow
+which whirls mistily into the air and leaves its old abiding-place in
+the guise of luminous spring clouds.  Freed from their wintry garments,
+the mountains deck their rugged brows with wreaths of young strawberry
+vines and bilberries.  In the valley below, the rippling trout-stream is
+flowing forth from the dark forest directly across the flower-strewn
+meadow.
+
+The lonely saw-mill is clacking merrily, while its low thatched roof
+shines white with the fallen blossoms of the sheltering fruit trees.
+
+Before the windows of the scattered huts of the wood-cutters and of the
+villagers many an accomplished bullfinch was singing in his little cage
+the airs which were the fruits of a course of instruction in high art,
+daring the winter in the hot, close room of his master.  And his
+brothers in the forest were trilling wilder but far sweeter lays, for
+their little throats inhaled the clear air of freedom.
+
+Where, a few weeks before, the melted snow had foamed down from the
+mountain tops in a bed created by its own torrent, beautiful moss was
+now weaving a soft carpet, that would soon quite conceal the scarred
+breast of the mountain, while here and there, through the thick green
+the silver thread of some little stream glittered in the sunlight.
+
+Upon the highway running through a charming valley of the Thuringian
+forest the Ferbers were travelling, in a well-packed carriage, toward
+their new home.  It was very early in the morning; the bell from a
+distant church-tower had just tolled the hour of three, wherefore only
+the shabby old sign-post by the roadside and a herd of stately stags
+were permitted the sight of a happy face that looked upon this lovely
+forest for the first time.
+
+Elizabeth leaned far out of the window of the dark carriage, and inhaled
+deep draughts of the invigorating air, which she maintained had already
+cleared away from her eyes and lungs all the dust of the city.  Ferber
+sat opposite, sunk in thought.  He too was refreshed by the beauty and
+tender grace of the forest; but he was more deeply moved by the delight
+in the eyes of his child, who was so susceptible to the charms of nature
+and so unspeakably grateful for the change in their circumstances. How
+busy her hands had been since the Royal answer to Ferber's application
+for the new office had been received! There had been much to do.  She
+had shared faithfully in all the cares which their departure from the
+city brought upon her parents.  It is true the prince had sent his new
+official a considerable sum of money for travelling expenses, and the
+forester uncle, too, had shown his usual generosity; but with the
+greatest economy it did not suffice, and therefore Elizabeth had
+employed every hour which she usually had for recreation in sewing for a
+large ready-made linen establishment,--occupying herself thus with her
+needle for many a night, after her unsuspecting parents were sleeping
+soundly.
+
+There had been one bitter experience amid all the busy hurry, which had
+cost the young girl many tears.  She had seen her dear piano borne off
+upon the shoulders of two strong men to its new possessor.  It had to be
+sold for a few thalers, because it was old and frail,--too frail to be
+transported to the new home.  Ah, it had been so true a friend to the
+family!  Its thin, quavering voice had sounded in Elizabeth's ears
+tender and dear as the voice of her mother.  And now, probably,
+unfeeling children would thrum upon its venerable keys, and tease the
+old instrument to speak more strongly, until it should be mute forever.
+But this sorrow was past, and lay behind her, with much beside which she
+had sacrificed and endured silently; and as she sat looking out into the
+morning twilight, with eyes sparkling with delight,--eyes that seemed to
+read behind the misty veil of the dawn all kinds of brilliant prophecies
+for the future,--who could have discerned in that figure, glowing with
+the elasticity of youth, one trace of the fatigue of the last busy
+weeks?
+
+For another half hour the travellers drove along the smooth, level
+highway, and then turned aside into the thick forest by a well-kept
+carriage-road.  The sun was just rising in the eastern sky, and shot his
+rays upon the earth in splendid amazement at the diamonds with which she
+had adorned herself during his absence.  In the night a heavy shower had
+come up, much rain had fallen, and the large drops were still hanging
+upon twig and leaf, falling pattering upon the roof of the carriage
+whenever the postillion touched one of the overarching boughs with his
+whip.  What a glorious forest!  From the thick underbrush at their feet
+the trees reared their colossal trunks, and above, their boughs
+intertwined in a fraternal embrace as though determined to defend their
+peaceful, quiet home from light and air as from two deadly enemies. Only
+here and there a slender, green-tinted sunbeam would slip from bough to
+bough down upon the feathery grass and the little strawberry-blossoms,
+sprinkled everywhere like snow-flakes, even laying their little white
+heads impertinently upon the road.
+
+After a short drive the wood grew less dense, and soon the retired Lodge
+appeared in the midst of a meadow in the heart of the forest.  The
+postillion sounded his horn. A tremendous barking of dogs was heard; and
+with a loud whirr a large flock of doves soared, terrified, into the air
+from the pointed gable of the house.
+
+A man in a hunting uniform was standing at the open door,--a gigantic
+figure, with a huge beard that almost covered his breast.  He shaded his
+eyes with his hands as he looked keenly at the approaching carriage, but
+suddenly running down the steps, he tore open the door, and threw his
+arms around Ferber, as the latter sprang out. For one instant the
+brothers stood in a close embrace; then the forester gently released the
+slender figure of the younger, and, holding him by the shoulder at arm's
+length, gazed searchingly into his pale worn countenance.
+
+"Poor Adolph!" he said at last, and his deep voice trembled with
+emotion.  "Has fate brought you to this? But wait awhile, we will have
+you sound and well again; it is not too late.  A thousand welcomes to
+you!  And now let us stick together until the last great trumpet call,
+when we shall not be asked whether we will stay together or not."
+
+He tried to master his emotion, and helped his sister-in-law and little
+Ernst, whom he embraced and kissed, to descend from the carriage.
+
+"Well," said he, "you must have been knocked up at an early hour, I must
+say, and that's hardly the thing for women."
+
+"What can you be thinking of, uncle?" cried Elizabeth. "We are no
+slug-a-beds, and know exactly how the sun looks when he says good
+morning to the world."
+
+"Halloa!" cried the forester with a laugh of surprise. "Who is that
+quarrelling with me in the corner of the carriage?  Come out instantly,
+little one."
+
+"I, little?  Well, sir, you will be finely surprised when I do get out
+and you see what a tall, stately maiden I am!"
+
+With these words Elizabeth sprang down from the high carriage and stood
+on tiptoe, drawing herself up to her full height beside him.  But
+although her slender, graceful figure was something above middle size,
+she seemed at this moment like a pretty king-bird measuring itself with
+an eagle.
+
+"Look," she said, in a rather disappointed tone, "I am nearly up to your
+shoulder, and that is more than tall enough for a respectable girl."
+
+Her uncle, holding himself as erect as possible, looked down upon her
+with a roguish smile of great self-satisfaction for a moment, then
+suddenly picked her up in his arms as though she had been a feather, and
+amid the laughter of the others carried her into the house, calling in a
+voice of thunder--
+
+"Sabina, Sabina, come here, and I will show you how the wrens look in
+B----."
+
+He put his terrified burden down in the hall as gently and carefully as
+though he were handling some brittle plaything, took her head tenderly
+between his large hands, kissed her forehead again and again, and said,
+"That such a queen of Liliput, such a moonshine elf, should dream of
+being as large as her tall uncle!  But, forest fairy as you are, you
+know all about the sun, for your head is covered with its beams."
+
+As she was carried into the house upon her uncle's arm the girl's hat
+had fallen from her head, revealing a mass of fair hair, the golden
+colour of which was all the more remarkable as her delicately pencilled
+eyebrows and long lashes were coal black.
+
+In the mean while an old woman entered from a side door, and at the head
+of the first flight of stairs several boyish faces appeared, which,
+however, vanished as soon as they found themselves perceived by the
+forester.  "Oh, you need not run away," he cried, laughing.  "I have
+seen you peeping.  They are my assistants," he turned to his brother;
+"the fellows are as curious as sparrows, and to-day I really cannot
+blame them," and he glanced archly at Elizabeth, who, standing aside,
+was binding her loosened braids around her head.  Then he took the old
+woman by the hand and presented her, with an air of comical solemnity:
+"Fr�ulein Sabina Holzin, Minister of the Interior to the Forest Lodge,
+High Constable in all stable and farm affairs, and to every one therein
+concerned, and, lastly, absolute monarch in the kitchen department.
+While she is putting the dinner on the table do just as she tells you,
+and all will go well with you; but, if she begins with her stock of old
+proverbs and ghost stories, get out of her way as quickly as possible,
+for there is no end to them.  And now,"--he turned to the smiling old
+woman, who was a miracle of ugliness, and who yet prepossessed all in
+her favour by her honest eyes, by an expression of roguery and fun that
+lighted up her face, and especially by the spotless cleanliness of her
+attire,--"now bring us as quickly as you can whatever pantry and cellar
+will afford: I know you baked our Whitsuntide cakes earlier than usual,
+that our travellers might have something to refresh them after their
+fatigue."
+
+With these words he opened the door opposite to the one from the kitchen
+through which the old woman disappeared, and showed his guests into a
+large apartment with bow-windows.  But Elizabeth lingered behind,
+looking through the door which led into the court-yard, for, between the
+white picket fences which shut in the feathered tribes on each side of
+the enclosure, she saw gay beds of flowers, while three or four
+late-blossoming apple trees stretched their rosy bloom-laden branches
+over one corner of the space.  The garden was large, climbing a short
+distance up the mountain side by terraces, and even enclosing within its
+realm a beautiful group of old beeches, outlying members of the forest.
+While Elizabeth, entranced, stood thus in the hall, the door of a side
+wing of the house opened and a young girl stepped out into the
+court-yard.  She was strikingly beautiful, although her figure was
+rather diminutive, a defect for which nature had seemed to wish to
+indemnify her by gifting her with a pair of large eyes that glowed like
+dazzling black suns.  Her abundant dark hair was arranged evidently with
+an eye to coquettish effect, and several charmingly curled locks had
+escaped just above the pale forehead.  Her dress, too, although of
+simple material, betrayed in its arrangement the greatest care, and the
+observer could not but suspect that the skirt was so artistically looped
+not merely that the hem might be kept from the dust, but also with an
+eye to the neat little boot which it revealed, and which certainly was
+not made to be hidden beneath the heavy woollen stuff of the dress.
+
+She had in her hand a bowl full of grain, and threw a handful upon the
+stones at her feet.  A great noise ensued; the doves fluttered down from
+the roof, the fowls left their roosts and nests with loud cacklings, and
+the watch-dog felt it his duty to assist in the universal clamour by
+barking loudly.
+
+Elizabeth was astonished.  It is true, her uncle had been married, but
+he never had any children, as she knew; who then was this young girl, of
+whom no mention had been made in his letter?  She descended the steps
+that led to the court-yard, and approached the stranger: "Do you live at
+the Lodge?" she asked, kindly.
+
+The black eyes were riveted searchingly upon her for one moment, with a
+look of unmistakable surprise, then an expression of annoyance flitted
+across her delicate lips, which closed more tightly than before; the
+eyelids fell over the glittering eyes, and she turned silently away, as
+though entirely unconscious of the presence or address of any one, and
+continued feeding the fowls with the grain.
+
+Just then Sabina passed through the hall with the coffee-tray.  She
+beckoned confidentially to Elizabeth, who stood amazed, and, when she
+drew near, bade her follow her into the house, saying: "Come, child, you
+can do nothing with her."
+
+In the sitting-room, Elizabeth found all as comfortable and happy as if
+they had lived together for years.  Her mother was sitting in a large
+arm-chair, which the forester had pushed near a window that commanded a
+lovely view down one of the vistas of the forest.  A large striped cat
+had sprung confidingly into her lap, where it was purring with
+satisfaction beneath the small hand that was gently stroking it.  And
+for little Ernst, the four walls of the room were a perfect museum of
+all imaginable curiosities.  He had climbed into one chair after
+another, and was then standing in speechless admiration before a glass
+case containing a gorgeous collection of butterflies.  The two men were
+seated, side by side, upon the lounge, in deep consultation concerning
+the future abode of the family, and, as Elizabeth entered, she heard her
+uncle say, "Well, if the old ruin on the mountain cannot afford you
+shelter, you must stay here with me.  I can move my writing-table and
+all my other matters out of your way for awhile, and then I will besiege
+the authorities in the town until they consent to add another story to
+the right wing of my old house."
+
+Elizabeth took off her travelling cloak, and assisted old Sabina to set
+the table.  The first shadow had fallen upon the enjoyment that had
+filled her soul.  Never before had any advance of hers been met with
+unkindness.  That she owed this exemption from the ill humour of others
+to her beauty, the charm of her manner, and the childlike purity of her
+nature, which exercised an unconscious influence upon all around her,
+had never occurred to her. She had taken it for granted that she should
+experience only kindness from all, since she was conscious of meaning
+well by all the world.  Her disappointment at the repulse was all the
+greater, because the sight of a young girl of about her own age had
+caused her such surprise and joy; and the beautiful face of the stranger
+had interested her deeply.  The studied arrangement of the girl's dress
+had not struck her, as she herself had never yet known the desire of
+heightening her attractions by the aids of the toilet.  Her father and
+mother had always assured her that no time spent in the cultivation of
+mind and heart was lost, and that if they were what they should be, her
+exterior could never be unattractive, whatever might be the form with
+which nature had endowed her.
+
+The thoughtful expression of Elizabeth's face did not escape her
+mother's notice.  She called her to her, and her daughter began an
+account of the meeting; but at the first words the forester turned
+towards her.  A deep wrinkle appeared between his bushy eyebrows, and
+made his face dark and gloomy.
+
+"Indeed," he said, "have you seen her already?  Well, then, let me tell
+you who and what she is.  I took her into my house some years ago, that
+she might assist Sabina in her housekeeping.  She is a distant relative
+of my deceased wife, and has no parents, brothers nor sisters. I wished
+to do good, but I have provided myself with a perpetual
+scourge,--although I do not deserve it. She had not been here a month
+before I discovered that she had not a single healthy thought in her
+entire composition; she is a mass of exaggerated ideas and inconceivable
+arrogance.  I had half a mind to send her back to the place she came
+from, but Sabina, who has still less cause than I to love her, entreated
+me not to do it. Why, I cannot tell, for the girl gave her a great deal
+of trouble, and was insolent.  I did all I could to tame her haughty
+spirit by giving her regular duties to perform, and for awhile matters
+went on pretty well.  But about a year ago a certain Baroness Lessen
+came to live over at Lindhof,--that is the name of the former Gnadewitz
+property, which the heir-at-law sold to a Herr von Walde. The possessor
+himself, who has neither wife nor child, is a kind of antiquary, travels
+a great deal, and leaves his only sister under the charge of the
+aforesaid baroness, more's the pity, for she turns everything upside
+down.  Years ago, when I used to hear great piety spoken of, all my
+veneration was excited, and I wished at least to take my cap off; but
+now, when I hear of such things, I clench my fist and pull my hat down
+over my eyes, for the world has greatly changed.  The Baroness Lessen
+belongs to those pious souls who grow cruel, hard, and narrow-minded out
+of what they call pure fear of the Lord; who persecute a fellow-creature
+who does not cast his eyes down hypocritically, but lifts them to heaven
+where God dwells, as persistently as a hound hunts down game.  This is
+the herd to which my excellent niece belongs; there could not be a
+better soil for all the weeds that her brain generates, and all sorts of
+annoyances are the consequence.  She made acquaintance with a
+lady's-maid over there, and spent all her leisure time with her. At
+first I was content enough, until all at once she began with her
+plans,--for our conversion, as she calls it. Sabina was a miserable
+sinner, because she would not leave off work, at least ten times a day,
+to pray; the poor old thing, who never misses church every Sunday at
+Lindhof, even through wind and rain, and often with rheumatism racking
+her old bones, and who has lived a faithful, laborious life, infinitely
+more religious than sixty years of idleness spent upon her knees.  And
+then my fine moralist attacked me; but there she found her match, and
+contented herself with a single effort.  Then I forbade all intercourse
+with Lindhof; but my prohibition was of little use, for whenever my back
+is turned she takes occasion to slip over there.  Of course, there can
+be no question of any gratitude towards me; I have no bond of union with
+her as her guardian, and that makes my task of guiding and guarding her
+doubly difficult.  God only knows what insane idea has taken possession
+of her now, but for two months she has been perfectly dumb, not only
+here at home, but everywhere.  For that space of time not a single word
+has passed her lips.  Neither sternness nor gentle entreaty produces the
+slightest effect upon her.  She attends to her duties just as she used
+to do, eats and drinks like every one else, and is not one whit less
+vain or wise in her own conceit.  But because she grew pale, and did not
+look very well, I consulted a physician, who had formerly known her,
+with regard to her health.  He assured me that her physical health was
+excellent, and advised that she should be treated with gentle firmness,
+as the minds of several of her family had previously been somewhat
+affected.  He said, too, that she would grow tired of her entire
+silence, and would begin talking some fine day like a magpie.  I am
+content to wait; but in the mean time it is a sore trial to me. All my
+life I have longed to have happy faces around me, and would rather eat
+bread and salt with cheerful people than the costliest dainties with
+morose companions.  Come, my Fair one with the golden locks," he
+concluded, stroking Elizabeth's head with his huge hand, "push your
+mother's arm-chair up to the table, tie a napkin round the neck of that
+little rogue who is staring his eyes out at my case of rifles, and let
+us breakfast together, for you all need repose, and must rest your weary
+limbs after your long journey.  After dinner we must begin to think of
+Castle Gnadeck; but first strengthen your eyes with a little sleep, lest
+they should be dazzled by the splendour which will flash upon them up
+there."
+
+After breakfast, while her father and mother were asleep and little
+Ernst was dreaming in a large bed of the wonders of the forest-lodge,
+Elizabeth unpacked in the upper room, which her uncle had resigned to
+her, all that was necessary for the coming night.  She would not for the
+world have gone to sleep.  She went repeatedly to the window and looked
+across to the wooded mountain which arose behind the lodge.  There,
+above the tops of the trees, she could see a black streak, which stood
+out distinctly against the clear blue sky.  That was, as old Sabina
+said, an ancient iron flag-staff upon the roof of Castle Gnadeck, from
+which in times long gone by the proud banner of the Gnadewitzes had
+flouted the air. Was there behind those trees the asylum for which she
+longed, where her parents might rest their feet, weary with long
+wandering upon foreign soil?
+
+And then her eyes sought the court-yard below, but the dumb girl did not
+appear again.  She had not come to breakfast, and seemed to wish to
+avoid all intercourse with the guests at the lodge.  For this Elizabeth
+was very sorry.  Although her uncle's account had not been promising, a
+youthful spirit is not quick to resign its illusions, and would rather
+be undeceived by the bursting of its gay bubble than admonished by the
+experience of age.  The beautiful girl, who could so determinedly
+conceal her secret behind closed lips, became doubly interesting to her,
+and she exhausted herself in conjectures as to the cause of this
+silence.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+After a most cheerful dinner, Sabina brought from the cupboard a pipe,
+which she filled and handed with a match to the forester.
+
+"What are you thinking of, Sabina?" he said, rejecting it with a comical
+air of displeased surprise.  "Do you think I could find it in my heart
+to sit here and smoke a quiet pipe while Elsie's little feet are dancing
+with impatience to run up the mountain, and she is longing to poke her
+little nose into the magic castle?  No, I think we had better start at
+once upon our voyage of discovery."
+
+All were soon ready.  The forester gave his arm to his sister-in-law,
+and they started off through the court and garden.  After they had gone
+a little way, they were joined by a mason from the neighbouring village,
+whom the forester had sent for that he might be at hand if necessary.
+
+They walked up the mountain by a tolerably steep and narrow path through
+the thick forest, but this path gradually broadened, and at last led to
+a small open space, on one side of which arose what seemed like a tall
+gray rock.
+
+"Here I have the pleasure," said the forester to his brother, with a
+sarcastic smile, "of revealing to you the estate of the lamented Baron
+von Gnadewitz in all its grandeur."
+
+They were standing before a lofty wall, which looked like one solid
+block of granite.  They could see nothing of any buildings that might be
+behind it, because the surrounding forest was too thick and close to
+allow of a sufficiently distant point of observation.  The forester led
+the way along the wall, at the base of which thick underbrush was
+growing, until he reached a large oaken door with an iron grating in the
+upper half of it.  Here he had had the matted growth of underbrush
+cleared away, and he now produced a bunch of large keys which had been
+handed over to Frau Ferber as she had passed through L---- the day
+before.
+
+The utmost exertions of the three men were necessary before the rusty
+locks and bars would move, but at last the door creaked, or rather
+crashed upon its hinges, and a thick cloud of dust floated up into the
+air.  The explorers entered and found themselves in a court-yard bounded
+on three sides by buildings.  Opposite them was the imposing front of
+the castle, with a flight of broad stone steps, and a clumsy iron
+balustrade, leading to the entrance door upon the first story.  Running
+from each side of the main building were gloomy colonnades, whose
+granite pillars and arches seemed to defy the tooth of time.  In the
+centre of the court-yard a group of old chestnut trees stretched their
+aged boughs above a huge basin, in the midst of which couched four stone
+lions with wide open jaws.  Formerly four powerful streams of water must
+have poured through them from the bowels of the earth, filling the
+entire basin; but now there was only a small stream trickling through
+the threatening teeth of one of the monsters, sufficing to sprinkle with
+moisture the grass and weeds growing in the cracks of the stone basin,
+and, by its low, mournful ripple, giving a faint suggestion of life in
+this wilderness.  The outer walls of the structure and the colonnades
+were all that could be regarded without terror in this space.  The
+window frames, from which every pane of glass had been broken, showed
+the sad desolation within.  In some rooms the ceilings had already
+fallen in; in others, the joists were bent as though the lightest touch
+might send them crashing down.  Even the stone steps seemed half hanging
+in the air,--some mossy fragments had already become detached from them,
+and had rolled into the centre of the court-yard.
+
+"We can do nothing here," said Ferber.  "Let us go on."
+
+Through a deep, dark portal they entered another court-yard, which,
+although much larger than the first, by its striking irregularity
+produced an impression of far greater desolation.  Here, a dreary,
+crumbling pile of masonry projected far out, and formed a dark corner
+never visited by a sunbeam; there, a clumsy tower shot into the air,
+throwing a deep shadow upon the wing at its back.  An old elder bush,
+leading a straggling existence in one corner, with its leaves covered
+with fallen crumbs of mortar, and some dry grasses between the stones of
+the pavement, made the scene yet more desolate.  No noise disturbed the
+deathlike silence reigning here.  Even the jackdaws soaring in the air
+above ceased their chatter, and the echoes of the footsteps upon the
+stone pavement had a ghostly sound.
+
+"Yes, those old knights," said Ferber, almost appalled at the sight of
+the desolation around him, "have heaped up these piles of granite, and
+thought that this cradle of their race would proclaim the splendour of
+their name through all coming centuries.  Each has altered and arranged
+his inheritance after his own taste and convenience, as we see from
+these different kinds of architecture, and lived as if there were no end
+to it all."
+
+"And yet each lodged here but for a little space," interrupted the
+forester, "and paid his landlord, the earth, for his lodging with his
+own crumbling bones,--now turned to dust.  But let us go on.
+Brr--rr!--it makes me shiver.  Death everywhere,--nothing but death!"
+
+"Do you call that death, uncle?" suddenly exclaimed Elizabeth, who had
+hitherto been awed and silent, pointing, as she spoke, through a door
+which was half concealed by an interposing column.  There, behind a
+grating, fresh sunny green was shining, and young climbing roses leaned
+their blossoms against the iron bars.
+
+Elizabeth ran towards the door, and, exerting all her strength, pushed
+it open.  The space upon which she entered had probably been the former
+flower-garden, but such a name could scarcely be applied to the tangled
+wilderness of green, where not even the narrowest vestige of a path
+could be discerned, and where here and there only the mutilated remains
+of a statue appeared among the mass of shrubs, bushes, and parasitical
+plants.  A wild grape-vine had climbed to the upper story of the
+building, and taken firm hold there of the window-sills,--its green
+branches and wreaths falling thence like a shower upon the wild roses
+and lilac bushes beneath.  And in this secluded, blooming spot of
+ground, a buzzing and humming were heard, as if Spring had assembled
+here her entire host of winged insects.  Countless butterflies fluttered
+over the flowers, and golden beetles were running glittering across the
+broad fern leaves at Elizabeth's feet. And above this little world of
+bloom and busy life several fruit trees and magnificent lindens waved
+their leafy crests, while upon a slight elevation were seen the remains
+of what had once been a pavilion.
+
+The garden was surrounded upon three sides by buildings; the square was
+completed by a high, green wall, which had been constructed of earth,
+like a dam, and above which the trees of the forest waved a greeting to
+their neighbours within.  Here were also the same signs of
+decay,--tolerably well preserved outer walls,--complete ruin within.
+Only one building of two stories, connecting two high wings, attracted
+attention from its closed appearance.  The light did not shine through
+it, as through its doorless and windowless companions; its flat roof,
+finished in front and at the back by a heavy stone balustrade, must have
+bidden defiance to time and tempest, as had also the gray window-panes
+which peeped out here and there from the tangled growth of vines that
+covered everything.  The forester measured it with a keen glance, and
+declared that this must be Sabina's famous building,--possibly the
+interior might not be in as crumbling a condition as the rest of the
+castle,--only he could not understand how they were to get into the old
+swallow's nest.  Certainly, the rank growth around the base of the walls
+would have obscured all trace of steps or door, even were there any such
+entrance.  They determined, therefore, to venture up into one of the
+large side wings by a worn but tolerably secure flight of stone steps,
+and thus attempt to arrive at the interior of the connecting building.
+They succeeded in gaining ingress to the tall wing, although they could
+keep their footing only by clinging to the uneven walls.  They first
+entered a large saloon which had the blue sky for a ceiling, and whose
+only decoration was a few green bushes growing through its walls.
+Remnants of galleries, worm-eaten joists, and various fragments of
+frescoed ceiling were heaped up in piles, over which the explorers had
+to scramble as best they might.  Then followed a long suite of rooms in
+the same utterly desolate condition.  Upon some of the walls fragments
+of family portraits were still hanging, upon which, strangely and
+comically enough, only an eye, or, perhaps, a pair of delicate folded
+hands, or a mail-clad, theatrically-posed leg, was yet distinctly to be
+traced. At length they reached the last apartment, and stood before a
+high-arched doorway which had evidently been bricked up.
+
+"Aha!" said Ferber, "here they intended to cut off this building from
+the universal desolation.  I think that before we venture any further
+upon this break-neck expedition it would be well to knock out these
+stones."
+
+His proposal was at once favourably received, and the mason began his
+task; he soon penetrated into a recess in the wall, which he assured
+them was double at this spot.  The other two men lent their assistance,
+and a thick oaken door was revealed behind the masonry that they cleared
+away.  This door was not locked, and yielded readily to the mason's
+strong arm.  They entered an entirely dark, close room.  One slender
+sunbeam, straying through a crack showed them where to find a window;
+the bolt of the shutter, rusty from long disuse, resisted for some time
+the strength of the forester, and the trees upon the outside opposed an
+additional obstacle to their exertions.  At last the shutter yielded
+with a crash; the golden-green sunlight streamed in through a high
+bow-window and disclosed an apartment not broad, but very deep, the
+walls of which were hung with Gobelin tapestry.  Upon each of the four
+corners of the ceiling were painted the arms of the Gnadewitzes.  To the
+surprise of all, this room was entirely furnished as a sleeping
+apartment.  Two canopied beds, with hangings dingy with age, that
+occupied the two long walls of the room, were all made up; the pillows
+were covered with fine linen cases, and the silken coverlid still
+preserved its colour and texture.  Everything that could conduce to the
+comfort of an aristocratic occupant was here, buried, indeed, beneath a
+mass of dust, but in a state of excellent preservation.  Beyond this
+apartment, and opening into it, was another much larger, with two
+windows; it was also completely furnished, although in antique style,
+and evidently with furniture hunted up from various other rooms for the
+purpose.  An antique writing-table, its top most artistically inlaid and
+resting upon strangely carved claw feet, harmonized but poorly with the
+more modern form of the crimson sofa; and the gilt frames, in which hung
+several well-painted hunting pictures, did not accord with the silver
+mountings of the huge mirror. Nevertheless, nothing was wanting that
+could complete the solid comfort of the room.  A thick, though somewhat
+faded carpet was laid upon the floor, and a large antique timepiece
+stood beneath the mirror.  A small boudoir, also furnished, and from
+which a door led to a vestibule and a flight of steps, opened from the
+larger apartment.  Behind these rooms were three others of a similar
+size, with windows looking upon the garden; one of these, containing two
+beds and pine furniture, was evidently intended for the servants.
+
+"Well done!" cried the forester with a smile of satisfaction; "here is
+an establishment that exceeds the wildest flights of our modest fancy.
+If the sainted Gnadewitz could see us now he would turn in his leaden
+coffin. All this we owe, I suppose, to the neglect of a housekeeper or
+to the forgetfulness of some childish, old steward."
+
+"But do you think we ought to keep these things?" asked, in a breath,
+Frau Ferber and Elizabeth, who had been silent hitherto from wonder.
+
+"Most certainly, my love," said Ferber; "your uncle left you the castle
+with everything which it contained."
+
+"And little enough it was," growled the forester.
+
+"But in comparison with our expectations a perfect mine of wealth," said
+Frau Ferber, as she opened a beautiful glass cabinet containing
+different kinds of china; "and if my uncle had actually endowed me with
+an estate in my young days, when I was full of hope and enthusiasm, I
+doubt whether it would have made as much impression upon me as does this
+unexpected discovery, which relieves us all of so much anxiety."
+
+In the mean time Elizabeth had gone to the window of the first room
+which they had entered, and was trying to part the boughs and vines
+which grew so thick and strong all along this side of the building that
+they formed a barrier through which only a greenish twilight penetrated.
+"It is a pity," she said, as she found that her efforts were vain; "I
+should have liked some glimpse of the forest outside."
+
+"Why, do you think," said her uncle, "that I shall allow you to live
+behind this green screen, which shuts out air as well as light?  Rely
+upon me to take that matter in charge, my little Elsie."
+
+They next descended the stairs.  These, too, were in perfect
+preservation, and led to a large hall with a huge oaken table in the
+centre, surrounded by spindled-legged, straight-backed chairs.  The
+floor was of red tiles, and the panels on walls and ceiling were covered
+with beautiful carving.  This large apartment was provided with four
+windows and two doors opposite to each other; one of these led into the
+garden, and the other, which was opened with difficulty, into a narrow
+open court-yard lying between the building-and the outer wall.  Here the
+syringas and hazel bushes were growing everywhere, making an absolute
+thicket, through which, however, the three men penetrated, and reached a
+little gate in the outside wall which communicated with the forest
+without.
+
+"Now," said Ferber, delighted, "every obstacle to our living here is
+removed.  This entrance is most valuable. We shall never have to pass
+through the older court-yards, which are really dangerous places,
+surrounded as they are by crumbling ruins."
+
+They made one more tour through their newly found home with an eye to
+its future arrangement, and the mason was ordered to be upon the spot
+the next day that he might convert one of the back rooms into a kitchen.
+Then, after the oaken door leading into the large, ruinous wing had been
+well bolted and secured, they took their way through the gate in the
+wall, an undertaking difficult indeed, on account of the thick bushes
+which opposed their progress, but infinitely preferable to the perilous
+path by which they had entered.
+
+As the returning party entered the garden of the forest lodge, Sabina
+came towards them, in great anxiety to learn the results of their
+expedition, accompanied by little Ernst, who had been entrusted to her
+care while his mother and sister were away.  She had prepared the table
+with its snowy cloth and shining coffee-service upon a shady knoll under
+the beech trees, and now clapped her hands with delight upon hearing of
+all they had found.
+
+"Ah! gracious Powers," she cried, "I hope the Herr Forester understands
+now that I knew what I was talking about.  Yes, yes, all those things
+were left there and forgotten, and no wonder.  As soon as the young lord
+was buried, old Gnadewitz packed off as quick as he could, and took
+every servant with him except the old house-steward Silber, and he was
+childish with age, and besides had enough to do to take care of all that
+was left in the new castle; it was crowded with furniture and plate, and
+he had a hard time to keep it all right; so everything was left in the
+old rooms, and no one knew anything about them.  Ah, I've dusted and
+cleaned everything there often enough, and frightened indeed I was
+whenever I came to that old clock, for it plays such mournful music when
+it strikes, it used to sound like something unearthly, when I was all
+alone at work in the old place.  Ah, how time flies, I was young then!"
+
+Then came an hour of rest and comfortable discussion, while they drank
+their coffee.  As Elizabeth had decided that nothing could be more
+charming than to awaken in their own rooms upon Whit-Sunday
+morning,--when the ringing of the church-bells in the surrounding
+villages would come softly echoing through the forest glades,--a view of
+the matter in which her mother sympathized, they determined to undertake
+all the necessary repairs and cleaning immediately, that they might
+occupy the rooms upon the eve of Whit-Sunday, and the forester placed
+all his men at their disposal.
+
+Sabina had taken up her position upon a grassy bank at a short distance
+from the table, that she might be at hand if wanted; and that she might
+not be idle, she had pulled up a couple of handfuls of carrots from the
+garden and was busily scraping and trimming them.  Elizabeth sat down
+beside her.  The old woman gave a sly glance at the delicate white
+fingers, that contrasted so with her own brown, horny hands, as they
+picked some carrots up from her lap.
+
+"Don't touch," she said, "that is no work for you,--you will make your
+fingers yellow."
+
+"What matter for that?" laughed Elizabeth.  "I will help you a little,
+and you shall tell me a story.  You were born here, and must know many a
+tale about the old castle."
+
+"You may be sure of that," replied the old housekeeper. "The village of
+Lindhof, where I was born, belonged to the Lords von Gnadewitz time out
+of mind, and you see in such a little place as that every one talks and
+thinks of the great people who rule over it.  Nothing happens of any
+account in the castle that is not described and handed down from father
+to son in the village, and, long after the lords and ladies are dust,
+their stories are told by the village girls and boys.
+
+"Now there was my great-grandmother, whom I remember perfectly, she knew
+many a thing that would make your hair stand on end; but she had a
+monstrous respect for every one at Gnadeck, and used to bob down my head
+with her trembling hands whenever a Gnadewitz drove by our cottage,--for
+I was but a little thing then, and did not know how to make a
+respectable courtesy. She knew about all the lords who had lived at the
+old castle for hundreds of years; yes, many a thing that had happened
+there, that must have outraged God and man.
+
+"Afterwards, when I lived at the new castle, and had to sweep the long
+gallery where their pictures were all hanging upon the wall,--pictures
+of people whose very bones had mouldered away,--I often used to stand
+still before them and wonder to see them looking so like everybody else,
+when they used to make such a fuss about themselves, as if God Almighty
+had brought them down to the earth with his own hands.  There were not
+many beauties among the women.  I often thought, in my stupid way, that
+if pretty Lieschen, the most beautiful girl in the village, could only
+have been painted and hung in such a rich gold frame, with a silken
+scarf and such quantities of jewels upon her neck and in her hair, and
+the blackamoor with his silver waiter standing just behind her lovely
+face and neck, she would have looked a thousand times prettier than the
+lady who was so ugly, and frowned so with pride and arrogance that two
+great wrinkles went up to the very roots of her hair.  And yet she was
+the very one that the family was proudest of.  She had been a very
+wealthy countess, but hard and unfeeling as a stone.
+
+"Among the men, there was only one whom I liked to look at.  He had a
+frank, kind, honest face, and a pair of eyes black as sloes; but he had
+shown how true it is that the good always get the worst of it in this
+world.  All the others had a fine time of it as long as they lived. Many
+of them had done harm enough in their time, and yet their death-beds
+were as calm and peaceful as if they had always been just and true; but
+poor Jost von Gnadewitz had a sad fate.  My great-grandmother's
+grandmother had known him when she was a very little girl. Then they
+always called him the wild huntsman, because he never left the forest,
+but would hunt there from morning until night.  In the picture he had on
+a green coat and a long white feather in his cap, that was most
+beautiful to see dangling among his coal-black curls.  He was
+kind-hearted, and never harmed a child.  While he lived all the
+villagers prospered, and they wished he might live forever.
+
+"But all of a sudden he left this part of the country, and no one knew,
+for some time, where he had gone, until one night in a dreadful storm he
+came back as quietly as he had gone away.  But always after that he was
+a changed man.  The people of Lindhof prospered as before, but they saw
+no more of their master.  He dismissed all his servants, and lived alone
+in his old castle with only one favourite attendant.
+
+"And at last it began to be whispered that he was busy with magic and
+the black art up there, and no one dared to go near the castle even at
+high noon, let alone the dark night.  But my old great-grandmother was a
+bold, saucy girl, and used sometimes to pasture her goats right under
+the walls of the castle court-yard.  Well,--once as she was leaning
+against a tree there, gazing at the high walls, and lost in thoughts
+concerning all that might be going on behind them, suddenly an arm
+appeared above them white as snow, and then a face fairer than sun,
+moon, and stars, my grandmother said, and at last with a sudden spring a
+young maiden stood upon the top of the broad wall, and, stretching her
+arms up into the air, cried out something in a strange tongue that my
+grandmother could not understand, and was just about to leap down into
+the deep ditch full of water that then entirely surrounded the castle,
+when Jost appeared behind her, and, putting his arms around her, begged
+and implored her so that a stone would have melted at such entreaties
+wrung from a heart full of terror and anguish.  And finally he took her
+up in his arms like a child, and they both disappeared from the wall.
+But the veil became loosened from the maiden's head and floated away
+across the ditch to where my grandmother was standing.  It was
+exquisitely fine, and she carried it home in great glee to her father;
+but he declared it was woven by the devil, and threw it into the fire,
+forbidding my grandmother ever to go up the mountain near the castle
+again.
+
+"Some time after,--certainly a whole year after Jost first shut himself
+up so closely at Gnadeck,--he came down the mountain very early one
+morning on horseback; but you would hardly have known him, his face was
+so haggard and pale, all the paler for the full suit of black that he
+wore.  He rode very slowly, and nodded sadly to every one whom he met;
+he never came back to this place again; he was slain in battle, and his
+old servant with him--'twas at the time of the thirty years' war."
+
+"And the beautiful girl?" asked Elizabeth.
+
+"Ah, no one ever heard tale or tidings of her again. Jost left a large
+sealed packet in the town-house at L----, and said that it was his last
+will, and must be opened whenever news of his death should be received.
+But a short time after his departure, there was a terrible fire in
+L----; a great many houses, and even the church and the town-house, were
+burned to the ground with everything which they contained, and of course
+the packet was destroyed.
+
+"Before Jost left, the pastor from Lindhof went to see him several
+times; but the reverend gentleman kept as quiet as a mouse, and, as he
+was already very old, he soon departed this life, and everything that he
+knew was buried with him.  So no living being knows anything about the
+strange maiden, nor ever will know till the day of judgment."
+
+"Oh, never trouble yourself to keep the matter quiet, Sabina," called
+the forester to her from the table, as he shook the ashes out of his
+pipe.  "Elsie had better get used as soon as possible to the terrible
+conclusions to your stories.  Tell her at once--for you know all about
+it--how the beautiful maiden one fine day flew up the chimney and away
+upon a broomstick."
+
+"No, I don't believe that, sir, although I know----"
+
+"That the whole country is swarming with such creatures, all ripe for
+the gallows," interrupted her master. "Yes, yes," he continued, turning
+to the others, "Sabina is one of the old Thuringian stock.  She has
+sense enough, and her heart is in the right place; but when there is any
+question about witchcraft she loses one and forgets the other, and is
+nearly ready to turn any poor old woman away from the door, just because
+she has red eyes, without giving her a morsel of food."
+
+"No, indeed, sir, I'm not quite so bad as that," the old woman declared
+with some irritation.  "I give her something to eat; but I always stick
+my thumbs in the palms of my hands, and never answer one of her
+questions,--there's no harm in that!"
+
+Every one laughed at this charm against witches and witchcraft, which
+the old servant told with the utmost gravity as she arose and emptied
+the carrot-tops from her apron, that she might prepare the afternoon
+meal, which was to be eaten earlier than usual, as there was much to do
+in the old castle before nightfall.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V.
+
+
+As Elizabeth opened her eyes the next morning, the tall clock in the
+room below was striking eight, and she started up with the provoking
+consciousness that she had overslept herself; and it was all owing to a
+vivid and terrible dream.  The golden atmosphere of poetry, which had
+yesterday hovered around Sabina's narrative, had become a gloomy cloud
+in the night, the shadow of which embittered and burdened the first
+moments of her awakening.  She had been flying in deadly terror through
+the spacious, dreary halls of the old castle, always pursued by Jost.
+Thick curls were waving wildly above his pale forehead, beneath which
+his black eyes gleamed upon her, and she had just stretched out her arms
+in greater terror than she had ever experienced in her life before, to
+defend herself from him, when she awoke.  Her heart was still beating
+violently, and she thought with a shudder of the wretched girl upon the
+castle wall, who, pursued, perhaps, as she had been, had sought relief
+in death, when she was again captured by her tormentor.
+
+She sprang up and bathed her face in cold water; then she opened her
+window and looked out into the courtyard. There sat Sabina under a pear
+tree, busy with her churn.  All the feathered crowd of the place stood
+around, looking impatiently for the crumbs that she threw to them from
+time to time from a bowl upon the table by her side, while she improved
+the occasion to rebuke the arrogant and greedy, and to console the
+oppressed and down-trodden.
+
+When she saw the young girl, she nodded kindly, and called up to her to
+say that every one in the lodge had been busy up there in the old castle
+since six o'clock. When Elizabeth reproached her for letting her sleep
+so long, she assured her that she had done so by the express desire of
+her mother, who thought that her daughter had overtasked her strength in
+the last few weeks of excitement and exertion.
+
+Sabina's kind, placid face, and the fresh air of the morning soothed
+Elizabeth's nerves at once, and brought back her thoughts to the world
+of reality which was just now opening so brightly before her.  She took
+herself seriously to task that, despite her uncle's fatherly admonition,
+she had leaned out of the open window until midnight upon the previous
+night, gazing across the moonlit meadow into the silent forest.  But
+common sense often plays a poor part when opposed to excited fancy.
+Where it should conduct a rigid examination and discriminate wisely, it
+suddenly finds itself deserted in the judgment-seat, and must retire in
+confusion, while the varied and motley spectacle which fancy conjures up
+proceeds without interruption.  Thus Elizabeth's self-reproaches soon
+vanished before the picture which presented itself to her memory, and
+still threw around her all the magic of a moonlit night in the forest.
+
+As soon as she had dressed, and drank a tumbler of fresh milk, she
+hastened up to the castle.  The sky was overcast, but only with those
+light, thin clouds which foretell a fresh although not a sunny, spring
+day. Therefore the birds' morning concert was of longer duration than
+usual, and the dew-drops lay as large and full in the cups of the
+flowers as if their existence for the day were not threatened.
+
+As Elizabeth entered the large gate of the castle, which stood wide
+open, a huge green mound, piled up by the fountain, met her eye.  It was
+formed of thistle stalks, ferns, and bramble bushes, which had been torn
+from their home in the garden, and were here bidding farewell to their
+long, merry life.  The path through the arched gateway of the second
+court-yard to the grating was strewn with green boughs and leaves, as
+though a joyous marriage train had been passing through the old ruins;
+and even on the sill of a high window, that showed the remains of
+coloured glass in the lacework of the stone rosette of its pointed arch,
+some boughs had been caught as they were carried past, and the trailing
+end of a wild vine was coiling its living green lovingly around the
+stone trefoil of the Holy Trinity, which betrayed unmistakably that the
+dark, dreary hall within had once been the chapel of the castle.
+
+The garden, where it had yesterday been impossible to take two steps,
+seemed to Elizabeth entirely changed. A considerable part of it had been
+cleared, and showed distinct traces of having been tastefully laid out.
+She could easily proceed along a partially cleared path, across which
+timid hares and squirrels ran fleetly now and then, until she reached
+the green rampart which had only been seen from a distance yesterday.
+At each end of the long, grassy embankment, broad, worn, stone steps led
+up to a low breastwork, over which one could look out into the forest,
+and there, where the trees were somewhat thin, through a green vista
+down into the valley, where the forest lodge, with the white doves
+dotting its blue-slated roof, was nestling cosily.  At the foot of the
+embankment, just where the broad path terminated, was a little stone
+basin, into which a strong stream of crystal water flowed through the
+mouth of a mossy little marble gnome.  Two lindens arched their boughs
+above this gurgling brook, and threw their grateful shade upon the
+tender forget-me-nots, which grew here in masses in the damp earth and
+wreathed the little basin with their heavenly blue.
+
+Directly opposite the embankment lay her future habitation, which, with
+its window-shutters thrown back and the large door on the ground-floor
+wide open, looked so bright and hospitable to-day that Elizabeth
+welcomed with joy the thought that she was looking upon her home. Her
+gaze wandered over the garden, and she thought upon those moments of her
+childhood when, her little heart full of unconquerable longing, she had
+lingered behind her parents during some pleasant walk, and, with her
+face pressed close against the iron grating, had gazed into some strange
+garden.  There she had seen happy children playing carelessly upon the
+greensward; they could bend down the lovely roses that hung in such
+clusters, and inhale their fragrance as long as they liked. And what a
+pleasure it must be to creep under the flower-laden boughs and sit there
+in the green, just like grown-up people in an arbour!  But there was
+nothing for her then but the look and the longing.  No one had ever
+opened the barred door to the child with the wistful eyes, who would
+have been only too happy if they would have thrust a few flowers through
+the grating into her little hands.
+
+While Elizabeth was standing upon the embankment, the forester appeared
+at one of the upper windows of the dwelling.  When he saw her graceful
+figure leaning against the low breastwork, as, with her beautiful head
+half turned towards the garden, she seemed sunk in a reverie, his
+features were illumined by an expression of pleasure and quiet delight.
+
+And Elsie soon found him out, and nodding to him gaily, bounded down the
+steps towards the house.  Little Ernst ran to her in the hall, and she
+took him up in her arms.
+
+The assistance which the little boy had afforded had been, according to
+his own enthusiastic account, invaluable indeed.  He had carried bricks
+for the mason who had been mending the hearth, had helped his mother to
+shake out the beds, and declared with pride that the lords and ladies
+upon the woollen hangings looked far handsomer since he had brushed off
+their dusty faces.  He threw his arms around his sister's neck as she
+carried him up-stairs, assuring her all the way that he liked it a
+thousand times better here than in B----.
+
+The forester received Elizabeth in the antechamber above.  He scarcely
+gave her time to say good morning to her parents, but conducted her
+instantly into the gobelin-hung apartment.  Ah, what a transformation!
+The green lattice-work that had obscured the window had vanished.
+Without, beyond the outer wall, the forest retreated like side-scenes on
+either side, opening a full view of a distant valley that was to
+Elizabeth a perfect paradise.
+
+"There is Lindhof," said the forester, pointing to a large building in
+the Italian style, which lay tolerably near to the foot of the mountain
+upon which Gnadeck stood.  "I have brought you something that will show
+you every tree upon the mountains over there, and every blade of grass
+in the meadows of the valley," he continued, as he held an excellent
+spy-glass before her eyes.
+
+And then the grand, solemn mountain domes seemed to approach, their
+granite peaks, sometimes crowned by a solitary fir, breaking through the
+forest here and there. Behind these nearest summits towered countless
+ranges in the blue misty light, and from a distant, dim valley which
+separated two giant mountains, arose two slender, shadowy gothic towers.
+A little river, a highway bordered by poplars, and several gay villages
+enlivened the background of the valley.  In front lay Castle Lindhof,
+surrounded by a park laid out in princely style. Beneath the windows of
+the castle extended a closely shaven lawn, beset with small,
+quaintly-shaped beds glowing with all the colours of the rainbow.
+Thence Elizabeth's eyes soon wandered, and rested delightedly upon the
+mysterious gloom of an avenue of magnificent lindens, their heavy
+foliage interlacing above their brown trunks, while here and there
+drooping boughs swept the ground beneath with their broad leaves.  They
+bordered a little crystal lake, which just now looked melancholy enough
+amid all its flowery surroundings, for its depths mirrored a cloudy sky.
+Now and then a swan stretched its white neck curiously among the
+low-hanging linden boughs, and sent a shower of feathery spray from its
+wings to sprinkle their old trunks.
+
+Hitherto Elizabeth had allowed the glass to range restlessly hither and
+thither, but now she attempted to hold it steadily, for she had made a
+discovery which excited her interest most powerfully.
+
+Under the last trees of the avenue stood a couch.  A young lady lay upon
+it, her charming head thrown back so that a part of her chestnut curls
+fell down across the pillow.  Beneath the hem of her long white muslin
+dress, which enveloped her form to the throat, peeped out two tiny feet
+encased in gold-embroidered satin slippers.  She held in her delicate
+almost transparent hands some auriculas, which she was thoughtlessly
+twisting and waving to and fro.  Her lips alone showed any colouring;
+the rest of her face was lily-pale; one would almost have doubted its
+being informed with life had not the blue eyes gleamed so wondrously.
+But these eyes with their depth of expression were riveted upon the
+countenance of a man who, sitting opposite, appeared to be reading aloud
+to her.  Elizabeth could not see his face, for his back was turned
+toward her.  He seemed young, tall, and well made, and had a profusion
+of light-brown hair.
+
+"Is that lovely lady over there the Baroness Lessen?" asked Elizabeth,
+eagerly.
+
+The forester took the spy-glass.  "No," said he, "that is Fr�ulein von
+Walde, the sister of the proprietor of Lindhof.  You call her charming,
+and certainly her head is lovely, but she is a cripple; she walks upon
+crutches."
+
+At this moment Frau Ferber joined them.  She too looked through the
+glass, and thought the countenance of the young lady most beautiful.
+She was particularly struck with the expression of gentle kindness
+which, as she said, "transfigured the features."
+
+"Yes," said the forester, "she is kind and benevolent. When I first came
+here the whole country around was full of her praises.  But matters are
+changed indeed, since the Baroness Lessen has had the control of affairs
+over there.  No more alms are distributed among the poor, unless they
+are earned by hypocrisy.  Woe to the wretch who asks any assistance
+there!  He will be turned away without a penny, if he ventures to hint
+that he would rather listen to the pastor in the village church on
+Sundays than go to the castle chapel, where the chaplain of the baroness
+every week calls down fire and brimstone, and every imaginable pain of
+hell, upon the heads of the ungodly."
+
+"Certainly such violent measures are poorly fitted to win souls to
+heaven and inspire people with Christian love," said Frau Ferber.
+
+"They destroy all good, and foster hypocrisy, I tell you!" cried the
+forester, angrily.  "Do they not set an example of it themselves?  They
+are always reading in the Bible of Christian humility, yet every day
+they grow haughtier and more supercilious.  Why, they would actually
+persuade us that their high-born bodies are moulded of a different clay
+from those of their poor brothers in Christ. It stands written, 'When
+thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand
+doeth;' but no hen ever makes more to-do over her newly-laid egg than
+these people over their charities.  There are perpetual collections,
+fairs, and lotteries for the poor, and the whole neighbourhood is
+black-mailed, but when it comes to taking the money from, where it is
+plentiest, their own purses,--oh, that's carrying the joke too far, as
+the saying goes.  I know people who have been for twenty years
+collecting subscriptions from others to found a poor-house.  These very
+people have a yearly income of six thousand thalers, but of course it
+never occurs to them to add one penny from their own store in aid of
+their charitable project.  They must purchase a reputation for
+benevolence and Christian self-sacrifice more cheaply than that. Zounds!
+how it enrages me to see people wearing their piety so pinned upon their
+sleeves!  Over there in the castle a bell is set ringing just so many
+times a day, that every one in the country around may say, when they
+hear it, 'They are having prayers at the castle.'  The closet, where God
+has commanded us to shut to the door and kneel in prayer, is altogether
+too small to suit their taste. And it is not only this trumpet-blowing
+that outrages me. I hold it to be actually wicked to make such a mere
+everyday form of the worship of the Holiest.  Do you suppose that the
+maid-servant, with a hot smoothing-iron in her hand, or the cook, who is
+just putting her roast to the fire, can rejoice in the sound of that
+bell?"
+
+"It is most certainly a dubious kind of piety," said Frau Ferber,
+smiling.
+
+"Or even the gracious ladies themselves, who are busy with the last
+novel or a piquante bit of court scandal--for an interest in all such
+things is quite consistent with the loftiest piety--do you suppose they
+are able to divert their thoughts in one instant from worldly affairs
+and turn them all heavenwards?  But these people run in and out of the
+kingdom of heaven without any thought or preparation, and congratulate
+themselves upon the honour that they are doing to the Creator."
+
+"And does Herr von Walde sympathize with these reforms of the baroness?"
+asked Frau Ferber.
+
+"From everything that I can gather from the villagers, I should judge
+not; but how does that mend the matter? He is probably at this moment
+prying into the pyramids that he may throw light upon antiquity; how
+should he know that his cousin here is zealously doing her best to blow
+out the advancing light of the present?  Besides, I dare say he has a
+crack in his own brain.  The prince of L----, who knows him well, wished
+some years ago to make a match between him and a young person of quality
+at court, but, as I hear, my gentleman refused the alliance because the
+fair one's pedigree was not sufficiently long."
+
+"Why, perhaps then he may install as mistress of Lindhof some fair
+daughter of a fellah, whose ancestors lie among the mummies at Memphis,"
+said Elizabeth, laughing.
+
+"I don't believe he will marry at all," rejoined the forester.  "He is
+no longer young, is too fond of a wandering life, and has never shown
+any love for women's society.  I'll wager my little finger that that
+fellow there with the book in his hand thinks just as I do, and already
+in his inmost soul regards Lindhof and all the other charming estates in
+Saxony, and God only knows where else, as his own."
+
+"Has he any claims to them?" asked Frau Ferber.
+
+"Most certainly.  He is the son of the Baroness Lessen, whose family is
+the only one in the world related to the brother and sister von Walde.
+The baroness was first married to a certain Herr von Hollfeld; that
+young man is the fruit of that marriage, and by the death of his father
+he came into possession of Odenberg, a large estate on the other side of
+L----.  The fair widow was fully conscious that her freedom must be made
+available to assist her up at least one step in the ladder of human
+happiness and perfection, and naturally this could only be attained by a
+marriage with high rank, wherefore Frau von Hollfeld one day became
+Baroness Lessen.  'Tis true the baron's name had been made somewhat
+notorious by several acts on his part which people of common, low-born
+ideas might call dishonourable; but what matter for that? Was he not a
+lord chamberlain, and did not the keys of his office unlock many a door
+for him where St. Peter's would have availed nothing, in spite of the
+power given to them?  However, the baron died after two years of
+marriage, leaving his widow a little daughter and an enormous amount of
+debts.  I have no doubt she is glad enough to queen it at Lindhof, for I
+hear that she has no part or parcel in her son's property."
+
+Here a maid from the lodge interrupted them with bucket and broom,
+giving unmistakable signs that she was about to begin the duties of her
+office in this apartment.  The spy-glass was hastily closed, and while
+the forester went into the garden to renew his labours there in clearing
+away the luxuriant green from the lower window-sills, Frau Ferber and
+Elizabeth busied themselves with dust-cloths and brushes in restoring
+the furniture of the room to something of its original appearance.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Whitsuntide was over.  The brazen bells had retired into private life,
+and looked black and silent through the loopholes in the bell-towers,
+that seemed like the coffins of the melodious life which had so lately
+streamed forth from them during the holidays.  But the bright
+flower-bells in the forest, hanging loosely on their stalks, could not
+forget the festival.  They had joined in bravely when the air had
+quivered with the brazen clang, and still rang gently with every breeze
+that swept through the underbrush.  What did they care that the
+wood-cutter, his holiday clothes and face all laid aside, tramped past
+them in his heavy boots, whistling some rude melody!  The forest heeded
+not, but kept up the same mysterious murmur amid its branches like a
+thousand-voiced whisper of prayer, and the little birds sang as before
+their matin and vesper hymns in God's praise.
+
+Up in old Castle Gnadeck, as in the forest, the festal spirit of the
+holidays still reigned, although Ferber had already entered upon the
+duties of his office, often making unavoidable visits to L----, while
+Frau Ferber and Elizabeth had, through Sabina, received several large
+orders from a ready-made linen establishment in L----, and were besides
+busy every day for some hours in the garden which even in this first
+year gave promise of abundant fruit and flowers.  Notwithstanding this
+constant industry, there was a holiday air pervading the whole place,
+arising from the consciousness in the minds of each one of the family
+that there had come a happy turn in their affairs; they were continually
+comparing their present with their former situation, and the new and
+unaccustomed life of the forest had an almost intoxicating effect upon
+their spirits.
+
+Her parents had given Elizabeth the gobelin room, because there was the
+finest prospect from its windows, and because the girl when she had
+first entered it had declared that she liked it best of all.  The gloomy
+door which led into the huge old wing Had been walled up and gave no
+sign that such a dreary waste lay beyond it.  The further end of the
+room was filled by one of the renovated canopied bedsteads, and by the
+window stood the antique writing-table, with its quaint inkstand and
+writing utensils of porcelain, and two vases filled with lovely flowers;
+while just outside the window, embowered in the topmost branches of a
+syringa bush, was the canary's cage; its occupant vying with the forest
+songsters in its shrill trilling with all the envy of some spoiled
+bravura singer.
+
+While they were arranging the room, and Frau Ferber was every moment
+bringing in some new piece of furniture to add to it a greater air of
+comfort and luxury, her husband went to the longest wall, and,
+stretching his arms across it, banished to the anteroom the lounge that
+had just been placed there.
+
+"Stay,--this space I appropriate," he said with a smile.  Then he
+brought a large bracket of dark wood and nailed it upon the wall, which
+was wainscoted neatly to the ceiling on this side.  "Here," he
+continued, as he placed upon the bracket a bust of Beethoven, "this
+mightiest mortal shall be enthroned alone."
+
+"But that looks so blank and bare," said Frau Ferber.
+
+"Only wait until to-morrow or the day after, and you will, I am sure,
+admit that my arrangements are not to be despised, and that Elizabeth
+will have both pleasure and profit from them."
+
+And on the next day, which had been Whitsun-eve, he went to town with
+the forester.  They returned toward evening, but did not enter through
+the gate in the garden wall.  The great gate was flung wide open, and
+four strong men bore in a large and shining object through the ruins.
+Elizabeth was standing near the kitchen window, engaged, for the first
+time in her new home, in preparing the evening meal, when the men
+entered the garden with their burden.
+
+She cried out, for it was a piano--a large, square piano, which was
+immediately borne up stairs and placed in the gobelin room under
+Beethoven's bust.  Elizabeth laughed and wept at the same moment, as she
+rapturously embraced her father, who had expended his little capital,
+the proceeds of the sale of their furniture in B----, that he might
+provide her again with what had been the delight of her life.  And then
+she opened the instrument and a flood of rich melody filled the rooms
+where the silence of death had reigned for so many years.
+
+The forester had come with her father to enjoy Elizabeth's surprise and
+delight.  He now leaned silently against the wall, as the wondrous
+sounds flowed forth from beneath the girl's touch.  For the first time
+he heard the true speech of the glowing life that animated the delicate
+young frame.  How thoughtful and inspired was the air of the
+finely-shaped head which crowned her graceful form, so suggestive of
+earnest maidenhood!  Hitherto only jests and merry repartee had been
+exchanged between uncle and niece.  He often called her his butterfly,
+because of the airy grace of her motions and her quickness of mind,
+which never left her at a loss for a reply to his merry attacks; but his
+favourite name for her was "Gold Elsie," for he maintained that her hair
+was such perfect gold that he could see it shining and shimmering in the
+darkest parts of the forest as she approached, and that it heralded her
+coming to him as the jewel in the giant's shield had once announced his
+approach to Childe Roland.
+
+When Elizabeth had finished she spread her arms above the instrument as
+if to embrace it, and, leaning her head upon it, smiled the happiest
+smile; but her uncle approached her softly, gave her a silent kiss upon
+the forehead, and departed without a word.
+
+From this time he came up every evening to the old castle.  As soon as
+the last rays of the setting sun had faded from the tree-tops, Elizabeth
+sat down at the piano. The little family took their places in the large
+low window-seat, and lost themselves in the fairy world, which was
+opened to them by the great master whose image looked down from the wall
+upon the inspired young performer.  And then Ferber would think of how
+Elizabeth had portrayed the free life in the forest when the letter from
+her uncle had first arrived in B----.  'Tis true no elves or gnomes
+appeared, but the spirits which the mightiest of the masters of music
+had imprisoned in sound floated forth from their prison-house on a flood
+of melody, breathing into the solemn silence around a mysterious life--a
+life of whose joys and sorrows every sympathetic human soul is
+conscious, although to genius alone is granted power to embody and
+reveal them.
+
+One afternoon they were all sitting together at their coffee.  The
+forester had brought his pipe and newspaper, and begged of Elizabeth a
+cup of the refreshing beverage. He was just about to read aloud an
+interesting article in his paper, when the bell at the garden gate
+sounded.  To the astonishment of every one, when little Ernst ran to
+open it, a servant in livery entered and handed Elizabeth a note.  It
+was from the Baroness Lessen.  She began by saying much that was
+flattering with regard to the young girl's masterly performance upon the
+piano, to which she had listened for the two or three previous evenings
+while walking in the forest, and concluded by preferring a request that
+Elizabeth would consent, of course for a stipulated consideration, to
+come to Castle Lindhof every week and play duets with Fr�ulein von
+Walde.
+
+The style of the letter was extremely courteous; nevertheless the
+forester, after a second perusal of it, threw it angrily upon the table,
+and said, looking steadily at Elizabeth,--
+
+"I hope you will not consent?"
+
+"And why not, my dear Carl?" asked Ferber in her stead.
+
+"Because Elizabeth is, and always will be, far too good for those people
+down there!" cried the forester, with some irritation.  "But if you
+choose to see what you have carefully planted, choked up and ruined by
+poisonous weeds and mildew--why, do it."
+
+"It is certainly true," replied Ferber quietly, "that my child has known
+until now none other than a parent's care. We have endeavoured most
+conscientiously, as was our duty, to cherish every germ of good, to
+foster every plant of tender growth.  But we have had no idea of
+producing a mere hot house flower, and alas for us and for her, if all
+that we have unweariedly tended and nourished for eighteen years is so
+loosely planted in the soil that it can be torn thence by the first
+blast of life!  I have educated my daughter to live in the world; she
+must battle her way among its storms, as we all must.  If I should be
+taken from her to-day, she must herself guide the helm which I have
+hitherto held for her.  If the people in the castle below are not fit
+associates for her, matters will soon arrange themselves.  Either both
+parties will feel their unsuitability to each other and all intercourse
+will cease, or everything that offends Elizabeth's principles will pass
+by her like idle wind, leaving no impression. Why, you yourself never
+avoid a danger, but rather prove your strength by meeting it bravely."
+
+"But, zounds!  I am a man, and can take care of myself!"
+
+"And how do you know that Elizabeth hereafter will possess any support
+except what she finds in herself, or have any sharer in the
+responsibility of her actions?"
+
+The forester cast a keen glance at his niece, whose earnest eyes were
+riveted upon her father's face.  He who was to her the embodiment of
+wisdom and tenderness was echoing her own ideas, and the expression of
+her beautiful face showed what she felt.
+
+"Father," she said, "you shall see that you have not been mistaken--that
+I am not weak.  I never could endure the trite image of the ivy and the
+oak, and shall most certainly not illustrate it in my own person.  Be
+comforted, uncle dear, and let me go down to the castle," she said,
+smiling archly at the forester, whose forehead showed a deep frown of
+decided irritation.  "If the people there are heartless, don't suppose
+for one moment that they will make a cannibal of me, and that I shall
+eat my own heart up.  If they try to crush me with supercilious
+arrogance, my own inner standard of action shall be so high that I can
+look down in pity upon the harmless arrows of their scorn; and if they
+are hypocrites, I shall turn with all the more delight to gaze into the
+sunny face of truth, and be more deeply convinced of the ugliness of
+their black masks."
+
+"Fairly spoken, oh incomparable Elsie, and incontestably true,--if only
+these same people would kindly hand you their masks to examine.  But you
+will awake some day to find that what you have believed to be gold is
+only the merest tinsel."
+
+"No indeed, dear uncle; I will not foolishly allow myself to be imposed
+upon.  Remember, we have had many trials since my childhood; they have
+not been borne without teaching me some good lessons.  Certainly we must
+all trust somewhat in our own strength, and I shall not despair for a
+long time, even if upon my first experience of the world I plunge into
+an abyss of Egyptian darkness, full of frightful monsters.  But look,
+uncle dear, to what your zeal for my soul's welfare has brought
+you,--your coffee looks as though it could be skated upon, and your
+meerschaum is at its last gasp."
+
+The forester laughed, although the laugh was not from his heart.  And
+while Elizabeth refilled his cup for him and handed him a lighted match,
+he said to her: "You must not suppose that my ammunition is exhausted
+because I say to you, 'Well, well, go and try it.'  I look forward to
+the satisfaction of seeing the courageous chicken come flying back again
+some day, only too thankful to creep under the sheltering wing of home."
+
+"Aha!" laughed Frau Ferber, "you have no idea of the stern determination
+in that little head.  But let us decide.  I advise Elizabeth to pay her
+respects to the ladies to-morrow."
+
+The next afternoon at about five o'clock Elizabeth descended the
+mountain.  A broad, well-kept path led through the forest, which melted
+imperceptibly into the park.  No gateway separated its carefully-tended
+grounds, with their clumps of trees and feathery grass, from the wild
+woods beyond.
+
+Elizabeth had put on a fresh light muslin dress, and a small, white,
+round straw hat.  Her father walked with her as far as the first meadow,
+and then she went bravely on alone.  No human being crossed her path
+during her long walk; it even seemed as though the trees rustled more
+softly here in the leafy avenues and arcades than in the forest beyond,
+and as if the birds modulated their notes more gently.  She started at
+the noise of the crunching gravel beneath her tread as she approached
+the castle, and wondered to find how timid the intense quiet had made
+her.
+
+At last she reached the principal entrance, and caught sight of a human
+face.  It was a servant, who was busy in an imposing vestibule, but who
+moved as noiselessly as possible.  Upon her request that he would
+announce her to the baroness, he slipped up the broad staircase fronting
+the hall door, at the foot of which stood two lofty statues, their white
+limbs half concealed by the orange trees placed at their bases.  He soon
+returned, and assuring her that she was expected, led the way quickly up
+the stairs, scarcely touching the steps with the tips of his toes.
+
+Elizabeth followed him with a beating heart.  It was not the grandeur
+around her that oppressed her, it was the sensation of standing all
+alone in this new untried sphere.  The servant conducted her through a
+long corridor, past the open doors of several apartments, which,
+furnished with extraordinary splendour, were heaped with such a
+profusion of elegant trifles that a simple child, unused to such luxury,
+would have supposed herself in a fancy-shop.
+
+Her guide at last carefully opened a folding-door, and the young girl
+entered.
+
+Near the windows, opposite Elizabeth, upon a couch lay a lady in
+apparently great suffering.  Her head was resting upon a white pillow,
+and warm coverings were spread over her entire figure, which, in spite
+of its wrappings, betrayed decided embonpoint.  In her hand was a
+vinaigrette.
+
+She raised her head slightly, so that Elizabeth could see her face
+distinctly; it was round and pale, and at first sight by no means
+unprepossessing.  Upon a closer view, the large blue eyes, that
+glittered beneath light eyelashes and elevated eyebrows as light, looked
+cold as ice, an expression in nowise softened by the supercilious lines
+about her mouth and nostrils, and by a broad, rather projecting chin.
+
+"Oh, Fr�ulein, it is very kind of you to come!" cried the baroness in a
+weak voice, which nevertheless sounded harsh and cold, as she pointed to
+a lounge near her, and motioned to Elizabeth, who courtesied politely,
+to sit down.  "I have begged my cousin," she continued, "to arrange
+matters with you in my room, as I am really too ill to take you to
+hers."
+
+This reception was certainly courteous, although there was a
+considerable amount of condescension in the lady's tone and manner.
+
+Elizabeth sat down, and was just about to reply to the question how she
+liked Thuringia, when the door was suddenly flung open, and a little
+girl of about eight years of age ran in, holding in her arms a pretty
+little dog, struggling and whining piteously.
+
+"Ali is so naughty, mamma, he will not stay with me!" cried the child,
+breathlessly, as she threw the dog upon the carpet.
+
+"You have probably been teasing the little thing again, my child," said
+her mother.  "But I cannot have you here, Bella; you make so much noise,
+and I have a headache.  Go away to your room."
+
+"Oh, it's so stupid there!  Miss Mertens has forbidden me to play with
+Ali, and gives me those tiresome old fables to learn; I cannot bear
+them."
+
+"Well, then, stay here; but be perfectly quiet."
+
+The child passed close to Elizabeth with a stare and an examination of
+her dress from top to toe, and mounted upon an embroidered footstool
+before the mirror in order the easier to reach a vase of fresh flowers.
+In a moment the tastefully arranged bouquet was thrown into the wildest
+disorder by the little fingers, which busied themselves with sticking
+single flowers into the delicately embroidered eyelet-holes of the
+muslin curtain.  During this operation large drops of the water, in
+which the flowers had been placed, dropped from the stems upon
+Elizabeth's dress, and she was obliged to move her chair, as there
+seemed no likelihood that any stop would be put to the proceeding,
+either by the little Vandal herself or by her mother's prohibition.
+
+Elizabeth had only had time to move, and to reply to the reiterated
+question of the baroness, that she already felt very happy and, quite at
+home in Thuringia, when the lady hastily arose from her reclining
+posture, and, with an amiable smile upon her lips, nodded towards a
+large porti�re, which was drawn noiselessly aside and on the threshold
+of the door appeared the two young people whom Elizabeth had lately seen
+through the spy-glass; but how strangely ill-assorted they now seemed to
+be, as she saw them thus standing together.  Herr von Hollfeld, a
+slender figure of great height, was obliged to bend very much on one
+side to afford any support to the little hand that rested upon his arm.
+The sylph-like little figure, which had lain upon the couch in the park,
+was no taller than a child's.  The exquisitely lovely head was sunk
+between the shoulders, and the crutch in her left hand showed how
+helpless was her crippled condition.
+
+"Forgive me, dearest Helene," cried the baroness, as the pair entered,
+"for troubling you to come to me; but, as you see, I am again the poor
+wretched creature upon whom you are so ready to bestow your angelic pity
+and kindness.  Fr�ulein Ferber," here she motioned towards Elizabeth, as
+if presenting her, and the young girl rose, blushing, "has had the
+kindness to come, in compliance with my note of yesterday."
+
+"And, indeed, I am very grateful to you fordoing so!" said the little
+lady, turning towards Elizabeth with a smile of great sweetness, and
+holding out her hand.  Her glance measured the blushing girl before her
+with an expression of surprise, and then rested upon the heavy golden
+braids that appeared below the hat.  "Oh, yes," she said, "I have
+already seen your lovely golden hair; yesterday as I was walking in the
+forest you were leaning over a wall up there at the old castle."
+
+Elizabeth blushed yet more deeply.
+
+"But because you were there," continued the little lady, "I lost the
+pleasure for which I had clambered up the height, the pleasure of
+hearing you play, which I had enjoyed on the previous evening.  So young
+and child-like, and yet with such a thorough appreciation of classic
+music! it seems impossible!  You will make me very happy if you will
+play often with me."
+
+Something like a shade of displeasure flitted across the features of the
+baroness, and a close observer might have noticed a scornful contraction
+of her lips, but it was lost upon Elizabeth, whose attention was
+entirely absorbed by interest in the unfortunate little lady whose
+delicate silvery voice seemed to come fresh from the depths of her
+heart.
+
+In the mean time, Herr von Hollfeld pushed a chair for Fr�ulein von
+Walde close to the lounge, and left the room without uttering a word.
+But as he went out by the door directly opposite to Elizabeth, she could
+not help noticing that he directed a last long look at her before slowly
+closing it after him.  It disturbed her, for his expression was of so
+strange a kind that she hurriedly glanced over her dress to see if
+anything there could have struck him as odd or unsuitable.
+
+For the last few moments Bella had been sitting upon the carpet, playing
+with the dog.  It would have been a charming picture, if the whinings
+and uneasy movements of the little animal had not betrayed that the
+child was teasing it.  At each loud cry from the dog, Fr�ulein von Walde
+started nervously, and the baroness said, mechanically, "Don't tease him
+so, Bella!"  At last, however, when the animal uttered a most piteous
+howl, the mother raised her forefinger threateningly, and said, "I must
+call Miss Mertens."
+
+"Oh," replied the child contemptuously, "I don't care for her!  She
+doesn't dare to punish me, for you told her she mustn't."
+
+At this moment, the porti�re was gently drawn aside, and a pale, faded
+gentlewoman appeared.  She courtesied to the ladies, and said, timidly:
+"The chaplain is waiting for Bella."
+
+"But I won't have a lesson to-day!" the little girl cried, taking a ball
+of worsted from the table and throwing it at the speaker.
+
+"Yes, my child, you must," said the baroness.  "Go with Miss Mertens,
+and be a good little girl, Bella."
+
+Bella, as though the matter affected her no more than it did Ali, who
+had retreated behind the sofa, threw herself into an arm-chair and drew
+her feet up under her. The governess was about to approach her, but at
+an angry look from the baroness she retired to the door again.
+
+This disgraceful scene would probably have lasted much longer if the
+baroness had not brought up a _corps de reserve_ to her assistance in
+the shape of a box of bonbons. The child, after she had crammed her
+mouth and pockets full, left her seat, and, pushing aside the hand which
+her governess held out to her, ran out of the room.
+
+Elizabeth sat petrified with astonishment.  The delicate features of
+Fr�ulein von Walde also showed evident disapproval; but she said
+nothing.
+
+The baroness sank back among her pillows.  "These governesses will be my
+death," she sighed.  "If Miss Mertens could only learn how to treat,
+judiciously, a child of Bella's sensitive, nervous temperament!  She
+never takes into account social position, temperament, and physical
+constitution.  She would model all after the same pattern--the daughter
+of a grocer or a peer; a finely-strung, sensitive nature, or a robust,
+rude, day-labourer physique--'tis all the same thing to her.  Miss
+Mertens is a disagreeable, pedantic schoolmistress; her English, too, is
+detestable.  Heaven only knows in what mean little English county she
+learned her native tongue!"
+
+"But really, dear Amalie," said Fr�ulein von Walde, "I do not find her
+English impure," and her voice sounded exquisitely kind and soothing.
+
+"There you come with your never-failing angelic amiability; but,
+although I do not understand English, I can always hear, in one instant,
+how much more high-bred your accent is, my dear, when you are talking
+with her."
+
+Elizabeth inwardly doubted the value of this estimate, and Fr�ulein von
+Walde blushed with a deprecating gesture.
+
+But the baroness continued: "And Bella hears it, too; she will not open
+her lips when her governess speaks English to her, and I cannot blame
+her in the least; it provokes me excessively when this person blames the
+child for obstinacy."
+
+Under the influence of her irritation the voice of the baroness, which
+had at first been very weak and suffering, had grown perceptibly
+stronger.  She suddenly seemed to become aware of this herself, and
+closed her eyes with an expression of great weariness.  "Oh heavens!"
+she sighed, "my unfortunate nerves are too much for me.  I grow excited
+instead of being kept quiet; these vexations are poison both to my mind
+and body."
+
+"I would advise you, Amalie, when you are as nervous and weak as you are
+to-day, to leave Bella without a fear to Miss Mertens' care.  I am
+convinced that nothing can be better for her.  While I fully understand
+your touching anxiety on the child's account, I can confidently assure
+you that Miss Mertens is far too gentle and cultivated a person to do
+anything that would not conduce to her welfare.  You look quite worn
+out," she continued, sympathizingly.  "We had better leave you alone;
+Fr�ulein Ferber will certainly have the kindness to accompany me to my
+room."
+
+So saying she arose, and leaning over the baroness imprinted a gentle
+kiss upon her cheek.  Then she laid her hand upon the arm of Elizabeth,
+whom the baroness dismissed with a gracious nod, and left the apartment.
+
+As they slowly walked through the various corridors, she told Elizabeth
+that it would be a special delight to her brother, who was so far from
+her, if she should resume her music.  He used to sit alone with her
+listening to her playing for hours, until a nervous malady that had
+attacked her had forced her to give up her beloved music for a long
+time.  Now she felt much stronger, and her physician had also given his
+consent; she would be very diligent, that she might surprise her brother
+upon his return home.  Elizabeth then took leave.
+
+She hastened with winged speed through the park, and along the path
+which ascended the mountain.  In the forest glade just before the open
+garden gate her parents were awaiting her return, and little Ernst ran
+lovingly to meet her.  What an air of home breathed all around her here!
+The greeting that she received showed how she had been missed; the
+canary was singing merrily in his green embowered cage, the garden
+laughed in beauty, and in the background, under the group of lindens
+above the cool spring, the snowy table was spread for supper.
+
+The Italian castle with all its splendour, its aristocratic air, and its
+oppressive silence, only broken by the clamour of a spoiled child, faded
+behind her like a dream of the night; and when she had imparted her
+impressions of all that she had seen and heard to her parents, she
+concluded with the words: "You have taught me, father dear, never to
+form any settled judgment of others upon a slight acquaintance with
+them, for such judgment runs a fair chance of being unjust, but what can
+I do with my unruly fancy?  Whenever I think of the two ladies, I see in
+imagination a lovely young weeping willow, whose elastic graceful
+branches are the constant sport of a furious tempest."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+From this time Elizabeth went regularly to Lindhof twice a week.  The
+day following her first visit Baroness Lessen had arranged the hours for
+the lessons in a very courteous note, and had insisted upon a most
+generous compensation for Elizabeth's time.  These lessons soon proved a
+source of much enjoyment.  Helene von Walde, owing to the absence of all
+practice for many years, was very deficient in technical knowledge and
+capacity, and could not be compared at all with Elizabeth; but she
+played with much feeling, her taste was refined and cultivated, and she
+was entirely free from the wretched habit, common to most dilettanti, of
+depreciating whatever lay beyond her reach.  Baroness Lessen was never
+present during the music lessons, and therefore the moments of rest
+gradually became especially delightful to Elizabeth.  At such times a
+servant usually brought in some light refreshments.  Helene leaned back
+in her armchair, and Elizabeth seated herself upon a cushion at her
+feet, and listened enchanted to the flute-like silvery voice of the
+unfortunate lady as she recounted many an experience of the past.  The
+image of the absent brother here played a principal part.  She was never
+weary of telling of his care and thoughtfulness for her, of how,
+although he was many years her senior, he was continually studying how
+to gratify and humour her childish whims and peculiarities.  She related
+how he had purchased Lindhof only because, upon a visit which she had
+formerly made in Thuringia, she had experienced great benefits from the
+pure Thuringian air; everything showed how dearly he loved her.
+
+One afternoon, when they had been practising unusually long, a servant
+entering announced a visitor.
+
+"Stay and drink tea with me this afternoon," said Fr�ulein von Walde to
+Elizabeth.  "My physician is here from L----, and several ladies from
+the neighbourhood have just arrived; I will send some one up to the
+castle that your mother may not be anxious about you.  My t�te-�-t�te
+with the doctor will not last long, and I shall soon be with you again."
+
+And so saying she left the room.  Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed
+before the door opened and Fr�ulein von Walde entered, leaning upon the
+arm of a gentleman whom she presented to Elizabeth as Doctor Fels, from
+L----. He was tall, with an intellectual countenance, and as soon as he
+heard Elizabeth's name he entered into a lively conversation with her,
+comically assuring her that his own surprise and horror, as well as that
+of the entire respectable population of L----, had really known no
+bounds when it was reported that old Castle Gnadeck had received within
+its crumbling walls inhabitants of flesh and blood.
+
+Suddenly there was a rustling in the antechamber, and upon the threshold
+of the door appeared two figures of rather singular exterior.  Their
+great resemblance of feature plainly revealed their relationship as
+mother and daughter.  Both wore dark dresses, which, contrary to the
+prevailing mode, fell limp and close around them, large scarfs of black
+woollen stuff, and brown, round straw hats, tied, in the case of the
+mother, with black ribbon, while the daughter had a lilac bow beneath
+her chin.
+
+Helene von Walde received the ladies courteously, presenting them as
+Frau and Fr�ulein Lehr, and Elizabeth afterwards learned that, residing
+in L----, they spent their summers in lodgings in the village of
+Lindhof.
+
+Immediately after their entrance the Baroness Lessen appeared, leaning
+upon her son's arm, and accompanied by a gentleman who was addressed by
+those present as Herr M�hring, the chaplain.
+
+The baroness was dressed in dark silk, but with the greatest elegance,
+and made a most imposing appearance. She paused for an instant upon the
+threshold of the door, and seemed to be disagreeably surprised at
+Elizabeth's presence.  She measured her with a haughty look of inquiry,
+and replied to her courtesy by a scarcely perceptible inclination of the
+head.
+
+Helene noticed the look, and approaching her said in a soothing whisper,
+"I kept my little favourite with me to-day--I had already detained her
+so long."
+
+This excuse did not escape Elizabeth's ear.  It offended her, and she
+would willingly have flown away through the window near which she was
+standing, had not pride induced her to stay and brave the arrogance of
+the baroness.  The great lady seemed entirely pacified by the
+explanation of what had occurred without her consent. She put her arm
+around Helene, stroked her curls tenderly, and said a hundred caressing
+things to her.  Then she requested those present to follow her to the
+adjoining room, where tea was prepared.  She did the honours of the
+tea-table, and discovered a talent, by no means to be despised, for
+leading and carrying on the conversation. With admirable tact, she
+contrived always to make Helene the centre of attention without in the
+least wounding the self-love of the others.
+
+Elizabeth sat silent between the doctor and Fr�ulein Lehr.  The
+conversation possessed little interest for her, inasmuch as it related
+to people and circumstances entirely strange to her.  Frau von Lehr had
+much to say, and seemed perfectly instructed in every matter, private or
+public, that had taken place during the last few weeks among the people
+living around Lindhof.  She spoke in a peculiarly mournful, suppressed
+tone of voice, and at the conclusion of the rehearsal of each exciting
+piece of news cast down her eyes and inclined her head with great
+apparent humility and resignation, as though she were a lamb suffering
+for the sins of the world.  Now and then she drew forth from a huge
+reticule which she carried a small bottle of rose-water, with which she
+moistened her eyes, as they seemed weak with perpetual casting towards
+heaven.
+
+What a contrast between her and Helene's madonna face, as it leaned
+against the dark plush of the lounge, reminding Elizabeth more than ever
+of the water-lily lying dreamily with its snow-white leaves upon the
+dark surface of the lake!  To-day there was a strange glow upon the
+delicate features.  It was not that all traces of suffering had
+vanished, but there was a peaceful light of content in her eyes, and a
+happy smile wreathed the pale lips as often as she took up from her lap
+the bouquet of rosebuds which Herr von Hollfeld had presented to her
+when he entered.  He sat beside her, and sometimes joined in the
+conversation.  As soon as he opened his lips the ladies were silent,
+listening with the greatest attention, although his talk was anything
+but fluent, and, as Elizabeth soon discovered, betrayed not the
+slightest originality of mind.
+
+He was a very handsome man, of about four and twenty.  There was great
+repose in the finely-cut features, which at first seemed to indicate
+manliness and strength of character; but any such impression which their
+regularity might have produced was effaced by a searching glance into
+his eyes.  Those eyes, although they were large and faultless in shape,
+had no depth whatever, and never lighted up with that meteoric flash
+which so often reveals the man of intellect, even when he does not
+speak.  Its want can be atoned for by that mild glow which speaks of
+deep sensibility, and which, although it does not instantly impress us,
+gradually attracts and enchains us.  But there was nothing of this to be
+discovered in Herr von Hollfeld's fine blue orbs.
+
+This sentence, however, would have been echoed by but few, for it was
+the present fashion, especially at the court of L----, to regard Herr
+von Hollfeld as a prodigy, whose silence gave warrant of unfathomable
+depths of intellect and sensibility,--in which opinion the ladies in and
+around Lindhof most cordially joined, as was illustrated by the conduct
+of Frau von Lehr's very stout daughter, who leaned forward, directly
+across the modestly shrinking Elizabeth, and listened, as if to the
+enunciation of a new gospel, whenever Herr von Hollfeld opened his lips.
+And she, too, appeared quite willing to allow her light to shine.
+
+"Were you not charmed with the lovely sermons with which Herr M�hring
+edified us during the holidays?" she asked, turning to Elizabeth.
+
+"I regret not having heard them," she answered.
+
+"Then you did not attend divine service?"
+
+"Oh, yes!  I went with my parents to the village church at Lindhof."
+
+"Indeed!" said the Baroness Lessen, turning for the first time toward
+Elizabeth, and smiling sarcastically. "And were you greatly edified at
+the village church at Lindhof?"
+
+"Most truly was I, gracious lady," Elizabeth quietly replied, looking
+calmly into the contemptuous eyes that were turned upon her.  "I was
+deeply affected by the simple, earnest words of the preacher.  His
+discourse was not delivered in the church, but under the trees outside.
+When the service was about to begin it was evident that the little
+church could not contain the crowd of worshippers, and an altar was
+constructed under God's free sky. Such altars might often be erected."
+
+"Unfortunately, they often are," said Herr M�hring, who until then had
+spoken little, contenting himself with confirming all Frau von Lehr's
+remarks by an amiable smile or an assenting nod.  Now, however, his
+broad, shiny face grew purple, and, turning to the baroness, he
+continued, contemptuously: "Yes, most gracious lady, it is only too
+true; the old idols are being replaced in the sacred groves, and we
+shall have druids sacrificing to them beneath the oaken shades."
+
+"Really, that never occurred to me.  With the aid of my wildest
+imagination I should never have dreamed at the time that I was assisting
+at a heathen sacrifice," rejoined Elizabeth.  She smiled, but continued
+with serious warmth: "It seemed to me, on that glorious spring morning,
+as the tones of the organ streamed forth from the open doors and windows
+of the church, and that reverend old man spoke in such devout tones, as
+it did when I entered the temple of God for the first time in my life."
+
+"You seem to have an excellent memory, Fr�ulein," Frau von Lehr here
+remarked: "How old were you at that time, if I may ask?"
+
+"Eleven years old."
+
+"Eleven years old!  Oh, heavens! how can such a thing be possible?"
+cried the lady in holy horror.  "How possible with Christian parents!
+Why, my children were familiar with the house of God from their earliest
+years, as you can testify, my dear doctor."
+
+"Yes indeed, madame," he replied with great gravity. "I remember that
+you ascribed the attack of croup, by which you lost your little son at
+two years of age, to a couple of hours in the cold church."
+
+Elizabeth looked up quite terrified at her neighbour. The doctor had
+joined in the conversation hitherto only by throwing in a sarcastic word
+here and there very drily, which amused Elizabeth greatly, inasmuch as
+he was always met by a reproving glance from the baroness. When the
+young girl began to speak she had not noticed him any more than had the
+others, whose entire attention had been occupied with the wretched
+heathen child, so that no one had observed how he was bursting with
+inward laughter at the daring replies of the young stranger, and their
+effect upon those present.  His answer appeared thoughtless and cruel to
+Elizabeth; but he must have known his companions well, for Frau von Lehr
+was not at all offended, but replied with great unction: "Yes, the Lord
+took the pious little angel to himself; he was too good for this world;"
+then, turning to Elizabeth, she said: "And so you were shut out from the
+Lord's kingdom for the first eleven years of your life?"
+
+"Only from His temple, gracious lady.  As a little child I was
+instructed in the history of Christianity, and with my first thoughts
+were blended ideas of God's wisdom and love.  I cannot remember the time
+when I did not hear of them from my father; but it is a firm principle
+of his never to allow very young children to go to church; he says they
+are entirely incapable of appreciating the importance and meaning of
+what they see and hear there; the sermon, which must be entirely beyond
+their comprehension, wearies them, and they conceive a dislike to the
+place.  My little brother Ernst is seven years old, and has never yet
+been to church."
+
+"Oh, happy father, who has the courage to frame and execute such plans
+for his children's culture!" exclaimed Doctor Fels.
+
+"Well, what hinders you from letting your children grow up without care,
+like mushrooms?" asked the baroness with malice.
+
+"That I can readily tell you in a very few words, most gracious lady.  I
+have six children, and cannot afford to have masters for them at home.
+My profession prevents me from teaching them myself, and, therefore, I
+am obliged to send them to the public school and subject them to its
+laws, which require them to attend church regularly.  Just as little can
+I carry out my views with regard to another subject,--the putting of the
+Bible into the hands of young children.  The Sacred Book, which contains
+the holy principles that should regulate all our thoughts and actions,
+and, as such, should be regarded with veneration by the young,--does not
+belong in their hands at a time when childhood, with rare exceptions,
+seeks amusement instead of instruction, and is always curious to
+investigate whatever is forbidden and mysterious. And, therefore, I
+know,--and any observant teacher will admit,--that children who devote
+themselves constantly to the perusal of the Bible, for which they are
+commended by thoughtless parents, do not always search for the text of
+the last sermon,--but read much else beside,--often meeting with words
+and expressions which a careful mother would guard them from hearing at
+home, but whose significance is often made only too clear by their
+intercourse with other children not so carefully educated, left to the
+charge of ignorant and vulgar servants. And suppose, even, that they
+seek explanation of certain words and phrases from their mothers only;
+an intelligent mother will always know, 'tis true, how to reply to their
+queries, but she must, most certainly, forbid them the use of many
+expressions which they find in the Bible,--let us recall to mind the
+Song of Solomon,--and so the first seeds of doubt and unbelief are sown
+in the childish mind, which is wanting in the strength that only moral
+culture and riper understanding can give."
+
+Here the Baroness Lessen arose with a gesture of impatience.  Upon her
+full cheeks, usually so pale, two round, crimson spots had appeared, a
+sign to all who knew her, of great irritation.  Fr�ulein von Walde, who
+had been a passive listener to the conversation, also arose, took her
+cousin's arm, and, leading her to the window, asked whether she would
+not like to hear a little music from Elizabeth and herself.
+
+This propitiatory proposal was received with a gracious inclination of
+the head,--the more especially as the baroness did not feel herself
+quite equal to the doctor in a war of words; and, as everyone must have
+seen her indignation, she was quite willing to have it supposed that the
+beautiful, soothing music was the cause of her refraining from
+annihilating the impious defamer of her holy zeal, for she was
+perpetually presenting Bibles to poor children.
+
+She took her seat in a windowed recess, and looked out upon the
+landscape, upon which the first shadows of approaching evening were
+falling.  Her look was cold and cruel,--an expression often seen in a
+certain kind of light-blue eye, shaded by white eyelashes.  The corners
+of her mouth were drawn down, a sign of great displeasure, which did not
+vanish even when Schubert's Erlking, arranged for four hands, was
+performed in a masterly manner by Helene and Elizabeth.  The waves of
+melody broke against that breast unfelt, as the waves of the ocean upon
+a rocky shore.
+
+When the last chord died away, the ladies arose from the instrument, and
+the doctor, who had stood immovably, listening, hastened towards them.
+His eyes sparkled as he thanked them for a treat which, as he assured
+them, was richer than any he had enjoyed for years.  Here Fr�ulein von
+Lehr's face grew scarlet, and her mother cast a malicious glance at the
+unlucky enthusiast.  Had not her daughter the preceding winter played
+several times in public in L----, for the benefit of some charitable
+association, and had he not attended every concert?  However, the doctor
+did not appear to notice the storms that he was calling down upon his
+head.  He discussed Schubert's compositions in a manner that manifested
+refined perception and a thorough knowledge of his subject.
+
+Suddenly there was a harsh clash of chords upon the piano; it seemed as
+though fingers of bone were belabouring the keys.  They looked round
+with a start.  The chaplain was seated at the instrument, with head
+thrown back and inflated nostrils.  He raised his hands for a second
+attack, and began a beautiful choral, which his horrible playing
+converted into torture for sensitive ears. Still it might have been
+endured, when, to Elizabeth's horror, he began to sing in a nasal,
+snuffling tone;--that was too much.  The doctor seized his hat, and
+bowed to Helene and the baroness, the latter only vouchsafing him a
+slight wave of the hand in token of dismissal, without turning her face
+from the window.
+
+An incomparable expression of humour hovered upon the doctor's features.
+He pressed Elizabeth's hand cordially as he departed, and took leave of
+the rest with a courteous bow.
+
+As soon as the door closed behind him, the baroness arose with
+excitement and approached Helene, who was sitting in a corner of the
+sofa.
+
+"It is intolerable!" she cried, and her sharp voice sounded muffled, as
+if suppressed anger were choking her, while her searching gaze rested
+full upon the little lady, who looked up to her almost timidly.  "How
+can you, Helene, here in your own house, hear our rank, our dignity as
+women,--yes, even our holy of holies, which we are bound so faithfully
+to defend,--assailed so grossly without one word of reply?"
+
+"But, dear Amalie, I cannot see."
+
+"You will not see, child, in your inexhaustible patience and
+long-suffering, that this doctor insults me whenever he can.  Well, I
+must submit to that, for this is not my house, and besides, as a
+Christian, I would rather endure wrong than resort to retaliation.  But
+this submission must cease when the sacred claims of the Lord are
+assailed.  Here we should strive and struggle, and not grow weary.  Is
+it not actually blasphemous for this man to seize his hat, and, _sans
+fa�on_, take his departure from the room while our hearts are being
+stirred and elevated by the lofty thoughts which the truest form of
+music, the choral, can alone express?"
+
+She had spoken louder and louder, until she did not perceive that her
+voice was entirely destroying the effect of a touching phrase, just
+delivered by the unwearied chaplain, whose efforts had not been
+intermitted for an instant.
+
+"Ah, you must not blame the doctor for that," said Fr�ulein von Walde.
+"His time is precious; most likely he has a patient to see in L----; he
+was about to leave just before we began to play."
+
+"While that heathenish Erlking was going on, the worthy man entirely
+forgot his patients," the baroness interrupted contemptuously.  "Well, I
+must submit. Unfortunately, in our degenerate days, the scoffers of our
+faith have gained the upper hand."
+
+"But, for heaven's sake, Amalie, what do you want me to do?  You know
+only too well that Fels is indispensable to me.  He is the only
+physician who knows how to relieve me when I am in great suffering,"
+cried Helene, and her eyes filled with tears, while her cheeks were
+suffused with a blush of irritation.
+
+"I thought, Fr�ulein Helene,"--began Frau von Lehr, who had hitherto sat
+in her corner silently, and on the watch, like a spider in its web,--"I
+thought that the welfare of our souls should be our first consideration;
+care for our poor bodies should, in my estimation, rank second in our
+view.  There are many other skilful physicians in L----, with as great a
+reputation for learning as Dr. Fels enjoys.  Believe me, my dear, it
+often gives great pain to our Christian friends in L---- to know that a
+scoffer, an infidel, is admitted to your confidence as your friend and
+adviser."
+
+"Even if I consented to sacrifice myself so far," replied Helene, "as to
+employ another physician, I dare not take such a step without first
+obtaining my brother's consent; and I know that I should meet with
+determined opposition there, for Rudolph is warmly attached to the
+doctor, and puts entire confidence in him."
+
+"Yes, more's the pity!" cried the baroness.  "I have never been able to
+comprehend that weakness in Rudolph's character.  Doctor Fels imposes
+upon him utterly with his seeming frankness, which might better be
+called insolence.  Well, I wash my hands of the affair, only for the
+future I must decline any visits from the doctor, and entreat you, my
+dear Helene, to excuse me when he is with you."
+
+Fr�ulein von Walde made no reply.  She arose and looked sadly around the
+room for an instant, as if missing something.  It seemed to Elizabeth
+that her eyes sought Herr von Hollfeld, who had left the room
+unperceived a short time before.
+
+The baroness took up her lace shawl, and Frau von Lehr and her daughter
+prepared for departure.  Both paid several compliments to the chaplain,
+who had finished his performance, and was standing at the piano rubbing
+his hands with embarrassment; and then all took leave of Helene, who
+replied to their good-nights in a tone of great exhaustion.
+
+As Elizabeth descended the stairs she saw Herr von Hollfeld standing in
+a retired, dimly-lighted corridor. During his mother's outbreak of anger
+he had sat quietly turning over the leaves of a book, never joining in
+the conversation by word or look.  His conduct had disgusted Elizabeth,
+who had hoped that he would have stood by Helene and silenced his mother
+by a few serious words.  She was still more displeased when she noticed
+that he was steadily regarding herself while he was apparently occupied
+with his book.  He might easily have seen her displeasure in her face,
+but he continued to stare most insultingly.  She felt herself at last
+blush deeply beneath his gaze, and she was the more provoked at feeling
+this, as the same thing had occurred against her will several times
+before.  It was remarkable that she never went home from Castle Lindhof
+without chancing to meet Herr von Hollfeld either in the hall, upon the
+stairs, or stepping suddenly from behind a tree in the park.  Why these
+meetings at last became painfully embarrassing to her she could not have
+explained to herself.  She thought no more about it, and usually forgot
+him entirely before she reached her home.
+
+He was standing now in the dark passage.  A black slouched hat was
+pulled down over his face, and his summer coat had been exchanged for a
+light cloak.  He seemed to be waiting for some one, and as soon as
+Elizabeth had reached the last stair approached her hastily, as though
+about to address her.
+
+At the same moment Frau von Lehr and her daughter appeared on the
+landing above.
+
+"Aha, Herr von Hollfeld," cried the elder lady, "are you going to walk?"
+
+The young man's features, which had seemed to Elizabeth strikingly
+animated, instantly assumed a quiet expression of entire indifference.
+
+"I have just come in from the garden," he said negligently, "where I
+have been refreshing myself in the soft night air.  Attend Fr�ulein
+Ferber home," he said authoritatively to a servant who issued from the
+servants' room with a lantern, and then with an obeisance to the ladies,
+he retired.
+
+"How glad I am," said Elizabeth, as an hour later she was sitting at her
+mother's bedside relating the events of the afternoon, "that to-morrow
+will be Sunday.  In our dear little simple village church I shall forget
+all the disagreeable impressions which the last few hours have left upon
+my mind.  I never could have believed that I could have listened to a
+choral without being moved to aspiration and devotion.  But to-day I was
+really angry, when, amid the clatter of the teacups, and after an hour
+passed in talk certainly not inspired by love of our neighbour, I
+suddenly heard those tones which have always been sacred to hours of
+meditation and serious thought. Behind all this religious zeal there
+lies hidden boundless arrogance,--that I saw clearly to-day; but if
+others feel as I do, these people will scarcely make many proselytes.
+Acknowledge, mother dear, that I am not naturally antagonistic, and yet
+to-day I felt for the first time in my life an irresistible desire to
+defy and contradict."
+
+And then she spoke of Herr von Hollfeld and his strange behaviour in the
+hall, adding that she could not understand what he could possibly have
+wished to say to her.
+
+"Never mind, we will not puzzle ourselves about that," said Frau Ferber.
+"If he should ever propose to accompany you on your way home, do not
+fail to reject such an offer peremptorily.  Do you hear, Elizabeth?"
+
+"But, dearest mother, what are you thinking of?" cried the girl with a
+laugh.  "The skies will fall before such a thing happens.  If he could
+allow Frau Lehr and her daughter, who consider themselves persons of
+distinction, to go home without an escort, he will hardly condescend to
+notice my insignificant self."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+About a week after the arrival of his relatives the forester had
+published an edict in his domicile, which, as he said, had been hailed
+with joy by his prime minister, and in accordance with which the duty of
+taking their mid-day meal every Sunday at the Lodge was imposed upon the
+Ferber family.  Those were joyous days for Elizabeth.
+
+Long before the first sound of the church bell they usually set out for
+church.  In her fluttering white dress, her soul filled with the
+consciousness of youth and happiness, convinced that such a clear,
+lovely day, must bring joy with it, Elizabeth walked beside her parents,
+and looked eagerly for the moment when the round gilt ball upon the
+village church tower at Lindhof emerged from the waves of green in the
+valley below them; then from the dark and silent forest paths to the
+right and left, groups of church-goers from the different hamlets around
+would appear and join them with kindly greetings, until, while the bells
+were ringing, the whole assembly arrived in the meadow just before the
+church, where the forester was usually awaiting them.  He welcomed them
+from a distance with sparkling eyes and a flourish of his hat in the
+air.  In every movement of his tall figure, in his whole bearing, might
+be read that inflexible integrity which never bowed to the mighty ones
+of the earth, that expression of manly power and force of character from
+which we expect to see quick resolve and bold action result, but which
+never suggests the tender emotions of a sensitive nature.  Elizabeth
+declared that it was always a touching surprise when a single gentle
+star beamed forth at night from a sky covered with clouds, and that the
+sudden look of melting tenderness that occasionally illumined her
+uncle's frank, determined countenance, affected her in like manner.  And
+she had many an opportunity of observing this change of expression, for
+she had grown to be the apple of his eye.  He had never had any
+children, and now poured forth all the paternal affection of which his
+large, warm heart was capable, upon his brother's lovely child, who, he
+felt with pride, resembled himself in many points of character, although
+in her they were transfigured by the charm of feminine delicacy and
+refinement.
+
+And she repaid his affection with the clinging love and filial care of a
+daughter.  She soon discovered how to make many an addition to his
+domestic comfort, and where Sabina's penetration or capacity were at
+fault, she effected many an improvement, with so much tact that the old
+servant was never offended, whilst a new life opened upon her uncle,
+surrounded by Elizabeth's tender care.
+
+On the return from church, her uncle led Elizabeth by the hand, "just
+like a little school-girl," as she said, and, indeed, it looked like it.
+The excellent sermon which they had just heard, furnished matter for
+abundant conversation and exchange of newly-developed thoughts and
+sentiments; while the birds twittered and sang as though determined to
+vindicate their right to speak here, and the golden-green sunshine came
+quivering through the tops of the trees, flecking their heads as they
+passed with its transfiguring light.
+
+At the farthest end of the long dim forest aisle, for it was a very
+narrow path which led from the Lodge to the village of Lindhof, a little
+point of light indicated the meadow, in the middle of which stood the
+old house. With every step the picture grew more distinct, until at last
+they could distinguish Sabina waiting for them at the door, shading her
+eyes with the corner of her white apron, and retreating into the house
+when she saw them, that she might take her stand behind the soup tureen,
+which was smoking upon the table beneath the beeches, where she
+fulfilled her duty with the air of a general upon a rampart.
+
+But to-day Sabina had prepared a particularly delicious repast, for in
+the centre of the table was piled a huge crimson pyramid, the first
+wood-strawberries of the year, hailed with delight by little Ernst, and
+by full-grown Elizabeth too.  The forester laughed at the enthusiasm of
+the big and little child, and declared that he had a surprise to offer
+as well as Sabina,--he would have the horse harnessed and take Elizabeth
+to L----, where he had a little business to attend to,--a long-promised
+pleasure. The young girl accepted his proposal with delight.
+
+At table Elizabeth related the occurrences of the previous evening.  Her
+uncle shook with laughter.
+
+"The doctor's a bold fellow," he said, still laughing; "but 'tis of no
+use, he has drunk his last cup of tea at Lindhof."
+
+"Impossible, uncle,--it would be outrageous!" cried Elizabeth,
+earnestly.  "Fr�ulein von Walde would never permit such a thing, she
+will resist with all her might."
+
+"Well," he said, "I wish we could question the little lady to-day with
+regard to her sentiments towards the doctor, and you would see.  How can
+a strong will inhabit such a frail dwelling?  That imperious woman will
+soon influence her, and there is none to resist, for 'Heaven is high,
+and the Czar afar,' as the Russians say.  We know, Sabina, that many a
+strange thing has happened since the rule of the baroness began, eh?"
+
+"Ah, yes indeed, Herr Forester!" replied the old woman, who was just
+putting a dish upon the table.  "When I think of poor Schneider,--she is
+the widow of a day-labourer in the village," she said, turning to the
+others; "she always worked hard to make both ends meet, and no one could
+say a word against her, but she had four children to feed, and lived
+from hand to mouth.  And matters went badly with her last harvest, and
+she had nothing to give her children to eat, so she was driven to do
+what was wrong, and took an apron full of potatoes from a splendid field
+belonging to the castle.  But the overseer, Linke, who happened to be
+standing behind a tree not far off, saw her, sprang out upon her
+instantly, and knocked her down.  Even if he had stopped there 'twould
+not have been so bad, but he kicked her brutally as she lay upon the
+ground.  I had been to Lindhof, and as I was passing beneath the cherry
+trees near the village, on my way home, I saw some one lying upon the
+ground,--it was the poor woman, bleeding profusely, and with not a soul
+near her.  She could not move, so I called some people, who helped me to
+carry her home.  The Herr Forester was absent, but I was sure of his
+permission, and so I nursed and tended her as well as I could.  The
+people in the village were furious at the overseer,--but what could they
+do?  There was some talk of arresting him, but it all came to nothing.
+Linke is one of the saints, he is the baroness' right-hand man, turns up
+his eyes, and does everything in the name of the Lord.  It must never
+get abroad that such a pious man could behave so inhumanly, and so the
+baroness drove to town every day, and was wonderfully condescending,
+and, in short, the story was hushed up, and the poor woman, who has
+never entirely recovered, had to get along as best she might, for
+neither she nor her children ever had a bite or a drop from the castle
+all the while that she was sick.  Ah! yes, the overseer and the
+baroness' old waiting-maid make a hard time of it for the poor people,
+they keep a close watch to see who misses prayers or chapel over there,
+and they have been the means of depriving many an honest man of work at
+the castle."
+
+"Don't say any more about it," said the forester.  "I cannot relish my
+food when I think of these things, and our pleasant Sunday, to which I
+look forward all the week, must have no other shadows upon it than those
+cast by the white, fleecy clouds up there."
+
+As soon as the meal was concluded the forester's modest little equipage
+made its appearance.  He handed in Elizabeth, and seated himself by her
+side.  As she nodded a farewell to the others, she glanced up at the
+house, and started with actual terror at the eyes which were gazing down
+upon her from a window in the upper story.  'Tis true, the head
+disappeared instantly, but Elizabeth had time to recognize the mute
+Bertha, and to convince herself that she was the object of that look of
+rage and hate, although she could not divine its cause.  Until now
+Bertha had withdrawn herself entirely from all intercourse with the
+Ferber family.  She never appeared when Elizabeth was at the Lodge.  She
+took her Sunday dinner alone in her own room, and the forester allowed
+her to please herself in the matter.  He had no desire to establish any
+relation between the two girls.
+
+Frau Ferber had once made an attempt to address the unfortunate girl.
+Her gentle feminine nature could not believe that mere wilfulness was
+the spring of Bertha's extraordinary behaviour.  She suspected the
+existence of some deeper cause, perhaps of some secret grief, which made
+her indifferent to her surroundings, or rendered her so irritable that
+she chose to remain silent rather than be engaged in perpetual strife.
+A gentle word from her, a kindly advance on her side, would, she hoped,
+unseal Bertha's lips; but she succeeded no better than Elizabeth had
+done.  She was even so outraged by the girl's manner that she strictly
+forbade all further attempt at intercourse with her upon Elizabeth's
+part.
+
+After a charming drive, Elizabeth and her uncle reached their
+destination.
+
+L---- was certainly a small town, and bore the unmistakable impress of a
+small town, although the court resided there from the appearance of the
+first primrose to the fall of the last autumn leaf, and its inhabitants
+took the greatest pains to adapt themselves, in their social life, to
+the manners and customs of a large Capital.  But the loud, uneasy
+creaking of the machinery of a most complicated domestic economy could
+not be drowned by the rustle of the most flowing and elegant crinoline.
+The honest townsfolk, who left their dwellings, with doors wide open, in
+perfect safety, to earn their daily bread in the little uneven streets,
+or in the strips of meadow land between their houses, fell as far short
+of being peacocks as did the ducks, that daily delighted to swim in the
+little brook running directly through the town, of becoming stately
+swans.
+
+The situation of the place was undeniably delightful. In the centre of a
+not very spacious valley, nestled at the foot of an eminence whose
+summit was crowned by the royal castle and domain, it lay buried in the
+dark, rich green of avenues of lindens, and surrounded in spring by the
+lovely blossoms of countless orchards.
+
+The forester took Elizabeth to the house of an assessor, one of his
+friends.  She was to wait for him there until he had concluded his
+business.  Although made cordially welcome by the lady of the house, she
+would gladly have turned round and followed her retreating uncle,--for
+she found herself, to her vexation, in the midst of a large assemblage
+of ladies.  Her hostess informed her that, in honour of her husband's
+birthday, she had gotten up a set of tableaux from mythology, to
+rehearse which was the cause of the present gathering.  At the
+coffee-table, in a pleasantly-furnished apartment, eight or ten ladies
+were seated, already dressed in mythological costume, and upon the
+arrival of the stranger, they measured her with glances that seemed to
+penetrate every plait and fold of her simple attire.
+
+All the goddesses, without exception, had submitted themselves, in their
+costume, to the sceptre of the royal fair of France, and wore their
+white robes over abundant crinoline, which was then the fashion, "For,"
+said Ceres, a trig little blonde, upon whose flushed brow a whole
+harvest was waving, "one looks so forlorn without crinoline;" and how
+else could her dress have supported the huge bunches of wheat ears and
+red poppies with which it was adorned?  How Dame Ceres had managed this
+difficulty in her days of splendour was a problem which no one took the
+pains to solve.
+
+Perhaps the artificial light of the evening would be favourable to the
+remarkable arrangement of some of the toilets, but now the bright
+sunlight illuminated and revealed with cruel sincerity every pasted bit
+of gold-paper, every paper-muslin scarf that should have represented
+satin, and every basting stitch in the improvised tunics. Several
+old-fashioned paste shoe-buckles glittered in the girdle of Venus; and
+the silver crescent upon the forehead of Diana showed the blotting-paper
+behind it at every movement of the head which it adorned.
+
+The hostess went from one to the other of her guests, exerting herself
+for the entertainment of all.
+
+"What a shame!" she said, entering the room after a short absence, "Frau
+R�thin Wolf has sent to say that her Adolph cannot come to-night; he is
+in bed with a fever.  As soon as the note came, I ran across myself to
+Doctor Fels; but there is no doing anything with that man upon the
+subject of his children's education.  He repeated his former refusal,
+and so ungraciously, that I am quite outraged.  He says that he
+considers any part in such entertainments with grown-up people entirely
+unfit for half-grown boys like his Moritz, who get their heads filled
+with a sense of their own importance, their minds distracted from their
+lessons,--and Heaven knows what besides.  He told me, most insolently,
+that he thinks I should have done better this evening to have provided
+my suffering husband--suffering, indeed, he is as lively as a fish in
+the sea, except for a touch of rheumatism--with a supper that he liked,
+than to have worried him with such buffoonery, which will only deprive
+him of his usual comfort and night's rest, and do no living creature any
+earthly good."
+
+"How coarse! how rude!  He is always pretending to be a connoisseur of
+art, and doesn't understand it one whit better than my little finger,"
+was heard from one and the other of the ladies.
+
+"Let my experience console you, dear Adele," said Ceres.  "Were it not
+that my husband cannot dispense with his services as a physician, Fels
+should never darken my doors again.  When I had that children's
+fancy-ball last winter, which was acknowledged to be a great success, he
+refused my invitation to his children; and what do you think he said to
+me, when I begged him to allow his little girls to come,--'Does it
+really give you pleasure to see such monkey-tricks?'  I never will
+forgive him!"
+
+Elizabeth suddenly seemed to see the doctor's intellectual face, with
+its searching glance, sarcastic smile, and the slightly contemptuous
+play of its finely-formed lips.  She laughed inwardly at his rude
+replies; but she was struck at the same time by the depressing thought,
+how hard it is for a man to live up to his convictions.
+
+"But what would you have, Frau Director?" broke in Flora, a delicate,
+languishing figure with a pretty but very pale face, who had hitherto
+been entirely occupied in smiling upon her flower-decked reflection in
+an opposite glass.  "He has treated us no better.  Two years ago he told
+my father and mother to their faces, that it was not only folly but want
+of principle--just think of such a thing!--to allow me to go into
+society so young, with my constitution.  Papa and mamma were
+furious,--as if they did not know best about their own children!  It was
+well that we all knew what prompted such tender care on his part.  His
+youngest sister was then still unmarried, and, naturally enough, she was
+by no means pleased to see young girls usurping her place in society.
+Papa would have dismissed the doctor upon the spot, but mamma depends
+upon his prescriptions.  Well, they paid no attention to his advice,
+and, as you see, I still live."
+
+The silence of the assemblage confirmed Elizabeth's conviction that the
+triumph which Flora spoke of was a very doubtful one, and that this
+delicate creature, with her narrow chest and pallid face, would still
+have to atone severely for the physician's neglected counsel.
+
+Suddenly a barouche slowly passing down the street attracted the ladies
+to the window.  Where she was sitting Elizabeth could plainly see the
+object of the universal curiosity.  In the elegant vehicle sat the
+Baroness Lessen and Fr�ulein von Walde.  The latter had her face turned
+towards the assessor's house, and she looked as if she were diligently
+counting the windows of the lower stories.  Her cheeks were slightly
+flushed, always a sign in her of inward agitation.  The baroness, on the
+contrary, was leaning back negligently among the cushions, and appeared
+to be entirely unconscious of everything around.
+
+"The Lindhof ladies," said Ceres.  "But, Heavens! what is the meaning of
+that?  They are entirely ignoring Doctor Fels' windows.  There stands
+the doctor's wife.  Ha, ha! what a long face; she tried to bow, but the
+ladies have no eyes in the backs of their heads."
+
+Elizabeth looked across at the opposite house.  A very beautiful woman,
+with a lovely fair-haired child in her arms, was standing at the window.
+There certainly was a puzzled look in her pleasant blue eyes, but the
+delicate oval of her face was not in the least lengthened. Attracted by
+the movements of the child, who stretched out his little arms towards
+the fantastic heads at the windows of the assessor's house, she looked
+across, and, archly smiling, nodded to the ladies, who kissed their
+hands, and replied to her salutation by all sorts of tender pantomime.
+
+"Strange!" said the hostess; "what could the ladies mean by passing by
+her house without nodding to her? They never went by without stopping
+before to-day. Frau Fels would stand on the carriage-step for ever so
+long, and Fr�ulein von Walde seemed to like her so much--the baroness,
+'tis true, often made a wry face.  It certainly is very strange; but we
+must wait and see what the future will bring forth."
+
+"Herr von Hollfeld must have stayed at Odenberg. He was with the ladies
+this morning when the carriage passed," said Diana.
+
+"How will Fr�ulein von Walde endure the separation?" asked Flora, with a
+sneer.
+
+"Why, is there anything in that quarter?" asked the hostess.
+
+"Don't you know that, child?" cried Ceres.  "We can't tell yet what his
+sentiments are, but beyond all doubt she loves him passionately.  In
+fact, it is almost certain that the love is all on one side; for how can
+such an unfortunate cripple inspire affection,--and in such a cold
+nature as Hollfeld's, which has been unmoved by the greatest beauties?"
+
+"Yes, true enough," said Venus, with a glance at the mirror, which
+Flora, in spite of her emaciation, had entirely monopolized.  "But
+Fr�ulein von Walde is enormously rich!"
+
+"Oh, he can have the wealth at a cheaper rate," said Flora.  "He is said
+to be heir to the sister and brother too."
+
+"Oh, the brother!" rejoined Venus.  "He had better not rely upon his
+chances there.  Herr von Walde is a man in the prime of life, and may
+marry at any time."
+
+"Nonsense!" cried Ceres, excitedly.  "The woman is yet to be born, or
+rather sent down from heaven, who can touch him.  He is haughtiness
+itself, and has less heart than his cousin.  How provoked I used to be
+at the court-balls, to see him standing in the doorway with his arms
+crossed as if they were glued together, and looking down so arrogantly
+upon the crowd.  Only when the princess, or one of the royal family,
+requested him to dance did he stir from the spot, and then he was at no
+pains to conceal that he cared not a bit for the honour. Well, we know
+well enough what his requisitions are for the woman at whose feet he
+will lay the proud name of von Walde--Ancestors! ancestors she must
+have, and her pedigree must date from Noah's ark."
+
+All laughed, except Elizabeth, who remained very grave.  Fr�ulein von
+Walde's behaviour had made a deep impression upon her.  She was annoyed,
+and felt that her views of human nature had been lowered.  Was such a
+change possible in the course of a few short hours?  The fact just
+stated by the ladies, that Helene von Walde loved the son of the
+Baroness Lessen, would have fully explained the influence exercised by
+the latter to any one of a practical, matter-of-fact nature,--but not to
+Elizabeth.
+
+The elevating sentiment, described by the poets of all ages and all
+climes as the truest and most ennobling of which human nature is
+capable, could not possibly be an incentive to unworthy conduct; and it
+was equally hard to imagine how Herr von Hollfeld could inspire that
+sentiment.  Here she judged from the one-sided, personal point of view
+from which we are prone to pass sentence on others; but whether from the
+instinct of her true womanly nature, or whether she really possessed the
+clear insight that sees in the lines of the face the clear indications
+of the soul within and traces them to their source, we cannot
+say,--certainly, in this case, her judgment of a man with whom she had
+had scarcely any intercourse was entirely correct.
+
+Herr von Hollfeld was certainly not calculated to personate the ideal of
+a refined feminine nature.  He neither possessed intelligence nor wit,
+was inordinately vain, and by no means content with the interest excited
+by his fine person.  He was fully aware that most women will forgive
+defects of person sooner than defects of mind; and therefore he adopted
+the mask of silence and reserve, behind which the world is so ready to
+see great intelligence, originality, and strength of character.  There
+was no man living who could boast of being upon intimate terms with Herr
+von Hollfeld; he was cunning enough to elude every attempt to test the
+quality of his mind, and avoided all earnest conversation with men,
+while women, as soon as they perceived the rough shell of his repellant
+behaviour, were only too ready to cry, "the sweeter the kernel."  Herr
+von Hollfeld understood his part,--he was moved by secret desires and
+hopes, which were strengthened by the difficulty attending their
+attainment.  Animated by no lofty aspirations, he was the slave of
+avarice and sensuality. To make his position a brilliant one from a
+worldly point of view, he disdained no petty intrigue, and his office as
+chamberlain at the court of L---- opened the way to many such.  He
+deceived and lied, and was all the more dangerous on account of the
+frank honest seeming behind which men never suspected the low schemer,
+or women the vulgar sensualist.
+
+Elizabeth was glad when she saw her uncle turn the corner and approach
+the house.  With a sigh of relief she took her place in the carriage at
+his side.  She took off her hat, and bathed her hot forehead in the
+fresh, delicious evening breeze that swept gently by.  The last rays of
+the sun were just gilding the trembling leaves of the poplars by the
+roadside, and there was a rosy light upon the fields of blooming grain;
+but the forest that enclosed in its bosom Elizabeth's home lay dark and
+gloomy beyond, as if it had already forgotten the sunny life which had
+penetrated its inmost recesses so short a time before.
+
+The forester glanced several times at the silent young girl at his side.
+Suddenly he transferred both reins and whip to one hand, took hold of
+Elizabeth's chin, and turned her face up to him.
+
+"Come, let me see, Elsie!" he said.  "What! why, zounds! you have got
+two wrinkles there in your forehead as deep as old Sabina's furrows.
+What has happened?  Come, out with it!  Something has vexed you, hey?"
+
+"No, uncle, I am not vexed, but pained that you were so right in your
+estimate of Fr�ulein von Walde," replied Elizabeth, while a deep blush
+of emotion covered her face.
+
+"Pained because I was right, or because Fr�ulein von Walde has acted
+unworthily?"
+
+"Well, because what you prophesied was evil, and----"
+
+"And therefore it follows that you should be angry with me.  He is
+always the criminal who tells the truth in such a matter.  And pray,
+which of the utterances of my worldly wisdom has been justified by
+time?"
+
+She told him of Helene's conduct, and of what the ladies had said.  The
+forester smiled meaningly.
+
+"Oh women, women, and those women in especial! They prophesy an
+immediate marriage if two people only say good morning to each other.
+But perhaps they are right in this case,--it clears up much to my mind
+that has hitherto seemed inexplicable to me."
+
+"But, uncle, you cannot believe that any one would sacrifice the best
+feelings of our nature to such a preference?"
+
+"Many other things have happened, my child, for the sake of such a
+preference, and although I do not for one moment defend Fr�ulein von
+Walde's weakness and submission; still, I shall henceforth judge her
+more leniently. She succumbs to the power which leads us to forget
+father and mother for another's sake."
+
+"Ah! that is just what I cannot understand," said Elizabeth, earnestly.
+"How can any one love a stranger better than father or mother?"
+
+"Hm!" rejoined the forester, touching the horses lightly with his whip,
+to accelerate their speed.  This "hm" was followed by a clearing of his
+throat, and he changed the subject, for he justly thought, "If that be
+so, she will never understand my definition of love, although I should
+speak with the tongues of angels."  And he himself?--Far, far in the
+past lay the time when he had carved the dear name upon the trees, and
+trained his deep voice to sing love songs; when he had walked miles for
+a single smile, and had hated as his bitterest enemy the man who dared
+to regard with favour the object of his adoration.  He looked back and
+rejoiced in that wonderful time, but to paint it with its tempests of
+excited feeling,--its tears and laughter, its hopes and fears,--was more
+than he could do.
+
+"Do you see that perpendicular black streak just above the forest
+there?" he asked, after a long silence, pointing with his whip to the
+mountain which they were approaching.
+
+"Yes, indeed, it is the flag-staff upon Castle Gnadeck. I saw it a few
+moments ago, and am now rejoicing unspeakably in the thought that there
+lies a spot of earth that we may call our own,--a place from which no
+one has the right to drive us.  Thank God, we have a home!"
+
+"And such a home!" said the forester, as his beaming eyes looked around
+the horizon.  "When I was quite a little child, how I longed for the
+Thuringian forest!  It was all because of my grandfather's stories.  In
+his youth he had lived in Thuringia, and had the tales and legends of
+his home at his tongue's end; and when I had reached man's estate, I
+came hither.  Then all the forest which we see before us belonged to the
+Gnadewitzes, but I would not enter their service,--my father had told me
+too much about them.  I was the first Ferber from time immemorial who
+had renounced their service.  I applied to the Prince of L----.  The
+last of the Gnadewitzes divided his forests because the Prince of L----
+was willing to pay an immense sum of money that he might enlarge his own
+woodland possessions.  And thus it happened that the most ardent desire
+of my youth was gratified, for I live now in the house that may be
+called the cradle of the Ferbers. You know that we came at first from
+Thuringia?"
+
+"Oh yes, I have known that from my childhood."
+
+"And do you know the story of our origin?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Well, it was long ago, and perhaps I am the only one who now knows
+anything about it, but it shall not be lost, for remembrance is all the
+gratitude that posterity can show for a brave action,--so now you shall
+hear the story, and then you can tell it again.
+
+"About two hundred years ago,--you see we can trace back a considerable
+pedigree,--the only pity is that we have no idea who the mother of our
+race was,--if you should ever be asked any questions concerning her by
+the Baroness Lessen, or others, you can answer with confidence that we
+suspect her to have been either Augusta von Blasewitz,--for the story
+dates from the thirty years' war,--or a vivandiere: perhaps she was a
+good, honest woman, who clung to her husband through all the hardships
+of the war, although I cannot forgive her for forsaking her
+child,--well, then, about two hundred years ago, as the wife of the
+huntsman Ferber opened her door in the morning--the very door that now
+shuts upon my home--she saw a little child lying upon the threshold. She
+clapped the door to again in a great hurry, for the forest was then
+swarming with gypsies, and she thought it would prove to be one of their
+dirty brats.  But her husband was more of a Christian, and took the
+child in. It was scarcely a day old.  A paper was pinned upon its
+breast, stating that the child was born in holy wedlock, that he had
+been baptized by the name of Hans, and that whoever would take care of
+him should receive further revelations concerning him at some future
+day.  Hidden in the child's dress was found a purse containing some
+money.  The huntsman's wife was a good woman, and when she heard the
+child was born of Christian parents, and was probably the son of some
+honest soldier who had left it here that it might not be exposed to the
+dangers of the war, she took it to her heart and brought it up with her
+own little girl as if they had been brother and sister.  It was well for
+him that she did so, for no one ever heard another word about his
+relatives.  His foster-father afterwards adopted him, and, to make his
+happiness complete, he married his foster-sister.  He, as well as his
+son and grandson, lived where I live now, as foresters to the
+Gnadewitzes, and they all died there.  My grandfather was the first who
+left this place with his master for one of the estates in Silesia.  As a
+boy, I was much disappointed that some countess mother did not turn up
+in the end who should recognize the foundling as her son, stolen from
+her by the malice of an enemy, and bear him home in triumph to her
+castle.  Later in life I learned to endure the want of this romantic
+termination to the story with a good grace, as I considered that in such
+case my own appearance here would have been very dubious, and my honest
+name pleased me too much to wish it changed for any other; but imagine
+my sensations when I stood for the first time upon the threshold where
+the little foundling had passed the most helpless moment of his life,
+when, deserted by his natural parents, sympathy had not yet supplied
+their place.  The worn stone is undoubtedly the same upon which the
+child lay, and as long as I live here or have anything to do with the
+place, it shall never be removed."
+
+Suddenly the forester leaned forward and pointed through the boughs, for
+they had entered the wood.
+
+"Do you see that white spot?" he asked.
+
+The white spot was the cap of Sabina, who was sitting at the door of the
+Lodge waiting for them.  When she saw the carriage, she rose quickly,
+shook the contents of her apron, which proved to be a quantity of
+forget-me-nots, into a basket, and came to assist Elizabeth to alight.
+
+The horse trotted, neighing, behind the house, where he was awaited and
+received with a caressing pat.  Hector laid himself down upon the
+ground, wagging his tail contentedly, and the doves and sparrows, which
+the noise of the arrival had frightened away, returned and hopped
+fearlessly about upon the green painted bench and table under the
+linden, where, as the little rogues well knew, the forester was in the
+habit of taking his morning and evening meals.  He went into the house
+for a moment that he might exchange his uniform for the more comfortable
+garment worn at home, and soon returned, pipe and newspaper in hand, to
+the linden, where Sabina soon began to lay the table.
+
+"'Tis a fact, it's a silly piece of Sunday work for such an old woman as
+I am," said the housekeeper, laughing, as she passed Elizabeth, who,
+sitting upon the stone step which now possessed such an interest for
+her, continued the weaving of the wreath which Sabina had begun.  "But I
+have been used to such work from my youth.  I have two little black
+pictures up in my room, likenesses of my blessed father and mother; they
+certainly deserve that I should honour them and hold them in loving
+remembrance, so I hang fresh flowers around them every Sunday, as long
+as there is a blossom to be had. A couple of children from Lindhof bring
+me fresh ones every Sunday, and to-day they brought me so many that
+there is enough for a wreath for Gold Elsie; if she puts it in a dish of
+water it will keep fresh all through the week."
+
+Elizabeth sat a long time this evening with her uncle. A flood of
+memories came rushing over his mind, called forth by his narration of
+the old story of two hundred years before.  He recalled many a wish,
+plan, and aspiration of his youth, which now provoked only a smiling
+sigh of sympathetic pity,--they had all vanished before the actual, like
+dust before the wind.  He talked them over now, as one who, standing
+upon the land, hears the dash of the breakers afar that cannot reach
+him.  Sometimes he would make some witty attack, in the midst of his
+recollections, upon Elizabeth, who would parry his thrusts and retort
+merrily.
+
+Meanwhile a light arose behind the trees, which had blended
+undistinguishably with the dark heavens, but which now stood out in
+strong relief against the bright background.  Single rays shot like
+silver arrows between interlacing boughs, and lay motionless like oases
+of light upon the dim meadow, until at last the moon arose, large and
+victorious, above the tops of the trees, and its full lustre flooded the
+landscape.  The gentle breeze of evening had long since folded its
+wings,--you could have counted the shadows of the linden leaves upon the
+moonlit earth, so distinct and motionless they lay.  All the clearer was
+heard the gurgle of the little fountain in the court-yard of the Lodge,
+and the low, indefinite murmur from the woods, which Elizabeth called
+"the sleepy rain" of the forest.
+
+"There," said Sabina, crowning Elizabeth's head lightly with the
+forget-me-not wreath, which she had just completed.  "Carry it home so,
+and you'll not crush it."
+
+"Then it may stay there," said she, laughing, as she arose.  "Many
+thanks for my ride!  Good-night, uncle, good-night, Sabina!"
+
+And then she hastened through the house and garden, and was soon outside
+the gate, which she closed behind her, and flew along up the narrow
+moonlit forest path. In the dwelling-room above, the lamp was burning;
+in spite of the bright moonlight, its beams were distinctly visible, for
+the front of her home lay in deep shade.
+
+As she reached the little clearing, a remarkable shadow fell across her
+path.  It was neither a tree nor a post, but the figure of a man, a
+stranger, who had been standing upon one side of the path, and now, to
+her terror, approached her.  The apparition courteously removed its hat,
+and Elizabeth's terror vanished on the instant, for she saw before her
+the smiling, good-humoured countenance of a well dressed, rather elderly
+man.
+
+"I pray your pardon, Fr�ulein, if I have frightened you," he said, as he
+looked kindly over the large, shining glasses of his spectacles into her
+face.  "I assure you, I have no designs either upon your life or your
+purse, and am simply a peaceful traveller, returning to his home, who
+greatly desires to know what the light in the ruins yonder may betoken;
+and yet this moment convinces me that my question is quite superfluous.
+Fairies and elves are holding their revels there, while the fairest
+among them keeps guard in the forest around, that none may invade their
+charmed circle with impunity."
+
+This gallant comparison, trite as it may appear, was not ill applied at
+this moment, for the slight girlish figure in white robes, with the blue
+wreath crowning her angelic countenance, and bathed in moonlight, might
+well have been mistaken for a fairy vision, as it glided so lightly
+among the trees of the wood.
+
+She herself laughed inwardly at the quaint compliment, but with a little
+pique at the thought of resembling such a mercurial elfish being, and
+she replied to the old gentleman with maidenly dignity.
+
+"I am really sorry," she said, "to be forced to lead you back to
+realities, but I fail to see anything in the light yonder, except a
+commonplace lamp in the dwelling-room of a forester's clerk in the
+service of the Prince of L----."
+
+"Ah!" laughed the gentleman, "and does the man live all alone in those
+uncanny old walls?"
+
+"He might do so with a quiet mind, for over those whose consciences are
+pure nothing uncanny can have any power.  Nevertheless some loving
+creatures bear him company, among the rest, two well-fed goats and a
+canary bird, not to mention the owls, who have retired into private life
+in great indignation, since the frivolous conduct of human beings does
+not assort at all well with the solemn views of life entertained by
+their grave worships."
+
+"Or perhaps because they shun the light and cannot endure----"
+
+"That the new arrival should adore the truth?"
+
+"Perhaps that, too; but I was about to suggest that they fly from the
+two suns that have suddenly arisen in the old ruins."
+
+"Two suns at once?  That would be a terrible experience for their poor
+owls' eyes, and might even prove too much for a fire-worshipper,"
+replied Elizabeth, laughing, as she passed him with a slight
+inclination, for her parents had just emerged from the gate in the wall,
+and were advancing towards her.  They had come out with some anxiety
+when they heard Elizabeth's voice and that of a stranger, and they
+gently reproved her, after she had related her little adventure, for
+entering so thoughtlessly into conversation with strangers.
+
+"Your badinage might have had unpleasant consequences for you, my
+child," said her mother.  "Fortunately, they were gentlemen."
+
+"Gentlemen?" interrupted her daughter, with surprise. "There was only
+one."
+
+"Look around," said her father; "you can see for yourself."
+
+And certainly just where the path began to descend into the valley, two
+hats were plainly to be seen.
+
+"So you see, mother dear," said Elizabeth, "what an entirely harmless
+encounter it was.  One never stepped out from behind the bushes, and
+there was certainly not an atom of the brigand to be seen in the kind
+old face of the other."
+
+When she went to her room she carefully took the wreath from her head,
+laid it in fresh water, and placed it before the bust of Beethoven, then
+she kissed the forehead of the sleeping Ernst, and said good-night to
+her father and mother.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+"Hallo, Elsie, do not run so!" shouted the forester, the next day at
+three o'clock in the afternoon, as he came out of the forest with his
+rifle on his shoulder and crossed the meadow towards the Lodge.
+
+Elizabeth was running down the mountain, her round hat hanging upon her
+arm instead of resting upon the braids that glanced in the sunlight, and
+as she reached the house she flew laughing into her uncle's arms, which
+he extended to receive her.
+
+She put her hand into her pocket, and stepped back a few paces.  "Guess
+what I have in my pocket, uncle," she said, smiling.
+
+"Well, what can it be?  No need to puzzle one's brains long about it.
+Probably a little sentimental hay,--a few dried flowers, kept for the
+sake of the melancholy associations that they recall,--or some printed
+sighs over the woes of the world, bound in gilt pasteboard?"
+
+"Wrong, indeed; twice wrong, Herr Forester, for, in the first place,
+your wit glances harmlessly aside from me, and in the next--look here!"
+
+She drew a little box from her pocket, and lifted the cover.  There,
+upon green leaves, was comfortably lying a large lemon-coloured
+caterpillar, with black spots, broad bluish-green stripes upon its back,
+and a crooked horn upon its tail.
+
+"By all that is wonderful, Sphinx Atropos!" cried the delighted
+forester.  "Ah, my sunbeam, where did you find that exquisite specimen?"
+
+"Over at Lindhof, in a potato-field.  Isn't it beautiful? There, let us
+shut the box carefully, and put it back in my pocket."
+
+"What! am I not to have it?"
+
+"Oh yes; you can have it,--that is if you are inclined to pay for it."
+
+"Zounds!  What a girl you have become!  Come, give it to me,--here are
+four groschen."
+
+"Not for the world.  You can't have it for one farthing less than
+twelve.  When many a ragged, yellow old bit of parchment,--that one can
+hardly bear to touch,--is paid for with its weight in gold, certainly
+such a perfect piece of Nature's workmanship is worth twelve groschen."
+
+"Yellow old parchment! never breathe such a word into scientific ears,
+if you value your reputation."
+
+"Ah, there are none such to be breathed into here in the forest."
+
+"Take care; Herr von Walde----"
+
+"Is hiding in the Pyramids."
+
+"But he might suddenly return and take a certain self-conceited young
+person to strict account.  He is cock-of-the-walk among learned men."
+
+"Well, for aught I care, they may raise monuments in his honour, and
+strew laurels in his path, as much as they choose.  I cannot forgive him
+for forgetting, in the midst of all that dead lumber, the claims that
+the living have upon him.  While he is engaged in an enthusiastic
+search, perhaps, for some wonderfully preserved receipt by Lucullus, or
+lost in investigations as to whether the Romans did actually feed their
+fish upon the flesh of slaves, the poor employed upon his estate starve
+under the baroness' rule--actually crushed beneath the yoke of modern
+slavery."
+
+"Hallo! how his left ear must burn!  What a pity that he cannot hear
+this confession of faith!  Here are your twelve groschen, if you must
+have them.  You want to buy some trinket or other, a feather, or ribbons
+for your hat, hey?" he said, smiling.
+
+She held her hat out at arm's length before her, and contemplated with
+admiration the two fresh roses which she had stuck into the simple band
+of black velvet that encircled it.  "Does not that look lovely?" she
+asked. "Do you think I would voluntarily hide my head beneath nodding
+plumes when I can have roses, fresh roses?  And there is your
+caterpillar, and now you shall know why I want to black-mail you.  This
+morning the poor widow of a weaver in Lindhof came to my mother, begging
+a little assistance.  Her husband had had a fall, which injured his arm
+and his foot, so that he has not been able to earn anything for weeks.
+My mother gave her some old linen and a large loaf of bread.  She could
+do nothing more, as you know.  See, here I have fifteen groschen,--from
+my money-box,--there is not another farthing in it just now, and three
+from little Ernst, who would gladly have sold his tin soldiers to help
+the poor woman, and with the price for the caterpillar I shall have a
+whole thaler, which I shall carry to the poor thing immediately."
+
+"Let me see.  Here is another thaler; and, Sabina," he called into the
+house, "bring out a piece of meat from your pickling-tub, and wrap it up
+in green leaves.  You shall take that too," he said, turning again to
+Elizabeth.
+
+"Oh, you dearest of splendid uncles!" cried the girl, taking his large
+hand between her slender palms and pressing it tenderly.
+
+"But take care," he continued, "that the piece of good salt meat does
+not turn into roses.  It would be a sad change for the poor weaver's
+wife.  You seem to be following in the steps of your saintly namesake."
+
+"Yes; but fortunately I have here no cruel Landgrave to fear.  And if I
+had, I would tell the truth in spite of him."
+
+"Gracious gods, what a heroic soul it is!"
+
+"But I think the courage to tell a lie would be far greater, even though
+it were a pious one."
+
+"True, true, my daughter.  I think I could hardly have done it either.
+Ah, here comes Sabina!"
+
+The old housekeeper issued from the door, and whilst she wrapped up the
+meat for Elizabeth, in accordance with the forester's directions, she
+whispered to him that Herr von Walde, who had yesterday arrived from
+abroad, had been waiting for him for some time.
+
+"Where?" he asked.
+
+"Here in the dwelling-room."
+
+Now they had been standing directly beneath the open windows of this
+room.  Elizabeth turned quickly round, blushing scarlet, but could see
+no one.  Her uncle, without turning, shrugged his shoulders with an
+infinitely comical gesture, stroked his long moustache, and whispered,
+with a suppressed laugh: "Here's a nice state of things!  You have
+settled matters finely,--he has heard every word.7"
+
+"So much the better," replied his niece, throwing her head back with an
+air of defiance.  "He does not hear the truth very often, perhaps."
+Then bidding farewell to her uncle and Sabina, she walked slowly away
+through the forest in the direction of Lindhof.
+
+At first she was annoyed at the thought that Herr von Walde had been
+obliged, entirely against his will, to listen to the judgment which had
+been passed upon him.  Then she was sure that she should have told him
+just the same truth to his face.  And as it was scarcely to be supposed
+that he would ever trouble himself about her estimate of him, it
+certainly could do him no harm that he had been involuntarily the
+auditor of a frank, impartial sentence passed upon him, even although
+such sentence came from the lips of a young girl.  But how had it
+happened that he had returned so suddenly and unexpectedly?  Fr�ulein
+von Walde had always spoken of her brother's absence as likely to
+continue for several years, and the day before she had had not the
+slightest expectation of his return. And then her encounter of the
+previous evening flashed into her mind.  The old gentleman had said that
+he was a traveller returning home; but it was impossible that he, with
+his smiling, good-humoured face, could be the grave, haughty proprietor
+of Lindhof, who, perhaps, was the person that had remained concealed
+beneath the trees while his companion was getting an answer to his
+inquiries. But what could Herr von Walde want with her uncle, who, as
+she knew, had never stood in any relation to him whatever?
+
+These and similar thoughts occupied her mind upon her way to the
+weaver's.  Husband and wife were delighted by the unhoped-for
+assistance, and heaped Elizabeth with profuse professions of gratitude
+as she left the house.
+
+She passed through the village, and directed her steps to Lindhof, where
+she had promised to practice as usual. The lesson had not been
+postponed, notwithstanding the return of Herr von Walde.  The
+proprietor's return had worked a great change in the whole look of the
+castle. All the windows of the lower story on the south side, which had
+so long been dark and closed behind their white shutters, now reflected
+the sunlight in a long, shining row.  The apartments within were
+undergoing a thorough airing and dusting.  A glass door stood wide open,
+revealing the interior of a large saloon.  Upon one of the steps which
+led down to the garden at the back lay a snow-white greyhound, with his
+slender body stretched out upon the hot stone and his head resting upon
+his forepaws; he blinked at Elizabeth as though she had been an old
+acquaintance.  At an open window the gardener was arranging a stand of
+flowers, and the old steward Lorenz was walking through the rooms,
+superintending everything.
+
+It was remarkable that all the people whom the young girl met had, as if
+by magic, entirely altered their whole expression.  Had a tempest swept
+through the sultry atmosphere and a fresh breeze filled all the rooms,
+so that voices sounded clearer, and bent forms grew straight and
+elastic?  Even old Lorenz, whose face had always worn so grim and
+depressed a look, as though there were a weight of lead upon his
+shoulders, shot real sunshine from his eyes, although he was scolding
+one of the maids; Elizabeth looked on in surprise.  She had only seen
+him before gliding about upon the tips of his toes, and in low,
+suppressed tones announcing guests to the ladies in the drawing-room.
+
+In amazement at this sudden bursting into bloom of new life and
+activity, Elizabeth turned towards the wing appropriated to the ladies.
+Here the deepest silence still reigned.  In the apartments of the
+baroness the curtains were closely drawn.  No noise penetrated through
+the doors by which Elizabeth passed.  The air of the passages was heavy
+with the odour of valerian, and when at the lower end of one of the
+halls, Elizabeth saw through an open door one human face, what a change
+met her eye!  It was the baroness' old waiting-maid who looked out,
+probably to see who was so bold as to invade the solemn repose of the
+corridor.  Her cap was set upon her false curls all awry, and the curls
+themselves were but loosely put on.  Her countenance wore a troubled
+expression, and a round, red spot on each cheek, betokened either high
+fever or some violent, mental agitation.  She returned Elizabeth's
+salute shortly and sullenly, and disappeared into the room, closing the
+door noiselessly behind her.
+
+When Elizabeth reached Fr�ulein von Walde's apartment, she thought that
+she had arrived at the last act in the mysterious drama which had begun
+in the baroness' rooms, for no "come in" answered her repeated knock.
+Not only were the curtains here drawn, but the shutters also were closed
+as she saw when she gently opened the door.  The profound quiet and the
+darkness deterred her from entering, and she was about to shut the door
+again when Helene, in a weak voice, called to her to enter.  The little
+lady lay on a couch at the farther end of the room, her head resting on
+a white pillow, and Elizabeth could hear that her teeth were chattering
+as if with cold.
+
+"Ah, dear child," she said, and laid her cold, damp hand upon her young
+friend's arm, "I have had a nervous attack.  None of my people have
+observed that I am lying here so ill, and it has been terribly lonely in
+this dark room.  Pray open the windows wide,--I need air, the warm air
+of heaven."
+
+Elizabeth immediately did as she desired, and when the daylight streamed
+in upon the pale face of the invalid, it revealed traces of violent
+weeping.
+
+The sunshine aroused more life and motion in the room than Elizabeth had
+anticipated; she was startled by a loud scream which proceeded from one
+corner.  There she discovered a cockatoo, with snow-white plumage and a
+brilliant yellow crest, swinging to and fro upon a ring.
+
+"Heavens! what a fearful noise!" sighed Helene, pressing her little
+hands upon her ears.  "That terrible bird will tear my nerves to
+pieces!"
+
+Elizabeth's glance rested amazed upon the little stranger, and then
+explored the rest of the apartment, which looked like a bazaar.  Upon
+tables and chairs were lying costly stuffs, shawls, richly-bound books,
+and all kinds of toilet articles.  Fr�ulein von Walde noticed
+Elizabeth's look, and said briefly, with averted face: "All presents
+from my brother, who returned home quite unexpectedly yesterday."
+
+How cold her voice was as she said it!  And there was not the slightest
+hint of pleasure to be discovered in her features, swollen with weeping;
+the large eyes, usually so soft and gentle, expressed only vexation and
+annoyance.
+
+Elizabeth stooped silently and picked up a gorgeous bouquet of
+camellias, that was lying half faded upon the floor.
+
+"Oh yes," said Helene, sitting up, while a slight flush appeared on her
+cheeks, "that is my brother's good-morning to me; it fell down from the
+table, and I forgot it. Pray put it in that vase there."
+
+"Poor flowers," said Elizabeth, half aloud, as she looked at the brown
+edges of the white petals, "they never dreamed when they opened their
+tender buds, that they were to bloom in such a cold atmosphere!"
+
+Helene looked up into her friend's face with a searching, troubled
+glance, and for an instant her eyes expressed regret.  "Put the flowers
+on the sill of the open window," she whispered quickly, "the air there
+will do them good.  Oh, heavens!" she cried, sinking back among her
+cushions.  "He is certainly a most excellent man, but his sudden return
+has destroyed the harmony of our delightful home life."
+
+Elizabeth looked almost incredulously at the little lady who lay there,
+her clasped hands raised, and her eyes lifted to heaven, as if fate had
+decreed her a most bitter trial.  If she had failed yesterday to find
+the key to Helene's conduct, she was certainly more puzzled than ever
+to-day by this incomprehensible character.  What had become of all those
+sentiments of fervent gratitude that had breathed from every word
+whenever Helene had spoken of her absent brother?  Had all the sisterly
+tenderness which had seemed to fill her heart vanished in a single
+moment, so that she now lamented what, according to her own words, she
+had so lately regarded as the most delightful thing that could happen?
+Even supposing that the returned brother did not sympathize with the
+circle in which alone she felt happy, if he should oppose her dearest
+wishes, was it possible that coldness and anger could exist between two
+beings whom fate had bound together by so close a tie, a tie which must
+bring them all the nearer to each other, since one was so helpless, and
+the other so alone in the world?  Elizabeth suddenly felt profound pity
+for the man who had sailed on distant seas and wandered through strange
+lands so long, only to be greeted as a disturbing element when he once
+more appeared at his own fireside.  Apparently there was one tender spot
+in his proud heart, love for his sister; how deeply wounded he must be
+that she had no loving welcome for him, and that her heart was cold and
+hard towards him!
+
+Occupied with these thoughts, Elizabeth arranged the flowers in the
+vase.  She returned not a syllable to Helene's outbreak, which had so
+maligned her brother to stranger ears.  And Helene herself, shamed
+probably by Elizabeth's silence, seemed to be conscious that she had
+lost her self-control, for she suddenly, in an altered voice, begged her
+to take a chair and stay with her for awhile.
+
+At this moment the door was violently flung open, and a female figure
+appeared upon the threshold.  Elizabeth was at some trouble to recognize
+in this apparition in its neglected, careless dress, betraying every
+sign of great agitation, the Baroness Lessen.  Her scanty locks, usually
+so carefully arranged, were streaming from under a morning-cap across
+her forehead, no longer white and smooth as ivory, but flushing scarlet.
+The stereotyped self-satisfaction had vanished from her eyes, and she
+presented a most insignificant appearance as she looked shyly into the
+room!
+
+"Ah, Helene!" she cried anxiously, without noticing Elizabeth, and her
+corpulent figure advanced with unwonted rapidity.  "Rudolph has just
+sent for the unfortunate Linke to come to his room, and he abused the
+poor man so violently and loudly that I heard him in my bed-room on the
+other side of the court--Heavens! how wretched I am!  The morning has
+agitated me so that I can scarcely stand, but I could not listen to such
+injustice any longer, and sought refuge here.  And those servile
+wretches, the other servants, who, while Rudolph was away, scarcely
+dared to wink their eyes,--there they stand now boldly beneath the
+windows, taking a malicious pleasure in the misfortunes that are
+befalling a faithful servant.  Everything is destroyed that I had
+arranged so carefully and with such pains for the salvation of this
+household.  And Emil is at Odenberg!  How miserable and forlorn we are,
+dearest Helene!"
+
+She threw her arms around the neck of the little lady, who started up
+pale as ashes.  Elizabeth took advantage of this moment to slip out of
+the room.
+
+As she passed along the corridor leading to the vestibule she heard some
+one speaking loudly.  It was a deep, sonorous, manly voice, which grew
+louder now and then under the influence of excitement, but there was no
+sharpness in its tones even when they were loudest.  Although she could
+not distinguish a word, the tone thrilled through her,--there was
+something inexorable in the intonation of the emphasized sentences.
+
+The echo in the long corridor was deceptive.  Elizabeth did not know
+whence the voice proceeded, and she therefore ran forwards quickly that
+she might the sooner reach the open air.  But after a few steps she
+heard, as though the speaker were directly beside her, the words,
+"To-morrow evening you will leave Lindhof."
+
+"But, most gracious Herr!"--was the answer.
+
+"I have nothing else to say to you! now go!" was uttered in a commanding
+tone; and just then Elizabeth, to her terror, found herself opposite a
+wide-open folding door.  The tall figure of a man stood in the middle of
+the room, his left hand behind him, and his right pointing to the door.
+A pair of flashing, dark eyes met her own as she passed hastily through
+the vestibule and into the garden.  It seemed as if that look, in which
+there glowed an indignant soul, pursued her and drove her onward.
+
+As the Ferber family were sitting at supper, her father told with
+expressions of pleasure how he had made the acquaintance of Herr von
+Walde that day at the Lodge.
+
+"Well, and how does he please you?" asked his wife.
+
+"That is a question, dear child, that I might be able to answer if I
+should happen to have daily intercourse with him for a year or so,
+although even then I cannot tell whether I should be able to give a
+satisfactory reply.  The man is very interesting to me--as one is
+continually tempted to try to discover whether he really is what he
+appears,--a perfectly cold, passionless nature. He came to my brother to
+learn the particulars concerning the affair between his superintendent
+and the poor labourer's widow, because he had been informed that Sabina
+had been an eye-witness of the ill treatment she had received.  Sabina
+was obliged to tell how she discovered the poor woman.  He asked about
+everything, even the smallest circumstance, but in a very short, decided
+manner.  What impression Sabina's account made upon him no one could
+tell; his looks were utterly impenetrable, not the smallest change of
+countenance betrayed his thoughts.  He comes directly from Spain.  From
+the few remarks that he let fall, I judge that his sudden return to
+Thuringia is owing to a letter from some one of his friends here,
+telling him of the mismanagement of affairs upon his estate and the
+unhappiness among his tenantry."
+
+"And his exterior?" asked Frau Ferber.
+
+"Is pleasing, although I have never seen so much reserve and
+inaccessibility expressed in a man's bearing I entirely understand how
+he has the reputation of boundless haughtiness; and yet I cannot, on the
+other hand, convince myself that such exceeding folly can lurk behind
+such remarkably intellectual features.  His face always wears the look
+of cold repose of which I have spoken; but, between the eyebrows, there
+is what I might call an involuntary, unguarded expression of what a
+superficial observer might think sternness; to me it seems settled
+melancholy."
+
+Elizabeth listened thoughtfully to this description. She had already
+learned how that cold repose could be entirely laid aside for a time,
+and she told her father of the scene which she had witnessed.
+
+"Then sentence has been passed sooner than I anticipated," said Ferber.
+"Possibly your uncle may have done his part towards this end by his
+strong language,--he does not hesitate when asked for an opinion.  He
+was so frank with Herr von Walde, that he felt quite relieved and
+retained not an iota in his heart of all that had been vexing him in the
+course of the past year."
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Scarcely a week had passed since the evening mentioned in the last
+chapter, but these few days had brought about great changes in the
+household at the castle of Lindhof.  The dismissed superintendent had
+already been replaced by a new man, whose power, however, was very
+limited, as Herr von Walde had undertaken the chief oversight of affairs
+himself.  Several day-labourers who had been summarily dismissed, either
+because they were warm adherents of the village pastor, and had, on
+account of their work, been frequently absent from prayers at the
+castle, or because they did not care to listen to the chaplain's
+sermons, were again working on the estate.
+
+The day before, Sunday, Herr von Walde, accompanied by the Baroness
+Lessen and little Bella, had attended service in the village church at
+Lindhof.  To the surprise of all, the chaplain, Herr M�hring, had
+appeared in the organ-loft as one of the audience, and at noon the
+worthy pastor had taken dinner with the family at Castle Lindhof. Doctor
+Fels paid daily visits there, for Fr�ulein von Walde was sick.  That was
+the reason why Elizabeth had not been requested to give her another
+lesson, and also, as the forester said, why the Baroness Lessen "had not
+been banished to Siberia, for," said he, "Herr von Walde would not be
+such a savage as to make his ailing sister still more ailing, by
+depriving her of the society which was dearest to her.  He knew that if
+his mother left, Herr von Hollfeld's visits would also cease."  It was
+malicious to say so, but, as he added, "incontrovertibly just."
+
+In the village it was well known that it had required several terrible
+tempests to clear the air at Castle Lindhof.  For the first three days
+after his arrival Herr von Walde had taken his meals alone in his
+private apartments, and the letters which the baroness' waiting-maid had
+delivered to him, at all times of the day, from her mistress, were
+returned unopened, until at last the violent illness of his sister had
+brought about a meeting between her brother and her cousin by her
+bedside. Since that day intercourse had again been apparently
+established between the two, although the servants declared that they
+exchanged scarcely a word at table. Herr von Hollfeld had been over once
+to greet the returned traveller, but it was observed that he rode away
+with a perceptibly lengthened face, after a very short stay.
+
+On a melancholy, rainy day in August, Elizabeth was again requested by
+Fr�ulein von Walde to spend half an hour with her at the castle.  The
+lady was not alone when she entered the room.  Herr von Walde sat in the
+recess by the window.  His tall figure was leaning back on a couch, his
+head nearly touching the light-coloured wall behind him, so that his
+dark-brown hair stood out in strong relief against it.  His right hand,
+which carelessly held a cigar, was resting upon the window-sill, while
+his left was raised as if he had just been speaking.  His neighbour, the
+Baroness Lessen, was bending towards him, and, with a most winning smile
+upon her face, seemed to be listening intently to his words, although,
+as it appeared, they were not addressed to her, but to Helene.  She was
+sitting tolerably near him, and had some crochet work in her hand.
+Fr�ulein von Walde was lying upon a lounge.  A full dressing-gown
+entirely enveloped her small figure, and her beautiful brown curls
+escaped from beneath a morning-cap, trimmed with pink ribbons, which
+heightened, by force of contrast, the pallor of her countenance.  The
+cockatoo was perched upon her hand, and from time to time she held him
+caressingly to her cheek.  "The terrible bird" was now called "darling,"
+and might scream as loud as it liked,--it was only soothed by a tender
+"What's the matter with my pet?"  Here, then, all was peace and
+reconciliation.
+
+Upon Elizabeth's entrance Helene beckoned to her kindly, but it did not
+escape her that there was a slight embarrassment in the little lady's
+manner.
+
+"Dear Rudolph," she said, as she took Elizabeth's hand, "let me present
+you to the delightful artiste to whom I owe so many pleasant
+hours,--Fr�ulein Ferber, called by her uncle, and in all the country
+around, Gold Elsie.  She plays so deliciously that I entreat her to make
+us forget the gray and gloomy skies above us this afternoon.  You see,
+dear child," she continued, turning to Elizabeth, "that I am still too
+weak to assist you at the piano; will you have the great kindness to
+play something alone for us?"
+
+"With all my heart," replied Elizabeth.  "But I shall play timidly, for
+there are two formidable powers to oppose me,--the gloomy heavens, and
+the favourable expectations that you have awakened of my performance."
+
+"Pray allow me to excuse myself for an hour," said the baroness, as she
+collected her working materials and arose; "I should like to drive out
+with Bella,--it is so long since the poor child has taken the air."
+
+"Really, I should suppose that she could easily take it here at any
+time, by simply putting her head out of the window," said Herr von Walde
+dryly, knocking the ashes from his cigar as he spoke.
+
+"Heavens! are you unwilling, Rudolph, that I should take a drive?  I
+will instantly remain at home, if----"
+
+"I can conceive of no reason why I should be unwilling. Drive as often
+and as much as you like," was the indifferent reply.
+
+The baroness compressed her lips, and turned to Helene: "We have
+decided, then, to take coffee in my room.  I shall not stay out long, on
+account of the mist. I shall be back punctually in an hour, and shall
+depend upon the pleasure of conducting you to my room myself, dearest
+Helene."
+
+"That pleasure you must resign," said Herr von Walde.  "It has been my
+office for many years, and I hope my sister does not think me grown too
+awkward during my absence to discharge it."
+
+"Most certainly not, dear Rudolph; I shall be greatly obliged, if you
+will be so kind," cried Helene, quickly, looking anxiously from one to
+the other.
+
+The baroness conquered her vexation bravely.  She held out her hand to
+Herr von Walde, with a smile of great sweetness, kissed Helene upon the
+cheek, and rustled out of the room with an "au revoir."
+
+During this conversation, Elizabeth observed more closely the features
+of the man, whose glance and voice had impressed her so profoundly.  It
+is true, her terror, for really the emotion caused by her first meeting
+with him was nothing less, had been renewed for a moment, as on entering
+she caught sight of Herr von Walde. How quiet the eyes were now, which
+had seemed before to flash fire; his look, as it rested upon the
+baroness, was icy cold.  With this expression in his eyes, the upper
+part of his face, which bore the stamp of great sternness, grew to iron.
+A carefully arranged chestnut-brown moustache covered his upper lip, and
+his beard; which was unusually fine and silky, fell in soft waves upon
+his chest.  Herr von Walde did not look young, and although his
+well-knit figure had preserved all its elasticity, there was that
+indescribable composure and self-possession in his whole manner and
+heaping peculiar to the man of riper age, and which inspires involuntary
+respect.
+
+When the baroness had left the room, Elizabeth opened the piano.
+
+"No, no! no notes!" Helene cried to her, as she saw her turning over the
+music-sheets.  "We want to hear your own fancies; pray extemporize."
+
+Elizabeth seated herself immediately, and soon the outer world was all
+forgotten by her.  A wealth of melody welled up in her soul, which
+carried it far aloft. At such moments she knew that she was gifted
+beyond thousands of her fellow-mortals, for she had the power of giving
+expression to the most hidden emotions of her heart.  The purity of her
+whole inner world was mirrored in sound; she had never been obliged to
+seek for a melody which should embody her feeling, it lay ready in her
+soul,--ready as the feeling itself.  But to-day there was something
+blended with the tones that she could not herself comprehend; she could
+not possibly pursue and analyze it, for it breathed almost imperceptibly
+across the waves of sound.  It seemed as though joy and woe no longer
+moved side by side, but melted together into one. As she was herself
+impressed by this strange presence, she penetrated still deeper into her
+world of feeling,--gradually the clear depths of her pure, maidenly soul
+were revealed to the listeners; they stood, as it were, by some
+transparent, magic fountain, and saw within its quiet waters the lovely
+form of the young girl reflected, with twofold distinctness, for there
+was a perfect harmony between her exterior and her interior being.
+
+The last faint chord died away.  Large tear-drops hung from Helene's
+lashes, and her pallor was almost supernatural.  She glanced towards her
+brother, but he had turned his face away, and was gazing out into the
+garden.  When at last he looked towards her, his features were as calm
+as ever, only a slight flush coloured his brow; the cigar had dropped
+from his fingers and lay upon the ground.  He said not one word
+concerning her playing to Elizabeth, as she rose from the piano.
+Helene, whom this silence distressed, exhausted herself in flattering
+expressions, that she might induce her young friend to forget, or, at
+least, not to notice the coldness and indifference which her brother
+displayed.
+
+"Was it not delicious?" she cried.  "The people in B---- could have had
+no idea of the golden fountain of music bubbling up in Elsie's heart, or
+they would never have allowed her to wander into the Thuringian forest."
+
+"Have you lived until now in B----?" asked Herr von Walde, fixing his
+eyes upon Elizabeth.  She met his gaze for an instant; the ice had all
+melted, and was replaced by a wondrous radiance.
+
+"Yes," she answered, simply.
+
+"It was a sad experience to come suddenly from a large beautiful city,
+which offers every imaginable diversion and enjoyment, to the silent
+forest, and live upon a lonely mountain.  You were, of coarse,
+inconsolable at the exchange?"
+
+"I regarded it as a piece of undeserved good fortune," was the
+unembarrassed reply.
+
+"Indeed?  Most strange!  It seems to me that one would hardly choose the
+thistle when the rose might be had."
+
+"Of course, I cannot presume to pass judgment upon your opinions."
+
+"True, because you do not know me; but my idea is almost universal."
+
+"Yet surely it is very one-sided."
+
+"Well, then, I will not combat further your peculiar taste, with which
+you would scarcely find any one to sympathize among companions of your
+own age.  I will rather believe, for your credit, that it was not so
+easy to leave your friends."
+
+"But it was very easy, for I had none."
+
+"Is that possible?" cried Fr�ulein von Walde.  "Did you have no
+intercourse with any one?"
+
+"Oh, yes, with the people who paid me."
+
+"You gave lessons?" asked Herr von Walde.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But did you never feel the want of a female friend?" cried Helene
+quickly.
+
+"Never, for I have a mother," replied Elizabeth in a tone of deep
+feeling.
+
+"Happy child!" she murmured, and drooped her head.
+
+Elizabeth felt that she had unwittingly touched a sore place in Helene's
+heart.  She was sorry, and longed to efface the impression.  Herr von
+Walde seemed to read her thoughts in her face, for, without noticing
+Helene's emotion, he asked: "And did you desire to live in the
+Thuringian forest especially?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And why?"
+
+"Because I had been told from my earliest childhood that my family had
+its origin in the Thuringian forest."
+
+"Ah, yes, you belong to the Gnadewitzes."
+
+"My mother's name was Gnadewitz.  I am a Ferber," answered Elizabeth,
+with decision.
+
+"You say that as if you were thankful that you did not bear the name of
+Gnadewitz."
+
+"I am thankful for it."
+
+"Hm!--in its time it has made a fine noise in the world."
+
+"None pleasant to hear."
+
+"Why, what would you have?  At every court it was pure gold, for it was
+very old, and the last of those who bore it were heaped with dignities
+and honours, on account of the antiquity of their name."
+
+"Pardon me, but I cannot possibly understand how--" she blushed, and was
+silent.
+
+"Go on; you have begun the sentence, and I depend upon hearing the end."
+
+"Well, then, how sin can be honoured, because it is old," she rejoined,
+with hesitation.
+
+"Softly! they say that several of the Gnadewitz lineage were brave and
+true."
+
+"That may be; but is there not great injustice in the idea of rewarding
+their merit, centuries after, by honouring those who are neither good
+nor true?"
+
+"Should not noble deeds live forever?"
+
+"Most certainly; but, if we refuse to emulate them, we certainly are not
+worthy to share in their rewards," was Elizabeth's prompt answer.
+
+A carriage rolled up the avenue.  Herr von Walde frowned, and passed his
+hand across his eyes as if he had been rudely awakened from a dream.  In
+a moment the door opened, and the baroness entered.  She, as well as
+Bella, who was walking by her mother's side to-day with quite an air of
+grown-up dignity, had not yet laid aside her bonnet and mantle.
+
+"I am glad to be at home again," she cried.  "The air to-day is
+horrible.  I repented a hundred times having left the house, and shall
+probably atone for my maternal solicitude by a heavy cold.  Bella was so
+anxious to see for herself how you are, dear Helene, that I allowed her
+to come in with me."
+
+The child went directly up to the lounge.  She did not appear to notice
+Elizabeth, who was sitting close by, and brushed past her so rudely, as
+she bent to kiss Helene's hand, that a button upon her sack caught in
+the delicate trimming of Elizabeth's dress and tore it.  Bella lifted
+her head and glanced at the mischief she had done; then she turned and
+went across to Herr von Walde to give him her hand.
+
+"Well," said he, withholding his hand, "have you no apology to make for
+your awkwardness?"
+
+She made no reply, and retired to the side of her mother, upon whose
+cheeks the ominous red spots appeared.  The look which she cast upon
+Elizabeth showed that her daughter was not the cause of her irritation.
+
+"Well, child, can't you speak?" asked Herr von Walde, rising.
+
+"Fr�ulein Ferber sat so close," said the baroness in a tone of excuse,
+as Bella continued obstinately silent.
+
+"Indeed, I should have moved aside.  There is no great harm done," said
+Elizabeth, and she held out her hand to Bella with an enchanting smile.
+But the child took no notice of it, and hid both her hands in her dress.
+
+Without a word, Herr von Walde approached her, took her by the arm, and
+led her directly to the door, which he opened.  "Go instantly to your
+room," he said, "and do not come where I am again unless I particularly
+desire you to do so."
+
+The baroness was raging inwardly.  Her countenance worked for a moment,
+but what could she do?  She was powerless to contend with the violence
+and barbarism of this man, who was master here, and who now took his
+seat again with a composure that betrayed an utter unconsciousness of
+the cruelty of his behaviour.  Her prudence obtained the upper hand.
+
+"I hope, dear Rudolph," said she, and her voice trembled a little, "that
+you will not reckon this slight misdemeanour against Bella.  Pray, make
+some allowance,--it is all the fault of her governess."
+
+"Miss Mertens?  Indeed, it must have cost her, with her innate
+gentleness and refinement, infinite pains to train Bella to conduct
+herself as she has just done."
+
+The baroness blushed scarlet; but she controlled herself.  "Heavens!"
+she cried, determined to change the subject; "this stupid circumstance
+has made me forget to tell you that Emil has ridden over from Odenberg.
+He got wet through on horseback, and is just changing his dress.  May he
+pay his respects?"
+
+Helene's cheeks glowed, and a ray of happiness shot from her eyes; but
+she said not a word, only drooping her face so as to conceal every sign
+of her inward agitation.
+
+"Certainly," replied Herr von Walde.  "Does he intend to make some stay
+here?"
+
+"He will be here for a few days, with your permission."
+
+"By all means.  Then we shall see him in your room when we come to take
+coffee."
+
+"He will be most happy.  Will you not come immediately? My maid tells me
+that all is in readiness there to receive you."
+
+Elizabeth arose, and prepared to take her leave.  Herr von Walde, as
+soon as he saw this, looked inquiringly at the baroness.  Doubtless he
+expected that she would extend an invitation to the young girl, but just
+at this moment the lady discovered that the gardener's arrangement of
+the flower-stand in the window was "too charming," and in enraptured
+contemplation of a bunch of azaleas she turned her back upon Elizabeth.
+
+Fr�ulein Ferber courtesied profoundly and left the room, after Helene
+had repeated, in a trembling voice, her expressions of gratitude.
+Without, in the corridor, she met Herr von Hollfeld.  At sight of her he
+quickened his pace, casting a lightning glance around to assure himself
+that no listener was near.  Before she was aware of it, he had seized
+Elizabeth's hand, imprinted a glowing kiss upon it, and whispered: "How
+rejoiced I am to see you once more!"
+
+Her astonishment was so great that she could not at first find a word to
+say.  She drew back her hand as though she had been stung, and he
+accepted her repulse, because at that very moment the door of Helene's
+room opened, and Herr von Walde appeared.  Hollfeld raised his hat to
+Elizabeth as if he had just seen her, and his features subsided
+instantly into an expression of utter indifference as he walked towards
+his relative.
+
+Elizabeth was disgusted with his farce,--first, at the insulting
+familiarity, which made her blood boil with indignation, and then, at
+the denial of any acquaintance before a third person.  Her maidenly
+pride was deeply wounded. She reproached herself that she had not
+rebuked his impertinence boldly upon the spot.  A crimson flush glowed
+in her cheeks with shame that she should have been treated so by any
+man; it seemed as if the spot upon her hand, where his hot lips had
+rested, still burned, and she hastily held it beneath the stream of a
+fountain in the park, that the imaginary stain might be washed away.
+
+Much agitated, she reached her home, and complained with tears to her
+mother of the insult that she had received.  Frau Ferber was a sensible
+woman, possessed of clear, calm insight.  She was convinced by
+Elizabeth's resentment that her child's heart was not in the least
+danger, and her fears were laid to rest.  It was easy to defend her from
+attacks from without; but who could guard her from the grief that a
+misplaced attachment would entail upon her?
+
+"You know now what manner of man Herr von Hollfeld is," she said.  "It
+will not be difficult strictly to avoid all future contact with him, and
+if he should presume in spite of your efforts, he must be sternly
+repulsed. His conduct seems to be the result of aristocratic conceit and
+cowardice, two qualities which will probably deter him from any further
+advances, when he discovers how disagreeable they are to you.  But at
+all events, familiarize yourself with the thought that your behaviour
+towards him must of necessity create an enemy who will, at some future
+day, put a stop to your intercourse with Fr�ulein von Walde.  Of course
+such a consideration cannot for one instant lead you to hesitate as to
+your line of conduct.  Go on your way then, my child, quietly and with
+self-possession.  I should certainly not advise you to give up your
+visits to Castle Lindhof."
+
+"Assuredly not! no, that I will not do!" cried Elizabeth, quickly.
+"What would my uncle say if the chicken should actually come flying back
+to creep beneath the shelter of home?" she added, smiling through her
+tears.  "It would be wretched indeed, if with all the strength of which
+I have boasted, I am not strong enough to repulse an impertinent man so
+effectually that he shall desist from all future advances."
+
+She recalled her conversation with Herr von Walde, and found, to her
+great satisfaction, that she must certainly be exceedingly brave, for
+assuredly it had required no small exercise of courage, while
+confronting that stern countenance, to declare her own convictions,
+which attacked so decidedly the proud edifice of his ancestral pride.
+She had expected every moment to see his glance sheathe itself in ice
+again, as it had done in conversation with the baroness; but the
+singular glow and expression which had so struck her when first he
+addressed her, had not faded from his eyes,--she could almost, in fact,
+believe that she detected beneath his moustache a smile lurking around
+the corners of his mouth.  Perhaps he had determined to-day to enact the
+part of the lion towards the mouse.  He had magnanimously permitted a
+little girl to pour out her naive ideas at his feet, where they might
+remain lying, since to bend his aristocratic back to pick them up and
+examine them was not to be thought of,--they probably amused him as
+exemplifying the saying of the dog "baying the moon."  She repeated all
+this continually to herself, that she might stamp afresh upon her
+treacherous memory his general reputation for boundless arrogance.
+
+She could not tell how she became conscious of it, but she was now
+perfectly aware that she should suffer unspeakably if Herr von Walde's
+arrogance was ever exercised towards her; so she must be doubly on her
+guard and not allow herself to be misled by his observance of the usual
+forms of common politeness, of his high regard for which the next day
+brought her a most convincing proof.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+She had just gotten ready, the next afternoon, to go into the garden
+with her work-basket, when the bell rang at the gate in the wall.  In
+consideration of the scene of the day before, her surprise was certainly
+justifiable, when, as the gate was opened, she saw Bella standing before
+her.  Behind the child stood Miss Mertens and the elderly gentleman with
+whom Elizabeth had lately had an evening encounter. As she entered Bella
+extended her hand, but looked shy and confused and said not a word.
+Elizabeth, much amazed, at once guessed the reason of her coming, and
+tried to help her in her embarrassment by saying how glad she was to
+have a visit from a little girl, and by asking her to come into the
+garden.  But Miss Mertens stepped forward.
+
+"Do not make it all so pleasant for Bella, Fr�ulein Ferber," said she,
+"she has been expressly ordered to make an apology to you for her
+misconduct yesterday.  I must insist upon her speaking."
+
+These words, spoken with much firmness, and still more, perhaps, the
+sheltering darkness of the hall through which Elizabeth was leading her
+by the hand, at last loosened Bella's tongue, and she softly begged
+pardon for her fault, and promised never to be so naughty again.
+
+"And now that is happily settled," cried the gentleman, as he advanced
+to Miss Mertens' side, and with an arch smile made a low bow to
+Elizabeth.
+
+"It may, perhaps, strike you as very odd," he said, "that I should
+attach myself to this reconciliation deputation, with which I have no
+concern; but I have an idea that on such occasions people are rather
+inclined to overlook all slight transgressions, and so,--there can be no
+more favourable moment for the smuggling in of a stranger.
+
+"My name is Ernst Reinhard; I am the secretary and travelling companion
+of Herr von Walde, and I have had no more earnest desire for a week past
+than to become acquainted with the interesting family at Castle
+Gnadeck."
+
+Elizabeth kindly extended her hand.  "These old walls have witnessed so
+many of the misdeeds of the robber knights of old, that we have no right
+to condemn smuggling; you will be cordially welcomed by my parents."
+
+She led the way, and opened the huge oaken door leading into the garden.
+
+Her parents and uncle, who, with little Ernst, were sitting under the
+lindens, arose as the strangers entered, and came towards them.
+Elizabeth introduced them all round, and then, at a sign from her
+mother, returned to the house to order some refreshments for the guests.
+When she came back again, Bella had already laid aside her sack and
+parasol, and with a joyous face was sitting in a swing, which had been
+hung between two trees. Ernst was swinging her, and seemed not a little
+proud of his new playmate.
+
+"Indeed," said Reinhard, pointing to Bella as she flew up in the swing,
+shouting with delight, "no one who had seen that child this morning and
+her sullen bearing, as she went into Herr von Walde's apartment to ask
+forgiveness for yesterday's misconduct, or her defiant and angry
+expression, when he told her that he could not receive her again until
+she had personally begged pardon of Fr�ulein Ferber,"--here Elizabeth
+reddened, and became absorbed in the preparation of some bread and honey
+for the two children,--"would recognize her for the same being, whose
+face is now beaming with the innocent joy of childhood."
+
+The hour passed very pleasantly.  Miss Mertens was both refined and
+cultivated, and Reinhard told many delightful stories of his travels and
+researches.
+
+"Probably we should not have thought of returning home for some time,"
+he said in concluding an interesting account of adventures in Spain,
+"had we not received unfavourable accounts from Thuringia, which,
+following fast upon each other, induced Herr von Walde to give up new
+plans for travel.  The ambition of power often makes its possessor
+blind.  The incautious request from a feminine pen that Herr von Walde
+would pension off the good old village pastor at Lindhof, because he had
+grown prosy and was incapable of training the souls under his care,
+capped the climax of our unwelcome hews, and we set out for home
+immediately.
+
+"When, late in the evening, as we approached Lindhof, we left the
+highroad and our carriage, that we might go the rest of the way on foot,
+we met with a most charming adventure.   How odd! look, Reinhard, what
+do you suppose is the meaning of that light in the ruins of Castle
+Gnadeck?' asked Herr von Walde.  'It means that there is a lamp there,'
+was my reply.  'We must investigate this,' said he, and we ascended the
+hill. The light grew brighter, and at last, to our astonishment, we saw
+that it streamed from two high illuminated windows.  And then, light
+steps were heard behind us, something white fluttered among the bushes,
+and suddenly, what I took for a being of ethereal mould hovered before
+us upon the moonlit sward.  I took heart and approached, expecting every
+moment that the airy form would vanish before the breath of my lips; but
+alas! its own lips opened, and told of two well-trained goats and a
+canary bird."
+
+All laughed at this account.
+
+"While we were descending the mountain," Reinhard continued, "my master
+said not a word; but from certain signs I judged that he was quite as
+ready to laugh at me as you were; it would have been a fine thing if you
+could have accompanied us as a good fairy, for we left all the moonlight
+and beauty behind us upon the mountain, and had to walk on through the
+dim valley, where the mists were rising, and where there was nothing,
+not even a wandering zephyr to bid us welcome home.  At Castle Lindhof
+numberless lights were flitting to and fro like will-o'-the-wisps.  The
+carriage, with our luggage, had already arrived, and seemed to have
+produced the same effect by the sound of its rolling wheels, as that
+ascribed to the thunder at the day of judgment, for there was such
+hurry, confusion, and disorder reigning there when we arrived, that, for
+my part, I should have been thankful to retrace my steps, and lay my
+weary head upon the first quiet, mossy spot that I could find in the
+forest.  The only person who, in the midst of the universal agitation,
+presented an appearance of placid self possession was the chaplain,
+M�hring.  He had put on a white cravat with great despatch, and welcomed
+the master of the house at the foot of the grand staircase in a speech
+full of unction."
+
+"The reign of that stern gentleman is at an end now, is it not?" asked
+the forester.
+
+"Yes, indeed, thank God!" replied Miss Mertens. "He will leave Lindhof
+in a short time.  Baroness Lessen's influence has procured him a good
+parish.  He could not endure to sink back into insignificance where he
+had so lately held sway.  I can readily understand it, for he had ruled
+with all the persecuting zeal of a tyrant who seeks to tread every one
+beneath his feet.  He would not allow a thought in his kingdom without
+his permission, and even the baroness, his mistress, upon whom he smiled
+so servilely, felt his iron rule.  Every one in the household, without
+exception, was obliged to write down, in the evening, the thoughts and
+sentiments that had occurred to them during the avocations of the day. I
+can see before me now the poor housemaids, to whom even a short letter
+to their friends at home is a greater task than a long ironing-day,
+sitting in that cold room on the winter evenings, holding the pen in
+their tired clumsy fingers, and beating their poor brains for something
+to say.
+
+"'Yes, if the chaplain had worked as hard as I have done the whole day,'
+one would whisper softly but angrily to another, 'he would not relish
+writing much.'"
+
+"Indeed, I think so," cried the forester.  "What a shameful system of
+torture and oppression has been carried on there under the cloak of
+service to the Lord!"
+
+"The worst of it all is," said Ferber, "that unless a man is possessed
+of great culture, or of a special fund of good humour, he ends by
+detesting not only his tormentors but the whole subject of religion that
+causes him such suffering.  Thus, he is led more and more astray from
+all faith, while his outward observance of forms must be stricter than
+ever, his subsistence depending upon his wearing the mask well.  All
+this gives the death-blow to true religion among the people."
+
+"Well, we are fortunate in at least having one among us who has force of
+character enough and sufficient strength of will, to say, 'Thus far
+shalt thou go and no farther!'  Zounds! it came upon us like a second
+deluge!" said the forester.
+
+"True, Herr von Walde is possessed of an energy and force of character
+such as falls to the lot of but few," replied Miss Mertens, quickly.
+"His mouth is closed, but his eyes are wide open, and servility, malice,
+and hypocrisy quail before them and drop their masks."
+
+In the mean while Reinhard had been attentively examining the walls of
+the ruinous wing of the old castle which bounded the garden on the
+south.  Three large, pointed, arched windows, faultless in shape,
+extended upward to the height of the second story from about six feet
+from the ground.  Close beside them a curious jutty projected far into
+the garden, forming a deep corner, where grew a giant oak, which
+stretched some of its boughs through the two nearest sashless windows
+far into the airy, cool apartment within, which must once have been the
+chapel of the castle, intended to accommodate a large number of
+worshippers, for it extended through the entire depth of the wing.
+Opposite these windows were three others of like dimensions; they had
+been less exposed to wind and weather, and had preserved some fragments
+of coloured glass in their delicately carved stone rosettes.  Through
+them could be seen the dark court-yard, with its crumbling, ghostly
+walls like a picture painted in gray.  The garden side of this wing
+looked gay and odd enough.  The most extravagant caprice had here heaped
+together all styles of windows and decorations; judging by the exterior,
+the old building must have been a perfect labyrinth of rooms, passages,
+and staircases.  The jutty alone seemed to be in a most dangerous state
+of decay.  It inclined perceptibly to one side, and appeared to be
+awaiting the moment when it should bury the blooming life of the oak
+beneath its masses of stone.  It had thrown a green mantle coquettishly
+over its falling form,--an impenetrable garment of ivy wreathed it all
+over from the ground to the ruinous roof, and effectually concealed
+every crack and aperture in the masonry.  Some sprays of the ivy had
+crept across the oak and climbed up to the sculptured arms on the
+principal front of the chapel, which looked forth grimly enough from
+beneath its intrusive decoration.
+
+"I attempted," said Ferber, "to explore this wing as far as I could,
+shortly after my arrival here, for its peculiar style of architecture
+interests me greatly; but I could not get farther than the chapel,
+where, indeed, it seemed dangerous to stay long.  You see the whole
+upper story has fallen in, and the weight of the ruins has caused the
+ceiling of the chapel to sink considerably, so that it seems ready to
+tumble at the slightest breath of wind. The jutty has only lately looked
+so threatening in consequence of several severe storms.  It must be
+taken away, for it makes a part of the garden inaccessible to us. If I
+could have engaged any workmen, it should have been pulled down before
+now."
+
+After this explanation, Reinhard had no further relish, as he expressed
+it, for wandering about in the old ruins. But he was all the more
+interested in the connecting building, and Ferber arose to show his
+guests his dwelling. And first, they ascended the rampart behind them.
+Ferber was very capable and skilful, and employed every moment of his
+leisure in improving his new possession. With his own hands he had
+mended the steps which led to the top of the rampart, and they arose now
+smooth and white from the close-shaven turf which clothed its sloping
+side.  On top, the tolerably wide plateau was strewn with fresh gravel,
+and in the centre of it, embowered in the linden boughs which
+overshadowed the basin below, stood a group of home-made garden chairs
+and a table.  While they leaned against the breastwork and enjoyed the
+confined but lovely view from the steep mountain over the valley
+beneath, Elizabeth told the story of Sabina's ancestress, for doubtless
+this rampart had been the scene of her narrative.
+
+"Br-rr!" said Reinhard, shuddering.  "What a leap it would have been!
+The wall is high, and when I imagine below there, instead of that mossy
+carpet, the sluggish, slimy waters of a castle-ditch full of frogs and
+lizards, I cannot possibly understand the resolution required to throw
+one's self over."
+
+"But," said Miss Mertens, "despair has led many a one to seek a death
+even more horrible."
+
+At this moment Elizabeth saw with her mind's eye the glowing, passionate
+expression with which Hollfeld had hastened towards her on the preceding
+evening.  She remembered the disgust that she had experienced at his
+touch, and she thought to herself that it was not very difficult to
+imagine the position of the persecuted girl.
+
+"Come in, child," said her uncle, rousing her from her reverie.  "Are
+you listening to hear the grass grow that you stand there so silent?"
+
+Beneath his clear gaze, and at the sound of his strong, honest voice,
+the terrible vision vanished in an instant. "No, uncle," she replied,
+laughing, "that I shall not attempt, even though I do boast that I have
+wonderfully keen eyes and ears for the processes of nature."
+
+He took her hand, and led her after the others, who were just entering
+the house.  At the top of the steps, Bella came running to Miss Mertens.
+She had several picture-books in one hand, and with the other she drew
+her governess into Elizabeth's room.
+
+"Only think, Miss Mertens, you can see our castle from here!" she cried.
+That they were the owners of Lindhof she seemed firmly to believe, and
+no wonder.  The way in which the baroness had, until now, wielded her
+sceptre, had left no doubt in the child's mind that her mother was the
+indisputable mistress of Lindhof.  "Look," she continued gaily, "do you
+see the path down there?  Uncle Rudolph has just ridden past.  He saw
+me, and waved his hand to me.  Mamma will be glad that he is kind to me
+again."
+
+Miss Mertens admonished her to be a good little girl, and get her hat
+and sack, for it was time to go.
+
+Elizabeth and Ernst accompanied them out into the park.
+
+"We have stayed too long," said Miss Mertens anxiously, as she took
+leave of the Ferbers and stepped out into the forest-clearing.  "I must
+be prepared for a tempest this evening."
+
+"You think the baroness will be vexed at your remaining here so long?"
+
+"Without doubt."
+
+"Never mind,--you must not repent it.  We have spent such a delightful
+afternoon," said Reinhard.
+
+The children had wandered on before them, hand in hand, and disappeared
+now and then among the trees on either side of the path, plucking
+flowers.  Hector, who had forsaken his master to accompany them, leaped
+joyously hither and thither, never forgetting to return now and then to
+be stroked and patted by the gentle hand of Elizabeth, the lady of his
+love, as her uncle said.
+
+Suddenly he stopped, and stood still in the centre of the path.  They
+had nearly reached the borders of the park.  Through the forest they
+could see the vivid green of the lawn, and the plashing of the nearest
+fountain was audible.  Hector had discovered a female figure hastily
+approaching.  Elizabeth recognized her instantly as silent Bertha,
+although her whole appearance seemed strangely altered.
+
+She could have had no idea that any one was near, for, as she walked,
+she gesticulated violently with her arms.  Her cheeks were crimson, her
+eyebrows contracted as though in the greatest agony of mind, and her
+lips moved as though she were talking to herself.  Her white hat, which
+she had decked with flowers, had slipped from her dark braids, and was
+hanging upon her neck by its loose red strings, which, as her motions
+grew still more earnest, became wholly untied, and the hat fell on the
+ground without the knowledge of its owner.
+
+She came rapidly forward, and did not raise her eyes until just as she
+stood close to Elizabeth.  Then she started as though stung by an adder.
+In a moment the expression of anguish upon her countenance was changed
+to one of the bitterest anger.  Hate flashed from her eyes, her hands
+clenched convulsively, and while something like a low hiss escaped her
+lips, she seemed as if about to spring, raging, upon the young girl.
+Reinhard instantly placed himself by Elizabeth's side, and drew her
+slightly back.  When Bertha saw him, she uttered a low cry, and rushed
+madly into the thicket, through which she forced a path, although her
+clothes were torn by the thorns, and she struck her forehead against the
+drooping boughs.  In a few moments she was lost to sight.
+
+"That was Bertha, from the Lodge!" cried Miss Mertens, with surprise.
+"What can have happened to her?"
+
+"Yes,--what can have happened?" repeated Reinhard.  "The young creature
+was in a state of terrible excitement, and seemed to grow actually
+furious at sight of you," turning to Elizabeth.  "Is she related to
+you?"
+
+"No indeed," she replied.  "She is only distantly connected with my
+uncle, and I do not even know her. She has avoided me from the beginning
+most resolutely, although I wished much to be on friendly terms with
+her.  It is clear that she hates me, but I cannot tell why.  Of course
+it troubles me, but her character is not sufficiently pleasing to induce
+me to attach much importance to her dislike."
+
+"Good Heavens, my child, there is no question of dislike here!  The
+little fury would have gladly torn you to pieces with her teeth."
+
+"I am not afraid of her," replied Elizabeth, smiling.
+
+"But I would advise you to be careful," said Miss Mertens.  "There was
+something actually demoniac in her looks.  Where could she have been?"
+
+"Probably at the castle," remarked Elizabeth, as she picked up Bertha's
+hat, and brushed the moss and dried leaves from it.
+
+"I think not," rejoined Miss Mertens.  "Since she has been dumb she has,
+very strangely, ceased visiting Lindhof.  Before then she came every
+day, attended the Bible Class, and was a great proteg�e of the baroness,
+but suddenly it all came to an end, to the surprise of all.  Only now
+and then, in my solitary rambles in the park, I have seen her gliding
+through the bushes like a snake,--indeed she seems to me to bear an
+affinity to that reptile."
+
+They had already reached one of the gravelled paths leading through the
+park, and it was time to take leave of each other.  They separated with
+mutual cordiality.
+
+"Now, Elsie," said Ernst, as the other three vanished behind a group of
+trees, "we'll see which of us will reach the corner first."  The corner
+was the entrance to a narrow forest-path which led directly to the foot
+of the mountain.
+
+"Agreed, my darling," laughed Elizabeth, and began to run.  At first she
+kept even step with the little boy who was beside her; but just before
+the goal was reached, she flew forward lightly as a feather, and stood
+in the entrance of the path, and, to her terror, close to the head of a
+horse which snorted violently.  Hector, who was by her side, barked
+loudly.  The horse leaped aside and stood erect upon his hind legs.
+
+"Back!" cried a powerful voice.  Elizabeth snatched op the little boy
+and sprang with him out of the way, while the horse rushed out of the
+forest, and, scarcely touching the ground with his hoofs, galloped madly
+across the meadow.  Herr von Walde was seated upon the frightened
+animal, which did its best to throw its rider.  He, however, sat firm as
+a rock; only once he leaned from his saddle and struck with his
+riding-whip at Hector, who was leaping and barking about the horse,
+greatly increasing its fright.  For awhile it bounded wildly over the
+meadow, then suddenly turned away and disappeared into the forest.
+
+Elizabeth's teeth fairly chattered with fright at the horrible accident
+which she had no doubt would shortly occur. She took Ernst by the hand
+and was about to run to the castle for assistance, when, before she had
+gone many steps, she saw the horseman returning.  The animal was much
+more quiet, his bit was covered with foam, and his legs trembled.  Herr
+von Walde patted his neck caressingly, sprang off, tied him to a tree,
+and then approached Elizabeth.
+
+"Pray forgive me," she said in a trembling voice, as soon as he stood
+beside her.
+
+"What for, my child?" he rejoined gently.  "You have done nothing.
+Come, sit down upon this bank, you are deadly pale."
+
+He moved as if to take her hand and lead her to the spot which he had
+designated, but his arm dropped instantly by his side.  Elizabeth
+mechanically obeyed him, and without another word he seated himself
+beside her.  Little Ernst leaned against his sister and fixed his large
+beautiful full eyes upon Herr von Walde's face.  The boy had been
+frightened for one moment when the horse had first appeared, but the
+gallop around the meadow had amused him, for he had no suspicion of
+danger.
+
+"What did you intend to do when you came running so hastily into the
+forest?" Herr von Walde asked Elizabeth after a short silence.
+
+An arch smile played about the still pale lips of the young girl.  "I
+was pursued," she replied.
+
+"By whom?"
+
+"By this boy," pointing to Ernst, "We were running a race."
+
+"Is the little one your brother?"
+
+"Yes;" she looked lovingly in the boy's face and passed her hand over
+his dark curls.
+
+"And she is my only sister," said the little fellow with great emphasis.
+
+"Indeed!  Well, you seem quite fond of this only sister," said Herr von
+Walde.
+
+"Oh yes; I love her dearly.  She plays with me just like a boy."
+
+"Is it possible?"
+
+"Oh yes; if I want to play soldiers she puts on just the same kind of
+paper hat that she makes for me, and marches, drumming up and down the
+garden, just as long as I choose.  And before I go to bed she tells me
+lovely stories while I am eating my supper."
+
+A bright smile broke over Herr von Walde's face. Elizabeth had never
+seen it before, and she found that it gave an indescribable charm to
+features which she had thought immovably stern; it seemed to her like a
+clear sunbeam breaking through a thick, cloudy sky.
+
+"You are quite right, my boy," he said, drawing the child towards him;
+"those are most valuable talents to possess; but is she never angry?" he
+asked, pointing to Elizabeth, who was enjoying like a child, Ernst's
+revelations, which seemed comical enough to her.
+
+"No, never angry," replied the boy, "only serious sometimes, and then
+she always plays on the piano."
+
+"But, Ernst----"
+
+"Oh yes, Elsie," he interrupted her eagerly; "don't you remember when we
+were so poor in B----?"
+
+"Ah, there you are right," she replied with composure; "but it was only
+when papa and mamma had to work so hard that we might have bread to eat;
+it was much better afterwards."
+
+"But you still play on the piano?"
+
+"Yes," answered Elizabeth laughing, "but no longer for the reason which
+Ernst gives.  My father and mother are now provided for."
+
+"And you?" Herr von Walde persisted.
+
+"Oh, I?  I am quite brave enough to fight life's battle and win my own
+independence in the struggle?"
+
+"How do you propose to do it?"
+
+"Next year I shall go somewhere as a governess."
+
+"Does not Miss Mertens' example deter you?"
+
+"Not at all.  I am not so weak as to wish for a luxurious life while so
+many others in my circumstances take upon themselves so bravely the yoke
+of service."
+
+"But here there is question not only of service but of endurance.  You
+are proud.  It is not only your look at this moment which tells me so,
+but every sentiment which you uttered yesterday."
+
+"Indeed, it may, perhaps, be pride that induces me to rank real dignity
+of character far above any mere exterior advantages which egotism has
+invented and maintains, and for that very reason I believe that one
+human being can humble another only by setting before him an example of
+moral and intellectual greatness which it is impossible for him to
+imitate,--never by insulting treatment."
+
+"And you think that these views will steel you against all the
+mortifications great and little which a heartless, capricious mistress
+might heap upon you?"
+
+"Oh no, but I need never bow before her."
+
+A short pause ensued, during which Ernst approached the horse, examining
+him attentively.
+
+"From what you said yesterday, I gathered that you are attached to your
+present home," Herr von Walde began again.
+
+"Yes, more than I can tell."
+
+"Ah!  I can understand that, for this is the loveliest spot in
+Thuringia.  How then can you so easily endure the thought of leaving it
+again?"
+
+"On the contrary, I shall not find it at all easy; but my father has
+taught me that our pleasures must yield to our necessities, and I
+understand perfectly that it must be so.  I confess that I cannot easily
+comprehend how one can give up what is so pleasant except at the command
+of necessity."
+
+"Ah! that was aimed at me.  You cannot conceive how a man can
+voluntarily hide himself in the pyramids when he might breathe the cool,
+sunny air of Thuringia."
+
+Elizabeth felt a burning blush suffuse her cheeks.  Herr von Walde had
+humourously alluded here to the jesting conversation that she had had
+with her uncle, to which he had been an involuntary listener.
+
+"If I should attempt to explain this to you I should fail, for you seem
+to me to find all that you look for in your home circle," he said after
+a moment's silence. He had leaned forward and was mechanically drawing
+figures with his riding-whip upon the ground at his feet. He spoke in
+those deep tones which always appealed powerfully to Elizabeth's mind.
+"But there is a time for some of us," he continued, "when we rush out
+into the world, to forget in its whirl and novelty that we cannot find
+happiness at home.  If a man cannot fill up a painful void in his
+existence, he can at least ignore it by devoting himself to science."
+
+This, then, was the sore spot in his heart.  He had not found the
+affection in his own home that he longed for, and that he had a right to
+claim and expect from a sister for whom he manifested always the purest
+and most self-sacrificing tenderness.
+
+Elizabeth had comprehended this pain, even before she had seen Herr von
+Walde, and, at this moment, when he alluded to it so openly, she longed
+most fervently to console him.  Words of sympathy hovered upon her lips,
+but she was possessed suddenly by an unconquerable shyness which
+prevented her from speaking; and as she glanced up at him and marked the
+firm lines of his profile and his brow which was so proud and
+commanding, while his voice sounded so gentle and melancholy, the
+embarrassing suspicion flashed upon her that he had forgotten for a
+moment who was sitting beside him; his aristocratic ideas would cause
+him bitterly to repent the moment when, under the influence of a sudden
+self-forgetfulness, he had revealed a glimpse of his sternly guarded
+consciousness to an insignificant girl.  This thought dyed her cheeks
+again; she arose quickly and called Ernst.  Herr von Walde turned in
+surprise, and for an instant his eyes rested searchingly upon her face;
+then he also arose, and, as if to confirm her suspicion, stood at once
+proudly calm and composed before her,--but she noticed for the first
+time that sad, gloomy expression between the eyebrows, which her father
+had spoken of, and which impressed her just as his voice had done.
+
+"You are usually very quick to think,"--he said, evidently trying to
+give the conversation a gayer turn, and slowly walking along by
+Elizabeth's side,--she was going for Ernst who had not heard her call.
+"Before one has quite finished a sentence the answer is plainly ready on
+your lips.  Your silence, therefore, at this moment, tells me that I was
+quite right when I said that you would not understand me, because you
+have found all the happiness that you look for."
+
+"The idea of happiness is so different with different people, that
+indeed I hardly know."
+
+"We all have the same idea," he interrupted her; "it may still slumber
+in you."
+
+"Oh, no!" she cried, forgetting her reserve and with enthusiasm,--"I
+love my friends with my whole heart, and am most happily conscious that
+I am loved in return!"
+
+"Ah, then you did not quite misunderstand me!  Well,--and your
+friends,--there must be a large circle to whom you open your heart?"
+
+"No," she cried, laughing,--"their tale is soon told! My parents, my
+uncle, and this little fellow here," and she took Ernst by the hand as
+he came running to her, "who grows larger and makes more demands upon me
+every year.  But now we must go, my darling," she said to the child, "or
+mamma will be anxious."
+
+She bowed courteously to Herr von Walde,--it seemed to her that the
+shade upon his brow had disappeared. He raised his hat to her and shook
+hands with Ernst,--then he walked slowly towards the horse that was
+pawing impatiently, untied it, and led it away by the bridle.
+
+"Do you know, Elsie," said Ernst, as they were ascending the mountain,
+"whom Herr von Walde looks like?"
+
+"Whom?"
+
+"The brave knight of St. George, just when he has killed the dragon."
+
+"Aha!" she laughed.  "But you have never seen any picture of the brave
+knight."
+
+"I know that.  Still I think he looks like him."
+
+And she too had thought of the resemblance when she had seen him
+controlling his unruly steed.  At this moment she remembered the pang
+she had suffered at the thought of a probable accident, and her
+unspeakable delight at seeing him return from the thicket unharmed.  She
+stood still, and with a smile of wonder laid her hand upon her throbbing
+heart.
+
+"Now see," said Ernst, "you have been running too quickly up the
+mountain.  I could not keep up with you. What would uncle say if he knew
+it?"
+
+She walked slowly on, like one in a dream.  She scarcely heard the
+child's reproof.  What then was this strange half-consciousness which
+had yesterday mingled itself with her melodies, causing them to mourn
+and to rejoice at the same moment?  Again she felt it take possession of
+her soul more mightily and intoxicatingly than before, but it was just
+as mysterious and incomprehensible.
+
+"But, Elsie," cried Ernst, impatiently, "what is the matter with you?
+You are walking so slowly that it will be dark before we reach home."
+
+He took hold of her dress, and tried to pull her on. This call from the
+outer world was too energetic to be any longer withstood,--Elizabeth
+roused herself and walked on quickly, to the child's entire content.
+
+When they reached the castle Elizabeth laid Bertha's hat, which was
+still hanging upon her arm, upon the table. She was unwilling to mention
+her meeting with the girl to her parents, for she rightly judged that it
+would make them anxious, and that they would relate the occurrence to
+her uncle, who had been so angry and bitter of late whenever Bertha was
+alluded to, that Elizabeth feared that if he heard of the meeting in the
+wood he would put a stop to the annoyance by immediately dismissing the
+cause of it from the Lodge.  Ernst had noticed neither the hat nor her
+desire to conceal it, so there was no danger that he would betray her.
+
+After supper Elizabeth walked down to the Lodge.  She met Sabina in the
+garden, and heard to her satisfaction that her uncle had gone to
+Lindhof.  She gave the hat to the old housekeeper, and told her of
+Bertha's extraordinary behaviour, asking in conclusion whether she were
+at home yet.  Sabina was indignant.
+
+"Indeed I think, child, that if you had been alone she would have
+scratched your eyes out.  I don't know what will become of her.  These
+last few days she has been worse than ever.  She does not sleep at
+nights, but walks up and down in her room, talking again--but only to
+herself.  If I had but the courage to open her door just when she is at
+the worst,--but I could not do it though you would give me heaps of
+gold.  You will laugh at me, I know; but she's not right.  Look at her
+eyes--they sparkle and glow as though all the fire of the Blocksberg
+were burning in them.  No, I shall hold my tongue; the Herr Forester
+sleeps soundly, and so do the rest,--but I wake at the slightest noise,
+and I know perfectly well that Bertha is up and away many a night, and
+when she goes the great watch-dog is gone too from his kennel.  He is
+the only one in the house that loves her; and, fierce as he is, he never
+touches her."
+
+"Does my uncle know this?" asked Elizabeth with surprise.
+
+"Not for the world!  I wouldn't for my life tell him, for who knows what
+mischief would come of it?"
+
+"But, Sabina, only think.  You may do great harm to my uncle by
+remaining silent.  The house is so lonely if there is no dog in the
+yard----"
+
+"But I stand at the window of my room and watch until she comes from the
+mountain and chains up the dog again."
+
+"What a tremendous sacrifice to make to your superstition! Why not tell
+Bertha----"
+
+"Hush! not so loud, there she sits!"  Sabina pointed through the fence
+to the pear tree in the court-yard.  Upon the stone bench under the tree
+Bertha was sitting, apparently quite composed, trimming carrots.  The
+crimson of excitement had passed away from cheek and brow, and given
+place to a livid pallor.  Elizabeth could see now that the girl had
+lately grown much thinner.  Her delicate nose looked pinched, and her
+cheeks had lost their lovely oval.  There were dark ridges around her
+eyes, and between her eyebrows there were two deep wrinkles in the
+delicate skin which gave a sullen expression to the face, but, in
+connection with certain lines around the mouth, lent an air of deep
+melancholy to her look. The sight cut Elizabeth to the heart.  Some
+misery was burdening the soul of that lonely creature, misery all the
+harder to endure because it was borne in silence.  She forgot all the
+dislike of her which Bertha had always shown, and took several quick
+steps towards her, that she might lay that weary head upon her breast
+and say, "Rest here, poor child!  Tell me of the grief that you are
+struggling with in such loneliness, and I promise to aid you to
+endure----" but Sabina seized her arm and detained her.
+
+"You must not go," she whispered in terror; "I will not let you.  She is
+just in a condition to stick that knife into you."
+
+"But she is so terribly unhappy.  Perhaps I can convince her that only
+the kindliest sympathy moves me."
+
+"No, no!  I'll soon show you whether anything can be done with her."
+
+Sabina descended the steps into the court-yard.  Bertha let her approach
+without raising her eyes.
+
+"Fr�ulein, Elizabeth found it," said Sabina, holding the hat towards
+her; then she laid her hand upon the girl's shoulder, and continued
+kindly: "She would like to say a few words to you."
+
+Bertha started up as if she had received a deadly insult.  She angrily
+shook off Sabina's hand, and darted a furious glance towards the spot
+where Elizabeth was standing,--a proof that she had known before that
+she was there.  She threw her knife upon the table, and by a hasty
+gesture overset the basket at her feet, so that the carrots were
+scattered around upon the pavement. She ran into the house.  They heard
+her through the open window shut the door of her own room and bolt it
+behind her.
+
+Elizabeth was stupefied with surprise mingled with much pain.  She would
+have so liked to console the wretched girl, but she now perceived that
+it was not to be thought of.
+
+For a week past she had been daily to the castle. Fr�ulein von Walde had
+been steadily improving in health since the afternoon when, as the
+baroness tenderly expressed it, she had found a cure in the coffee which
+she herself had prepared, and in Herr von Hollfeld's arrival. She was
+diligently practising several duets, and at last confided to Elizabeth
+that she wished to celebrate her brother's birthday f�te the last of
+August.  It was to be a very splendid celebration, for she intended to
+make it also a welcome home to the long absent traveller.  On that day
+he should first hear her play again after so many years, and she knew
+what a pleasant surprise it would be to him.
+
+Elizabeth always looked forward with a mixture of pleasure and dread to
+these practisings.  She did not know why herself; but the castle and
+park had suddenly become dear and attractive to her; she even had a kind
+of tender regard for the bank where she had sat with Herr von Walde, as
+if it were an old friend; she made a little circuit in order to pass by
+it.  Herr von Hollfeld's behaviour inspired her, on the contrary, with
+very different feelings.  After she had several times foiled his
+attempts to meet her by a hasty avoidance of him, he came to Fr�ulein
+von Walde's room, one day, and begged permission to remain there during
+the lesson.  To Elizabeth's terror, Helene, with delight beaming in her
+eyes, assured him that he was doubly welcome as a convert who had
+hitherto had no taste whatever for music.  He now made his appearance
+regularly, silently laying some fresh flowers upon the piano before
+Helene as he entered, in consequence of which she invariably struck
+several false chords.  Then he retired to a deep window-seat whence he
+could look the players directly in the face.  As long as the practising
+continued he covered his eyes with his hand, as if he wished to shut out
+the world that he might resign himself entirely to the charms of music.
+But, to Elizabeth's vexation, she soon observed that he only covered his
+face so as to conceal it from Helene; from behind his hand he stared the
+whole time fixedly at Elizabeth, following her every motion.  She
+shuddered beneath those eyes which, usually so dull and expressionless,
+always burned with a peculiar fire when he looked at her.  Under this
+hateful ordeal she often had to exercise great self-control in order to
+play correctly.
+
+Helene apparently had no suspicion of the cunning which Hollfeld had
+employed to attain his end.  She often stopped playing for awhile and
+conversed with him, that is, she talked herself, and, usually, very
+well.  She listened to his monosyllabic replies,--which were empty and
+foolish enough,--as if they were the words of an oracle wherein more
+meaning than met the ear was to be found.
+
+He always departed a few minutes before the end of the lesson.  The
+first time that he did so, Elizabeth discovered him from one of the hall
+windows that commanded an extensive view of the park, standing waiting
+at the entrance of the forest-path, by which she must pass. She defeated
+his intention, not without secret self-gratulation, by paying a visit of
+an hour to Miss Mertens, who received her with open arms; and she grew
+so fond of the governess that she never passed the door of her room
+without entering for an hour's quiet talk.
+
+Miss Mertens was almost always depressed and sad. She saw that her stay
+at Lindhof was becoming impossible. The baroness, suddenly deprived of
+her sovereign authority and its consequent manifold occupations, was
+often bored nearly to death.  She was obliged to wear her mask of
+gentleness and content while she was with her relatives, which was hard
+enough, and therefore all her ill humour had to be pent up within the
+locked doors of her own apartment.  But she never vented it upon Bella,
+for, looking upon her child more as a born baroness than as a daughter,
+she restrained herself; nor upon her old waiting-maid, for whom she had,
+no one knew why, what the old steward Lorenz called "an ungodly sort of
+respect."  Nor could she scold the lower servants without offending the
+master of the house, and therefore all her malice was wreaked upon the
+unfortunate and defenceless governess.
+
+In order to torment her victim most thoroughly, the lady ordered the
+lessons to be daily conducted beneath her own most illustrious eyes.  In
+presence of the pupil, the methods of the teacher were perpetually
+analyzed and criticised.  It was no wonder that Bella did not improve
+under such instructions, and her nerves, too, were sure to be ruined,
+for Miss Mertens had the most disagreeable voice in teaching in the
+world,--how, too, could the child be expected to be graceful while she
+had constantly before her eyes the angular, clumsy manner in which her
+governess held her book and turned over the leaves, etc.? In history,
+Miss Mertens' reflections were quite too sentimental, or too plebeian,
+and, besides, she was so outrageously impertinent "as to have opinions
+of her own."  In some cases the lesson was deliberately interrupted; the
+baroness placed herself in the teacher's chair, and the governess was
+obliged to listen reverentially to a lecture full of supercilious scorn
+and aristocratic arrogance. If the lady needed support, the chaplain,
+Herr M�hring, was sent for.  And then, the nettle-stings of her
+discourse vanished into insignificance by the side of the cruelty with
+which the unappreciated martyr invoked upon the head of the wretched
+governess all the gall of his suppressed sermons.  The baroness must
+have known that the chaplain's French was execrable,--but she requested
+him to be present during the French hour that he might correct Miss
+Mertens' accent.  Bella's improvement was forgotten in the overflow of
+her mother's petty malice.
+
+Sometimes Miss Mertens would declare, with tears, that only love for her
+mother, who looked to her for support, induced her to submit to this
+martyrdom.  The old lady was almost entirely dependent upon the
+exertions of her daughter, and therefore any change of situation was
+very undesirable in view of the pecuniary loss which must attend it But
+however depressed her spirits might be, her gentle face brightened
+whenever Elizabeth knocked at the door, and asked, in her sweet, fresh
+accents, if she might come in.  At sight of the young girl all her care
+and anxiety took flight, and as they sat together on the little sofa by
+the window they had many a happy hour, and the poor governess seemed to
+live over again her own youthful days, and Elizabeth gained not a little
+from the fund of knowledge and riper experience of her more mature
+friend.
+
+These brief afternoon visits had also a secret charm for Elizabeth,
+which she would not for the world have confessed, and which,
+nevertheless, caused her heart to throb quickly, and an undefined
+sensation of mingled joy and anxiety to possess her as she knocked at
+the door.
+
+The windows of Miss Mertens' room looked out upon a large court-yard,
+which Elizabeth used to call the convent garden,--it lay so retired and
+quiet, encircled by its four high walls.  Some spreading lindens cast
+their green shade upon the rich grassy soil, only intersected here and
+there by narrow paved paths.  In the centre of the space was a fountain,
+which supplied the house with delicious water, and upon the edge of the
+large basin several marble figures were reposing their white limbs,
+bathed in the green light that broke through the overhanging trees. When
+the sun poured his fierce rays, like melted lead, upon the open parts of
+the park and garden, this spot was always refreshingly cool.  A door
+upon the ground-floor, leading from the court-yard directly into Herr
+von Walde's library, almost always stood open.  Now and then he himself
+would issue from it, and pace to and fro with folded arms.  What
+thoughts lay hidden behind that fine white forehead, when, after walking
+thus for awhile, with his head sunk upon his breast, he suddenly raised
+it, as if roused from some delightful dream!  Miss Mertens often
+remarked that he seemed to have returned from his travels much altered.
+
+Before his departure, she said, Herr von Walde's face had seemed to her
+like that of a statue, so serious and immovable; and although she had
+always known him to be a man of genuine nobility of character, she had
+been oppressed when near him by the icy coldness of his manner.  Now it
+seemed to her as if some revivifying hand had passed over his nature;
+even his step was lighter and more elastic, and she would maintain that,
+in his pacings to and fro in the court yard, a smile frequently broke
+over his face, as if he saw, in imagination, some vision that delighted
+him.  While she talked thus, Miss Mertens would smile and declare
+mysteriously that he must certainly have brought home some very
+agreeable memories with him, and that she could not refrain from
+suspecting that matters at Lindhof would soon wear a different aspect.
+She never noticed the involuntary start of her young friend when she
+arrived at this conclusion, and Elizabeth was equally unaware of it, for
+the pang that she felt at such an idea, made her utterly incapable of
+controlling her external behaviour.
+
+The quiet pacing to and fro beneath the lindens was, however, often
+interrupted, not only by Herr von Walde's workmen and men upon business,
+but by the needy and unfortunate, who would come timidly down the steps,
+ushered by a servant, and stand with bowed heads before the commanding
+figure that confronted them, until they were encouraged by the gentle
+tones of his voice to speak, as he kindly bent down to catch their
+whispered words. They always left him greatly cheered, for those who
+were not worthy of his assistance did not dare to present themselves
+before him.
+
+One day Elizabeth set out for Castle Lindhof a half hour earlier than
+usual.  The fact was that her father, in returning at noon from the
+Lodge, had met Miss Mertens in the forest.  She had evidently been
+weeping, and was unable to speak at the moment; she had merely bowed and
+passed hurriedly on.  This intelligence made Elizabeth very anxious.
+She would not for the world have postponed her visit to the governess
+until the end of her lesson,--the lonely woman was certainly in need of
+love and friendly sympathy.
+
+Just across the large meadow which bordered upon the forest was a
+charming pavilion.  A dark grove surrounded the graceful structure upon
+three sides, so that its white front stood out in shining contrast with
+the green shade.  It had hitherto been kept closed, although the outside
+shutters to the windows were thrown back and Elizabeth had seen that the
+room within was furnished most luxuriously.  But to-day, as she issued
+from the forest, she saw that the doors of the pavilion were wide open.
+A servant, with a waiter in his hand, stepped out and requested her to
+enter.  As she approached she could see that Fr�ulein von Walde, the
+baroness, and Hollfeld were drinking coffee in the pretty room which
+constituted the whole interior of the building.
+
+"You are a little too early to-day, my child," said Helene, as her young
+friend appeared upon the threshold. Elizabeth replied that she wished to
+pay a visit to Miss Mertens before the practising.
+
+"Ah! pray let that go to-day," said Helene, quickly, but evidently
+confused, while the baroness looked up from her crotchet-work with a
+malicious smile.  "Do you know that a large package of new music has
+just come from Leipzig?" continued Fr�ulein von Walde; "I have looked
+over it slightly, the pieces are beautiful.  Perhaps we can find among
+them just the thing that we want for our concert.  Sit down, we will go
+to the castle together."
+
+She offered Elizabeth a basket of cake, and put a magnificent pear upon
+her plate.
+
+At this moment, Herr von Walde's dog came bounding into the room;
+instantly both ladies were on the alert and expectant; Helene looked
+towards the door with a manifest effort to seem quiet and unconstrained,
+but the baroness threw her work into a basket, examined the coffee-pot
+to see whether the coffee was still hot, placed a cup near the sugar
+basin, and drew a chair up to the table.  The malicious smile was
+replaced by an air of grave reserve, and she was apparently resolved to
+make as dignified and imposing an appearance as possible.  At sight of
+the dog, Hollfeld hastened into the garden, and came back in a few
+moments with Herr von Walde, who had evidently just returned from a
+drive, for he wore a gray dust coat and a round felt hat.
+
+"We were afraid, dear Rudolph," Helene cried out to him as soon as he
+appeared, while she half arose and held out her hand,--"that we should
+not see you at all to day."
+
+"I found more business awaiting me at L---- than I had anticipated," he
+replied, seating himself, not upon the chair which had been placed for
+him, but upon the sofa by the side of his sister, so that when Elizabeth
+raised her eyes she looked him full in the face, for he sat directly
+opposite to her.  "Besides," he continued, "I have been at home full
+half an hour, but Reinhard wished to speak with me upon private business
+which required immediate action, and so I nearly lost the pleasure of
+taking coffee with you, my dear Helene."
+
+"That miserable Reinhard!" and Fr�ulein von Walde pouted a little; "he
+might have waited awhile,--the world would still have turned around."
+
+"Ah! dear child," sighed the baroness, "we cannot alter these things.
+We are condemned all our lives long to be the slaves of our inferiors."
+
+Herr von Walde quietly turned towards her, and his glance measured her
+slowly from head to foot.
+
+"Well, why do you look at me so, my dear Rudolph?" she asked, not
+without a tinge of uneasiness in her tone.
+
+"I looked to see whether you really seemed fitted to play one of those
+sad parts in Uncle Tom's Cabin."
+
+"Always ridicule when I look for sympathy," rejoined the lady,
+endeavouring to lend a gentle, melancholy tone to her harsh voice.  "I
+might have known it, but----"  She sighed again.  "We do not all possess
+your enviable equanimity, which is never affected by the petty
+annoyances and necessary evils of this life.  We poor women have our
+miserable nerves, which make us doubly sensitive to everything that jars
+upon our minds.  If you had seen me this morning, in what a wretched
+condition I was----"
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+"I have been tried inconceivably.  Well, Miss Mertens must answer for
+it."
+
+"Has she injured you?"
+
+"What an expression!  My dear Rudolph, how could a person in her
+situation injure me?  She has vexed me,--made me exceedingly angry!"
+
+"I am greatly pleased to see that you do not bend without a struggle to
+the yoke of bondage."
+
+"I have lately had to endure more than I can tell with that stupid
+creature," the baroness continued, without heeding her cousin's comment.
+"My maternal duties are sacred in my eyes, and therefore I have been
+obliged to superintend my child's instruction.  It is, of course, a
+matter of great moment to me that her youthful mind should be rightly
+trained.  Unfortunately, I have become more and more convinced that Miss
+Mertens' knowledge is very limited and her views and principles not
+those which I should wish adopted by a young girl of Bella's rank in
+life.  This morning I heard the silly woman telling the child that
+nobility of soul was far superior to nobility of birth--as though the
+one could be separated from the other,--and that she ranked a beggar
+with a clear conscience above a crowned head whose conscience was not
+pure; and a quantity more of the same stuff.  When I tell you that
+Bella, the Lord willing, will live at court,--I have all but secured the
+post of maid of honour at the court of B---- for her,--you will readily
+conclude that I interrupted such teaching upon the spot.  You must
+admit, my dear Rudolph, that, with such views, Bella would play a poor
+part at court--nay, even her stay there would be quite impossible."
+
+"Certainly, there is no doubt of that."
+
+"Thank Heaven!" cried the baroness, breathing freely. "I was really in a
+little doubt as to how you would receive Miss Mertens' dismissal.  You
+know you always valued her far above her deserts.  She was so
+impertinent when I interfered with her lessons that there was nothing
+for me to do but to send her away."
+
+"I have no right to lay down laws to you with regard to your people,"
+replied Herr von Walde, coldly.
+
+"But I always try to please you as far as I can, my good Rudolph.  I
+cannot tell you how rejoiced I am that I shall see no more of that
+repulsive English face."
+
+"I am sorry that you will not be able entirely to avoid it, since she
+will still remain under the same roof,--my secretary Reinhard was
+betrothed to her about half an hour ago."
+
+The work dropped from the baroness' fingers.  This time not only her
+cheek but also her brow was suffused with crimson.
+
+"Has the man lost his senses?" she cried at last, recovering from her
+stupefaction.
+
+"I think not, since he has just given such proof of being in full
+possession of them," said Herr von Walde, with composure.
+
+"Well, I must say that he plays his part of antiquary well.  Such a
+lovely, blooming, young bride!" cried the lady contemptuously,
+endeavouring to laugh heartily. Hollfeld joined in her laughter, thus
+giving the first sign of his having heard the conversation.  Helene cast
+a troubled glance at him; but this mirth cut Elizabeth to the soul,--she
+felt the greatest indignation stirring within her.
+
+"I hope," the baroness began again, "that you will not take it ill of
+me----"
+
+"What now?"
+
+"That I cannot consent to associate with that person any longer."
+
+"I cannot force you to anything, Amalie, any more than I can forbid my
+secretary to marry."
+
+"But you can dismiss him if he chooses a wife who makes his residence
+beneath your roof disagreeable to your nearest relatives."
+
+"That I cannot do either; he has been engaged by me for life, and I have
+just secured to his future wife a pension in case of his death.
+Besides, you make a slight mistake, my good cousin, if you suppose that
+anything in the world could induce me to allow a man to leave me whom I
+have always found faithful.  I am much pleased with Reinhard's choice,
+and have allotted him the use of the apartments upon the ground-floor of
+the north wing during his life.  His mother-in-law will reside with
+him."
+
+"Well, I congratulate him upon that valuable acquisition," replied the
+baroness, and her sharp voice trembled with anger.  "I will, however,
+make one remark: as I cannot bring myself to endure the presence of that
+person in my apartments for a day longer, she must provide herself with
+some place where she can stay until her marriage.  Probably even you
+will see, my dear Rudolph, that there is a manifest impropriety in the
+interesting pair's still living, under present circumstances, beneath
+the same roof."
+
+"Permit me," said Elizabeth, here turning to Helene, "I am very sure
+that my parents would extend a warm welcome to Miss Mertens,--we have
+quite room enough."
+
+"Ah, thank you!--matters could not be better arranged," answered
+Fr�ulein von Walde,--extending her hand to her young friend.  The
+baroness shot an angry glance at Elizabeth.
+
+"The affair will thus be settled very satisfactorily," she said,
+preserving her composure with difficulty.  "I will contain myself, and
+hope in all humility that the future Frau Reinhard will vouchsafe me a
+spot where I shall be relieved from the sight of her disagreeable
+countenance.  Apropos, Fr�ulein Ferber," she continued after awhile, in
+a careless tone, "I have just remembered that the money for your lessons
+has been for several days in the hands of my maid; just knock at her
+door as you go by, and she will give it to you with a receipt, which you
+will please sign."
+
+"But, Amalie!" exclaimed Helene.
+
+"I will do as you desire, madame," replied Elizabeth, quietly.  She had
+noticed that while the baroness was speaking a lightning flash of rage
+shot from Herr von Walde's eyes, a thunder-cloud seemed to pass over his
+countenance, but in a moment these witnesses to his agitation gave place
+to a look of withering sarcasm.
+
+"If I might offer a little advice, Fr�ulein," he said, turning to
+Elizabeth,--"I should counsel you not to venture rashly into the
+baroness' apartments,--they are uncanny.  Evil spirits are seen there in
+broad daylight, and they have often worked mischief.  Do not give
+yourself the slightest trouble in the matter,--my steward shall attend
+to it; he is thoroughly trustworthy, and manages such affairs with so
+much delicacy that he would really shame even a lady."
+
+The baroness hastily folded her work together and arose.
+
+"It would be better for me to pass the rest of the day in my solitary
+room," and she turned to Helene, and her lips quivered; "there are times
+when our most harmless words and actions are misunderstood and resented.
+I pray you, therefore, to excuse me from appearing at tea."
+
+She made a ceremonious courtesy to the brother and sister, took the arm
+of her son, who looked much confused, and rustled out of the room.
+
+Helene arose with tears in her eyes, and was about to follow her, but
+her brother took her hand with kindly gravity, and drew her down again
+upon the Sofia beside him.
+
+"Will you not give me the pleasure of your company while I drink my
+coffee?" he said gently, and as quietly as if nothing had occurred.
+
+"Oh, yes, if you wish it," she replied hesitatingly and without looking
+at him; "but I am sorry to tell you that you must hurry a little, for
+Fr�ulein Ferber has come to practise with me, and she has already been
+kept waiting an unconscionable time."
+
+"Well, let us go to the piano immediately,--but upon one condition,
+Helene."
+
+"And that is?"
+
+"That you allow me to listen."
+
+"No, no, that I cannot permit,--I am not far enough advanced,--your ears
+could not endure my bungling.
+
+"Poor Emil!  He does not dream that he owes the delight of listening to
+you to his uncultivated ear!"
+
+Helene blushed.  She had hitherto never mentioned Hollfeld's visits to
+her brother for reasons that may easily be imagined.  Besides, she
+supposed that they would have been a matter of entire indifference to
+him, and now it appeared that he really attached importance to them.
+She seemed to herself to be a detected deceiver, and for a few moments
+she could not speak.  Elizabeth suspected what her sensations were; she
+too grew confused, and felt her face flush painfully.  Just at this
+moment Herr von Walde turned towards her, his keen, searching glance
+scanned her countenance, and the gloomy wrinkle appeared between his
+eyebrows.
+
+"Does Fr�ulein Ferber improvise during these hours for practice as they
+are called?" he asked his sister, speaking more quickly than was his
+wont.
+
+"Oh no," she answered, glad to recover her composure,--"had she done so
+I should not have spoken of bungling. I admitted Emil because I think
+that where there is a budding taste for music, it should be encouraged."
+
+Herr von Walde smiled slightly, but it was not the smile which had
+lately possessed such a peculiar charm for Elizabeth.  The dark lines in
+his brow did not disappear, and his look was gloomy as he still observed
+Elizabeth keenly.
+
+"You are right, Helene," he said at last, not without a tinge of irony.
+"But what magnetism there must be in these musical practisings that they
+have worked such miracles!  A very short time ago Emil would much rather
+have listened to his Diana's baying, than to Beethoven's sonatas."
+
+Helene was silent, and cast down her eyes.
+
+"But we have forgotten Miss Mertens," said her brother suddenly, in a
+different tone.  "Would it not be advisable for Fr�ulein Ferber to
+settle that matter as soon as possible?"
+
+"Yes, indeed," replied Helene, quickly, seizing upon any pretext to
+divert the conversation from its present painful direction.  "We had
+better omit the lesson for to-day,--while you, dear child," and she
+turned to Elizabeth, "take the necessary steps,--pray go now, then, to
+your parents, and ask them in my name to offer an asylum to the poor
+lady."
+
+Elizabeth arose, and Helene also stood up.  When her brother saw that
+she wished to leave the pavilion, he put his arm about her little form,
+raised her from the ground like a feather, and carried her to the
+wheeled chair that stood outside the door.  After he had arranged the
+cushions at her back, and covered her little feet carefully with a
+shawl, he raised his hat to Elizabeth, who saw that the wrinkle between
+his eyebrows was not yet gone, and pushed the chair along the nearest
+path leading to the castle.
+
+"She quite fills his heart," thought Elizabeth, as she ascended the
+mountain, "and Miss Mertens must be wrong if she imagines that he will
+ever give to another a higher, or even a like place in his affections.
+He is jealous of his cousin, and rightly so.  How can it be--" and here
+she stood still for a minute as two masculine figures arose to her
+mind's eye,--"that such a man as Hollfeld can have any charms for Helene
+by the side of Herr von Walde?  The one retreats behind an appearance of
+wise silence because he has nothing to say, while the other, through
+whose noble external repose breaks such fire, possesses a world of power
+trained and restrained by force of character.  Hence his seeming great
+reserve, which commonplace people cannot possibly understand."
+
+She suddenly remembered the look that Herr von Walde had fixed upon her.
+Did he think her an accomplice,--his sister's confidante,--and was he
+vexed with her when, in fact, she had, at this present moment, no more
+earnest desire than that Herr von Hollfeld's passion for music might
+subside as quickly as it had been aroused?  Of course, she could not say
+so to any one,--least of all to Herr von Walde,--and, therefore, she
+must silently pay the penalty for those painful blushes that had
+suffused her cheeks just at the wrong moment, and when there was no
+earthly reason for them.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+Her father and mother instantly acceded to Elizabeth's request; and she
+hastened back to the castle to carry to Miss Mertens their cordial
+invitation.  The governess, when Elizabeth entered her room, was leaning
+with folded hands against the wall.  At her feet stood a trunk half
+packed, closets and wardrobes were wide open, and the chairs were heaped
+with books, dresses, and linen.  The young girl hastened to her friend,
+threw her arms around her, and looked into her face, which, while it
+bore traces of tears, was beaming with happiness.
+
+"I am so astounded by the sudden change in my lot," said Miss Mertens,
+after Elizabeth had offered her congratulations, "that I am obliged to
+close my eyes how and then and collect my senses.  Only this morning
+everything seemed so dark before me,--I actually could not tell where to
+go,--the ground seemed slipping from under my feet.  And just in the
+midst of my anxiety a home is suddenly provided for me.  A man whom I
+esteem thoroughly, but whose regard for the poor governess I had never
+suspected, will be forever faithful to me, and I can fulfill the warmest
+desire of my heart and have my dear good mother to live with me!  What
+will she say when she receives the news,--she, who has suffered so much
+in thinking that I must battle with the storms of life alone, and that
+she could not recall me to her loving heart!"
+
+She told Elizabeth that in a few weeks Reinhard would go to England for
+her mother.  His employer had himself proposed the journey, and insisted
+upon defraying all the expenses.  Whenever Miss Mertens mentioned Herr
+von Walde the tears filled her eyes,--she declared that all the wrong
+done her by the baroness was more than overbalanced by his kindness and
+generosity; he could not endure to have any one beneath his roof suffer
+injustice.  Elizabeth completed the measure of her happiness by the
+invitation which she brought.  Miss Mertens had intended to go to the
+little village inn until she could find lodgings.
+
+"But now we will go to your house together as soon as possible," she
+said, her face beaming with joy.  "The baroness, a short time ago, sent
+me my salary, requesting that I would not again enter her presence, and
+Bella passed through my room without even looking at me,--that grieves
+me, grieves me very deeply, for I have cherished her like the apple of
+my eye.  Her health used to be very delicate, and while her mother has
+been absent, attending the court balls, I have sat by her bedside and
+watched her feverish slumbers night after night. Now it is all
+forgotten,--but I only meant to let you know that I need not take leave
+of either of them."
+
+While Miss Mertens went to bid good-by to Fr�ulein von Walde and a few
+others in the house who were fond of her, Elizabeth packed up a
+travelling bag for her. The new inmate of Gnadeck only took a few
+necessary articles with her; the rest of her possessions were sent to
+the future apartments of the betrothed pair.
+
+It was an amusement for Elizabeth to arrange Miss Mertens' books in a
+bookcase in one of these apartments.  Herr von Walde had allowed all the
+furniture in the rooms to remain for the use of their new inhabitants.
+Many of these books were most interesting; she not only glanced at their
+title pages, but, as she stood there, ran over several pages.  Miss
+Mertens and her affairs were all forgotten for the moment as if they had
+never existed.  While she was buried in Goethe's appearance in the crowd
+at the coronation of Joseph II., a fresh rose fell over her shoulder
+upon the pages of the book Elizabeth started, but instantly smiled,
+shook off the rose, and went on reading.  Miss Mertens, who was
+doubtless standing behind her, should not exult in any effect of her
+teasing. But she suddenly uttered a low cry,--a white, well-formed man's
+hand appeared and was gently laid upon hers.  She turned round,--not
+Miss Mertens, but Hollfeld, was standing behind her and spreading out
+his arms with a smile, as if to seize the startled girl.
+
+Instantly her alarm was converted into indignation; but before she could
+breathe a word, a harsh commanding voice cried out: "Emil, everybody is
+looking for you.  Your superintendent from Odenberg is here to see you
+upon business of importance.  Pray go to him instantly!"
+
+Beside Elizabeth was an open window.  Outside of it stood Herr von
+Walde, with his arms leaning upon the broad sill looking in.  It was his
+voice which banished Hollfeld on the instant in great embarrassment.
+What an angry expression there was upon the uncovered forehead, in the
+compressed lips, and in the eyes that flashed upon Hollfeld's retreating
+figure as it vanished through the opposite door!
+
+At last his glance returned to Elizabeth, who had hitherto stood still,
+but who now, recovering from her two-fold fright, was about to retreat
+into the recesses of the apartment.
+
+"What are you doing here?" he asked, brusquely; his voice had not lost
+its former harsh tone.  Elizabeth, deeply wounded by the manner and
+style of his address, was about to return a defiant answer, when she
+suddenly recollected that she was in his house, and therefore she simply
+answered:
+
+"I am arranging Miss Mertens' books."
+
+"There was another answer upon your lips,--I saw it, and I wish to know
+what it was."
+
+"Well, then,--I was about to say that I do not reply to questions asked
+in such a manner."
+
+"And why did you suppress this reproof?"
+
+"Because it occurred to me that you have the right to command here."
+
+"I am glad,--it is well that you think thus,--for I should like just at
+this moment to exercise this obvious right of mine: tread upon that rose
+which lies languishing there at your feet."
+
+"That I shall not do,--it has done no wrong."  She picked up the rose, a
+beautiful half-open centifolia, and laid it upon the window-sill.  Herr
+von Walde took the flower, and without more ado tossed it away over the
+lawn.
+
+"There let it die a poetic death," he said with a sneer, "let the
+grasses bend above it, and the evening dews shed sympathetic tears over
+the poor victim."
+
+The rigid expression had passed away from his features, but there was
+still the same inquisitorial look in his eyes, and his voice was not
+much gentler, as he asked:
+
+"What were you reading when it was my misfortune to interrupt you?"
+
+"Goethe's 'Wahrheit und Dichtung.'"
+
+"Do you know the book?"
+
+"Only selections from it."
+
+"Well, how do you like the touching story of Gretchen?"
+
+"I do not know it."
+
+"You have it open in your hands."
+
+"No, I was reading the coronation of Joseph II., at Frankfort."
+
+"Let me see it."
+
+She handed him the open book.
+
+"It is even so!  But look how ugly that is!  Just where Goethe describes
+the emperor ascending the throne, there is an ugly green spot.
+Doubtless you pressed the green rose leaves too tenderly upon the leaf
+of the book; the Emperor, Goethe, and Miss Mertens will hardly forgive
+you for it."
+
+"That spot is old--I did not touch the rose."
+
+"But you smiled at sight of it."
+
+"Because I thought it came from Miss Mertens."
+
+"Ah, there is something touching in this friendship! It must have been a
+great disappointment when, instead of your friend, you saw my cousin's
+handsome face behind you."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"'Yes.'  How that sounds!  I like laconic brevity, but it must not be
+ambiguous.  What does that 'yes' mean?  It sounds neither sweet nor
+bitter; and then your face!--why is that defiant frown there between
+your eyebrows?"
+
+"Because I think that there are limits to every right."
+
+"I did not know that I was making use of my right just at present."
+
+"But you will know it if you will ask yourself whether you would address
+me thus harshly in my father's house."
+
+Herr von Walde grew pale.  He compressed his lips, and retreated a few
+paces.  Elizabeth took the book which he had laid upon the window-sill,
+and went to the bookcase to close it.
+
+"Under the same circumstances, I should have spoken exactly so in your
+father's house," he said, after awhile, somewhat more gently, as he
+again approached the window.  "You make me impatient.  Why do you answer
+so ambiguously?  How could I tell from that simple syllable whether the
+disappointment of which you spoke were a disagreeable or a pleasant one?
+Well?"
+
+He leaned far across the window-sill, and looked full into her face, as
+though to read the answer upon her lips; but she turned away with
+irritation.  Hateful thought!  How could any one suppose that Hollfeld
+could ever be agreeable to her?  Did not her face, her whole bearing
+towards the man, show how thoroughly disagreeable she thought him?
+
+At this moment Miss Mertens entered the room to seek Elizabeth.  She had
+completed all her preparations, and was quite ready to leave the house.
+With a sigh of relief, Elizabeth hastened to her, while Herr von Walde
+left the window and paced to and fro several times on the lawn.  When he
+again approached, Miss Mertens went towards him, and courtesied
+profoundly.  She told him that she had in vain endeavoured to obtain
+access to him several times that day, and that she rejoiced to have an
+opportunity to thank him for his kindness and thoughtfulness.
+
+He made a deprecating gesture, and offered his congratulations upon her
+betrothal.  He spoke very calmly. Again his whole presence breathed an
+atmosphere of dignity and reserve, so that Elizabeth could not
+understand how she had ever found the courage to remind this man of the
+laws of common politeness.  The eyes that had flashed so passionately
+now looked serenely into Miss Mertens' face.  The deep, gentle tones of
+his voice obliterated all remembrance of the cutting irony that had
+rendered it so sharp a few moments before, when it had given to his
+words such an accent of irritation, and had sounded as if designed only
+to wound and avenge.
+
+That Herr von Walde was filled with bitterness towards his cousin,
+Elizabeth had already noticed once before that day.  But why should she
+be made to suffer whenever he encountered him?  Was not Hollfeld's
+continual intrusiveness sufficient annoyance to her?  Why should she be
+made the victim of an irritation for which Helene alone was to blame?  A
+sharp pang shot through her as she remembered how tenderly and
+forgivingly Herr von Walde had taken his sister in his arms, never
+casting a single look of reproach upon her when Hollfeld's visits had
+been alluded to.  She, the poor piano-player, who was of necessity
+forced to endure Hollfeld's presence, must be the scapegoat.  Or had he
+perhaps seen how Hollfeld had thrown the rose upon her book, and was his
+aristocratic pride wounded that his cousin should pay such homage to an
+untitled maiden?  This thought flashed upon Elizabeth as an explanation
+of everything.  Yes, thus only could his conduct be explained.  She was
+to crush the poor flower, that all proof might be destroyed that Herr
+von Hollfeld had for one moment forgotten his aristocratic descent.
+That was the reason why he had suddenly spoken in such a harsh tone of
+command,--a tone which only those heard from him who had committed some
+fault, and why she was called upon to explain the impression which
+Hollfeld's sudden appearance had made upon her.  At this moment she
+would have liked to confront him, and tell him frankly how odious his
+high-born cousin was to her,--that so far from feeling honoured by his
+attentions, she looked upon them as nothing less than insults.  But it
+was too late. Herr von Walde was discussing Reinhard's journey to
+England with Miss Mertens so calmly and kindly that it would have been
+ridiculous, in the midst of such a discussion, suddenly to resume the
+thread of the previous stormy conversation.  Besides, he did not once
+look at her again, although she stood tolerably near to Miss Mertens.
+
+"I am really half persuaded to go with him," he said in conclusion to
+the governess.  "Reinhard shall return with your mother, for I intend to
+give him the entire charge of Lindhof here, and I will pass the winter
+in London, and go to Scotland in the spring."
+
+"And not return for years?" Miss Mertens interrupted him, anxiously.
+"Has Thuringia, then, no attraction for you?"
+
+"Oh, yes; but I suffer here, and you know that prompt and active
+treatment will often cure where cautious, cowardly delay might bring
+danger.  I hope much from the air of Scotland."
+
+The last words were spoken in a tone meant to be gay, but the lines
+between his brows were stronger than ever, and caused Elizabeth to doubt
+much whether his cheerfulness were genuine.
+
+He shook hands with Miss Mertens, and walked slowly away, soon
+disappearing behind a clump of trees.
+
+"There it is," said the governess, sadly; "instead of bringing a lovely
+young wife home to Lindhof, as I hoped he would, he is going away again,
+and perhaps will not return for years.  He is restless, and no wonder,
+when one thinks of the comfortless home that he has. Baroness Lessen he
+cannot endure, and yet he is forced to see her daily at his fireside,
+for his sister, whom he loves so tenderly, has declared to him, that in
+the society of this woman she is able to forget the bitter trials of her
+life.  And his cousin, too, is an unbidden guest.  Herr von Walde's
+nature is too frank and open to allow him to conceal his dislikes; but
+these people are made of iron and steel,--the indifference of the master
+of the house never affects them in the least; they have neither eyes nor
+ears when he hints at their leaving.  And as for Herr von Hollfeld, he
+seems to me a very insignificant creature, and very repulsive.  I cannot
+conceive how he could have won Fr�ulein von Walde's heart."
+
+"Do you know that too?" asked Elizabeth.
+
+"Ah, child, that has been a secret known to everybody for a long time.
+She loves him as truly and deeply as only a woman can love.  But this
+unfortunate attachment, on which she now lives and breathes as in
+sunlight, will one of these days cast the darkest shadow that has yet
+fallen upon her sorrowful existence.  All this Herr von Walde
+comprehends; but he cannot open the eyes of his sister without
+inflicting a mortal wound, and so he sacrifices everything to his
+fraternal tenderness, and leaves the home where he is made so unhappy."
+
+During this conversation, Miss Mertens and Elizabeth had left the
+castle, and were now ascending the mountain path.  Reinhard, who had
+been to the village, soon joined them.  Miss Mertens told him of her
+interview with Herr von Walde, and all that he had said about going to
+England.
+
+"He has not yet mentioned it to me," said Reinhard; "but he often looks
+as if he longed to leave Lindhof. Such a household!  The master of the
+house is considered by his relatives in the light of a fifth wheel to a
+coach,--he maintains them, and they show their gratitude by estranging
+his sister's heart from him.  Good Heavens! if I could only take his
+place for two days, I would soon exorcise the evil spirit and not a
+trace of it should ever appear again.  However, I hope that Herr von
+Hollfeld will at least soon return to Odenberg for a few days.  His
+superintendent has just arrived with the intelligence that the
+housekeeper has left,--no one stays there long--my gentleman is too
+stingy.  And several other matters are in disorder there."
+
+When they reached Castle Gnadeck, the guest was most cordially welcomed
+by the Ferbers.  How comfortable and homelike did Miss Mertens' room
+seem to its new inmate!  It shone with neatness; the counterpane and
+table-covers were spotless, a beautiful Schwarzwald clock was ticking
+softly just above the prettily arrayed writing-table, and a vase of
+roses and mignonette upon the window-sill filled the air with fragrance.
+Through the open door could be seen the dwelling-room of the family.
+There the table was already laid, and Elizabeth lighted the spirit-lamp
+beneath the tea-kettle, while Miss Mertens was arranging in drawers and
+wardrobe the few articles that she had brought with her.
+
+In the mean while the forester, with his long pipe and Hector, had
+arrived, and Reinhard also stayed, so that a merry circle was soon
+assembled.  The forester was in a particularly happy humour.  Elizabeth
+sat beside him, and did her best to join in his gaiety; but it had never
+seemed so difficult to her before, and he, who had an acute perception
+of the most delicate modulations of her voice, soon perceived it.
+
+"Holla, Gold Elsie, what is the matter with you?" he cried, suddenly.
+"All is not right here."  He took her by the chin and looked into her
+eyes.  "I see,--there is a veil over your eyes, and over your heart,
+too! Zounds! what a sudden change!  And what does this sad nun's face
+mean?"
+
+Elizabeth blushed deeply beneath his scrutinizing gaze. She did all that
+she could to parry his questions by jest and laughter, but she did not
+succeed very well, and at last there was nothing for her but to seat
+herself at the piano, where he never teased nor laughed at her.
+
+How much good it did her heavy heart to give it voice in full rolling
+chords, as the sound floated sadly out into the gathering
+twilight,--telling of the gloom that had fallen upon her at the thought
+of Herr von Walde's again leaving Thuringia!  Where now were all her
+dreamings and all her endeavours to read the meaning of that mysterious
+warning that had of late breathed through her melodies?  It rung out
+clearly now in mighty tones, at the sound of which all the former gentle
+breathings of her inward emotions died away in an inaudible whisper.  A
+fairy land, full of golden promise, was revealed before her; her
+enchanted eyes gazed rapturously upon the fair landscape,--but never,
+never might she tread that magic ground, for nothing could bridge the
+abyss at her feet. The veil beneath which her heart had hitherto lain in
+blissful self-ignorance was rent, and with joy and pain unspeakable she
+knew--that she loved.
+
+She did not know how long she had been playing. But she was suddenly
+aroused from her utter forgetfulness of the world without by a bright
+gleam of light falling directly on the pale bust of Beethoven.  Her
+mother had just lighted the large lamp, and Elizabeth saw her uncle
+sitting near her on the broad window-seat. He must have entered
+noiselessly.  As her hands dropped from the keys, he gently smoothed her
+hair with his hand.
+
+"Do you know, child," he said, after the last faint sound had died away,
+and his voice trembled with emotion, "if I had not already seen that
+something was the matter, I should soon have learned it from your
+playing,--it was tears, nothing but tears!"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+Miss Mertens' presence lent an additional charm to the circle at
+Gnadeck.  For the first time for long, dreary years the governess found
+herself an object of interest and affection, and at home.  Her gentle
+nature, so long chilled and repressed, now showed itself, and, combined
+with her varied culture, made her a most attractive addition to the
+household.  She longed to be of use whenever she could, and took great
+pains with little Ernst, who had a lesson every day in French and
+English; while Elizabeth, too, gathered all the advantage that she could
+from her visitor, and studied diligently, knowing that it was the best
+resource to ward off sad reveries.
+
+In the mean while, the practisings at Castle Lindhof went on as before.
+Hollfeld, who had only been absent at Odenberg for one day, was still an
+enthusiastic auditor, trying by every means in his power to obtain a
+private interview with Elizabeth.  Once or twice he had cunningly
+contrived that, in the intervals of rest, Helene should leave the room
+to find something that he wanted, but he gained nothing by these
+manoeuvres, for Elizabeth always left the room at the same time to
+procure a glass of water.  His attempts to meet her upon her return to
+her home she frustrated also, for Miss Mertens and little Ernst were
+always awaiting her at the borders of the park.  This perpetual
+frustration of his endeavours at last made him impatient and less
+cautious.  He no longer held his hand before his face.  His looks were
+entirely unguarded, and it was only owing to her near-sightedness that
+Helene was spared a most painful discovery.  Thus Elizabeth's visits to
+the castle grew more and more annoying, and she was thankful that the
+f�te day was at last close at hand, since with that celebration the
+daily practisings would, at all events, be discontinued.
+
+The day before Herr von Walde's birthday, Reinhard announced at Gnadeck
+that a guest had already arrived at Castle Lindhof.
+
+"That scatter-brain completes our misery," he said, with vexation.
+
+"Who is she?" said Miss Mertens and Frau Ferber, laughing at the same
+moment.
+
+"Oh, she is said to be a friend of Fr�ulein von Walde,--a lady from
+court at L----.  She is to assist in the ordering of the f�te.  Heaven
+help us all, for she turns everything upside down."
+
+"Ah, it must be Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf," cried Miss Mertens, still
+laughing.  "Yes, indeed, there is quicksilver in her veins.  She is
+terribly frivolous, but she is not really bad at heart."
+
+Later in the afternoon Reinhard accompanied Elizabeth to Lindhof.  As
+she approached the castle, Herr von Walde's horse was led up to the
+great entrance on the southern front of it.  He himself immediately
+issued from the glass door, riding-whip in hand, and descended the
+steps.  Elizabeth had not seen him since the afternoon when he had
+treated her with such harsh want of consideration.  She thought he
+looked very pale and stern.
+
+Just as he was mounting, a young lady, dressed in white, came out upon
+the steps.  She was extremely pretty, and with much grace she hastened
+down to pat the horse upon the neck and give him a lump of sugar.
+
+Fr�ulein von Walde, who also appeared leaning upon Hollfeld's arm, stood
+at the top of the steps, and kissed her hand in token of farewell to her
+brother.
+
+"Is not that young lady Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf?" asked Elizabeth.
+
+Reinhard assented, with a wry face.
+
+"She is certainly very pretty," said the young girl. "Herr von Walde
+seems much interested," she added, in a lower tone, as the rider leaned
+from his saddle, and appeared to be listening intently to what the young
+lady was saying.
+
+"Oh, he does not wish to be rude, and therefore gives her a moment's
+attention.  She would talk the moon out of the sky, and, I verily
+believe, would seize and hang upon the horse's bridle if she saw any
+danger of his leaving before she had finished what she had to say."
+
+In the mean time they had reached the vestibule.  Here Elizabeth took
+leave of Reinhard, and betook herself to the music-room, where she found
+Fr�ulein von Walde and Hollfeld.  The former retired for a moment to her
+dressing-room, to arrange her curls, that were somewhat out of order,
+and Hollfeld took advantage of this moment to approach Elizabeth, who
+had retired to the recess of a window, and was turning over the leaves
+of a music-book.
+
+"We were provokingly disturbed the other day," he whispered.
+
+"We?" she asked, with emphasis, retreating a step or two.  "I, indeed,
+had reason to complain of being disturbed.  I was much provoked, I
+assure you, by the interruption of my reading."
+
+"Oh, every inch a queen!" he cried jestingly, but in a low tone of
+voice.  "I certainly did not intend to offend you,--on the contrary, do
+you not know what that rose meant?"
+
+"It would most certainly say that it would a thousand times rather be
+left to perish upon its stalk than be plucked for such idle purposes."
+
+"Cruel girl!  You are hard as marble.  Can you not guess, then, what
+lures me hither daily?"
+
+"Admiration, doubtless, for our great composers."
+
+"You are wrong."
+
+"Then the hope of improving your musical taste."
+
+"Oh, no!  That would not bring me a step hither. For me, music is only a
+bridge----"
+
+"From which you might easily fall into cold water."
+
+"And would you allow me to drown?"
+
+"Most certainly--yes.  I am not ambitious of a medal from the Humane
+Society," replied Elizabeth, dryly.
+
+Fr�ulein von Walde returned.  She seemed surprised to find the pair
+conversing, for until this moment there had never been a word exchanged
+between them.  She looked keenly at Hollfeld, who could not control his
+feeling of annoyance, and then seating herself at the piano, began to
+prelude, while Elizabeth arranged the notes.  Hollfeld took his usual
+place, and leaned his head upon his hand with a melancholy air.  But
+never had his gaze rested upon Elizabeth with such glowing and
+passionate intentness.  She repented having entered into conversation
+with him.  Her endeavour to repulse him by coldness and severity
+appeared to have had quite a contrary effect.  Repugnance and fear
+overcame her at sight of him, and, notwithstanding the thought of her
+uncle's probable smile of triumph, the determination rather to resign
+the practisings entirely than to subject herself any longer to these
+insolent glances, gained ground in her mind.
+
+The hour was nearly ended, when Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf entered in
+haste.  In her arms she carried a little creature in a long, white,
+infant's cloak, pressing its head down upon her shoulder with one hand.
+
+"Frau Oberhofmeisterin von Falkenberg sends her compliments," she said
+with formality,--"regrets excessively that a cold will prevent her
+presence to-morrow, but she takes the liberty of sending her lovely,
+blooming grandchild----"
+
+Here the creature in her arms made desperate exertions, and, with a loud
+howl, jumped down upon the ground, and ran under a chair, dragging the
+long robe after it.
+
+"Ah, Cornelie, you are too childish," cried Fr�ulein von Walde, with a
+laugh of amusement and vexation, as Ali's distressed face, surrounded by
+a baby's cap, peeped out from beneath the chair.  "If our good
+Falkenberg could hear of this, you would play no more tricks at the
+court of L----."
+
+Bella, who had also just entered, shrieked with laughter, only
+endeavouring to control herself when her mother, amazed at the noise,
+appeared and represented to her how unbecoming such loud merriment was.
+The baroness, smiling, shook a threatening forefinger at Fr�ulein von
+Quittelsdorf when Helene told her what had happened, and then approached
+Elizabeth.
+
+"Perhaps Fr�ulein von Walde has not told you," she said rather
+graciously, "that all invited to the f�te to-morrow will assemble at
+four o'clock in the large saloon.  Pray be punctual.  The concert will
+not be over until near six.  I tell you this that your parents may not
+expect you at home before that time."
+
+At these words, Helene looked down upon the keys of the piano in great
+confusion, while Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf took her stand beside the
+baroness, and stared Elizabeth impertinently in the face.  Beautiful as
+were the black eyes that were fastened upon her, Elizabeth was annoyed
+by their steady stare.  She bowed to the baroness, assuring her that she
+would be punctual, and then looked full and gravely at the fair
+impertinent.  The effect was instantaneous.  Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf
+looked away, and, in some confusion, turned upon her heel like a spoiled
+child.  Just then she discovered Herr von Hollfeld in the recess of the
+window.
+
+"How, Hollfeld," she cried, "are you here, or is it your spirit?  What
+are you doing here?"
+
+"I am listening, as you see."
+
+"You are listening?  Ha, ha, ha!  And of coarse enjoying such
+indigestible food as Mozart and Beethoven! Don't you remember telling
+me, four weeks ago, at the last court concert, that you always suffered
+from dyspepsia after listening to classical music?"
+
+She laughed boisterously.
+
+"Ah, pray let nonsense go now, dearest Cornelie," said the baroness,
+"and aid me in this programme for the f�te with your inventive genius.
+And you, dear Emil, would do me a great favour if you would come too.
+You know that I am obliged now to enforce my authority by the presence
+of a masculine supporter."
+
+Hollfeld arose with visible reluctance.
+
+"Oh, take me too, pray!  Would you be so cruel as to leave me here alone
+until tea-time?" cried Helene, reproachfully, as she stood up.  She
+looked displeased, and it seemed to Elizabeth that she noticed, for the
+first time, an envious expression in the lovely blue eyes as they looked
+at the tripping feet of Cornelie, who, without another word, had taken
+Hollfeld's arm, and was leaving the room.  Elizabeth closed the piano,
+and took a hasty leave.
+
+In all the passages of the castle through which she went there was hurry
+and bustle.  The servants were carrying baskets of china, glass, and
+silver to the rooms adjoining the grand saloon.  From the subterranean
+regions of the kitchens there streamed a fragrant odour, and through the
+open door of one of the servants' rooms were seen heaps of green
+garlands and wreaths.
+
+And he in whose honour all were exerting themselves to-day was riding
+alone in the forest, gloomily devising ways and means for fleeing from
+the joyless, unquiet life in his home.
+
+Elizabeth went down to the village to execute a commission for her
+father.  A few days before, a violent storm in the night had so shaken
+the ruinous jutty in the corner of the garden that there was danger that
+the slightest jar might send it toppling down upon the garden, burying
+beneath its fragments the beds and paths which had just been so
+laboriously arranged.  Two Lindhof masons had promised to take down the
+ruin the following Monday, but as the forester had declared that he knew
+from experience that small reliance was to be placed upon their
+promises, Elizabeth was to remind them of their engagement, and impress
+upon them the urgent necessity for keeping it.
+
+The result of her expedition was favourable.  One of the workmen swore
+by all that was Holy that he would be upon the spot, and she was now
+wandering through the quiet, lonely path towards her home.  About midway
+upon the path leading from the village to the forest Lodge, a much
+narrower path branched off, and ascended the mountain to Castle Gnadeck.
+It was seldom used, and might have escaped stranger eyes, for in some
+places it was overgrown with low bushes, and fallen leaves lay so thick
+among the gnarled roots of the trees that it seemed never to have been
+trodden by the foot of man.  Elizabeth loved the path, and now chose it
+for her return home.
+
+She had never encountered a human being here, but to-day she had not
+penetrated far into the green twilight before she observed, about twenty
+paces in front of her, towards the right, just by the trunk of an
+enormous beech tree, something like an arm slowly projected and then
+dropped.  She could distinctly perceive this movement, as just at that
+spot the trees separated, and encircled a light spot of grass which
+shone like an oasis in the dark forest.  Elizabeth advanced noiselessly
+and slowly, but as she arrived opposite to the beech tree she suddenly
+stood still in terror.
+
+A man was leaning against the tree.  His back was turned towards her;
+his head was uncovered save by masses of coarse, uncombed hair.  For one
+moment he stood motionless, apparently listening, then advanced a step,
+raised his right arm, and pointed the barrel of a pistol towards the
+light spot in the forest, after awhile letting his arm fall again by his
+side.
+
+"He is practising at a mark," thought Elizabeth, but she only thought so
+to compose herself, for an indescribable terror had at once taken
+possession of her; she did not know whether to run backward or forward
+in order to escape observation, and so she stood still, rooted to the
+spot.
+
+Suddenly the noise of a horse's hoofs struck upon her ear.  The man
+started and stood erect as though electrified.  A few moments afterwards
+a horseman appeared where the forest was more open.  The horse walked
+slowly over the soft turf; its rider, lost in thought, had dropped the
+bridle upon its neck.  The man with the pistol rapidly advanced a couple
+of paces; raised his arm in the direction of the horseman, and at the
+same moment turned his head so that Elizabeth instantly recognized the
+former superintendent, Linke, his features deadly pale and distorted
+with rage and hate, while the horseman, who was slowly coming within
+range of the deadly weapon, was Herr von Walde.  An instantaneous
+transformation took place in Elizabeth.  The girlish terror that had
+caused her to tremble at sight of the villain, gave place to a wondrous
+courage and an incomprehensible calmness and self-control at the thought
+that she was destined to come to the rescue here.  She glided
+noiselessly through the trees and stood suddenly, as if she had risen
+from the earth, beside Linke, who, his eyes riveted upon his victim, had
+no suspicion of her approach.  With all the strength of which she was
+mistress she seized his arm and threw it up.  The pistol was discharged
+with a loud report, and the ball whistled through the air and lodged in
+the trunk of a tree; as the startled wretch fell upon the ground, a
+woman's loud scream for help rang through the forest.  The assassin
+tottered to his feet and plunged into the thicket.  In the mean time the
+horse had reared and plunged with fright, but, speedily controlled by
+its rider, came galloping across the clearing to the spot where
+Elizabeth was leaning against a beech tree, pale as death.  The danger
+was past, and her feminine nature was reasserting itself.  She trembled
+in every limb, but a happy smile illuminated her countenance when she
+saw Herr von Walde coming towards her safe and unharmed.
+
+At sight of her he leaped from his horse; but she, who had just
+manifested such extraordinary self-possession, screamed with fright and
+turned suddenly as she felt two hands laid upon her shoulders from
+behind,--Miss Mertens' agitated face was close to her own.
+
+"Good God!  Elizabeth," cried the governess, breathlessly, "what have
+you done! he might have killed you!"
+
+Herr von Walde pushed through the underbrush that separated them from
+him.
+
+"Are you wounded?" he asked Elizabeth, hurriedly and earnestly.
+
+She shook her head.  Without another word he raised her from the ground
+and carried her to the fallen trunk of a tree, where he gently placed
+her.  Miss Mertens sat down beside her and leaned the girl's head upon
+her shoulder.
+
+"Now pray tell me what has happened," said Herr von Walde to the
+governess.
+
+"No, no," cried Elizabeth in terror; "not here, let us go,--the murderer
+has escaped,--perhaps he is lurking among the bushes, and may yet
+accomplish his design."
+
+"Linke was about to murder you, Herr von Walde," said Miss Mertens, in a
+trembling voice.
+
+"Miserable wretch! that shot then was for me," he calmly observed.  He
+turned and went into the thicket where Linke had disappeared.  Elizabeth
+almost lost her self control, and was on the point of following him when
+he returned.
+
+"Reassure yourself," he said to her; "there are no traces of him to be
+seen; he will not shoot again to-day. Come, I beg you, Miss Mertens,
+tell me all about it."
+
+It appeared that knowing that Elizabeth was going to the village, the
+governess had gone to meet her in the narrow forest path.  As she was
+slowly descending the mountain she saw all that Elizabeth had seen.  The
+villain's intentions were plain, but she had been so paralyzed by fright
+that she had not been able to move nor cry out. She stood fastened to
+the spot with deadly terror, when suddenly Elizabeth, whom she had not
+seen, stood behind the assassin.  In her horror at her friend's danger,
+the cry for help escaped her which had been heard simultaneously with
+the report of the pistol.  She related all this hurriedly, and in
+conclusion added: "Where did you get the courage, Elizabeth, to seize
+the man?  I shudder at the mere thought of touching him, and should have
+screamed loudly instead."
+
+"If I had screamed," replied Elizabeth, simply, "Linke might have
+accomplished his purpose, in his involuntary start of alarm."
+
+Herr von Walde listened quietly but intently to Miss Mertens' account.
+Only when she described how Elizabeth had seized the murderer's arm, did
+his face lose colour for an instant, as he riveted a keen, anxious
+glance upon the girl, to assure himself that she had actually escaped
+the danger unhurt.  He leaned over her, took her right hand and pressed
+it to his lips, and Elizabeth plainly perceived that his hand trembled.
+
+Miss Mertens, who observed how this expression of gratitude confused
+Elizabeth and called up a burning blush in her cheeks, left her seat,
+and picking up the pistol Linke had thrown from him in his flight,
+handed it to Herr von Walde.
+
+"Horrible!" he murmured.  "The wretch would have murdered me with one of
+my own weapons."
+
+Elizabeth now arose, and assured Miss Mertens that all traces of her
+fright had vanished, and that she was quite able to resume her walk
+towards Gnadeck.  They would both have taken leave of Herr von Walde,
+but he tied his horse to the terrible beech tree, and said, lightly:
+
+"We know well that Linke's nature is most revengeful; he may perhaps
+hate her to whom I owe my life even more than he hates me.  I cannot
+permit you to proceed without a protector."
+
+They ascended the mountain.  Miss Mertens hastened on, that she might
+incite Herr von Walde to greater speed, in order to take steps for the
+apprehension of the criminal as quickly as possible; but her exertions
+were all in vain.  He walked slowly by the side of Elizabeth, who, after
+a few moments of conflict with herself, begged him, in a gentle, timid
+tone, not to go back alone to his horse, but to send for him from Castle
+Lindhof.
+
+He smiled.  "Belisarius is wild and obstinate; you know him already," he
+said.  "He obeys no one but myself, and would never allow any one but
+his master to take him home.  Besides, I assure you, that cowardly
+wretch will attempt nothing further to-day.  And if he should, I bear a
+charmed life.  Has not my happy star risen to-day in my heavens?"
+
+He stood still.  "What do you think," he asked, suddenly, in a low tone,
+and his eyes flashed as he looked at her, "shall I listen to the
+delicious hope that it may shine upon me for the rest of my life?"
+
+"If it is to tempt you to run repeated risks, it were certainly better
+not to place such unconditional faith in your star."
+
+"And yet I run the greatest risk of all in trusting such a hope," he
+murmured, half to himself, as his face darkened.
+
+"I do not understand you," said Elizabeth, surprised.
+
+"It is quite natural that you should not," he replied, bitterly.  "Your
+wishes and hopes lie in quite another direction.  Notwithstanding all
+our stern self-discipline, we are sometimes overmastered by a beautiful
+dream. No, no, say nothing more!  I am punished already, for I am
+awaking."
+
+He quickened his pace, and walked by Miss Mertens' side, while Elizabeth
+followed more slowly, lost in wonder at the harsh tone which he had
+suddenly assumed, and which so wounded her.  He spoke not another word;
+and when at last the walls of the old castle appeared through the trees,
+he took his leave, coldly and shortly, and descended the mountain.
+
+Miss Mertens looked after him in surprise.  "Incomprehensible man!" she
+said at last, and shook her head. "Even though he attaches but little
+value to his life, as would seem to be the case, surely a word or two of
+gratitude at parting from you would not be superfluous, when he knows
+that you have risked your life for his sake."
+
+"I see no necessity for anything of the kind," rejoined Elizabeth.  "You
+attach altogether too much importance to what I have done.  I simply
+fulfilled my duty to my neighbour; and would," she added, with a strange
+defiance in her tone and manner, "have done the same if the case had
+been reversed, and Linke's had been the threatened life.  I hope
+sincerely that Herr von Walde understands this, for to his haughty
+nature the feeling of obligation to another must be intensely painful,
+and I would not for the world be that other."
+
+At this moment anxiety and anger were striving within her for the
+mastery.  In thought she followed Herr von Walde, and shuddered with
+horror as she remembered that perhaps he was just passing some spot
+where the assassin was lying in wait for him; then she reminded herself,
+as she quickened her steps, of what utter folly it was to waste so much
+thought and feeling upon a man who persistently turned the roughest side
+of his nature towards her.  Even in intercourse with the baroness, who
+was so utterly distasteful to him, he preserved his repose of manner,
+never for one moment forgetting the laws of common courtesy, although he
+invariably maintained his convictions with the greatest decision.  He
+had never been seen by those about him except when surrounded by an
+atmosphere of the serenest dignity.  It was only when talking with her
+that he did not appear to consider it worth his while to control
+himself.  How violent and bitter he could be then!  How his eyes flashed
+as he waited impatiently for her replies, when they were not prompt and
+decided!  And he required besides that she should understand him almost
+before he spoke, and yet was often utterly incomprehensible even when he
+did speak.  Perhaps every one else was cleverer than she, and could more
+easily comprehend his manner of speaking, which was such a riddle to
+her.  Was it unwise to determine to avoid all intercourse with him for
+the future?  Certainly not.  Well, fortunately, his departure was at
+hand.  Fortunately? The structure of self-deception, which her pride and
+defiance had erected, crumbled to ruins at this thought; yes, it so
+utterly vanished, that, to Miss Mertens' surprise, she turned and walked
+quickly down the path that led to Castle Lindhof.  She must satisfy
+herself that he reached his home in safety.  Miss Mertens followed her
+to a grove whence they could see the door where he usually dismounted,
+and they were greatly relieved when he shortly emerged from the forest.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+In the evening the Ferber family were sitting in the shade of the
+lindens at the spring.  Frau Ferber and Miss Mertens were busied in
+making a rug which was to lie upon the floor under the piano in winter
+time.
+
+Frau Ferber had lost for awhile that dignified composure that so well
+became her still beautiful face.  She could not forget the afternoon's
+occurrence; for, although she saw her child before her safe and sound,
+she had been very much agitated by Miss Mertens' account.  She looked
+frequently at Elizabeth, fearing, as she remarked her slightest change
+of colour, that some illness would ensue from the excitement that she
+had passed through.  The father's views were different.  "That's my
+brave daughter!" he said with sparkling eyes, "determine coolly and
+execute quickly,--thus I would have you do."
+
+To Frau Ferber, her husband had always seemed the ideal of what a man
+should be.  Even now, after so many years of married life, she followed
+blindly where he led; and in her estimation his opinions admitted of no
+question.  But to-day, as she listened to his paternal praises, a sigh
+escaped her as she remarked that a mother loved her children infinitely
+more than a father possibly could.
+
+"Certainly not more, only differently," was Ferber's quiet rejoinder.
+"It is because I love them that I educate them to be full-grown,
+responsible beings, capable of thinking and acting courageously and
+independently, that they may never belong to the miserable class whom
+want of all force of character condemns to constant suffering."
+
+Elizabeth had also brought her work-basket into the garden, but little
+Ernst looked greatly disappointed as he saw her take out her sewing.
+
+"Very well, then, Elsie," he said petulantly.  "Herr von Walde may ask
+me a dozen times if I love you,--I shall not say yes again.  You never
+play with me any more; and, I suppose, you think you are as big a girl
+as Miss Mertens!  But you needn't think that,--you won't be for a long
+while yet."
+
+They all laughed at this odd confounding of age with size.  But
+Elizabeth rose immediately to amuse the little boy, tucked up her long
+dress, and drew lots which should chase and which run from the other;
+and then they were both off like a flash, up and down the rampart,
+hither and thither through the garden.
+
+In the mean time there was a ring at the gate in the wall.  Herr Ferber
+opened it, and Dr. Fels, Reinhard, and the forester appeared upon the
+threshold.  Elizabeth was just running along the principal walk, and did
+not immediately see the visitors.
+
+"Well, I must say," laughed Dr. Fels, standing still, "this is a
+wonderful transformation.  In the afternoon Valkyria, and in the evening
+a butterfly!"
+
+But the forester advanced, threw his arm around his niece, and then held
+her off at arm's length, that he might scan her delicate figure.  "My
+fine darling!" he cried with sparkling eyes, "she looks as fragile and
+delicate as though she were made of ivory, and yet she has the force of
+a man in her heart and hands; 'tis an immense pity you are not a boy.  I
+would clap you into a green hunting-coat in spite of all that your
+father could say."
+
+In the mean while Dr. Fels also drew near, and held out his hand to
+Elizabeth.  "Herr von Walde rode to town to-night," he said, "and
+requested me to come hither.  He is very anxious to know that your
+fright and terror have produced no evil consequences."
+
+"None whatever," she replied, blushing deeply.  "As you see," she added,
+laughing, "I am perfectly well able to perform my sisterly duties, and
+Ernst has just assured me that I am very hard to catch."
+
+"Well, I will carry Herr von Walde this message, word for word," said
+the doctor with an arch smile.  "Let him decide whether it is a
+comforting one, or the contrary."
+
+Ferber now invited the gentlemen to join the circle beneath the lindens.
+The doctor lighted a cigar and seemed most content.  They discussed
+Linke's attempt very fully.  After his dismissal from Lindhof, many of
+the underhand dealings by which he had taken advantage of his master's
+absence, had come to light. Although Herr von Walde had taken no steps
+to bring the offender to justice, the knowledge of his dishonesty spread
+abroad, and was the means of preventing the superintendent from
+procuring another situation.  Undoubtedly this had filled the measure of
+his desire for revenge, and had excited him to to-day's deed.  Every
+means had been tried for the apprehension of the assassin; the forester
+with his men had searched the forest, but their exertions had been
+followed by no result.  Reinhard said that every one at Castle Lindhof
+had been forbidden to mention the matter to Fr�ulein von Walde, lest the
+fright should injure her.  And the baroness, Hollfeld, and the old
+waiting-maid were to know nothing of it.
+
+"Herr von Walde has also requested," he continued, "that the matter
+should be kept as secret as possible in L----, for he knows that half
+the town is invited for to-morrow's f�te."
+
+"That is, everything that creeps or flies upon a golden, silver, or
+coloured field," interrupted the doctor sarcastically; "every coat of
+arms that can be found, and all the court-councillors, and officials.
+Oh, the selection has been made upon the strictest principles of court
+etiquette, I assure you.  So I have enjoined it upon my wife to conduct
+herself with becoming humility, like a crow among soaring falcons.  To
+our surprise the baroness,--for she manages the whole affair,--has sent
+us an invitation."
+
+"Apropos, my dear doctor!" cried Reinhard laughing, "they told me in
+L---- to-day that the old Princess Catharine wished to install you as
+her physician, but you declined the honour,--is that true?  All L---- is
+actually standing on its head with surprise."
+
+"Ah, that is nothing new; the dear little town passes half its time in
+that posture, and the consequence is that the light of intelligence
+shines upon the tough soles of its feet.  But you have heard correctly.
+I was sufficiently bold to decline that honour."
+
+"But why?"
+
+"First, because I have no time to be coddling the hysterical whims of
+her aristocratic head every day; and then my sacred respect for court
+etiquette is too great."
+
+"Yes, yes," cried the forester, laughing, "that is the reason why I
+always cross myself three times when I leave the royal castle behind me.
+The prince and princess,--our good princess especially troubles no
+one,--they shut their eyes when mere matters of ceremony are not
+according to stiff, prescribed rules; but that court mob, that lisps and
+crawls and wags its tail about them,--heaven help us! it absolutely
+shrieks murder if a man walks boldly and uprightly, and goes into fits
+at the sound of a voice that comes clear and full from the chest just as
+God meant it should."
+
+It had grown very dark.  The family and Miss Mertens accompanied the
+visitors to the gate in the wall; and, as they all stepped forth upon
+the open sward, they heard sweet sounds floating up from the valley
+through the forest, which lay steeped in the silence of night, and where
+the birds had ceased to flit among the boughs, and even the breeze had
+fallen asleep in the tree-tops in the midst of the strange tales from
+distant lands that it whispered to them every evening.  The band from
+the town was serenading Herr von Walde.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+The next morning at five o'clock the inmates of Gnadeck were awakened by
+a discharge of artillery.  "Aha!" said Ferber to his wife, "the
+celebration is beginning."  But Elizabeth was startled from a fearful
+dream, in which the misfortune which she had yesterday averted seemed
+actually to take place.  She had just seen Herr von Walde fall dying to
+the ground, when the cannon in the valley awoke her.  It was some time
+before she could collect herself.  For one moment she suffered
+fearfully.  It seemed as if heaven and earth were vanishing from her as
+that noble figure fell; and even now, when she saw the golden light of
+morning falling upon the familiar objects in her room and not upon the
+blood-stained sward, her agitated nerves still quivered; she had never,
+not even the day before, when she had so fearlessly risked her life for
+his, felt so deeply that his death would be hers also.
+
+Again and again the cannon thundered up from the valley.  The
+window-panes shook slightly, and the little canary fluttered in terror
+from side to side in his cage. At each report Elizabeth shuddered; and
+when her anxious mother, who could not quite allay her fears for the
+result of the previous day's occurrence, although her child had seemed
+unharmed and well, came to her bedside to ask how she had slept, the
+girl threw her arms around her neck and burst into an uncontrollable fit
+of tears.
+
+"Good heavens, my child!" cried Frau Ferber, much frightened, "you are
+ill.  I knew that you would suffer from yesterday's shock, and there is
+that terrible shooting going on in the valley."
+
+Elizabeth had some trouble in convincing her mother that she felt
+perfectly well, and that she could not be induced to lie in bed, but was
+resolved to take her breakfast with the family.  And to put a stop to
+all further remonstrance, she immediately arose, bathed and dressed, and
+assisted her mother in preparing the simple breakfast.
+
+The sound of the cannon suddenly ceased, and before long all traces of
+tears vanished from Elizabeth's eyes. The world looked brighter to her;
+for, although a life of renunciation lay before her, he still lived;
+this thought had, in consequence of her fearful dream, a soothing effect
+upon her restless heart.  Even if he went away to distant lands, and she
+was forced to live years without seeing him, a time must come when he
+would return. And she could still love and think of him, for he belonged
+to no one else.
+
+Later in the day she went with her family and Miss Mertens to the Lodge,
+where they had been invited to dine.  There was a dark cloud upon the
+forester's brow as he came to meet them.  Elizabeth soon discovered that
+he was troubled about Bertha.
+
+"I cannot and will not bear it any longer!" he cried angrily.  "Must I
+turn spy in my old age, and constantly be upon the watch to prevent a
+wayward, foolish child, who has no possible claim upon me, from making a
+perpetual fool of herself?"
+
+"But remember, uncle, she is unhappy," said Elizabeth, somewhat alarmed.
+
+"Unhappy?--she is a deceitful fool!--I am no ogre, and when I thought
+her really unhappy, that is, when she lost both her parents, I did all
+that I could to protect and guide her.  But that is not what is the
+matter with her, for scarcely two months after her loss she went singing
+about and chattering like a magpie, so that I was really grieved to see
+such heartlessness and frivolity.  What is she unhappy about, eh?  But I
+don't want to know her state secret if she has no confidence in me;--let
+it alone. For all I care she may wear that die-away look upon her face
+for the next year; but to pretend to be dumb, to run about in the forest
+at night like a maniac, and perhaps one of these fine days burn down my
+house about my ears, it is more than I can bear, and I must have a word
+or two to say about the matter."
+
+"Did you not heed the warning that I gave you?" asked Ferber.
+
+"Certainly I did; I put her into another room; she sleeps now just above
+me, so that I can hear her lightest step.  At night both the house doors
+are not only bolted, as they have always been at night, but locked too,
+and I take the key into my room.  And oh! the cunning of women,--but
+that's an old story.  At any rate my precautions ensured us some rest.
+But last night I could not get to sleep; the affair with Linke was
+running through my brain, and I heard steps above me, cautious steps,
+soft as a cat's.  Aha! I thought, she is at her nightly promenades
+again, and I rose, but when I went up-stairs the nest was already empty.
+On a table at the open window a light was burning, and as I opened the
+door the curtain flew into the flame.  Zounds! if I had not been quick
+as a flash we should have had a blaze that would have been well fed by
+those old balconies.  And how did she get out?  Through the kitchen
+window.  I would rather take care of a swarm of ants than of such a sly,
+deceitful creature."
+
+"I am convinced that some love affair is at the bottom of the girl's
+conduct," said Frau Ferber.
+
+"Yes, you told me so once before, sister-in-law," replied the forester
+with irritation, "and if you would be kind enough to tell me with whom,
+I should be infinitely obliged to you.  Look around us and see if there
+is any one here to turn a girl's brain.  My assistants,--they are not
+half good enough for her; she never would have a word to say to them; it
+cannot be the rogue Linke, with his crooked legs and carroty wig, and
+there is no one else here."
+
+"You have forgotten one," said Frau Ferber significantly, with a glance
+towards Elizabeth, who had lingered behind to cut a whip for Ernst.
+
+"Well?" asked the forester.
+
+"Herr von Hollfeld."
+
+The forester remained silent for awhile.  "Hm!" he muttered at last, "I
+should never in the world have thought of him.  No, no," he continued
+quickly, "I do not believe it, for in the first place the girl cannot
+possibly be such a fool as to believe that he would make her my lady von
+Odenberg, and----"
+
+"Perhaps she hoped that he would, and finds herself mistaken,"
+interrupted Frau Ferber.
+
+"She is vain and arrogant enough for it, but he,--he cares nothing for
+women,--he is a cold, heartless egotist," said the forester.
+
+"An egotist, I grant you," said Frau Ferber, "and that explains Bertha's
+conduct and manner."
+
+"That would be a fine affair," cried the forester angrily, "to think
+that I should have been hoodwinked like any old fool in a comedy!  I
+will sift the matter now to the bottom, and woe to the girl if she has
+really dared to bring disgrace upon herself and me!"
+
+The dinner was a very quiet one.  The forester was out of sorts, and
+would have extorted a confession from Bertha upon the spot had not Frau
+Ferber prayed him to wait for a few days.  After coffee the guests left
+the Lodge; the forester threw his rifle across his shoulder, and plunged
+into the forest, which, as he said, always soothed and brought him to
+reason.
+
+Elizabeth dressed herself for the concert, that is, she put on a simple,
+white muslin dress, whose only decoration was a bouquet of fresh wild
+flowers.  Her mother tied around her neck a little locket attached to a
+very narrow black velvet ribbon, and this was her toilet, which would
+certainly have seemed most embarrassingly simple to most young girls
+going for the first time among a large assemblage of brilliantly-dressed
+people; but Elizabeth, if she thought of it at all, congratulated
+herself upon the delicate neatness of her muslin, and would rather not
+have worn her mother's little ornament on this occasion, as she
+considered that she was to appear only as a musician and not as one of
+the guests, and that her fingers were all that she need be anxious
+about.  She was rather annoyed that the arms above these same fingers
+were bare, and that her dress was low-necked.  She had hitherto never
+worn a dress that did not cover her neck to her chin, and could not see
+why the fashionable world had decided that women should be _decollet�_
+in large assemblies.  She thought as little of the exquisite form and
+dazzling whiteness of her shoulders and arms as of the beauty and grace
+of her head, which, with its heavy braids of golden hair, was set so
+exquisitely upon her finely-moulded neck.  Her mother herself had
+arranged her hair to-day, and it clustered in short shining curls above
+her forehead, contrasting wondrously with the delicately pencilled but
+decided arch of the dark eyebrows.  And Frau Ferber could not but agree
+with Miss Mertens, who, as she watched Elizabeth disappear upon the
+forest path, declared with enthusiasm that she was supernaturally
+lovely.  The mother had just acknowledged to herself that her child's
+beauty had unfolded in a most striking degree.
+
+When Elizabeth entered the vestibule of Castle Lindhof she encountered
+Dr. Fels, who, with his wife upon his arm, was just turning down one of
+the corridors.  She hastened towards him, and accosted him gaily, for
+her heart had been beating anxiously as she approached the castle, at
+the thought that she should be obliged to enter entirely alone the
+spacious saloon, where the greater part of the company were doubtless
+already assembled.  The doctor received her most cordially, and
+presented her to his wife, in an undertone, as "yesterday's heroine."
+Both gladly took her under their protection.  The large folding-doors
+were flung open, and Elizabeth was grateful for the lucky star that had
+allowed her to take shelter behind the tall, commanding figure of the
+doctor's wife, for she was at first rather overcome at sight of the
+large, richly-decorated apartment, over whose highly-polished floor
+glided the costly dresses of the ladies and the polished boots of the
+gentlemen.  In the centre of the saloon stood the Baroness Lessen,
+arrayed in magnificent dark-blue moire-antique, and receiving the
+guests.  She returned the salutations of the doctor and his wife very
+politely, but very coolly, and replied to the doctor's question, "Where
+is Herr von Walde?" by pointing to a knot of men standing near a window,
+whence issued a murmur like the Babylonish confusion of tongues.
+
+While Fels and his wife walked towards the spot, Elizabeth gladly and
+gratefully obeyed a gesture from Helene, who, sitting at another window,
+hurriedly and agitatedly informed her that she had suddenly had an
+attack of what is called "stage fright;" that she was in overwhelming
+terror at playing before so many people, and would rather creep into a
+mouse-hole.  And then she begged Elizabeth, instead of the four-handed
+composition with which the concert was to open, to play a sonata of
+Beethoven's, a wish with which Elizabeth immediately complied.  Her
+embarrassment vanished.  She stepped up to the table where the music was
+lying, and selected the sonata which she was to play.  Meanwhile,
+carriage after carriage rolled into the court-yard.  The folding-doors
+opened and closed incessantly upon such quantities of tulle and velvet
+and lace, which were crowded into the saloon, that Elizabeth smiled
+pityingly at the thought of her simple white muslin, so soon to loose
+its unwrinkled smoothness in such a crush of crinoline.
+
+She could very easily decide, from the manner of the baroness, upon the
+social rank of the guests.  One gracious wave of the feather-crowned
+head of the great lady answered every social requirement whenever she
+received untitled guests, and these untitled guests did their part well
+in acknowledging and respecting this aristocratic reserve.  All, in
+obedience to a gesture from the baroness, first made their way towards
+the window where stood Herr von Walde,--who, however, remained entirely
+invisible to Elizabeth,--and then scattered into single groups, either
+awaiting the opening of the concert, or engaged in conversation among
+themselves.
+
+Suddenly the doors flew open again, and a corpulent old lady hobbled in
+upon the arm of an equally aged gentleman, whose coat glittered with
+orders,--and with them came Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf.  The baroness
+hastened toward these guests, and Fr�ulein von Walde also arose with
+difficulty, and, taking Hollfeld's arm, went to meet the aged pair,
+while all the ladies standing around her followed like the tail of a
+comet.  The crowd of men at the window divided suddenly as by magic, and
+Herr von Walde's lofty figure appeared.
+
+"We must come to you, if we wish to see you, naughty man!" cried the old
+lady, shaking her forefinger at him, as she hobbled towards him.  "You
+see, in spite of my poor feet, and although you have neglected me
+shamefully, I am here to-day to offer you my congratulations."
+
+He bowed, and said a few words to her, to which she replied by
+laughingly tapping him upon the shoulder with her fan.  Then he
+conducted her to an arm-chair, where she seated herself with much
+majesty.
+
+"The Countess of Falkenberg, chief lady in waiting at the court of
+L----," was the reply of the doctor's wife when Elizabeth asked who the
+old lady was.  Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf looked exquisitely beautiful
+to-day in her white crape dress, with a wreath of scarlet euphorbia in
+her dark hair, as she busied herself about the noble lady, while she did
+not forget to cast a roguish glance now and then at Fr�ulein von Walde.
+
+The arrival of the guests from the court was the signal for the
+beginning of the concert.  Elizabeth could almost hear her own heart
+beat.  She was standing behind the doctor's wife, and was hidden from
+all the eyes which would in one moment be directed towards her,
+following every one of her movements.  Suddenly she was overcome with
+timidity, and she repented bitterly having consented to play first
+alone.  She trembled when Fr�ulein von Walde motioned to her to begin,
+but there was no time to withdraw.  She took a long breath, and walked
+slowly, with downcast eyes, to the piano, where she courtesied timidly.
+
+At first there was a breathless silence; then a whisper ran from mouth
+to mouth, which was instantly hushed when the young girl struck the
+keys.  Elizabeth's fear and embarrassment all vanished at the sound of
+the first chords.  She was no longer alone.  He with whom she had so
+often wandered along meadow paths in brilliant sunshine, and past gloomy
+abysses in storm and rain, was with her,--the one who had so often
+aroused within her joyous presentiments, and who had expressed in
+immortal harmonies all the loftiest and most sacred aspirations of her
+nature,--who was as dear and familiar to her as her mother's face,
+although her gaze fell dazzled by the fiery glories which wreathed his
+majestic head.  The flower-crowned heads ranged against the walls, the
+lorgnettes and spectacles which, glittering in the sunlight, shot their
+lightning directly upon the lonely performer in the midst of the saloon,
+all vanished.  She was alone with the great master, following with
+rapture every manifestation of his creative spirit.
+
+An actual storm of applause startled her when she had finished.  She
+courtesied, and then almost flew to her protectress, Frau Fels, who,
+speechless with emotion, held out both hands to her.  The concert did
+not last very long.  Four young gentlemen from L---- sang a delightful
+quartette, and then there was a performance by a famous violin player.
+Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf sang two songs in a charming voice, but
+without any ear, so that at every high note the guests either moved
+involuntarily and nervously upon their chairs, or cast their eyes down
+in confusion.  And then came one of the well-practised duets.  Fr�ulein
+von Walde had recovered her composure, and played excellently well with
+Elizabeth.
+
+When the concert was over, Elizabeth went towards the door of an
+anteroom, where she had left her shawl. She was closely followed by an
+elderly gentleman, who had been sitting opposite her, and had regarded
+her attentively.  At his request, Frau Fels presented him to the young
+girl as the Military Inspector-general Busch. He said many flattering
+things about Elizabeth's performance, and added that he was much pleased
+to become acquainted with the heroic preserver of the life of the lord
+of the castle; he had accepted to-day's invitation with all the greater
+pleasure, since within the last few hours he had been deprived of all
+hope of claiming her assistance in the investigation of the murderous
+attempt.
+
+He laughed heartily at Elizabeth's sudden alarm.
+
+"No, no, I pray you not to look so horror-stricken, Fr�ulein," he said
+at last.  "As I have just told you, we shall have no occasion to subject
+you to a cross-examination. Linke has himself put a stop to our
+proceedings by a single blow.  His dead body was taken from the lake in
+the park this afternoon," he added, in a low tone.  "They informed me of
+it at the inn, where I alighted.  I proceeded, accompanied by the
+Waldheim physician, who happened to be at the inn, to the scene of the
+suicide, and convinced myself that that hand will never again be raised
+against the life of another.  The condition of the body shows that Linke
+must have sought death immediately after the failure of his murderous
+purpose."
+
+Elizabeth shuddered.  "Does Herr von Walde know of his fearful end?" she
+asked in a trembling voice.
+
+"No; I have had no opportunity to speak with him alone."
+
+"None of the company present appear to have any suspicion of yesterday's
+occurrence," said Frau Fels.
+
+"Fortunately they have not, thanks to our foresight and reserve,"
+replied the inspector-general, ironically. "As it is, poor Herr von
+Walde has been quite overwhelmed with congratulations upon being born
+into the world.  What would his friends have done to him had they known
+how fortunately his life has been preserved?"
+
+The butler, Lorenz, at this moment approached Elizabeth and held out to
+her a little silver waiter, upon which lay several folded slips of
+paper.  She looked up in questioning surprise, and he said respectfully:
+
+"Will you have the kindness to take one of the papers?"
+
+Elizabeth hesitated.
+
+"This is probably part of our entertainment," said Frau Fels.  "Take it
+quickly, that the butler may not be detained."
+
+Almost mechanically she took up one of the slips of paper, but started
+in alarm as the Baroness Lessen suddenly appeared at the door, and
+looked searchingly around the room.
+
+"Come, Lorenz," she said hastily, stepping towards the servant, "what
+are you doing here?"
+
+"I have just handed Fr�ulein Ferber the salver, gracious lady," replied
+the old man.
+
+The baroness gave him an angry look, and then measured Elizabeth from
+head to foot.  "How, Fr�ulein Ferber," she said sharply, "are you still
+here?  I thought you were at home long ago, resting upon your laurels."
+
+Without waiting for a reply, she turned to leave the room; but just upon
+the threshold she looked back at the old butler with a frown and
+shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"What can you be thinking of, Lorenz?  You grow very thoughtless.  This
+infirmity has grown upon you of late."
+
+With these words, she bustled out, and the old man quietly followed.  He
+replied not one word to her harsh reproof,--only contracted his bushy,
+gray eyebrows, so that his honest eyes almost disappeared.
+
+The others remained looking at each other in astonishment, when the
+doctor entered.  He made a profound, comical obeisance to his wife, and
+said solemnly:
+
+"In consideration of the fact that Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf has just
+had the clemency to unite us again as closely as by the priestly
+blessing fifteen years ago, I am content still further to endure the
+conjugal yoke, and particularly on this day to enjoy by your side, and,
+cherished by your tender care, O true and faithful spouse, all the
+delights prepared for us!"
+
+"My dear husband, what do you mean?" cried his wife, laughing.
+
+"Pardon me,--I mean nothing at all.  Ah, I see you have not heard
+Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf's directions. What a pity!  I am then
+compelled to inform you that every married couple here present, whether
+now upon a war footing or otherwise, must repair, within the next
+quarter of an hour, to the convent tower in the forest, where a rural
+festival will be held.  There it will be your duty to provide me with as
+much to eat and drink as my soul may desire, and in every way to attend
+upon my wishes, after the pattern of the famous Penelope.  But that the
+unmarried men who are present in large numbers may have no reason to
+complain,--that their mouths also may be filled,--a sort of lottery has
+been ingeniously devised. Every unmarried lady is provided with a slip
+of paper, upon which stands written the name of some unmarried man, and
+it is left to Cupid and Fate either to unite or to separate faithful
+hearts."
+
+At these words Elizabeth was seized with actual terror.  She had never
+thought of other entertainments following upon the concert; but now she
+clearly understood why the baroness, on the previous day, had so
+distinctly alluded to her return home after the conclusion of the music.
+Her cheeks glowed with shame, for she had exposed herself to the charge
+of being very assuming by taking from the butler's salver the little
+slip of paper, which now burned like fire in her hand.  Always quick to
+decide, she went into the saloon where the opening of the mysterious
+papers was going on amid the laughter of the ladies and their assigned
+partners.
+
+"What a senseless idea this, of Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf's," a young
+sprig of nobility was just exclaiming peevishly to his neighbour as
+Elizabeth passed them.  "Here I have that stout, pious Fr�ulein Lehr
+upon my hands. _Fi donc!_"
+
+Elizabeth had not long to look for the baroness.  She was standing
+apart, near a window, in lively, but, as it seemed, not entirely
+agreeable conversation with Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf, the chief lady in
+waiting, and Helene. The countess seemed to be remonstrating with
+Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf, who did nothing but shrug her pretty
+shoulders helplessly from time to time.  Intense vexation was expressed
+in the baroness' countenance,--there was no need of the round, red spot
+on either cheek to show that she was angry.  Not far from the group Herr
+von Walde was leaning with folded arms against a pillar. He seemed to be
+only half listening to the words of the be-ribboned old courtier who was
+standing beside him,--his eyes were fixed upon the gesticulating ladies.
+
+Elizabeth hurriedly approached the baroness.  It did not escape her
+that, at sight of her, Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf gently nudged the
+countess, whereupon the latter turned and regarded her with a malevolent
+air.  She saw that she was the subject of their discussion, and she
+quickened her pace, that she might avert from herself as soon as
+possible any unworthy suspicion.
+
+"Most gracious lady," she said, with a slight courtesy, "in consequence
+of a misunderstanding, I have become possessed of this slip of paper,
+and have just learned that it entails upon me duties which I cannot
+possibly undertake, for my parents are expecting me at home."
+
+She handed the little slip to the baroness, who took it immediately,
+while a ray of actual sunshine broke over her features.
+
+"I think you are in error, Fr�ulein Ferber," Herr von Walde suddenly
+interposed, in a clear, melodious voice. "It is incumbent upon you to
+excuse yourself to the gentleman whose name the paper contains; it rests
+with him whether he will release you or not."  He scanned, with a
+peculiar smile, the company, who were dividing into couples and making
+ready for departure; even the old gentleman beside him approached the
+countess, and offered her his arm.  Herr von Walde continued, as he
+slowly approached: "As master of the house, I cannot permit any want of
+consideration of one of my guests, wherefore I must beg you, Fr�ulein
+Ferber, to open the paper."
+
+Elizabeth obeyed, and then handed him the open slip, with a crimson
+blush.  He glanced at it.
+
+"Ah!" he cried, "I have, as I see, defended my own rights.  You must
+admit that I am fully justified in either accepting or refusing to
+accept your excuses.  I prefer the latter course, and must entreat you
+strictly to comply with the injunctions laid upon you by that paper."
+
+The baroness approached him, and laid her hand upon his arm.  It looked
+as if she were almost struggling to suppress her tears.
+
+"Forgive me, dear Rudolph," she said, "it is really not my fault."
+
+"I do not know to what fault you allude, Amalie," he replied, with icy
+coldness; "but you certainly choose the right time in which to ask
+forgiveness,---just at this moment I could easily forgive an injury."
+
+He took his hat which a servant handed to him, and made the signal for
+departure.
+
+"But my parents!" stammered Elizabeth.
+
+"Are they ill, or about to leave Gnadeck immediately?" he asked,
+standing still.
+
+"Neither."
+
+"Well, pray then let me see to it that they receive intelligence of the
+cause of your delay."
+
+He called a servant, and despatched a message to Gnadeck.
+
+While the saloon was gradually emptied, the group of ladies which had
+been joined by the aged cavalier and Hollfeld, who looked much
+chagrined, remained standing near the window.
+
+"It serves you quite right, Cornelie," said the countess.  "You have set
+the crown upon your folly to-day. What a silly idea this lottery is!
+How often have I endeavoured to put a stop to your nonsense, to which,
+unfortunately, our gracious princess lends only too willing an ear?  How
+should the butler know any better, when you gave him no instructions?
+You consider yourself to belong naturally to the court, and yet do not
+know that that sort of person has not an idea of his own.  I should not
+for an instant grudge you this lesson, if only poor von Walde were not
+the victim of your frivolity.  There he goes with that little white
+goose upon his arm; he who, with his haughty, aristocratic
+self-consciousness, has many a time been regardless of the wishes of
+some high-born lady, who would have been charmed to take his arm. What
+must he suffer to be tied for several hours to that little piano-player,
+the daughter of a--forester's clerk?"
+
+"Why does he sacrifice himself so very readily?" rejoined Fr�ulein von
+Quittelsdorf.  "It was quite unnecessary for him to meddle at all in the
+matter.  The girl had made up her mind to go, when suddenly he steps
+forth like a knight without fear or fault, and takes up the burden
+voluntarily."
+
+"At all events the burden is dazzlingly beautiful," said the old
+cavalier with a conceited smile.
+
+"What are you thinking of, count?" cried the countess.  "That is just
+like you, who rave about every round-faced peasant girl that you meet.
+I do not deny that the girl is pretty; but was not poor Rosa von Bergen
+an actual angel of beauty?  Hundreds were languishing at her feet; but
+von Walde, whom she really preferred, was like a glacier to her.  No, he
+has not the smallest sensibility to feminine beauty and loveliness.  I
+long ago erased his name from my list of eligibles for my young
+proteg�es.  He has just declared, most distinctly, his reason for
+sacrificing himself to-day.  He is evidently much pleased and delighted
+with the attentions that we have lavished upon him, and wishes to see
+every one happy and contented about him,--even the little thing who
+played the piano.  I advise my dearest Lessen for the future not to
+trust implicitly to the tact and ingenuity of our charming
+Quittelsdorf."
+
+The maid of honour bit her lips, and dragged her lace shawl over her
+lovely shoulders.  The carriage now drew up in which the countess and
+Helene, accompanied by the baroness and the count, were to be driven to
+the place of rendezvous.
+
+"The old cat!" cried Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf, after she had assisted
+the countess into the carriage.  "She is furious because she was not
+asked to assist in the arrangements for to-day.  Did not you see,
+Hollfeld, how very nearly that false front of hers slipped down upon her
+nose when she was waggling her head in such agitation?  I should have
+laughed for two weeks without intermission if her bald head had suddenly
+made its appearance underneath that flower garden on top!"
+
+She was convulsed with laughter at the idea.  Her companion walked,
+without a word, and with accelerated pace, by her side, as though he
+heard nothing of her chatter. His whole bearing manifested hurry and
+disquiet.  He seemed most desirous to overtake the rest of the
+assemblage as quickly as possible.  He cast searching glances through
+the bushes on either side of the way, and, whenever he caught a glimpse
+of a white dress, stopped for a moment, as though to identify the
+wearer.
+
+"Indeed, you are too tiresome, Hollfeld; you weary me to death!" cried
+the lady peevishly.  "To be sure it is your privilege to be as mute as a
+fish and yet enjoy the reputation of a clever man.  Where your wits are
+now I am sure I cannot imagine.  What, in Heaven's name, are you running
+so fast for?  Allow me to entreat you to have some regard for my crape
+dress, which will be torn to rags by these bushes through which you are
+hurrying me, with such speed."
+
+The convent tower,--the only uninjured remnant of a former nunnery,--was
+situated in the depths of a grove of oaks and beeches in a part of the
+forest domain appertaining to the Lindhof estate, which here extended
+far towards the east.
+
+A certain lady of Gnadewitz, a sister of the ancestor of the wheel, had
+built the nunnery, whither she, with twelve other young maidens, retired
+to pray for the soul of her brother, cut off so ignominiously in the
+flower of his days.  Year after year the giant boughs of the oaks had
+tapped at the windows of the cells and leaned above the high wall over
+the small garden of the convent.  They had seen many a fresh young
+creature pass hurriedly along the dim narrow forest path to ring the
+bell at the convent portal with feverish impatience, as though unable to
+wait one instant longer for the promised peace abiding within those
+walls.  They had seen how, behind those irrevocable bolts and bars, the
+mute lips of the nun grew white,--how convulsively her waxen hands
+clutched the crucifix, while her agonized looks would seek the ground;
+for the sight of the clear, blue heavens, arching above the gay children
+of the outer world, awakened joyous memories within her, and breathed a
+keen desire for pleasure and life into the soul and heart muffled
+forever in the folds of the sackcloth of her order.
+
+The Reformation, which overthrew the convents like card houses, had
+stridden through this still forest also, and had passed its mighty hand
+over the walls of this gloomy pile, which had, in expiation of the
+misery and crime that had cursed its origin, been the perpetual abode of
+unhappiness.  And even the hollow mockery of existence within its walls
+had vanished to the four winds.  One stone after another had tumbled to
+the feet of the lofty oaks, whose branches had brushed against it while
+it formed part of some carved arch or window-frame, and which now
+strewed leaves upon it till it sank away far more softly bedded than the
+poor bodies of the nuns, which were, so said the legend, all sleeping
+together in a subterranean dungeon.
+
+The tower was square, clumsy, and ugly.  On the flat roof above, that
+was surrounded by a stone balustrade, the stairs were capped by a very
+small, square apartment, from which egress upon the roof was obtained
+through a massive oaken door.  Here there was a magnificent prospect and
+distant view of L----.  For the sake of this prospect the tower had been
+rebuilt and kept in constant repair.  Immense iron clamps bound the
+walls together at the corners, and numberless lines of fresh mortar
+meandered across its blackened surface, so that the old building looked
+at a distance like a gigantic piece of agate.
+
+But to-day the old pile was decked out like some old fellow dressed for
+a wooing.  Fresh flowers,--that is to say, four gigantic fir trees--were
+sticking in his hat; and from their tops gay banners were floating, like
+large birds above the green waves beneath.  The old fellow, who, until
+to-day, had only whispered nightly and daily confidences to his comrades
+the oaks but had never made an advance towards them from his dignified
+position, was now clutching them with green wide-spread arms; huge
+garlands were draped from his topmost walls, and were lost among the
+boughs of the surrounding forest; while from one side a white sail-cloth
+was extended and attached to the trunks of two tall hemlocks.  Beneath
+the shade of this tent were several refreshing-looking casks, a whole
+battery of dusty red-sealed flasks and countless silver-capped bottles
+in ice-buckets,--all presided over by a very pretty girl in the dress of
+a vivandiere.
+
+Elizabeth had silently and passively left the large hall upon Herr von
+Walde's arm.  In spite of her determination to go home, she had not had
+the courage to gainsay him, or to tell him of her desire,--he had spoken
+in a tone of such authority; and, what had influenced her still more,
+had entered the lists, as it were, for her, and sought to help her out
+of her embarrassment.  Any opposition on her part would have seemed like
+obstinate defiance of him, and would have served only to increase her
+painful apprehension of drawing to herself general attention.
+
+The silken garments of the ladies rustled along the walls of the
+corridor behind her.  Laughing and chattering, the gay crowd followed
+Herr von Walde in a long train until it issued from the chief entrance
+door, and then it scattered hither and thither, taking the various
+forest paths which led to the convent tower.  Those whose elaborate
+toilets required special care took the broad, well-kept path.  Herr von
+Walde certainly never dreamed that his companion's simple, snowy muslin
+could be as precious in her eyes as were the rich dresses of the other
+ladies in theirs, or he certainly would not have selected the narrow,
+lonely pathway into which he suddenly turned.
+
+"It is usually very damp here," Elizabeth broke silence
+timidly,--hitherto no words had passed between them. Her feet trembled
+as though they would far rather retreat than advance, and yet it is
+possible that her thoughts were not of her dress nor her thin shoes, but
+rather of the long, narrow, leafy way before them, through which she
+must pass alone by his side, and of the voice that would suddenly sound
+in her ears with that harsh, authoritative tone almost always adopted by
+him when alone with her.
+
+"It has not rained for a long time,--see how dry the ground is," he
+quietly replied, as he walked slowly on and broke off a twig which
+threatened to brush Elizabeth's cheek.  "This path is the shortest, and
+we can for a quarter of an hour at least escape from the buzz and
+clatter with which my friends and relatives are celebrating the
+completion of my thirty-seventh year.  But perhaps you are afraid of
+meeting Linke in this sequestered spot?"
+
+A shudder passed through the young girl's frame.  She thought upon the
+criminal's desperate end, but she could not control herself sufficiently
+to impart her knowledge to Herr von Walde.
+
+"I do not fear him any longer," she said gravely.
+
+"He has probably left the country, and if not, he would hardly be so
+discourteous as to intrude upon the pleasures of people who are seeking
+to indemnify themselves for the pains they have taken with their formal
+congratulations. By-the-way, you cannot have failed to observe that
+every member of the company to-day has honoured me with a few moments of
+special attention, even the youngest slip of a girl in white muslin has
+made me her courtesy and uttered her studied desire for my health and
+happiness. You, perhaps, do not think me old enough yet to need the
+wishes of others for a prolongation of my life?"
+
+"I should suppose that such wishes were as appropriate to youth or the
+prime of life as to advanced age; the one possesses as little as the
+other a monopoly of existence."
+
+"Well, then, why did you not come to me?  Yesterday you saved my life,
+and to-day you care so little about it that you do not even take the
+trouble to open your lips and say 'God protect it for the future.'"
+
+"You have just said yourself 'every one of the company.'  I did not
+belong to the company, and therefore could not intrude myself among
+those who offered their congratulations."  She spoke quickly, for there
+was discontent in his tone, and the arm upon which her hand rested moved
+impatiently.
+
+"But you were invited----"
+
+"To entertain your guests."
+
+"Was that modest view of the case the only reason why you did not wish
+to come with me?"
+
+"Yes; most certainly my refusal could not have had anything to do with
+the gentleman who had fallen to my lot, whose name I could not possibly
+know."
+
+"You can hardly persuade me of that; you must have seen at the first
+glance that all the gentlemen present, with the exception of myself,
+were already appropriated; you must have known that my sister, without
+drawing a paper, had requested Hollfeld to accompany her, as she can
+walk more easily leaning upon his arm than upon any other.  Confess----"
+
+"I knew and saw nothing.  I was far too much troubled when I entered the
+ball-room to return the paper, for the hour at which I was expected to
+return home had been particularly mentioned to me yesterday. I had no
+idea that any special festivity was to follow the concert, and in taking
+the folded slip of paper I committed an indiscretion, for which I cannot
+forgive myself."
+
+He suddenly stood still.
+
+"I pray you look at me," he said, in a tone of command.
+
+She raised her eyes, and although she felt her cheeks glow, she
+sustained unflinchingly the gaze which at first rested sternly upon her
+and then became indescribably gentle.
+
+"No, no," he muttered softly, as if to himself, "it were a crime to
+suspect deceit here.  Yes, double-dyed," he continued in an altered,
+sarcastic tone; it sounded as though he wished to sneer away some
+momentary weakness,--"was I not the involuntary auditor of your
+declaration: 'It needs more courage to tell a lie boldly than to confess
+a fault?'"
+
+"That is my conviction, I repeat it."
+
+"Ah, what a splendid thing strength of character is! But I should
+suppose that if one were too upright to soil the lips with deceit, a
+strict watch should be kept upon the eyes also, lest they lie.  I know
+one moment in your life when you appeared what you were not."
+
+Elizabeth, wounded, attempted to withdraw her hand from his arm.
+
+"Oh, no--you do not escape me so easily!" he cried, retaining it.  "You
+must either deny or acknowledge it. You looked indifferent lately, when
+I threw away my cousin's tender token, the rose."
+
+"Should I have flown after it?"
+
+"Certainly, if you had been true."
+
+Elizabeth knew now why he had entered this lonely path with her,--she
+was to confess her feelings towards Hollfeld.  She was confirmed in her
+former suspicions,--Herr von Walde was evidently most anxious lest she
+should prize his cousin's homage too highly and perhaps imagine that he
+could forget her social position.  The moment had come when she could
+declare her sentiments. By a hasty movement she released her hand from
+his arm, and stepped a little aside.
+
+"I grant you," she said, "that if my face that day expressed
+indifference, it was not in harmony with my thoughts."
+
+"I thought so!" he cried, but there was no triumph in the exclamation.
+
+"I was in fact indignant."
+
+"At my interference?"
+
+"At the unauthorized levity of Herr von Hollfeld."
+
+"He startled you greatly; but----"
+
+"No, he insulted me!  How dared he intrude upon me?  I abhor him!"
+
+She must have been right in her solution of his manner; but she had
+never dreamed that her declaration would be so highly prized by him.  A
+weight seemed to fall from his heart.  A ray of purest joy broke from
+the eyes which had gazed at her with a mixture of mistrust, contempt,
+and sarcasm.  He drew a deep breath, and half extended his arms.
+Elizabeth involuntarily looked round to discover what it was that caused
+his eyes to flash and glow so.  She saw nothing, but she felt his hand
+tremble as he laid hers once more upon his arm. They walked on a few
+paces without a word.  Suddenly he stood still again.
+
+"Now we are entirely alone," he said, in the gentlest possible tone.
+"See, only one small eye of heavenly blue looks down upon us,--no prying
+faces are near to come between us,--I cannot,--I will not be deprived of
+a birthday greeting from you.  Give it to me now, when no one can hear
+it but myself alone."
+
+She was silent and confused.
+
+"Well, do you not know how it is done?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, yes," she replied, and an arch smile hovered upon her lips.  "I am
+well practised in such things.  My parents, my uncle, Ernst----"
+
+"All have birthdays," he interrupted her, smiling. "But you cannot
+wonder that I want a birthday greeting all to myself,--that I desire
+that it may sound quite different from any that you have hitherto
+uttered,--for I am neither your father, nor your bluff forester uncle,
+and certainly I cannot lay claim to the rights of the brother with whom
+you play.  Come, speak!"
+
+Still she said nothing.  What should she say?  Her eyes were cast down,
+for she could no longer endure that searching glance, that seemed to
+penetrate her very soul with its troubled expression of entreaty.
+
+"Then come," he cried abruptly, drawing her forward, after waiting in
+vain for some moments for one word from her lips.  "It was a foolish
+wish of mine.  I know that your tongue, which is always ready to say
+what is kind and gentle to others, is dumb for me, or only ready with
+some rebuke."
+
+At these words she grew pale, and involuntarily stood still.
+
+"You will, then?" he asked more gently, "and cannot find the words?" he
+continued, shaking his head, as she was silent but looked up at him
+beseechingly.  "Well, then, I have a plan.  Let me say what I should
+like to hear from your lips, and you will repeat it after me word for
+word."
+
+Again the smile played around Elizabeth's mouth, and she murmured
+assent.
+
+"In the first place, you give your friend your hand," he began, and took
+her hand in his,--she trembled, but did not withdraw it,--"and then you
+say, 'You have hitherto been a wretched wanderer upon the face of the
+earth,--it is high time that the clouds above you should break, and be
+penetrated by the pure ray of light which has transformed your whole
+existence.  It is my true and earnest wish that this light may never
+forsake you. Here is my hand, as the pledge of a happiness so
+inconceivable----"
+
+So far she had repeated this strangely-worded greeting after him, but at
+the last words she hesitated.  He seized her other hand also, and urged
+passionately, "Go on, go on!"
+
+"Here is my----" she began at last.
+
+"Oh, Herr von Walde," suddenly cried Cornelie's voice from the thicket,
+"what a delightful meeting!  Now I shall enjoy in company with you the
+triumph of being received with a flourish of trumpets!"
+
+Never in her life had Elizabeth seen such a sudden change take place in
+a human countenance as now transformed Herr von Walde's features.  One
+strong blue vein stood out upon his pale forehead, his eyes flashed, and
+he involuntarily stamped his foot.  It really seemed as if he would have
+liked to hurl back into the thicket the unwelcome intruder, who, holding
+up her crape skirt, came hurrying through the bushes towards them.  He
+could not command his emotion as quickly as usual; perhaps he did not
+wish to do so, for he frowned angrily as Hollfeld made his appearance
+behind the lady.  As he came in sight, Herr von Walde drew Elizabeth's
+hand through his arm with gentle violence, as if he feared lest she
+should be snatched from him.
+
+"Why, how you look, Herr von Walde," cried Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf,
+stepping into the middle of the path; "actually as if we were bandits,
+with designs upon your life; or, at all events, upon your property!"
+
+Without replying a word to this attack, he turned to his cousin and
+asked, "Where is my sister?"
+
+"She was afraid of the long rough path," the latter replied, "and
+preferred to drive."
+
+"Well, I suppose you will hardly leave Helene to be lifted out of the
+carriage by the old Count Wildenau; I cannot understand how, as her
+faithful knight, you could leave the principal path.  A few, quick steps
+will enable you to rejoin her.  I will not prevent you from doing so,"
+said Herr von Walde sharply, while a sarcastic smile quivered around the
+corners of his mouth. He stepped aside with Elizabeth to allow the pair
+to pass.
+
+"And pray, if one may ask, why did you leave the principal path
+yourself?" asked Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf flippantly, much more like a
+pert chamber-maid than a maid of honour.
+
+"That you can easily learn; simply because I hoped, by coming along this
+lonely path, to escape the eloquent tongues of certain ladies," replied
+Herr von Walde drily.
+
+"Ah, how cross you are!  Heaven shield us from such an irritable
+birthday hero!" cried the lady, shuddering, and retreating a few paces
+with a comical assumption of terror.  "It was a mistake that we did not
+come to you to-day with funereal faces, and muffled to the eyes in black
+crape!"
+
+She pouted, and, taking Hollfeld's arm, would have dragged him forward;
+but he, strangely enough, seemed inclined, for the first time in his
+life, to set his cousin's wishes at defiance.  He walked on slowly, and
+as if weary of existence, peering right and left into the bushes,
+apparently intensely interested in every stone in the pathway, every
+squirrel that ran swiftly past.  Then he began a conversation with his
+companion, whose answers absorbed his attention so entirely that he
+paused and stood still to listen to them.
+
+Herr von Walde muttered something between his teeth; Elizabeth could not
+understand it; but the hostile glance that he cast after his cousin
+showed how the behaviour of the latter incensed him.  He said not
+another word to her.  He turned slowly towards her, and she felt that he
+continued to regard her steadfastly, but she was unable to lift her eyes
+to his.  Had she done so he must have discovered on the spot how greatly
+she was moved by the strange words that he had just whispered to her
+with so much emotion in his voice.  One look would have betrayed the
+conflict within her, and then,--she could not pursue the thought,--he
+would doubtless have repented the simple wish that he had expressed.
+Thus deeply agitated, it was natural enough that the young girl's
+eyelids fell low over her eyes, and that she failed to observe the
+inaudible sigh that escaped her companion, or mark how all signs of
+irritation vanished from his features to give place to the shade of
+melancholy that was so wont to rest upon his brow.
+
+A faint and dying trumpet note, which was doubtless the result of the
+impatience of the musicians who were waiting upon the roof of the tower,
+betrayed the close vicinity of the scene of festivity.  And soon a buzz
+and noise, as of some neighbouring gypsy encampment, broke upon their
+ears; the path grew broader, gay throngs were seen fluttering through
+the bushes, and suddenly a loud flourish of bugles and trumpets sounded
+over their heads. Elizabeth availed herself of the opportunity to slip
+her hand from the arm of her conductor and to lose herself in the crowd
+that gathered around the lord of the feast; while a young girl, habited
+as a Dryad, and accompanied by four other wood-nymphs, approached, and,
+in limping hexameters, welcomed him to the forest.
+
+"Well, von Walde has gotten rid of his Dulcinea at the right moment.  I
+don't see the girl at all, now," the Countess Falkenberg whispered
+smilingly to Count Wildenau, who was sitting beside her upon a kind of
+raised dais, beneath the shade of a group of oaks.  "He will never
+forgive the baroness and our flippant Cornelia for so stupidly forcing
+him into playing the knight, even for a few moments, to such a creature.
+My child," and she turned to Helene; seated at her right, who was
+anxiously searching the crowd with troubled eyes, "when those people
+release him we must take him in here among us, and do everything in our
+power to make him forget the provoking beginning of the festival."
+
+Helene nodded mechanically.  Apparently she had only heard half of what
+the lady had whispered in her ear. Her poor little figure, enveloped in
+a heavy, light-blue silk, leaned helplessly and wearily back in her huge
+armchair, and her cheeks were whiter than the lily-wreath that crowned
+her brow.'
+
+Meanwhile Elizabeth had encountered in the throng Dr. Fels and his wife.
+The latter immediately took the young girl under her care, that they
+might not be separated again.
+
+"Only stay until the dancing begins," she replied to Elizabeth's remark
+that the moment seemed to have arrived when she could slip away
+unnoticed, and go home. "I do not wonder that you wish to leave as soon
+as possible," she added, with a smile.  "We, too, shall not stay long.
+I am anxious about my children at home.  I made a great sacrifice to my
+husband's position in coming at all.  Herr von Walde, to whom you are
+assigned for the day by lot, does not dance.  So never fear, you will be
+released."
+
+Suddenly the crowd separated.  From the top of the tower sounded a grand
+march, and while the gentlemen sought the shade of the trees, the
+ladies, according to the rules of the feast, hastened to provide them
+with refreshments from the tent.
+
+Herr von Walde walked slowly across the sward, his hands clasped behind
+him, talking with the military-inspector Busch, by his side.
+
+"My dear Herr von Walde, now pray come to us!" the Countess Falkenberg
+cried out to him, extending her hand with an air almost caressing.  "I
+have kept such a charming place here for you.  Come, rest upon your
+well-earned laurels.  'Tis true, all the young ladies present are
+disposed of by lot, but here are our fair and lovely wood-nymphs all
+ready to wreathe your goblet, and furnish you from the tent with all
+that your heart can desire."
+
+"I am deeply touched by your kindness and care for me, gracious lady,"
+the gentleman replied, "but I cannot think that Fr�ulein Ferber will
+leave me to appeal to the general sympathy."
+
+He spoke loudly, and turned to Elizabeth, who was standing quite near.
+She had heard every word, and instantly walked quietly towards him,
+placing herself at his side, as though she were by no means inclined to
+delegate to others one jot of her duty.  As he saw her approach him
+thus, something of a joyful surprise lit up his countenance.  He cast an
+answering glance at the face that, unembarrassed now by those around,
+looked smilingly up at him.  Strangely enough, he seemed entirely to
+forget the charming place that the countess had reserved for him, for,
+after a slight obeisance to her stately ladyship and her court of young
+ladies, he offered his arm to Elizabeth, and conducted her to the shade
+of a giant oak, where Doctor Fels had just provided comfortable places
+for his wife and himself.
+
+"Now, that is carrying his revenge a little too far," said the great
+lady, with irritation, turning for sympathy to Count Wildenau and the
+five disconcerted Dryads. "He really throws scorn upon the entire f�te
+by taking so much notice of that young person.  I begin to be really
+vexed with him.  No one is more ready than I to grant that he is
+entirely right to be angry, but I really think that he should not allow
+himself to be so carried away by his indignation as to forget those of
+his guests who have had no share in the absurdities of the baroness or
+of von Quittelsdorf.  I'll wager that that little fool there attributes
+his attentions to the influence of her beautiful eyes."
+
+The small band of amiable Dryads shot annihilating looks at Elizabeth,
+who was quietly proceeding to the refreshment tent, whence she presently
+issued with a flask of champagne and four glasses, which she placed upon
+the table beneath the oak, where Herr von Walde was sitting with the
+doctor and his wife.
+
+"Our young ladies to-day are wearing perfect flower gardens upon their
+heads," said Frau Fels, as the young girl approached the table.
+"Fr�ulein Ferber alone is as destitute of ornament as Cinderella.  I
+cannot have it so."
+
+She took two roses from the large bouquet which she held in her hand,
+and stood up to place them in Elizabeth's hair.
+
+"Stop, I pray you," cried Herr von Walde, detaining her hand, "nothing
+should adorn that hair but orange blossoms."
+
+"But they are only worn by brides," said the doctor's wife naively.
+
+"I know that well," he replied quietly; and as if he had said the most
+natural thing in the world, he filled the glasses, and turned to Dr.
+Fels.  "Clink glasses with me, doctor," he said; "I drink to the welfare
+of the saviour of my life--of Gold Elsie of Castle Gnadeck!"
+
+The doctor smiled, and the glasses clinked with a loud ring.  At this
+signal, a group of gentlemen approached, glasses in hand.
+
+"You come at the right moment, gentlemen," the lord of the feast cried
+out to them.  "Drink with me to the fulfilment of my dearest wish!"
+
+A loud "vivat" resounded through the air, and the glasses clinked
+merrily.
+
+"Scandalous!" cried the old court lady, and dropped her fork, with its
+choice morsel, upon her plate; "really, they are conducting themselves
+over there like students at a carouse!  I am positively shocked!  What
+an unseemly noise!  Actually the mob in the street is better behaved
+when they shout 'vivats' to our gracious Prince. Apropos, my love," she
+continued, turning to Helene, "I observe that your brother seems quite
+intimate with Doctor Fels."
+
+"He esteems him highly as a thoroughly upright man of great scientific
+attainments," replied Helene.
+
+"That is all very well,--but he certainly cannot be aware that the man
+just now is in very bad odour at court.  Only imagine, he has had the
+inconceivable insolence to refuse our beloved Princess Catharine----"
+
+"Yes; I know that story," said Fr�ulein von Walde, interrupting the
+irritated lady; "my brother related the circumstance to me himself a few
+days ago."
+
+"How!--is it possible that the facts are known to him, and that he has
+so little regard for the sentiments of the court,--which has always
+distinguished him so highly! Incredible!  I assure you, dear child, my
+conscience pricks me sorely; I shall scarcely be able to lift my eyes in
+the presence of their Serene Highnesses, when they arrive in L----, at
+the thought of having been in the society here of that impertinent
+creature."
+
+Helene shrugged her shoulders, and left the lady to her qualms of
+conscience and a brimming glass of champagne, with which she probably
+intended to fortify herself in anticipation of the dreaded arrival.
+
+In the society of this lady Fr�ulein von Walde suffered all the galling
+annoyance that conventionalities inflict;--she was obliged to listen,
+with an amiable and interested smile, to a thousand wretched trifles,
+while her heart was tortured with pain; indeed, only just such a person
+as the Countess Falkenberg, who sought and found her highest earthly
+happiness in a gracious glance from a Princely eye, a person whose whole
+intellectual capacity was exercised in standing sentinel before the
+domain of etiquette and in guarding religiously the hardly-won prestige
+of her social position,--only such a one could have been blind to the
+signs of the deepest suffering in the countenance of the younger lady.
+
+Hollfeld had not only been so inattentive as to leave Helene, upon her
+arrival at this spot, to the care of Count Wildenau, he had even, upon
+his tardy appearance, omitted all explanation or apology for his delay,
+and had finally seated himself beside her in a sullen and abstracted
+mood. She thought him strangely altered, and she racked her restless
+heart and brain with vain surmises.  At first her suspicions rested upon
+Cornelie, who, true to her mercurial temperament, fluttered hither and
+thither like a will-o'-the-wisp, talking and laughing incessantly.  But
+she was soon reassured upon this point, for she could not catch a single
+glance of Hollfeld's directed towards the coquettish and graceful court
+beauty.  The anxious inquiries that she made of him were answered in
+monosyllables.  She beckoned to one of the servants who was bearing past
+a tray of delicacies, and herself placed them before Hollfeld,--but he
+did not eat a morsel, and only swallowed in quick succession several
+glasses of fiery wine which he procured for himself at the refreshment
+tent. This careless conduct, which she now observed for the first time,
+caused her unspeakable pain.  At last she was silent, and closed her
+eyes as though fatigued; no one noticed the crystal drops trembling on
+their lashes.
+
+Suddenly a shadow was cast upon the universal merriment, which had been
+all the more unrestrained from the fact that the lord of the feast,
+usually so grave and serious, had joined in it so cordially,--at least
+Elizabeth felt convinced that the face of the butler, Lorenz, who now
+appeared in the distance, boded no good.  The old man took the greatest
+pains to attract his master's attention without being seen by the other
+guests.  At last he succeeded. Herr von Walde arose, and stepped aside
+with him into the thicket, while the group of gentlemen around him
+dispersed.  He soon returned, with marks of dismay in his countenance.
+
+"I have just received sad news, which will compel me to leave you
+immediately," he said, in a low voice, to the doctor.  "Herr von
+Hartwig, in Thalleben, one of my oldest friends, has met with a terrible
+accident; the injury is fatal; they write me that he cannot live a day
+longer.  He summons me to him that he may entrust his young children to
+my care.  I pray you inform the Baroness Lessen of my departure, and its
+cause; she will see that the festivities are not interrupted.  Let my
+sister and my guests suppose that I am called away for a few minutes by
+some trifling matter of business, and will return hither shortly.  I
+shall not be missed after the dancing begins."
+
+The doctor went instantly to find the baroness.  His wife had strayed
+away from the spot a few moments before, so Elizabeth was left alone
+with Herr von Walde. He turned to her quickly:
+
+"I thought we should not part from each other to-day without the
+conclusion of my birthday greeting," he said, while striving to meet her
+eyes, which shyly avoided his, "but I seem to be one of those
+unfortunate ones whose unlucky stars snatch from them the prize when it
+seems almost within their grasp."  He endeavoured to give an air of
+humour to his words, but they only sounded the more bitter.  "However, I
+submit," he continued, in a determined tone; "I must go.  It cannot be
+helped, but my duty may be made easier and sweeter for me by a promise
+from you.  Do you remember the words which you lately repeated after
+me?"
+
+"I do not forget so quickly."
+
+"Ah, that encourages me greatly!  There is a fairy tale which tells of a
+realm of inexhaustible riches and endless delights, revealed by a single
+word.  Such a word the conclusion of your greeting can be to me.  Will
+you aid me in having it uttered?"
+
+"How can I help you to the attainment of riches and delights?"
+
+"That is my affair.  I do most earnestly entreat you at this moment to
+make no further attempt at evasion, for time presses.  Let me ask
+you,--will you endeavour to retain in your memory, during my absence,
+the beginning of that birthday greeting?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And will you be ready, when I return, to hear the conclusion?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Good; in the midst of the sorrow and gloom to which I am summoned there
+will be a glimpse of clear blue sky above me, and for you----may my good
+angel whisper in your ear the word that will unlock that fairy realm for
+me.  Farewell!"
+
+He gave her his hand, and disappeared upon the path leading directly to
+the castle.
+
+Elizabeth stood still for a few moments in a state of delicious
+stupefaction, from which she was roused by the surprise of the doctor's
+wife at finding the gentlemen gone.  Elizabeth told her what had
+happened, and the doctor shortly returned and related that the baroness
+had been greatly piqued that her cousin had not considered it worth his
+while to inform her in person of the cause of his departure.  The
+unlucky doctor had been obliged to bear the brunt of the lady's ill
+humour, which had vented itself in several biting remarks, but he had
+been so discourteous as to allow them to pass him by without in the
+least disturbing his serenity.  He seated himself at the table and began
+to eat with an excellent appetite.
+
+Meanwhile Elizabeth went to take leave of Fr�ulein von Walde.  There was
+nothing now to detain her any longer.  She longed to be alone with her
+thoughts, to recall undisturbed every word that he had spoken, and to
+ponder upon its meaning.
+
+"Are you going?" asked Helene, as Elizabeth stood behind her chair and
+bade her farewell.  "What does my brother say to that?"
+
+"Rudolph has been summoned to the castle upon some business matter," the
+baroness, who just now appeared, answered in Elizabeth's stead.
+"Fr�ulein Ferber is released from all necessity of remaining any
+longer."
+
+Helene cast a glance of displeasure at the speaker. "I cannot see why,"
+she said.  "His business cannot detain him long, he will certainly
+return."
+
+"Probably," rejoined the baroness; "but he may be delayed quite late.
+Fr�ulein Ferber, meanwhile, will be very much fatigued in a circle where
+she is such an utter stranger."
+
+"Has my brother released you?"  Helene turned to Elizabeth, hardly
+allowing the baroness to complete her sentence.
+
+"Yes," answered she, "and I pray you to allow me to take my departure."
+
+During this short dialogue the Countess Falkenberg leaned back and
+measured Elizabeth from head to foot with her cold, piercing eyes; but
+Hollfeld arose and departed without saying a word.  Fr�ulein von Walde
+looked after him with an air of anxious discontent, and at first did not
+reply to Elizabeth's request; but at last, with evident absence of mind,
+she held out her hand and said, "Well, then, go, dear child, and a
+thousand thanks for your kind assistance to-day."
+
+Elizabeth took a hasty leave of Doctor Fels and his wife, and then
+entered the forest with a light heart.
+
+She breathed more freely as the throng was left behind her, and as a few
+sounding chords concluded the waltz whose bewildering notes had for a
+short distance accompanied her.  She could now yield herself up
+undisturbed to the magic that had laid so sweet a spell upon her entire
+mind and being, and forced her to listen still to the tones of that
+voice which had died upon her ear, ensnaring her heart with its
+thrilling melody, and at the sound of which all the suggestions of
+maidenly reserve, all the arguments of her understanding, vanished.  She
+called to mind how passively she had followed him, although her deeply
+offended pride had prompted her instantly to leave the circle where she
+seemed to be so unwelcome a guest; she still experienced the delight
+with which she had hastened to his side when he had so emphatically
+declared, before all present, that he belonged to her for the day, and
+would accept of no substitute in her place. He might have conducted her
+to the end of the world,--she would have followed him blindly with
+unhesitating reliance and the most entire abandonment of herself to his
+guidance.  And her parents?  She understood now how a daughter could
+forsake father and mother to follow a man whose path in life had been
+widely separated from her own, leading, perhaps, in directly an opposite
+direction,--a man who had known nothing of the inclinations, influences,
+occurrences great and small, by which every fibre of her life had been
+previously intertwined with the life of her family.  Two months before,
+all this would have been an inexplicable riddle to her.
+
+She turned into a path which she had often trodden with Miss Mertens.
+It led, by many a narrow winding, through the thicket, out upon the
+broad path which traversed the forest, and for some distance formed the
+boundary line between the Prince's domain and the estate of Herr von
+Walde.  On the other side of this broad path opened the wide road which
+led through the forest to her uncle's Lodge.
+
+Lost in her day-dreams, Elizabeth did not hear the sound of hasty
+footsteps approaching; she therefore started in alarm when she heard her
+name pronounced, close to her, by a man's voice.  Hollfeld stood just
+behind her.  She suspected why he had followed her, and she felt her
+heart beat quickly, but she collected herself, and, standing aside, made
+room for him to pass her in the narrow pathway.
+
+"No, that was not what I wished, Fr�ulein Ferber," he said smiling, and
+in a tone of such familiarity as deeply offended her.  "I wished to have
+the pleasure of accompanying you."
+
+"I thank you," she coldly replied, "it would be giving you needless
+trouble; I always greatly prefer walking alone in the forest."
+
+"And have you no fear?" he asked, stepping so close to her that she felt
+his hot breath upon her cheek.
+
+"Only of unwelcome companionship," she replied, retaining her
+self-possession by an effort.
+
+"Ah! here is the same dignified reserve again in which you always
+entrench yourself with me; and wherefore? I shall soon put an end to it,
+however.  To-day, at least, I shall not respect it as I have hitherto
+been forced to do,--I must speak to you."
+
+"Is what you have to say of such consequence as to require you to absent
+yourself from your friends and the f�te?"
+
+"Yes; it is a wish upon which my life depends; it pursues me day and
+night; I have been ill and wretched at the idea that it may never be
+gratified--I----"
+
+In the mean time Elizabeth had accelerated her pace. It was hateful to
+her,--the presence of this man, in whose eyes glowed all the passion
+which he had hitherto partly repressed and which had already inspired
+her with such deep aversion and disgust; but she was perfectly conscious
+that absolute self-possession was her only weapon, and therefore she
+interrupted him, while her lips quivered with the sickly semblance of a
+smile.
+
+"Ah!" she said, "our practisings, then, have had most desirable results;
+you wish my assistance in music, if I understand you rightly?"
+
+"You misunderstand me intentionally," he exclaimed.
+
+"Accept the misunderstanding as an act of forbearance on my part," said
+Elizabeth seriously; "I should else be obliged to say much to you which
+it might please you still less to hear."
+
+"Go on, I pray.  I know your sex sufficiently well to be quite aware
+that they delight in wearing the mask of coldness and reserve for
+awhile,--their favours are all the more welcome.  I do not grudge you
+the pleasure of this innocent coquetry, but then----"
+
+Elizabeth stood for one moment dumb and stupefied at his insolence; such
+hateful words had never before shocked her ears.  Shame and indignation
+drove the blood to her face, and she sought in vain for terms in which
+to punish such unexampled temerity.  He interpreted her silence
+otherwise.
+
+"I knew it," he cried triumphantly.  "I see through you; the blush of
+detection becomes you incomparably! You are beautiful as an angel!
+Never have I seen so perfect a form as yours!  Ah! you know well enough
+that you made me your slave the first time I saw you; since then, I have
+languished at your feet.  What shoulders and what arms!  Why have you
+hitherto veiled them so enviously?"
+
+An indignant exclamation broke from Elizabeth's lips:
+
+"How dare you," she cried loudly and violently, "offer me these insults!
+If you have not understood me hitherto, let me tell you now, clearly and
+distinctly, that your society, which you force upon me thus, is hateful
+to me, and that I wish to be alone."
+
+"Bravo! that authoritative tone becomes you excellently well," he said,
+with a sneer; "the noble blood that you inherit from your mother shows
+itself now. What have I done to make you suddenly play this indignant
+part?  I have told you that you are beautiful, but your mirror must tell
+you the same thing fifty times a day, and I do not believe that you
+break it for the telling."
+
+Elizabeth turned her back upon him contemptuously, and walked quickly
+onward.  He kept pace with her, and seemed quite sure of a final
+victory.  She had just reached the broad forest-road when a carriage
+dashed past.  A man's head appeared at the window, but at sight of her
+was drawn back quickly, as though surprised. He looked out once more, as
+if to convince himself that he had seen correctly, and then the carriage
+vanished around a sharp turn in the road.
+
+Elizabeth involuntarily extended her arms after the retreating carriage.
+Its inmate well knew how she detested Hollfeld; after the declaration
+that she had made to him a few hours before, how could he doubt that she
+was most unwillingly in the society of this man?  Could he not delay his
+journey for one moment, to free her from such odious importunity?
+
+Hollfeld observed her action.
+
+"Aha!" he cried, with a malicious laugh, "that looked almost tender.  If
+it were not for my cousin's seven and thirty years, I might actually be
+jealous!  Perhaps you supposed that he would immediately descend from
+his vehicle and gallantly offer you his arm to escort you to your home!
+You see he is too conscientious; he denies himself that indulgence, and
+prefers to fulfil a sacred duty.  He is an iceberg, for whom no woman
+possesses a single charm.  You owe his behaviour to you to-day, which
+was so very courteous, not to your enchanting eyes, O bewitching Gold
+Elsie, but to his desire to provoke my honoured mamma."
+
+"And does nothing deter you from ascribing such mean motives to the man
+whose hospitality you enjoy so freely?" cried Elizabeth, provoked.  She
+had determined not to reply to him again by a single syllable, in hopes
+that she might thus weary out his pertinacity; but the manner in which
+he spoke of Herr von Walde overcame her self-control.
+
+"Mean?" he repeated.  "You express yourself strongly. I only call it a
+little revenge which he was fully justified in taking.  And as for his
+hospitality,--I am only using now what will be all my own at some future
+period; I cannot see that it should alter my opinion of my cousin.
+Besides, I am the one to sacrifice myself, I deserve all the gratitude.
+Is my devotion and attention to Fr�ulein von Walde to go for nothing?"
+
+"It must be a hard task to pluck a few flowers and carry them to a poor
+invalid!" said Elizabeth ironically.
+
+"Aha! you are, as I am happy to observe, jealous of these little
+attentions of mine," he cried triumphantly. "Did you seriously suppose
+for one moment that I could really be in love with her, while my sense
+of beauty was so perpetually outraged?  I esteem my cousin, but I never
+forget for one instant that she is a year older than I, that she limps,
+is crooked, and----"
+
+"Detestable!"  Elizabeth interrupted him, beside herself with the
+abhorrence he inspired; she hastily crossed the broad forest-road.  He
+followed her.
+
+"Detestable, say I, too," he continued, endeavouring to keep pace with
+her; "especially when I see your Hebeform by her side.  And now I beg
+you, do not run so fast; let there be the peace between us of which I
+dream day and night."
+
+He suddenly passed his arm around her waist and forced her to stand
+still, while his glowing face, with eyes sparkling with unholy fire,
+approached her own.  At first she gazed at him speechless and stupefied,
+then a shudder convulsed her frame, and with a gesture of utter aversion
+she pushed him from her.
+
+"Don't dare to touch me again!" she cried in a clear ringing voice,--and
+at the same moment she heard the loud barking of a dog near her.  She
+turned her head in joyful surprise towards the spot whence the noise
+proceeded.
+
+"Hector!  Hector! here, good dog!" she called; and the forester's huge
+hound burst through the thicket and fawned upon her.
+
+"My uncle is not far off," she turned coldly and quietly to her
+discomfited companion; "he will be here in a moment.  As you can hardly
+desire that I should request him to rid me of your society, I advise you
+to return immediately to the castle."
+
+And, in fact, he stood still like a coward, while she, accompanied by
+the dog, proceeded towards her home. Hollfeld stamped his feet in his
+rage, and cursed the blind passion that had robbed him of all prudence.
+He did not for one instant imagine that he could really be disagreeable
+to Elizabeth,--he, the pet of society, whose slightest word, were it
+only an invitation to dance, made such a sensation in the little world
+of L----, and was so often an occasion of envy and discord among the
+ladies! The idea was absurd.  It was far more likely that the daughter
+of the forester's clerk was a coquette, who intended to make conquest as
+difficult as possible for him. He had no faith in the existence of that
+virgin purity of soul which made Elizabeth thus insensible, and the
+magic of which affected even him most powerfully, although he did not
+understand its influence.  He had no faith in the sacred reserve of a
+young girl's inner life, and therefore could not possibly conceive of
+the instinctive aversion which his selfish, unprincipled nature
+inspired. He reproached himself angrily for having been too sudden and
+violent, thus defeating his own ends, and deferring indefinitely the
+accomplishment of his hopes.  He wandered about in the forest for an
+hour before he could master his emotions; for the guests, who were still
+dancing on the green before the convent tower whence the gay music
+reached his ears, must not suspect the volcano seething beneath that
+cold and interesting exterior.
+
+Elizabeth had apparently walked away with a firm, decided step, but she
+took care to look neither to the right nor the left, lest she should
+suddenly see his hated face beside her.  At last she ventured to stand
+still and look around her.  He had disappeared.  With a sigh of relief,
+she leaned against the trunk of a tree to collect her thoughts, while
+Hector stood beside her sagely wagging his tail, seeming thoroughly to
+understand that he was playing the part of her protector.  Doubtless he
+had been taking a forest walk for his own amusement, for there were no
+signs of his master.  Elizabeth felt her knees tremble beneath her.  Her
+terror, when Hollfeld had clasped her waist, had been extreme.  In her
+innocence she had never imagined such rudeness, and hence his sudden
+touch had made her for one moment rigid with horror.  She shed bitter
+tears of shame as she recalled Herr von Walde's image, not clothed in
+the gentleness of the last few hours, but stern and reserved.  She
+thought she should scarcely dare ever to look up at him again since that
+wretch had touched her.  All her happy visions lay shattered at her
+feet.  This unhappy encounter with Hollfeld had ruthlessly brought her
+back to reality.  What he had said of Herr von Walde, coarse and
+slanderous as it was, had revived much in her mind which she had once
+believed, and considered as a bar to her growing interest in him.  She
+thought of his invincible pride of descent, of his self-renouncing love
+for his sister, and of the universal opinion that his heart was cold as
+ice where women were concerned.  All the gay brilliant dreams which had
+hovered around her path through the forest now folded their wings and
+vanished beneath the searching gaze of her awakened consciousness. She
+could hardly tell what it was that formerly made her so happy.  Was it
+not most likely that only a strong sense of justice had induced him to
+show her such gentle kindness and consideration to-day,--to protect her
+from the insolent annoyance of his relatives?  Had he not in like manner
+protected Miss Mertens, and endeavoured to indemnify her for the
+injustice that she had encountered beneath his roof?  And the birthday
+greeting!  Ah, she must not think of that, or its unfinished conclusion,
+for then all her dead visions would instantly celebrate a blissful
+resurrection!
+
+As she entered the Lodge Sabina came towards her, pale as ashes, in
+great distress.  She pointed mutely to the door of the dwelling-room.
+Within the apartment her uncle was speaking loudly, while he was pacing
+heavily to and fro.
+
+"Oh dear! oh dear!" whispered Sabina, "everything is going wrong in
+there.  Bertha has kept out of your uncle's way most carefully for the
+last few weeks, but a little while ago she was standing at the great
+door and did not see that he was coming into the yard.  He gave her no
+time to run off, but took her by the hand and led her instantly into the
+room there.  She was as white as the wall, in her fear of him,--but that
+didn't help her,--go she must.  Ah, Lord have mercy upon me!  I should
+not like to have the Herr Forester for a father confessor----"
+
+A loud burst of sobbing, that sounded almost like a stifled shriek,
+interrupted Sabina's whispering.
+
+"Better so!" they now heard the forester say in a far gentler tone of
+voice; "at least that is a sign that you are not quite hardened.  And
+now speak out!  Remember that I stand here in place of your good
+parents.  If you have a sorrow confide it to me; be sure that if it has
+befallen you without fault on your part, I will faithfully assist you to
+bear it."
+
+Only stifled sobs ensued.
+
+"You cannot speak?" asked the forester after a short pause.  "I know of
+a certainty that there is no physical obstacle in the way of your
+speaking, for you talk to yourself continually when you believe yourself
+unobserved; you must be putting some force upon yourself,--have you made
+a vow against the use of your tongue?"
+
+Probably an assenting nod must have confirmed him in this supposition,
+for he continued, with great irritation, "What an insane idea!  Do you
+suppose that you can do your Heavenly Father good service by renouncing
+one of his best gifts, the power of speech?  And are you going to be
+silent all your life long?  No!  You will speak, then, if that which you
+hope to effect by means of your vow fails to come to pass?  Very well, I
+cannot force you to speak,--then endure alone what depresses you and
+makes you so unhappy, for that you are unhappy any one can read in your
+face.  But let me tell you that you will find an inexorable judge in me,
+if it should ever appear that you have done anything that shuns the
+light and should not be told to honest men; for in your boundless
+arrogance you have hitherto rejected every well-meant piece of advice,
+every attempt to guide and direct you, making it impossible for me to
+care for you as it is my duty and desire, standing as I do in the place
+of your parents.  I will bear with you a little longer; but should I
+find you once leaving the house after nightfall, this is your home no
+longer,--you must go.  And let me tell you also, to-morrow I shall send
+for the doctor to tell me whether you are really ailing; you have looked
+wretchedly for the last few weeks.  Now go!"
+
+The door opened, and Bertha staggered out.  She did not notice Sabina
+and Elizabeth, and when she heard the door close behind her, she
+suddenly wrung her hands above her head in the speechless agony of
+despair, and rushed up the stairs as though hunted by the furies.
+
+"That girl has something on her conscience, whatever it may be," said
+Sabina, shaking her head.  Elizabeth went in to her uncle.  He was
+leaning against the window, and drumming upon one of the panes with his
+fingers, a common habit with him when irritated.  He looked very gloomy,
+but his features lighted up as Elizabeth entered.
+
+"I'm glad you are come, Gold Elsie!" he exclaimed; "I need to see some
+true, pure face beside me; I shudder at the black eyes of that girl who
+has just gone out. Never mind, I have taken up my domestic cross again,
+and shall bear it on for awhile; I cannot see the child cry, even though
+I were sure that the effect of every tear was exactly calculated."
+
+Elizabeth was heartily glad that the dreaded encounter between Bertha
+and her uncle was well over.  She hastened to divert his thoughts
+entirely from the unfortunate girl by describing to him the festivities
+she had just witnessed, telling him cursorily of Herr von Walde's sudden
+departure.  She informed him also of Linke's dreadful end, at which,
+however, he was not greatly surprised, as he had expected some such
+termination to the affair.
+
+He accompanied Elizabeth to the garden gate.
+
+"Be very careful not to ring too loudly at the gate in the wall," he
+warned her as she left him.  "Your mother had an attack of headache
+to-day, and has gone to bed. I was up there a little while ago."
+
+Elizabeth ran up the mountain in some anxiety, but Miss Mertens, leading
+little Ernst by the hand, came to meet her on the sward before the
+castle, and soothed her fears. The attack was over, and her mother was
+enjoying a refreshing sleep when Elizabeth softly went to her bedside.
+
+It was already twilight; the most profound quiet reigned throughout the
+house,--the striking clocks had been stopped,--the window shutters were
+closed that the rustling of the leaves without might not be heard,--not
+even a fly buzzed,--for Ferber had tenderly taken care that nothing
+should disturb the stillness that surrounded the sleeper.
+
+If her mother had been sitting in her arm-chair in the window recess of
+the dwelling-room behind the protecting curtains, looking upon the green
+domain without, above which stretched the calm evening skies,--the dear
+familiar corner would have become a confessional, where Elizabeth,
+kneeling upon the cushion at her mother's feet, would have poured out
+her overcharged mind and heart.  But now she thrust back her precious
+secret into the inmost recesses of her soul: and who knows whether she
+will ever find courage to reveal what must fill her mother's heart with
+the keenest anxiety?
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+The ruins of Gnadeck might well listen in amazement to the strange noise
+which had resounded through their crumbling walls from the first peep of
+dawn.  It was not the familiar sound of destruction caused by furious
+storms, or the melting of the snow when spring appeared. Then the water
+softly excavated little gutters between the stones, and lifted from its
+niche, without any other warning, one block of granite after another,
+that, the instant before its final downfall, looked proudly and
+threateningly down upon the world; for its overthrow had been planned
+more secretly than that of a royal favourite or an unpopular ministry.
+And then a violent storm would arise some midnight,--a mighty crash
+would come, and the rays of the rising sun would wander for the first
+time over walls and floors that they had never touched before.  There
+would be a huge pile of masonry heaped upon the pavement, and all
+through the day, with every gentle breeze, broken bits of mortar and
+little rills of sand would trickle down from the wound; but before long,
+tender grass would sprout from the jagged edges, and years, long years,
+would again ensue before the mischievous water beneath the green garment
+would prepare a new victim for the tempest.  It was a slow, scarcely
+perceptible decline.  The ruins might be as easy as the invalid whose
+disease, though incurable, may permit him to rival the Old Testament
+patriarchs in length of days.
+
+It was human hands to-day that were effecting the work of destruction.
+With incredible speed and activity they dislodged stone after stone.
+The old jutty, which had advanced so boldly for years, like a valiant
+sentinel keeping watch before this wing of the castle, presented a most
+deplorable appearance.  It had already been shorn of much of its height;
+its ivy mantle was torn, and dark window niches and mossy masonry came
+to light, which, perhaps, once were rich in stone carving.  The workmen
+were very diligent.  It interested them greatly, hazardous as was their
+task, to obtain a glimpse down into the dark nooks and corners of the
+old pile, that popular superstition had peopled with countless ghastly
+apparitions.
+
+In the afternoon, Frau Ferber was sitting upon the shady rampart with
+Miss Mertens and Elizabeth, when Reinhard, who, always made his
+appearance at a certain hour of the day, interrupted their reading.  He
+announced that Linke's body had been committed to the earth as privately
+as possible that morning, and that Fr�ulein von Walde had learned,
+through the carelessness of a servant, of the attempt upon her brother's
+life.  But he remarked, with some bitterness, that Herr von Walde's
+anxiety, lest his sister's fright upon hearing of the assault should
+have disastrous consequences, had been wholly unnecessary, since the
+lady had heard of it with entire composure, and even the terrible
+accident that had befallen Herr von Hartwig, whose wife was one of her
+friends, had apparently produced very little impression upon her. "But
+if the life of her fair-haired favourite had been in danger," he
+declared angrily, "she would most certainly have torn her chestnut
+curls.  That Herr von Hollfeld is utterly odious to me!  He has been
+walking about the house to-day, looking as if he would like to poison us
+all.  I'll wager that this charming mood of his is the cause of Fr�ulein
+von Walde's red and swollen eyes, which she tried to conceal from me
+when I met her in the garden just now."
+
+At the mention of the hated name, Elizabeth bent low over her work.  The
+blood rushed to her face at the thought of Hollfeld's insolence the day
+before, of which she had not yet told her mother, for fear that it might
+cause a return of her headache; and perhaps there were other reasons for
+her silence; but she would not acknowledge to herself how much she
+dreaded lest her parents, upon learning of Hollfeld's rudeness, should
+prohibit her from going to Lindhof again, in which case all chance of
+seeing Herr von Walde would be at an end.
+
+In the mean time, the destruction of the jutty was going on
+uninterruptedly.  After awhile Ferber entered the garden.  He had been
+to the Lodge, and had brought the forester home with him to take coffee.
+Ernst came running to them in a great state of excitement.  The child
+had obediently forborne to transgress the bounds which his father had
+set for him, that he might not be exposed to danger; but he had been
+looking on from his post of observation, following the progress of the
+workmen with the greatest interest.
+
+"Papa! papa!" he cried, "the mason wants to speak to you,--come right
+away; he says he has found something!"
+
+And in fact one of the workmen made signs to the brothers to come
+nearer.
+
+"We have come to what seems to be a small chamber," the man called down
+to them, "and, as well as I can see, there is a coffin in it.  Will you
+not examine into the matter, Herr Ferber, before we proceed?  You can
+come up here with entire safety; we have firm foothold."
+
+Reinhard had heard the call and came hastily down the terrace steps.  A
+concealed apartment, containing a coffin!--the words were music to his
+antiquarian ears.
+
+The three men cautiously ascended the ladder.
+
+The workmen were standing just where the huge jutty sprang forth from
+the main building, and they pointed down to a tolerably large opening at
+their feet. Until now they had come upon no room that had been closed;
+the roof of the main building was partly gone, and standing upon this
+spot, you could look in all directions through a labyrinth of open
+rooms, half ruinous passages, and through great gaps in the floors down
+into the castle chapel.  The old ruins did not seem half so desolate
+from within as from without; the blue heavens peeped in everywhere, and
+the fresh breeze swept through as often as it would.  But now a space
+suddenly appeared at their feet surrounded by firm walls, and covered by
+a tolerably well-preserved ceiling.  As well as they could judge from
+where they stood, the room lay like a wedge between the chapel and the
+space behind.  At all events, there must be a window somewhere at the
+extreme corner formed by the wall of the jutty and that of the main
+building, for from that direction a weak reflection streamed in through
+coloured glass, and flickered upon the object which was dimly visible,
+and which the masons took for a coffin.
+
+Immediately a ladder of greater length was procured, as the room was
+quite a high one, and one by one all went down in a state of
+highly-wrought expectation. In descending, there was within reach a
+wainscoted wall almost black with age.  The profusion of strange, rich
+carving that adorned it startled the eye.  Close to the ceiling a plain
+strip of wood, of much more modern date, had been nailed, upon which
+were still hanging some rags of black cloth; while the rest of what had
+once been the mourning drapery of the apartment lay in mouldering,
+shapeless heaps upon the floor.
+
+Doubtless concealment had been the purpose of the room from the
+beginning, for there had been no heed paid to symmetry of form in its
+construction.  It represented an irregular triangle, and in one somewhat
+rounded corner was the very small window whose existence they had
+suspected.  It lay so close to the chapel that Reinhard's supposition
+that in old Catholic times the church treasures had been secreted here
+seemed most probable; all the more so as on one side five or six worn
+stone steps led down to a door in the chapel wall, which had been walled
+up from within. The window was just behind the evergreen oak, which
+pressed its thick branches against it, and the ivy had twined a tender
+lattice-work across the panes; but nevertheless the sun stole through
+the coloured glass in the graceful, delicate stone rosette, which was in
+a state of perfect preservation.
+
+It was in fact a coffin,--a small, narrow, leaden coffin,--standing out
+in strong contrast with the black velvet covering of its pedestal, which
+was thus found lonely and forgotten within these three walls.  At its
+head was a huge candelabrum, in the branches of which were still to be
+seen the remains of wax candles; but at its foot was a footstool, upon
+which lay a mandolin, its strings all broken.  It had been an old
+instrument in the hands of its last possessor, for the black colour of
+its neck was worn away in spots, and the sounding-board was slightly
+hollowed where the player had pressed her little fingers. At the
+approach of the intruders the last fragments of the withered heap of
+flowers fluttered down from the coffin, upon whose lid in gilt letters
+was inscribed the name "Lila."
+
+Set in the thick wall of the most extensive side of the apartment was a
+kind of press, of dark oak, which Reinhard at first supposed had been
+appropriated to the safe-keeping of the priestly robes and ornaments.
+He opened the doors, which stood ajar; as they shook in opening there
+was a rustle within, and little clouds of dust flew forth from a
+quantity of female garments hanging inside.  They formed a strange,
+fantastic wardrobe,--gay, and most coquettish in fashion, they
+contrasted oddly enough with the grave solemnity of their surroundings.
+
+She who had worn these garments must have been a wonderfully small and
+delicate creature, for the silk skirts,--most of them bordered with
+embroidery in gold thread,--were as short as though made for a child;
+and the shape of the black and violet velvet bodices, with their silken
+ribbons and tinsel trimmings, must have fitted an exquisite, pliant,
+maiden waist.  Many, many years must have elapsed since a human being
+had breathed within these walls,--since any hand warm with life had
+touched these hidden objects.  The hooks in the press had, in some
+cases, pierced the mouldering stuffs; and the threads, which had once
+confined the pearls and spangles of the trimming, hung loose and broken.
+
+Against one wall was placed a little table with a stone top.  Its legs,
+grown weak with age, appeared scarcely able to sustain it, and it leaned
+forward, endangering the safety of a casket that stood upon it.  This
+casket was a master-piece of workmanship in ivory and gold. The cover
+did not seem to be locked; it looked rather as if it had been lightly
+closed, in order to preserve a broad parchment which projected from the
+box and had obviously been arranged with the view of attracting
+attention.  It was yellow with age and covered deep,--as was all
+else,--with dust; but the large, stiff, black characters upon it were
+distinctly visible, and the name, "Jost von Gnadewitz," was perfectly
+legible.
+
+"Good Heavens! what have we here?" cried the forester, whose speech
+almost failed him with amazement "Jost von Gnadewitz!--the hero of
+Sabina's tale of her great-grandmother!"
+
+Ferber approached the table, and carefully raised the cover of the
+casket.  Within, upon a dark velvet cushion, lay ornaments of antique
+workmanship, bracelets, brooches, a necklace of gold coins, and several
+strings of costly pearls.
+
+The parchment had fallen to the ground.  Reinhard picked it up, and
+offered to read the contents aloud.  It was, even for the time when it
+had been composed,--about two hundred years before,--very clumsily
+written, and very badly spelled.  The writer had evidently understood
+how to wield the hunting-spear better than the pen,--nevertheless an air
+of poesy breathed through the lines. They ran thus:
+
+"Whoever you may be who are the first to enter this room, by all that is
+sacred to you, by everything that you love or that has a home in your
+heart, do not disturb her repose.  She lies there sleeping like a child.
+The sweet face beneath the dark curls smiles again now that death has
+touched it.  Once more, whoever you are, whether noble or beggar,
+descendant of hers or not, let my eyes be the last to rest upon her!
+
+"I could not lay her in the dark, cold ground.  Here the golden light
+will play around her, and birds will alight upon the branches of the
+tree outside with the breath of the forest ruffling their feathers,
+while the songs that hushed her in her cradle gush from their throats.
+
+"The golden sunlight was quivering in the forest, and the birds were
+singing in the trees, when the graceful roe parted the bushes, and gazed
+with shy, startled eyes at the young huntsman who was lying in the
+shade. His heart beat quickly and wildly at sight of her; he threw his
+weapons from him, and pursued the maiden-form that fled before him.
+She, the child of the forest, a daughter of that people which the curse
+of God pursues making them wanderers upon the face of the earth, with no
+home for their weary feet, not a foot of land that they can call their
+own whereon to lay their dying heads,--she had vanquished the heart of
+the proud, fierce huntsman.  Suing for her love, he haunted the camp of
+her tribe, day and night; he followed her footsteps like a dog, and
+entreated her passionately until she was touched, to leave her people
+and fly with him in secret.  In the silence of night he bore her away to
+his castle, and, alas! became her murderer.  He did not heed her
+prayers, when she was suddenly seized by the uncontrollable longing for
+her forest liberty.  As the prisoned bird flutters wildly about its
+cage, beating its delicate wings against the confining wires, so she
+wandered in despair through the halls which had once resounded to her
+intoxicating song and the delicious music of her lute, but which now
+only echoed to her sighs and complaints.  He saw her cheeks grow pale,
+saw her eyes averted from him in hate; his heart died a thousand deaths
+when she thrust him from her, and shuddered at his touch; despair
+possessed him, but he doubly bolted every door, and guarded them in
+deadly terror, for he knew that she was lost to him forever if once
+again her foot should press the woodland turf.  And then there came a
+time when she grew less restless,--'tis true she glided past him as
+though he were a shadow, a nothing,--she never lifted her eyes when he
+approached her and addressed her in the tenderest tones of entreaty,--it
+was long since she had spoken to him, and still no words passed her
+lips; but she no longer beat her tiny hands against the window-bars,
+tearing her hair, and calling with shrill shrieks upon those who passed
+through the forest without, enjoying all the sweets of liberty.  She no
+longer fled madly, like some hunted thing, through halls and corridors,
+nor mounted the castle wall to throw her fair body into the gloomy
+waters of the moat.  She sat beneath the evergreen oak with a sad,
+patient look upon her lily-white face; she knew of the life within her
+own,--she was about to become a mother. And when night came, and the
+huntsman bore her up the broad stairway in his arms,--she did not
+resist, but she turned her face from him, that his breath might not
+touch her cheek, that no glance of his loving eyes might fall upon her.
+
+"And one day the pastor of Lindhof came to the castle.  The people
+declared that Jost, a lamb of his flock, had dealings with the devil,
+and he came to rescue the lost soul.  He was admitted, and saw the
+creature for whose sake the wild huntsman had renounced his merry life
+in the forest, and heaven itself.  Her beauty and purity touched him.
+He spoke to her in gentle tones, and her heart, paralyzed with
+suffering, melted at his addresses. For the sake of the child that was
+to come, she was baptized, and the unholy tie that had bound her to her
+lover was hallowed by the sanction of the church.  And when her dark
+hour of pain had passed, she pressed her cold lips upon the brow of her
+child, and, with that kiss, her spirit burst its bonds,--she was free,
+free!  The triumph of that moment transfigured the earthly tenement from
+which the soul had departed.  The wretched man saw those glorious eyes
+darken in death; he writhed at her feet in an agony of remorse and
+despair, and implored her in vain for only one last glance of love.
+
+"The boy was christened, and received his father's name,--my baptismal
+name.  I gazed with a shudder into his eyes,--they are my eyes.
+Together we have murdered her. My old servant, Simon, has taken the boy
+away.  I cannot live for him.  Simon says, and the pastor also, that no
+woman can be found willing to nourish my child at her breast, for, in
+the eyes of the people I am lost,--doomed eternally to hell-torments.
+The wife of my forester, Ferber, has adopted the child without knowing
+whence it comes----"
+
+Here the reader paused, and looked up over the parchment at the
+brothers.  The forester, who, until now, had been leaning against the
+opposite wall listening with the greatest attention, suddenly stood by
+his side, and clutched his arm convulsively.  The colour left his
+sun-burnt cheeks for one moment.  It seemed as if his heart ceased to
+beat, so great was his agitation.  And Ferber also drew near, testifying
+in his face and gestures extreme surprise.
+
+"Go on, go on!" cried the forester at last, in stifled accents.
+
+"Simon laid him upon the threshold of the forest lodge," Reinhard read
+further, "and to-day he saw Ferber's wife kissing and tending him like
+her own little girl.  By the laws of my family, he has no claim upon the
+Gnadewitz estate, but my maternal inheritance will preserve him from
+want.  My directions I have confided, in a sealed packet, deposited in
+the town-house at L----, to the public authorities.  They will
+substantiate his claim to be my son and heir.  May he, as Hans Jost von
+Gnadewitz, found a new race.  The Almighty will provide kind hearts to
+protect his youth,--I cannot.
+
+"Everything which adorned that lovely form in happier days shall
+surround it in death, and yield to the same decay.  Her child has a
+claim upon her jewels, but my heart revolts at the thought that what has
+rested upon her dazzling brow, her pure neck, may perhaps be torn
+asunder and desecrated by faithless hands.  Better to leave all here to
+fade and fall to ruin.
+
+"Once more I implore you, whom chance may lead to this sanctuary, after
+the lapse of centuries perhaps,--honour the dead, and pray for me,
+
+"JOST VON GNADEWITZ."
+
+
+The two brothers clasped each other's hands, and, without a word,
+approached the coffin.  In their veins flowed the blood of that strange
+being who had once kindled to a flame the heart of the fierce, proud
+lord of the castle,--of that woman whose ardent soul, thirsting for
+freedom, exultingly fled from the idolized body which had crumbled to a
+little heap of ashes here in its narrow leaden tomb.  Two tall figures
+stood there, descendants of him who, with his dying mother's
+consecrating kiss upon his brow, was borne out into the forest, and laid
+upon the low threshold of a servant, while his nobly-born father,
+despair in his heart, rushed madly to death.
+
+"She was the mother of our race," Ferber said at last, with much
+emotion, to Reinhard.  "We are the descendants of the foundling whose
+parentage has been a mystery until this hour, for the papers which would
+have established him in his rights were destroyed when the townhouse at
+L---- was burned down.  We must suspend work here for a few days," he
+said, turning to one of the masons, who, prompted by a pardonable
+curiosity, had descended the ladder half way, and, from this post of
+observation, had listened in speechless amazement to the unfolding of a
+tale which would afford a subject for winter evenings in the large,
+peasant spinning-rooms, for a long time to come.
+
+"Instead, you must prepare a grave to-morrow in the church-yard at
+Lindhof," the forester called up to him; "I will speak to the pastor
+about it afterwards."
+
+He went again to the press, and looked at the garments that had once
+enveloped the delicate limbs of the gypsy maiden, and had evidently been
+adjusted with great care, that they might recall the times when they had
+been seen upon the beautiful Lila by the enraptured eyes of her lover.
+Upon the floor of the press were ranged shoes.  The forester took up a
+pair of them; they were scarcely longer than the width of his broad
+hand,--only Cinderella's feet could ever have worn them.
+
+"I will take these to Elsie," he said, smiling, holding them carefully
+between his forefinger and thumb, "she will be surprised to find what a
+Liliputian her ancestress was."
+
+Meanwhile Ferber, after brushing the dust from the mandolin, took it
+carefully under his arm, while Reinhard closed the jewel-box and lifted
+it from the table by the exquisitely wrought handle on the lid.  Thus
+the three men ascended the ladder again.  Arrived at the top, all the
+boards that they could procure were placed over the opening, so as to
+afford a temporary protection from wind and rain, and then they
+descended from their perilous position upon the summit of the ruin.
+
+Below, the ladies had been awaiting them for some time, in a state of
+great expectation, and were not a little surprised at the strange
+procession that descended the ladder.  But not one word did they learn
+of what had been seen or heard, until the whole party were once more
+seated beneath the linden.  Then Reinhard placed the casket upon the
+table, described minutely the hidden apartment and its contents, and, at
+last producing the parchment, read again what we have already learned;
+of course with far greater fluency than before.
+
+In breathless silence the ladies listened to these outpourings of a
+passionate, burning heart.  Elizabeth sat pale and still; but when
+Reinhard came to the words that suddenly threw such a glare of light
+upon the dim past of her family, she started up, and her eyes rested in
+speechless surprise upon the smiling face of her uncle, who was
+observing her narrowly.  Even Frau Ferber sat for awhile after the
+reader had finished, fairly dumb with amazement.  To her clear, calm
+mind, accustomed to reason carefully, this romantic solution of family
+questions, which had been unanswered for centuries, was almost
+incomprehensible.  But Miss Mertens, to whom the whole bearing of the
+discovery was explained by Ferber, as she did not even know the story of
+the foundling, clapped her hands above her head at such a revelation.
+
+"And does not this parchment give you a claim to your inheritance?" she
+asked quickly and eagerly.
+
+"Undoubtedly," replied Ferber, "but how can we tell in what that
+maternal inheritance consisted?  The family has died out, the very name
+of Gnadewitz is extinct. Everything has passed into strange hands; who
+can tell to what we may lay claim?"
+
+"No, let all that rest," said the forester with decision; "such matters
+cost money, and in the end we might come into possession of only a few
+thalers.  Oh no! let it go! We have not starved yet."
+
+Elizabeth musingly took up the shoes which her uncle had placed before
+her.  The faded silk of which they were made was torn here and there,
+and showed perfectly the shape of the foot.  They had been much worn,
+but not apparently upon the soil of the forest; the soles showed no
+traces of such contact; probably they had covered the restless feet at
+the time of her imprisonment, "when she fled madly through halls and
+corridors like some hunted thing."
+
+"Aha!  Elsie, now we know where you got your slender waist and those
+feet that trip over the sward, scarcely bending the blades of grass,"
+said her uncle.  "You are just such a forest-butterfly as your
+ancestress, and would flutter just so against the bars of your cage if
+you were shut up within locked doors; there is gypsy blood in your veins
+were you ten times Gold Elsie and though your skin is like a snowdrift.
+There, put on those things, you will find that you can dance in them
+easily."
+
+"Oh no, uncle," cried Elizabeth deprecatingly, "they seem to me like
+sacred relics; I could not put them on without fearing that Jost's fiery
+black eyes might suddenly glare out at me."
+
+Frau Ferber and Miss Mertens agreed with her, and the former declared
+that in her opinion the press, with all that it contained, ought to be
+carefully removed to some quiet, dry place, where it might be preserved
+untouched as a family relic until it fulfilled its destiny, which was to
+decay with all else that is mortal.
+
+"Well, with regard to the press, let it be as you say," Reinhard here
+interposed; "but it seems to me that a different fate should await these
+articles."
+
+He opened the casket.  The sunlight penetrating, its interior came
+flashing back in a thousand sparkling rays, dazzling the eyes that
+looked on.  Reinhard took out a necklace,--it was very broad, and of
+admirable design.
+
+"These are brilliants of the purest water," he explained to the
+rest,--the necklace was set thick with precious stones,--"and these
+rubies here must have gleamed magnificently from the dark curls of the
+beautiful gypsy girl," he continued, as he took two pins from their
+velvet cushion with heads formed like lily-cups of red stones, from
+which chains, set thick with rubies, fell like a glittering little
+shower.
+
+Elizabeth, smiling, held a costly agraffe above her forehead.
+
+"And so you think, Herr Reinhard," she said, "that we should let all
+reverence for the past go, and recklessly adorn ourselves with these
+jewels?  What would my white muslin dress say if I should some day
+introduce it into such distinguished society?"
+
+"The brilliants are exquisitely becoming to you," replied Reinhard,
+smiling; "but to my mind a nosegay of fresh flowers would be far more
+suitable with the white muslin; and therefore I should advise that these
+precious stones be transformed at the jeweller's into shining coin."
+
+Ferber nodded assentingly.
+
+"What!  Reinhard," cried Miss Mertens, "do you think these family jewels
+should be sold?"
+
+"Certainly," he replied; "it would be both foolish and sinful to let
+such capital lie idle.  The stones alone must be worth full seven
+thousand thalers, and then there are these very fine pearls, and this
+wrought gold, which will bring a very clever little sum besides."
+
+"Zounds!" exclaimed the forester; "let them go then on the spot,----See,
+Adolph," he continued more gently, and rested his arm upon his brother's
+shoulder, "Heaven has been kind to you here.  Did I not tell you that
+all would go smoothly with you in Thuringia, although I never dreamed
+that eight thousand thalers were waiting for you?"
+
+"For me?" cried Ferber with surprise.  "Does it not all belong to you as
+the elder?"
+
+"None of that!  What, in Heaven's name, should I do with the trash?  Am
+I to begin to invest capital in my old days?  I think I see myself at
+such work!  I have neither chick nor child in the world, hold an
+excellent office,--and when my old bones fail me, there is a pension for
+me, which, try as I may, I shall never be able to spend.  Therefore I
+resign my birthright in favour of the girl with the golden hair and
+Ernst, the rogue, who shall perpetuate our stock; I will not even have a
+mess of lentil pottage in exchange, for Sabina says it is not good with
+venison.  Don't touch me!" he cried, with a comic gesture of refusal,
+clasping his hands behind him, as Frau Ferber, with tears in her eyes,
+came to him with outstretched arms, and his brother would have
+remonstrated with him.  "It would be much better for you, sister-in-law,
+to go and see about our coffee.  It is really past hearing! four o'clock
+and not a drop of the usual refreshments, for the sake of which I
+dragged myself up here."
+
+He accomplished his aim in diverting from himself all grateful
+acknowledgments.  Frau Ferber hastened into the house, accompanied by
+Elizabeth, and the others laughed.  The whole party were soon seated
+upon the terrace, busy with the brown, fragrant beverage.
+
+"Yes, yes," said the forester, leaning comfortably back in his chair; "I
+never thought, when I awoke this morning, that I should lie down at
+night a Herr von Gnadewitz.  I shall gain a step in my profession, of
+course, instantly; that yellow parchment, with its crooked letters, has
+done for me in an instant what thirty years of hard service have failed
+to accomplish.  As soon as his Highness arrives in L---- I shall make my
+best bow, and introduce myself by my new name.  Zounds! how those people
+will stare!"
+
+A peculiar side glance was directed, as these words were spoken, towards
+Elizabeth, and at the same moment the speaker puffed away at his pipe so
+vigorously that his face was quite concealed by a thick cloud of smoke.
+
+"Uncle," cried his niece, "say what you will, I know that you can never
+intend to patch up again the shattered crest of the Gnadewitzes."
+
+"I can't see why not, 'tis a beautiful coat of arms, with chevrons,
+stars----"
+
+"And a wheel covered with blood," interrupted Elizabeth.  "God forbid
+that we should swell the number of those who revive the sins of their
+ancestors to prove the antiquity of their race, and thus make nobility
+ignoble,--nothing in the world seems to me more detestable.  I should
+think that all those who have been tortured and hunted down in life by
+that pitiless, haughty race, would arise, like accusing ghosts, from
+their graves, if the name should ever be revived, beneath whose shelter
+such oppression and tyranny existed for centuries.  When I compare the
+two fathers,--one seeking death like a coward, never considering for an
+instant that his poor child had the most sacred claims upon him; the
+other, a poor servant, taking the outcast compassionately to his heart,
+and bestowing upon it his own honest name,--then I know well which was
+the noble, which name deserves to be perpetuated.  And think what sorrow
+that haughty race has caused my poor, dear mother."
+
+"True enough, true enough," Frau Ferber declared with a sigh--"in the
+first place, I owe to it a stormy, unhappy childhood, for my mother was
+a beautiful, amiable girl, whom my father married against the will of
+his relatives, who could not forgive her ignoble extraction.  This
+misalliance was a source of endless suffering and annoyance to my poor
+mother, for my father had not sufficient strength of character to break
+with the chief of the Gnadewitz family, and live only for his wife.
+This weakness on his part was the cause of constant strife between my
+parents, which I could not but be cognizant of.  And we"--here she held
+out her hand across the table to her husband--"we can never forget all
+we had to contend with before we could belong to each other.  I would
+not for the world return to the class who so often ruthlessly stifle
+every warm, humane sentiment, that outward rank and show may be
+preserved."
+
+"And you never shall return, Marie," said her husband, with a smile, as
+he pressed her hand.  He glanced mischievously at his brother, who was
+still puffing forth immense clouds of smoke, while he was doing his
+best, most unsuccessfully, to keep up the frown upon his brow.
+
+"Ah! my fine plans," he sighed at last, with a comical look of
+disappointment.  "Elsie, you are a cruel, foolish creature.  You forget
+what a fine life we should lead, if I had a position at court, and you
+were a fine lady.  There, does not that tempt you?"
+
+Elizabeth shook her head, smilingly, but most decidedly
+
+"And who knows," added Miss Mertens, "but that, before we could turn
+round, some noble knight, of stainless lineage, would bear away from old
+Gnadeck our high-born Elsie as his wife!"
+
+"Do you think I would go with him?" cried Elizabeth, indignantly, her
+cheeks aglow.
+
+"And why not?--if you loved him."
+
+"No, never," replied the girl in a suppressed voice, "not even if I
+loved him,--for I should then be all the more wretched in the
+consciousness that the prestige of my name had weighed heavier in the
+balance than my heart, that in the eyes of that man all aspiration after
+spiritual elevation and moral excellence was worthless in comparison
+with a phantom, which the miserable prejudices of men had tricked out
+with tinsel."
+
+Frau Ferber gazed with surprise at her daughter, whose face showed
+evident signs of deep emotion.  The forester, on the other hand, held
+his pipe firmly between his teeth, and clapped his hands loudly.
+
+"Elsie, child of gold!" he cried at last, "give me your hand! that's my
+brave girl! true metal, through and through!  Yes, I say, too, God keep
+me from swelling the number of those who give up an honest name for the
+sake of their own personal advantage.  No, Adolph, we will not cast
+scorn upon the parish register of the little Silesian village where we
+were christened; we will go on writing our names as they are written
+there."
+
+"And as they have faithfully clung to us in joy and sorrow for half a
+century," added Ferber with his quiet smile, "I will keep this document
+for this fellow," and he laid his hand upon little Ernst's curly head,
+"until his judgment is clear and ripe.  I cannot and must not decide for
+him, but I trust I shall train him so that he will prefer to carve out a
+path for himself by his own energy, rather than to lie idly in the
+hot-bed of old traditions and wrongs enjoying privileges which should be
+the reward only of lofty endeavour.  The Gnadewitzes in their long
+career added nothing to the world, but took much from it; let them
+moulder in their graves, and their high-sounding, undeserved titles with
+them!"
+
+"Selah!" cried the forester, knocking the ashes from his pipe.  "And now
+let us go," he said to his brother, "and advise with the Lindhof pastor.
+A spot beneath the beautiful lindens in our village church-yard seems to
+me infinitely preferable to those three gloomy walls, within which the
+mother of our line has lain for so long; and that the 'dark, cold
+ground' may not touch her coffin, let us have a grave built in the earth
+and closed with a tombstone."
+
+He departed, accompanied by Ferber and Reinhard, and, whilst her mother
+and Miss Mertens were putting the jewel-box away in a place of security,
+Elizabeth climbed the ladder placed against the ruined jutty, pushed
+aside the boards, and descended into the secret chamber.  A slender ray
+of the setting sun touched a ruby pane in the little window and threw a
+bloody stain upon the name "Lila," on the lid of the coffin.  Elizabeth,
+with head bowed and hands clasped, stood for a long while beside the
+lonely bier, whereon that burning heart had slept undisturbed since the
+moment when death had stilled its wild beating and ended its sorrow.
+Centuries had flown by, effacing, as if they had never existed, all the
+transporting charm of that short life,--all the stormy emotion which had
+worked its ruin,--and yet the young heart that was throbbing restlessly
+in that chamber of death beside that bier, fancied that the emotions
+causing it to throb so wildly could never die.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+The news of the occurrence at Gnadeck had reached Lindhof Castle even
+before Reinhard returned thither. The masons on their way home to the
+village had related the wonderful story to a servant whom they met in
+the park, and the tale had flashed like lightning from mouth to mouth
+until it reached the boudoir of the ladies of the castle, where it
+produced the effect almost of a bombshell.
+
+One of the favourite themes of the baroness had always been her own
+infallibility with regard to blue blood.  She maintained that by means
+of a very delicate and sensitive organization she could recognize the
+existence of this life-giving stream even in people whose names she did
+not know.  It was thus only natural that she should be able to detect
+immediately every noble drop happening to flow in plebeian veins.  She
+always had admitted that "the little Ferber" had something distinguished
+in her appearance in right of the noble descent of her mother. But with
+regard to the forester, that delicate perception of hers had been so
+much at fault that she had never dreamed of acknowledging his bow except
+by an almost imperceptible inclination of the head, which was all she
+deigned to bestow upon people of so low a rank in life.  Why, in her
+noble rage at the rude blasphemer, who could forbid his ward, Bertha, to
+attend the Bible-class at the castle, she had often gone so far as to
+declare that she could detect his low origin a hundred paces off.  And
+this was the man to bring to nought her reputation for this keen
+perception of aristocracy!  He was the descendant of a lofty line,--the
+possessor of a name which, centuries back, had glowed in all the light
+of feudal splendour!
+
+To be sure, there was great consolation for her in the thought that two
+centuries of ignoble marriages had rendered the noble blood very
+difficult to recognize.  She declared as much very earnestly to Fr�ulein
+von Walde, who, reclining upon her lounge, was observing the baroness'
+agitation with a slight, rather contemptuous, smile.  Personal interest
+in Fr�ulein Ferber, or the more unprejudiced mind of the younger lady,
+may have prompted some little reproof to her cousin; at all events she
+lifted her head and said quickly, not without a slight appearance of
+irritation: "Pardon me, Amalie, but that is a mistake. I know for a
+certainty that the wife of the forester's clerk is not the only
+nobly-born person who has married into the Ferber family.  They have
+always been a fine, remarkably intellectual race, whose personal
+advantages have often conquered the prejudices of birth.  I really do
+not believe that there have been more plebeian marriages in their family
+than can be found in the pedigree of the Lessens, and you would hardly
+maintain that there is not a drop of genuine noble blood in Bella's
+veins."
+
+A delicate colour flickered over the elder lady's faded cheek, and the
+glance which she directed towards her companion from beneath her
+half-closed eyelids, was anything but gentle or amiable.  A sickly smile
+still hovered upon her lips.  Since the previous day she had, to her
+horror, frequently felt the ground tremble beneath her feet.  It was
+actually terrifying suddenly to meet with contradiction in a quarter
+where for years she had found only complete adherence and blind
+submission.
+
+She was, however, quite right in attributing the change in Helene's
+demeanour not only to the "unhappy" influence exercised upon her by her
+brother, but far more to her own son, who had conducted himself so
+strangely during the last few days.  Helene's was, in reality, a noble
+nature, capable of appreciating all that was lofty and honourable, and
+animated by the purest desire for the good and true; but she had been
+accustomed from childhood to consider herself as the centre of the
+loving care and attention of all around her.  Notwithstanding her
+physical infirmity, she had never known the bitterness of being
+slighted.  That she might forget her weakness, every one around her made
+her the object of marked attention. While she knew that she could never
+occupy a wife's position, her heart, overflowing with tenderness, had
+joyously welcomed a first love; and although, when alone, she might
+bewail with tears the neglect of nature, which had denied her the
+crowning joys of life, still she possessed the blissful conviction that
+her love was returned.  Hollfeld's constant attentions, his frequent
+sojourn at Lindhof, his continual expressions of tenderness, were well
+calculated to plant this conviction ineradicably in her mind.
+
+Suddenly he had appeared altered and constrained in her presence, and
+neglected her in the most unaccountable manner.  She suffered greatly;
+her inner self revolted; insulted feminine dignity, an irritation
+hitherto unknown, and devoted affection, were all at war within her; she
+was yet far from that height to which, early or late, every noble nature
+attains: resignation and forgiveness.  She grew bitter and violent, and
+she manifested this change less towards him who had caused her suffering
+than, by way of indemnifying herself, towards those whose tyranny she
+had endured for the sake of her love.
+
+Hollfeld had been reading aloud to the ladies, when the old waiting-maid
+of the baroness entered the room upon some errand, and, before leaving,
+glibly narrated the remarkable discovery at Gnadeck.  If Helene's eyes
+had not been riveted upon the lips of the speaker, the change in her
+cousin's features could not have escaped her.  He listened breathlessly,
+with an expression of the intensest delight.  In passing from mouth to
+mouth, the discovered jewels had come to be of "priceless value," and
+the beautiful Lila's coffin was now pure silver.
+
+The baroness also had not observed the striking change in her son's
+sullen aspect; and in consequence of Helene's reproof, very naturally
+darted at him an angry glance, which was not seen by Fr�ulein von Walde.
+She was greatly amazed to see him suddenly approach his cousin.  He
+smoothed the embroidered cushion beneath her head, and pushed the
+bouquet of flowers in the vase nearer to her, that she might more easily
+inhale their fragrance.
+
+"Helene is quite right, mother," he said with a kindly glance at his
+cousin, who replied by a happy smile.  "You should be the last to bring
+in question the nobility of that family."
+
+Although the baroness was tortured by the thought that those who had
+been so far beneath her, might now be her equals,--nay, even rank
+considerably above her in wealth; still she wisely suppressed the bitter
+retort that rose to her lips, and contented herself with observing that
+the whole story at present had altogether too much the air of a legend
+or fable to be implicitly believed.  For her part, she should require
+the testimony of more competent eye-witnesses than the two masons,
+before she could consider it worthy of credit.
+
+A competent eye-witness was just passing beneath the windows.  It was
+Reinhard, who was returning from the mountain.  He smiled as his
+attendance upon Fr�ulein von Walde was immediately required; for, from
+the curious looks of the servant, he guessed that the story of the
+discovery at Gnadeck had reached the castle, and that information from
+him upon the subject was what the ladies desired.
+
+At his entrance he was immediately assailed by Helene with questions.
+He answered them in his usual calm manner, and took a malicious pleasure
+in detecting the keenest curiosity and the greatest irritation behind
+the apparently careless and indifferent remarks and questions of the
+baroness.
+
+"And will the Ferbers venture to lay claim to the old name on the
+strength of that scrap of parchment?" she asked; taking a large dahlia
+from the vase of flowers, and smelling it.
+
+"I should like to know who could dispute their claim," replied Reinhard.
+"It only remains to be proved that they are the descendants of Jost von
+Gnadewitz, and that can be done at any moment."
+
+The lady leaned back in her large arm-chair, and dropped her eyelids, as
+if she were weary or bored.
+
+"Indeed! and those treasures of Golconda, are they really as priceless
+as Dame Rumour reports them to be?"  The tone of voice was meant to be
+contemptuous, but Reinhard's practised ear detected with great
+satisfaction that it betrayed great eagerness, and something like secret
+anxiety.
+
+He smiled.
+
+"Priceless?" he repeated.  "Well, in such cases so much depends upon the
+estimation in which such things are held by their possessors, that I can
+hardly judge."
+
+He might, we know, have told their value, but he thought, rather
+ungallantly, that a little uncertainty would prove a healthy excitement
+for the lady.
+
+The examination would probably not have concluded here, if Bella had not
+suddenly burst into the room with her usual violence.
+
+"Mamma, the new governess has come," she cried, out of breath, shaking
+back, with a toss of her head, the sandy locks that had fallen over her
+forehead; "why, she is uglier than Miss Mertens!" she went on, without
+taking the least notice of Reinhard's presence.  "She has a bright red
+ribbon on her bonnet, and her mantilla is even more old-fashioned than
+Frau von Lehr's.  I won't go to walk with her, you need not tell me to,
+mamma!"
+
+The baroness put both hands to her ears.
+
+"My child, I pray you, for Heaven's sake, do not speak so loud," she
+gasped; "your voice goes through and through me; and what nonsense you
+talk! you will have to walk out with Mademoiselle Jamin whenever I bid
+you."
+
+This reproof, uttered with considerable emphasis, causing Bella to pout
+angrily while she secretly tore a piece of the fringe from one of her
+mother's cushions, was the result of what might have been called the
+period of martyrdom that had followed Miss Mertens' departure. The
+baroness had been forced to take upon herself the care of Bella, and it
+was, as she declared, death to her nerves. To Fr�ulein von Walde she
+always maintained that all her trouble was in consequence of the defects
+of Miss Mertens' educational system; but in the depths of her soul she
+acknowledged, that her daughter strikingly resembled in disposition the
+deceased Lessen,--among whose characteristics an indomitable obstinacy
+and a determined proclivity to a perpetual _dolce far niente_, were the
+most prominent.  She was, however, far from admitting that any injustice
+had been done to Miss Mertens; that person had been paid to educate her
+daughter, and consequently should have known, without ever acting in
+opposition to the mother's views, or reproving the child, how to correct
+all her faults.  Therefore, the glimpse that she had just had perforce
+of Bella's character, was of no advantage for the new governess; the
+unfortunate French woman, with the gay ribbons on her bonnet, had no
+presentiment of the joyless days that awaited her. Just now, her arrival
+removed a weight from the mind of the baroness, to whom nothing could
+have been less desirable than a dispute at present between teacher and
+pupil, and hence her rebuke of Bella's impertinent remarks.
+
+The baroness arose and went to her apartments, accompanied by her sullen
+daughter, to receive the stranger. At the same time, Reinhard departed.
+
+"Do you wish me to go on reading, Helene?" asked Hollfeld, after the
+three had left the room.  As he took up the newspaper his manner was
+almost caressing.
+
+"By and by," she replied with hesitation, looking at him searchingly,
+with a kind of timid anxiety in her eyes. "I should like to ask you, now
+that we are once more alone together, to tell me what has changed you so
+during these last few days.  You know, Emil, that it pains me deeply
+when you refuse to let me share in what delights or troubles you.  You
+know that it is not idle curiosity which leads me to pry into your
+affairs, but a sincere and heartfelt interest in your weal or woe.  You
+see how I suffer from your reserve.  Tell me frankly if I have done
+anything to make you think me unworthy of your confidence."
+
+She stretched out her hands towards him as if in entreaty.  The gentle
+melancholy in the tones of her voice would have melted a stone.
+
+Hollfeld crushed and twisted the rustling newspaper uneasily in his
+hands.  He held down his head, and avoided meeting the pure, frank gaze
+of the poor girl. Any one with any knowledge of the world could not have
+failed to perceive in his attitude, and in the restless eyes that sought
+the ground, the crafty plotter endeavouring to hit upon some device by
+which to deceive.  To Helene's innocent, loving eyes, the lofty figure,
+slightly leaning forward, the face beneath the thick, light curls,
+rather suggested a thoughtful Apollo.
+
+"You will always have my confidence, Helene," he broke silence at last.
+"You are indeed the only being in the world in whom I can
+confide,"--Helene's eyes sparkled at these words, the poor child was so
+proud of the distinction,--"but there are obligations in life whose
+existence we can hardly acknowledge to ourselves, far less have the
+courage to confess to others."
+
+Fr�ulein von Walde sat upright, in eager expectation.
+
+"I am forced," Hollfeld continued, with a stammer, "to adopt a certain
+resolution, and it has been weighing heavily upon me for days."
+
+He looked up to see what impression his words had made.
+
+Helene seemed to have no suspicion of what he was about to say, for she
+never changed her attitude, and looked as if she would have read the
+words upon his lips. He was therefore compelled to proceed without any
+assistance from her.
+
+"You know, Helene," he slowly continued, "that for the last year I have
+had constant trouble with my housekeepers.  They are continually leaving
+me, often without warning even, and I have no way of ordering my
+domestic affairs.  The day before yesterday, the last one, who only
+entered my house two weeks ago, declared she would not stay.  I cannot
+tell what to do about it; my house is nothing but an annoyance to me
+under these circumstances--"
+
+"Ah, you want to sell Odenberg?" Helene interrupted him eagerly.
+
+"No, that would be folly, for it is one of the finest estates in
+Thuringia; but I am forced to find some other way out of my troubles,
+and nothing is left for me but--to marry."
+
+If some unseen and mysterious agency had suddenly opened a yawning abyss
+at Helene's feet, her face certainly could not have expressed more
+horror and amazement than at this moment.  She opened her white,
+quivering lips, but no sound issued from them, and, entirely incapable
+of concealing her pain, she covered her face with her hands, and sank
+back among the cushions with a low cry.
+
+Hollfeld hastened to her side, and took both her hands in his.
+
+"Helene," he whispered, in a low, tender tone,--his manner was
+perfect,--"will you let me speak and show you how sore my heart is?  You
+know only too well that I love, and that this love will be my first and
+only one as long as I live."
+
+His tongue did not stammer over this odious lie; on the contrary, it
+aided his plans with such insinuating tones that the poor girl's heart
+was torn by a wild conflict of emotions.  If some good angel would only
+have whispered to her to lift her eyes for one moment, she could not but
+have been undeceived, for the look that accompanied his protestations
+was utterly contemptuous as it glanced at her crippled figure; and
+perhaps, in the first moments of her indignation, she might have found
+strength enough to have extricated herself from the snares of the wily
+egotist.  But her eyes were closed as if she would shut out all the
+world, and revel only in the sound of the voice which for the first time
+spoke of love to her.
+
+"Would to Heaven," he continued, "that I might follow the dictates of my
+heart, and live for this love only, for I desire nothing beyond the
+pleasure of constant intercourse with you, Helene.  But you know I am
+the last of the Hollfelds and must marry.  My sacrifice can be lessened
+only in one way,--I must choose a wife who knows you, and----"
+
+"O tell me quickly!" cried Helene, giving way to her grief, while the
+tears burst from her eyes.  "Your choice is already made!  I know
+it,--it is Cornelie!"
+
+"The Quittelsdorf?" he cried, with a laugh.  "That will-o'-the-wisp?
+No, I would far rather leave the administration of my domestic affairs
+to the most repulsive of housekeepers!  What should I do without an
+enormous income with such an extravagant, frivolous wife!  Besides, let
+me tell you most emphatically, my sweet Helene, my choice is not yet
+made,--hear me, and do not weep so violently, you break my heart; I must
+have a wife who knows and loves you; a simple-hearted woman, of genuine
+understanding, to whom I can say: my heart belongs to another who never
+can be mine, be my friend and here."
+
+"And do you imagine that any one could understand you?"
+
+"Most certainly, if she loved me."
+
+"No, I could not,--never, never!"  She buried her face in the cushions,
+sobbing convulsively.
+
+And now an ugly frown appeared on Hollfeld's smooth forehead.  His lips
+were compressed, and for an instant the colour left his cheeks.  He was
+evidently very angry. An expression of hatred lighted up the eyes that
+rested upon the young creature who was unexpectedly rendering his part
+so difficult to play.  But he controlled himself, and lifted her face
+with a light, caressing touch.  The poor thing trembled beneath his
+hypocritical contact, and let her delicate head rest passively upon his
+hand.
+
+"And would you then forsake me, Helene," he asked sadly, "if I were
+compelled to fulfil so hard a duty? Would you turn away and leave me
+lonely, with a wife whom I did not love?"
+
+She raised her swollen eyelids, and from beneath them broke a ray of
+inexpressible love.  He had played his part admirably, and that glance
+told him that the game was in his own hands.
+
+"You are now fighting the same battle," he continued, "which I have
+struggled through during the last few days, before I could arrive at any
+fixed determination.  At first the thought that any third person may
+interfere with our relations to each other may well appall you, but I
+give you my word that shall not be.  Think, Helene, how much more I can
+do for you; how much more truly I can live for you then than now.  You
+can come to me at Odenberg.  I will guard your every footstep, and
+cherish you as the apple of my eye."
+
+Hollfeld possessed very little intellect, but he had a vast amount of
+cunning, which, as we see, served his turn better than intellect could
+have done.  His poor victim flew into the net, her heart torn and
+bleeding, her force of will utterly annihilated.
+
+"I will try to endure the thought," Helene at last whispered almost
+inaudibly.  "But what a being that woman must be who could bear with me,
+and whom I might at last learn to love like a sister!  Do you know any
+such lofty-minded, self-sacrificing creature?"
+
+"I have an idea,--it occurred to me just now quite suddenly,--at present
+it is vague and unformed.  After due consideration I shall certainly
+unfold it to you.  But you must first be more composed, dear Helene.
+Think for a moment.  I place the choice of my future wife solely and
+entirely in your hands.  It depends upon you to approve or condemn what
+I propose."
+
+"And are you strong enough to pass your life with a woman to whom you
+cannot give your love?"
+
+He suppressed a contemptuous smile, for Helene's eyes were riveted upon
+his lips.
+
+"I can do all that I resolve to do," he answered; "and to have you near
+me will give me strength.--But let me entreat one favour of you,--say
+nothing as yet to my mother of this important matter, as you know she
+wishes to control everything and everybody, and I could not now endure
+her interference.  She will learn all soon enough when I present my
+future wife to her."
+
+At any other time, this heartless, unfilial speech would have disgusted
+Helene; but, at this moment, she scarcely heard it, for every thought
+and feeling had been thrown into the wildest uproar by the words,
+"future wife," which suggested, in spite of the multitude of unhappy
+wives, the idea of supreme contentment and bliss.
+
+"Oh, my God!" she cried, wringing in an agony of grief the little hands
+that lay in her lap.  "I always hoped to die before this; I was not,
+indeed I was not so selfish as to think you could lead a lonely life for
+my sake; but I hoped that the necessarily short period of my life might
+induce you to let this cup pass from me,--to wait until my eyes should
+be closed upon my misery."
+
+"But, Helene, what do you mean?" cried Hollfeld, still controlling his
+temper with difficulty.  "At your age, who would think of dying?  We
+will live--live, and in time be, as I confidently hope, happy indeed.
+Think of the matter, and you will see it all as I do."
+
+He pressed her hand affectionately to his lips, imprinted a kiss upon
+her brow, for the first time,--took his hat, and left the room.
+
+Outside, as the door closed upon the suffering girl, he gave full play
+to the expression of contempt that he had so long suppressed, and which
+gave place only to a look of self-satisfaction still more detestable.
+One hour before, his heart had been filled with rage.  His passion for
+Elizabeth, fanned into a flame by her rejection of his advances, had
+been a consuming fire, and had robbed him of all his boasted
+self-control.  But the idea of marriage with the daughter of the
+forester's clerk had never occurred to him,--such a thought would have
+seemed to him insane.  He had exhausted his ingenuity in contriving
+plans to procure a return of affection from the object of his passion.
+The late occurrence at Gnadeck had given his thoughts another direction.
+Elizabeth was now a most desirable match, noble and wealthy.  No wonder,
+then, that he exulted at the news, and immediately formed the
+magnanimous resolution of honouring the fair flower of Castle Gnadeck
+with an offer of marriage.  There was, of course, no doubt that she
+would accept the offer, for although coquetry had led her to reject his
+advances hitherto, she could not possibly pursue such a line of conduct,
+in view of the brilliant prospect of becoming the envied wife of Herr
+von Hollfeld.  He was so secure upon this point that not a cloud of
+distrust darkened the horizon of his future.  It was not only his
+intense desire to possess Elizabeth that urged him on to act as quickly
+as possible,--the thought, that as soon as the discovery in the ruins
+became known, other suitors would present themselves for the hand of
+Gold Elsie, already so famous for her beauty,--this thought made his
+blood boil in his veins.
+
+Only one obstacle stood between him and the fulfilment of his
+determination, and that was Helene.  It was not that he hesitated,
+through sympathy, at the thought of how the fondly-loving girl would
+suffer,--he knew no pity with regard to her,--but he was in dread lest
+too hasty a marriage might cost him the inheritance which he looked for
+from her.  It was a case for prudence and forethought.  We have seen
+how, in cold blood, he made use of the unhappy girl's deep and blind
+affection, and, while pretending to submit to her decision the
+weightiest questions concerning his future life, riveted the chain that
+bound her to him.
+
+As soon as he had left the room Helene tottered to the door, and bolted
+it after him.  And then she resigned herself to utter despair.
+
+They who have never known the hours of torture that ensue upon the
+sudden hearing of some unexpected misfortune,--hours when we would fain
+shriek out our misery into the ears of the universe, and when, needing
+the sympathy and support of others as never before, we are driven, as by
+some evil spirit, to darkness and loneliness, as though light and sound
+were deadly poison to our wound,--they, we say, who have never known the
+pangs that threaten to efface all the landmarks of a previously
+harmonious inner life, will scarcely be able to conceive that Helene
+sank down upon the floor, with her little hands plucking wildly at her
+fair curls, and her frail, diminutive form shivering as from a fever
+fit.  She had lived and breathed only in her absorbing affection for
+this man.  If a few gloomy looks, some slight neglect of his, had
+sufficed to plunge her into the deepest melancholy, and make her utterly
+careless of an event that would once have wrung her sisterly affection
+to the very soul, how much greater must her agony now be in the
+conviction that she was about to lose him forever!
+
+In the wild chaos of thought filling her brain, she was entirely
+incapable of one clear, decided conclusion. The humiliating
+consciousness of her physical infirmities, which caused her to be thrust
+out of an earthly paradise; Hollfeld's confession of love to which she
+had just listened, and which brought such infinite joy and woe; a
+frantic jealousy of the woman, whoever she might be, who was to stand
+beside him as a wife,--all these emotions were seething in her mind,
+threatening to sever the frail thread that bound together soul and body.
+
+It was late, and night had already fallen, when she admitted her anxious
+maid, and yielded to her entreaties to retire to rest.  She emphatically
+refused to see the physician, sent word to the baroness, who asked to
+come in to say good-night, that she could not be disturbed, her need of
+rest was so great,--and then passed the most wretched night of her life.
+
+She grew a little more quiet, that is, the fearful tension of her nerves
+relaxed somewhat, when the first beam of morning light pierced the
+curtains of her room.  The thin golden ray seemed to glide into her
+darkened soul, and illumine thoughts which had hitherto been hidden in
+the wild tumult of her mind.  She began to believe that Hollfeld's
+course was one of the purest self-sacrifice. She had never been able to
+disguise or thrust from her the haunting conviction that his marriage
+might one day become an imperative necessity, and she could not fail to
+be conscious that her idea of his waiting until she should be no more
+had never occurred to him.  Was not his sacrifice great?  Loving her,
+and her only, he must belong to another; ought she to make the
+performance of a sacred duty difficult for him by her grief?  He had
+asked her to tread a thorny path with him.  Should she draw back like a
+coward when he set her such an example of strength and endurance?  And
+if another woman could be found content with friendship instead of love,
+should she allow herself to be outdone in self-renunciation?
+
+In feverish haste she rang the bell by her bedside, and summoned her
+maid.  Yes, she would be strong; but she was conscious that only entire
+certainty could give her courage and the power of endurance; she must
+know, as soon as possible, the name of the woman whom Hollfeld thought
+capable of undertaking so hard a part in life.  She had passed before
+her, in review, every unmarried woman of her acquaintance, but had
+rejected on the instant each and all.
+
+The hour had not yet arrived at which she was accustomed to take
+breakfast with the baroness and Hollfeld; her brother always avoided
+this early meeting of his household, but she could not remain in her
+lonely room, and, as she was greatly exhausted, was pushed in her
+wheeled chair into the dining-room.  To her surprise, she heard from one
+of the servants that the baroness had gone to walk half an hour
+previously,--a very strange piece of news, but one that she was most
+glad to learn, for just as she was wheeled into a recess of one of the
+windows she discovered Hollfeld pacing to and fro upon the lawn without.
+He seemed to have no suspicion that he was observed.  His fine, manly
+figure moved with elastic grace.  Now and then he put a cigar to his
+lips with evident enjoyment, and the delicate aroma floating through the
+air reached Helene at her window.  At first the little lady was
+painfully impressed by his unusually gay and cheerful expression; she
+could not but confess to herself that youthful exuberance of spirits,
+love of life, and an unwonted exhilaration of mind were manifest in his
+every look and motion, even in the half-unconscious smile that now and
+then parted his lips, discovering his wonderfully white teeth.  There
+was no trace there of those struggles which she had passed through
+during the night; he certainly did not look much like the victim of an
+inexorable combination of circumstances.  But was not his
+self-possession the result of great mental force and a strong manly
+will?  He must have reached a height almost too lofty for human nature
+to attain.
+
+The little lady's brow contracted in a frown.
+
+"Emil!" she cried loudly, almost harshly.
+
+Hollfeld was evidently startled, but in a second he stood beneath her
+window, and waved a "good-morning" to her.
+
+"What!" he cried, "are you there already?  May I come up?"
+
+"Yes," she replied more gently.
+
+And in a few moments he entered the room.  Helene had reason to be
+better pleased with his present air and manner; there was an expression
+of great gravity upon his countenance as he threw his hat upon the table
+and pushed a chair close to her side.  Taking both her hands tenderly
+within his own, he gazed into her face, and really seemed struck by her
+ashy cheeks and the lustreless eyes that met his.
+
+"You look ill, Helene," he said pityingly.
+
+"Do you wonder at it?" she asked, with a bitterness that she was unable
+to conceal.  "Unfortunately I am denied the gift of such perfect self
+control as could enable me in a few hours after a crushing experience to
+look forward with content and gaiety to the future.  I envy you."
+
+"You are unjust, Helene," he replied quickly, "if you judge me from my
+exterior.  Is it the part of a man to whine and cry when he submits to
+the inevitable?"
+
+"You certainly do not seem inclined to any such course."
+
+He was provoked beyond measure.  The puny, little creature at his side,
+who, with her crippled figure, ought to be thankful to God if a man
+could so far control himself as not to treat her with absolute rudeness
+and aversion, and who had previously been so grateful for the smallest
+attention, had suddenly taken upon herself to reprove him!  Although he
+had done all he could to inspire her with faith in his ardent love for
+her, in his soul he thought it showed a measureless vanity in the child
+to imagine herself capable of inspiring any man with such a passion, and
+with great irritation he acknowledged to himself that in her case he had
+to contend with most determined obstinacy and disgusting sentimentality.
+It cost him great pains to control himself, but he even accomplished a
+melancholy smile, which became him infinitely.
+
+"When I tell you of the cause of my cheerful looks you will repent your
+reproaches," he said.  "I was just picturing to myself the moment when I
+could go to your brother and say, 'Helene has decided to live in my
+family for the future,' and I cannot deny that the thought gave me
+satisfaction, for he has always regarded my love for you with an eye of
+disfavour."
+
+They say Love is blind, but in most cases he closes his eyes
+voluntarily; knowing that perfect vision would kill him, he fights
+desperately against annihilation.
+
+Helene did her best to reconcile what he said with his previous
+appearance, and succeeded excellently.  With a deep sigh she held out
+her hand to him.
+
+"I believe and have faith in you," she said fervently. "The loss of this
+faith would be my death-blow.  Ah, Emil, you must never, never deceive
+me, not even although you think it would be for my good.  I would rather
+learn the harshest truth than harbour the faintest suspicion that you
+were not perfectly true to me.  I have had a terrible night, but now I
+am composed, and I beg you to tell me more of what you spoke of
+yesterday. I am but too sure that I shall not regain entire self-command
+until I know with certainty who it is that is to stand between us.  At
+present she is a phantom, and in her unreality lies the cause of the
+tormenting anxiety that is consuming me.  Tell me the name, Emil, I
+entreat you."
+
+Hollfeld's eyes sought the ground.  Affairs just then did not look very
+promising.
+
+"Do you know, Helene," he began at last, "that I hesitate to discuss
+this subject with you to-day?  You are greatly agitated.  I am afraid
+that such a conversation will make you ill.  And, as I must say that the
+project which I spoke of yesterday seems more and more feasible to me
+the more I ponder it, I fear much lest in your agitation you should
+overlook its great advantages."
+
+"Indeed I will not!" cried Helene, as, sitting upright she riveted her
+unnaturally bright eyes full upon him. "I have overcome myself, and am
+ready to submit to the inevitable.  I promise you I will be thoroughly
+impartial; as impartial as if I--did not love."  She blushed as the
+confession escaped her for the first time.
+
+"Well, then," said Hollfeld, with hesitation,--he could not quite master
+his emotion,--"what do you think of the young girl of Castle Gnadeck?"
+
+"Elizabeth Ferber?" cried Helene, in the greatest astonishment.
+
+"Elizabeth von Gnadewitz," he hastily corrected her. "The sudden change
+in her social position first suggested the girl to me.  Hitherto I have
+scarcely noticed her, except that her modest demeanour and the repose of
+her countenance impressed me favourably."
+
+"What! did you see nothing to admire in that lovely, wondrously-gifted
+creature, except repose and a modest demeanour?"
+
+"Well, yes," he replied, with an air of indifference, "I remember that
+several times, when you were provoked at some mistake that you had made,
+she never altered a muscle, but patiently went over the passage with you
+again and again, until you were perfect in it.  That pleased me.  I
+believe her to possess great equanimity of mind, and that is the
+characteristic that my wife will need above all others.  I know, too,
+that she fairly adores you, and that is the chief consideration.
+Besides, she has been educated in the strictest economy, her
+requirements will be few, and she will readily assume her right position
+with regard to you and me.  I believe that she has a certain amount of
+tact, and she has been notably brought up,--a great advantage to----"
+
+Helene had sunk back upon her pillows, and covered her eyes with her
+hand.
+
+"No, no," she cried, sitting up once more, and interrupting his eager
+flow of panegyric,--"not that poor, darling child!  Elizabeth deserves
+to be truly loved."
+
+A loud and sudden howl here caused her to give a little cry of fright.
+Hollfeld had just stepped upon the paw of his pointer, Diana, who had
+accompanied him into the room, and was lying stretched out at her
+master's feet.  The interruption was most welcome to him,--for Helene's
+last words sounded to him so comical, in connection with his own
+vehement desires, that he could hardly restrain his laughter.  He opened
+the door and sent the limping brute from the room.  When he returned to
+the young girl he was all grave composure again.
+
+"Well, we will both love the girl, Helene," he said with apparent
+indifference, as he resumed his seat.  Helene was in a state of too
+great excitement to notice the flippancy of his tone and manner.  "Let
+her only leave you the first place in my affections.  She must do that.
+She certainly has enough coolness and presence of mind; she testified
+those qualities abundantly the day she saved Rudolph's life."
+
+"Oh, how?" cried Helene, opening wide her eyes in amazement.
+
+The servant, who had on the previous day involuntarily let slip some
+mention of the occurrence in the forest, had, in terror at his
+oversight, instantly refrained from all further particulars relating to
+it, simply asserting that the bullet intended for Herr von Walde had
+fortunately fallen wide of its mark.  Hollfeld had heard the exact
+account of the murderous attempt only an hour before from the gardener.
+Elizabeth's fearless conduct naturally lent her a new charm in his eyes,
+and goaded afresh his desire to win her as soon as possible.  He related
+the story, which he had just heard, to Helene, concluding his account by
+saying: "You now have one more reason to love the girl, and her conduct
+strengthens my conviction that she is the only one whom I should
+select."
+
+This was his last round of ammunition.  He stroked back the hair from
+his brow with his delicate white hand, and from beneath it narrowly and
+eagerly watched the little lady, whose head was so sunk amid the pillows
+that only her profile was visible.  The tears were gushing from her
+closed eyelids; she said not a word; perhaps she was struggling with
+herself for the last time.
+
+But why did it never occur to her that Elizabeth might fail to accede to
+Hollfeld's wishes?  Any loving woman can answer this question for
+herself, if she will only reflect that the loving heart believes the
+object of its passion irresistible, and learns with difficulty that all
+the world does not share its conviction.
+
+The silence, which began to be painful, was interrupted by the return of
+the baroness from her walk.  Helene started, and quickly dried her
+tears.  With evident impatience she submitted to the caresses with which
+the lady overwhelmed her, replying in monosyllables to the tender
+inquiries with regard to her health.
+
+"Ah!" cried the baroness, as she shook the scarf from her shoulders and
+left it in her son's hands, while she sank clumsily into an arm-chair.
+"How very warm I am!  That path up the mountain is terrible!  No power
+upon earth shall take me over it again!"
+
+"Did you go up the mountain, mother?" asked Hollfeld incredulously.
+
+"Why, yes; you know the physician prescribed an early morning walk for
+me."
+
+"Oh yes; but that was so many years ago, and I thought you always
+maintained that the trouble with your heart made any such exercise
+impossible."
+
+"Still, everything ought to have a fair trial," replied his mother, a
+little embarrassed, "and as I could not sleep last night, I determined
+to try once more; but it will do no good,--I have just had fresh cause
+for vexation.  Only think, Helene, just outside in the gravel walk I met
+Bella with her new governess,--would you believe it, the woman had the
+impertinence to let the child walk by her left side!  And she looks,
+too, like a perfect simpleton.  I was really angry, and defined her
+position to her as clearly as I could.  But tell me yourself, is it not
+hard that I cannot even attempt to refresh myself with a walk without
+encountering what makes me miserable and ill?"
+
+Just as she leaned her forehead in a melancholy manner upon her hand,
+she discovered that the false curls upon her temples had been pushed
+considerably awry by her bonnet.  She arose hastily, and begged for a
+little time before breakfast that she might arrange her dress.
+
+"By the way," she said carelessly, turning round to her son and cousin
+as she reached the door, while she set her bonnet firmly upon the
+rebellious front, "that fellow, Reinhard, imposed upon us finely
+yesterday.  I accidentally encountered the forester's clerk, Ferber, up
+there near the ruins,--I congratulated him----"
+
+"Ah! now I understand the ascent of the mountain!"  Hollfeld interrupted
+his mother ironically.  "And you actually spoke to the man, mother?"
+
+"Oh! now there is no reason why I should not.  The jewels principally
+interested me."
+
+"Did you wish to buy them?" asked her son contemptuously, remembering
+the constant ebb in her finances.
+
+"Hardly," she replied with an angry glance; "but I have always had a
+perfect passion for precious stones; and if your father had not died so
+suddenly, I should now have had a charming set of diamonds, which he had
+promised me, and you would have been six thousand thalers the poorer.
+But to return to the discovered jewels. Ferber told me just what they
+were, and, when I asked him, frankly replied that they would bring about
+eight thousand thalers,--that is what that fellow, Reinhard, calls
+inestimable wealth.  Once more adieu for a few minutes."
+
+The contemptuous smile disappeared from Hollfeld's face, as he listened
+to his mother's words, and gave place to a decided expression of
+disappointment; he had suddenly experienced a sensation like the shock
+of a shower-bath.
+
+Scarcely was the door closed behind the baroness, when Helene aroused
+herself from her apparent apathy, and stretched out both hands to
+Hollfeld.
+
+"Emil," she said quickly, in a low voice, with trembling lips, "if you
+succeed in gaining Elizabeth's love, and I cannot doubt that you will, I
+agree to your plan, but I must always live with you at Odenberg."
+
+"Of course," he replied, although with some hesitation; his voice had
+lost its former decision of tone, "but let me warn you that you will
+have to resign many luxuries. My income is not large, and as you have
+just heard, Elizabeth has nothing."
+
+"She shall not come to you poor, Emil,--rely upon that," the little lady
+rejoined in a tender voice, and with eyes unnaturally bright.  "From the
+moment she promises to be yours I regard her in the light of a sister; I
+will share faithfully with her, and will instantly make over to her the
+rents of my estate of Neuborn, in Saxony; I will talk to Rudolph about
+it as soon as he returns, and when death closes my eyes, all that I
+possess will be hers and yours.  Are you content with me?"
+
+"You are an angel, Helene," he cried; "you shall never repent your
+magnanimity,--your generous devotion."
+
+And this time there was no dissimulation in his delight, for the rents
+of Neuborn made Elizabeth a very wealthy bride.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+Two days had passed since the morning upon which Helene had, as she
+thought, won such a victory over herself, and had been convinced that
+the conflict within her would be quieted by absolute certainty.  But she
+had been far from fathoming the depths of her sentiments; she had
+snatched at a straw in the whirling flood, and it had afforded her not
+one instant's support.  Only two days!--but they outweighed in suffering
+her whole previous life.  She constantly repeated to herself that the
+long desired repose that she had dreamed of was close at hand, and yet
+she shuddered at the thought of the time that must intervene before
+death should bring her release, with the same horror with which the
+sceptic looks forward to the moment of dissolution.  She became
+distinctly aware that her promise to pass her days at Odenberg converted
+her remaining years into a period of superhuman self-sacrifice, and yet,
+for worlds, she would not have retracted one iota of all that she had
+vowed to Hollfeld.  She would be worthy of his love.  No sacrifice was
+too great that was rewarded by his esteem. Poor dupe!
+
+Her nerves suffered intensely during this protracted mental conflict.
+She had constant fever, and could scarcely sleep at all.  The subject
+that occupied her whole mind was constantly hovering upon her lips, but
+she refrained from all mention of it in accordance with Hollfeld's
+request.  He had also entreated her to forego Elizabeth's society for a
+few days; he feared that, in her agitation, she might stand in the way
+of his wishes.  He himself had already taken the first steps towards a
+continuation of his pursuit of Elizabeth.  He had twice presented
+himself at Gnadeck at the gate in the wall, to make inquiries after the
+health of the "von Gnadewitzes," but although he had nearly pulled off
+the bell-handle the door had not been opened.  The first time no one had
+been in the house, and upon the last occasion Elizabeth had observed him
+coming.  Her parents had gone with little Ernst to the Lodge, and Miss
+Mertens had agreed to Elizabeth's idea of not admitting the unwelcome
+visitor.  They sat together in the dwelling-room, laughing, while the
+little bell rang till it was quite hoarse.  Of the conspiracy against
+his admission the visitor of course had no suspicion.
+
+It was seven o'clock in the morning; Helene was already lying dressed
+upon her lounge, she had passed a restless, sleepless night.  The
+baroness was still in bed, and Hollfeld had not yet made his appearance;
+but the little lady could not be alone, and therefore her maid was
+sitting sewing in the room.  Her replies to Helena's remarks were
+unheard by the poor sufferer, but there was something soothing in the
+mere sound of a human voice after her wretched, lonely night.
+
+The noise of an approaching carriage was heard. Helene opened the window
+and leaned out.  Her brother's travelling carriage was just driving up
+the sweep, its wheels sinking deep in the smooth gravel; but it was
+empty.
+
+"Where is your master?" Helene cried out to the coachman, as the vehicle
+passed beneath her window.
+
+"My master got out at the entrance of the park road," the old man
+replied, taking off his hat, "and is coming home on foot over the
+mountain, past Castle Gnadeck."
+
+The little lady shut the window, and shivered as though she were cold;
+the single word "Gnadeck" had acted upon her nerves like an electric
+shock.  Every word that brought Elizabeth to her mind produced the same
+effect upon her that one's imagination would experience from some sudden
+apparition.
+
+She arose, and leaning upon the arm of her maid, went down to her
+brother's apartments.  She ordered breakfast to be served in the room
+opening with glass doors upon the grand staircase, and seated herself in
+an armchair to await the traveller's return.  She took up one of the
+gorgeously bound books that were lying about, and mechanically turned
+over the leaves; but, although her eyes rested upon the engravings that
+filled its pages, she could not have told whether it were portrait or
+landscape that lay open before her.
+
+After she had waited half an hour, her brother's tall form appeared
+behind the glass door.  The book slipped from her lap as she held out
+her hands to welcome him. He seemed surprised at this reception; but he
+was evidently much pleased at finding his sister alone and glad to see
+him.  He hurried towards her, but started in alarm at a nearer view of
+her face.
+
+"Do you feel worse, Helene?" he asked with anxious tenderness, as he
+seated himself beside her.  He put his arm around her and raised her
+head a little, that he might see her face more closely.  There was so
+much kindness and caressing sympathy in his accent and manner that
+suddenly it was as if the warm air of spring breathed over her heart,
+that had been as it were congealed with pain.  Two large tears rolled
+down her cheeks as she leaned her head upon her brother's shoulder.
+
+"Has not Fels been to see you while I have been away?" he asked
+anxiously.  The little lady's aspect evidently caused him great alarm.
+
+"No.  I gave express orders that he should not be sent for.  I am taking
+the drops that he prescribed for my nervous attacks, and he can do
+nothing more for me. Don't be concerned, Rudolph, I shall be better
+soon.  You have had a sad time at Thalleben?"
+
+"Yes," he answered, but his eyes still rested anxiously upon his
+sister's altered features.  "Poor Hartwig died before I arrived; he
+suffered fearfully.  He was buried yesterday afternoon.  You would
+scarcely know his unfortunate wife, Helene; this blow has added twenty
+years to her life!"
+
+He imparted to her some further particulars concerning the sad event,
+and then passed his hand across his eyes, as though desirous of
+banishing from his mind all the trouble and sorrow that he had witnessed
+during the last few days.
+
+"Well, and is all going on here as usual?" he asked after a short pause.
+
+"Not quite," Helene replied with some hesitation. "M�hring left us
+yesterday."
+
+"Ah, Heaven speed him!  I am glad that I escaped a final interview with
+him.  Well, I have one more enemy in the world, but I cannot help it; he
+belongs to a class of men whom I despise."
+
+"And at Gnadeck a piece of good fortune has befallen the Ferbers,"
+Helene continued in an unnaturally quiet voice, averting her face.
+
+The arm-chair in which she was sitting was suddenly pushed aside by the
+arm upon which her brother had been leaning.  She did not look up, and
+therefore could not see the livid pallor that overspread his face for a
+moment, while his quivering lips essayed twice to frame the simple
+monosyllable "Well?"
+
+Helene related the story of the ruins, to which her brother listened
+breathlessly.  Every word that she spoke seemed to lift a weight from
+his heart, but he never dreamed how it cut into the very soul of the
+narrator like a two-edged sword, and that all this was only the prelude
+to her announcement of the terrible sacrifice that she was about to
+make.
+
+"This is, indeed, a most wonderful solution of an old riddle," he said,
+when Helene had finished.  "But I question whether the family will think
+it great good fortune to belong to the von Gnadewitz race."
+
+"Ah! you think so," Helene interrupted him quickly, "because Elizabeth
+has always spoken so slightingly of the name.  I cannot help, however,
+in such cases, thinking of the fable of the fox and the grapes."  She
+spoke these last words with cutting severity.  Her passionate excitement
+and agitation had brought her to the point of denying her nobler nature
+and of attributing mean motives to one who had never injured her, and
+whom, in cooler moments, she knew to be all purity and honour.
+
+An expression of intense amazement appeared upon Herr von Walde's
+countenance.  He stooped and looked keenly into his sister's averted
+face, as if to convince himself that her lips had actually spoken such
+harsh words.
+
+Just at this moment Hollfeld's large hound rushed up the staircase and
+into the room, where he made two or three playful bounds, and then
+vanished again at the sound of a shrill whistle from the lawn without.
+His master was passing by, who apparently did not know of Herr von
+Walde's return, or he would certainly have appeared to welcome him.  He
+walked on quickly, and turned into the path that led up the mountain to
+Gnadeck.  Helene's gaze followed the retreating form until it was lost
+to sight, and then, clasping her hands convulsively, she sank back in
+her chair.  It seemed as if for a moment all strength failed her.
+
+Herr von Waldo poured a little wine into a glass, and held it to her
+lips.  She looked up gratefully, and tried to smile.
+
+"I am not yet at the end of all I have to tell," she began again, rising
+from her half-reclining position.  "I am like all novelists,--I reserve
+my most interesting facts until the last."  She could not hide her
+struggle for firmness and composure beneath the mask of playfulness
+which she attempted to assume in these words.  Her gaze was riveted upon
+the trees outside the window, as she said: "A happy event is about to
+take place among us,--Emil's betrothal."
+
+She had certainly expected some instant expression of astonishment from
+her auditor, for, after a moment's silence, she turned around to him in
+surprise.  His brow and eyes were covered by his hand, and the uncovered
+portion of his face was deadly pale.  At Helene's touch he dropped his
+hand, arose hastily, and went to the open window, as if for a breath of
+fresh air.
+
+"Are you ill, Rudolph?" she cried, with anxiety.
+
+"A passing faintness, nothing more," he replied, again approaching her.
+His face looked strangely altered as he walked several times up and down
+the room, and then resumed his seat.
+
+"I told you of Emil's approaching betrothal, Rudolph," Helene began
+again, emphasizing each word.
+
+"I heard you," he replied mechanically.
+
+"Do you approve this step on his part?"
+
+"It is no affair of mine.  Hollfeld is his own master, and can do as he
+pleases."
+
+"I believe his choice is made.  If I dared, I would tell you the young
+girl's name."
+
+"There is no need to do so.  It will be time enough to hear it when the
+banns are published in church."
+
+His expression was icy; the tone of his voice sounded rough and harsh;
+the blood seemed to have forsaken his cheeks.
+
+"Rudolph, I implore you not to be so rough," Helene begged, in a tone of
+entreaty; "I know that you are no friend to much speaking, and I am
+accustomed to your laconic replies; but now you are too cold and silent,
+just, too, when I have a request to make of you."
+
+"Tell me what it is; am I to have the honour of playing the part of
+groomsman to Herr von Hollfeld?"
+
+Helene recoiled at the bitter contempt expressed in these words.
+
+"You do not like poor Emil, it is more evident to-day than ever before,"
+she said reproachfully, after a little pause, during which Herr von
+Walde had arisen and traversed the room with hasty steps; "I entreat you
+earnestly, dear Rudolph, listen to me patiently; I must talk over this
+matter with you to-day."
+
+He folded his arms and stood still, leaning against a window-frame,
+whilst he said briefly: "You see I am ready to listen."
+
+"The young girl," she began, with a hesitation which was the result less
+of her own internal agitation than of her brother's icy demeanour, "the
+young girl whom Emil has selected is poor."
+
+"Very disinterested on his part; proceed."
+
+"Emil's income is not large."
+
+"The poor man has only ten thousand a year; starvation in his case seems
+unavoidable."
+
+She paused, evidently surprised.  Her brother never exaggerated; the
+sum, then, which he had mentioned, must be correct to a farthing.
+
+"Well, he may be wealthier than I thought," she went on after a short
+pause; "that is not the question at present; his choice is a girl who is
+very dear to me, very dear."  What effort this cost her!  "She has done
+what must forever fill my sisterly heart with gratitude."  Herr von
+Walde unfolded his arms, and drummed with such force upon the
+window-pane with the fingers of his left hand, that Helene thought the
+glass would be broken.
+
+"She will be as a sister to me," she continued, "and I do not wish that
+she should come into Hollfeld's house without a dowry.  I desire to make
+over to her the rents of Neuborn.  May I?"
+
+"The estate belongs to you,--you are of age.  I have no right either to
+consent or refuse."
+
+"Oh yes, Rudolph, you are my next of kin, and should inherit all that I
+have.  Then I may be sure of your consent?"
+
+"Perfectly so, if you really think it necessary----"
+
+"Oh, thank you, thank you!" she interrupted him, extending to him her
+hand.  But he did not seem to notice it, although he was looking fixedly
+at her.  "You are not angry with me for this?" she asked, anxiously,
+after a few moments.
+
+"I am never angry when you are striving to make others happy.  You must
+remember how I have always encouraged and assisted you in such efforts.
+But here I do think you are in too great haste.  You seem to me very
+ready to plunge that young creature into misery."
+
+She started up as though a viper had stung her.  "That is a cruel
+accusation!" she cried.  "Your prejudice against poor Emil, which is
+founded, Heaven only knows upon what, leads you beyond all bounds.  You
+know the man far too slightly."
+
+"I know him far too well to wish to know him any better.  He is a
+dishonourable villain, a miserable fellow of no character, by whose side
+a woman, let her claims for honour and uprightness in a man be ever so
+small, must be wretched.  Woe to the poor creature when she finds him
+out!"  His voice trembled with suppressed pain; but Helene heard in it
+only anger and violence.
+
+"Oh Heavens! how unjust!" she cried, raising her tearful eyes to the
+ceiling.  "Rudolph, you are committing a great sin.  What has poor Emil
+done to you, that you should persecute him so unrelentingly?"
+
+"Must a man be personally aggrieved in order to estimate correctly
+another's character?" he asked, angrily. "My child, you have been
+grossly deceived; but your eyes are blinded.  The time will come when
+you will acknowledge it with shame.  If I should try to remove this cup
+of suffering from your lips, it would avail nothing; you would repulse
+me, seeing in me only a barbarian treading under foot all your holiest
+affections.  You force me to leave you to pursue your path alone, until
+the moment when you will fly to me for consolation and succour. My heart
+will always be open to you; but what will become of that other, bound
+irrevocably to her dreadful fate?"
+
+He went into the next room, and locked the door after him.  For awhile
+Helene sat as if paralyzed,--then she arose with difficulty, and
+supporting herself by the walls and the furniture, left the apartment.
+
+Her soul was filled with bitterness, almost with hatred, towards her
+brother, who had to-day roughly and ruthlessly handled all that she had
+tenderly encircled with the most delicate fibres of her heart.  That
+heart was well nigh broken as she called vividly to mind the
+self-sacrifice which her lover proposed.  She seemed to herself to have
+already wronged him deeply in allowing such terrible abuse of him to
+fall upon her ears.  He should never, never learn how her brother's
+prejudices had carried him away.  No sacrifice, not the greatest, would
+now be sufficient to atone for the injustice which he was forced
+unconsciously to endure.  And since her brother had so openly declared
+his opinion of Hollfeld, she would not allow that he should longer share
+the hospitality of Lindhof.  She would herself request him to return to
+Odenberg, of course suppressing her reason for such a request.  But
+first his engagement to Elizabeth should be concluded.
+
+Occupied with these thoughts, she entered the dining-room, and when
+Hollfeld appeared shortly afterward, she received him with a quiet
+smile, and announced to him that her brother, without even hearing the
+name of the future bride, had approved of her resolution with regard to
+her dowry.  She desired to see Elizabeth now as soon as possible, and
+Hollfeld, greatly rejoiced to observe her repose of manner, assented.
+It was agreed that the interview should take place at four o'clock that
+afternoon, in the pavilion.  Hollfeld left the room to despatch a
+servant to Gnadeck with a request, in Helene's name, to that effect.
+How surprised the little lady would have been, could she have heard it
+expressly enjoined upon the servant to name three, as the appointed
+hour, while the butler was ordered to have everything arranged in the
+pavilion at that time!
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+When the servant from Lindhof rang the bell at the gate in the wall,
+Elizabeth was sitting in the hall.  She was weaving a long garland of
+evergreens and ivy, and Miss Mertens, sitting beside her, had in her
+hand a half-finished wreath of asters.  The grave had been made ready in
+the Lindhof church-yard, and in the afternoon, between five and six
+o'clock, the leaden coffin containing the mortal remains of the
+beautiful Lila was to be consigned to the earth.  If Jost's dreaded eyes
+could have gazed upon his lovely descendant, they would certainly have
+beamed with a mild and tender light to see her engaged in preparing an
+offering of fresh flowers and green vines with which to adorn the bier
+of his idolized love.
+
+After consulting her mother, Elizabeth accepted the invitation, all the
+more willingly as it referred only to "an hour's talk."  Soon after the
+servant's departure, Reinhard appeared.  He looked very grave, and told
+Miss Mertens that his master had returned from Thalleben in the
+strangest state of mind.
+
+"He must have been greatly shocked by the misery that he witnessed in
+the desolate home," he remarked, "for I really do not recognize my kind
+master.  I had several unavoidable communications to make to him, but I
+saw that I spoke in vain; he did not listen, but sat opposite me,
+looking utterly crushed, evidently lost in the most painful reflections.
+He started up hastily when I began at last to tell him of our discovery
+up here in the ruins, and interrupted me angrily with 'I have heard all
+about that matter already; I pray you leave me alone.'"
+
+Miss Mertens plainly perceived that Reinhard was really wounded by Herr
+von Walde's manner towards him.
+
+"Dear friend," she said soothingly, "in moments of great mental
+suffering we either are not aware of the external world, or the
+consciousness of it increases our pain; we cannot endure that all around
+us should pursue its customary course while all within has received such
+a shock, a shock that we cannot recover from.  Herr von Walde was
+doubtless warmly attached to his unfortunate friend, and--but, good
+Heavens!  Elizabeth, what are you doing?" she interrupted herself, "do
+you really think that looks well?"
+
+She pointed to the garland.  In fact, whilst Reinhard had been speaking
+Elizabeth had, with trembling hands, picked up two or three large
+dahlias and woven them into her graceful green wreath.  She now looked
+down, and was aware for the first time of what she had been doing.  The
+poor flowers were instantly torn from the soft green pillow where they
+had laid their heavy heads so comfortably, and treated with as much
+severity as if they had insisted on going where they were not wanted.
+
+Three o'clock had long since struck in the Lindhof church-tower when
+Elizabeth hurried down the mountain. Her uncle had detained her in
+conversation; he was provoked that she had accepted the invitation.
+"For," he said, and with some justice, "surely the poor creature whom we
+consign to her resting-place to-day deserves that we should consecrate
+at least one day to her memory."  He had no idea of what was passing in
+the heart of his niece.  He did not dream that for the last few days his
+darling had counted the hours which must pass before she could think,
+"He is at home again;" and, to his vexation, his usually obedient child
+slipped from him and vanished through the garden gate.
+
+Her feet scarcely touched the ground.  She hoped by walking quickly to
+overtake the time which she had lost, and could have cried, when her
+thin dress caught upon a bramble, and could only be extricated by
+patience and skill.  At last, almost out of breath, she reached the
+pavilion.  Both of the folding-doors were open; the room was still
+empty.  Upon the table stood a salver of refreshments, and Helene's
+corner of the sofa was arranged for her.
+
+Much relieved, Elizabeth entered, and was leaning against one of the
+opposite windows which looked out upon some tall shrubbery, when she
+heard, a slight noise behind her.  Hollfeld had hitherto been concealed
+by one of the open folding-doors, and he now approached her. She turned
+to leave the apartment without even honouring the object of her aversion
+by a look; but he placed himself in her path, although his manner was no
+longer insolent,--on the contrary, it was respectful and even
+submissive, as he assured her that the ladies would appear directly.
+Elizabeth looked up surprised; there was not in his voice the faintest
+trace of that impertinent tone that had so irritated and outraged her.
+
+"I give you my word that Fr�ulein von Walde will be here in one moment!"
+he repeated, as she again attempted to reach the door.  "Is my presence,
+then, so disagreeable to you?" he added more gently, with a tinge of
+sadness.
+
+"Most assuredly it is," Elizabeth replied coldly and decidedly; "if you
+will remember your late conduct towards me, you will know that to be
+left one moment alone with you must be odious to me."
+
+"How stern and implacable that sounds!  Must, then, my punishment for my
+thoughtless jest be so severe?"
+
+"I advise you, in future, to be more prudent in your choice of those
+with whom you wish to jest."
+
+"Good Heavens!  I see now that it was a mistake; I regret my
+impetuosity, but how could I dream----"
+
+"That any respect was due to me?" Elizabeth interrupted him, with
+flashing eyes.
+
+"No, no!----, I never doubted that!--Heavens! how angry you can be!  But
+I could not possibly know that you possessed the right to claim more,
+far more, than mere respect."
+
+Elizabeth looked at him inquiringly; she evidently did not understand
+him.
+
+"Can I do more than sue on my knees for pardon?" he continued.
+
+"It shall be granted upon condition that you leave me instantly."
+
+"What cruel obstinacy!  I should be a fool indeed to lose this precious
+moment.  Elizabeth, I have told you already that I love you
+ardently,--that I am dying of love for you!"
+
+"And I am quite aware of having distinctly told you that it is a matter
+of utter indifference to me."  She began to tremble, but her glance was,
+nevertheless, firm and composed.
+
+"Elizabeth, do not drive me to extremities!" he cried in great
+agitation.
+
+"I would especially request you to remember the common rules of
+politeness, which require us not to address strangers by their Christian
+names."
+
+"You are a very imp of coldness and malice!" he cried, now trembling
+with rage.  "Well, I grant that there is some show of reason for your
+irritation with me," he added, controlling himself by an effort; "my
+conduct towards you has not been what it should be, but I will atone for
+it abundantly.  Listen to me quietly for one moment, and you will relax
+your severity.  I offer you my hand.  You must know that I can give a
+brilliant position, as far as rank and wealth are concerned, to my
+future wife."
+
+He looked down at her with a smile of triumph.  It was so natural that
+his lovely opponent should be paralyzed with joyful surprise at this
+unexpected disclosure of his intentions; yet, strange to say, the result
+that he anticipated did not ensue.  Elizabeth stood proudly erect, and
+retreated a pace or two.
+
+"I regret this, Herr von Hollfeld," she said with quiet dignity.  "You
+might have spared yourself this humiliating moment.  After all that I
+have hitherto said to you, I scarcely comprehend what you have just
+declared.  Since you force me to it, I must tell you most emphatically
+that our paths in life lie in opposite directions; and----"
+
+"What!"
+
+"And that nothing could induce me to connect my lot with yours."
+
+He stared at her for a moment vaguely, as though perfectly incapable of
+understanding her words.  His face grew livid, and his white teeth were
+buried in his underlip.
+
+"And would you really carry the farce so far as to give me such an
+answer?" he asked at last in a hoarse voice.
+
+Elizabeth smiled contemptuously, and turned away. Her behaviour
+transported him with rage.
+
+"Your reasons?  I will know your reasons!" he ejaculated, stepping
+between Elizabeth and the door which she was trying to reach.  He caught
+at her dress to detain her.  She shrunk from him, and retired a few
+steps farther into the room.
+
+"Leave me!" she cried, gasping for breath.  Terror almost choked her
+utterance; hut, nevertheless, she once more took courage, and raised her
+head proudly, with an air of command.  "If there is no spark of honour
+in you to which I can appeal, you force me to use the only weapons at my
+command, by declaring to you that I thoroughly despise you; I detest the
+sight of you; the hiss of a poisonous viper could not inspire me with
+the aversion and disgust with which I listen to the words by which you
+would awaken my affection.  I have never harboured one sentiment of
+regard for you; but, if I had, it must have been instantly annihilated
+by your despicable conduct towards me.  Let me go now in peace, and----"
+
+He did not allow her to finish her sentence.  "That I shall certainly
+not do," he hissed between his teeth; his face that had hitherto been so
+pale, flushed crimson, and his eyes flashed as he darted towards her,
+like some raging wild beast.  She fled to the window, as she saw it was
+impossible to reach the door, and tried to lift the sash, hoping to be
+able to leap from the low sill to the ground without.  But she stood
+still, transfixed with horror.  A terrible face was looking into the
+room from the shrubbery outside.  The features were deadly pale, and
+distorted by a fiendish grin, while the fire of madness gleamed in the
+eyes that were riveted upon Elizabeth's face.  She hardly recognized in
+the dreadful apparition dumb Bertha; shivering with terror, she
+recoiled; Hollfeld's extended arms encircled her form,--blinded by
+passion, he did not perceive the ghastly face at the window.  Elizabeth
+pressed her ice-cold fingers upon her closed eyes to shut out the
+horrible sight; she felt her persecutor's hot breath upon her hands; his
+hair brushed her cheek; she shuddered, but her physical force failed
+her; she succumbed beneath the twofold horror,--no sound escaped her
+lips.  At sight of Hollfeld, Bertha raised her clenched fists as though
+to dash them through the window panes,--then, suddenly she paused as if
+listening to some noise near, dropped her hands, and with a shrill
+laugh, vanished among the shrubbery.
+
+All this was the work of a few seconds.  The sound of the shrill
+laughter startled Hollfeld, and he looked up. For one moment, his gaze
+sought to penetrate the bushes, behind which Bertha had disappeared, and
+then it returned to the form which lay in his arms, and which he clasped
+to his heart.  His cunning foresight, his prudent hypocrisy, that had
+always enabled him to conceal his baseness from the eyes of the world,
+were all forgotten.  He did not remember that the time that Helene had
+appointed had arrived,--that through the wide open door the gardener, or
+any of the servants, might enter the room; his passion had mastered him,
+and he never observed that, in fact, Fr�ulein von Walde was standing
+upon the threshold of the door, leaning on her brother's arm, while,
+behind them, the baroness was stretching out her long neck, with an
+unmistakable air of great displeasure.
+
+"Emil!" she cried, her voice vibrating with anger.  He started, and
+looked wildly around; involuntarily he opened his arms; Elizabeth's
+hands dropped from her eyes, and she staggered towards the nearest
+couch.  The harsh, rude voice of the baroness sounded like sweet music
+in her ears, for it brought her succour.  There too stood the tall,
+manly form, at sight of which her failing pulses throbbed wildly again.
+She could have thrown herself at his feet, and prayed him,--"Save me
+from that man, whom I detest and flee from, as I would from sin itself."
+But what a look met hers!  Did that annihilating glance really come from
+the same eyes that a few days previously had so tenderly sought her own?
+Was this man, with the stern, erect head, and the pale, cold brow, the
+same who had bent over her, saying with such unutterable
+gentleness,--"may my good angel whisper in your ear the word that will
+unlock that fairy realm for me?"  He stood there now like an evil angel,
+whose mission is to avenge and to crush to the dust some poor,
+quivering, human heart.
+
+Helene, who had stood as though lifeless or rooted to the ground during
+the scene in the interior of the apartment, now withdrew her arm from
+her brother's and approached Elizabeth; she did not for one instant
+doubt that Hollfeld had prospered in his wooing, and that the matter had
+been happily concluded.
+
+"A thousand welcomes to you, dearest Elizabeth!" she cried in great
+agitation, and, while tears broke from her eyes, she took the young
+girl's trembling hands between her own.  "Emil brings me a dear
+sister,--love me as a sister, and I shall be grateful to you as long as
+I live.  Do not look so stern, Amalie," she turned beseechingly to the
+baroness, who was standing like a pillar of stone just outside the
+pavilion; "Emil's future happiness is at stake.  Look at Elizabeth!
+Does she not satisfy every desire that you can have with regard to the
+one who will occupy such a close relation to you?  Young, richly endowed
+by nature, of an ancient family and distinguished name."
+
+She stopped, startled.  At last the life seemed to return to Elizabeth's
+stiffened limbs, and she was capable of understanding what was said.  By
+a hasty movement she released her hands from Helene's, and stood erect
+before her.
+
+"You are mistaken, gracious lady," she said in a clear ringing voice; "I
+have no claim to such distinction."
+
+"What! have you not an undeniable claim to the name of von Gnadewitz?"
+
+"Doubtless; but that claim will never be asserted."
+
+"Would you really reject such happiness?"
+
+"I cannot see that true happiness has anything to do with an empty
+sound."  Her endeavour to lend firmness to her faithless voice was
+distinctly perceptible.
+
+Meanwhile the baroness had drawn near.  She was inwardly furious that
+her son had made his choice without in the faintest degree consulting
+her, or asking her maternal consent; besides, the object of his choice
+was detestable to her.  But she knew well that her interference would
+accomplish nothing,--her son would shrug his shoulders, perhaps smile
+contemptuously, and be confirmed in his resolve.  It was most fortunate,
+too, for her and her interests, that Helene had taken up the matter as
+she had, determined, as it seemed, to carry it through with an
+enthusiastic degree of self-sacrifice.  Although she was thoroughly in
+the dark as to the little lady's motives for such a line of conduct, she
+could not fail to perceive that she was in earnest, and therefore,
+however discontented at heart, she resolved to put a good face upon the
+matter, and to play the part of a forgiving and blessing parent.
+Elizabeth's replies suddenly closed her lips.  She conceived a hope that
+Elizabeth might put a stop to the matter by her own obstinacy; if so,
+she would pour oil on the flames.
+
+"We have to contend here with a plebeian prejudice, my love," she said
+to Helene, who had listened in amazement to Elizabeth's answers.  "You
+may, however, have most excellent reasons for shunning the light of
+loftier realms," the lady continued, in a cutting tone, turning to
+Elizabeth.
+
+"I have no reason to shun that light," the young girl replied, "even
+should it suddenly reveal faults hitherto unsuspected, as it sheds a
+brilliant glare on the stains upon the crest of the Gnadewitzes.  But we
+love our name because it is true and honest, and we would not exchange
+this stainless inheritance for a title made famous by the tears and toil
+of others!"
+
+"Heavens, what exalted sentiments!" cried the baroness with a sneer.
+
+"You cannot be serious, Elizabeth," said Helene.  "Do not forget that
+the earthly happiness of two human beings hangs upon your decision."
+She cast a meaning glance at Elizabeth, which of course was utterly
+incomprehensible to her.  "You must bring a noble name with you into the
+sphere to which you will now belong, and you certainly would not destroy
+your own hopes and those of others?"
+
+"I am utterly at a loss to understand you,"' said Elizabeth with some
+irritation.  "It never occurred to me to connect the name of von
+Gnadewitz with any hopes whatever; least of all can I conceive how the
+wishes or happiness of others can depend upon the resolution of such a
+poor, insignificant girl as I."
+
+"You are not poor, dear child," rejoined Helene. "Come," she continued,
+with emotion, "let us from to-day be sisters indeed!  You too, dear
+Rudolph," and she turned with some embarrassment to her brother; "you
+will welcome Emil's bride into our family, and permit me to share
+everything with her like a sister?"
+
+"Yes," was the reply, spoken sternly, but firmly.
+
+Elizabeth put her hand to her forehead; what she had heard sounded so
+incredible.  "Emil's bride" was what Fr�ulein von Walde had said; was
+she speaking of her?--impossible!  Had these people conspired to terrify
+her thus?  And he,--he who knew how she detested Hollfeld, had sided
+with them; he was standing there with folded arms, the perfect image of
+implacable sternness and reserve.  He had been, hitherto, quite silent,
+and had opened his lips only to utter the "yes," which had so crushed
+her.  Had he not, previously, endeavoured almost rudely to prevent his
+cousin's advances?  At thought of that, it suddenly flashed upon her
+that she was now of noble rank,--that explained everything.  Hollfeld's
+nobility could not be dishonoured now by an alliance with her; his
+relatives were, therefore, all quite willing to accede to his suit, and
+Helene's surprise at her announcement that she despised the name which
+they thought noble, was perfectly natural; still, how they could
+possibly imagine an understanding, upon her part, with the man whom she
+detested, was utterly beyond her comprehension, for her brain reeled
+with the wild uproar of her thoughts.  One thing only was quite clear,
+she must immediately convince them of their error.
+
+"I find myself the object of a misunderstanding, the origin of which I
+cannot possibly comprehend," she said hastily.  "It is Herr von
+Hollfeld's duty to make an explanation here; but as he prefers to be
+silent, I am forced to declare that he has had no encouragement whatever
+from me."
+
+"But, dear child," said Helene, in great confusion, "did we not see with
+our own eyes as we entered that----" she did not proceed.
+
+These words sounded like a thunder clap in Elizabeth's ears.  The idea
+that that moment of helpless terror could be misunderstood by any one,
+had never entered her pure and innocent mind.  And now she found, to her
+unutterable pain, that it had placed her in a hatefully false light. She
+turned, for an instant, toward Hollfeld, but one glance convinced her
+that she had no satisfaction,--no concern for her honour, to look for
+from him.  With his back turned to the rest, he was standing at the
+window like a detected school-boy.  If the ladies only had been present,
+he would doubtless have extricated himself by some bold and cunning lie;
+but Herr von Walde was there, and he was utterly at a loss.  He
+contented himself by preserving an ambiguous silence, which gave
+unlimited scope for conjecture.
+
+"God in heaven, how terrible!" cried the young girl, wringing her hands.
+"As you entered you saw," she continued, averting her face, and drawing
+a deep breath, "a defenceless girl striving vainly to repel the
+insolence of a man lost to all sense of honour.  The reiterated
+declaration on my part that I thoroughly despise and utterly detest him
+was of no avail in freeing me from his presence.  I have never concealed
+these sentiments from Herr von Hollfeld,--on the contrary----"
+
+Here she was interrupted by a loud noise.  Helene had sunk back upon the
+couch, and her right hand clutched the table near her, shaking it so
+that the china and glass upon it rattled.  The little lady's face was
+ashy-pale,--her despairing glance sought Hollfeld.  In vain she
+endeavoured to conquer her agitation.  The light that suddenly revealed
+such a hateful web of intrigue was too lurid,--its glare had the
+annihilating effect upon her hitherto unsuspicious mind of a flash of
+lightning.
+
+Elizabeth, although she was herself much agitated, and prepared to give
+further expression to her indignation, felt her heart melt with sympathy
+at sight of the little lady.  In vindicating her own honour she had torn
+the bandage from Helene's eyes, and she was filled with sorrow for her,
+although she knew that she must have been undeceived sooner or later.
+She hastily approached her, and took the icy little hands, which had
+dropped from the table, between her own.
+
+"Forgive me if I have terrified you by my hasty words," she said
+beseechingly, but firmly.  "You can readily understand my position.  A
+few explanatory words from Herr von Hollfeld would have sufficed to
+clear me from every degrading suspicion.  I should not then have been
+forced to declare so emphatically what I thought of his character and
+conduct.  I regret what has happened, but I cannot retract one word that
+I have said."
+
+She kissed Helene's hand, and silently left the pavilion.  She fancied
+that Herr von Walde extended his hand to her as she passed him, but she
+did not look up.
+
+Outside, she followed the narrow, winding way that led through a grove
+to the pond.  She passed by the castle, along the broad gravel-walk, and
+entered the little forest-path leading to the convent tower, without
+knowing whither she was going, or remembering that every step took her
+farther from her home.
+
+She was in a state of fearful excitement.  A wild chaos was seething in
+her brain.  Hollfeld's offer of marriage,--his insolent
+passion,--Bertha's sudden appearance at the window of the pavilion,--the
+inconceivable fact that Helene had received her with joy as the bride of
+the man whom she herself loved,--all these things passed through her
+mind, and in the midst of the confusion she distinctly heard Herr von
+Walde's "yes."  He too, then, would have welcomed her as Herr von
+Hollfeld's bride!  It would have cost him nothing to see her his
+cousin's wife.  This marriage had doubtless been decided upon in family
+conclave.  Herr von Walde had weighed the for and against with his usual
+cool judgment, and had finally agreed with Helene that Emil's choice
+would not prove a blot upon the von Hollfeld escutcheon.  She could be
+graciously received, and they would themselves provide the dowry which
+the bride was deficient in.
+
+At these thoughts Elizabeth set her teeth, as if she were enduring
+physical agony.  She was filled with unutterable bitterness; her sincere
+and ardent sentiments had been misunderstood and crushed under foot by
+that cold-blooded, calculating aristocrat.  How could she ever have
+imagined that he could sympathize in the least with a young, earnest
+heart, enamoured of freedom, and giving no heed to the belittling, often
+ridiculous institutions of the world,--he who found the pride and glory
+of woman only in the ruins and ashes of a long ancestral line?
+
+Several times she paused, lost in thought, and then she walked on
+quickly, heedless that she was traversing the same path along which she
+had gone in such confusion by his side a few days before.  The
+overhanging boughs and branches brushed her forehead; she forgot how he
+had bent them aside, lest they should annoy her.  The underbrush was
+still trodden down, and the stripped leaves were not quite withered upon
+the spot where Fr�ulein von Quittelsdorf and Hollfeld had broken through
+the bushes to reach the two lonely wanderers.  Here was the place where
+the unfinished birthday greeting had been whispered; Elizabeth passed
+unheeding by, and it was well that she did so, for there were no tears
+in her burning eyes; here where she could have wept her very heart out.
+
+At last she looked around her with surprise.  She stood before the
+convent tower.  Hers was perhaps the first human foot that had pressed
+this turf since the place had been deserted by the latest guests or the
+weary servants on the night of the f�te.
+
+It looked sadly out of order; the grass had been trodden down by the
+dancers, whose tread had not been fairy-like.  The two hemlocks, which
+had sustained the refreshment tent, lay prostrate upon the ground in the
+midst of fragments of broken bottles and the remains of the fireworks.
+Above, the shrivelled garlands were still hanging between the tower and
+the oaks, while a gentle breeze swept whispering among the poor flowers,
+which hung crushed together in the air, their short season of triumph
+long since ended.
+
+It was already twilight beneath the oaks, although a golden light
+illumined their topmost boughs, and played upon the gray roof of the
+tower.
+
+It was with a slight shudder that Elizabeth became aware of her
+loneliness in the heart of the dim, silent forest; nevertheless she was
+irresistibly drawn towards the spot where Herr von Walde had taken leave
+of her. She stepped across the trampled sward,--then stood for an
+instant as if rooted to the earth,--for the evening breeze brought to
+her ear single broken tones of a human voice.  At first she seemed to
+hear something like a distant ejaculatory cry for help; then gradually
+the sounds grew more connected, and rapidly drew near.  It was a shrill,
+piercing, female voice, shouting, rather than singing, a hymn.
+Elizabeth could hear that the singer, whoever she might be, was running
+quickly as she sang.
+
+All at once the melody ceased, or rather it was interrupted by a burst
+of horrid laughter, and then by a shriek, which ran through a perfect
+scale of scorn, triumph, and bitter agony.
+
+A foreboding of evil filled Elizabeth's mind.  She looked anxiously in
+the direction, in the dark wood, whence the noise was approaching.  It
+was hushed for a moment, and then the hymn began again, while the singer
+came rushing on like the wind.
+
+Elizabeth stepped within the open door of the tower, for she did not
+wish to encounter the strange singer; scarcely had she crossed the
+threshold, when the laughter was repeated close at hand.
+
+On the opposite side of the open sward Bertha rushed out of the thicket,
+and by her side ran Wolf, the forester's savage watch-dog.
+
+"Wolf, seize her!" she shrieked, pointing with both hands to Elizabeth.
+The animal came tearing, barking, across the open space.
+
+Elizabeth shut the door behind her, and ran up the tower stairs.  She
+thus gained a moment's advantage; but before she had reached the roof of
+the tower the door below was opened.  The growling dog rushed up the
+stairs followed by the maniac cheering him on.
+
+The terrified and hunted girl reached the topmost stair,--she heard the
+growl of the savage brute behind her,--he was just at her heels,--with
+one last effort she stepped out upon the roof, closed the oaken door,
+and leaned her whole weight against it.
+
+For a few moments Bertha rattled at the latch upon the other side,--it
+did not yield.  She raved, and threw herself against the oaken panels,
+while Wolf, barking and growling, scratched at the threshold.
+
+"Amber witch out there!" she shrieked.  "I'll throttle you!  I'll drag
+you through the thicket by your long, yellow hair!  You have stolen his
+heart from me, with your moonshine face,--vile hypocrite that you are!
+Seize her, Wolf, seize her!"
+
+The dog whined, and tore at the door with his paws.
+
+"Tear her in pieces, Wolf; bury your teeth in her white fingers that
+have bewitched him with their devilish music! curse her! cursed be the
+tones that come from her fingers! may they turn to poisonous arrows, and
+bury themselves in her own heart and destroy it!"
+
+Again she threw herself against the door; the old oaken planks creaked
+and groaned, but it did not yield to the little powerless feet.
+
+Elizabeth meanwhile leaned against the door on the other side, with lips
+tightly closed and a face pale as death.  She had seized a piece of wood
+that lay at her feet that she might defend herself, if need should be,
+against the dog.  Her whole frame shuddered at the curses which Bertha
+shrieked out, but she nerved herself with new resolution.
+
+Had she only glanced at the latch of the door, she would have seen that
+any effort upon her part to keep it closed was wholly needless,--a huge
+bolt had slipped forward, against which the maniac's utmost strength
+could avail nothing.
+
+"Open the door!" Bertha shouted again.  "Transparent, brittle creature!
+Ha! ha!  Old Bruin, whom I hate, calls her Gold Elsie.  The old fellow
+despises heaven, and may go to hell for all I care, for I shall be
+blessed, eternally blessed.  He calls her Gold Elsie because she has
+hair of amber.  Fie! how ugly you are! my hair is black as the raven's
+wing.  I am a thousand times the fairer.  Do you hear me, moonlight
+face?"
+
+She paused exhausted, and Wolf, too, ceased his whining and scratching
+at the threshold.
+
+At the same moment the tolling of a distant bell broke the evening
+silence of the forest.  Elizabeth well knew what it signified,--a
+funeral train was descending the mountain from the ruins of old Castle
+Gnadeck.  Lila's mortal remains were leaving the walls which had once
+echoed the sighs and groans of the lovely gypsy girl. She was borne
+through the forest, in longing for which her heart had broken two
+centuries before.
+
+Bertha, too, seemed to listen to the sound of the bell; for a moment she
+did not stir.
+
+"They are ringing," she cried suddenly; "come, Wolf, let us go to
+church; let her stay up here with the clouds that will fall upon her in
+the night,--the tempest will tear her hair, and the ravens will come and
+pick out her eyes, for she is accursed, accursed!"
+
+And then she began the hymn again.  Her terrible voice echoed eerily
+against the narrow walls of the tower.  She ran down and out of the door
+below, then rushed singing across the open space, and disappeared in the
+thicket whence she had issued at first,--the dog following her.  She
+never once turned round towards the tower.  As soon as she turned her
+back upon it she seemed to forget entirely that the object of her hatred
+was standing up there upon the gray stone platform.  Elizabeth caught a
+last glimpse of her scarlet jacket among the dark bushes, and then, with
+her savage companion, she was seen no more.  Gradually her song died
+away, and soon the gentle breeze wafted only the tolling of the bell to
+the ears of the lonely girl upon the roof of the tower.
+
+With a deep-drawn breath of relief she relinquished her constrained
+position, which she had until now retained mechanically, and tried to
+lift the latch of the door.  It was rusty and resisted her efforts as it
+had Bertha's. She now discovered with alarm that the bolt had
+sprung,--it had, indeed, defended and protected her, but it was also her
+jailer,--for she could not possibly stir it; worn out at last with her
+fruitless attempts to withdraw it, she dropped her hands at her sides.
+
+What was to be done?  She thought with distress of her parents who had
+probably been made anxious by her prolonged absence,--for they knew that
+she fully intended to be present at the interment of her ancestress.
+
+Around her were grouped the mighty monarchs of the forest, their topmost
+boughs still tipped here and there by the fading western light.  Far in
+the distance gleamed a strip of light,--there lay L---- with its lofty
+castle, whose long rows of windows glittered for a few moments, and then
+disappeared in gloom.  And there towered the mountain crowned by the
+ruin of Gnadeck; but the forest hid from her her dear home, she could
+not even see the lofty flagstaff.
+
+Elizabeth soon relinquished all hope of being seen by passers-by,--and
+she knew that her feeble cry for help must die away unheard, for the
+tower lay hidden in the depths of the forest; no frequented road passed
+near it; and who would be likely to be walking at nightfall in the quiet
+path which led nowhere except to the convent tower?
+
+Nevertheless she made one attempt, and uttered a loud cry.  But how weak
+it sounded!  It seemed to her that the boughs of the nearest tree
+absorbed it entirely; it only startled some ravens in the vicinity, and
+they flew croaking away overhead; then all was still again,--fearfully
+still.  The Lindhof church bells were silent. A faint red yet glimmered
+in the west, tinging a few little floating clouds,--the forest lay in
+deep shadow.
+
+Utterly at a loss, Elizabeth walked to and fro upon the flat roof.
+Sometimes she stood still at the corner looking toward Castle Lindhof,
+which was the nearest inhabited mansion, and raised her voice in a vain
+cry for help.  At last she ceased all such efforts, and seated herself
+upon the bench which was set into the outer wall of the small landing,
+at the top of the stairs, and which was tolerably protected by the
+projecting roof from wind and weather.
+
+She was not afraid of passing the night here, for she did not doubt that
+search would be made for her in the forest; but how many anxious hours
+her friends must pass before she could be found!
+
+This thought troubled her greatly and increased her nervous agitation.
+She had passed through so much during the day, and had had no
+assistance, nothing but her own force of character to sustain her.  She
+was still trembling from the terror of the last shock.  What could have
+caused poor Bertha's outbreak of insanity?  She had spoken of a heart
+which Elizabeth had stolen from her,--was it possible that Hollfeld had
+played some part in this sad story, as Frau Ferber had lately so often
+insisted?
+
+Such a suspicion revived all the painful sensations that had before
+possessed her.  But now, sitting motionless against the old wall, while
+the darkening heavens seemed to draw near her, and nothing spoke of life
+around save the damp night air that swept soothingly across her hot
+cheek,--now her moistened eyes bore witness that the stern stoicism with
+which her crushed heart had armed itself, had vanished.  All, all was
+over; she had broken with the inmates of Lindhof forever.  She had
+shattered Helene's ideal, and she had thrown back to Herr von Walde the
+gift of his consent to her marriage which he had offered her; doubtless
+his pride had been mortally wounded.  Most probably she should never see
+him again.  He would soon set out upon his travels, glad to efface the
+impression made upon him by the ingratitude of the poor music-teacher.
+
+She covered her face with her hands, and the tears trickled through the
+slender white fingers.
+
+In the mean time the night had fallen, still it was not quite dark.  The
+crescent moon was reigning in the skies, where all the other shining
+wanderers appeared and went their way, never heeding that their sister
+planet, the earth, careering in space with them, contained millions of
+little worlds, each inclosing in its sphere heights and depths, tossing
+waves with their ebb and flow, mighty storms, and only too rarely a
+sacred repose.
+
+And now life began to stir in the old tower.  There was a low murmur and
+moaning upon the stairs; slight blows were struck from within upon the
+oaken door, and wings brushed the inner wall; the owls and bats were
+longing to be abroad, and could not find their accustomed place of
+egress.  And in the forest below there arose a rustling and
+crackling,--the deer broke through the thicket and roamed about in
+entire security.  From the distant east, where the forest almost in its
+primeval luxuriance descended into the valley and then again climbed an
+opposing range of mountains, a faint shot was occasionally heard.  Every
+time Elizabeth heard the sound she nestled closer against the wall
+beneath the protecting roof, as if in fear lest she should be discerned
+by some unfriendly eye gazing thence;--those hunting there were outlaws.
+
+Still no succour came.  Her fear, then, lest her parents should be
+anxious, had been unfounded.  Of course, they supposed her to be yet at
+the castle,--perhaps they were displeased at her long absence from home;
+but they would possibly wait until ten o'clock for her return.  It might
+be midnight before she was released.
+
+It grew quite cold.  With a shiver, she drew her thin shawl close about
+her, and tied a handkerchief around her throat.  She was obliged to
+leave her seat, and walk to and fro on the roof, to prevent herself from
+becoming chilled.  Occasionally she leaned over the balustrade and
+looked down.
+
+White cloud-like phantoms were hovering hither and thither over the open
+space beneath,--the mists rising from the damp ground.  Elizabeth no
+longer thought of the motley spectacle,--the ostentation and vanity that
+had filled this place a few days before.  She forgot the countless idle
+words that had filled the air, causing such a confusion of tongues that
+the old tower, instead of standing upon honest Thuringian soil, might
+have challenged the skies upon the banks of the Euphrates. Forth from
+the billows of mist floated the shadowy forms of the nuns buried under
+these walls, their features pale and passionless, their desolate hearts
+stilled within their long-flowing robes, and their waxen brows, beneath
+their white bands, haunted no longer by restless doubts and longings.
+They would fain have trodden the path leading from the world to heaven,
+had they not been so often dragged down to earth again.
+
+Elizabeth thought of those dark times, when these gloomy walls were
+erected in expiation of the crime of a knightly assassin,--cold stone
+walls to appease Him from whom has come the Word made life,--who is the
+source of Eternal Love.  Could all the prayers, breathed by the inmates
+of that living tomb,--all the masses,--the organs rolling thunder, blot
+out the stain of blood which the criminal carried to the foot of the
+eternal throne? No, a thousand times no!  He heeds no incense wafted
+before the shrine of Baal.  His eternal edicts are not reversed by the
+creatures whom He has made.
+
+What a terrible episode in the family history of the Gnadewitzes those
+crumbling ruins commemorated! And could it be possible that a being,
+conscious of a fervent desire for moral elevation and spiritual growth,
+should be duly respected only when permitted to bear that name?  Must
+she learn that a spotless life was nought, laid in the balance with a
+human device, which was, in fact, a phantom of the brain,--an absolute
+nothing?
+
+Was the superstition that committed witches to the flames darker than
+this delusion of the privileges of birth, by which many a true and
+richly-gifted human life is as ruthlessly destroyed as by the faggot of
+the executioner,--the delusion, that flatly contradicts the Almighty
+decree, which declares all God's children to come alike from His
+creating hand,--alike in outward form, in physical structure, in the
+possession of senses, whereby both king and beggar enjoy and suffer,
+alike in the possession of that vital spark that animates these outward
+shapes?  Where is there a soul, even although it has attained the summit
+of human perfection, that is not conscious of some weakness, or a human
+being so depraved, that one good quality at least does not glimmer forth
+from the slough of vice into which he has sunk?--And can he be
+influenced by such narrow prejudice,--he, whose brow bears the impress
+of high intelligence, whose glance and voice can melt with a tenderness
+that reveals a soul alive to the best and deepest emotions of our
+nature? Could he rank the hollow form above the immortal rights of
+humanity, which accord freedom of thought and action to all?  Did not
+that false system continually crush out the highest and holiest
+sentiment of the human heart, love?  If Elizabeth had loved Hollfeld,
+what would her lot have been without the discovery in the ruins?  And
+if,--here a sarcastic smile hovered upon her quivering lips,--if one
+thought of affection for her had ever stirred Herr von Walde's heart,
+and he should come now and offer his hand?----Never, never would she
+consent to give herself to him, with the consciousness that her
+unutterable love had only been returned when such return was no longer
+forbidden by the old worn-out laws of society.  The pain of renunciation
+lost much of its torture, contrasted with the torment that would be the
+result of such a life.
+
+With looks full of gloom, Elizabeth once more walked to the corner of
+the balustrade looking towards Castle Lindhof, and stood gazing in that
+direction.  One and the same star rose above that graceful pile and the
+poorest hut in the neighbouring village, casting its mild light
+impartially upon each,--or was there really a stronger gleam upon the
+spot where the park opened into the forest?  No; that light came from
+below, and penetrating quickly farther and farther into the forest,
+faintly tinged the boughs above with its rays.  It was most certainly a
+torch borne along the narrow path by which Elizabeth had reached the
+convent tower.
+
+Once the light was, for an instant, immovable, and a faint shout reached
+her ears.  She felt convinced now that help was at hand,--that search
+was made for her,--and she raised her voice in reply, although she knew
+that the faint sound could not reach the bearer of the torch. The light
+hesitated but for a moment, and then quickly came nearer and nearer.
+She could soon plainly distinguish the flame of the torch, and see the
+shower of sparks that fell from it to the ground.
+
+"Elizabeth!" suddenly resounded through the forest.
+
+The voice thrilled through her every nerve,--for it was his voice.  Herr
+von Walde was calling her in tones of unutterable anxiety.
+
+"Here," she called down to him; "I am here, upon the convent tower."
+
+The torch-bearer plunged through the thickets and hurried across the
+open sward.  In a few moments he stood upon the landing without, shaking
+the door with a powerful hand.  Several stout blows followed, and the
+old planks were burst open.
+
+Herr von Walde stepped out upon the roof.  In his left hand he held the
+torch, while with his right he drew Elizabeth within the circle of its
+light.  His head was uncovered, his dark hair lay in dishevelled locks
+upon his forehead, and his face was very pale.  He hastily scanned her
+figure, as if to convince himself that she was unhurt. He was evidently
+in a state of great agitation, the hand which grasped her arm trembled
+violently, and for a moment he could not speak.
+
+"Elizabeth, poor child!" he ejaculated at last, with a gasping sigh,
+"did the insult that you received in my house to-day drive you hither to
+this dreary ruin, and the gloomy night?"
+
+Elizabeth explained to him that her stay here had not been voluntary on
+her part, as the bolted door testified, and related in a few words, as
+she descended the stairs, all that had occurred.  He went before and
+offered her his hand to support her, but she took hold of the rope which
+served for a hand-rail, and turned away her eyes that she might ignore
+his proffered aid.
+
+At this moment a strong draught of air extinguished the torch, which had
+burnt only dimly, and all was enveloped in darkness.
+
+"Now give me your hand!" he said, in the tone of command which she knew
+so well.
+
+"I can take hold of the rope, I need no other support," she replied.
+
+The last word had scarcely left her lips when she felt herself lifted
+from the ground like a feather by two strong arms and carried down the
+steps.
+
+"Foolish child!" he said, as he set her down upon the grass outside.  "I
+will not have you dashed to pieces upon the stone pavement of that
+dreary tower."
+
+She entered the path which led directly to Castle Lindhof,--it was the
+shortest.  Herr von Walde walked silently by her side.
+
+"Do you intend to leave me to-night without saying one kind word to me?"
+he suddenly asked, standing still.  Pain and suppressed auger strove in
+his voice for the mastery.  "Have I had the misfortune to offend you?"
+
+"Yes, you have wounded me grievously."
+
+"Because I did not instantly chastise my cousin?"
+
+"You could not,--his suit had your entire approbation. You, as well as
+the others, would have forced me to accept Herr von Hollfeld."
+
+"I force you?  Oh, child, how little you understand a man's heart?  I
+was the victim of a terrible error when I uttered that 'yes.'  I longed
+to try if it were a delusion, and to free myself from it.  Now you shall
+learn that I will banish everything that can remind you of to-day's
+terror.  You like Lindhof?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"The Baroness Lessen is about to leave the castle. Let me entreat you to
+be my sister's stay and support when I leave her again, when I begin my
+wanderings anew.  Will you consent?"
+
+"I cannot promise to do so."
+
+"And why not?"
+
+"Fr�ulein von Walde will not desire my society, and even if----.  I have
+already declared once to-day that I shall not bear the new name."
+
+"What a strange reply!  What has that to do with the matter?  Ah, now I
+understand.  At last I begin to see clearly.  Then you think that I
+agreed to Hollfeld's suit because you suddenly had a right to an ancient
+name? Speak, is not this the fact?"
+
+"Yes, I believe this to be the fact."
+
+"And you suppose further, that the same reason leads me to desire your
+companionship for my sister.  You are convinced that aristocratic pride
+prompts all my thoughts and actions?"
+
+"Yes, yes."
+
+"Pray let me inquire of you what name you bore when I asked you for a
+birthday greeting, when we last walked together here in this path?"
+
+"Then we did not know of the secret hidden in the ruins," said
+Elizabeth, in an almost inaudible tone.
+
+"Have you forgotten the words which I dictated to you that afternoon?"
+
+"No,--I remember every syllable of them with the greatest distinctness,"
+she replied quickly.
+
+"And do you think it possible that such words can end with, 'I hope the
+coming year will prove a happy one,' or the like?"
+
+The girl did not speak, but looked up at him with a crimson blush.
+
+"Listen to me quietly for one moment, Elizabeth," he continued, but he
+himself was so far from quiet that his voice sounded faint and
+faltering, as though half stifled by the throbbing of his heart, "a man
+who might have been regarded as fortune's favourite, so richly did she
+endow him in his cradle with rank and wealth, mistrusted these
+advantages when he arrived at years of discretion. He feared that they
+would stand in the way of what he considered the true happiness of his
+life.  He had created for himself an ideal of her by whose side alone he
+could find real peace,--not that he required extraordinary physical
+beauty or intellectual power,--he sought a pure, true heart, that should
+be influenced by no consideration of worldly advantages, but should give
+herself to him for his own sake alone.  He gradually arrived at the
+conviction that his ideal must remain an ideal, for in his search for
+its realization, he came to be thirty-seven years old.  When hope has
+folded her wings, and night is falling around us, there is something
+overpowering in the sudden flushing of a morning light, at the eleventh
+hour.  The mind is unhinged, the long, weary waiting has rendered it
+almost incapable of believing in great, unexpected happiness.  At last,
+Elizabeth, he found the heart he had sought,--a heart accompanied by a
+clear, well-balanced intellect that was infinitely superior to all
+narrow, sordid considerations,--but this heart throbbed in a youthful
+form adorned with every imaginable grace.  Was it to be wondered at that
+the man of riper years, possessing, as he knew, no personal advantages,
+regarded with mistrust another who could lay in the balance youth and a
+fine person?  Was it to be wondered at that he allowed himself to be
+carried away one moment, inspired by the boldest hopes, by some word,
+some act on the young girl's part, only to be cast down utterly the
+next, when he saw that other in her society? Was it not natural that he
+should fear that youth only could attract youth?  Never did heart of man
+long more wildly than his for the accomplishment of his desire,--never
+was there a man more possessed, in moments of despair, by a cowardly
+doubt as to its fulfilment.  And when they told him that his little
+idolized darling belonged to that other, he emptied the bitter cup to
+the dregs, and said 'yes' because he imagined that she had already said
+it.  Elizabeth, I stood on the threshold of the pavilion to-day in a
+state of utter despair.  You do not know what it is, when a merchant
+heaps all his treasure, every jewel that he possesses, in a single ship,
+and sees it sink before his eyes.  Shall I try to tell you what I felt
+when you so decidedly rejected the rank which you might have claimed,
+and so made an alliance with Hollfeld impossible?  Shall I tell you that
+my sister's condition, and consideration for you yourself, alone
+prevented me from chastising that scoundrel upon the spot? He has
+already left Lindhof, and will never cross your path again.  Will you
+forget the insult that you received in my house to-day?"
+
+He had taken her hands in his, and held them pressed close to his
+breast.  Without withdrawing them she assented to his question with
+trembling lips.
+
+"And shall we not forget everything, my darling little Gold Elsie, that
+has occurred between the beginning and the conclusion of the birthday
+wish?  My golden darling, the delight of my eyes, my own Elizabeth
+Ferber stands again before me, and will repeat after me what I say, will
+she not?  The last sentence which was so cruelly interrupted--tell me
+what it was."
+
+"Here is my hand as the pledge of an unutterable bliss," faltered
+Elizabeth.
+
+"In life, in death, and for all eternity, I will be your own."
+
+But she opened her lips in vain to repeat after him the words which he
+uttered so solemnly, with the most profound emotion.  She burst into
+tears and threw her arms around the neck of her lover, who clasped her
+to his heart.
+
+"This divine dream must not fade," he said with a sigh, as Elizabeth
+gently extricated herself from his embrace.  "Leave me your hand at
+least, Elizabeth, I must learn to believe in my bliss.  If you leave me
+now, I shall be crushed by doubt again to-night.  You are thoroughly
+conscious that you are irrevocably mine?  Do you know that you must
+leave father and mother, and the dear home upon the mountain, for my
+sake?"
+
+"I know it, and will do so gladly, Rudolph," she said smiling, but firm.
+
+"God bless you, my darling, for those words!  But you must know the
+depths of my doubt.  Is it not pity for my boundless love that induces
+you to yield your consent to my suit?"
+
+"No, Rudolph, it is love,--a love which first awoke in my heart,--does
+not this sound strangely,--when I saw in your angry eyes, and heard in
+the tones of your voice, how you detested cruelty and injustice!  And
+since that moment it has never left me; on the contrary, it has
+increased and grown stronger, in spite of all my efforts to destroy it,
+notwithstanding all the harsh words that have so often wounded it
+sorely."
+
+"Who spoke such words?"
+
+"You, yourself; you were harsh and unkind to me."
+
+"Oh, child, those were the outbreaks of insane jealousy!  I have
+struggled for and exercised self-control all my life long, but I could
+not conceal how I was tortured then.  And would you, on that account,
+have closed upon me the heaven that is opening before me?"
+
+"Not on that account,--for one kind look from you made me happy again;
+but another obstinate opponent entered the lists,--my reason.  It had
+grown well aware of everything that report declared concerning your
+incredible aristocratic arrogance, and, at every wild throb of my heart,
+dinned into my ears your reasons for refusing the alliance which the
+prince proposed to you."
+
+"Ah! those sixteen quarterings!" cried Herr von Walde, smiling, "But
+see, my little Gold Elsie, what a Nemesis that was!" he continued more
+gravely.  "To avoid annoyance, I seized upon the first means at hand,
+and, as I now know, it almost cost me the happiness of my life.  I like
+the Prince of L----, but any residence at his court was rendered, for a
+time, utterly odious to me, by the matrimonial alliances proposed for
+me, principally by the Princess Catharine.  She had taken it into her
+head that I must marry one of the ladies of her court.  No one could
+believe that the girl was entirely indifferent to me, for she passed for
+a brilliant beauty, and had broken many a heart.  All that I could say
+was of no avail; they continued to plot and intrigue, and so one day I
+cut the whole matter short by declaring to her Highness that her plan
+for me would cost me one of my estates, since, as is true, by my uncle's
+will it was devised to the State if I should marry a wife who could not
+show sixteen quarterings in her escutcheon.  This declaration put an end
+to my torment; no such person was to be found in the length and breadth
+of the little kingdom, and all thought it natural that I should wish to
+retain my estate."
+
+"And will you suffer this loss for my sake?" cried Elizabeth, in
+surprise.
+
+"It is no loss, Elizabeth; it is an exchange,--an exchange by which I
+gain a priceless treasure,--the happiness of an entire existence."
+
+A torch glimmered through the thicket.
+
+"Halt! this way!" cried Herr von Walde.
+
+In a few moments one of the servants appeared, and was ordered to hasten
+as quickly as possible to Gnadeck and announce Fr�ulein Ferber's safety.
+
+The servant hurried away.
+
+"I have been very selfish, Elizabeth," said Herr von Walde, putting her
+hand within his arm, and no longer loitering.  "I knew that your family
+was most anxious about you; that your father and uncle were ranging the
+forest in search of you, while my people, and many of the Lindhof
+peasants, were traversing the country in all directions upon the same
+errand, and yet I forgot everything when I found you."
+
+"My poor father and mother!" sighed Elizabeth, not without a slight
+twinge of conscience; the whole world had ceased to exist for her when
+he appeared.
+
+"Friedrich runs quickly," von Walde said, soothingly; "he will reach the
+summit of the mountain long before us, and tell them you are safe."
+
+They entered the park and passed by the castle.  It lay in darkness and
+silence.  Only from Helena's chamber window gleamed a faint light.
+
+"There is a life-and-death struggle going on there," murmured Herr von
+Walde, looking up.  "She loved that wretch devotedly; how fearful her
+awakening must be!"
+
+"Go and comfort her," begged Elizabeth.
+
+"Comfort her?  At such a moment?  My child, who could have come to me
+with comfort when I thought I had lost you?  Helene shut herself in her
+room when I ordered Herr von Hollfeld's horse to be brought to the door;
+her maid is near her.  A long time must elapse before she wishes to see
+me; when we have been grossly deceived we do not immediately turn to
+those who warned us of the deceit.  Besides, I will not enter my house
+again until I am sure that your parents will not snatch you from me."
+
+The path branched aside to the well-known bank in the forest.
+
+"Do you remember?" asked Elizabeth, smiling, as she pointed to it.
+
+"Yes, yes.  There you told me so bravely of your determination to go out
+into the world as a governess, and I took the liberty of declaring to
+myself that I never would permit it.  I had to exert all my self-control
+to prevent myself from then and there clasping my little bird in my arms
+and pressing its golden head, filled with such bold resolve, to my
+breast.  And there I drew from you the unconscious naive confession that
+your parents still held the first place in your heart.  But you adopted
+a cold, repellant demeanour, as soon as I attempted to be confidential."
+
+"It was shyness,--and I am not yet quite sure that to-morrow, when I see
+your stern face by daylight, I shall not fall into the same
+embarrassment."
+
+"It will never be stern again, my child; joy has touched it with its
+gentle finger."
+
+Soon afterwards, the old beeches which look in at the windows of the
+Ferber's dwelling-room saw a strange sight.  A man of fine presence, his
+face pale with profound emotion, conducted the daughter to her parents,
+and then asked them to give her back to him as his future wife,--his
+other self.  The old beeches saw him take his young love in his arms,
+and receive the blessing of her agitated parents.  They saw the mother's
+face, smiling through tears, raised gratefully to Heaven, and little
+Ernst shaking the canary's cage, that he might awaken that sleepy
+songster and announce to him, with great solemnity, that Elsie was
+betrothed.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+While happiness was reigning in the home upon old Gnadeck, a sad event
+occurred in the valley.
+
+Two peasants from Lindhof, who, provided with torches, had been looking
+for Elizabeth, heard, as they were proceeding from their village to the
+forest, a loud growling at a little distance,--it sounded like an angry
+dog.  Not far from them lay stretched across the road a human form,
+while a large dog lying beside it, as if to defend it, had placed both
+his forepaws upon its breast.  The animal became infuriated at the
+approach of the men, and, gnashing its teeth, threatened to fly at them.
+They were afraid, and ran back to the village, where they met a party
+bearing torches, and among them the forester, who had just heard from
+Herr von Walde's servant of Elizabeth's safety.
+
+Instantly all hastened to the spot which the frightened peasants
+described.  This time the dog did not growl. He whined, and crept to the
+forester's feet; it was Wolf, his watch-dog, and there lay Bertha,
+apparently lifeless. She was bleeding profusely from a wound in her
+head, and her face was as pale as death.
+
+The forester did not speak, he shunned the sympathetic glances of the
+by-standers; anger and pain strove for the mastery in his features.  He
+raised Bertha from the ground, and carried her into the first house in
+the village; it was the poor weaver's.  Then he sent a messenger for
+Sabina.  Fortunately, the Waldheim physician was with one of his
+patients in the village.  He was sent for, and soon brought the poor
+girl to herself.  She recognized him, and asked for water.  Her wound
+was not dangerous, but the physician shook his head and looked meaningly
+at the forester, who was anxiously watching him.
+
+The doctor was a blunt man, with rather rude manners. He suddenly
+approached the forester, and said a few words to him in a slight
+undertone.  The old man staggered back as though from a mortal blow,
+stared absently at the doctor without replying a word,--and then left
+the house without looking at the sick girl.
+
+"Uncle, uncle, forgive me!" she cried after him in heart-breaking tones,
+but he had already vanished into the dark night.
+
+And now Sabina made her appearance in the doorway. A maid followed her,
+bearing a huge bundle of linen upon her head, and a basket upon her arm,
+containing bandages, provisions, and all manner of necessary articles.
+
+"Gracious Powers! what have you been doing with yourself, Bertha?" cried
+the old woman with tears in her eyes, as she saw the pale face, and the
+bandaged head lying upon the pillow.  "And to-day, too, when I thought
+you went out looking so much better,--you had such beautiful red
+cheeks!"
+
+The girl buried her face in the bedclothes, and began to sob
+convulsively.
+
+The physician told Sabina what was to be done, and strictly forbade the
+invalid to converse or even to speak.
+
+"Must I be silent?" cried Bertha, raising herself in bed.  "Ah! silence
+may be easy for such an old man, whose blood runs cool and calm in his
+veins.  But I must speak, Sabina, and if it kills me,--so much the
+better!"
+
+She drew the old housekeeper towards her upon the bed, and, weeping
+bitterly, confessed all to her.
+
+She had had a love affair with Hollfeld, who had promised to marry her,
+and had induced her to swear solemnly that she would keep silent
+concerning their relations to each other, and not claim her rights until
+he should authorize her to do so; for, as he told her, he must first
+influence his mother and his relatives at Lindhof to accede to his
+wishes.  The unthinking girl promised all that he asked,--and in
+addition vowed solemnly that no human being should hear one word from
+her lips until she could proclaim her proud secret to the world. The
+meetings of the pair usually took place in the convent-tower or in the
+pavilion in the park.  No one discovered them.  The baroness' suspicions
+were aroused by some slight circumstance,--she fell into a violent rage,
+and forbade Bertha ever to show her face at Lindhof Castle.
+
+Still Bertha's lofty hopes were unshaken, for Hollfeld consoled her, and
+referred to the future.  But then came Elizabeth Ferber, and he was an
+altered man from that moment.  He avoided Bertha, and when she compelled
+him by threats to an interview, he treated her with a coldness and
+contempt that excited the girl's passionate nature to frenzy.
+
+When at last she became convinced that she had to do with a man utterly
+devoid of honour, the whole horror of her situation was laid bare before
+her.  She fell into a state of the wildest despair, and then began her
+nightly escapades.  Sleep scarcely visited her eyes, and she grew more
+composed only when she could shriek out her agony and woe in the lonely
+forest.
+
+At last came the end to the tragedy,--the same end that has befallen
+such tragedies hundreds of times before, and that will continue to
+befall them,--for the warning example convinces the understanding but
+never touches an unsuspecting, loving heart.  Hollfeld offered the poor
+girl a sum of money if she would relinquish her claims and leave that
+part of the country.  He pretended that his mother and his Lindhof
+relatives forced him to marry the newly-made Fr�ulein von Gnadewitz.
+Bertha denounced him as an unprincipled liar, and rushed from his
+presence. In a frenzy of rage she presented herself before his mother
+and told her all.
+
+Thus far Bertha continued her sad tale connectedly, only interrupted by
+her violent gestures, sobs, and tears. She paused for a moment, and an
+expression of inextinguishable hatred distorted her countenance.
+
+"That horrible woman," she cried at last, gasping for breath, "has the
+Bible always upon her lips.  She knits and sews night and day for
+missionaries, who are to carry the word of God to the heathen, that they
+may be converted; but they cannot in their ignorance be more inhuman and
+cruel than this Christian in her pride. She wishes to root out
+idol-worship, and sets up herself for an idol, surrounding herself by a
+crowd of fawning, flattering hypocrites, who declare that she is one of
+the elect,--not as other people are.  Woe to the upright, honest man who
+refuses to consider her as such,--his crime is blasphemy!  She thrust me
+from her doors, and threatened to have the dogs hunt me from the park,
+if I ever showed my face there again.  From that time I do not know what
+became of me," she said, sinking back exhausted among the pillows, and
+pressing her hands upon her aching forehead.  "I only know that I awaked
+and saw the doctor's face bending over me.  He told my uncle of my
+disgrace,--I heard him.  What will become of me!"
+
+Sabina had listened to this confession with horror and grief.  She had
+always advocated the strictest purity and decorum, and had been, as
+Bertha well knew, a stern and inflexible judge in such unhappy cases as
+that of the wretched girl.  But her heart was full of love and pity.
+She looked down upon the crushed sinner before her with tears of
+compassion, and soothed the weary head upon her kind old breast.  She
+was rewarded by seeing the poor girl fall asleep in her arms, like a
+child worn out with weeping.
+
+Soon nothing was heard in the little room but the quiet breathing of the
+sick girl and the ticking of the clock. Sabina put on her spectacles,
+drew an old worn copy of the New Testament from her basket, and watched
+faithfully by the bedside until the bright dawn looked in at the
+windows.
+
+Bertha did not die, as she had hoped to do in consequence of her
+agitating confession.  On the contrary, she recovered very quickly,
+nursed and tended by Sabina and Frau Ferber.  There was no return of her
+insanity.  The wound in her head, which had been caused by a fall upon a
+sharp stone, had produced a most beneficial result in the copious loss
+of blood which had ensued.
+
+The forester was beside himself at the disgrace which Bertha had brought
+beneath his honest roof.  For some days he would not even listen to his
+brother's calm, soothing words.  After Sabina had communicated to him
+Bertha's confession, he rode to Odenberg to call "the worthless
+scoundrel to account;" but the servants there informed him, shrugging
+their shoulders, that their master had started upon a journey; they
+could not tell whither, or when he would return.  Herr von Walde's
+search for him was also without result.
+
+Bertha herself declared that she would never again hear of her betrayer,
+whom she now regarded with a hate as fervent as had been her love.  A
+few weeks after her recovery she left the weaver's hut,--she never again
+entered the Lodge,--to go to America.  But she did not go alone.  One of
+her uncle's assistants, a fine young fellow, begged for his dismissal,
+because he had always loved Bertha in silence, and could not find it in
+his heart to let her go alone into the wide world.  She had promised to
+be his.  They were to be married in Bremen, and sail thence for the New
+World, where he would lead a farmer's life.  Herr von Walde provided the
+pair with a considerable sum of money; and, at Frau Ferber's and
+Elizabeth's request, the forester silently consented that Sabina should
+rob the overflowing store of linen that his deceased wife had
+accumulated, to furnish the household of the emigrants.
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
+
+Upon a gloomy autumn day a well-packed travelling carriage left Castle
+Lindhof and slowly rolled towards L----.  Her haughty arrogance all
+vanished, the baroness sat huddled together in one corner of it.  Her
+brilliant part at Lindhof was played; she was reluctantly returning to
+her small rooms and reduced circumstances.
+
+"Mamma," said Bella, in her shrill, childish accents, as she opened and
+shut the carriage window and drummed against the seat with her feet,
+"does the castle belong now to Elizabeth Ferber?  Will she drive in our
+beautiful carriage with the white damask cushions?  Can she go into your
+room whenever she pleases and sit in the embroidered arm-chairs?  Old
+Lorenz says that she will be the mistress there now, and that all her
+orders must be obeyed."
+
+"Child, do not torment me so with your chatter," groaned the baroness,
+burying her face in her pocket-handkerchief.
+
+"It is very unkind of Uncle Rudolph to send us away," the child
+continued, without heeding what her mother said.  "You know we have no
+silver dishes to eat from in B----, have we, mamma?  Shall we dine at a
+restaurant, mamma? and will you dress your own hair while Caroline
+washes and irons?  Why----"
+
+"Silence!" her mother interrupted the flood of speech that so tormented
+her.
+
+Bella cowered terrified in a corner, and did not look up until the
+carriage was rolling over the stone pavement of L----.  The baroness
+cast a hasty glance at the Princely castle, then drew her veil over her
+face and burst into tears.
+
+In consequence of Bertha's confession there had been a stormy interview
+between Herr von Walde and the baroness, which had ended in the
+departure of the latter. Helene repulsed her with aversion when she
+appealed to her, and she was forced to enter the travelling carriage,
+which appeared punctually before the castle at the hour appointed by its
+master.  There was one consoling drop in her cup of misfortune,--Herr
+von Walde had provided the means for Bella's education, upon condition
+that it should be more sensibly conducted than heretofore.
+
+Almost at the same hour in which the Baroness Lessen was leaving Lindhof
+forever, the Countess von Falkenberg presented herself in the boudoir of
+the princess, who had returned with her husband a few days before from
+the baths.
+
+The countess made as profound an obeisance as her uncertain limbs would
+permit, but showed a degree of haste that she would have stigmatized in
+another as contrary to all rules of etiquette.  She held an open letter
+in her hand, which had been somewhat crushed by her trembling fingers.
+
+"I am most unhappy," she began in an unnatural tone of voice, "to be
+obliged to impart to your highnesses a most scandalous piece of news.
+Oh, mon Dieu, who would have thought it!  Well, if even in our own
+sphere all sense of shame, all dignified self-consciousness, is at an
+end,--if every one is to heed the dictates of low and vulgar
+impulses,--no wonder that the halo surrounding us is dimmed, and the mob
+ventures to attack the throne itself!"
+
+"Calm yourself, my dear Falkenberg," said the prince, who was present,
+with evident amusement.  "Your preface is somewhat after the magnificent
+style of a Cassandra. But as yet I see no signs of earthquake; and to my
+great satisfaction I observe,"--and he glanced out of the window at the
+quiet market-square with a smile,--"that my faithful subjects are quite
+composed.  What have you to tell us?"
+
+She looked up surprised,--his sarcastic tone made her falter.
+
+"Oh, if your highness only knew!" she cried at last. "That man, upon
+whose pride of birth I so relied, Herr von Walde, informs me that he is
+betrothed.  And to whom? to whom?"
+
+"To Fr�ulein Ferber, the niece of my brave, old forester," the prince,
+smiling, replied.  "Yes, yes, I have heard something of this; Walde
+knows what he is about, I see. The little girl is a miracle of beauty
+and loveliness they say.  Well, I hope he will not keep us waiting long
+to make her acquaintance, but will present her to us soon."
+
+"Your highness," cried the paralyzed countess, "she is the daughter of
+your highness' forester's clerk!"
+
+"Yes, yes, my good Falkenberg," chimed in the princess, "we know that.
+But be calm; she is I assure you of noble rank."
+
+"Will your highness graciously permit me," rejoined the old lady, her
+face crimson, as she pointed to the crumpled letter, "here it stands in
+black and white,--his betrothal with a person of low birth,--here is the
+name, Ferber, and no other, and just so it will be written upon von
+Walde's genealogical tree forever.  It actually seems as if the man
+paraded it with a sort of ostentation.  The inconceivable indifference
+of these people in refusing to assume the name of von Gnadewitz shows
+plainly enough that they have nothing in common with that aristocratic
+family.  Their noble blood has utterly degenerated in the course of
+years, and, according to my notions of nobility, the girl is and always
+will be of low birth.  I sincerely pity poor Hollfeld, who is, as your
+highness knows, of stainless descent; by this misalliance he will lose
+at least half a million,--and the poor Lessen, too, from whom I have
+just had a few sad lines,--she leaves Lindhof to-day, of course to
+escape from such scandalous proceedings."
+
+"Those are matters affecting your own personal feeling, and of course I
+say nothing with regard to them," rejoined the prince, not without
+severity.  "But I herewith request you to announce to the princess and
+myself the fact, as soon as Herr von Walde wishes to present his bride
+to us."
+
+In the next room, the door of which was open, Cornelie was merrily
+turning upon her heels and snapping her fingers.
+
+"Aha! and that was why Sir Bruin wished to escape the tongues of certain
+eloquent ladies!" she cried, with a stifled laugh.  "Cornelie, where was
+your usual penetration with regard to the masculine heart?  Oh, the
+thing delights me for old Falkenberg's sake," she said, in a whisper, to
+another young lady who sat at the window embroidering.  "Now for at
+least two weeks we shall have the pleasure of seeing how the loyal
+creature will look daggers at their highnesses whenever their backs are
+turned, while all the honey of the promised land will overflow her
+withered lips as soon as the sun of their royal smile shines upon her.
+I could wish that every man whom we know would follow Herr von Walde's
+silly example!"
+
+"Good Heavens!  Cornelie, are you insane?" cried her companion at the
+window, dropping her needle from her fingers.
+
+At the same time that every drop of blood in the Falkenberg's
+aristocratic veins was so outraged, Doctor Fels returned to his home,
+and went to the nursery, where his wife was bathing her baby and
+superintending the knitting fingers of her two little daughters.
+
+"Rejoice with me, dear love!" he cried, with sparkling eyes, as he stood
+upon the threshold of the door. "Lindhof will have a mistress, and such
+a mistress!  Gold Elsie, our beautiful Gold Elsie!  Do you hear, my
+darling?  Now the sun will shine brightly there.  The healthy atmosphere
+has conquered, and the evil spirit that actually dropped mildew upon
+poor human souls has fled.  I have just seen it drive past in Herr von
+Walde's travelling carriage.  The announcement of the betrothal has
+fallen upon our worthy town like a bomb-shell.  I tell you it is
+wonderful to see the long, incredulous faces! But the news has not
+surprised me at all.  I have known what must happen ever since Linke's
+murderous attempt.  Since I drove that evening to Lindhof by Herr von
+Walde's side, to see whether the excitement had produced no ill effects
+upon the brave child, I have known well that his hour had struck, that
+he had a heart indeed, a heart full of fervent, passionate love."
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
+
+Let us pass over a space of two years, and once more enter the old
+Gnadeck ruins.  We shall ascend the mountain by a broad well-kept road,
+leading to the castle gate, which has exchanged its rusty bolts and bars
+for more convenient fastenings.
+
+We remember with a shiver the cold, damp court-yard behind this gate,
+shut in by gloomy colonnades on three sides, while the crumbling
+buildings threatened to bury us beneath their ruins.  We remember the
+lonely basin in the centre, that, surrounded by the lions of stone, has
+waited in vain during so many years for the silver stream that should
+fill it.
+
+Remembering all this, we ring the bell.  At its clear sound, a fresh,
+trim maiden opens the massive gate, and invites us to enter.  But we
+start back almost dazzled, for from the open gate what a flood of light
+and colour greets us!  The ruins have vanished, the high wall that
+surrounded them alone remains, and we are for the first time aware how
+extensive is the space which it encloses.
+
+We do not tread upon the echoing pavement of a courtyard, a smooth
+gravel-walk is beneath our feet; before us stretches a level, well-kept
+lawn.  In its centre stands the granite basin, and from the threatening
+jaws of the lions are pouring four powerful streams of water.  The
+chestnuts still remain the faithful guardians of the fountain, but since
+their boughs have been bathed in heaven's air and light they have grown
+strong and young again, and are now covered with a wealth of fan-like
+blossoms. We wind among the gravel paths that intersect the lawn,
+delight our eyes with the groups of shrubbery, still very young, that
+are so tastefully scattered here and there, and with the gay beds of
+carefully tended flowers.
+
+Before us lies the home.  Its four walls are free now to the air and
+light, and have put on a fresh bright garment; but its front is far more
+stately than it used to be. New windows are seen on every side.  Ferber
+has had four rooms added to it; for when the forester retires to private
+life, he and Sabina are to live there also.  In the family
+dwelling-room,--from whose two high windows can now be seen the same
+view formerly seen only from Elizabeth's room above,--Herr von Walde has
+had the trees thinned so that her parents might always have the home of
+their darling before their eyes,--stands the young Frau von Walde.  She
+has been kept in the house for several weeks, and her first expedition
+has been to carry her first-born to her parents' home.  There he lies in
+her arms.  Miss Mertens, or rather the happily married Frau Reinhard,
+has just removed the veil from the little thing. The minute, plump, red
+face shows, in the eyes of the mother, an unmistakable resemblance to
+Herr von Walde. Ernst is laughing loudly at the vague movements of the
+fat little fists, which are stretching out in all directions. But the
+forester stands with his own powerful hands behind him, and an
+expression of great anxiety, as if he feared that if he moved he might
+do the frail atom an injury.  He is no less delighted with his
+grand-nephew than are Elizabeth's parents with their grandchild.  He has
+outlived his distress concerning Bertha, and basks in Elizabeth's
+happiness, which was a great surprise to him at first, and which he
+maintained he was obliged to become accustomed to anew every morning.
+Not, indeed, that he thought such good fortune one whit too great for
+his darling,--he would have thought the richest of earthly crowns well
+placed upon Elizabeth's head; but it was so strange to him to see his
+sunny Gold Elsie by the side of her grave, thoughtful husband.
+
+Elizabeth is happy in the fullest sense of the word. Her husband adores
+her, and his words have proved true,--the expression of stern melancholy
+has faded forever from his brow.
+
+Just now the young wife is looking tenderly at the little creature in
+her arms, and then down into the valley, whence Herr von Walde will soon
+appear to conduct her to her home.  Her glance grows sad for a moment,
+and tears fill her eyes, as they rest upon a lofty gilded cross,
+glimmering among the trees upon the shore of the lake,--beneath those
+rustling boughs Helene has slept for a year.  She died in Elizabeth's
+arms, praying God to bless the dear sister who had so helped her to bear
+her burden of woe until her spirit could soar away from its frail mortal
+tenement.
+
+Hollfeld has sold Odenberg, and no one knows in what corner of the earth
+he hides his discontent at the overthrow of all his plots.
+
+
+
+
+                                THE END.
+
+
+
+
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+<title>GOLD ELSIE</title>
+<meta name="PG.Rights" content="Public Domain" />
+<meta name="PG.Title" content="Gold Elsie" />
+<meta name="PG.Producer" content="Al Haines" />
+<meta name="MARCREL.trl" content="Mrs. A. L. Wister" />
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+<meta name="DC.Creator" content="E. Marlitt" />
+<meta name="DC.Created" content="1868" />
+<meta name="PG.Id" content="42426" />
+<meta name="PG.Released" content="2013-03-28" />
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+<meta name="DC.Title" content="Gold Elsie" />
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+</head>
+<body>
+<div class="document" id="gold-elsie">
+<h1 class="center document-title level-1 pfirst title"><span class="x-large">GOLD ELSIE</span></h1>
+
+<!-- this is the default PG-RST stylesheet -->
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+</div>
+<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- -->
+<div class="align-None container language-en pgheader" id="pg-header" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the </span><a class="reference internal" href="#project-gutenberg-license">Project Gutenberg License</a><span>
+included with this eBook or online at
+</span><a class="reference external" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license</a><span>.</span></p>
+<p class="noindent pnext"></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<div class="align-None container" id="pg-machine-header">
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>Title: Gold Elsie
+<br />
+<br />Author: E. Marlitt
+<br />
+<br />Release Date: March 28, 2013 [EBook #42426]
+<br />
+<br />Language: English
+<br />
+<br />Character set encoding: UTF-8</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-start-line"><span>*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK </span><span>GOLD ELSIE</span><span> ***</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-produced-by"><span>Produced by Al Haines.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span></span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="align-None container titlepage">
+<p class="center pfirst"><span class="x-large">GOLD ELSIE</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">FROM THE GERMAN
+<br />OF</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">E. MARLITT</span></p>
+<p class="center pnext"><span class="small">AUTHOR OF "THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET."</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">BY
+<br />MRS. A. L. WISTER.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">PHILADELPHIA:
+<br />J. B. LIPPINCOTT &amp; CO.
+<br />1868.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="align-None container verso">
+<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
+<br />J. B. LIPPINCOTT &amp; CO.,</span></p>
+<p class="center pnext"><span class="small">In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and
+<br />for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-i"><span class="x-large">GOLD ELSIE</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst"><span class="large">CHAPTER I.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>It had been snowing all day long,—so steadily that the
+roofs and window-sills were covered deep with spotless
+white cushions.  And now the early twilight fell,
+bringing with it a wild gust of wind that raged among the
+falling snow-flakes like some bird of prey among a flock of
+peaceful doves.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Although the weather was such that the comfort-loving
+inhabitants of any small town would hardly have sent
+their dogs out of doors, not to mention venturing their
+own worthy persons, yet there was little difference to be
+seen in the size of the crowd that usually frequents the
+streets of the large Capital, B——, between the hours of
+six and seven in the evening.  The gas lamps were an
+excellent substitute for those heavenly lights which would
+not make their appearance.  Carriages were whirling
+around corners in such tempestuous haste that many a
+pedestrian rescued life and limb only by a sudden leap aside,
+while curses both loud and deep were hurled after the
+coachmen enveloped in their comfortable furs, and the
+elegant coaches which contained behind their glass doors
+charmingly dressed women, whose lovely flower-crowned
+heads, as they peeped from among masses of muslin and
+tulle, certainly had no suspicion of the fire and brimstone
+called down upon them.  In the warm atmosphere,
+behind the huge shop windows, elaborately curled and
+frizzed wax heads, surrounded by blond and black scalps,
+stared out upon the passers-by.  Smiling shopmen
+displayed their fascinating merchandise, and withered old
+flower-sellers stood among their fresh-blooming bouquets,
+which exhaled beauty and fragrance beneath the light of
+the lamps that shed a brilliant glare upon the slippery
+pavement and upon the flood of human life streaming by,
+revealing the pinched, blue features and the desperately
+uncomfortable movements of all, old and young.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>But stay,—not of all!  A female figure has just entered
+one of the principal streets from a narrow by-way.  A
+small threadbare cloak closely envelopes her slender form,
+and a worn old muff is pressed against her breast,
+confining the ends of a black lace veil, behind which two
+girlish eyes are glowing with the sunlight of early youth.
+They look out joyously into the whistling snow-storm,
+rest lovingly upon the half-open rosebuds and dark purple
+violets behind the glass panes of the shop windows, and
+only veil their light beneath their long dark lashes when
+sharp hail-stones mingle with the driving snow-flakes.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Whoever has listened while childish fingers, or
+sometimes fingers no longer childish, confidently begin upon
+the piano a well-known melody, which goes bravely on for
+a few bars, then is arrested by a frightful discord
+followed by a wild grasping after every key on the
+instrument except the correct ones, while the patient teacher
+sits by, ceasing to attempt to evoke order out of chaos by
+the usual steady marking of the time, wearily waiting
+until the panting melody is seized again and carried on
+with lightning rapidity through several easy bars as over
+some level plain,—whoever has thus had his ears stretched
+upon the rack, can understand the delight with which
+this young girl, who has just given two music lessons in
+a large school, offers her hot cheek to the wind as to an
+energetic comrade, whose mighty roar can breathe wondrous
+melodies through the pipes of an organ or over the
+strings of an Æolian harp.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Thus she passes lightly and swiftly through the storm
+and crowd; and I do not for an instant doubt that if I
+should present her now upon this slippery pavement to
+the gentle reader as Fräulein Elizabeth Ferber, she would
+with a lovely smile make him as graceful a courtesy as
+though they both stood in a ball-room.  But this
+introduction cannot take place,—and we really do not need
+it, for I forthwith intend to relate to the reader my
+heroine's antecedents.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Baron Wolf von Gnadewitz was the last scion of a
+famous house whose remote ancestry could be traced back
+into the dubious twilight which even preceded that golden
+age when the travelling merchant, journeying through
+some sequestered pass, was forced to surrender his costly
+stuffs and wares to a knightly banner and shining steel-clad
+troup of retainers as often as to the buff-coated highway
+adventurer.  From those illustrious times there had
+been handed down, in the crest of the Gnadewitzes a
+wheel, upon which one of these same noble ancestors had
+breathed out his knightly soul in consequence of having
+spilt rather too much ignoble trading-blood in one of the
+above-mentioned assaults upon his merchant prey.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Baron von Gnadewitz, the last of his race, was
+chamberlain in the service of the Prince Royal of X——, and
+possessor of various orders and large estates, as well as
+of those peculiarities of character and disposition which
+were, in his estimation, befitting the high-born, and which
+he was accustomed to designate as "distinguished,"
+because all common men, bound by work-a-day moral
+considerations, and compelled by the stern necessities of life,
+lose all taste for the inimitable grace and elegance of
+vice.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Baron Wolf von Gnadewitz was as fond of pomp and
+show as his grandfather, who had forsaken the old castle
+Gnadeck upon a mountain in Thuringia, the cradle of his
+line, and had built him in the valley below a perfect fairy
+palace in the Italian style.  The grandson allowed the old
+castle to fall into decay, while he enlarged and improved
+the modern mansion considerably.  Yes, it seemed as
+though he entertained not the smallest doubt but that his
+latest descendant would be found occupying this favourite
+palace at the day of judgment, for the old castle was quite
+dismantled in order that the vast chambers of the new
+abode might be thoroughly furnished.  But he reckoned
+without his host.  Wolf von Gnadewitz had a son, 'tis
+true,—a son who, at twenty years of age, was so complete and
+thorough a Gnadewitz that the illustrious image of his
+ancestor who had perished upon the wheel paled before
+him.  This promising youth one day, upon the occasion
+of the great autumn hunt in the forest, struck one of his
+whippers-in a fearful blow upon the head with the loaded
+handle of his hunting-whip—a fearful blow, but a perfectly
+just punishment, as every one of the guests invited to
+the hunt declared, for the man had stepped upon the paw
+of a favourite hound so clumsily as to render the
+animal entirely useless for a whole day.  And thus it
+happened that, a short time afterward, Hans von Gnadewitz
+was to be found not only upon the boughs of the
+genealogical tree in the hall of the new castle, but suspended
+by a rope around his neck to a bough of one of the actual
+trees in the forest.  The beaten whipper-in expiated the
+deed upon the scaffold, but that could not bring the last
+of the Gnadewitzes to life again, for he was dead,—irrevocably
+dead, the physicians said; and the long tale of
+robber-knights, wild excesses, hunting orgies, and
+horse-racing came to an end.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>After this terrible catastrophe, Wolf von Gnadewitz left
+the castle in the valley, and indeed that part of the country,
+and dwelt upon one of his many estates in Silesia.  He took
+into his house to nurse him a young female relative, the
+last survivor of one of the collateral branches of his house.
+This young relative proved to be a girl of angelic beauty,
+at sight of whom the old baron entirely forgot the object
+for which he had invited her beneath his roof, and at
+last determined to clothe his sixty years in a
+wedding-garment.  To his exceeding indignation, however, he
+now learned that there might come a time, even to a
+Gnadewitz, when he could no longer be regarded as a
+desirable </span><em class="italics">parti</em><span>, and he fell into a violent rage when his
+young relative confessed that, in utter forgetfulness of
+her lofty lineage, she had given her heart to a bourgeois
+officer, the son of one of his foresters.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The young man possessed no worldly gear, only his
+sword and a remarkably fine manly person; but he was
+rich in mind, accomplished, amiable in disposition, and
+of stainless character.  When Wolf von Gnadewitz, in
+consequence of Marie's confession, turned her from his
+doors, young Ferber carried her home with delight as his
+wife, and for the first ten years of their married life would
+not have exchanged his lot with that of any king on
+earth.  Still less would he have made such an exchange
+in the eleventh year, for that was the eventful 1848; but
+with it came fierce struggles for him, and an entire
+alteration in his circumstances.  He was obliged to decide
+between two duties.  One had been inculcated while he was
+in his cradle by his father, and ran thus: "Love your
+neighbour, and especially your German brother, as
+yourself;" the other, which he had in later years imposed
+upon himself, commanded him to draw the sword in his
+master's interest.  In this strife the teachings of his
+childhood conquered entirely.  Ferber refused to draw
+the sword upon his brethren; but his refusal cost him
+his commission, and with it all assured means of
+subsistence.  He retired from the army, and soon afterward,
+in consequence of a severe cold, was stretched upon a
+sick-bed, which he left only after years of disheartening
+weakness.  He then moved with his family to B——,
+where he obtained quite a lucrative situation as
+bookkeeper in an extensive mercantile establishment.  It was
+high time, for his wife's small property had been lost
+shortly before by the failure of a bank, and the
+remittances of money which came to the distressed family
+from time to time from Ferber's elder and only brother,
+a forester in Thuringia, were all that kept them from
+extreme poverty.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Unluckily this good fortune was of short duration.
+Ferber's chief was a pietist of the most severe description,
+and spared no one in his zeal for proselytism.  His
+efforts to convert Ferber to his own narrow dogmas were
+met by such quiet but decided resistance, that the pious
+spirit of the saintly Herr Hagen was seized with holy
+horror.  Remorse at the thought of affording protection
+and subsistence to such an avowed free-thinker, gave
+him no peace by night or by day, until he had freed
+himself from such a burden of guilt, by a note of dismissal,
+which banished the tainted sheep from his fold.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>About the same time Wolf von Gnadewitz went home
+to his ancestors, and as during his earthly career he had
+strictly conformed to the Gnadewitz custom of leaving
+no insult, fancied or otherwise: unavenged, no worthier
+conclusion to his life could be found than the will which
+he drew up with his own hands shortly before he
+descended into the narrow chamber of lead which was to
+contain for all futurity his noble bones.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>This manly document, which constituted sole heir to
+his large estates a distant relative of his wife's,
+concluded with the following codicil:</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"In consideration of the undeniable claim which she
+has upon my property, I bequeath to Anna Marie Ferber,
+born von Gnadewitz, the castle of Gnadeck in the
+mountains in Thuringia.  Anna Marie Ferber will understand
+my benevolent intention in her behalf in leaving to her
+a mansion crowded with memories of the noble race to
+which she once belonged.  In full remembrance and
+consideration of the good fortune and many blessings
+which have always hovered above this ancient pile, I
+hold it entirely superfluous to increase my legacy further.
+But if Anna Marie Ferber, blind to the value of my gift,
+should wish to sell or exchange it in any way, her right
+to it must be abdicated in favour of the orphan asylum
+of L——."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And thus, with the utterance of a biting satire, Wolf
+von Gnadewitz betook himself to his funeral bed of state.
+Ferber and his wife had indeed never seen the old castle,
+but it was notoriously a crumbling heap of ruins, which
+the hand of improvement had not touched for fifty years,
+and which, when the modern abode in the valley was
+completed, had been stripped of furniture, tapestries, and,
+in the case of the main building, even of the metallic
+roofing.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Since that time the ponderous oaken door of the
+principal entrance had remained closed, and the dusty, rusty
+bolts and bars had never once been withdrawn.  The huge
+forest trees which were growing before it spread abroad
+their mighty branches, and drooped them among the thick
+brushwood at their feet, so that the deserted castle lay
+behind the green impenetrable wall like a coffined mummy.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The lucky heir, who was greatly annoyed by seeing
+so large a part of his woodland possessions in stranger
+hands, would gladly have purchased the old castle at a
+high price, but the cunning clause at the conclusion of the
+codicil forbade any such transaction.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Frau Ferber laid the copy of the will which had been
+sent her, and upon which there dropped from her eyes a
+few tears of regret, upon her husband's desk, and then
+took up her work,—some delicate embroidery,—with
+redoubled, almost feverish industry.  In spite of his
+exertions Ferber had been unable to procure another situation,
+and was now doing his best to maintain his family by
+translating, a labour but poorly paid, and even by copying
+law papers, while his wife eked out their scanty means by
+the proceeds of her needle, which she plied night and day.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>But dark as were the heavens above the struggling
+pair, one star rose quietly among the black clouds and
+seemed not unlikely to indemnify them by its radiance
+for all the storms with which fickle fortune had
+overwhelmed them.  A presentiment of this gentle light
+which was to beam upon his gloomy path possessed
+Ferber when he stood for the first time beside the cradle
+of his first-born, a daughter, and gazed into the lovely
+eyes which smiled upon him from the baby face.  All Frau
+Ferber's friends had been unanimously of opinion that
+the little girl was a charming creature, a wonderfully
+gifted child; indeed, they had declared it did not look in
+the least like an ordinary baby, did not appear to belong to
+the class of miserable little wretches, who, red as lobsters,
+seem determined to scream their way through the world;
+but,—here they had broken off; and it was intimated
+that were it not for fear of the sneers of their liege
+lords, and the utterly prosaic tendencies of the nineteenth
+century, they should certainly suspect that some
+benevolent fairy had been at work in this case.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>They contended as to who should be so far favoured as
+to hold the little creature at the baptismal font, and
+should show the deepest tenderness for the little
+god-daughter, declaring that the day of her baptism could never
+be effaced from their remembrance; but this demand upon
+their memories was altogether too great, for when Ferber
+fell into difficulties, selfishness passed its finger over the
+recorded day, and no trace of it remained in their minds.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>This change, which little Elizabeth experienced in the
+ninth year of her existence, disturbed her not at all.  Her
+probable fairy protectress had, in addition to other rich
+gifts, endowed her in her cradle with an invincible
+joyousness of temperament and great force of will; so she
+took from her mother's hand her scanty evening meal
+as gratefully and gaily as she had once received the
+inexhaustible delicacies presented to her by admiring
+god-parents; and when on Christmas-eve the room was adorned
+only by a poor little Christmas-tree hung with a few
+apples and gilded nuts, the child did not seem to remember
+the time when friends had crowded around to deck its
+boughs with all imaginable toys.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Ferber educated his daughter himself.  She never
+attended a school of any kind, an omission in her training
+which cannot, unfortunately, in the present age, be
+regarded as anything but an advantage, when we see how
+many young girls leave school with far more knowledge
+upon some subjects than is at all desirable or pleasing to
+the anxious mother, who strives at home to preserve
+unsoiled her child's purity of mind and heart, and often does
+not dream how her tender care is made of no avail by
+the taint which one impure nature in the school will
+communicate, and which may perhaps colour an entire
+after-life.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth's pliant mind was finely developed beneath
+the control of her gifted parents.  Thoroughly to
+understand the study which occupied her, and to appropriate
+its results in such a manner as to make them inalienably
+her own were duties which she most conscientiously
+fulfilled.  But she gave herself to the study of music
+with an ardor that inspires a human being only when
+engaged in a pursuit felt to be especially his own.  She
+soon far outstripped her mother, who was her instructress,
+and as when a child she would often leave her playthings
+if she saw a cloud upon her father's brow, to
+sit on his knee and divert him with some tale of
+wonder, thus, as a girl, she would charm away the demon
+of gloom from her father's mind by strange and
+delicious melodies which lay like pearls in the depths of her
+soul, until she brought them to light for the first time
+for his relief and enjoyment.  And this was not the only
+blessing springing from her rare talent for music.  The
+exquisite touch upon the piano, in the garret in which the
+family lived, attracted the attention of several of the more
+aristocratic inhabitants of the house, and Elizabeth soon
+had two or three pupils in music, and had lately been
+employed in a large school as teacher of the piano, thus
+sensibly increasing the means of subsistence of the family.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Here let us resume the thread of our story, and we shall
+not shrink, I hope, from the trouble that we must take in
+following our heroine through the wet streets upon this
+stormy evening to her home and her parents.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-ii"><span class="large">CHAPTER II.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>Even during the long walk through the streets, alternately
+straight and crooked, gloomy and bright, Elizabeth
+enjoyed in imagination the delicious sensation of comfort
+that the sight of the cosey room at home always caused
+her.  There sat her father at his writing-table with its little
+study-lamp, ready to raise his pale face with a smile when
+Elizabeth entered.  He would take his pen, which had
+been travelling so busily over the paper for hours, in his
+left hand, and with his right draw his daughter down
+beside him to kiss her forehead.  Her mother, who, with
+her work-basket at her feet, usually sat close beside her
+husband that she might share the light of his study-lamp,
+would welcome her with tender loving eyes, and point to
+Elizabeth's slippers, which her care had placed by the
+stove to warm.  Upon the stove apples would be roasting
+with a cheering hiss, and in the warm corner beside
+it was the sofa-table, where the tea-kettle would be
+singing merrily above its spirit-lamp, whose weak, blue
+light illumined the regiment of tin soldiers, which her
+only brother, Ernst, a child six years of age, was busily
+drilling.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth mounted to the fourth story before she
+reached the dark, narrow passage which led to her
+father's rooms.  Here she hastily took off her bonnet and
+placed upon her lovely fair hair a boy's cap, trimmed
+with fur, which she drew from under her cloak.  Then
+she entered the room, where little Ernst ran toward her
+with a shout of joy.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>But this evening the light shone from the sofa-table in
+the usually dark corner by the stove, while the writing-table
+was left neglected in the gloom.  Her father sat
+upon the sofa, with his arm around her mother's waist;
+there was a joyous light upon the countenances of both,
+and, although her mother had evidently been weeping,
+Elizabeth instantly perceived that her tears had been tears
+of joy.  She stood still upon the threshold of the door
+in great astonishment, and must have presented a most
+comical appearance with the child's cap surmounting her
+amazed countenance, for both father and mother laughed
+aloud.  Elizabeth gaily joined in their laughter, and
+placed the fur cap upon her little brother's dark curls.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"There, my darling," she said, tenderly taking his rosy
+face between her hands and kissing it, "that is yours;
+and there is still something left to help on your
+housekeeping, mother dear," she continued, with a happy smile,
+as she handed her mother four shining thalers.  "They
+gave me my first five thalers of salary at school to-day."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But, Elsbeth," said her mother, with the tears in
+her eyes, as she drew her down to kiss her, "Ernst's last
+year's cap is still quite respectable, and you needed a pair
+of warm winter gloves much more."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I, mother? just feel my hands; although I have
+been in the street for an hour almost, they are as warm
+as if I had been holding them before the fire.  No; new
+gloves would be a most superfluous luxury.  Our boy is
+growing taller and stouter, and his cap has not kept pace
+with him; so I consider the cap a necessary expense."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, you good sister!" cried the child with delight;
+"even the little baron on the first story has not such a
+charming cap as this.  How fine it will look when I go
+hunting, hey, papa?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Hunting!" laughed Elizabeth; "are you going to
+shoot the unfortunate sparrows in the Thiergarten?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, what a miserable guesser you are, Madam Elsie!"
+the boy rejoined, gleefully.  "In the Thiergarten, indeed!"
+he added, more seriously; "that would be pretty sport.
+No, in the forest,—the real forest,—where the deer and
+hares are so thick that you don't even have to take aim
+when you want to shoot them."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I should like to hear what your uncle would say to
+this view of the noble chase," said his father with a smile,
+taking up a letter from the table and handing it to Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Read this, my child," said he; "it is from your 'forester
+uncle,' as you call him, in Thuringia."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth glanced over the first few lines, and then read
+aloud:</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The prince, who sometimes prefers a dish of bacon
+and sauerkraut at my table to the best efforts of his French
+cook in the castle of L——, passed several hours with
+me at my lodge yesterday.  He was very condescending,
+and informed me that he purposed employing an assistant
+forester, or rather forester's clerk, for he saw that my
+duties were too onerous.  I seized upon my opportunity,—the
+game was within shot, and if I missed I had nothing
+to lose but a couple of charges fired into the air;
+now was my time.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"So I told him how the jade, fortune, had played the
+very devil with you for this many a year, and how, in spite
+of your fine talents and acquirements, poverty had knocked
+at your door.  My old master knew well what I was
+driving at, for I spoke, as I always do, in good German.
+Thus far in my life every one has understood what I had
+to say.  It is only the fops and fools of his court who
+fawn around him, who would persuade him that good,
+honest German is too coarse for royal ears, and that he
+must always be addressed in French.  Well, my old
+master said that he would like to offer you this situation as
+forester's clerk, because he thought that with regard to
+myself,—and here he said a couple of things that you need
+not hear, but which delighted me,—old fellow as I am,—quite
+as much as when in old times, upon examination-day,
+the schoolmaster used to say, 'Carl, you have done
+yourself credit to-day.'  Well, his highness has
+commissioned me to write to you, and he will arrange matters.
+Three hundred and fifty thalers salary, and your fuel.
+Now think it over; it is not so poor an offer, and the
+green forest is a thousand times pleasanter than your
+confounded attics, where the neighbours' cats are forever
+squalling, and where your eyes are blinded by the smoke
+of a million chimneys.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You must not think that I am one of those wheedling,
+parasitical fellows who use their master's favour to
+benefit all their own kith and kin.  No; I can tell you
+that if you were not what you are, that is, if you were
+not really talented and well educated, I would bite my
+tongue out before I would recommend you to my master;
+and, on the other side, I should always try to secure in
+his service such an honest, capable fellow as yourself.
+No offence; you know I always like a plain statement of
+a plain case.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But there is another matter to be considered.  You
+ought to live with me, and it could be very easily
+arranged if you were a bachelor, whom four walls would
+content, with a chest for his solitary wardrobe.  But,
+unfortunately, there is no possible room in my lonely old
+rat's-hole of a forest-lodge for an entire family.  It is in
+rather a tumble-down condition, and has needed a doctor
+for some time, but I suppose the authorities will do
+nothing for it until the old balconies come crumbling about
+my ears.  The nearest village is half a league, and the
+nearest town a league from the lodge; you cannot
+possibly walk these distances every day, in the miserable
+weather that we have here sometimes.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Now old Sabina, my housekeeper, who was born in the
+nearest village, has made a wild suggestion which I
+herewith impart to you.  Old castle Gnadeck, the deceased
+Baron Gnadewitz's brilliant legacy to you, is, as I have
+told you, situated at about a rifle's shot distance from the
+lodge.  Well, Sabina says that when she was a strong
+hearty girl,—which, by the way, must have been
+something beyond a quarter of a century ago,—she was a
+chambermaid in the Gnadewitz household.  Then the new
+castle was not entirely furnished, and did not suffice to
+contain the crowd of guests yearly invited to the great
+hunt.  And so part of the building connecting the two
+principal wings of the old castle was somewhat repaired
+and furnished.  Sabina had to make and air the beds and
+attend to the rooms, to her great terror, and no wonder,—her
+old brain is perfectly crammed with all sorts of witch
+and ghost stories,—for the rest she is a most respectable
+person, and rules my household with a steady rein.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"She maintains most firmly that this part of the castle
+cannot be in a crumbling condition, for it was then in an
+excellent state of preservation, and would, she is sure,
+afford a capital shelter for you and yours.  May be she is
+right; but are your children bold enough to brave the
+ghostly inhabitants that are said to haunt those old walls?</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You know how vexed I was about your worthless
+legacy, and that I have never once been able, since the
+death of the sainted Wolf von Gnadewitz, to induce myself
+to visit the old ruin.  But after hearing Sabina's tale
+yesterday afternoon, I made one of my men climb a tree
+which stood upon the only spot which could give you a
+glimpse into the robber's nest, and he declared that
+everything had fallen into decay there.  And this morning I
+have been to the authorities in the town, but they would
+not give me the keys of the castle without special
+permission from your wife, and made, besides, as much fuss
+about it as if the treasures of Golconda lay hid in the
+mouldy old rooms.  None of those who placed the seals
+upon the doors could tell me what sort of a place it was,
+for they never entered it, under the impression that the
+ceiling might fall and dash out their prudent brains, but
+contented themselves with placing a dozen official seals
+as large as your hand upon the principal entrance door.
+I should very much like to investigate matters with you,
+so pray decide quickly and start with your family as soon
+as possible."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Here Elizabeth dropped the letter and looked with
+sparkling eyes at her father.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, how have you decided, father dear?" she asked
+hastily.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah," he replied gravely, "it is quite a hard task to
+tell you our resolution, for I see by your face that you
+would not for the world exchange this gay populous city
+for the loneliness and quiet of the Thuringian forest.
+Still, you must know that my application to the Prince
+of L—— for the place in question lies sealed in that
+envelope.  However, it is only reasonable that your wishes
+should be consulted in some degree, and we can be
+induced to leave you here in case——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, no; if Elizabeth will not go I would rather stay
+here, too," interrupted the little boy, clinging anxiously to
+his sister.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Never fear, my darling," she said to him with a laugh;
+"I shall find a place in the carriage, and if I could not, you
+know I am as bold as a soldier, and can run like a hare.
+My longing for the greenwood, which has been the fairy-land
+of my imagination ever since I was a very little child,
+shall be my compass, and I shall get along bravely.  What
+will papa do when, some evening, a weary way-worn
+traveller, with ragged shoes and empty pockets, prays for
+admission at the gate of the old castle?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, then, indeed, we must admit you," said her father,
+smiling, "if we would not draw down upon our crumbling
+roof the hostility of all good spirits who protect courage
+and innocence.  But you will have to pass by the old
+castle if you wish to find us, and knock at some modest
+peasant hut in the valley, for the ruined old pile will
+scarcely afford us an asylum."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am afraid not, indeed," said his wife.  "We shall
+work our way laboriously through wild hedges and thick
+underbrush, like the unfortunate suitors of the Sleeping
+Beauty, to find at last——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Poetry itself!" cried Elizabeth.  "Why, the first
+delicious bloom will be brushed from our woodland life if
+we cannot live in the old castle!  Certainly there must
+be four sound walls and a whole roof in some one of its
+old towers, and with heads to plan and strong willing
+hands to execute, the rest can be very easily arranged.
+We will stop up cracks with moss, nail boards over
+doorways that have lost their doors, and paper our four walls
+ourselves; we can cover the worm-eaten floors with
+homemade straw mats; declare war to the death upon
+the gray-coated, four-footed little thieves who would
+invade our larder, and soon banish all cobwebs by a good
+broom skilfully wielded."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>With glowing looks, quite carried away by her dreams
+of the future home in the fresh green forest, she went to
+the piano and opened it.  It was an old, worn-out
+instrument, whose hoarse, weak tones harmonized perfectly
+with its shabby exterior; but, nevertheless, beneath
+Elizabeth's fingers Mendelssohn's song, "Through the
+dark green Forest," rang deliciously through the little
+room.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Her parents sat quietly listening.  Little Ernst dropped
+asleep.  Without, the howling of the storm was lulled,
+but the snow was driving noiselessly past the uncurtained
+window in huge flakes.  The opposite chimneys, no longer
+smoking, had put on thick white night-caps, and looked
+stiffly and coldly, like peevish old age, into the little attic
+room, which enclosed, in the midst of the snow-storm, a
+perfect spring of joy and gaiety within its four walls.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-iii"><span class="large">CHAPTER III.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>Whitsuntide!  A word that will thrill with its magic
+the human soul as long as trees burst into leaf, larks soar
+trilling aloft, and clear spring skies laugh above us.  A
+word which can awaken an echo of spring in hearts
+encrusted with selfishness and greed of gain, chilled by the
+snows of age, or deadened by grief and care.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Whitsuntide is at hand.  A gentle breeze flutters over
+the Thuringian mountains, and brushes from their brows
+the last remains of the snow which whirls mistily into the
+air and leaves its old abiding-place in the guise of
+luminous spring clouds.  Freed from their wintry garments,
+the mountains deck their rugged brows with wreaths of
+young strawberry vines and bilberries.  In the valley
+below, the rippling trout-stream is flowing forth from the
+dark forest directly across the flower-strewn meadow.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The lonely saw-mill is clacking merrily, while its low
+thatched roof shines white with the fallen blossoms of
+the sheltering fruit trees.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Before the windows of the scattered huts of the
+wood-cutters and of the villagers many an accomplished
+bullfinch was singing in his little cage the airs which were
+the fruits of a course of instruction in high art, daring
+the winter in the hot, close room of his master.  And
+his brothers in the forest were trilling wilder but far
+sweeter lays, for their little throats inhaled the clear air
+of freedom.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Where, a few weeks before, the melted snow had
+foamed down from the mountain tops in a bed created by
+its own torrent, beautiful moss was now weaving a soft
+carpet, that would soon quite conceal the scarred breast
+of the mountain, while here and there, through the thick
+green the silver thread of some little stream glittered in
+the sunlight.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Upon the highway running through a charming valley
+of the Thuringian forest the Ferbers were travelling, in a
+well-packed carriage, toward their new home.  It was
+very early in the morning; the bell from a distant
+church-tower had just tolled the hour of three,
+wherefore only the shabby old sign-post by the roadside and
+a herd of stately stags were permitted the sight of a
+happy face that looked upon this lovely forest for the first
+time.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth leaned far out of the window of the dark
+carriage, and inhaled deep draughts of the invigorating air,
+which she maintained had already cleared away from her
+eyes and lungs all the dust of the city.  Ferber sat
+opposite, sunk in thought.  He too was refreshed by the
+beauty and tender grace of the forest; but he was more
+deeply moved by the delight in the eyes of his child, who
+was so susceptible to the charms of nature and so
+unspeakably grateful for the change in their circumstances.
+How busy her hands had been since the Royal answer to
+Ferber's application for the new office had been received!
+There had been much to do.  She had shared faithfully
+in all the cares which their departure from the city
+brought upon her parents.  It is true the prince had sent
+his new official a considerable sum of money for
+travelling expenses, and the forester uncle, too, had shown his
+usual generosity; but with the greatest economy it did
+not suffice, and therefore Elizabeth had employed every
+hour which she usually had for recreation in sewing
+for a large ready-made linen establishment,—occupying
+herself thus with her needle for many a night, after her
+unsuspecting parents were sleeping soundly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>There had been one bitter experience amid all the busy
+hurry, which had cost the young girl many tears.  She
+had seen her dear piano borne off upon the shoulders of
+two strong men to its new possessor.  It had to be sold
+for a few thalers, because it was old and frail,—too frail
+to be transported to the new home.  Ah, it had been so
+true a friend to the family!  Its thin, quavering voice had
+sounded in Elizabeth's ears tender and dear as the voice
+of her mother.  And now, probably, unfeeling children
+would thrum upon its venerable keys, and tease the old
+instrument to speak more strongly, until it should be
+mute forever.  But this sorrow was past, and lay behind
+her, with much beside which she had sacrificed and
+endured silently; and as she sat looking out into the
+morning twilight, with eyes sparkling with delight,—eyes that
+seemed to read behind the misty veil of the dawn all
+kinds of brilliant prophecies for the future,—who could
+have discerned in that figure, glowing with the
+elasticity of youth, one trace of the fatigue of the last busy
+weeks?</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>For another half hour the travellers drove along the
+smooth, level highway, and then turned aside into the
+thick forest by a well-kept carriage-road.  The sun was
+just rising in the eastern sky, and shot his rays upon the
+earth in splendid amazement at the diamonds with which
+she had adorned herself during his absence.  In the night
+a heavy shower had come up, much rain had fallen, and
+the large drops were still hanging upon twig and leaf,
+falling pattering upon the roof of the carriage whenever
+the postillion touched one of the overarching boughs with
+his whip.  What a glorious forest!  From the thick
+underbrush at their feet the trees reared their colossal
+trunks, and above, their boughs intertwined in a fraternal
+embrace as though determined to defend their peaceful,
+quiet home from light and air as from two deadly enemies.
+Only here and there a slender, green-tinted sunbeam
+would slip from bough to bough down upon the feathery
+grass and the little strawberry-blossoms, sprinkled
+everywhere like snow-flakes, even laying their little white
+heads impertinently upon the road.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>After a short drive the wood grew less dense, and soon
+the retired Lodge appeared in the midst of a meadow in
+the heart of the forest.  The postillion sounded his horn.
+A tremendous barking of dogs was heard; and with a
+loud whirr a large flock of doves soared, terrified, into
+the air from the pointed gable of the house.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A man in a hunting uniform was standing at the open
+door,—a gigantic figure, with a huge beard that almost
+covered his breast.  He shaded his eyes with his hands
+as he looked keenly at the approaching carriage, but
+suddenly running down the steps, he tore open the door, and
+threw his arms around Ferber, as the latter sprang out.
+For one instant the brothers stood in a close embrace;
+then the forester gently released the slender figure of the
+younger, and, holding him by the shoulder at arm's length,
+gazed searchingly into his pale worn countenance.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Poor Adolph!" he said at last, and his deep voice
+trembled with emotion.  "Has fate brought you to this?
+But wait awhile, we will have you sound and well again;
+it is not too late.  A thousand welcomes to you!  And
+now let us stick together until the last great trumpet call,
+when we shall not be asked whether we will stay
+together or not."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He tried to master his emotion, and helped his
+sister-in-law and little Ernst, whom he embraced and kissed, to
+descend from the carriage.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well," said he, "you must have been knocked up at
+an early hour, I must say, and that's hardly the thing for
+women."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What can you be thinking of, uncle?" cried Elizabeth.
+"We are no slug-a-beds, and know exactly how the
+sun looks when he says good morning to the world."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Halloa!" cried the forester with a laugh of surprise.
+"Who is that quarrelling with me in the corner of the
+carriage?  Come out instantly, little one."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I, little?  Well, sir, you will be finely surprised when
+I do get out and you see what a tall, stately maiden I am!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>With these words Elizabeth sprang down from the high
+carriage and stood on tiptoe, drawing herself up to her
+full height beside him.  But although her slender,
+graceful figure was something above middle size, she seemed
+at this moment like a pretty king-bird measuring itself
+with an eagle.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Look," she said, in a rather disappointed tone, "I am
+nearly up to your shoulder, and that is more than tall
+enough for a respectable girl."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Her uncle, holding himself as erect as possible, looked
+down upon her with a roguish smile of great self-satisfaction
+for a moment, then suddenly picked her up in his
+arms as though she had been a feather, and amid the
+laughter of the others carried her into the house, calling
+in a voice of thunder—</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Sabina, Sabina, come here, and I will show you how
+the wrens look in B——."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He put his terrified burden down in the hall as gently
+and carefully as though he were handling some brittle
+plaything, took her head tenderly between his large hands,
+kissed her forehead again and again, and said, "That
+such a queen of Liliput, such a moonshine elf, should dream
+of being as large as her tall uncle!  But, forest fairy as
+you are, you know all about the sun, for your head is
+covered with its beams."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>As she was carried into the house upon her uncle's
+arm the girl's hat had fallen from her head, revealing a
+mass of fair hair, the golden colour of which was all the
+more remarkable as her delicately pencilled eyebrows and
+long lashes were coal black.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the mean while an old woman entered from a side
+door, and at the head of the first flight of stairs several
+boyish faces appeared, which, however, vanished as soon
+as they found themselves perceived by the forester.  "Oh,
+you need not run away," he cried, laughing.  "I have
+seen you peeping.  They are my assistants," he turned
+to his brother; "the fellows are as curious as sparrows,
+and to-day I really cannot blame them," and he glanced
+archly at Elizabeth, who, standing aside, was binding
+her loosened braids around her head.  Then he took the
+old woman by the hand and presented her, with an air of
+comical solemnity: "Fräulein Sabina Holzin, Minister of
+the Interior to the Forest Lodge, High Constable in all
+stable and farm affairs, and to every one therein concerned,
+and, lastly, absolute monarch in the kitchen department.
+While she is putting the dinner on the table do just as
+she tells you, and all will go well with you; but, if she
+begins with her stock of old proverbs and ghost stories,
+get out of her way as quickly as possible, for there is no
+end to them.  And now,"—he turned to the smiling old
+woman, who was a miracle of ugliness, and who yet
+prepossessed all in her favour by her honest eyes, by an
+expression of roguery and fun that lighted up her face, and
+especially by the spotless cleanliness of her attire,—"now
+bring us as quickly as you can whatever pantry and
+cellar will afford: I know you baked our Whitsuntide
+cakes earlier than usual, that our travellers might have
+something to refresh them after their fatigue."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>With these words he opened the door opposite to the
+one from the kitchen through which the old woman
+disappeared, and showed his guests into a large apartment
+with bow-windows.  But Elizabeth lingered behind,
+looking through the door which led into the court-yard,
+for, between the white picket fences which shut in the
+feathered tribes on each side of the enclosure, she saw
+gay beds of flowers, while three or four late-blossoming
+apple trees stretched their rosy bloom-laden branches
+over one corner of the space.  The garden was large,
+climbing a short distance up the mountain side by terraces,
+and even enclosing within its realm a beautiful group of
+old beeches, outlying members of the forest.  While
+Elizabeth, entranced, stood thus in the hall, the door of a side
+wing of the house opened and a young girl stepped out
+into the court-yard.  She was strikingly beautiful,
+although her figure was rather diminutive, a defect for which
+nature had seemed to wish to indemnify her by gifting her
+with a pair of large eyes that glowed like dazzling black
+suns.  Her abundant dark hair was arranged evidently with
+an eye to coquettish effect, and several charmingly curled
+locks had escaped just above the pale forehead.  Her
+dress, too, although of simple material, betrayed in its
+arrangement the greatest care, and the observer could not
+but suspect that the skirt was so artistically looped not
+merely that the hem might be kept from the dust, but also
+with an eye to the neat little boot which it revealed, and
+which certainly was not made to be hidden beneath the
+heavy woollen stuff of the dress.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She had in her hand a bowl full of grain, and threw a
+handful upon the stones at her feet.  A great noise
+ensued; the doves fluttered down from the roof, the fowls
+left their roosts and nests with loud cacklings, and the
+watch-dog felt it his duty to assist in the universal
+clamour by barking loudly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth was astonished.  It is true, her uncle had
+been married, but he never had any children, as she
+knew; who then was this young girl, of whom no
+mention had been made in his letter?  She descended the
+steps that led to the court-yard, and approached the
+stranger: "Do you live at the Lodge?" she asked, kindly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The black eyes were riveted searchingly upon her for
+one moment, with a look of unmistakable surprise, then
+an expression of annoyance flitted across her delicate lips,
+which closed more tightly than before; the eyelids fell
+over the glittering eyes, and she turned silently away, as
+though entirely unconscious of the presence or address of
+any one, and continued feeding the fowls with the grain.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Just then Sabina passed through the hall with the
+coffee-tray.  She beckoned confidentially to Elizabeth, who
+stood amazed, and, when she drew near, bade her follow
+her into the house, saying: "Come, child, you can do
+nothing with her."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the sitting-room, Elizabeth found all as comfortable
+and happy as if they had lived together for years.  Her
+mother was sitting in a large arm-chair, which the forester
+had pushed near a window that commanded a lovely view
+down one of the vistas of the forest.  A large striped cat
+had sprung confidingly into her lap, where it was purring
+with satisfaction beneath the small hand that was gently
+stroking it.  And for little Ernst, the four walls of the room
+were a perfect museum of all imaginable curiosities.  He
+had climbed into one chair after another, and was then
+standing in speechless admiration before a glass case
+containing a gorgeous collection of butterflies.  The two men
+were seated, side by side, upon the lounge, in deep
+consultation concerning the future abode of the family, and,
+as Elizabeth entered, she heard her uncle say, "Well, if
+the old ruin on the mountain cannot afford you shelter,
+you must stay here with me.  I can move my writing-table
+and all my other matters out of your way for awhile,
+and then I will besiege the authorities in the town until
+they consent to add another story to the right wing of
+my old house."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth took off her travelling cloak, and assisted old
+Sabina to set the table.  The first shadow had fallen
+upon the enjoyment that had filled her soul.  Never before
+had any advance of hers been met with unkindness.  That
+she owed this exemption from the ill humour of others to
+her beauty, the charm of her manner, and the childlike
+purity of her nature, which exercised an unconscious
+influence upon all around her, had never occurred to her.
+She had taken it for granted that she should experience
+only kindness from all, since she was conscious of
+meaning well by all the world.  Her disappointment at the
+repulse was all the greater, because the sight of a young
+girl of about her own age had caused her such surprise
+and joy; and the beautiful face of the stranger had
+interested her deeply.  The studied arrangement of the
+girl's dress had not struck her, as she herself had never
+yet known the desire of heightening her attractions by
+the aids of the toilet.  Her father and mother had
+always assured her that no time spent in the cultivation
+of mind and heart was lost, and that if they were
+what they should be, her exterior could never be
+unattractive, whatever might be the form with which nature
+had endowed her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The thoughtful expression of Elizabeth's face did not
+escape her mother's notice.  She called her to her, and
+her daughter began an account of the meeting; but at the
+first words the forester turned towards her.  A deep
+wrinkle appeared between his bushy eyebrows, and made
+his face dark and gloomy.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed," he said, "have you seen her already?  Well,
+then, let me tell you who and what she is.  I took her
+into my house some years ago, that she might assist
+Sabina in her housekeeping.  She is a distant relative of
+my deceased wife, and has no parents, brothers nor sisters.
+I wished to do good, but I have provided myself with
+a perpetual scourge,—although I do not deserve it.
+She had not been here a month before I discovered that
+she had not a single healthy thought in her entire
+composition; she is a mass of exaggerated ideas and
+inconceivable arrogance.  I had half a mind to send her back
+to the place she came from, but Sabina, who has still less
+cause than I to love her, entreated me not to do it.
+Why, I cannot tell, for the girl gave her a great deal
+of trouble, and was insolent.  I did all I could to tame her
+haughty spirit by giving her regular duties to perform,
+and for awhile matters went on pretty well.  But about
+a year ago a certain Baroness Lessen came to live over
+at Lindhof,—that is the name of the former Gnadewitz
+property, which the heir-at-law sold to a Herr von Walde.
+The possessor himself, who has neither wife nor child, is a
+kind of antiquary, travels a great deal, and leaves his only
+sister under the charge of the aforesaid baroness, more's
+the pity, for she turns everything upside down.  Years
+ago, when I used to hear great piety spoken of, all my
+veneration was excited, and I wished at least to take my
+cap off; but now, when I hear of such things, I clench
+my fist and pull my hat down over my eyes, for the
+world has greatly changed.  The Baroness Lessen
+belongs to those pious souls who grow cruel, hard, and
+narrow-minded out of what they call pure fear of the
+Lord; who persecute a fellow-creature who does not cast
+his eyes down hypocritically, but lifts them to heaven
+where God dwells, as persistently as a hound hunts down
+game.  This is the herd to which my excellent niece
+belongs; there could not be a better soil for all the weeds
+that her brain generates, and all sorts of annoyances are
+the consequence.  She made acquaintance with a lady's-maid
+over there, and spent all her leisure time with her.
+At first I was content enough, until all at once she began
+with her plans,—for our conversion, as she calls it.
+Sabina was a miserable sinner, because she would not leave
+off work, at least ten times a day, to pray; the poor
+old thing, who never misses church every Sunday at
+Lindhof, even through wind and rain, and often with
+rheumatism racking her old bones, and who has lived a
+faithful, laborious life, infinitely more religious than sixty
+years of idleness spent upon her knees.  And then my
+fine moralist attacked me; but there she found her match,
+and contented herself with a single effort.  Then I forbade
+all intercourse with Lindhof; but my prohibition was of
+little use, for whenever my back is turned she takes
+occasion to slip over there.  Of course, there can be no
+question of any gratitude towards me; I have no bond
+of union with her as her guardian, and that makes my
+task of guiding and guarding her doubly difficult.  God
+only knows what insane idea has taken possession of her
+now, but for two months she has been perfectly dumb,
+not only here at home, but everywhere.  For that space
+of time not a single word has passed her lips.  Neither
+sternness nor gentle entreaty produces the slightest effect
+upon her.  She attends to her duties just as she used to
+do, eats and drinks like every one else, and is not one
+whit less vain or wise in her own conceit.  But because
+she grew pale, and did not look very well, I consulted a
+physician, who had formerly known her, with regard to
+her health.  He assured me that her physical health was
+excellent, and advised that she should be treated with
+gentle firmness, as the minds of several of her family had
+previously been somewhat affected.  He said, too, that
+she would grow tired of her entire silence, and would
+begin talking some fine day like a magpie.  I am content
+to wait; but in the mean time it is a sore trial to me.
+All my life I have longed to have happy faces around
+me, and would rather eat bread and salt with cheerful
+people than the costliest dainties with morose
+companions.  Come, my Fair one with the golden locks," he
+concluded, stroking Elizabeth's head with his huge hand,
+"push your mother's arm-chair up to the table, tie a
+napkin round the neck of that little rogue who is staring his
+eyes out at my case of rifles, and let us breakfast together,
+for you all need repose, and must rest your weary limbs
+after your long journey.  After dinner we must begin to
+think of Castle Gnadeck; but first strengthen your eyes
+with a little sleep, lest they should be dazzled by the
+splendour which will flash upon them up there."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>After breakfast, while her father and mother were asleep
+and little Ernst was dreaming in a large bed of the
+wonders of the forest-lodge, Elizabeth unpacked in the upper
+room, which her uncle had resigned to her, all that was
+necessary for the coming night.  She would not for the
+world have gone to sleep.  She went repeatedly to the
+window and looked across to the wooded mountain which
+arose behind the lodge.  There, above the tops of the
+trees, she could see a black streak, which stood out
+distinctly against the clear blue sky.  That was, as old
+Sabina said, an ancient iron flag-staff upon the roof of
+Castle Gnadeck, from which in times long gone by the
+proud banner of the Gnadewitzes had flouted the air.
+Was there behind those trees the asylum for which she
+longed, where her parents might rest their feet, weary with
+long wandering upon foreign soil?</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And then her eyes sought the court-yard below, but the
+dumb girl did not appear again.  She had not come to
+breakfast, and seemed to wish to avoid all intercourse
+with the guests at the lodge.  For this Elizabeth was
+very sorry.  Although her uncle's account had not
+been promising, a youthful spirit is not quick to
+resign its illusions, and would rather be undeceived by the
+bursting of its gay bubble than admonished by the
+experience of age.  The beautiful girl, who could so
+determinedly conceal her secret behind closed lips, became
+doubly interesting to her, and she exhausted herself in
+conjectures as to the cause of this silence.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-iv"><span class="large">CHAPTER IV.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>After a most cheerful dinner, Sabina brought from
+the cupboard a pipe, which she filled and handed with a
+match to the forester.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What are you thinking of, Sabina?" he said, rejecting
+it with a comical air of displeased surprise.  "Do you
+think I could find it in my heart to sit here and smoke a
+quiet pipe while Elsie's little feet are dancing with
+impatience to run up the mountain, and she is longing to poke
+her little nose into the magic castle?  No, I think we had
+better start at once upon our voyage of discovery."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>All were soon ready.  The forester gave his arm to his
+sister-in-law, and they started off through the court and
+garden.  After they had gone a little way, they were
+joined by a mason from the neighbouring village, whom
+the forester had sent for that he might be at hand if
+necessary.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>They walked up the mountain by a tolerably steep and
+narrow path through the thick forest, but this path
+gradually broadened, and at last led to a small open space, on
+one side of which arose what seemed like a tall gray rock.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Here I have the pleasure," said the forester to his
+brother, with a sarcastic smile, "of revealing to you the
+estate of the lamented Baron von Gnadewitz in all its
+grandeur."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>They were standing before a lofty wall, which looked
+like one solid block of granite.  They could see nothing
+of any buildings that might be behind it, because the
+surrounding forest was too thick and close to allow of a
+sufficiently distant point of observation.  The forester led
+the way along the wall, at the base of which thick
+underbrush was growing, until he reached a large oaken
+door with an iron grating in the upper half of it.  Here
+he had had the matted growth of underbrush cleared
+away, and he now produced a bunch of large keys which
+had been handed over to Frau Ferber as she had passed
+through L—— the day before.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The utmost exertions of the three men were necessary
+before the rusty locks and bars would move, but at last
+the door creaked, or rather crashed upon its hinges, and
+a thick cloud of dust floated up into the air.  The
+explorers entered and found themselves in a court-yard
+bounded on three sides by buildings.  Opposite them was
+the imposing front of the castle, with a flight of broad
+stone steps, and a clumsy iron balustrade, leading to the
+entrance door upon the first story.  Running from each
+side of the main building were gloomy colonnades, whose
+granite pillars and arches seemed to defy the tooth of
+time.  In the centre of the court-yard a group of old
+chestnut trees stretched their aged boughs above a huge
+basin, in the midst of which couched four stone lions with
+wide open jaws.  Formerly four powerful streams of
+water must have poured through them from the bowels
+of the earth, filling the entire basin; but now there was
+only a small stream trickling through the threatening
+teeth of one of the monsters, sufficing to sprinkle with
+moisture the grass and weeds growing in the cracks of
+the stone basin, and, by its low, mournful ripple, giving a
+faint suggestion of life in this wilderness.  The outer
+walls of the structure and the colonnades were all that
+could be regarded without terror in this space.  The
+window frames, from which every pane of glass had been
+broken, showed the sad desolation within.  In some
+rooms the ceilings had already fallen in; in others, the
+joists were bent as though the lightest touch might
+send them crashing down.  Even the stone steps seemed
+half hanging in the air,—some mossy fragments had
+already become detached from them, and had rolled into
+the centre of the court-yard.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"We can do nothing here," said Ferber.  "Let us go on."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Through a deep, dark portal they entered another
+court-yard, which, although much larger than the first,
+by its striking irregularity produced an impression of
+far greater desolation.  Here, a dreary, crumbling pile
+of masonry projected far out, and formed a dark
+corner never visited by a sunbeam; there, a clumsy tower
+shot into the air, throwing a deep shadow upon the wing
+at its back.  An old elder bush, leading a straggling
+existence in one corner, with its leaves covered with
+fallen crumbs of mortar, and some dry grasses between
+the stones of the pavement, made the scene yet more
+desolate.  No noise disturbed the deathlike silence
+reigning here.  Even the jackdaws soaring in the air above
+ceased their chatter, and the echoes of the footsteps upon
+the stone pavement had a ghostly sound.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, those old knights," said Ferber, almost appalled
+at the sight of the desolation around him, "have heaped
+up these piles of granite, and thought that this cradle of
+their race would proclaim the splendour of their name
+through all coming centuries.  Each has altered and
+arranged his inheritance after his own taste and convenience,
+as we see from these different kinds of architecture, and
+lived as if there were no end to it all."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And yet each lodged here but for a little space,"
+interrupted the forester, "and paid his landlord, the earth,
+for his lodging with his own crumbling bones,—now
+turned to dust.  But let us go on.  Brr—rr!—it makes
+me shiver.  Death everywhere,—nothing but death!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you call that death, uncle?" suddenly exclaimed
+Elizabeth, who had hitherto been awed and silent, pointing,
+as she spoke, through a door which was half concealed
+by an interposing column.  There, behind a grating, fresh
+sunny green was shining, and young climbing roses
+leaned their blossoms against the iron bars.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth ran towards the door, and, exerting all her
+strength, pushed it open.  The space upon which she
+entered had probably been the former flower-garden, but
+such a name could scarcely be applied to the tangled
+wilderness of green, where not even the narrowest vestige
+of a path could be discerned, and where here and there
+only the mutilated remains of a statue appeared among
+the mass of shrubs, bushes, and parasitical plants.  A
+wild grape-vine had climbed to the upper story of the
+building, and taken firm hold there of the window-sills,—its
+green branches and wreaths falling thence like a shower
+upon the wild roses and lilac bushes beneath.  And in
+this secluded, blooming spot of ground, a buzzing and
+humming were heard, as if Spring had assembled here her
+entire host of winged insects.  Countless butterflies
+fluttered over the flowers, and golden beetles were running
+glittering across the broad fern leaves at Elizabeth's feet.
+And above this little world of bloom and busy life several
+fruit trees and magnificent lindens waved their leafy crests,
+while upon a slight elevation were seen the remains of
+what had once been a pavilion.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The garden was surrounded upon three sides by
+buildings; the square was completed by a high, green
+wall, which had been constructed of earth, like a dam,
+and above which the trees of the forest waved a greeting
+to their neighbours within.  Here were also the same
+signs of decay,—tolerably well preserved outer
+walls,—complete ruin within.  Only one building of two stories,
+connecting two high wings, attracted attention from its
+closed appearance.  The light did not shine through it, as
+through its doorless and windowless companions; its flat
+roof, finished in front and at the back by a heavy stone
+balustrade, must have bidden defiance to time and tempest,
+as had also the gray window-panes which peeped out
+here and there from the tangled growth of vines that
+covered everything.  The forester measured it with a keen
+glance, and declared that this must be Sabina's famous
+building,—possibly the interior might not be in as
+crumbling a condition as the rest of the castle,—only he could
+not understand how they were to get into the old swallow's
+nest.  Certainly, the rank growth around the base
+of the walls would have obscured all trace of steps or
+door, even were there any such entrance.  They determined,
+therefore, to venture up into one of the large side
+wings by a worn but tolerably secure flight of stone steps,
+and thus attempt to arrive at the interior of the
+connecting building.  They succeeded in gaining ingress to the
+tall wing, although they could keep their footing only by
+clinging to the uneven walls.  They first entered a large
+saloon which had the blue sky for a ceiling, and whose
+only decoration was a few green bushes growing through
+its walls.  Remnants of galleries, worm-eaten joists, and
+various fragments of frescoed ceiling were heaped up in
+piles, over which the explorers had to scramble as best
+they might.  Then followed a long suite of rooms in the
+same utterly desolate condition.  Upon some of the walls
+fragments of family portraits were still hanging, upon
+which, strangely and comically enough, only an eye, or,
+perhaps, a pair of delicate folded hands, or a mail-clad,
+theatrically-posed leg, was yet distinctly to be traced.
+At length they reached the last apartment, and stood
+before a high-arched doorway which had evidently been
+bricked up.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Aha!" said Ferber, "here they intended to cut off
+this building from the universal desolation.  I think
+that before we venture any further upon this break-neck
+expedition it would be well to knock out these stones."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>His proposal was at once favourably received, and the
+mason began his task; he soon penetrated into a recess
+in the wall, which he assured them was double at this
+spot.  The other two men lent their assistance, and a
+thick oaken door was revealed behind the masonry that
+they cleared away.  This door was not locked, and yielded
+readily to the mason's strong arm.  They entered an
+entirely dark, close room.  One slender sunbeam, straying
+through a crack showed them where to find a window;
+the bolt of the shutter, rusty from long disuse, resisted
+for some time the strength of the forester, and the trees
+upon the outside opposed an additional obstacle to their
+exertions.  At last the shutter yielded with a crash;
+the golden-green sunlight streamed in through a high
+bow-window and disclosed an apartment not broad, but
+very deep, the walls of which were hung with Gobelin
+tapestry.  Upon each of the four corners of the ceiling
+were painted the arms of the Gnadewitzes.  To the
+surprise of all, this room was entirely furnished as a sleeping
+apartment.  Two canopied beds, with hangings dingy
+with age, that occupied the two long walls of the room,
+were all made up; the pillows were covered with fine linen
+cases, and the silken coverlid still preserved its colour
+and texture.  Everything that could conduce to the
+comfort of an aristocratic occupant was here, buried, indeed,
+beneath a mass of dust, but in a state of excellent
+preservation.  Beyond this apartment, and opening into
+it, was another much larger, with two windows; it was
+also completely furnished, although in antique style, and
+evidently with furniture hunted up from various other
+rooms for the purpose.  An antique writing-table, its top
+most artistically inlaid and resting upon strangely carved
+claw feet, harmonized but poorly with the more modern
+form of the crimson sofa; and the gilt frames, in which
+hung several well-painted hunting pictures, did not
+accord with the silver mountings of the huge mirror.
+Nevertheless, nothing was wanting that could complete
+the solid comfort of the room.  A thick, though
+somewhat faded carpet was laid upon the floor, and a large
+antique timepiece stood beneath the mirror.  A small
+boudoir, also furnished, and from which a door led to a
+vestibule and a flight of steps, opened from the larger
+apartment.  Behind these rooms were three others of a
+similar size, with windows looking upon the garden; one
+of these, containing two beds and pine furniture, was
+evidently intended for the servants.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well done!" cried the forester with a smile of
+satisfaction; "here is an establishment that exceeds the
+wildest flights of our modest fancy.  If the sainted
+Gnadewitz could see us now he would turn in his leaden coffin.
+All this we owe, I suppose, to the neglect of a housekeeper
+or to the forgetfulness of some childish, old steward."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But do you think we ought to keep these things?"
+asked, in a breath, Frau Ferber and Elizabeth, who had
+been silent hitherto from wonder.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Most certainly, my love," said Ferber; "your uncle
+left you the castle with everything which it contained."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And little enough it was," growled the forester.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But in comparison with our expectations a perfect
+mine of wealth," said Frau Ferber, as she opened a
+beautiful glass cabinet containing different kinds of china; "and
+if my uncle had actually endowed me with an estate in
+my young days, when I was full of hope and enthusiasm,
+I doubt whether it would have made as much impression
+upon me as does this unexpected discovery, which relieves
+us all of so much anxiety."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the mean time Elizabeth had gone to the window of
+the first room which they had entered, and was trying to
+part the boughs and vines which grew so thick and strong
+all along this side of the building that they formed a
+barrier through which only a greenish twilight penetrated.
+"It is a pity," she said, as she found that her efforts
+were vain; "I should have liked some glimpse of the
+forest outside."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Why, do you think," said her uncle, "that I shall
+allow you to live behind this green screen, which shuts out
+air as well as light?  Rely upon me to take that matter
+in charge, my little Elsie."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>They next descended the stairs.  These, too, were in
+perfect preservation, and led to a large hall with a huge
+oaken table in the centre, surrounded by spindled-legged,
+straight-backed chairs.  The floor was of red tiles, and
+the panels on walls and ceiling were covered with
+beautiful carving.  This large apartment was provided with
+four windows and two doors opposite to each other; one
+of these led into the garden, and the other, which was
+opened with difficulty, into a narrow open court-yard lying
+between the building-and the outer wall.  Here the
+syringas and hazel bushes were growing everywhere, making
+an absolute thicket, through which, however, the three
+men penetrated, and reached a little gate in the outside
+wall which communicated with the forest without.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Now," said Ferber, delighted, "every obstacle to our
+living here is removed.  This entrance is most valuable.
+We shall never have to pass through the older court-yards,
+which are really dangerous places, surrounded as they are
+by crumbling ruins."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>They made one more tour through their newly found
+home with an eye to its future arrangement, and the mason
+was ordered to be upon the spot the next day that he
+might convert one of the back rooms into a kitchen.
+Then, after the oaken door leading into the large, ruinous
+wing had been well bolted and secured, they took their
+way through the gate in the wall, an undertaking difficult
+indeed, on account of the thick bushes which opposed
+their progress, but infinitely preferable to the perilous path
+by which they had entered.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>As the returning party entered the garden of the forest
+lodge, Sabina came towards them, in great anxiety to learn
+the results of their expedition, accompanied by little Ernst,
+who had been entrusted to her care while his mother and
+sister were away.  She had prepared the table with its
+snowy cloth and shining coffee-service upon a shady knoll
+under the beech trees, and now clapped her hands with
+delight upon hearing of all they had found.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah! gracious Powers," she cried, "I hope the Herr
+Forester understands now that I knew what I was talking
+about.  Yes, yes, all those things were left there and
+forgotten, and no wonder.  As soon as the young lord was
+buried, old Gnadewitz packed off as quick as he could,
+and took every servant with him except the old
+house-steward Silber, and he was childish with age, and
+besides had enough to do to take care of all that was left
+in the new castle; it was crowded with furniture and plate,
+and he had a hard time to keep it all right; so everything
+was left in the old rooms, and no one knew anything
+about them.  Ah, I've dusted and cleaned everything
+there often enough, and frightened indeed I was whenever
+I came to that old clock, for it plays such mournful music
+when it strikes, it used to sound like something unearthly,
+when I was all alone at work in the old place.  Ah, how
+time flies, I was young then!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Then came an hour of rest and comfortable discussion,
+while they drank their coffee.  As Elizabeth had decided
+that nothing could be more charming than to awaken in
+their own rooms upon Whit-Sunday morning,—when the
+ringing of the church-bells in the surrounding villages
+would come softly echoing through the forest glades,—a
+view of the matter in which her mother sympathized,
+they determined to undertake all the necessary repairs
+and cleaning immediately, that they might occupy the
+rooms upon the eve of Whit-Sunday, and the forester
+placed all his men at their disposal.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Sabina had taken up her position upon a grassy bank
+at a short distance from the table, that she might be at
+hand if wanted; and that she might not be idle, she had
+pulled up a couple of handfuls of carrots from the garden
+and was busily scraping and trimming them.  Elizabeth
+sat down beside her.  The old woman gave a sly glance
+at the delicate white fingers, that contrasted so with her
+own brown, horny hands, as they picked some carrots up
+from her lap.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't touch," she said, "that is no work for you,—you
+will make your fingers yellow."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What matter for that?" laughed Elizabeth.  "I will
+help you a little, and you shall tell me a story.  You
+were born here, and must know many a tale about the
+old castle."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You may be sure of that," replied the old housekeeper.
+"The village of Lindhof, where I was born, belonged to
+the Lords von Gnadewitz time out of mind, and you see
+in such a little place as that every one talks and thinks of
+the great people who rule over it.  Nothing happens of
+any account in the castle that is not described and handed
+down from father to son in the village, and, long after the
+lords and ladies are dust, their stories are told by the
+village girls and boys.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Now there was my great-grandmother, whom I
+remember perfectly, she knew many a thing that would
+make your hair stand on end; but she had a monstrous
+respect for every one at Gnadeck, and used to bob down
+my head with her trembling hands whenever a Gnadewitz
+drove by our cottage,—for I was but a little thing then,
+and did not know how to make a respectable courtesy.
+She knew about all the lords who had lived at the old
+castle for hundreds of years; yes, many a thing that had
+happened there, that must have outraged God and man.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Afterwards, when I lived at the new castle, and had
+to sweep the long gallery where their pictures were all
+hanging upon the wall,—pictures of people whose very
+bones had mouldered away,—I often used to stand still
+before them and wonder to see them looking so like
+everybody else, when they used to make such a fuss about
+themselves, as if God Almighty had brought them down
+to the earth with his own hands.  There were not many
+beauties among the women.  I often thought, in my stupid
+way, that if pretty Lieschen, the most beautiful girl in the
+village, could only have been painted and hung in such a
+rich gold frame, with a silken scarf and such quantities
+of jewels upon her neck and in her hair, and the blackamoor
+with his silver waiter standing just behind her lovely
+face and neck, she would have looked a thousand times
+prettier than the lady who was so ugly, and frowned so
+with pride and arrogance that two great wrinkles went
+up to the very roots of her hair.  And yet she was the
+very one that the family was proudest of.  She had been
+a very wealthy countess, but hard and unfeeling as a stone.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Among the men, there was only one whom I liked to
+look at.  He had a frank, kind, honest face, and a pair of
+eyes black as sloes; but he had shown how true it is that
+the good always get the worst of it in this world.  All
+the others had a fine time of it as long as they lived.
+Many of them had done harm enough in their time, and
+yet their death-beds were as calm and peaceful as if they
+had always been just and true; but poor Jost von
+Gnadewitz had a sad fate.  My great-grandmother's
+grandmother had known him when she was a very little girl.
+Then they always called him the wild huntsman, because
+he never left the forest, but would hunt there from
+morning until night.  In the picture he had on a green coat
+and a long white feather in his cap, that was most
+beautiful to see dangling among his coal-black curls.  He was
+kind-hearted, and never harmed a child.  While he lived
+all the villagers prospered, and they wished he might live
+forever.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But all of a sudden he left this part of the country,
+and no one knew, for some time, where he had gone,
+until one night in a dreadful storm he came back as quietly
+as he had gone away.  But always after that he was a
+changed man.  The people of Lindhof prospered as
+before, but they saw no more of their master.  He
+dismissed all his servants, and lived alone in his old castle
+with only one favourite attendant.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And at last it began to be whispered that he was busy
+with magic and the black art up there, and no one dared
+to go near the castle even at high noon, let alone the
+dark night.  But my old great-grandmother was a bold,
+saucy girl, and used sometimes to pasture her goats right
+under the walls of the castle court-yard.  Well,—once as
+she was leaning against a tree there, gazing at the high
+walls, and lost in thoughts concerning all that might be
+going on behind them, suddenly an arm appeared above
+them white as snow, and then a face fairer than sun, moon,
+and stars, my grandmother said, and at last with a
+sudden spring a young maiden stood upon the top of the
+broad wall, and, stretching her arms up into the air, cried
+out something in a strange tongue that my grandmother
+could not understand, and was just about to leap down
+into the deep ditch full of water that then entirely
+surrounded the castle, when Jost appeared behind her, and,
+putting his arms around her, begged and implored her
+so that a stone would have melted at such entreaties
+wrung from a heart full of terror and anguish.  And
+finally he took her up in his arms like a child, and they
+both disappeared from the wall.  But the veil became
+loosened from the maiden's head and floated away across
+the ditch to where my grandmother was standing.  It
+was exquisitely fine, and she carried it home in great glee
+to her father; but he declared it was woven by the devil,
+and threw it into the fire, forbidding my grandmother
+ever to go up the mountain near the castle again.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Some time after,—certainly a whole year after Jost
+first shut himself up so closely at Gnadeck,—he came
+down the mountain very early one morning on horseback;
+but you would hardly have known him, his face was so
+haggard and pale, all the paler for the full suit of black
+that he wore.  He rode very slowly, and nodded sadly to
+every one whom he met; he never came back to this
+place again; he was slain in battle, and his old servant
+with him—'twas at the time of the thirty years' war."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And the beautiful girl?" asked Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, no one ever heard tale or tidings of her again.
+Jost left a large sealed packet in the town-house at L——,
+and said that it was his last will, and must be opened
+whenever news of his death should be received.  But a
+short time after his departure, there was a terrible fire in
+L——; a great many houses, and even the church and
+the town-house, were burned to the ground with
+everything which they contained, and of course the packet
+was destroyed.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Before Jost left, the pastor from Lindhof went to see
+him several times; but the reverend gentleman kept as
+quiet as a mouse, and, as he was already very old, he
+soon departed this life, and everything that he knew
+was buried with him.  So no living being knows anything
+about the strange maiden, nor ever will know till the day
+of judgment."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, never trouble yourself to keep the matter quiet,
+Sabina," called the forester to her from the table, as he
+shook the ashes out of his pipe.  "Elsie had better get
+used as soon as possible to the terrible conclusions to your
+stories.  Tell her at once—for you know all about
+it—how the beautiful maiden one fine day flew up the
+chimney and away upon a broomstick."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, I don't believe that, sir, although I know——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That the whole country is swarming with such creatures,
+all ripe for the gallows," interrupted her master.
+"Yes, yes," he continued, turning to the others, "Sabina
+is one of the old Thuringian stock.  She has sense enough,
+and her heart is in the right place; but when there is any
+question about witchcraft she loses one and forgets the
+other, and is nearly ready to turn any poor old woman
+away from the door, just because she has red eyes, without
+giving her a morsel of food."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, indeed, sir, I'm not quite so bad as that," the old
+woman declared with some irritation.  "I give her
+something to eat; but I always stick my thumbs in the palms
+of my hands, and never answer one of her questions,—there's
+no harm in that!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Every one laughed at this charm against witches and
+witchcraft, which the old servant told with the utmost
+gravity as she arose and emptied the carrot-tops from her
+apron, that she might prepare the afternoon meal, which
+was to be eaten earlier than usual, as there was much to
+do in the old castle before nightfall.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-v"><span class="large">CHAPTER V.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>As Elizabeth opened her eyes the next morning, the
+tall clock in the room below was striking eight, and she
+started up with the provoking consciousness that she had
+overslept herself; and it was all owing to a vivid and
+terrible dream.  The golden atmosphere of poetry, which
+had yesterday hovered around Sabina's narrative, had
+become a gloomy cloud in the night, the shadow of which
+embittered and burdened the first moments of her
+awakening.  She had been flying in deadly terror through the
+spacious, dreary halls of the old castle, always pursued
+by Jost.  Thick curls were waving wildly above his pale
+forehead, beneath which his black eyes gleamed upon her,
+and she had just stretched out her arms in greater terror
+than she had ever experienced in her life before, to defend
+herself from him, when she awoke.  Her heart was still
+beating violently, and she thought with a shudder of the
+wretched girl upon the castle wall, who, pursued, perhaps,
+as she had been, had sought relief in death, when she
+was again captured by her tormentor.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She sprang up and bathed her face in cold water; then
+she opened her window and looked out into the courtyard.
+There sat Sabina under a pear tree, busy with her
+churn.  All the feathered crowd of the place stood around,
+looking impatiently for the crumbs that she threw to them
+from time to time from a bowl upon the table by her side,
+while she improved the occasion to rebuke the arrogant
+and greedy, and to console the oppressed and down-trodden.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>When she saw the young girl, she nodded kindly, and
+called up to her to say that every one in the lodge had
+been busy up there in the old castle since six o'clock.
+When Elizabeth reproached her for letting her sleep so
+long, she assured her that she had done so by the express
+desire of her mother, who thought that her daughter had
+overtasked her strength in the last few weeks of
+excitement and exertion.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Sabina's kind, placid face, and the fresh air of the
+morning soothed Elizabeth's nerves at once, and brought back
+her thoughts to the world of reality which was just now
+opening so brightly before her.  She took herself seriously
+to task that, despite her uncle's fatherly admonition, she
+had leaned out of the open window until midnight upon
+the previous night, gazing across the moonlit meadow
+into the silent forest.  But common sense often plays a
+poor part when opposed to excited fancy.  Where it
+should conduct a rigid examination and discriminate
+wisely, it suddenly finds itself deserted in the
+judgment-seat, and must retire in confusion, while the varied and
+motley spectacle which fancy conjures up proceeds
+without interruption.  Thus Elizabeth's self-reproaches soon
+vanished before the picture which presented itself to her
+memory, and still threw around her all the magic of a
+moonlit night in the forest.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>As soon as she had dressed, and drank a tumbler of
+fresh milk, she hastened up to the castle.  The sky was
+overcast, but only with those light, thin clouds which
+foretell a fresh although not a sunny, spring day.
+Therefore the birds' morning concert was of longer duration
+than usual, and the dew-drops lay as large and full in the
+cups of the flowers as if their existence for the day were
+not threatened.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>As Elizabeth entered the large gate of the castle, which
+stood wide open, a huge green mound, piled up by the
+fountain, met her eye.  It was formed of thistle stalks,
+ferns, and bramble bushes, which had been torn from
+their home in the garden, and were here bidding farewell
+to their long, merry life.  The path through the arched
+gateway of the second court-yard to the grating was
+strewn with green boughs and leaves, as though a joyous
+marriage train had been passing through the old ruins;
+and even on the sill of a high window, that showed the
+remains of coloured glass in the lacework of the stone
+rosette of its pointed arch, some boughs had been caught
+as they were carried past, and the trailing end of a wild
+vine was coiling its living green lovingly around the
+stone trefoil of the Holy Trinity, which betrayed
+unmistakably that the dark, dreary hall within had once
+been the chapel of the castle.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The garden, where it had yesterday been impossible to
+take two steps, seemed to Elizabeth entirely changed.
+A considerable part of it had been cleared, and showed
+distinct traces of having been tastefully laid out.  She
+could easily proceed along a partially cleared path, across
+which timid hares and squirrels ran fleetly now and then,
+until she reached the green rampart which had only
+been seen from a distance yesterday.  At each end of
+the long, grassy embankment, broad, worn, stone steps
+led up to a low breastwork, over which one could look
+out into the forest, and there, where the trees were
+somewhat thin, through a green vista down into the valley,
+where the forest lodge, with the white doves dotting its
+blue-slated roof, was nestling cosily.  At the foot of the
+embankment, just where the broad path terminated, was
+a little stone basin, into which a strong stream of crystal
+water flowed through the mouth of a mossy little marble
+gnome.  Two lindens arched their boughs above this
+gurgling brook, and threw their grateful shade upon the
+tender forget-me-nots, which grew here in masses in the
+damp earth and wreathed the little basin with their
+heavenly blue.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Directly opposite the embankment lay her future
+habitation, which, with its window-shutters thrown back and
+the large door on the ground-floor wide open, looked so
+bright and hospitable to-day that Elizabeth welcomed
+with joy the thought that she was looking upon her home.
+Her gaze wandered over the garden, and she thought
+upon those moments of her childhood when, her little
+heart full of unconquerable longing, she had lingered
+behind her parents during some pleasant walk, and, with
+her face pressed close against the iron grating, had gazed
+into some strange garden.  There she had seen happy
+children playing carelessly upon the greensward; they
+could bend down the lovely roses that hung in such
+clusters, and inhale their fragrance as long as they liked.
+And what a pleasure it must be to creep under the flower-laden
+boughs and sit there in the green, just like grown-up
+people in an arbour!  But there was nothing for her then
+but the look and the longing.  No one had ever opened the
+barred door to the child with the wistful eyes, who would
+have been only too happy if they would have thrust a
+few flowers through the grating into her little hands.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>While Elizabeth was standing upon the embankment,
+the forester appeared at one of the upper windows of
+the dwelling.  When he saw her graceful figure leaning
+against the low breastwork, as, with her beautiful head
+half turned towards the garden, she seemed sunk in a
+reverie, his features were illumined by an expression of
+pleasure and quiet delight.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And Elsie soon found him out, and nodding to him
+gaily, bounded down the steps towards the house.  Little
+Ernst ran to her in the hall, and she took him up in her
+arms.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The assistance which the little boy had afforded had
+been, according to his own enthusiastic account,
+invaluable indeed.  He had carried bricks for the mason who
+had been mending the hearth, had helped his mother to
+shake out the beds, and declared with pride that the lords
+and ladies upon the woollen hangings looked far
+handsomer since he had brushed off their dusty faces.  He
+threw his arms around his sister's neck as she carried
+him up-stairs, assuring her all the way that he liked it a
+thousand times better here than in B——.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The forester received Elizabeth in the antechamber
+above.  He scarcely gave her time to say good morning
+to her parents, but conducted her instantly into the
+gobelin-hung apartment.  Ah, what a transformation!  The
+green lattice-work that had obscured the window had
+vanished.  Without, beyond the outer wall, the forest
+retreated like side-scenes on either side, opening a full
+view of a distant valley that was to Elizabeth a perfect
+paradise.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"There is Lindhof," said the forester, pointing to a
+large building in the Italian style, which lay tolerably
+near to the foot of the mountain upon which Gnadeck
+stood.  "I have brought you something that will show
+you every tree upon the mountains over there, and every
+blade of grass in the meadows of the valley," he
+continued, as he held an excellent spy-glass before her eyes.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And then the grand, solemn mountain domes seemed
+to approach, their granite peaks, sometimes crowned by a
+solitary fir, breaking through the forest here and there.
+Behind these nearest summits towered countless ranges
+in the blue misty light, and from a distant, dim valley
+which separated two giant mountains, arose two
+slender, shadowy gothic towers.  A little river, a highway
+bordered by poplars, and several gay villages enlivened
+the background of the valley.  In front lay Castle
+Lindhof, surrounded by a park laid out in princely style.
+Beneath the windows of the castle extended a closely shaven
+lawn, beset with small, quaintly-shaped beds glowing with
+all the colours of the rainbow.  Thence Elizabeth's eyes
+soon wandered, and rested delightedly upon the mysterious
+gloom of an avenue of magnificent lindens, their heavy
+foliage interlacing above their brown trunks, while here
+and there drooping boughs swept the ground beneath with
+their broad leaves.  They bordered a little crystal lake,
+which just now looked melancholy enough amid all its
+flowery surroundings, for its depths mirrored a cloudy
+sky.  Now and then a swan stretched its white neck
+curiously among the low-hanging linden boughs, and sent
+a shower of feathery spray from its wings to sprinkle their
+old trunks.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Hitherto Elizabeth had allowed the glass to range
+restlessly hither and thither, but now she attempted to hold
+it steadily, for she had made a discovery which excited
+her interest most powerfully.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Under the last trees of the avenue stood a couch.  A
+young lady lay upon it, her charming head thrown back
+so that a part of her chestnut curls fell down across the
+pillow.  Beneath the hem of her long white muslin dress,
+which enveloped her form to the throat, peeped out two
+tiny feet encased in gold-embroidered satin slippers.  She
+held in her delicate almost transparent hands some
+auriculas, which she was thoughtlessly twisting and waving to
+and fro.  Her lips alone showed any colouring; the rest
+of her face was lily-pale; one would almost have doubted
+its being informed with life had not the blue eyes gleamed
+so wondrously.  But these eyes with their depth of
+expression were riveted upon the countenance of a man
+who, sitting opposite, appeared to be reading aloud to
+her.  Elizabeth could not see his face, for his back was
+turned toward her.  He seemed young, tall, and well
+made, and had a profusion of light-brown hair.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Is that lovely lady over there the Baroness Lessen?"
+asked Elizabeth, eagerly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The forester took the spy-glass.  "No," said he, "that
+is Fräulein von Walde, the sister of the proprietor of
+Lindhof.  You call her charming, and certainly her head
+is lovely, but she is a cripple; she walks upon crutches."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At this moment Frau Ferber joined them.  She too
+looked through the glass, and thought the countenance
+of the young lady most beautiful.  She was particularly
+struck with the expression of gentle kindness which, as
+she said, "transfigured the features."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes," said the forester, "she is kind and benevolent.
+When I first came here the whole country around was
+full of her praises.  But matters are changed indeed, since
+the Baroness Lessen has had the control of affairs over
+there.  No more alms are distributed among the poor,
+unless they are earned by hypocrisy.  Woe to the wretch who
+asks any assistance there!  He will be turned away
+without a penny, if he ventures to hint that he would rather
+listen to the pastor in the village church on Sundays than
+go to the castle chapel, where the chaplain of the baroness
+every week calls down fire and brimstone, and every
+imaginable pain of hell, upon the heads of the ungodly."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Certainly such violent measures are poorly fitted to
+win souls to heaven and inspire people with Christian
+love," said Frau Ferber.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"They destroy all good, and foster hypocrisy, I tell
+you!" cried the forester, angrily.  "Do they not set an
+example of it themselves?  They are always reading in the
+Bible of Christian humility, yet every day they grow
+haughtier and more supercilious.  Why, they would actually
+persuade us that their high-born bodies are moulded of a
+different clay from those of their poor brothers in Christ.
+It stands written, 'When thou doest thine alms, let not
+thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth;' but no
+hen ever makes more to-do over her newly-laid egg than
+these people over their charities.  There are perpetual
+collections, fairs, and lotteries for the poor, and the whole
+neighbourhood is black-mailed, but when it comes to
+taking the money from, where it is plentiest, their own
+purses,—oh, that's carrying the joke too far, as the
+saying goes.  I know people who have been for twenty
+years collecting subscriptions from others to found a
+poor-house.  These very people have a yearly income of six
+thousand thalers, but of course it never occurs to them to
+add one penny from their own store in aid of their
+charitable project.  They must purchase a reputation for
+benevolence and Christian self-sacrifice more cheaply than that.
+Zounds! how it enrages me to see people wearing
+their piety so pinned upon their sleeves!  Over there in
+the castle a bell is set ringing just so many times a day,
+that every one in the country around may say, when they
+hear it, 'They are having prayers at the castle.'  The
+closet, where God has commanded us to shut to the door
+and kneel in prayer, is altogether too small to suit their taste.
+And it is not only this trumpet-blowing that outrages me.
+I hold it to be actually wicked to make such a mere everyday
+form of the worship of the Holiest.  Do you suppose
+that the maid-servant, with a hot smoothing-iron in
+her hand, or the cook, who is just putting her roast to the
+fire, can rejoice in the sound of that bell?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It is most certainly a dubious kind of piety," said
+Frau Ferber, smiling.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Or even the gracious ladies themselves, who are busy
+with the last novel or a piquante bit of court scandal—for
+an interest in all such things is quite consistent with the
+loftiest piety—do you suppose they are able to divert
+their thoughts in one instant from worldly affairs and turn
+them all heavenwards?  But these people run in and out
+of the kingdom of heaven without any thought or
+preparation, and congratulate themselves upon the honour that
+they are doing to the Creator."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And does Herr von Walde sympathize with these
+reforms of the baroness?" asked Frau Ferber.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"From everything that I can gather from the villagers,
+I should judge not; but how does that mend the matter?
+He is probably at this moment prying into the pyramids
+that he may throw light upon antiquity; how should he
+know that his cousin here is zealously doing her best to
+blow out the advancing light of the present?  Besides,
+I dare say he has a crack in his own brain.  The prince
+of L——, who knows him well, wished some years ago to
+make a match between him and a young person of
+quality at court, but, as I hear, my gentleman refused the
+alliance because the fair one's pedigree was not sufficiently
+long."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Why, perhaps then he may install as mistress of
+Lindhof some fair daughter of a fellah, whose ancestors lie
+among the mummies at Memphis," said Elizabeth, laughing.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't believe he will marry at all," rejoined the
+forester.  "He is no longer young, is too fond of a
+wandering life, and has never shown any love for women's
+society.  I'll wager my little finger that that fellow there
+with the book in his hand thinks just as I do, and already
+in his inmost soul regards Lindhof and all the other
+charming estates in Saxony, and God only knows where else,
+as his own."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Has he any claims to them?" asked Frau Ferber.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Most certainly.  He is the son of the Baroness
+Lessen, whose family is the only one in the world related to
+the brother and sister von Walde.  The baroness was
+first married to a certain Herr von Hollfeld; that young
+man is the fruit of that marriage, and by the death of his
+father he came into possession of Odenberg, a large estate
+on the other side of L——.  The fair widow was fully
+conscious that her freedom must be made available to assist
+her up at least one step in the ladder of human happiness
+and perfection, and naturally this could only be attained
+by a marriage with high rank, wherefore Frau von
+Hollfeld one day became Baroness Lessen.  'Tis true the
+baron's name had been made somewhat notorious by
+several acts on his part which people of common, low-born
+ideas might call dishonourable; but what matter for that?
+Was he not a lord chamberlain, and did not the keys of
+his office unlock many a door for him where St. Peter's
+would have availed nothing, in spite of the power given
+to them?  However, the baron died after two years of
+marriage, leaving his widow a little daughter and an
+enormous amount of debts.  I have no doubt she is glad
+enough to queen it at Lindhof, for I hear that she has no
+part or parcel in her son's property."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Here a maid from the lodge interrupted them with
+bucket and broom, giving unmistakable signs that she
+was about to begin the duties of her office in this
+apartment.  The spy-glass was hastily closed, and while the
+forester went into the garden to renew his labours there
+in clearing away the luxuriant green from the lower
+window-sills, Frau Ferber and Elizabeth busied themselves
+with dust-cloths and brushes in restoring the furniture of
+the room to something of its original appearance.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-vi"><span class="large">CHAPTER VI.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>Whitsuntide was over.  The brazen bells had retired
+into private life, and looked black and silent through the
+loopholes in the bell-towers, that seemed like the coffins of
+the melodious life which had so lately streamed forth
+from them during the holidays.  But the bright flower-bells
+in the forest, hanging loosely on their stalks, could
+not forget the festival.  They had joined in bravely when
+the air had quivered with the brazen clang, and still rang
+gently with every breeze that swept through the
+underbrush.  What did they care that the wood-cutter, his
+holiday clothes and face all laid aside, tramped past them
+in his heavy boots, whistling some rude melody!  The
+forest heeded not, but kept up the same mysterious
+murmur amid its branches like a thousand-voiced whisper of
+prayer, and the little birds sang as before their matin and
+vesper hymns in God's praise.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Up in old Castle Gnadeck, as in the forest, the festal
+spirit of the holidays still reigned, although Ferber had
+already entered upon the duties of his office, often making
+unavoidable visits to L——, while Frau Ferber and
+Elizabeth had, through Sabina, received several large
+orders from a ready-made linen establishment in L——,
+and were besides busy every day for some hours in the
+garden which even in this first year gave promise of
+abundant fruit and flowers.  Notwithstanding this constant
+industry, there was a holiday air pervading the whole place,
+arising from the consciousness in the minds of each one
+of the family that there had come a happy turn in their
+affairs; they were continually comparing their present
+with their former situation, and the new and unaccustomed
+life of the forest had an almost intoxicating effect
+upon their spirits.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Her parents had given Elizabeth the gobelin room,
+because there was the finest prospect from its windows, and
+because the girl when she had first entered it had
+declared that she liked it best of all.  The gloomy door
+which led into the huge old wing Had been walled up
+and gave no sign that such a dreary waste lay beyond
+it.  The further end of the room was filled by one of the
+renovated canopied bedsteads, and by the window stood
+the antique writing-table, with its quaint inkstand and
+writing utensils of porcelain, and two vases filled with
+lovely flowers; while just outside the window, embowered
+in the topmost branches of a syringa bush, was the
+canary's cage; its occupant vying with the forest songsters
+in its shrill trilling with all the envy of some spoiled
+bravura singer.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>While they were arranging the room, and Frau Ferber
+was every moment bringing in some new piece of furniture
+to add to it a greater air of comfort and luxury, her
+husband went to the longest wall, and, stretching his
+arms across it, banished to the anteroom the lounge that
+had just been placed there.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Stay,—this space I appropriate," he said with a
+smile.  Then he brought a large bracket of dark wood and
+nailed it upon the wall, which was wainscoted neatly to
+the ceiling on this side.  "Here," he continued, as he
+placed upon the bracket a bust of Beethoven, "this
+mightiest mortal shall be enthroned alone."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But that looks so blank and bare," said Frau Ferber.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Only wait until to-morrow or the day after, and you
+will, I am sure, admit that my arrangements are not to
+be despised, and that Elizabeth will have both pleasure
+and profit from them."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And on the next day, which had been Whitsun-eve,
+he went to town with the forester.  They returned
+toward evening, but did not enter through the gate in the
+garden wall.  The great gate was flung wide open, and
+four strong men bore in a large and shining object
+through the ruins.  Elizabeth was standing near the
+kitchen window, engaged, for the first time in her new
+home, in preparing the evening meal, when the men
+entered the garden with their burden.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She cried out, for it was a piano—a large, square piano,
+which was immediately borne up stairs and placed in the
+gobelin room under Beethoven's bust.  Elizabeth laughed
+and wept at the same moment, as she rapturously
+embraced her father, who had expended his little capital,
+the proceeds of the sale of their furniture in B——, that
+he might provide her again with what had been the
+delight of her life.  And then she opened the instrument
+and a flood of rich melody filled the rooms where the
+silence of death had reigned for so many years.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The forester had come with her father to enjoy
+Elizabeth's surprise and delight.  He now leaned silently
+against the wall, as the wondrous sounds flowed forth from
+beneath the girl's touch.  For the first time he heard the
+true speech of the glowing life that animated the
+delicate young frame.  How thoughtful and inspired was the
+air of the finely-shaped head which crowned her graceful
+form, so suggestive of earnest maidenhood!  Hitherto
+only jests and merry repartee had been exchanged
+between uncle and niece.  He often called her his butterfly,
+because of the airy grace of her motions and her quickness
+of mind, which never left her at a loss for a reply to
+his merry attacks; but his favourite name for her was
+"Gold Elsie," for he maintained that her hair was such
+perfect gold that he could see it shining and shimmering
+in the darkest parts of the forest as she approached, and
+that it heralded her coming to him as the jewel in the
+giant's shield had once announced his approach to Childe
+Roland.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>When Elizabeth had finished she spread her arms above
+the instrument as if to embrace it, and, leaning her head
+upon it, smiled the happiest smile; but her uncle
+approached her softly, gave her a silent kiss upon the
+forehead, and departed without a word.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>From this time he came up every evening to the old
+castle.  As soon as the last rays of the setting sun had
+faded from the tree-tops, Elizabeth sat down at the piano.
+The little family took their places in the large low
+window-seat, and lost themselves in the fairy world, which
+was opened to them by the great master whose image
+looked down from the wall upon the inspired young
+performer.  And then Ferber would think of how Elizabeth
+had portrayed the free life in the forest when the letter from
+her uncle had first arrived in B——.  'Tis true no elves
+or gnomes appeared, but the spirits which the mightiest
+of the masters of music had imprisoned in sound floated
+forth from their prison-house on a flood of melody,
+breathing into the solemn silence around a mysterious
+life—a life of whose joys and sorrows every sympathetic
+human soul is conscious, although to genius alone is
+granted power to embody and reveal them.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>One afternoon they were all sitting together at their
+coffee.  The forester had brought his pipe and newspaper,
+and begged of Elizabeth a cup of the refreshing beverage.
+He was just about to read aloud an interesting article in
+his paper, when the bell at the garden gate sounded.  To
+the astonishment of every one, when little Ernst ran to
+open it, a servant in livery entered and handed Elizabeth
+a note.  It was from the Baroness Lessen.  She began
+by saying much that was flattering with regard to the
+young girl's masterly performance upon the piano, to
+which she had listened for the two or three previous
+evenings while walking in the forest, and concluded by
+preferring a request that Elizabeth would consent, of course
+for a stipulated consideration, to come to Castle Lindhof
+every week and play duets with Fräulein von Walde.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The style of the letter was extremely courteous; nevertheless
+the forester, after a second perusal of it, threw it
+angrily upon the table, and said, looking steadily at
+Elizabeth,—</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I hope you will not consent?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And why not, my dear Carl?" asked Ferber in her stead.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Because Elizabeth is, and always will be, far too good
+for those people down there!" cried the forester, with
+some irritation.  "But if you choose to see what you
+have carefully planted, choked up and ruined by poisonous
+weeds and mildew—why, do it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It is certainly true," replied Ferber quietly, "that my
+child has known until now none other than a parent's care.
+We have endeavoured most conscientiously, as was our
+duty, to cherish every germ of good, to foster every plant
+of tender growth.  But we have had no idea of producing
+a mere hot house flower, and alas for us and for her, if
+all that we have unweariedly tended and nourished for
+eighteen years is so loosely planted in the soil that it can
+be torn thence by the first blast of life!  I have educated
+my daughter to live in the world; she must battle her
+way among its storms, as we all must.  If I should be
+taken from her to-day, she must herself guide the helm
+which I have hitherto held for her.  If the people in the
+castle below are not fit associates for her, matters will
+soon arrange themselves.  Either both parties will feel
+their unsuitability to each other and all intercourse will
+cease, or everything that offends Elizabeth's principles
+will pass by her like idle wind, leaving no impression.
+Why, you yourself never avoid a danger, but rather prove
+your strength by meeting it bravely."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But, zounds!  I am a man, and can take care of myself!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And how do you know that Elizabeth hereafter will
+possess any support except what she finds in herself, or
+have any sharer in the responsibility of her actions?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The forester cast a keen glance at his niece, whose
+earnest eyes were riveted upon her father's face.  He
+who was to her the embodiment of wisdom and tenderness
+was echoing her own ideas, and the expression of
+her beautiful face showed what she felt.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Father," she said, "you shall see that you have not
+been mistaken—that I am not weak.  I never could
+endure the trite image of the ivy and the oak, and shall most
+certainly not illustrate it in my own person.  Be
+comforted, uncle dear, and let me go down to the castle,"
+she said, smiling archly at the forester, whose forehead
+showed a deep frown of decided irritation.  "If the people
+there are heartless, don't suppose for one moment that
+they will make a cannibal of me, and that I shall eat my
+own heart up.  If they try to crush me with supercilious
+arrogance, my own inner standard of action shall be so
+high that I can look down in pity upon the harmless
+arrows of their scorn; and if they are hypocrites, I shall
+turn with all the more delight to gaze into the sunny face
+of truth, and be more deeply convinced of the ugliness of
+their black masks."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Fairly spoken, oh incomparable Elsie, and incontestably
+true,—if only these same people would kindly hand
+you their masks to examine.  But you will awake some
+day to find that what you have believed to be gold is only
+the merest tinsel."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No indeed, dear uncle; I will not foolishly allow
+myself to be imposed upon.  Remember, we have had many
+trials since my childhood; they have not been borne
+without teaching me some good lessons.  Certainly we must
+all trust somewhat in our own strength, and I shall not
+despair for a long time, even if upon my first experience
+of the world I plunge into an abyss of Egyptian darkness,
+full of frightful monsters.  But look, uncle dear, to what
+your zeal for my soul's welfare has brought you,—your
+coffee looks as though it could be skated upon, and your
+meerschaum is at its last gasp."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The forester laughed, although the laugh was not from
+his heart.  And while Elizabeth refilled his cup for him
+and handed him a lighted match, he said to her: "You
+must not suppose that my ammunition is exhausted
+because I say to you, 'Well, well, go and try it.'  I look
+forward to the satisfaction of seeing the courageous chicken
+come flying back again some day, only too thankful to
+creep under the sheltering wing of home."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Aha!" laughed Frau Ferber, "you have no idea of
+the stern determination in that little head.  But let us
+decide.  I advise Elizabeth to pay her respects to the
+ladies to-morrow."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The next afternoon at about five o'clock Elizabeth
+descended the mountain.  A broad, well-kept path led through
+the forest, which melted imperceptibly into the park.  No
+gateway separated its carefully-tended grounds, with their
+clumps of trees and feathery grass, from the wild woods
+beyond.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth had put on a fresh light muslin dress, and a
+small, white, round straw hat.  Her father walked with
+her as far as the first meadow, and then she went bravely
+on alone.  No human being crossed her path during her
+long walk; it even seemed as though the trees rustled
+more softly here in the leafy avenues and arcades than
+in the forest beyond, and as if the birds modulated their
+notes more gently.  She started at the noise of the
+crunching gravel beneath her tread as she approached the
+castle, and wondered to find how timid the intense quiet
+had made her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At last she reached the principal entrance, and caught
+sight of a human face.  It was a servant, who was busy
+in an imposing vestibule, but who moved as noiselessly
+as possible.  Upon her request that he would announce
+her to the baroness, he slipped up the broad staircase
+fronting the hall door, at the foot of which stood two
+lofty statues, their white limbs half concealed by the
+orange trees placed at their bases.  He soon returned,
+and assuring her that she was expected, led the way
+quickly up the stairs, scarcely touching the steps with
+the tips of his toes.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth followed him with a beating heart.  It was
+not the grandeur around her that oppressed her, it was
+the sensation of standing all alone in this new untried
+sphere.  The servant conducted her through a long
+corridor, past the open doors of several apartments, which,
+furnished with extraordinary splendour, were heaped
+with such a profusion of elegant trifles that a simple
+child, unused to such luxury, would have supposed
+herself in a fancy-shop.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Her guide at last carefully opened a folding-door, and
+the young girl entered.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Near the windows, opposite Elizabeth, upon a couch lay
+a lady in apparently great suffering.  Her head was resting
+upon a white pillow, and warm coverings were spread over
+her entire figure, which, in spite of its wrappings, betrayed
+decided embonpoint.  In her hand was a vinaigrette.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She raised her head slightly, so that Elizabeth could
+see her face distinctly; it was round and pale, and at
+first sight by no means unprepossessing.  Upon a closer
+view, the large blue eyes, that glittered beneath light
+eyelashes and elevated eyebrows as light, looked cold as
+ice, an expression in nowise softened by the supercilious
+lines about her mouth and nostrils, and by a broad,
+rather projecting chin.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, Fräulein, it is very kind of you to come!" cried
+the baroness in a weak voice, which nevertheless sounded
+harsh and cold, as she pointed to a lounge near her, and
+motioned to Elizabeth, who courtesied politely, to sit
+down.  "I have begged my cousin," she continued, "to
+arrange matters with you in my room, as I am really
+too ill to take you to hers."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>This reception was certainly courteous, although there
+was a considerable amount of condescension in the lady's
+tone and manner.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth sat down, and was just about to reply to the
+question how she liked Thuringia, when the door was
+suddenly flung open, and a little girl of about eight years
+of age ran in, holding in her arms a pretty little dog,
+struggling and whining piteously.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ali is so naughty, mamma, he will not stay with
+me!" cried the child, breathlessly, as she threw the dog
+upon the carpet.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You have probably been teasing the little thing
+again, my child," said her mother.  "But I cannot have
+you here, Bella; you make so much noise, and I have a
+headache.  Go away to your room."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, it's so stupid there!  Miss Mertens has forbidden
+me to play with Ali, and gives me those tiresome old
+fables to learn; I cannot bear them."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, then, stay here; but be perfectly quiet."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The child passed close to Elizabeth with a stare and
+an examination of her dress from top to toe, and mounted
+upon an embroidered footstool before the mirror in order
+the easier to reach a vase of fresh flowers.  In a moment
+the tastefully arranged bouquet was thrown into the
+wildest disorder by the little fingers, which busied
+themselves with sticking single flowers into the delicately
+embroidered eyelet-holes of the muslin curtain.  During this
+operation large drops of the water, in which the flowers
+had been placed, dropped from the stems upon Elizabeth's
+dress, and she was obliged to move her chair, as there
+seemed no likelihood that any stop would be put to the
+proceeding, either by the little Vandal herself or by her
+mother's prohibition.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth had only had time to move, and to reply to the
+reiterated question of the baroness, that she already felt
+very happy and, quite at home in Thuringia, when the
+lady hastily arose from her reclining posture, and, with
+an amiable smile upon her lips, nodded towards a large
+portière, which was drawn noiselessly aside and on the
+threshold of the door appeared the two young people
+whom Elizabeth had lately seen through the spy-glass; but
+how strangely ill-assorted they now seemed to be, as she
+saw them thus standing together.  Herr von Hollfeld, a
+slender figure of great height, was obliged to bend very much
+on one side to afford any support to the little hand that
+rested upon his arm.  The sylph-like little figure, which
+had lain upon the couch in the park, was no taller than a
+child's.  The exquisitely lovely head was sunk between the
+shoulders, and the crutch in her left hand showed how
+helpless was her crippled condition.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Forgive me, dearest Helene," cried the baroness, as
+the pair entered, "for troubling you to come to me; but,
+as you see, I am again the poor wretched creature upon
+whom you are so ready to bestow your angelic pity and
+kindness.  Fräulein Ferber," here she motioned towards
+Elizabeth, as if presenting her, and the young girl rose,
+blushing, "has had the kindness to come, in compliance
+with my note of yesterday."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And, indeed, I am very grateful to you fordoing so!"
+said the little lady, turning towards Elizabeth with a smile
+of great sweetness, and holding out her hand.  Her glance
+measured the blushing girl before her with an expression
+of surprise, and then rested upon the heavy golden braids
+that appeared below the hat.  "Oh, yes," she said, "I
+have already seen your lovely golden hair; yesterday as
+I was walking in the forest you were leaning over a wall
+up there at the old castle."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth blushed yet more deeply.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But because you were there," continued the little
+lady, "I lost the pleasure for which I had clambered up
+the height, the pleasure of hearing you play, which I had
+enjoyed on the previous evening.  So young and child-like,
+and yet with such a thorough appreciation of classic
+music! it seems impossible!  You will make me very
+happy if you will play often with me."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Something like a shade of displeasure flitted across the
+features of the baroness, and a close observer might
+have noticed a scornful contraction of her lips, but it was
+lost upon Elizabeth, whose attention was entirely absorbed
+by interest in the unfortunate little lady whose delicate
+silvery voice seemed to come fresh from the depths of her
+heart.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the mean time, Herr von Hollfeld pushed a chair for
+Fräulein von Walde close to the lounge, and left the room
+without uttering a word.  But as he went out by the
+door directly opposite to Elizabeth, she could not help
+noticing that he directed a last long look at her before
+slowly closing it after him.  It disturbed her, for his
+expression was of so strange a kind that she hurriedly
+glanced over her dress to see if anything there could have
+struck him as odd or unsuitable.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>For the last few moments Bella had been sitting upon
+the carpet, playing with the dog.  It would have been a
+charming picture, if the whinings and uneasy movements
+of the little animal had not betrayed that the child was
+teasing it.  At each loud cry from the dog, Fräulein von
+Walde started nervously, and the baroness said,
+mechanically, "Don't tease him so, Bella!"  At last, however,
+when the animal uttered a most piteous howl, the mother
+raised her forefinger threateningly, and said, "I must
+call Miss Mertens."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh," replied the child contemptuously, "I don't care
+for her!  She doesn't dare to punish me, for you told her
+she mustn't."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At this moment, the portière was gently drawn aside,
+and a pale, faded gentlewoman appeared.  She courtesied
+to the ladies, and said, timidly: "The chaplain is waiting
+for Bella."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But I won't have a lesson to-day!" the little girl
+cried, taking a ball of worsted from the table and
+throwing it at the speaker.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, my child, you must," said the baroness.  "Go
+with Miss Mertens, and be a good little girl, Bella."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Bella, as though the matter affected her no more than
+it did Ali, who had retreated behind the sofa, threw
+herself into an arm-chair and drew her feet up under her.
+The governess was about to approach her, but at an angry
+look from the baroness she retired to the door again.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>This disgraceful scene would probably have lasted much
+longer if the baroness had not brought up a </span><em class="italics">corps de
+reserve</em><span> to her assistance in the shape of a box of bonbons.
+The child, after she had crammed her mouth and pockets
+full, left her seat, and, pushing aside the hand which her
+governess held out to her, ran out of the room.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth sat petrified with astonishment.  The delicate
+features of Fräulein von Walde also showed evident
+disapproval; but she said nothing.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The baroness sank back among her pillows.  "These
+governesses will be my death," she sighed.  "If Miss
+Mertens could only learn how to treat, judiciously, a child
+of Bella's sensitive, nervous temperament!  She never
+takes into account social position, temperament, and
+physical constitution.  She would model all after the same
+pattern—the daughter of a grocer or a peer; a finely-strung,
+sensitive nature, or a robust, rude, day-labourer
+physique—'tis all the same thing to her.  Miss Mertens is a
+disagreeable, pedantic schoolmistress; her English, too, is
+detestable.  Heaven only knows in what mean little
+English county she learned her native tongue!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But really, dear Amalie," said Fräulein von Walde,
+"I do not find her English impure," and her voice sounded
+exquisitely kind and soothing.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"There you come with your never-failing angelic
+amiability; but, although I do not understand English, I can
+always hear, in one instant, how much more high-bred
+your accent is, my dear, when you are talking with her."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth inwardly doubted the value of this estimate,
+and Fräulein von Walde blushed with a deprecating gesture.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>But the baroness continued: "And Bella hears it, too;
+she will not open her lips when her governess speaks
+English to her, and I cannot blame her in the least; it
+provokes me excessively when this person blames the
+child for obstinacy."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Under the influence of her irritation the voice of the
+baroness, which had at first been very weak and suffering,
+had grown perceptibly stronger.  She suddenly seemed to
+become aware of this herself, and closed her eyes with an
+expression of great weariness.  "Oh heavens!" she sighed,
+"my unfortunate nerves are too much for me.  I grow
+excited instead of being kept quiet; these vexations are
+poison both to my mind and body."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I would advise you, Amalie, when you are as nervous
+and weak as you are to-day, to leave Bella without a fear
+to Miss Mertens' care.  I am convinced that nothing can
+be better for her.  While I fully understand your touching
+anxiety on the child's account, I can confidently assure
+you that Miss Mertens is far too gentle and cultivated a
+person to do anything that would not conduce to her
+welfare.  You look quite worn out," she continued,
+sympathizingly.  "We had better leave you alone; Fräulein
+Ferber will certainly have the kindness to accompany me
+to my room."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>So saying she arose, and leaning over the baroness
+imprinted a gentle kiss upon her cheek.  Then she laid her
+hand upon the arm of Elizabeth, whom the baroness
+dismissed with a gracious nod, and left the apartment.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>As they slowly walked through the various corridors,
+she told Elizabeth that it would be a special delight to
+her brother, who was so far from her, if she should resume
+her music.  He used to sit alone with her listening to her
+playing for hours, until a nervous malady that had
+attacked her had forced her to give up her beloved music
+for a long time.  Now she felt much stronger, and her
+physician had also given his consent; she would be very
+diligent, that she might surprise her brother upon his
+return home.  Elizabeth then took leave.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She hastened with winged speed through the park,
+and along the path which ascended the mountain.  In
+the forest glade just before the open garden gate her
+parents were awaiting her return, and little Ernst ran
+lovingly to meet her.  What an air of home breathed all
+around her here!  The greeting that she received showed
+how she had been missed; the canary was singing merrily
+in his green embowered cage, the garden laughed in beauty,
+and in the background, under the group of lindens above
+the cool spring, the snowy table was spread for supper.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The Italian castle with all its splendour, its aristocratic
+air, and its oppressive silence, only broken by the clamour
+of a spoiled child, faded behind her like a dream of the
+night; and when she had imparted her impressions of all
+that she had seen and heard to her parents, she concluded
+with the words: "You have taught me, father dear, never
+to form any settled judgment of others upon a slight
+acquaintance with them, for such judgment runs a fair
+chance of being unjust, but what can I do with my unruly
+fancy?  Whenever I think of the two ladies, I see in
+imagination a lovely young weeping willow, whose elastic
+graceful branches are the constant sport of a furious tempest."</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-vii"><span class="large">CHAPTER VII.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>From this time Elizabeth went regularly to Lindhof
+twice a week.  The day following her first visit Baroness
+Lessen had arranged the hours for the lessons in a very
+courteous note, and had insisted upon a most generous
+compensation for Elizabeth's time.  These lessons soon
+proved a source of much enjoyment.  Helene von Walde,
+owing to the absence of all practice for many years, was
+very deficient in technical knowledge and capacity, and
+could not be compared at all with Elizabeth; but she
+played with much feeling, her taste was refined and
+cultivated, and she was entirely free from the wretched
+habit, common to most dilettanti, of depreciating
+whatever lay beyond her reach.  Baroness Lessen was never
+present during the music lessons, and therefore the
+moments of rest gradually became especially delightful to
+Elizabeth.  At such times a servant usually brought in
+some light refreshments.  Helene leaned back in her
+armchair, and Elizabeth seated herself upon a cushion at her
+feet, and listened enchanted to the flute-like silvery voice
+of the unfortunate lady as she recounted many an
+experience of the past.  The image of the absent brother here
+played a principal part.  She was never weary of telling
+of his care and thoughtfulness for her, of how, although
+he was many years her senior, he was continually
+studying how to gratify and humour her childish whims and
+peculiarities.  She related how he had purchased Lindhof
+only because, upon a visit which she had formerly made
+in Thuringia, she had experienced great benefits from the
+pure Thuringian air; everything showed how dearly he
+loved her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>One afternoon, when they had been practising unusually
+long, a servant entering announced a visitor.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Stay and drink tea with me this afternoon," said
+Fräulein von Walde to Elizabeth.  "My physician is here
+from L——, and several ladies from the neighbourhood
+have just arrived; I will send some one up to the castle
+that your mother may not be anxious about you.  My
+tête-à-tête with the doctor will not last long, and I shall
+soon be with you again."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And so saying she left the room.  Scarcely ten minutes
+had elapsed before the door opened and Fräulein von
+Walde entered, leaning upon the arm of a gentleman whom
+she presented to Elizabeth as Doctor Fels, from L——.
+He was tall, with an intellectual countenance, and as soon
+as he heard Elizabeth's name he entered into a lively
+conversation with her, comically assuring her that his own
+surprise and horror, as well as that of the entire respectable
+population of L——, had really known no bounds when
+it was reported that old Castle Gnadeck had received
+within its crumbling walls inhabitants of flesh and blood.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly there was a rustling in the antechamber, and
+upon the threshold of the door appeared two figures of
+rather singular exterior.  Their great resemblance of
+feature plainly revealed their relationship as mother and
+daughter.  Both wore dark dresses, which, contrary to
+the prevailing mode, fell limp and close around them, large
+scarfs of black woollen stuff, and brown, round straw
+hats, tied, in the case of the mother, with black ribbon,
+while the daughter had a lilac bow beneath her chin.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene von Walde received the ladies courteously,
+presenting them as Frau and Fräulein Lehr, and Elizabeth
+afterwards learned that, residing in L——, they spent
+their summers in lodgings in the village of Lindhof.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Immediately after their entrance the Baroness Lessen
+appeared, leaning upon her son's arm, and accompanied
+by a gentleman who was addressed by those present as
+Herr Möhring, the chaplain.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The baroness was dressed in dark silk, but with the
+greatest elegance, and made a most imposing appearance.
+She paused for an instant upon the threshold of the door,
+and seemed to be disagreeably surprised at Elizabeth's
+presence.  She measured her with a haughty look of
+inquiry, and replied to her courtesy by a scarcely perceptible
+inclination of the head.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene noticed the look, and approaching her said in a
+soothing whisper, "I kept my little favourite with me
+to-day—I had already detained her so long."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>This excuse did not escape Elizabeth's ear.  It offended
+her, and she would willingly have flown away through
+the window near which she was standing, had not pride
+induced her to stay and brave the arrogance of the
+baroness.  The great lady seemed entirely pacified by the
+explanation of what had occurred without her consent.
+She put her arm around Helene, stroked her curls
+tenderly, and said a hundred caressing things to her.  Then
+she requested those present to follow her to the adjoining
+room, where tea was prepared.  She did the honours of
+the tea-table, and discovered a talent, by no means to be
+despised, for leading and carrying on the conversation.
+With admirable tact, she contrived always to make
+Helene the centre of attention without in the least
+wounding the self-love of the others.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth sat silent between the doctor and Fräulein
+Lehr.  The conversation possessed little interest for her,
+inasmuch as it related to people and circumstances
+entirely strange to her.  Frau von Lehr had much to say,
+and seemed perfectly instructed in every matter, private
+or public, that had taken place during the last few weeks
+among the people living around Lindhof.  She spoke
+in a peculiarly mournful, suppressed tone of voice, and
+at the conclusion of the rehearsal of each exciting piece
+of news cast down her eyes and inclined her head with
+great apparent humility and resignation, as though she
+were a lamb suffering for the sins of the world.  Now
+and then she drew forth from a huge reticule which she
+carried a small bottle of rose-water, with which she
+moistened her eyes, as they seemed weak with perpetual
+casting towards heaven.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>What a contrast between her and Helene's madonna
+face, as it leaned against the dark plush of the lounge,
+reminding Elizabeth more than ever of the water-lily
+lying dreamily with its snow-white leaves upon the dark
+surface of the lake!  To-day there was a strange glow
+upon the delicate features.  It was not that all traces of
+suffering had vanished, but there was a peaceful light of
+content in her eyes, and a happy smile wreathed the pale
+lips as often as she took up from her lap the bouquet of
+rosebuds which Herr von Hollfeld had presented to her
+when he entered.  He sat beside her, and sometimes
+joined in the conversation.  As soon as he opened his
+lips the ladies were silent, listening with the greatest
+attention, although his talk was anything but fluent, and,
+as Elizabeth soon discovered, betrayed not the slightest
+originality of mind.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He was a very handsome man, of about four and
+twenty.  There was great repose in the finely-cut
+features, which at first seemed to indicate manliness and
+strength of character; but any such impression which
+their regularity might have produced was effaced by a
+searching glance into his eyes.  Those eyes, although
+they were large and faultless in shape, had no depth
+whatever, and never lighted up with that meteoric flash
+which so often reveals the man of intellect, even when he
+does not speak.  Its want can be atoned for by that mild
+glow which speaks of deep sensibility, and which,
+although it does not instantly impress us, gradually
+attracts and enchains us.  But there was nothing of this
+to be discovered in Herr von Hollfeld's fine blue orbs.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>This sentence, however, would have been echoed by
+but few, for it was the present fashion, especially at the
+court of L——, to regard Herr von Hollfeld as a prodigy,
+whose silence gave warrant of unfathomable depths of
+intellect and sensibility,—in which opinion the ladies in
+and around Lindhof most cordially joined, as was
+illustrated by the conduct of Frau von Lehr's very stout
+daughter, who leaned forward, directly across the
+modestly shrinking Elizabeth, and listened, as if to the
+enunciation of a new gospel, whenever Herr von Hollfeld
+opened his lips.  And she, too, appeared quite willing to
+allow her light to shine.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Were you not charmed with the lovely sermons with
+which Herr Möhring edified us during the holidays?"
+she asked, turning to Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I regret not having heard them," she answered.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Then you did not attend divine service?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, yes!  I went with my parents to the village church
+at Lindhof."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed!" said the Baroness Lessen, turning for the
+first time toward Elizabeth, and smiling sarcastically.
+"And were you greatly edified at the village church at
+Lindhof?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Most truly was I, gracious lady," Elizabeth quietly
+replied, looking calmly into the contemptuous eyes that
+were turned upon her.  "I was deeply affected by the
+simple, earnest words of the preacher.  His discourse was
+not delivered in the church, but under the trees outside.
+When the service was about to begin it was evident that
+the little church could not contain the crowd of worshippers,
+and an altar was constructed under God's free sky.
+Such altars might often be erected."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Unfortunately, they often are," said Herr Möhring,
+who until then had spoken little, contenting himself with
+confirming all Frau von Lehr's remarks by an amiable
+smile or an assenting nod.  Now, however, his broad,
+shiny face grew purple, and, turning to the baroness, he
+continued, contemptuously: "Yes, most gracious lady, it
+is only too true; the old idols are being replaced in the
+sacred groves, and we shall have druids sacrificing to
+them beneath the oaken shades."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Really, that never occurred to me.  With the aid of
+my wildest imagination I should never have dreamed at
+the time that I was assisting at a heathen sacrifice,"
+rejoined Elizabeth.  She smiled, but continued with serious
+warmth: "It seemed to me, on that glorious spring
+morning, as the tones of the organ streamed forth from the
+open doors and windows of the church, and that reverend
+old man spoke in such devout tones, as it did when I
+entered the temple of God for the first time in my life."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You seem to have an excellent memory, Fräulein,"
+Frau von Lehr here remarked: "How old were you at
+that time, if I may ask?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Eleven years old."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Eleven years old!  Oh, heavens! how can such a
+thing be possible?" cried the lady in holy horror.  "How
+possible with Christian parents!  Why, my children were
+familiar with the house of God from their earliest years,
+as you can testify, my dear doctor."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes indeed, madame," he replied with great gravity.
+"I remember that you ascribed the attack of croup, by
+which you lost your little son at two years of age, to a
+couple of hours in the cold church."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth looked up quite terrified at her neighbour.
+The doctor had joined in the conversation hitherto only
+by throwing in a sarcastic word here and there very drily,
+which amused Elizabeth greatly, inasmuch as he was
+always met by a reproving glance from the baroness.
+When the young girl began to speak she had not noticed
+him any more than had the others, whose entire attention
+had been occupied with the wretched heathen child, so
+that no one had observed how he was bursting with
+inward laughter at the daring replies of the young
+stranger, and their effect upon those present.  His
+answer appeared thoughtless and cruel to Elizabeth; but
+he must have known his companions well, for Frau von
+Lehr was not at all offended, but replied with great
+unction: "Yes, the Lord took the pious little angel to
+himself; he was too good for this world;" then, turning to
+Elizabeth, she said: "And so you were shut out from the
+Lord's kingdom for the first eleven years of your life?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Only from His temple, gracious lady.  As a little
+child I was instructed in the history of Christianity, and
+with my first thoughts were blended ideas of God's
+wisdom and love.  I cannot remember the time when I did
+not hear of them from my father; but it is a firm
+principle of his never to allow very young children to go to
+church; he says they are entirely incapable of appreciating
+the importance and meaning of what they see and
+hear there; the sermon, which must be entirely beyond
+their comprehension, wearies them, and they conceive a
+dislike to the place.  My little brother Ernst is seven
+years old, and has never yet been to church."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, happy father, who has the courage to frame and
+execute such plans for his children's culture!" exclaimed
+Doctor Fels.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, what hinders you from letting your children
+grow up without care, like mushrooms?" asked the
+baroness with malice.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That I can readily tell you in a very few words, most
+gracious lady.  I have six children, and cannot afford to
+have masters for them at home.  My profession prevents
+me from teaching them myself, and, therefore, I am
+obliged to send them to the public school and subject
+them to its laws, which require them to attend church
+regularly.  Just as little can I carry out my views with
+regard to another subject,—the putting of the Bible into
+the hands of young children.  The Sacred Book, which
+contains the holy principles that should regulate all our
+thoughts and actions, and, as such, should be regarded
+with veneration by the young,—does not belong in their
+hands at a time when childhood, with rare exceptions,
+seeks amusement instead of instruction, and is always
+curious to investigate whatever is forbidden and mysterious.
+And, therefore, I know,—and any observant teacher
+will admit,—that children who devote themselves
+constantly to the perusal of the Bible, for which they are
+commended by thoughtless parents, do not always search
+for the text of the last sermon,—but read much else
+beside,—often meeting with words and expressions which a
+careful mother would guard them from hearing at home,
+but whose significance is often made only too clear by
+their intercourse with other children not so carefully
+educated, left to the charge of ignorant and vulgar servants.
+And suppose, even, that they seek explanation of certain
+words and phrases from their mothers only; an intelligent
+mother will always know, 'tis true, how to reply to
+their queries, but she must, most certainly, forbid them
+the use of many expressions which they find in the Bible,—let
+us recall to mind the Song of Solomon,—and so the
+first seeds of doubt and unbelief are sown in the childish
+mind, which is wanting in the strength that only moral
+culture and riper understanding can give."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Here the Baroness Lessen arose with a gesture of
+impatience.  Upon her full cheeks, usually so pale,
+two round, crimson spots had appeared, a sign to all
+who knew her, of great irritation.  Fräulein von Walde,
+who had been a passive listener to the conversation,
+also arose, took her cousin's arm, and, leading her to
+the window, asked whether she would not like to hear
+a little music from Elizabeth and herself.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>This propitiatory proposal was received with a gracious
+inclination of the head,—the more especially as the baroness
+did not feel herself quite equal to the doctor in a war of
+words; and, as everyone must have seen her indignation,
+she was quite willing to have it supposed that the
+beautiful, soothing music was the cause of her refraining from
+annihilating the impious defamer of her holy zeal, for she
+was perpetually presenting Bibles to poor children.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She took her seat in a windowed recess, and looked out
+upon the landscape, upon which the first shadows of
+approaching evening were falling.  Her look was cold and
+cruel,—an expression often seen in a certain kind of
+light-blue eye, shaded by white eyelashes.  The corners of her
+mouth were drawn down, a sign of great displeasure,
+which did not vanish even when Schubert's Erlking,
+arranged for four hands, was performed in a masterly
+manner by Helene and Elizabeth.  The waves of melody
+broke against that breast unfelt, as the waves of the ocean
+upon a rocky shore.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>When the last chord died away, the ladies arose from the
+instrument, and the doctor, who had stood immovably,
+listening, hastened towards them.  His eyes sparkled as
+he thanked them for a treat which, as he assured them,
+was richer than any he had enjoyed for years.  Here
+Fräulein von Lehr's face grew scarlet, and her mother
+cast a malicious glance at the unlucky enthusiast.  Had
+not her daughter the preceding winter played several
+times in public in L——, for the benefit of some
+charitable association, and had he not attended every
+concert?  However, the doctor did not appear to notice the
+storms that he was calling down upon his head.  He
+discussed Schubert's compositions in a manner that manifested
+refined perception and a thorough knowledge of his subject.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly there was a harsh clash of chords upon the
+piano; it seemed as though fingers of bone were
+belabouring the keys.  They looked round with a start.  The
+chaplain was seated at the instrument, with head thrown
+back and inflated nostrils.  He raised his hands for a
+second attack, and began a beautiful choral, which his
+horrible playing converted into torture for sensitive ears.
+Still it might have been endured, when, to Elizabeth's
+horror, he began to sing in a nasal, snuffling tone;—that
+was too much.  The doctor seized his hat, and bowed to
+Helene and the baroness, the latter only vouchsafing him
+a slight wave of the hand in token of dismissal, without
+turning her face from the window.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>An incomparable expression of humour hovered upon
+the doctor's features.  He pressed Elizabeth's hand
+cordially as he departed, and took leave of the rest with a
+courteous bow.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>As soon as the door closed behind him, the baroness
+arose with excitement and approached Helene, who was
+sitting in a corner of the sofa.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It is intolerable!" she cried, and her sharp voice
+sounded muffled, as if suppressed anger were choking
+her, while her searching gaze rested full upon the little
+lady, who looked up to her almost timidly.  "How can
+you, Helene, here in your own house, hear our rank, our
+dignity as women,—yes, even our holy of holies, which
+we are bound so faithfully to defend,—assailed so grossly
+without one word of reply?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But, dear Amalie, I cannot see."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You will not see, child, in your inexhaustible patience
+and long-suffering, that this doctor insults me whenever
+he can.  Well, I must submit to that, for this is not my
+house, and besides, as a Christian, I would rather
+endure wrong than resort to retaliation.  But this
+submission must cease when the sacred claims of the Lord
+are assailed.  Here we should strive and struggle, and
+not grow weary.  Is it not actually blasphemous for this
+man to seize his hat, and, </span><em class="italics">sans façon</em><span>, take his departure
+from the room while our hearts are being stirred and
+elevated by the lofty thoughts which the truest form of
+music, the choral, can alone express?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She had spoken louder and louder, until she did not
+perceive that her voice was entirely destroying the effect
+of a touching phrase, just delivered by the unwearied
+chaplain, whose efforts had not been intermitted for an
+instant.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, you must not blame the doctor for that," said
+Fräulein von Walde.  "His time is precious; most likely
+he has a patient to see in L——; he was about to leave
+just before we began to play."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"While that heathenish Erlking was going on, the
+worthy man entirely forgot his patients," the baroness
+interrupted contemptuously.  "Well, I must submit.
+Unfortunately, in our degenerate days, the scoffers of our
+faith have gained the upper hand."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But, for heaven's sake, Amalie, what do you want
+me to do?  You know only too well that Fels is
+indispensable to me.  He is the only physician who knows
+how to relieve me when I am in great suffering," cried
+Helene, and her eyes filled with tears, while her cheeks
+were suffused with a blush of irritation.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I thought, Fräulein Helene,"—began Frau von Lehr,
+who had hitherto sat in her corner silently, and on the
+watch, like a spider in its web,—"I thought that the
+welfare of our souls should be our first consideration; care
+for our poor bodies should, in my estimation, rank second
+in our view.  There are many other skilful physicians
+in L——, with as great a reputation for learning as
+Dr. Fels enjoys.  Believe me, my dear, it often gives great
+pain to our Christian friends in L—— to know that a
+scoffer, an infidel, is admitted to your confidence as your
+friend and adviser."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Even if I consented to sacrifice myself so far," replied
+Helene, "as to employ another physician, I dare not take
+such a step without first obtaining my brother's consent;
+and I know that I should meet with determined opposition
+there, for Rudolph is warmly attached to the doctor,
+and puts entire confidence in him."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, more's the pity!" cried the baroness.  "I have
+never been able to comprehend that weakness in
+Rudolph's character.  Doctor Fels imposes upon him utterly
+with his seeming frankness, which might better be called
+insolence.  Well, I wash my hands of the affair, only for
+the future I must decline any visits from the doctor, and
+entreat you, my dear Helene, to excuse me when he is
+with you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Fräulein von Walde made no reply.  She arose and
+looked sadly around the room for an instant, as if
+missing something.  It seemed to Elizabeth that her eyes
+sought Herr von Hollfeld, who had left the room
+unperceived a short time before.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The baroness took up her lace shawl, and Frau von
+Lehr and her daughter prepared for departure.  Both paid
+several compliments to the chaplain, who had finished his
+performance, and was standing at the piano rubbing his
+hands with embarrassment; and then all took leave of
+Helene, who replied to their good-nights in a tone of great
+exhaustion.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>As Elizabeth descended the stairs she saw Herr von
+Hollfeld standing in a retired, dimly-lighted corridor.
+During his mother's outbreak of anger he had sat quietly
+turning over the leaves of a book, never joining in the
+conversation by word or look.  His conduct had
+disgusted Elizabeth, who had hoped that he would have
+stood by Helene and silenced his mother by a few serious
+words.  She was still more displeased when she noticed
+that he was steadily regarding herself while he was
+apparently occupied with his book.  He might easily have
+seen her displeasure in her face, but he continued to stare
+most insultingly.  She felt herself at last blush deeply
+beneath his gaze, and she was the more provoked at
+feeling this, as the same thing had occurred against her will
+several times before.  It was remarkable that she never
+went home from Castle Lindhof without chancing to meet
+Herr von Hollfeld either in the hall, upon the stairs, or
+stepping suddenly from behind a tree in the park.  Why
+these meetings at last became painfully embarrassing to
+her she could not have explained to herself.  She thought
+no more about it, and usually forgot him entirely before
+she reached her home.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He was standing now in the dark passage.  A black
+slouched hat was pulled down over his face, and his
+summer coat had been exchanged for a light cloak.  He
+seemed to be waiting for some one, and as soon as
+Elizabeth had reached the last stair approached her hastily,
+as though about to address her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At the same moment Frau von Lehr and her daughter
+appeared on the landing above.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Aha, Herr von Hollfeld," cried the elder lady, "are
+you going to walk?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The young man's features, which had seemed to Elizabeth
+strikingly animated, instantly assumed a quiet
+expression of entire indifference.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I have just come in from the garden," he said negligently,
+"where I have been refreshing myself in the soft
+night air.  Attend Fräulein Ferber home," he said
+authoritatively to a servant who issued from the servants' room
+with a lantern, and then with an obeisance to the ladies,
+he retired.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"How glad I am," said Elizabeth, as an hour later she
+was sitting at her mother's bedside relating the events of
+the afternoon, "that to-morrow will be Sunday.  In our
+dear little simple village church I shall forget all the
+disagreeable impressions which the last few hours have left
+upon my mind.  I never could have believed that I could
+have listened to a choral without being moved to
+aspiration and devotion.  But to-day I was really angry, when,
+amid the clatter of the teacups, and after an hour passed
+in talk certainly not inspired by love of our neighbour, I
+suddenly heard those tones which have always been
+sacred to hours of meditation and serious thought.
+Behind all this religious zeal there lies hidden boundless
+arrogance,—that I saw clearly to-day; but if others feel
+as I do, these people will scarcely make many proselytes.
+Acknowledge, mother dear, that I am not naturally
+antagonistic, and yet to-day I felt for the first time in my
+life an irresistible desire to defy and contradict."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And then she spoke of Herr von Hollfeld and his
+strange behaviour in the hall, adding that she could not
+understand what he could possibly have wished to say
+to her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Never mind, we will not puzzle ourselves about that,"
+said Frau Ferber.  "If he should ever propose to
+accompany you on your way home, do not fail to reject such an
+offer peremptorily.  Do you hear, Elizabeth?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But, dearest mother, what are you thinking of?"
+cried the girl with a laugh.  "The skies will fall before
+such a thing happens.  If he could allow Frau Lehr and
+her daughter, who consider themselves persons of
+distinction, to go home without an escort, he will hardly
+condescend to notice my insignificant self."</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-viii"><span class="large">CHAPTER VIII.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>About a week after the arrival of his relatives the
+forester had published an edict in his domicile, which, as
+he said, had been hailed with joy by his prime minister,
+and in accordance with which the duty of taking their
+mid-day meal every Sunday at the Lodge was imposed
+upon the Ferber family.  Those were joyous days for
+Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Long before the first sound of the church bell they
+usually set out for church.  In her fluttering white dress,
+her soul filled with the consciousness of youth and
+happiness, convinced that such a clear, lovely day, must bring
+joy with it, Elizabeth walked beside her parents, and
+looked eagerly for the moment when the round gilt ball
+upon the village church tower at Lindhof emerged from
+the waves of green in the valley below them; then from
+the dark and silent forest paths to the right and left, groups
+of church-goers from the different hamlets around would
+appear and join them with kindly greetings, until, while
+the bells were ringing, the whole assembly arrived in the
+meadow just before the church, where the forester was
+usually awaiting them.  He welcomed them from a distance
+with sparkling eyes and a flourish of his hat in the
+air.  In every movement of his tall figure, in his whole
+bearing, might be read that inflexible integrity which
+never bowed to the mighty ones of the earth, that
+expression of manly power and force of character from which
+we expect to see quick resolve and bold action result, but
+which never suggests the tender emotions of a
+sensitive nature.  Elizabeth declared that it was always a
+touching surprise when a single gentle star beamed forth
+at night from a sky covered with clouds, and that the
+sudden look of melting tenderness that occasionally
+illumined her uncle's frank, determined countenance, affected
+her in like manner.  And she had many an opportunity
+of observing this change of expression, for she had grown
+to be the apple of his eye.  He had never had any children,
+and now poured forth all the paternal affection of which
+his large, warm heart was capable, upon his brother's
+lovely child, who, he felt with pride, resembled himself in
+many points of character, although in her they were
+transfigured by the charm of feminine delicacy and refinement.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And she repaid his affection with the clinging love and
+filial care of a daughter.  She soon discovered how to make
+many an addition to his domestic comfort, and where
+Sabina's penetration or capacity were at fault, she effected
+many an improvement, with so much tact that the old
+servant was never offended, whilst a new life opened upon
+her uncle, surrounded by Elizabeth's tender care.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>On the return from church, her uncle led Elizabeth by
+the hand, "just like a little school-girl," as she said, and,
+indeed, it looked like it.  The excellent sermon which they
+had just heard, furnished matter for abundant conversation
+and exchange of newly-developed thoughts and sentiments;
+while the birds twittered and sang as though
+determined to vindicate their right to speak here, and the
+golden-green sunshine came quivering through the tops
+of the trees, flecking their heads as they passed with its
+transfiguring light.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At the farthest end of the long dim forest aisle, for it
+was a very narrow path which led from the Lodge to the
+village of Lindhof, a little point of light indicated the
+meadow, in the middle of which stood the old house.
+With every step the picture grew more distinct, until at
+last they could distinguish Sabina waiting for them at the
+door, shading her eyes with the corner of her white apron,
+and retreating into the house when she saw them, that she
+might take her stand behind the soup tureen, which was
+smoking upon the table beneath the beeches, where she
+fulfilled her duty with the air of a general upon a rampart.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>But to-day Sabina had prepared a particularly delicious
+repast, for in the centre of the table was piled a huge
+crimson pyramid, the first wood-strawberries of the year,
+hailed with delight by little Ernst, and by full-grown
+Elizabeth too.  The forester laughed at the enthusiasm
+of the big and little child, and declared that he had a
+surprise to offer as well as Sabina,—he would have the horse
+harnessed and take Elizabeth to L——, where he had
+a little business to attend to,—a long-promised pleasure.
+The young girl accepted his proposal with delight.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At table Elizabeth related the occurrences of the
+previous evening.  Her uncle shook with laughter.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The doctor's a bold fellow," he said, still laughing;
+"but 'tis of no use, he has drunk his last cup of tea at
+Lindhof."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Impossible, uncle,—it would be outrageous!" cried
+Elizabeth, earnestly.  "Fräulein von Walde would never
+permit such a thing, she will resist with all her might."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well," he said, "I wish we could question the little
+lady to-day with regard to her sentiments towards the
+doctor, and you would see.  How can a strong will
+inhabit such a frail dwelling?  That imperious woman will
+soon influence her, and there is none to resist, for 'Heaven
+is high, and the Czar afar,' as the Russians say.  We
+know, Sabina, that many a strange thing has happened
+since the rule of the baroness began, eh?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, yes indeed, Herr Forester!" replied the old woman,
+who was just putting a dish upon the table.  "When I
+think of poor Schneider,—she is the widow of a
+day-labourer in the village," she said, turning to the others;
+"she always worked hard to make both ends meet, and
+no one could say a word against her, but she had four
+children to feed, and lived from hand to mouth.  And
+matters went badly with her last harvest, and she had
+nothing to give her children to eat, so she was driven to
+do what was wrong, and took an apron full of potatoes
+from a splendid field belonging to the castle.  But the
+overseer, Linke, who happened to be standing behind a
+tree not far off, saw her, sprang out upon her instantly,
+and knocked her down.  Even if he had stopped there
+'twould not have been so bad, but he kicked her brutally
+as she lay upon the ground.  I had been to Lindhof, and
+as I was passing beneath the cherry trees near the
+village, on my way home, I saw some one lying upon the
+ground,—it was the poor woman, bleeding profusely, and
+with not a soul near her.  She could not move, so I called
+some people, who helped me to carry her home.  The Herr
+Forester was absent, but I was sure of his permission,
+and so I nursed and tended her as well as I could.  The
+people in the village were furious at the overseer,—but
+what could they do?  There was some talk of arresting
+him, but it all came to nothing.  Linke is one of the
+saints, he is the baroness' right-hand man, turns up his
+eyes, and does everything in the name of the Lord.  It
+must never get abroad that such a pious man could
+behave so inhumanly, and so the baroness drove to town
+every day, and was wonderfully condescending, and, in
+short, the story was hushed up, and the poor woman,
+who has never entirely recovered, had to get along as
+best she might, for neither she nor her children ever had
+a bite or a drop from the castle all the while that she was
+sick.  Ah! yes, the overseer and the baroness' old
+waiting-maid make a hard time of it for the poor people, they
+keep a close watch to see who misses prayers or chapel
+over there, and they have been the means of depriving
+many an honest man of work at the castle."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't say any more about it," said the forester.  "I
+cannot relish my food when I think of these things, and
+our pleasant Sunday, to which I look forward all the week,
+must have no other shadows upon it than those cast by
+the white, fleecy clouds up there."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>As soon as the meal was concluded the forester's modest
+little equipage made its appearance.  He handed in
+Elizabeth, and seated himself by her side.  As she nodded a
+farewell to the others, she glanced up at the house, and
+started with actual terror at the eyes which were gazing
+down upon her from a window in the upper story.  'Tis
+true, the head disappeared instantly, but Elizabeth had
+time to recognize the mute Bertha, and to convince
+herself that she was the object of that look of rage
+and hate, although she could not divine its cause.  Until
+now Bertha had withdrawn herself entirely from all
+intercourse with the Ferber family.  She never appeared
+when Elizabeth was at the Lodge.  She took her Sunday
+dinner alone in her own room, and the forester allowed
+her to please herself in the matter.  He had no desire to
+establish any relation between the two girls.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Frau Ferber had once made an attempt to address the
+unfortunate girl.  Her gentle feminine nature could not
+believe that mere wilfulness was the spring of Bertha's
+extraordinary behaviour.  She suspected the existence
+of some deeper cause, perhaps of some secret grief,
+which made her indifferent to her surroundings, or
+rendered her so irritable that she chose to remain silent
+rather than be engaged in perpetual strife.  A gentle
+word from her, a kindly advance on her side, would,
+she hoped, unseal Bertha's lips; but she succeeded no
+better than Elizabeth had done.  She was even so outraged
+by the girl's manner that she strictly forbade all further
+attempt at intercourse with her upon Elizabeth's part.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>After a charming drive, Elizabeth and her uncle
+reached their destination.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>L—— was certainly a small town, and bore the
+unmistakable impress of a small town, although the court
+resided there from the appearance of the first primrose to
+the fall of the last autumn leaf, and its inhabitants took
+the greatest pains to adapt themselves, in their social life,
+to the manners and customs of a large Capital.  But the
+loud, uneasy creaking of the machinery of a most complicated
+domestic economy could not be drowned by the rustle
+of the most flowing and elegant crinoline.  The honest
+townsfolk, who left their dwellings, with doors wide open,
+in perfect safety, to earn their daily bread in the little
+uneven streets, or in the strips of meadow land between
+their houses, fell as far short of being peacocks as did the
+ducks, that daily delighted to swim in the little brook
+running directly through the town, of becoming stately
+swans.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The situation of the place was undeniably delightful.
+In the centre of a not very spacious valley, nestled at the
+foot of an eminence whose summit was crowned by the
+royal castle and domain, it lay buried in the dark, rich
+green of avenues of lindens, and surrounded in spring by
+the lovely blossoms of countless orchards.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The forester took Elizabeth to the house of an assessor,
+one of his friends.  She was to wait for him there
+until he had concluded his business.  Although made
+cordially welcome by the lady of the house, she would
+gladly have turned round and followed her retreating
+uncle,—for she found herself, to her vexation, in the midst
+of a large assemblage of ladies.  Her hostess informed
+her that, in honour of her husband's birthday, she had
+gotten up a set of tableaux from mythology, to rehearse which
+was the cause of the present gathering.  At the
+coffee-table, in a pleasantly-furnished apartment, eight or ten
+ladies were seated, already dressed in mythological
+costume, and upon the arrival of the stranger, they measured
+her with glances that seemed to penetrate every plait and
+fold of her simple attire.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>All the goddesses, without exception, had submitted
+themselves, in their costume, to the sceptre of the royal
+fair of France, and wore their white robes over abundant
+crinoline, which was then the fashion, "For," said Ceres,
+a trig little blonde, upon whose flushed brow a whole
+harvest was waving, "one looks so forlorn without crinoline;"
+and how else could her dress have supported the huge
+bunches of wheat ears and red poppies with which it was
+adorned?  How Dame Ceres had managed this difficulty
+in her days of splendour was a problem which no one
+took the pains to solve.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Perhaps the artificial light of the evening would be
+favourable to the remarkable arrangement of some of the
+toilets, but now the bright sunlight illuminated and
+revealed with cruel sincerity every pasted bit of gold-paper,
+every paper-muslin scarf that should have represented
+satin, and every basting stitch in the improvised tunics.
+Several old-fashioned paste shoe-buckles glittered in the
+girdle of Venus; and the silver crescent upon the forehead
+of Diana showed the blotting-paper behind it at every
+movement of the head which it adorned.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The hostess went from one to the other of her guests,
+exerting herself for the entertainment of all.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What a shame!" she said, entering the room after a
+short absence, "Frau Räthin Wolf has sent to say that
+her Adolph cannot come to-night; he is in bed with a
+fever.  As soon as the note came, I ran across myself to
+Doctor Fels; but there is no doing anything with that
+man upon the subject of his children's education.  He
+repeated his former refusal, and so ungraciously, that I am
+quite outraged.  He says that he considers any part in
+such entertainments with grown-up people entirely unfit
+for half-grown boys like his Moritz, who get their heads
+filled with a sense of their own importance, their minds
+distracted from their lessons,—and Heaven knows what
+besides.  He told me, most insolently, that he thinks I
+should have done better this evening to have provided
+my suffering husband—suffering, indeed, he is as lively
+as a fish in the sea, except for a touch of rheumatism—with
+a supper that he liked, than to have worried him
+with such buffoonery, which will only deprive him of his
+usual comfort and night's rest, and do no living creature
+any earthly good."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"How coarse! how rude!  He is always pretending
+to be a connoisseur of art, and doesn't understand it one
+whit better than my little finger," was heard from one
+and the other of the ladies.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Let my experience console you, dear Adele," said
+Ceres.  "Were it not that my husband cannot dispense
+with his services as a physician, Fels should never darken
+my doors again.  When I had that children's fancy-ball
+last winter, which was acknowledged to be a great
+success, he refused my invitation to his children; and what
+do you think he said to me, when I begged him to allow
+his little girls to come,—'Does it really give you pleasure
+to see such monkey-tricks?'  I never will forgive him!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth suddenly seemed to see the doctor's intellectual
+face, with its searching glance, sarcastic smile,
+and the slightly contemptuous play of its finely-formed
+lips.  She laughed inwardly at his rude replies; but she
+was struck at the same time by the depressing thought,
+how hard it is for a man to live up to his convictions.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But what would you have, Frau Director?" broke in
+Flora, a delicate, languishing figure with a pretty but
+very pale face, who had hitherto been entirely occupied
+in smiling upon her flower-decked reflection in an
+opposite glass.  "He has treated us no better.  Two years
+ago he told my father and mother to their faces, that it
+was not only folly but want of principle—just think of
+such a thing!—to allow me to go into society so young,
+with my constitution.  Papa and mamma were furious,—as
+if they did not know best about their own children!  It
+was well that we all knew what prompted such tender
+care on his part.  His youngest sister was then still
+unmarried, and, naturally enough, she was by no means
+pleased to see young girls usurping her place in society.
+Papa would have dismissed the doctor upon the spot,
+but mamma depends upon his prescriptions.  Well, they
+paid no attention to his advice, and, as you see, I still
+live."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The silence of the assemblage confirmed Elizabeth's
+conviction that the triumph which Flora spoke of was a
+very doubtful one, and that this delicate creature, with
+her narrow chest and pallid face, would still have to
+atone severely for the physician's neglected counsel.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly a barouche slowly passing down the street
+attracted the ladies to the window.  Where she was
+sitting Elizabeth could plainly see the object of the
+universal curiosity.  In the elegant vehicle sat the Baroness
+Lessen and Fräulein von Walde.  The latter had her
+face turned towards the assessor's house, and she looked
+as if she were diligently counting the windows of the
+lower stories.  Her cheeks were slightly flushed, always
+a sign in her of inward agitation.  The baroness, on
+the contrary, was leaning back negligently among the
+cushions, and appeared to be entirely unconscious of
+everything around.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The Lindhof ladies," said Ceres.  "But, Heavens! what
+is the meaning of that?  They are entirely ignoring
+Doctor Fels' windows.  There stands the doctor's
+wife.  Ha, ha! what a long face; she tried to bow, but
+the ladies have no eyes in the backs of their heads."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth looked across at the opposite house.  A very
+beautiful woman, with a lovely fair-haired child in her
+arms, was standing at the window.  There certainly
+was a puzzled look in her pleasant blue eyes, but the
+delicate oval of her face was not in the least lengthened.
+Attracted by the movements of the child, who stretched
+out his little arms towards the fantastic heads at the
+windows of the assessor's house, she looked across, and,
+archly smiling, nodded to the ladies, who kissed their
+hands, and replied to her salutation by all sorts of tender
+pantomime.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Strange!" said the hostess; "what could the ladies
+mean by passing by her house without nodding to her?
+They never went by without stopping before to-day.
+Frau Fels would stand on the carriage-step for ever so
+long, and Fräulein von Walde seemed to like her so
+much—the baroness, 'tis true, often made a wry face.  It
+certainly is very strange; but we must wait and see what
+the future will bring forth."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Herr von Hollfeld must have stayed at Odenberg.
+He was with the ladies this morning when the carriage
+passed," said Diana.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"How will Fräulein von Walde endure the separation?"
+asked Flora, with a sneer.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Why, is there anything in that quarter?" asked the
+hostess.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't you know that, child?" cried Ceres.  "We
+can't tell yet what his sentiments are, but beyond all
+doubt she loves him passionately.  In fact, it is almost
+certain that the love is all on one side; for how can
+such an unfortunate cripple inspire affection,—and in
+such a cold nature as Hollfeld's, which has been
+unmoved by the greatest beauties?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, true enough," said Venus, with a glance at the
+mirror, which Flora, in spite of her emaciation, had
+entirely monopolized.  "But Fräulein von Walde is
+enormously rich!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, he can have the wealth at a cheaper rate," said
+Flora.  "He is said to be heir to the sister and brother
+too."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, the brother!" rejoined Venus.  "He had better
+not rely upon his chances there.  Herr von Walde is a
+man in the prime of life, and may marry at any time."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Nonsense!" cried Ceres, excitedly.  "The woman is
+yet to be born, or rather sent down from heaven, who
+can touch him.  He is haughtiness itself, and has less
+heart than his cousin.  How provoked I used to be at
+the court-balls, to see him standing in the doorway with
+his arms crossed as if they were glued together, and
+looking down so arrogantly upon the crowd.  Only when
+the princess, or one of the royal family, requested him to
+dance did he stir from the spot, and then he was at no
+pains to conceal that he cared not a bit for the honour.
+Well, we know well enough what his requisitions are for
+the woman at whose feet he will lay the proud name of
+von Walde—Ancestors! ancestors she must have, and
+her pedigree must date from Noah's ark."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>All laughed, except Elizabeth, who remained very
+grave.  Fräulein von Walde's behaviour had made a
+deep impression upon her.  She was annoyed, and felt
+that her views of human nature had been lowered.  Was
+such a change possible in the course of a few short
+hours?  The fact just stated by the ladies, that Helene
+von Walde loved the son of the Baroness Lessen, would
+have fully explained the influence exercised by the latter
+to any one of a practical, matter-of-fact nature,—but not
+to Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The elevating sentiment, described by the poets of
+all ages and all climes as the truest and most ennobling
+of which human nature is capable, could not possibly be
+an incentive to unworthy conduct; and it was equally
+hard to imagine how Herr von Hollfeld could inspire
+that sentiment.  Here she judged from the one-sided,
+personal point of view from which we are prone to pass
+sentence on others; but whether from the instinct of
+her true womanly nature, or whether she really
+possessed the clear insight that sees in the lines of the
+face the clear indications of the soul within and traces
+them to their source, we cannot say,—certainly, in this
+case, her judgment of a man with whom she had had
+scarcely any intercourse was entirely correct.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Herr von Hollfeld was certainly not calculated to
+personate the ideal of a refined feminine nature.  He neither
+possessed intelligence nor wit, was inordinately vain, and
+by no means content with the interest excited by his fine
+person.  He was fully aware that most women will
+forgive defects of person sooner than defects of mind; and
+therefore he adopted the mask of silence and reserve,
+behind which the world is so ready to see great intelligence,
+originality, and strength of character.  There was no
+man living who could boast of being upon intimate terms
+with Herr von Hollfeld; he was cunning enough to elude
+every attempt to test the quality of his mind, and avoided
+all earnest conversation with men, while women, as soon as
+they perceived the rough shell of his repellant behaviour,
+were only too ready to cry, "the sweeter the kernel."  Herr
+von Hollfeld understood his part,—he was moved by
+secret desires and hopes, which were strengthened by the
+difficulty attending their attainment.  Animated by no lofty
+aspirations, he was the slave of avarice and sensuality.
+To make his position a brilliant one from a worldly point
+of view, he disdained no petty intrigue, and his office as
+chamberlain at the court of L—— opened the way to
+many such.  He deceived and lied, and was all the more
+dangerous on account of the frank honest seeming
+behind which men never suspected the low schemer, or
+women the vulgar sensualist.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth was glad when she saw her uncle turn the
+corner and approach the house.  With a sigh of relief she
+took her place in the carriage at his side.  She took off her
+hat, and bathed her hot forehead in the fresh, delicious
+evening breeze that swept gently by.  The last rays of
+the sun were just gilding the trembling leaves of the
+poplars by the roadside, and there was a rosy light upon the
+fields of blooming grain; but the forest that enclosed in
+its bosom Elizabeth's home lay dark and gloomy beyond,
+as if it had already forgotten the sunny life which had
+penetrated its inmost recesses so short a time before.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The forester glanced several times at the silent young
+girl at his side.  Suddenly he transferred both reins and
+whip to one hand, took hold of Elizabeth's chin, and
+turned her face up to him.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Come, let me see, Elsie!" he said.  "What! why,
+zounds! you have got two wrinkles there in your
+forehead as deep as old Sabina's furrows.  What has
+happened?  Come, out with it!  Something has vexed you,
+hey?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, uncle, I am not vexed, but pained that you were
+so right in your estimate of Fräulein von Walde," replied
+Elizabeth, while a deep blush of emotion covered her face.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Pained because I was right, or because Fräulein von
+Walde has acted unworthily?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, because what you prophesied was evil, and——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And therefore it follows that you should be angry
+with me.  He is always the criminal who tells the truth
+in such a matter.  And pray, which of the utterances of
+my worldly wisdom has been justified by time?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She told him of Helene's conduct, and of what the
+ladies had said.  The forester smiled meaningly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh women, women, and those women in especial!
+They prophesy an immediate marriage if two people only
+say good morning to each other.  But perhaps they are
+right in this case,—it clears up much to my mind that has
+hitherto seemed inexplicable to me."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But, uncle, you cannot believe that any one would
+sacrifice the best feelings of our nature to such a preference?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Many other things have happened, my child, for the
+sake of such a preference, and although I do not for one
+moment defend Fräulein von Walde's weakness and
+submission; still, I shall henceforth judge her more leniently.
+She succumbs to the power which leads us to forget father
+and mother for another's sake."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah! that is just what I cannot understand," said
+Elizabeth, earnestly.  "How can any one love a stranger
+better than father or mother?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Hm!" rejoined the forester, touching the horses lightly
+with his whip, to accelerate their speed.  This "hm"
+was followed by a clearing of his throat, and he changed
+the subject, for he justly thought, "If that be so, she
+will never understand my definition of love, although
+I should speak with the tongues of angels."  And he
+himself?—Far, far in the past lay the time when he had
+carved the dear name upon the trees, and trained his deep
+voice to sing love songs; when he had walked miles for
+a single smile, and had hated as his bitterest enemy the
+man who dared to regard with favour the object of his
+adoration.  He looked back and rejoiced in that wonderful time,
+but to paint it with its tempests of excited feeling,—its
+tears and laughter, its hopes and fears,—was more than
+he could do.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you see that perpendicular black streak just above
+the forest there?" he asked, after a long silence, pointing
+with his whip to the mountain which they were approaching.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, indeed, it is the flag-staff upon Castle Gnadeck.
+I saw it a few moments ago, and am now rejoicing
+unspeakably in the thought that there lies a spot of earth
+that we may call our own,—a place from which no one
+has the right to drive us.  Thank God, we have a home!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And such a home!" said the forester, as his beaming
+eyes looked around the horizon.  "When I was quite a
+little child, how I longed for the Thuringian forest!  It was
+all because of my grandfather's stories.  In his youth he
+had lived in Thuringia, and had the tales and legends of
+his home at his tongue's end; and when I had reached
+man's estate, I came hither.  Then all the forest which
+we see before us belonged to the Gnadewitzes, but I would
+not enter their service,—my father had told me too much
+about them.  I was the first Ferber from time immemorial
+who had renounced their service.  I applied to the Prince
+of L——.  The last of the Gnadewitzes divided his forests
+because the Prince of L—— was willing to pay an
+immense sum of money that he might enlarge his own
+woodland possessions.  And thus it happened that the most
+ardent desire of my youth was gratified, for I live now
+in the house that may be called the cradle of the Ferbers.
+You know that we came at first from Thuringia?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh yes, I have known that from my childhood."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And do you know the story of our origin?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, it was long ago, and perhaps I am the only one
+who now knows anything about it, but it shall not be lost,
+for remembrance is all the gratitude that posterity can
+show for a brave action,—so now you shall hear the story,
+and then you can tell it again.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"About two hundred years ago,—you see we can trace
+back a considerable pedigree,—the only pity is that we
+have no idea who the mother of our race was,—if you
+should ever be asked any questions concerning her by the
+Baroness Lessen, or others, you can answer with
+confidence that we suspect her to have been either Augusta
+von Blasewitz,—for the story dates from the thirty years'
+war,—or a vivandiere: perhaps she was a good, honest
+woman, who clung to her husband through all the
+hardships of the war, although I cannot forgive her for
+forsaking her child,—well, then, about two hundred years
+ago, as the wife of the huntsman Ferber opened her door
+in the morning—the very door that now shuts upon my
+home—she saw a little child lying upon the threshold.
+She clapped the door to again in a great hurry, for the
+forest was then swarming with gypsies, and she thought
+it would prove to be one of their dirty brats.  But her
+husband was more of a Christian, and took the child in.
+It was scarcely a day old.  A paper was pinned upon its
+breast, stating that the child was born in holy wedlock,
+that he had been baptized by the name of Hans, and that
+whoever would take care of him should receive further
+revelations concerning him at some future day.  Hidden
+in the child's dress was found a purse containing some
+money.  The huntsman's wife was a good woman, and
+when she heard the child was born of Christian parents,
+and was probably the son of some honest soldier who
+had left it here that it might not be exposed to the
+dangers of the war, she took it to her heart and brought it
+up with her own little girl as if they had been brother
+and sister.  It was well for him that she did so, for no
+one ever heard another word about his relatives.  His
+foster-father afterwards adopted him, and, to make his
+happiness complete, he married his foster-sister.  He, as well
+as his son and grandson, lived where I live now, as
+foresters to the Gnadewitzes, and they all died there.  My
+grandfather was the first who left this place with his
+master for one of the estates in Silesia.  As a boy, I was much
+disappointed that some countess mother did not turn up
+in the end who should recognize the foundling as her son,
+stolen from her by the malice of an enemy, and bear him
+home in triumph to her castle.  Later in life I learned to
+endure the want of this romantic termination to the story
+with a good grace, as I considered that in such case my
+own appearance here would have been very dubious, and
+my honest name pleased me too much to wish it changed
+for any other; but imagine my sensations when I stood
+for the first time upon the threshold where the little
+foundling had passed the most helpless moment of his life, when,
+deserted by his natural parents, sympathy had not yet
+supplied their place.  The worn stone is undoubtedly the
+same upon which the child lay, and as long as I live here
+or have anything to do with the place, it shall never be
+removed."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly the forester leaned forward and pointed
+through the boughs, for they had entered the wood.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you see that white spot?" he asked.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The white spot was the cap of Sabina, who was sitting
+at the door of the Lodge waiting for them.  When she
+saw the carriage, she rose quickly, shook the contents of
+her apron, which proved to be a quantity of forget-me-nots,
+into a basket, and came to assist Elizabeth to alight.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The horse trotted, neighing, behind the house, where he
+was awaited and received with a caressing pat.  Hector
+laid himself down upon the ground, wagging his tail
+contentedly, and the doves and sparrows, which the noise of
+the arrival had frightened away, returned and hopped
+fearlessly about upon the green painted bench and table
+under the linden, where, as the little rogues well knew,
+the forester was in the habit of taking his morning and
+evening meals.  He went into the house for a moment
+that he might exchange his uniform for the more comfortable
+garment worn at home, and soon returned, pipe and
+newspaper in hand, to the linden, where Sabina soon
+began to lay the table.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"'Tis a fact, it's a silly piece of Sunday work for such
+an old woman as I am," said the housekeeper, laughing,
+as she passed Elizabeth, who, sitting upon the stone
+step which now possessed such an interest for her,
+continued the weaving of the wreath which Sabina had
+begun.  "But I have been used to such work from my
+youth.  I have two little black pictures up in my room,
+likenesses of my blessed father and mother; they certainly
+deserve that I should honour them and hold them in
+loving remembrance, so I hang fresh flowers around them
+every Sunday, as long as there is a blossom to be had.
+A couple of children from Lindhof bring me fresh ones
+every Sunday, and to-day they brought me so many that
+there is enough for a wreath for Gold Elsie; if she puts
+it in a dish of water it will keep fresh all through the
+week."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth sat a long time this evening with her uncle.
+A flood of memories came rushing over his mind, called
+forth by his narration of the old story of two hundred
+years before.  He recalled many a wish, plan, and
+aspiration of his youth, which now provoked only a smiling
+sigh of sympathetic pity,—they had all vanished before the
+actual, like dust before the wind.  He talked them over
+now, as one who, standing upon the land, hears the dash
+of the breakers afar that cannot reach him.  Sometimes
+he would make some witty attack, in the midst of his
+recollections, upon Elizabeth, who would parry his thrusts
+and retort merrily.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Meanwhile a light arose behind the trees, which had
+blended undistinguishably with the dark heavens, but
+which now stood out in strong relief against the bright
+background.  Single rays shot like silver arrows between
+interlacing boughs, and lay motionless like oases of light
+upon the dim meadow, until at last the moon arose,
+large and victorious, above the tops of the trees, and its
+full lustre flooded the landscape.  The gentle breeze of
+evening had long since folded its wings,—you could
+have counted the shadows of the linden leaves upon the
+moonlit earth, so distinct and motionless they lay.  All
+the clearer was heard the gurgle of the little fountain in
+the court-yard of the Lodge, and the low, indefinite
+murmur from the woods, which Elizabeth called "the sleepy
+rain" of the forest.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"There," said Sabina, crowning Elizabeth's head
+lightly with the forget-me-not wreath, which she had just
+completed.  "Carry it home so, and you'll not crush it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Then it may stay there," said she, laughing, as she
+arose.  "Many thanks for my ride!  Good-night, uncle,
+good-night, Sabina!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And then she hastened through the house and garden,
+and was soon outside the gate, which she closed behind
+her, and flew along up the narrow moonlit forest path.
+In the dwelling-room above, the lamp was burning; in
+spite of the bright moonlight, its beams were distinctly
+visible, for the front of her home lay in deep shade.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>As she reached the little clearing, a remarkable shadow
+fell across her path.  It was neither a tree nor a post,
+but the figure of a man, a stranger, who had been
+standing upon one side of the path, and now, to her terror,
+approached her.  The apparition courteously removed its
+hat, and Elizabeth's terror vanished on the instant, for
+she saw before her the smiling, good-humoured countenance
+of a well dressed, rather elderly man.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I pray your pardon, Fräulein, if I have frightened
+you," he said, as he looked kindly over the large, shining
+glasses of his spectacles into her face.  "I assure you, I
+have no designs either upon your life or your purse, and
+am simply a peaceful traveller, returning to his home,
+who greatly desires to know what the light in the ruins
+yonder may betoken; and yet this moment convinces me
+that my question is quite superfluous.  Fairies and elves
+are holding their revels there, while the fairest among
+them keeps guard in the forest around, that none may
+invade their charmed circle with impunity."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>This gallant comparison, trite as it may appear, was
+not ill applied at this moment, for the slight girlish figure
+in white robes, with the blue wreath crowning her
+angelic countenance, and bathed in moonlight, might
+well have been mistaken for a fairy vision, as it glided
+so lightly among the trees of the wood.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She herself laughed inwardly at the quaint compliment,
+but with a little pique at the thought of resembling
+such a mercurial elfish being, and she replied to the old
+gentleman with maidenly dignity.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am really sorry," she said, "to be forced to lead you
+back to realities, but I fail to see anything in the light
+yonder, except a commonplace lamp in the dwelling-room
+of a forester's clerk in the service of the Prince of L——."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah!" laughed the gentleman, "and does the man
+live all alone in those uncanny old walls?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"He might do so with a quiet mind, for over those
+whose consciences are pure nothing uncanny can have
+any power.  Nevertheless some loving creatures bear him
+company, among the rest, two well-fed goats and a canary
+bird, not to mention the owls, who have retired into
+private life in great indignation, since the frivolous conduct
+of human beings does not assort at all well with the solemn
+views of life entertained by their grave worships."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Or perhaps because they shun the light and cannot
+endure——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That the new arrival should adore the truth?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Perhaps that, too; but I was about to suggest that
+they fly from the two suns that have suddenly arisen in
+the old ruins."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Two suns at once?  That would be a terrible
+experience for their poor owls' eyes, and might even prove
+too much for a fire-worshipper," replied Elizabeth,
+laughing, as she passed him with a slight inclination, for her
+parents had just emerged from the gate in the wall, and
+were advancing towards her.  They had come out with
+some anxiety when they heard Elizabeth's voice and that
+of a stranger, and they gently reproved her, after she had
+related her little adventure, for entering so thoughtlessly
+into conversation with strangers.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Your badinage might have had unpleasant consequences
+for you, my child," said her mother.  "Fortunately,
+they were gentlemen."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Gentlemen?" interrupted her daughter, with surprise.
+"There was only one."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Look around," said her father; "you can see for yourself."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And certainly just where the path began to descend
+into the valley, two hats were plainly to be seen.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"So you see, mother dear," said Elizabeth, "what an
+entirely harmless encounter it was.  One never stepped
+out from behind the bushes, and there was certainly not
+an atom of the brigand to be seen in the kind old face of
+the other."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>When she went to her room she carefully took the
+wreath from her head, laid it in fresh water, and placed
+it before the bust of Beethoven, then she kissed the
+forehead of the sleeping Ernst, and said good-night to her
+father and mother.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-ix"><span class="large">CHAPTER IX.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>"Hallo, Elsie, do not run so!" shouted the forester,
+the next day at three o'clock in the afternoon, as he
+came out of the forest with his rifle on his shoulder and
+crossed the meadow towards the Lodge.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth was running down the mountain, her round
+hat hanging upon her arm instead of resting upon the
+braids that glanced in the sunlight, and as she reached
+the house she flew laughing into her uncle's arms, which
+he extended to receive her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She put her hand into her pocket, and stepped back
+a few paces.  "Guess what I have in my pocket, uncle,"
+she said, smiling.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, what can it be?  No need to puzzle one's brains
+long about it.  Probably a little sentimental hay,—a few
+dried flowers, kept for the sake of the melancholy
+associations that they recall,—or some printed sighs over the
+woes of the world, bound in gilt pasteboard?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Wrong, indeed; twice wrong, Herr Forester, for, in
+the first place, your wit glances harmlessly aside from me,
+and in the next—look here!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She drew a little box from her pocket, and lifted the
+cover.  There, upon green leaves, was comfortably lying
+a large lemon-coloured caterpillar, with black spots, broad
+bluish-green stripes upon its back, and a crooked horn
+upon its tail.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"By all that is wonderful, Sphinx Atropos!" cried the
+delighted forester.  "Ah, my sunbeam, where did you
+find that exquisite specimen?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Over at Lindhof, in a potato-field.  Isn't it beautiful?
+There, let us shut the box carefully, and put it back in my
+pocket."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What! am I not to have it?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh yes; you can have it,—that is if you are inclined
+to pay for it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Zounds!  What a girl you have become!  Come, give
+it to me,—here are four groschen."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Not for the world.  You can't have it for one
+farthing less than twelve.  When many a ragged, yellow old
+bit of parchment,—that one can hardly bear to touch,—is
+paid for with its weight in gold, certainly such a
+perfect piece of Nature's workmanship is worth twelve
+groschen."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yellow old parchment! never breathe such a word
+into scientific ears, if you value your reputation."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, there are none such to be breathed into here in
+the forest."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Take care; Herr von Walde——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Is hiding in the Pyramids."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But he might suddenly return and take a certain
+self-conceited young person to strict account.  He is
+cock-of-the-walk among learned men."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, for aught I care, they may raise monuments in
+his honour, and strew laurels in his path, as much as they
+choose.  I cannot forgive him for forgetting, in the midst
+of all that dead lumber, the claims that the living have
+upon him.  While he is engaged in an enthusiastic search,
+perhaps, for some wonderfully preserved receipt by
+Lucullus, or lost in investigations as to whether the Romans
+did actually feed their fish upon the flesh of slaves, the
+poor employed upon his estate starve under the baroness'
+rule—actually crushed beneath the yoke of modern slavery."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Hallo! how his left ear must burn!  What a pity that
+he cannot hear this confession of faith!  Here are your
+twelve groschen, if you must have them.  You want to
+buy some trinket or other, a feather, or ribbons for your
+hat, hey?" he said, smiling.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She held her hat out at arm's length before her, and
+contemplated with admiration the two fresh roses which
+she had stuck into the simple band of black velvet that
+encircled it.  "Does not that look lovely?" she asked.
+"Do you think I would voluntarily hide my head beneath
+nodding plumes when I can have roses, fresh roses?  And
+there is your caterpillar, and now you shall know why I
+want to black-mail you.  This morning the poor widow
+of a weaver in Lindhof came to my mother, begging a
+little assistance.  Her husband had had a fall, which injured
+his arm and his foot, so that he has not been able to earn
+anything for weeks.  My mother gave her some old linen
+and a large loaf of bread.  She could do nothing more,
+as you know.  See, here I have fifteen groschen,—from
+my money-box,—there is not another farthing in it just
+now, and three from little Ernst, who would gladly have
+sold his tin soldiers to help the poor woman, and with
+the price for the caterpillar I shall have a whole thaler,
+which I shall carry to the poor thing immediately."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Let me see.  Here is another thaler; and, Sabina,"
+he called into the house, "bring out a piece of meat from
+your pickling-tub, and wrap it up in green leaves.  You
+shall take that too," he said, turning again to Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, you dearest of splendid uncles!" cried the girl,
+taking his large hand between her slender palms and
+pressing it tenderly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But take care," he continued, "that the piece of good
+salt meat does not turn into roses.  It would be a sad
+change for the poor weaver's wife.  You seem to be
+following in the steps of your saintly namesake."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes; but fortunately I have here no cruel Landgrave
+to fear.  And if I had, I would tell the truth in spite of
+him."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Gracious gods, what a heroic soul it is!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But I think the courage to tell a lie would be far
+greater, even though it were a pious one."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"True, true, my daughter.  I think I could hardly have
+done it either.  Ah, here comes Sabina!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The old housekeeper issued from the door, and whilst
+she wrapped up the meat for Elizabeth, in accordance with
+the forester's directions, she whispered to him that Herr
+von Walde, who had yesterday arrived from abroad, had
+been waiting for him for some time.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Where?" he asked.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Here in the dwelling-room."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Now they had been standing directly beneath the
+open windows of this room.  Elizabeth turned quickly
+round, blushing scarlet, but could see no one.  Her
+uncle, without turning, shrugged his shoulders with an
+infinitely comical gesture, stroked his long moustache,
+and whispered, with a suppressed laugh: "Here's a nice
+state of things!  You have settled matters finely,—he
+has heard every word.7"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"So much the better," replied his niece, throwing her
+head back with an air of defiance.  "He does not hear
+the truth very often, perhaps."  Then bidding farewell to
+her uncle and Sabina, she walked slowly away through
+the forest in the direction of Lindhof.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At first she was annoyed at the thought that Herr von
+Walde had been obliged, entirely against his will, to listen
+to the judgment which had been passed upon him.  Then
+she was sure that she should have told him just the same
+truth to his face.  And as it was scarcely to be supposed
+that he would ever trouble himself about her estimate of
+him, it certainly could do him no harm that he had been
+involuntarily the auditor of a frank, impartial sentence
+passed upon him, even although such sentence came from
+the lips of a young girl.  But how had it happened that
+he had returned so suddenly and unexpectedly?  Fräulein
+von Walde had always spoken of her brother's absence
+as likely to continue for several years, and the day before
+she had had not the slightest expectation of his return.
+And then her encounter of the previous evening flashed
+into her mind.  The old gentleman had said that he was
+a traveller returning home; but it was impossible that he,
+with his smiling, good-humoured face, could be the grave,
+haughty proprietor of Lindhof, who, perhaps, was the
+person that had remained concealed beneath the trees while
+his companion was getting an answer to his inquiries.
+But what could Herr von Walde want with her uncle,
+who, as she knew, had never stood in any relation to
+him whatever?</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>These and similar thoughts occupied her mind upon
+her way to the weaver's.  Husband and wife were delighted
+by the unhoped-for assistance, and heaped Elizabeth
+with profuse professions of gratitude as she left the
+house.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She passed through the village, and directed her steps
+to Lindhof, where she had promised to practice as usual.
+The lesson had not been postponed, notwithstanding the
+return of Herr von Walde.  The proprietor's return had
+worked a great change in the whole look of the castle.
+All the windows of the lower story on the south side,
+which had so long been dark and closed behind their
+white shutters, now reflected the sunlight in a long, shining
+row.  The apartments within were undergoing a thorough
+airing and dusting.  A glass door stood wide open,
+revealing the interior of a large saloon.  Upon one of the
+steps which led down to the garden at the back lay a
+snow-white greyhound, with his slender body stretched
+out upon the hot stone and his head resting upon his
+forepaws; he blinked at Elizabeth as though she had been
+an old acquaintance.  At an open window the gardener
+was arranging a stand of flowers, and the old steward
+Lorenz was walking through the rooms, superintending
+everything.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>It was remarkable that all the people whom the young
+girl met had, as if by magic, entirely altered their whole
+expression.  Had a tempest swept through the sultry
+atmosphere and a fresh breeze filled all the rooms, so that
+voices sounded clearer, and bent forms grew straight and
+elastic?  Even old Lorenz, whose face had always worn
+so grim and depressed a look, as though there were a
+weight of lead upon his shoulders, shot real sunshine
+from his eyes, although he was scolding one of the maids;
+Elizabeth looked on in surprise.  She had only seen him
+before gliding about upon the tips of his toes, and in low,
+suppressed tones announcing guests to the ladies in the
+drawing-room.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In amazement at this sudden bursting into bloom of
+new life and activity, Elizabeth turned towards the wing
+appropriated to the ladies.  Here the deepest silence still
+reigned.  In the apartments of the baroness the curtains
+were closely drawn.  No noise penetrated through the
+doors by which Elizabeth passed.  The air of the
+passages was heavy with the odour of valerian, and when at
+the lower end of one of the halls, Elizabeth saw through
+an open door one human face, what a change met her
+eye!  It was the baroness' old waiting-maid who looked
+out, probably to see who was so bold as to invade the
+solemn repose of the corridor.  Her cap was set upon her
+false curls all awry, and the curls themselves were but
+loosely put on.  Her countenance wore a troubled
+expression, and a round, red spot on each cheek, betokened
+either high fever or some violent, mental agitation.  She
+returned Elizabeth's salute shortly and sullenly, and
+disappeared into the room, closing the door noiselessly
+behind her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>When Elizabeth reached Fräulein von Walde's apartment,
+she thought that she had arrived at the last act in the
+mysterious drama which had begun in the baroness'
+rooms, for no "come in" answered her repeated knock.
+Not only were the curtains here drawn, but the shutters
+also were closed as she saw when she gently opened the
+door.  The profound quiet and the darkness deterred
+her from entering, and she was about to shut the door
+again when Helene, in a weak voice, called to her to
+enter.  The little lady lay on a couch at the farther end
+of the room, her head resting on a white pillow, and
+Elizabeth could hear that her teeth were chattering as if with
+cold.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, dear child," she said, and laid her cold, damp
+hand upon her young friend's arm, "I have had a nervous
+attack.  None of my people have observed that I am lying
+here so ill, and it has been terribly lonely in this dark
+room.  Pray open the windows wide,—I need air, the
+warm air of heaven."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth immediately did as she desired, and when the
+daylight streamed in upon the pale face of the invalid, it
+revealed traces of violent weeping.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The sunshine aroused more life and motion in the room
+than Elizabeth had anticipated; she was startled by a loud
+scream which proceeded from one corner.  There she
+discovered a cockatoo, with snow-white plumage and a
+brilliant yellow crest, swinging to and fro upon a ring.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Heavens! what a fearful noise!" sighed Helene, pressing
+her little hands upon her ears.  "That terrible bird
+will tear my nerves to pieces!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth's glance rested amazed upon the little stranger,
+and then explored the rest of the apartment, which looked
+like a bazaar.  Upon tables and chairs were lying costly
+stuffs, shawls, richly-bound books, and all kinds of toilet
+articles.  Fräulein von Walde noticed Elizabeth's look,
+and said briefly, with averted face: "All presents from
+my brother, who returned home quite unexpectedly yesterday."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>How cold her voice was as she said it!  And there was
+not the slightest hint of pleasure to be discovered in her
+features, swollen with weeping; the large eyes, usually so
+soft and gentle, expressed only vexation and annoyance.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth stooped silently and picked up a gorgeous
+bouquet of camellias, that was lying half faded upon the
+floor.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh yes," said Helene, sitting up, while a slight flush
+appeared on her cheeks, "that is my brother's good-morning
+to me; it fell down from the table, and I forgot it.
+Pray put it in that vase there."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Poor flowers," said Elizabeth, half aloud, as she looked
+at the brown edges of the white petals, "they never
+dreamed when they opened their tender buds, that they
+were to bloom in such a cold atmosphere!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene looked up into her friend's face with a searching,
+troubled glance, and for an instant her eyes expressed
+regret.  "Put the flowers on the sill of the open
+window," she whispered quickly, "the air there will do them
+good.  Oh, heavens!" she cried, sinking back among her
+cushions.  "He is certainly a most excellent man, but his
+sudden return has destroyed the harmony of our delightful
+home life."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth looked almost incredulously at the little lady
+who lay there, her clasped hands raised, and her eyes
+lifted to heaven, as if fate had decreed her a most bitter
+trial.  If she had failed yesterday to find the key to
+Helene's conduct, she was certainly more puzzled than
+ever to-day by this incomprehensible character.  What
+had become of all those sentiments of fervent gratitude
+that had breathed from every word whenever Helene had
+spoken of her absent brother?  Had all the sisterly
+tenderness which had seemed to fill her heart vanished in a
+single moment, so that she now lamented what, according
+to her own words, she had so lately regarded as the most
+delightful thing that could happen?  Even supposing
+that the returned brother did not sympathize with the
+circle in which alone she felt happy, if he should oppose
+her dearest wishes, was it possible that coldness and
+anger could exist between two beings whom fate had
+bound together by so close a tie, a tie which must bring
+them all the nearer to each other, since one was so
+helpless, and the other so alone in the world?  Elizabeth
+suddenly felt profound pity for the man who had sailed
+on distant seas and wandered through strange lands so
+long, only to be greeted as a disturbing element when
+he once more appeared at his own fireside.  Apparently
+there was one tender spot in his proud heart, love for
+his sister; how deeply wounded he must be that she had
+no loving welcome for him, and that her heart was cold
+and hard towards him!</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Occupied with these thoughts, Elizabeth arranged the
+flowers in the vase.  She returned not a syllable to
+Helene's outbreak, which had so maligned her brother to
+stranger ears.  And Helene herself, shamed probably by
+Elizabeth's silence, seemed to be conscious that she had
+lost her self-control, for she suddenly, in an altered voice,
+begged her to take a chair and stay with her for awhile.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At this moment the door was violently flung open, and
+a female figure appeared upon the threshold.  Elizabeth
+was at some trouble to recognize in this apparition
+in its neglected, careless dress, betraying every sign of
+great agitation, the Baroness Lessen.  Her scanty locks,
+usually so carefully arranged, were streaming from under
+a morning-cap across her forehead, no longer white and
+smooth as ivory, but flushing scarlet.  The stereotyped
+self-satisfaction had vanished from her eyes, and she
+presented a most insignificant appearance as she looked shyly
+into the room!</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, Helene!" she cried anxiously, without noticing
+Elizabeth, and her corpulent figure advanced with
+unwonted rapidity.  "Rudolph has just sent for the
+unfortunate Linke to come to his room, and he abused the
+poor man so violently and loudly that I heard him in
+my bed-room on the other side of the court—Heavens! how
+wretched I am!  The morning has agitated me so
+that I can scarcely stand, but I could not listen to such
+injustice any longer, and sought refuge here.  And those
+servile wretches, the other servants, who, while Rudolph
+was away, scarcely dared to wink their eyes,—there they
+stand now boldly beneath the windows, taking a
+malicious pleasure in the misfortunes that are befalling a
+faithful servant.  Everything is destroyed that I had
+arranged so carefully and with such pains for the
+salvation of this household.  And Emil is at Odenberg!  How
+miserable and forlorn we are, dearest Helene!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She threw her arms around the neck of the little lady,
+who started up pale as ashes.  Elizabeth took advantage
+of this moment to slip out of the room.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>As she passed along the corridor leading to the
+vestibule she heard some one speaking loudly.  It was a deep,
+sonorous, manly voice, which grew louder now and then
+under the influence of excitement, but there was no
+sharpness in its tones even when they were loudest.  Although
+she could not distinguish a word, the tone thrilled through
+her,—there was something inexorable in the intonation
+of the emphasized sentences.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The echo in the long corridor was deceptive.  Elizabeth
+did not know whence the voice proceeded, and she
+therefore ran forwards quickly that she might the sooner
+reach the open air.  But after a few steps she heard, as
+though the speaker were directly beside her, the words,
+"To-morrow evening you will leave Lindhof."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But, most gracious Herr!"—was the answer.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I have nothing else to say to you! now go!" was
+uttered in a commanding tone; and just then Elizabeth,
+to her terror, found herself opposite a wide-open folding
+door.  The tall figure of a man stood in the middle of
+the room, his left hand behind him, and his right pointing
+to the door.  A pair of flashing, dark eyes met her
+own as she passed hastily through the vestibule and into
+the garden.  It seemed as if that look, in which there
+glowed an indignant soul, pursued her and drove her
+onward.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>As the Ferber family were sitting at supper, her father
+told with expressions of pleasure how he had made the
+acquaintance of Herr von Walde that day at the Lodge.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, and how does he please you?" asked his wife.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That is a question, dear child, that I might be able
+to answer if I should happen to have daily intercourse
+with him for a year or so, although even then I cannot
+tell whether I should be able to give a satisfactory
+reply.  The man is very interesting to me—as one is
+continually tempted to try to discover whether he really
+is what he appears,—a perfectly cold, passionless nature.
+He came to my brother to learn the particulars concerning
+the affair between his superintendent and the poor
+labourer's widow, because he had been informed that
+Sabina had been an eye-witness of the ill treatment she
+had received.  Sabina was obliged to tell how she
+discovered the poor woman.  He asked about everything, even
+the smallest circumstance, but in a very short, decided
+manner.  What impression Sabina's account made upon
+him no one could tell; his looks were utterly impenetrable,
+not the smallest change of countenance betrayed
+his thoughts.  He comes directly from Spain.  From the
+few remarks that he let fall, I judge that his sudden return
+to Thuringia is owing to a letter from some one of his
+friends here, telling him of the mismanagement of affairs
+upon his estate and the unhappiness among his tenantry."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And his exterior?" asked Frau Ferber.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Is pleasing, although I have never seen so much
+reserve and inaccessibility expressed in a man's
+bearing I entirely understand how he has the reputation
+of boundless haughtiness; and yet I cannot, on the
+other hand, convince myself that such exceeding folly can
+lurk behind such remarkably intellectual features.  His
+face always wears the look of cold repose of which I
+have spoken; but, between the eyebrows, there is what
+I might call an involuntary, unguarded expression of
+what a superficial observer might think sternness; to me
+it seems settled melancholy."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth listened thoughtfully to this description.
+She had already learned how that cold repose could be
+entirely laid aside for a time, and she told her father of
+the scene which she had witnessed.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Then sentence has been passed sooner than I
+anticipated," said Ferber.  "Possibly your uncle may have
+done his part towards this end by his strong language,—he
+does not hesitate when asked for an opinion.  He
+was so frank with Herr von Walde, that he felt quite
+relieved and retained not an iota in his heart of all that
+had been vexing him in the course of the past year."</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-x"><span class="large">CHAPTER X.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>Scarcely a week had passed since the evening mentioned
+in the last chapter, but these few days had brought
+about great changes in the household at the castle of
+Lindhof.  The dismissed superintendent had already been
+replaced by a new man, whose power, however, was very
+limited, as Herr von Walde had undertaken the chief
+oversight of affairs himself.  Several day-labourers who
+had been summarily dismissed, either because they were
+warm adherents of the village pastor, and had, on
+account of their work, been frequently absent from prayers
+at the castle, or because they did not care to listen to
+the chaplain's sermons, were again working on the estate.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The day before, Sunday, Herr von Walde, accompanied
+by the Baroness Lessen and little Bella, had attended
+service in the village church at Lindhof.  To the surprise
+of all, the chaplain, Herr Möhring, had appeared in the
+organ-loft as one of the audience, and at noon the worthy
+pastor had taken dinner with the family at Castle Lindhof.
+Doctor Fels paid daily visits there, for Fräulein von
+Walde was sick.  That was the reason why Elizabeth
+had not been requested to give her another lesson, and
+also, as the forester said, why the Baroness Lessen "had
+not been banished to Siberia, for," said he, "Herr von
+Walde would not be such a savage as to make his ailing
+sister still more ailing, by depriving her of the society
+which was dearest to her.  He knew that if his mother
+left, Herr von Hollfeld's visits would also cease."  It was
+malicious to say so, but, as he added, "incontrovertibly
+just."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the village it was well known that it had required
+several terrible tempests to clear the air at Castle
+Lindhof.  For the first three days after his arrival Herr von
+Walde had taken his meals alone in his private apartments,
+and the letters which the baroness' waiting-maid
+had delivered to him, at all times of the day, from her
+mistress, were returned unopened, until at last the
+violent illness of his sister had brought about a meeting
+between her brother and her cousin by her bedside.
+Since that day intercourse had again been apparently
+established between the two, although the servants
+declared that they exchanged scarcely a word at table.
+Herr von Hollfeld had been over once to greet the
+returned traveller, but it was observed that he rode away
+with a perceptibly lengthened face, after a very short stay.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>On a melancholy, rainy day in August, Elizabeth was
+again requested by Fräulein von Walde to spend half
+an hour with her at the castle.  The lady was not alone
+when she entered the room.  Herr von Walde sat in the
+recess by the window.  His tall figure was leaning back on
+a couch, his head nearly touching the light-coloured wall
+behind him, so that his dark-brown hair stood out in
+strong relief against it.  His right hand, which carelessly
+held a cigar, was resting upon the window-sill, while his
+left was raised as if he had just been speaking.  His
+neighbour, the Baroness Lessen, was bending towards
+him, and, with a most winning smile upon her face,
+seemed to be listening intently to his words, although, as
+it appeared, they were not addressed to her, but to
+Helene.  She was sitting tolerably near him, and had
+some crochet work in her hand.  Fräulein von Walde
+was lying upon a lounge.  A full dressing-gown entirely
+enveloped her small figure, and her beautiful brown
+curls escaped from beneath a morning-cap, trimmed with
+pink ribbons, which heightened, by force of contrast, the
+pallor of her countenance.  The cockatoo was perched
+upon her hand, and from time to time she held him caressingly
+to her cheek.  "The terrible bird" was now called
+"darling," and might scream as loud as it liked,—it was
+only soothed by a tender "What's the matter with my
+pet?"  Here, then, all was peace and reconciliation.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Upon Elizabeth's entrance Helene beckoned to her
+kindly, but it did not escape her that there was a slight
+embarrassment in the little lady's manner.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Dear Rudolph," she said, as she took Elizabeth's
+hand, "let me present you to the delightful artiste to
+whom I owe so many pleasant hours,—Fräulein Ferber,
+called by her uncle, and in all the country around,
+Gold Elsie.  She plays so deliciously that I entreat her
+to make us forget the gray and gloomy skies above us this
+afternoon.  You see, dear child," she continued, turning
+to Elizabeth, "that I am still too weak to assist you
+at the piano; will you have the great kindness to play
+something alone for us?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"With all my heart," replied Elizabeth.  "But I shall
+play timidly, for there are two formidable powers to
+oppose me,—the gloomy heavens, and the favourable
+expectations that you have awakened of my performance."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Pray allow me to excuse myself for an hour," said
+the baroness, as she collected her working materials and
+arose; "I should like to drive out with Bella,—it is so
+long since the poor child has taken the air."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Really, I should suppose that she could easily take it
+here at any time, by simply putting her head out of the
+window," said Herr von Walde dryly, knocking the ashes
+from his cigar as he spoke.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Heavens! are you unwilling, Rudolph, that I should
+take a drive?  I will instantly remain at home, if——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I can conceive of no reason why I should be unwilling.
+Drive as often and as much as you like," was
+the indifferent reply.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The baroness compressed her lips, and turned to
+Helene: "We have decided, then, to take coffee in my
+room.  I shall not stay out long, on account of the mist.
+I shall be back punctually in an hour, and shall depend
+upon the pleasure of conducting you to my room myself,
+dearest Helene."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That pleasure you must resign," said Herr von
+Walde.  "It has been my office for many years, and I
+hope my sister does not think me grown too awkward
+during my absence to discharge it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Most certainly not, dear Rudolph; I shall be greatly
+obliged, if you will be so kind," cried Helene, quickly,
+looking anxiously from one to the other.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The baroness conquered her vexation bravely.  She held
+out her hand to Herr von Walde, with a smile of great
+sweetness, kissed Helene upon the cheek, and rustled out
+of the room with an "au revoir."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>During this conversation, Elizabeth observed more
+closely the features of the man, whose glance and voice
+had impressed her so profoundly.  It is true, her terror,
+for really the emotion caused by her first meeting with
+him was nothing less, had been renewed for a moment,
+as on entering she caught sight of Herr von Walde.
+How quiet the eyes were now, which had seemed
+before to flash fire; his look, as it rested upon the
+baroness, was icy cold.  With this expression in his eyes,
+the upper part of his face, which bore the stamp of great
+sternness, grew to iron.  A carefully arranged chestnut-brown
+moustache covered his upper lip, and his beard;
+which was unusually fine and silky, fell in soft waves
+upon his chest.  Herr von Walde did not look young,
+and although his well-knit figure had preserved all its
+elasticity, there was that indescribable composure and
+self-possession in his whole manner and heaping peculiar
+to the man of riper age, and which inspires involuntary
+respect.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>When the baroness had left the room, Elizabeth opened
+the piano.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, no! no notes!" Helene cried to her, as she saw
+her turning over the music-sheets.  "We want to hear
+your own fancies; pray extemporize."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth seated herself immediately, and soon the
+outer world was all forgotten by her.  A wealth of
+melody welled up in her soul, which carried it far aloft.
+At such moments she knew that she was gifted beyond
+thousands of her fellow-mortals, for she had the power of
+giving expression to the most hidden emotions of her
+heart.  The purity of her whole inner world was
+mirrored in sound; she had never been obliged to seek for a
+melody which should embody her feeling, it lay ready
+in her soul,—ready as the feeling itself.  But to-day there
+was something blended with the tones that she could not
+herself comprehend; she could not possibly pursue and
+analyze it, for it breathed almost imperceptibly across the
+waves of sound.  It seemed as though joy and woe no
+longer moved side by side, but melted together into one.
+As she was herself impressed by this strange presence,
+she penetrated still deeper into her world of
+feeling,—gradually the clear depths of her pure, maidenly soul
+were revealed to the listeners; they stood, as it were,
+by some transparent, magic fountain, and saw within its
+quiet waters the lovely form of the young girl reflected,
+with twofold distinctness, for there was a perfect harmony
+between her exterior and her interior being.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The last faint chord died away.  Large tear-drops
+hung from Helene's lashes, and her pallor was almost
+supernatural.  She glanced towards her brother, but he
+had turned his face away, and was gazing out into the
+garden.  When at last he looked towards her, his features
+were as calm as ever, only a slight flush coloured his
+brow; the cigar had dropped from his fingers and lay
+upon the ground.  He said not one word concerning her
+playing to Elizabeth, as she rose from the piano.  Helene,
+whom this silence distressed, exhausted herself in flattering
+expressions, that she might induce her young friend
+to forget, or, at least, not to notice the coldness and
+indifference which her brother displayed.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Was it not delicious?" she cried.  "The people in
+B—— could have had no idea of the golden fountain of
+music bubbling up in Elsie's heart, or they would never
+have allowed her to wander into the Thuringian forest."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Have you lived until now in B——?" asked Herr von
+Walde, fixing his eyes upon Elizabeth.  She met his gaze
+for an instant; the ice had all melted, and was replaced by
+a wondrous radiance.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes," she answered, simply.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It was a sad experience to come suddenly from a
+large beautiful city, which offers every imaginable
+diversion and enjoyment, to the silent forest, and live upon
+a lonely mountain.  You were, of coarse, inconsolable at
+the exchange?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I regarded it as a piece of undeserved good fortune,"
+was the unembarrassed reply.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed?  Most strange!  It seems to me that one would
+hardly choose the thistle when the rose might be had."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Of course, I cannot presume to pass judgment upon
+your opinions."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"True, because you do not know me; but my idea is
+almost universal."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yet surely it is very one-sided."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, then, I will not combat further your peculiar
+taste, with which you would scarcely find any one to
+sympathize among companions of your own age.  I will rather
+believe, for your credit, that it was not so easy to leave
+your friends."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But it was very easy, for I had none."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Is that possible?" cried Fräulein von Walde.  "Did
+you have no intercourse with any one?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, yes, with the people who paid me."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You gave lessons?" asked Herr von Walde.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But did you never feel the want of a female friend?"
+cried Helene quickly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Never, for I have a mother," replied Elizabeth in a
+tone of deep feeling.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Happy child!" she murmured, and drooped her head.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth felt that she had unwittingly touched a sore
+place in Helene's heart.  She was sorry, and longed to
+efface the impression.  Herr von Walde seemed to read her
+thoughts in her face, for, without noticing Helene's
+emotion, he asked: "And did you desire to live in the
+Thuringian forest especially?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And why?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Because I had been told from my earliest childhood
+that my family had its origin in the Thuringian forest."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, yes, you belong to the Gnadewitzes."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"My mother's name was Gnadewitz.  I am a Ferber,"
+answered Elizabeth, with decision.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You say that as if you were thankful that you did
+not bear the name of Gnadewitz."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am thankful for it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Hm!—in its time it has made a fine noise in the
+world."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"None pleasant to hear."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Why, what would you have?  At every court it was
+pure gold, for it was very old, and the last of those who
+bore it were heaped with dignities and honours, on
+account of the antiquity of their name."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Pardon me, but I cannot possibly understand how—"
+she blushed, and was silent.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Go on; you have begun the sentence, and I depend
+upon hearing the end."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, then, how sin can be honoured, because it is
+old," she rejoined, with hesitation.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Softly! they say that several of the Gnadewitz lineage
+were brave and true."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That may be; but is there not great injustice in the
+idea of rewarding their merit, centuries after, by honouring
+those who are neither good nor true?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Should not noble deeds live forever?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Most certainly; but, if we refuse to emulate them,
+we certainly are not worthy to share in their rewards,"
+was Elizabeth's prompt answer.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A carriage rolled up the avenue.  Herr von Walde
+frowned, and passed his hand across his eyes as if he had
+been rudely awakened from a dream.  In a moment
+the door opened, and the baroness entered.  She, as well
+as Bella, who was walking by her mother's side to-day
+with quite an air of grown-up dignity, had not yet laid
+aside her bonnet and mantle.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am glad to be at home again," she cried.  "The air
+to-day is horrible.  I repented a hundred times having
+left the house, and shall probably atone for my maternal
+solicitude by a heavy cold.  Bella was so anxious to see
+for herself how you are, dear Helene, that I allowed her
+to come in with me."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The child went directly up to the lounge.  She did not
+appear to notice Elizabeth, who was sitting close by, and
+brushed past her so rudely, as she bent to kiss Helene's
+hand, that a button upon her sack caught in the
+delicate trimming of Elizabeth's dress and tore it.  Bella
+lifted her head and glanced at the mischief she had done;
+then she turned and went across to Herr von Walde to
+give him her hand.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well," said he, withholding his hand, "have you no
+apology to make for your awkwardness?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She made no reply, and retired to the side of her
+mother, upon whose cheeks the ominous red spots
+appeared.  The look which she cast upon Elizabeth showed
+that her daughter was not the cause of her irritation.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, child, can't you speak?" asked Herr von Walde,
+rising.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Fräulein Ferber sat so close," said the baroness in a
+tone of excuse, as Bella continued obstinately silent.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed, I should have moved aside.  There is no great
+harm done," said Elizabeth, and she held out her hand to
+Bella with an enchanting smile.  But the child took no
+notice of it, and hid both her hands in her dress.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Without a word, Herr von Walde approached her, took
+her by the arm, and led her directly to the door, which he
+opened.  "Go instantly to your room," he said, "and do
+not come where I am again unless I particularly desire
+you to do so."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The baroness was raging inwardly.  Her countenance
+worked for a moment, but what could she do?  She was
+powerless to contend with the violence and barbarism of
+this man, who was master here, and who now took his
+seat again with a composure that betrayed an utter
+unconsciousness of the cruelty of his behaviour.  Her
+prudence obtained the upper hand.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I hope, dear Rudolph," said she, and her voice trembled
+a little, "that you will not reckon this slight
+misdemeanour against Bella.  Pray, make some allowance,—it
+is all the fault of her governess."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Miss Mertens?  Indeed, it must have cost her, with
+her innate gentleness and refinement, infinite pains to
+train Bella to conduct herself as she has just done."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The baroness blushed scarlet; but she controlled
+herself.  "Heavens!" she cried, determined to change the
+subject; "this stupid circumstance has made me forget
+to tell you that Emil has ridden over from Odenberg.
+He got wet through on horseback, and is just changing
+his dress.  May he pay his respects?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene's cheeks glowed, and a ray of happiness shot
+from her eyes; but she said not a word, only drooping
+her face so as to conceal every sign of her inward agitation.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Certainly," replied Herr von Walde.  "Does he intend
+to make some stay here?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"He will be here for a few days, with your permission."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"By all means.  Then we shall see him in your room
+when we come to take coffee."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"He will be most happy.  Will you not come immediately?
+My maid tells me that all is in readiness there
+to receive you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth arose, and prepared to take her leave.  Herr
+von Walde, as soon as he saw this, looked inquiringly
+at the baroness.  Doubtless he expected that she would
+extend an invitation to the young girl, but just at this
+moment the lady discovered that the gardener's arrangement
+of the flower-stand in the window was "too charming,"
+and in enraptured contemplation of a bunch of
+azaleas she turned her back upon Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Fräulein Ferber courtesied profoundly and left the room,
+after Helene had repeated, in a trembling voice, her
+expressions of gratitude.  Without, in the corridor, she met
+Herr von Hollfeld.  At sight of her he quickened his pace,
+casting a lightning glance around to assure himself that
+no listener was near.  Before she was aware of it, he had
+seized Elizabeth's hand, imprinted a glowing kiss upon
+it, and whispered: "How rejoiced I am to see you once
+more!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Her astonishment was so great that she could not at
+first find a word to say.  She drew back her hand as
+though she had been stung, and he accepted her repulse,
+because at that very moment the door of Helene's room
+opened, and Herr von Walde appeared.  Hollfeld raised
+his hat to Elizabeth as if he had just seen her, and his
+features subsided instantly into an expression of utter
+indifference as he walked towards his relative.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth was disgusted with his farce,—first, at the
+insulting familiarity, which made her blood boil with
+indignation, and then, at the denial of any acquaintance before
+a third person.  Her maidenly pride was deeply wounded.
+She reproached herself that she had not rebuked his
+impertinence boldly upon the spot.  A crimson flush glowed
+in her cheeks with shame that she should have been
+treated so by any man; it seemed as if the spot upon
+her hand, where his hot lips had rested, still burned, and
+she hastily held it beneath the stream of a fountain in
+the park, that the imaginary stain might be washed away.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Much agitated, she reached her home, and complained
+with tears to her mother of the insult that she had
+received.  Frau Ferber was a sensible woman, possessed of
+clear, calm insight.  She was convinced by Elizabeth's
+resentment that her child's heart was not in the least
+danger, and her fears were laid to rest.  It was easy to
+defend her from attacks from without; but who could
+guard her from the grief that a misplaced attachment
+would entail upon her?</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You know now what manner of man Herr von Hollfeld
+is," she said.  "It will not be difficult strictly to
+avoid all future contact with him, and if he should
+presume in spite of your efforts, he must be sternly repulsed.
+His conduct seems to be the result of aristocratic
+conceit and cowardice, two qualities which will probably
+deter him from any further advances, when he discovers
+how disagreeable they are to you.  But at all events,
+familiarize yourself with the thought that your behaviour
+towards him must of necessity create an enemy who will,
+at some future day, put a stop to your intercourse with
+Fräulein von Walde.  Of course such a consideration
+cannot for one instant lead you to hesitate as to your line of
+conduct.  Go on your way then, my child, quietly and with
+self-possession.  I should certainly not advise you to give
+up your visits to Castle Lindhof."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Assuredly not! no, that I will not do!" cried Elizabeth,
+quickly.  "What would my uncle say if the chicken should
+actually come flying back to creep beneath the shelter of
+home?" she added, smiling through her tears.  "It would
+be wretched indeed, if with all the strength of which I
+have boasted, I am not strong enough to repulse an
+impertinent man so effectually that he shall desist from all
+future advances."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She recalled her conversation with Herr von Walde,
+and found, to her great satisfaction, that she must
+certainly be exceedingly brave, for assuredly it had required
+no small exercise of courage, while confronting that stern
+countenance, to declare her own convictions, which
+attacked so decidedly the proud edifice of his ancestral pride.
+She had expected every moment to see his glance sheathe
+itself in ice again, as it had done in conversation with the
+baroness; but the singular glow and expression which had
+so struck her when first he addressed her, had not faded
+from his eyes,—she could almost, in fact, believe that
+she detected beneath his moustache a smile lurking
+around the corners of his mouth.  Perhaps he had
+determined to-day to enact the part of the lion towards
+the mouse.  He had magnanimously permitted a little
+girl to pour out her naive ideas at his feet, where they
+might remain lying, since to bend his aristocratic back to
+pick them up and examine them was not to be thought
+of,—they probably amused him as exemplifying the saying
+of the dog "baying the moon."  She repeated all this
+continually to herself, that she might stamp afresh upon her
+treacherous memory his general reputation for boundless
+arrogance.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She could not tell how she became conscious of it, but
+she was now perfectly aware that she should suffer
+unspeakably if Herr von Walde's arrogance was ever
+exercised towards her; so she must be doubly on her guard
+and not allow herself to be misled by his observance of
+the usual forms of common politeness, of his high regard
+for which the next day brought her a most convincing
+proof.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-xi"><span class="large">CHAPTER XI.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>She had just gotten ready, the next afternoon, to go into
+the garden with her work-basket, when the bell rang at the
+gate in the wall.  In consideration of the scene of the day
+before, her surprise was certainly justifiable, when, as the
+gate was opened, she saw Bella standing before her.  Behind
+the child stood Miss Mertens and the elderly gentleman
+with whom Elizabeth had lately had an evening encounter.
+As she entered Bella extended her hand, but looked shy and
+confused and said not a word.  Elizabeth, much amazed, at
+once guessed the reason of her coming, and tried to help
+her in her embarrassment by saying how glad she was to
+have a visit from a little girl, and by asking her to come
+into the garden.  But Miss Mertens stepped forward.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do not make it all so pleasant for Bella, Fräulein
+Ferber," said she, "she has been expressly ordered to
+make an apology to you for her misconduct yesterday.  I
+must insist upon her speaking."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>These words, spoken with much firmness, and still
+more, perhaps, the sheltering darkness of the hall through
+which Elizabeth was leading her by the hand, at last
+loosened Bella's tongue, and she softly begged pardon for
+her fault, and promised never to be so naughty again.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And now that is happily settled," cried the gentleman,
+as he advanced to Miss Mertens' side, and with an
+arch smile made a low bow to Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It may, perhaps, strike you as very odd," he said,
+"that I should attach myself to this reconciliation
+deputation, with which I have no concern; but I have an idea
+that on such occasions people are rather inclined to
+overlook all slight transgressions, and so,—there can be no
+more favourable moment for the smuggling in of a
+stranger.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"My name is Ernst Reinhard; I am the secretary and
+travelling companion of Herr von Walde, and I have
+had no more earnest desire for a week past than to
+become acquainted with the interesting family at Castle
+Gnadeck."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth kindly extended her hand.  "These old walls
+have witnessed so many of the misdeeds of the robber
+knights of old, that we have no right to condemn
+smuggling; you will be cordially welcomed by my parents."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She led the way, and opened the huge oaken door
+leading into the garden.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Her parents and uncle, who, with little Ernst, were
+sitting under the lindens, arose as the strangers entered,
+and came towards them.  Elizabeth introduced them all
+round, and then, at a sign from her mother, returned
+to the house to order some refreshments for the guests.
+When she came back again, Bella had already laid aside
+her sack and parasol, and with a joyous face was
+sitting in a swing, which had been hung between two trees.
+Ernst was swinging her, and seemed not a little proud
+of his new playmate.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed," said Reinhard, pointing to Bella as she flew
+up in the swing, shouting with delight, "no one who
+had seen that child this morning and her sullen bearing,
+as she went into Herr von Walde's apartment to ask
+forgiveness for yesterday's misconduct, or her defiant and
+angry expression, when he told her that he could not
+receive her again until she had personally begged
+pardon of Fräulein Ferber,"—here Elizabeth reddened, and
+became absorbed in the preparation of some bread and
+honey for the two children,—"would recognize her for the
+same being, whose face is now beaming with the innocent
+joy of childhood."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The hour passed very pleasantly.  Miss Mertens
+was both refined and cultivated, and Reinhard told many
+delightful stories of his travels and researches.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Probably we should not have thought of returning
+home for some time," he said in concluding an interesting
+account of adventures in Spain, "had we not received
+unfavourable accounts from Thuringia, which, following fast
+upon each other, induced Herr von Walde to give up new
+plans for travel.  The ambition of power often makes its
+possessor blind.  The incautious request from a feminine
+pen that Herr von Walde would pension off the good old
+village pastor at Lindhof, because he had grown prosy
+and was incapable of training the souls under his care,
+capped the climax of our unwelcome hews, and we set
+out for home immediately.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"When, late in the evening, as we approached Lindhof,
+we left the highroad and our carriage, that we might go
+the rest of the way on foot, we met with a most
+charming adventure.   How odd! look, Reinhard, what do
+you suppose is the meaning of that light in the ruins
+of Castle Gnadeck?' asked Herr von Walde.  'It means
+that there is a lamp there,' was my reply.  'We must
+investigate this,' said he, and we ascended the hill.
+The light grew brighter, and at last, to our
+astonishment, we saw that it streamed from two high
+illuminated windows.  And then, light steps were heard
+behind us, something white fluttered among the bushes,
+and suddenly, what I took for a being of ethereal mould
+hovered before us upon the moonlit sward.  I took
+heart and approached, expecting every moment that the
+airy form would vanish before the breath of my lips; but
+alas! its own lips opened, and told of two well-trained
+goats and a canary bird."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>All laughed at this account.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"While we were descending the mountain," Reinhard
+continued, "my master said not a word; but from certain
+signs I judged that he was quite as ready to laugh at me
+as you were; it would have been a fine thing if you could
+have accompanied us as a good fairy, for we left all the
+moonlight and beauty behind us upon the mountain, and
+had to walk on through the dim valley, where the mists
+were rising, and where there was nothing, not even a
+wandering zephyr to bid us welcome home.  At Castle
+Lindhof numberless lights were flitting to and fro like
+will-o'-the-wisps.  The carriage, with our luggage, had
+already arrived, and seemed to have produced the same
+effect by the sound of its rolling wheels, as that ascribed
+to the thunder at the day of judgment, for there was such
+hurry, confusion, and disorder reigning there when we
+arrived, that, for my part, I should have been thankful to
+retrace my steps, and lay my weary head upon the first
+quiet, mossy spot that I could find in the forest.  The
+only person who, in the midst of the universal agitation,
+presented an appearance of placid self possession was the
+chaplain, Möhring.  He had put on a white cravat with
+great despatch, and welcomed the master of the house at
+the foot of the grand staircase in a speech full of unction."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The reign of that stern gentleman is at an end now,
+is it not?" asked the forester.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, indeed, thank God!" replied Miss Mertens.
+"He will leave Lindhof in a short time.  Baroness
+Lessen's influence has procured him a good parish.  He could
+not endure to sink back into insignificance where he had
+so lately held sway.  I can readily understand it, for he
+had ruled with all the persecuting zeal of a tyrant who
+seeks to tread every one beneath his feet.  He would
+not allow a thought in his kingdom without his
+permission, and even the baroness, his mistress, upon whom
+he smiled so servilely, felt his iron rule.  Every one in
+the household, without exception, was obliged to write
+down, in the evening, the thoughts and sentiments that
+had occurred to them during the avocations of the day.
+I can see before me now the poor housemaids, to whom
+even a short letter to their friends at home is a greater
+task than a long ironing-day, sitting in that cold room
+on the winter evenings, holding the pen in their tired
+clumsy fingers, and beating their poor brains for
+something to say.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes, if the chaplain had worked as hard as I have
+done the whole day,' one would whisper softly but
+angrily to another, 'he would not relish writing much.'"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed, I think so," cried the forester.  "What a
+shameful system of torture and oppression has been
+carried on there under the cloak of service to the Lord!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The worst of it all is," said Ferber, "that unless a
+man is possessed of great culture, or of a special fund of
+good humour, he ends by detesting not only his tormentors
+but the whole subject of religion that causes him such
+suffering.  Thus, he is led more and more astray from all
+faith, while his outward observance of forms must be
+stricter than ever, his subsistence depending upon his
+wearing the mask well.  All this gives the death-blow to
+true religion among the people."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, we are fortunate in at least having one among
+us who has force of character enough and sufficient
+strength of will, to say, 'Thus far shalt thou go and no
+farther!'  Zounds! it came upon us like a second deluge!"
+said the forester.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"True, Herr von Walde is possessed of an energy and
+force of character such as falls to the lot of but few,"
+replied Miss Mertens, quickly.  "His mouth is closed, but
+his eyes are wide open, and servility, malice, and
+hypocrisy quail before them and drop their masks."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the mean while Reinhard had been attentively
+examining the walls of the ruinous wing of the old castle
+which bounded the garden on the south.  Three large,
+pointed, arched windows, faultless in shape, extended
+upward to the height of the second story from about
+six feet from the ground.  Close beside them a curious
+jutty projected far into the garden, forming a deep
+corner, where grew a giant oak, which stretched some of its
+boughs through the two nearest sashless windows far
+into the airy, cool apartment within, which must once
+have been the chapel of the castle, intended to
+accommodate a large number of worshippers, for it extended
+through the entire depth of the wing.  Opposite these
+windows were three others of like dimensions; they had
+been less exposed to wind and weather, and had
+preserved some fragments of coloured glass in their
+delicately carved stone rosettes.  Through them could be
+seen the dark court-yard, with its crumbling, ghostly
+walls like a picture painted in gray.  The garden side of
+this wing looked gay and odd enough.  The most
+extravagant caprice had here heaped together all styles of
+windows and decorations; judging by the exterior, the old
+building must have been a perfect labyrinth of rooms,
+passages, and staircases.  The jutty alone seemed to
+be in a most dangerous state of decay.  It inclined
+perceptibly to one side, and appeared to be awaiting the
+moment when it should bury the blooming life of the oak
+beneath its masses of stone.  It had thrown a green
+mantle coquettishly over its falling form,—an impenetrable
+garment of ivy wreathed it all over from the ground to
+the ruinous roof, and effectually concealed every crack and
+aperture in the masonry.  Some sprays of the ivy had
+crept across the oak and climbed up to the sculptured
+arms on the principal front of the chapel, which looked
+forth grimly enough from beneath its intrusive decoration.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I attempted," said Ferber, "to explore this wing as
+far as I could, shortly after my arrival here, for its
+peculiar style of architecture interests me greatly; but I
+could not get farther than the chapel, where, indeed, it
+seemed dangerous to stay long.  You see the whole upper
+story has fallen in, and the weight of the ruins has caused
+the ceiling of the chapel to sink considerably, so that it
+seems ready to tumble at the slightest breath of wind.
+The jutty has only lately looked so threatening in
+consequence of several severe storms.  It must be taken
+away, for it makes a part of the garden inaccessible to us.
+If I could have engaged any workmen, it should have
+been pulled down before now."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>After this explanation, Reinhard had no further relish,
+as he expressed it, for wandering about in the old ruins.
+But he was all the more interested in the connecting
+building, and Ferber arose to show his guests his dwelling.
+And first, they ascended the rampart behind them.
+Ferber was very capable and skilful, and employed every
+moment of his leisure in improving his new possession.
+With his own hands he had mended the steps which led
+to the top of the rampart, and they arose now smooth
+and white from the close-shaven turf which clothed its
+sloping side.  On top, the tolerably wide plateau was
+strewn with fresh gravel, and in the centre of it,
+embowered in the linden boughs which overshadowed the basin
+below, stood a group of home-made garden chairs and a
+table.  While they leaned against the breastwork and
+enjoyed the confined but lovely view from the steep
+mountain over the valley beneath, Elizabeth told the story of
+Sabina's ancestress, for doubtless this rampart had been
+the scene of her narrative.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Br-rr!" said Reinhard, shuddering.  "What a leap it
+would have been!  The wall is high, and when I
+imagine below there, instead of that mossy carpet, the
+sluggish, slimy waters of a castle-ditch full of frogs and
+lizards, I cannot possibly understand the resolution
+required to throw one's self over."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But," said Miss Mertens, "despair has led many a
+one to seek a death even more horrible."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At this moment Elizabeth saw with her mind's eye
+the glowing, passionate expression with which Hollfeld
+had hastened towards her on the preceding evening.  She
+remembered the disgust that she had experienced at
+his touch, and she thought to herself that it was not
+very difficult to imagine the position of the persecuted
+girl.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Come in, child," said her uncle, rousing her from her
+reverie.  "Are you listening to hear the grass grow that
+you stand there so silent?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Beneath his clear gaze, and at the sound of his strong,
+honest voice, the terrible vision vanished in an instant.
+"No, uncle," she replied, laughing, "that I shall not
+attempt, even though I do boast that I have wonderfully
+keen eyes and ears for the processes of nature."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He took her hand, and led her after the others, who
+were just entering the house.  At the top of the steps,
+Bella came running to Miss Mertens.  She had several
+picture-books in one hand, and with the other she drew
+her governess into Elizabeth's room.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Only think, Miss Mertens, you can see our castle from
+here!" she cried.  That they were the owners of Lindhof
+she seemed firmly to believe, and no wonder.  The way
+in which the baroness had, until now, wielded her sceptre,
+had left no doubt in the child's mind that her mother was
+the indisputable mistress of Lindhof.  "Look," she
+continued gaily, "do you see the path down there?  Uncle
+Rudolph has just ridden past.  He saw me, and waved
+his hand to me.  Mamma will be glad that he is kind to
+me again."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Miss Mertens admonished her to be a good little girl,
+and get her hat and sack, for it was time to go.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth and Ernst accompanied them out into the park.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"We have stayed too long," said Miss Mertens anxiously,
+as she took leave of the Ferbers and stepped out
+into the forest-clearing.  "I must be prepared for a
+tempest this evening."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You think the baroness will be vexed at your
+remaining here so long?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Without doubt."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Never mind,—you must not repent it.  We have spent
+such a delightful afternoon," said Reinhard.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The children had wandered on before them, hand in
+hand, and disappeared now and then among the trees on
+either side of the path, plucking flowers.  Hector, who
+had forsaken his master to accompany them, leaped
+joyously hither and thither, never forgetting to return now
+and then to be stroked and patted by the gentle hand of
+Elizabeth, the lady of his love, as her uncle said.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly he stopped, and stood still in the centre of
+the path.  They had nearly reached the borders of the
+park.  Through the forest they could see the vivid green
+of the lawn, and the plashing of the nearest fountain
+was audible.  Hector had discovered a female figure hastily
+approaching.  Elizabeth recognized her instantly as silent
+Bertha, although her whole appearance seemed strangely
+altered.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She could have had no idea that any one was near,
+for, as she walked, she gesticulated violently with her
+arms.  Her cheeks were crimson, her eyebrows contracted
+as though in the greatest agony of mind, and her lips
+moved as though she were talking to herself.  Her white
+hat, which she had decked with flowers, had slipped from
+her dark braids, and was hanging upon her neck by its
+loose red strings, which, as her motions grew still more
+earnest, became wholly untied, and the hat fell on the
+ground without the knowledge of its owner.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She came rapidly forward, and did not raise her eyes
+until just as she stood close to Elizabeth.  Then she
+started as though stung by an adder.  In a moment the
+expression of anguish upon her countenance was changed
+to one of the bitterest anger.  Hate flashed from her eyes,
+her hands clenched convulsively, and while something
+like a low hiss escaped her lips, she seemed as if about
+to spring, raging, upon the young girl.  Reinhard
+instantly placed himself by Elizabeth's side, and drew her
+slightly back.  When Bertha saw him, she uttered a low
+cry, and rushed madly into the thicket, through which
+she forced a path, although her clothes were torn by the
+thorns, and she struck her forehead against the drooping
+boughs.  In a few moments she was lost to sight.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That was Bertha, from the Lodge!" cried Miss Mertens,
+with surprise.  "What can have happened to her?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes,—what can have happened?" repeated
+Reinhard.  "The young creature was in a state of terrible
+excitement, and seemed to grow actually furious at sight
+of you," turning to Elizabeth.  "Is she related to you?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No indeed," she replied.  "She is only distantly
+connected with my uncle, and I do not even know her.
+She has avoided me from the beginning most resolutely,
+although I wished much to be on friendly terms with
+her.  It is clear that she hates me, but I cannot tell
+why.  Of course it troubles me, but her character is not
+sufficiently pleasing to induce me to attach much
+importance to her dislike."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Good Heavens, my child, there is no question of
+dislike here!  The little fury would have gladly torn you to
+pieces with her teeth."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am not afraid of her," replied Elizabeth, smiling.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But I would advise you to be careful," said Miss
+Mertens.  "There was something actually demoniac in her
+looks.  Where could she have been?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Probably at the castle," remarked Elizabeth, as she
+picked up Bertha's hat, and brushed the moss and dried
+leaves from it.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I think not," rejoined Miss Mertens.  "Since she has
+been dumb she has, very strangely, ceased visiting
+Lindhof.  Before then she came every day, attended the Bible
+Class, and was a great protegée of the baroness, but
+suddenly it all came to an end, to the surprise of all.  Only
+now and then, in my solitary rambles in the park, I have
+seen her gliding through the bushes like a snake,—indeed
+she seems to me to bear an affinity to that reptile."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>They had already reached one of the gravelled paths
+leading through the park, and it was time to take leave of
+each other.  They separated with mutual cordiality.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Now, Elsie," said Ernst, as the other three vanished
+behind a group of trees, "we'll see which of us will reach
+the corner first."  The corner was the entrance to a narrow
+forest-path which led directly to the foot of the mountain.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Agreed, my darling," laughed Elizabeth, and began to
+run.  At first she kept even step with the little boy who
+was beside her; but just before the goal was reached, she
+flew forward lightly as a feather, and stood in the entrance
+of the path, and, to her terror, close to the head of a horse
+which snorted violently.  Hector, who was by her side,
+barked loudly.  The horse leaped aside and stood erect
+upon his hind legs.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Back!" cried a powerful voice.  Elizabeth snatched op
+the little boy and sprang with him out of the way, while
+the horse rushed out of the forest, and, scarcely touching
+the ground with his hoofs, galloped madly across the
+meadow.  Herr von Walde was seated upon the frightened
+animal, which did its best to throw its rider.  He,
+however, sat firm as a rock; only once he leaned from
+his saddle and struck with his riding-whip at Hector, who
+was leaping and barking about the horse, greatly
+increasing its fright.  For awhile it bounded wildly over
+the meadow, then suddenly turned away and disappeared
+into the forest.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth's teeth fairly chattered with fright at the
+horrible accident which she had no doubt would shortly occur.
+She took Ernst by the hand and was about to run to the
+castle for assistance, when, before she had gone many steps,
+she saw the horseman returning.  The animal was much
+more quiet, his bit was covered with foam, and his legs
+trembled.  Herr von Walde patted his neck caressingly,
+sprang off, tied him to a tree, and then approached Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Pray forgive me," she said in a trembling voice, as
+soon as he stood beside her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What for, my child?" he rejoined gently.  "You have
+done nothing.  Come, sit down upon this bank, you are
+deadly pale."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He moved as if to take her hand and lead her to the
+spot which he had designated, but his arm dropped
+instantly by his side.  Elizabeth mechanically obeyed
+him, and without another word he seated himself beside
+her.  Little Ernst leaned against his sister and fixed his
+large beautiful full eyes upon Herr von Walde's face.  The
+boy had been frightened for one moment when the horse
+had first appeared, but the gallop around the meadow had
+amused him, for he had no suspicion of danger.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What did you intend to do when you came running
+so hastily into the forest?" Herr von Walde asked
+Elizabeth after a short silence.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>An arch smile played about the still pale lips of the
+young girl.  "I was pursued," she replied.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"By whom?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"By this boy," pointing to Ernst, "We were running a race."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Is the little one your brother?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes;" she looked lovingly in the boy's face and passed
+her hand over his dark curls.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And she is my only sister," said the little fellow with
+great emphasis.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed!  Well, you seem quite fond of this only
+sister," said Herr von Walde.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh yes; I love her dearly.  She plays with me just like
+a boy."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Is it possible?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh yes; if I want to play soldiers she puts on just
+the same kind of paper hat that she makes for me, and
+marches, drumming up and down the garden, just as long
+as I choose.  And before I go to bed she tells me lovely
+stories while I am eating my supper."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A bright smile broke over Herr von Walde's face.
+Elizabeth had never seen it before, and she found that it
+gave an indescribable charm to features which she had
+thought immovably stern; it seemed to her like a clear
+sunbeam breaking through a thick, cloudy sky.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You are quite right, my boy," he said, drawing the
+child towards him; "those are most valuable talents to
+possess; but is she never angry?" he asked, pointing to
+Elizabeth, who was enjoying like a child, Ernst's
+revelations, which seemed comical enough to her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, never angry," replied the boy, "only serious
+sometimes, and then she always plays on the piano."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But, Ernst——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh yes, Elsie," he interrupted her eagerly; "don't
+you remember when we were so poor in B——?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, there you are right," she replied with
+composure; "but it was only when papa and mamma had to
+work so hard that we might have bread to eat; it was
+much better afterwards."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But you still play on the piano?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes," answered Elizabeth laughing, "but no longer
+for the reason which Ernst gives.  My father and mother
+are now provided for."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And you?" Herr von Walde persisted.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, I?  I am quite brave enough to fight life's battle
+and win my own independence in the struggle?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"How do you propose to do it?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Next year I shall go somewhere as a governess."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Does not Miss Mertens' example deter you?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Not at all.  I am not so weak as to wish for a
+luxurious life while so many others in my circumstances
+take upon themselves so bravely the yoke of service."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But here there is question not only of service but
+of endurance.  You are proud.  It is not only your look
+at this moment which tells me so, but every sentiment
+which you uttered yesterday."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed, it may, perhaps, be pride that induces
+me to rank real dignity of character far above any
+mere exterior advantages which egotism has invented
+and maintains, and for that very reason I believe that
+one human being can humble another only by setting
+before him an example of moral and intellectual greatness
+which it is impossible for him to imitate,—never by
+insulting treatment."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And you think that these views will steel you against
+all the mortifications great and little which a heartless,
+capricious mistress might heap upon you?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh no, but I need never bow before her."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A short pause ensued, during which Ernst approached
+the horse, examining him attentively.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"From what you said yesterday, I gathered that you
+are attached to your present home," Herr von Walde
+began again.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, more than I can tell."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah!  I can understand that, for this is the loveliest
+spot in Thuringia.  How then can you so easily endure
+the thought of leaving it again?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"On the contrary, I shall not find it at all easy; but
+my father has taught me that our pleasures must yield to
+our necessities, and I understand perfectly that it must
+be so.  I confess that I cannot easily comprehend how one
+can give up what is so pleasant except at the command of
+necessity."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah! that was aimed at me.  You cannot conceive
+how a man can voluntarily hide himself in the pyramids
+when he might breathe the cool, sunny air of Thuringia."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth felt a burning blush suffuse her cheeks.  Herr
+von Walde had humourously alluded here to the jesting
+conversation that she had had with her uncle, to which
+he had been an involuntary listener.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"If I should attempt to explain this to you I should
+fail, for you seem to me to find all that you look for in
+your home circle," he said after a moment's silence.
+He had leaned forward and was mechanically drawing
+figures with his riding-whip upon the ground at his feet.
+He spoke in those deep tones which always appealed
+powerfully to Elizabeth's mind.  "But there is a time for
+some of us," he continued, "when we rush out into the
+world, to forget in its whirl and novelty that we cannot
+find happiness at home.  If a man cannot fill up a
+painful void in his existence, he can at least ignore it by
+devoting himself to science."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>This, then, was the sore spot in his heart.  He had
+not found the affection in his own home that he longed
+for, and that he had a right to claim and expect from a
+sister for whom he manifested always the purest and
+most self-sacrificing tenderness.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth had comprehended this pain, even before she
+had seen Herr von Walde, and, at this moment, when he
+alluded to it so openly, she longed most fervently to
+console him.  Words of sympathy hovered upon her lips, but
+she was possessed suddenly by an unconquerable shyness
+which prevented her from speaking; and as she glanced
+up at him and marked the firm lines of his profile and his
+brow which was so proud and commanding, while his
+voice sounded so gentle and melancholy, the embarrassing
+suspicion flashed upon her that he had forgotten for a
+moment who was sitting beside him; his aristocratic ideas
+would cause him bitterly to repent the moment when, under
+the influence of a sudden self-forgetfulness, he had revealed
+a glimpse of his sternly guarded consciousness to an
+insignificant girl.  This thought dyed her cheeks again; she
+arose quickly and called Ernst.  Herr von Walde turned
+in surprise, and for an instant his eyes rested searchingly
+upon her face; then he also arose, and, as if to confirm
+her suspicion, stood at once proudly calm and composed
+before her,—but she noticed for the first time that sad,
+gloomy expression between the eyebrows, which her
+father had spoken of, and which impressed her just as his
+voice had done.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You are usually very quick to think,"—he said,
+evidently trying to give the conversation a gayer turn, and
+slowly walking along by Elizabeth's side,—she was going
+for Ernst who had not heard her call.  "Before one has
+quite finished a sentence the answer is plainly ready on
+your lips.  Your silence, therefore, at this moment, tells
+me that I was quite right when I said that you would not
+understand me, because you have found all the happiness
+that you look for."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The idea of happiness is so different with different
+people, that indeed I hardly know."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"We all have the same idea," he interrupted her; "it
+may still slumber in you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, no!" she cried, forgetting her reserve and with
+enthusiasm,—"I love my friends with my whole heart,
+and am most happily conscious that I am loved in
+return!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, then you did not quite misunderstand me!  Well,—and
+your friends,—there must be a large circle to whom
+you open your heart?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No," she cried, laughing,—"their tale is soon told!
+My parents, my uncle, and this little fellow here," and she
+took Ernst by the hand as he came running to her, "who
+grows larger and makes more demands upon me every
+year.  But now we must go, my darling," she said to the
+child, "or mamma will be anxious."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She bowed courteously to Herr von Walde,—it seemed
+to her that the shade upon his brow had disappeared.
+He raised his hat to her and shook hands with
+Ernst,—then he walked slowly towards the horse that was
+pawing impatiently, untied it, and led it away by the
+bridle.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you know, Elsie," said Ernst, as they were ascending
+the mountain, "whom Herr von Walde looks like?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Whom?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The brave knight of St. George, just when he has
+killed the dragon."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Aha!" she laughed.  "But you have never seen any
+picture of the brave knight."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I know that.  Still I think he looks like him."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And she too had thought of the resemblance when she
+had seen him controlling his unruly steed.  At this moment
+she remembered the pang she had suffered at the thought
+of a probable accident, and her unspeakable delight at
+seeing him return from the thicket unharmed.  She stood
+still, and with a smile of wonder laid her hand upon her
+throbbing heart.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Now see," said Ernst, "you have been running too
+quickly up the mountain.  I could not keep up with you.
+What would uncle say if he knew it?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She walked slowly on, like one in a dream.  She
+scarcely heard the child's reproof.  What then was this
+strange half-consciousness which had yesterday mingled
+itself with her melodies, causing them to mourn and to
+rejoice at the same moment?  Again she felt it take
+possession of her soul more mightily and intoxicatingly than
+before, but it was just as mysterious and incomprehensible.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But, Elsie," cried Ernst, impatiently, "what is the
+matter with you?  You are walking so slowly that it will
+be dark before we reach home."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He took hold of her dress, and tried to pull her on.
+This call from the outer world was too energetic to be
+any longer withstood,—Elizabeth roused herself and
+walked on quickly, to the child's entire content.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>When they reached the castle Elizabeth laid Bertha's
+hat, which was still hanging upon her arm, upon the table.
+She was unwilling to mention her meeting with the girl
+to her parents, for she rightly judged that it would make
+them anxious, and that they would relate the occurrence
+to her uncle, who had been so angry and bitter of late
+whenever Bertha was alluded to, that Elizabeth feared
+that if he heard of the meeting in the wood he would put
+a stop to the annoyance by immediately dismissing the
+cause of it from the Lodge.  Ernst had noticed neither the
+hat nor her desire to conceal it, so there was no danger
+that he would betray her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>After supper Elizabeth walked down to the Lodge.  She
+met Sabina in the garden, and heard to her satisfaction
+that her uncle had gone to Lindhof.  She gave the hat
+to the old housekeeper, and told her of Bertha's
+extraordinary behaviour, asking in conclusion whether she were
+at home yet.  Sabina was indignant.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed I think, child, that if you had been alone she
+would have scratched your eyes out.  I don't know what
+will become of her.  These last few days she has been
+worse than ever.  She does not sleep at nights, but walks
+up and down in her room, talking again—but only to
+herself.  If I had but the courage to open her door just when
+she is at the worst,—but I could not do it though you
+would give me heaps of gold.  You will laugh at me, I
+know; but she's not right.  Look at her eyes—they
+sparkle and glow as though all the fire of the Blocksberg were
+burning in them.  No, I shall hold my tongue; the Herr
+Forester sleeps soundly, and so do the rest,—but I wake
+at the slightest noise, and I know perfectly well that
+Bertha is up and away many a night, and when she goes the
+great watch-dog is gone too from his kennel.  He is the
+only one in the house that loves her; and, fierce as he is,
+he never touches her."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Does my uncle know this?" asked Elizabeth with surprise.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Not for the world!  I wouldn't for my life tell him,
+for who knows what mischief would come of it?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But, Sabina, only think.  You may do great harm to
+my uncle by remaining silent.  The house is so lonely if
+there is no dog in the yard——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But I stand at the window of my room and watch
+until she comes from the mountain and chains up the dog
+again."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What a tremendous sacrifice to make to your superstition!
+Why not tell Bertha——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Hush! not so loud, there she sits!"  Sabina pointed
+through the fence to the pear tree in the court-yard.  Upon
+the stone bench under the tree Bertha was sitting,
+apparently quite composed, trimming carrots.  The crimson of
+excitement had passed away from cheek and brow, and
+given place to a livid pallor.  Elizabeth could see now
+that the girl had lately grown much thinner.  Her delicate
+nose looked pinched, and her cheeks had lost their lovely
+oval.  There were dark ridges around her eyes, and
+between her eyebrows there were two deep wrinkles in
+the delicate skin which gave a sullen expression to
+the face, but, in connection with certain lines around
+the mouth, lent an air of deep melancholy to her look.
+The sight cut Elizabeth to the heart.  Some misery was
+burdening the soul of that lonely creature, misery all the
+harder to endure because it was borne in silence.  She
+forgot all the dislike of her which Bertha had always
+shown, and took several quick steps towards her, that
+she might lay that weary head upon her breast and
+say, "Rest here, poor child!  Tell me of the grief that
+you are struggling with in such loneliness, and I promise
+to aid you to endure——" but Sabina seized her arm and
+detained her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You must not go," she whispered in terror; "I will
+not let you.  She is just in a condition to stick that knife
+into you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But she is so terribly unhappy.  Perhaps I can
+convince her that only the kindliest sympathy moves me."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, no!  I'll soon show you whether anything can
+be done with her."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Sabina descended the steps into the court-yard.  Bertha
+let her approach without raising her eyes.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Fräulein, Elizabeth found it," said Sabina, holding
+the hat towards her; then she laid her hand upon the
+girl's shoulder, and continued kindly: "She would like
+to say a few words to you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Bertha started up as if she had received a deadly
+insult.  She angrily shook off Sabina's hand, and darted
+a furious glance towards the spot where Elizabeth was
+standing,—a proof that she had known before that she
+was there.  She threw her knife upon the table, and by
+a hasty gesture overset the basket at her feet, so that
+the carrots were scattered around upon the pavement.
+She ran into the house.  They heard her through the
+open window shut the door of her own room and bolt
+it behind her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth was stupefied with surprise mingled with
+much pain.  She would have so liked to console the
+wretched girl, but she now perceived that it was not to
+be thought of.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>For a week past she had been daily to the castle.
+Fräulein von Walde had been steadily improving in
+health since the afternoon when, as the baroness tenderly
+expressed it, she had found a cure in the coffee which she
+herself had prepared, and in Herr von Hollfeld's arrival.
+She was diligently practising several duets, and at last
+confided to Elizabeth that she wished to celebrate her
+brother's birthday fête the last of August.  It was to be
+a very splendid celebration, for she intended to make it
+also a welcome home to the long absent traveller.  On
+that day he should first hear her play again after so many
+years, and she knew what a pleasant surprise it would
+be to him.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth always looked forward with a mixture of
+pleasure and dread to these practisings.  She did not
+know why herself; but the castle and park had
+suddenly become dear and attractive to her; she even had a
+kind of tender regard for the bank where she had sat
+with Herr von Walde, as if it were an old friend; she
+made a little circuit in order to pass by it.  Herr von
+Hollfeld's behaviour inspired her, on the contrary, with
+very different feelings.  After she had several times
+foiled his attempts to meet her by a hasty avoidance
+of him, he came to Fräulein von Walde's room, one
+day, and begged permission to remain there during
+the lesson.  To Elizabeth's terror, Helene, with delight
+beaming in her eyes, assured him that he was doubly
+welcome as a convert who had hitherto had no taste
+whatever for music.  He now made his appearance
+regularly, silently laying some fresh flowers upon the piano
+before Helene as he entered, in consequence of which
+she invariably struck several false chords.  Then he retired
+to a deep window-seat whence he could look the players
+directly in the face.  As long as the practising continued
+he covered his eyes with his hand, as if he wished to shut
+out the world that he might resign himself entirely to the
+charms of music.  But, to Elizabeth's vexation, she soon
+observed that he only covered his face so as to conceal
+it from Helene; from behind his hand he stared the whole
+time fixedly at Elizabeth, following her every motion.  She
+shuddered beneath those eyes which, usually so dull and
+expressionless, always burned with a peculiar fire when he
+looked at her.  Under this hateful ordeal she often had to
+exercise great self-control in order to play correctly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene apparently had no suspicion of the cunning
+which Hollfeld had employed to attain his end.  She
+often stopped playing for awhile and conversed with him,
+that is, she talked herself, and, usually, very well.  She
+listened to his monosyllabic replies,—which were empty
+and foolish enough,—as if they were the words of an
+oracle wherein more meaning than met the ear was to
+be found.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He always departed a few minutes before the end of
+the lesson.  The first time that he did so, Elizabeth
+discovered him from one of the hall windows that
+commanded an extensive view of the park, standing waiting
+at the entrance of the forest-path, by which she must pass.
+She defeated his intention, not without secret self-gratulation,
+by paying a visit of an hour to Miss Mertens, who
+received her with open arms; and she grew so fond
+of the governess that she never passed the door of her
+room without entering for an hour's quiet talk.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Miss Mertens was almost always depressed and sad.
+She saw that her stay at Lindhof was becoming impossible.
+The baroness, suddenly deprived of her sovereign
+authority and its consequent manifold occupations, was
+often bored nearly to death.  She was obliged to wear
+her mask of gentleness and content while she was with
+her relatives, which was hard enough, and therefore all
+her ill humour had to be pent up within the locked doors
+of her own apartment.  But she never vented it upon
+Bella, for, looking upon her child more as a born baroness
+than as a daughter, she restrained herself; nor upon her
+old waiting-maid, for whom she had, no one knew why,
+what the old steward Lorenz called "an ungodly sort of
+respect."  Nor could she scold the lower servants without
+offending the master of the house, and therefore all her
+malice was wreaked upon the unfortunate and defenceless
+governess.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In order to torment her victim most thoroughly, the
+lady ordered the lessons to be daily conducted beneath
+her own most illustrious eyes.  In presence of the pupil,
+the methods of the teacher were perpetually analyzed
+and criticised.  It was no wonder that Bella did not improve
+under such instructions, and her nerves, too, were sure to
+be ruined, for Miss Mertens had the most disagreeable
+voice in teaching in the world,—how, too, could the child
+be expected to be graceful while she had constantly before
+her eyes the angular, clumsy manner in which her
+governess held her book and turned over the leaves, etc.?
+In history, Miss Mertens' reflections were quite too
+sentimental, or too plebeian, and, besides, she was so
+outrageously impertinent "as to have opinions of her own."  In
+some cases the lesson was deliberately interrupted; the
+baroness placed herself in the teacher's chair, and the
+governess was obliged to listen reverentially to a lecture
+full of supercilious scorn and aristocratic arrogance.
+If the lady needed support, the chaplain, Herr Möhring,
+was sent for.  And then, the nettle-stings of her
+discourse vanished into insignificance by the side of the
+cruelty with which the unappreciated martyr invoked upon
+the head of the wretched governess all the gall of his
+suppressed sermons.  The baroness must have known
+that the chaplain's French was execrable,—but she
+requested him to be present during the French hour that he
+might correct Miss Mertens' accent.  Bella's improvement
+was forgotten in the overflow of her mother's petty malice.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Sometimes Miss Mertens would declare, with tears,
+that only love for her mother, who looked to her for
+support, induced her to submit to this martyrdom.  The old
+lady was almost entirely dependent upon the exertions
+of her daughter, and therefore any change of situation
+was very undesirable in view of the pecuniary loss
+which must attend it But however depressed her
+spirits might be, her gentle face brightened whenever
+Elizabeth knocked at the door, and asked, in her sweet,
+fresh accents, if she might come in.  At sight of the
+young girl all her care and anxiety took flight, and as
+they sat together on the little sofa by the window they
+had many a happy hour, and the poor governess seemed
+to live over again her own youthful days, and Elizabeth
+gained not a little from the fund of knowledge and riper
+experience of her more mature friend.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>These brief afternoon visits had also a secret charm
+for Elizabeth, which she would not for the world have
+confessed, and which, nevertheless, caused her heart to
+throb quickly, and an undefined sensation of mingled joy
+and anxiety to possess her as she knocked at the door.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The windows of Miss Mertens' room looked out upon
+a large court-yard, which Elizabeth used to call the
+convent garden,—it lay so retired and quiet, encircled by its
+four high walls.  Some spreading lindens cast their green
+shade upon the rich grassy soil, only intersected here and
+there by narrow paved paths.  In the centre of the space
+was a fountain, which supplied the house with delicious
+water, and upon the edge of the large basin several
+marble figures were reposing their white limbs, bathed in the
+green light that broke through the overhanging trees.
+When the sun poured his fierce rays, like melted lead,
+upon the open parts of the park and garden, this spot
+was always refreshingly cool.  A door upon the ground-floor,
+leading from the court-yard directly into Herr von
+Walde's library, almost always stood open.  Now and
+then he himself would issue from it, and pace to and
+fro with folded arms.  What thoughts lay hidden behind
+that fine white forehead, when, after walking thus for
+awhile, with his head sunk upon his breast, he suddenly
+raised it, as if roused from some delightful dream!  Miss
+Mertens often remarked that he seemed to have returned
+from his travels much altered.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Before his departure, she said, Herr von Walde's face
+had seemed to her like that of a statue, so serious and
+immovable; and although she had always known him
+to be a man of genuine nobility of character, she had
+been oppressed when near him by the icy coldness of his
+manner.  Now it seemed to her as if some revivifying
+hand had passed over his nature; even his step was
+lighter and more elastic, and she would maintain that, in
+his pacings to and fro in the court yard, a smile frequently
+broke over his face, as if he saw, in imagination, some
+vision that delighted him.  While she talked thus, Miss
+Mertens would smile and declare mysteriously that he
+must certainly have brought home some very agreeable
+memories with him, and that she could not refrain from
+suspecting that matters at Lindhof would soon wear a
+different aspect.  She never noticed the involuntary start
+of her young friend when she arrived at this conclusion,
+and Elizabeth was equally unaware of it, for the pang
+that she felt at such an idea, made her utterly incapable
+of controlling her external behaviour.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The quiet pacing to and fro beneath the lindens was,
+however, often interrupted, not only by Herr von Walde's
+workmen and men upon business, but by the needy and
+unfortunate, who would come timidly down the steps, ushered
+by a servant, and stand with bowed heads before the
+commanding figure that confronted them, until they were
+encouraged by the gentle tones of his voice to speak, as
+he kindly bent down to catch their whispered words.
+They always left him greatly cheered, for those who
+were not worthy of his assistance did not dare to present
+themselves before him.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>One day Elizabeth set out for Castle Lindhof a half hour
+earlier than usual.  The fact was that her father, in
+returning at noon from the Lodge, had met Miss Mertens in
+the forest.  She had evidently been weeping, and was
+unable to speak at the moment; she had merely bowed
+and passed hurriedly on.  This intelligence made
+Elizabeth very anxious.  She would not for the world have
+postponed her visit to the governess until the end of her
+lesson,—the lonely woman was certainly in need of love
+and friendly sympathy.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Just across the large meadow which bordered upon the
+forest was a charming pavilion.  A dark grove
+surrounded the graceful structure upon three sides, so that
+its white front stood out in shining contrast with the green
+shade.  It had hitherto been kept closed, although the
+outside shutters to the windows were thrown back and
+Elizabeth had seen that the room within was furnished
+most luxuriously.  But to-day, as she issued from the
+forest, she saw that the doors of the pavilion were
+wide open.  A servant, with a waiter in his hand, stepped
+out and requested her to enter.  As she approached she
+could see that Fräulein von Walde, the baroness, and
+Hollfeld were drinking coffee in the pretty room which
+constituted the whole interior of the building.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You are a little too early to-day, my child," said
+Helene, as her young friend appeared upon the threshold.
+Elizabeth replied that she wished to pay a visit to Miss
+Mertens before the practising.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah! pray let that go to-day," said Helene, quickly,
+but evidently confused, while the baroness looked up from
+her crotchet-work with a malicious smile.  "Do you know
+that a large package of new music has just come from
+Leipzig?" continued Fräulein von Walde; "I have looked
+over it slightly, the pieces are beautiful.  Perhaps we can
+find among them just the thing that we want for our
+concert.  Sit down, we will go to the castle together."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She offered Elizabeth a basket of cake, and put a
+magnificent pear upon her plate.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At this moment, Herr von Walde's dog came bounding
+into the room; instantly both ladies were on the alert and
+expectant; Helene looked towards the door with a manifest
+effort to seem quiet and unconstrained, but the baroness
+threw her work into a basket, examined the coffee-pot to
+see whether the coffee was still hot, placed a cup near
+the sugar basin, and drew a chair up to the table.  The
+malicious smile was replaced by an air of grave reserve,
+and she was apparently resolved to make as dignified and
+imposing an appearance as possible.  At sight of the dog,
+Hollfeld hastened into the garden, and came back in a few
+moments with Herr von Walde, who had evidently just
+returned from a drive, for he wore a gray dust coat and
+a round felt hat.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"We were afraid, dear Rudolph," Helene cried out to
+him as soon as he appeared, while she half arose and
+held out her hand,—"that we should not see you at all
+to day."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I found more business awaiting me at L—— than I
+had anticipated," he replied, seating himself, not upon the
+chair which had been placed for him, but upon the sofa
+by the side of his sister, so that when Elizabeth raised
+her eyes she looked him full in the face, for he sat directly
+opposite to her.  "Besides," he continued, "I have been
+at home full half an hour, but Reinhard wished to speak
+with me upon private business which required immediate
+action, and so I nearly lost the pleasure of taking coffee
+with you, my dear Helene."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That miserable Reinhard!" and Fräulein von Walde
+pouted a little; "he might have waited awhile,—the
+world would still have turned around."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah! dear child," sighed the baroness, "we cannot
+alter these things.  We are condemned all our lives long
+to be the slaves of our inferiors."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Herr von Walde quietly turned towards her, and his
+glance measured her slowly from head to foot.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, why do you look at me so, my dear Rudolph?"
+she asked, not without a tinge of uneasiness in her tone.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I looked to see whether you really seemed fitted to
+play one of those sad parts in Uncle Tom's Cabin."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Always ridicule when I look for sympathy," rejoined
+the lady, endeavouring to lend a gentle, melancholy tone
+to her harsh voice.  "I might have known it, but——"  She
+sighed again.  "We do not all possess your enviable
+equanimity, which is never affected by the petty annoyances
+and necessary evils of this life.  We poor women have our
+miserable nerves, which make us doubly sensitive to
+everything that jars upon our minds.  If you had seen me this
+morning, in what a wretched condition I was——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I have been tried inconceivably.  Well, Miss Mertens
+must answer for it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Has she injured you?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What an expression!  My dear Rudolph, how could
+a person in her situation injure me?  She has vexed me,—made
+me exceedingly angry!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am greatly pleased to see that you do not bend
+without a struggle to the yoke of bondage."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I have lately had to endure more than I can tell with
+that stupid creature," the baroness continued, without
+heeding her cousin's comment.  "My maternal duties are sacred
+in my eyes, and therefore I have been obliged to superintend
+my child's instruction.  It is, of course, a matter of
+great moment to me that her youthful mind should be
+rightly trained.  Unfortunately, I have become more and
+more convinced that Miss Mertens' knowledge is very
+limited and her views and principles not those which I
+should wish adopted by a young girl of Bella's rank in
+life.  This morning I heard the silly woman telling the
+child that nobility of soul was far superior to nobility of
+birth—as though the one could be separated from the
+other,—and that she ranked a beggar with a clear conscience
+above a crowned head whose conscience was not pure;
+and a quantity more of the same stuff.  When I tell you
+that Bella, the Lord willing, will live at court,—I have
+all but secured the post of maid of honour at the court of
+B—— for her,—you will readily conclude that I
+interrupted such teaching upon the spot.  You must admit,
+my dear Rudolph, that, with such views, Bella would
+play a poor part at court—nay, even her stay there would
+be quite impossible."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Certainly, there is no doubt of that."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Thank Heaven!" cried the baroness, breathing freely.
+"I was really in a little doubt as to how you would
+receive Miss Mertens' dismissal.  You know you always
+valued her far above her deserts.  She was so impertinent
+when I interfered with her lessons that there was nothing
+for me to do but to send her away."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I have no right to lay down laws to you with regard
+to your people," replied Herr von Walde, coldly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But I always try to please you as far as I can,
+my good Rudolph.  I cannot tell you how rejoiced I
+am that I shall see no more of that repulsive English
+face."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am sorry that you will not be able entirely to avoid
+it, since she will still remain under the same roof,—my
+secretary Reinhard was betrothed to her about half an
+hour ago."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The work dropped from the baroness' fingers.  This
+time not only her cheek but also her brow was suffused
+with crimson.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Has the man lost his senses?" she cried at last,
+recovering from her stupefaction.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I think not, since he has just given such proof of being
+in full possession of them," said Herr von Walde, with
+composure.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, I must say that he plays his part of antiquary
+well.  Such a lovely, blooming, young bride!" cried the
+lady contemptuously, endeavouring to laugh heartily.
+Hollfeld joined in her laughter, thus giving the first sign
+of his having heard the conversation.  Helene cast a
+troubled glance at him; but this mirth cut Elizabeth to
+the soul,—she felt the greatest indignation stirring within
+her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I hope," the baroness began again, "that you will not
+take it ill of me——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What now?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That I cannot consent to associate with that person
+any longer."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I cannot force you to anything, Amalie, any more than
+I can forbid my secretary to marry."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But you can dismiss him if he chooses a wife who
+makes his residence beneath your roof disagreeable to
+your nearest relatives."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That I cannot do either; he has been engaged by
+me for life, and I have just secured to his future wife a
+pension in case of his death.  Besides, you make a slight
+mistake, my good cousin, if you suppose that anything
+in the world could induce me to allow a man to leave
+me whom I have always found faithful.  I am much
+pleased with Reinhard's choice, and have allotted him
+the use of the apartments upon the ground-floor of the
+north wing during his life.  His mother-in-law will reside
+with him."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, I congratulate him upon that valuable
+acquisition," replied the baroness, and her sharp voice
+trembled with anger.  "I will, however, make one
+remark: as I cannot bring myself to endure the presence
+of that person in my apartments for a day longer, she
+must provide herself with some place where she can stay
+until her marriage.  Probably even you will see, my
+dear Rudolph, that there is a manifest impropriety in the
+interesting pair's still living, under present circumstances,
+beneath the same roof."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Permit me," said Elizabeth, here turning to Helene,
+"I am very sure that my parents would extend a warm
+welcome to Miss Mertens,—we have quite room enough."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, thank you!—matters could not be better arranged,"
+answered Fräulein von Walde,—extending her hand to her
+young friend.  The baroness shot an angry glance at
+Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The affair will thus be settled very satisfactorily,"
+she said, preserving her composure with difficulty.  "I
+will contain myself, and hope in all humility that the
+future Frau Reinhard will vouchsafe me a spot where I
+shall be relieved from the sight of her disagreeable
+countenance.  Apropos, Fräulein Ferber," she continued after
+awhile, in a careless tone, "I have just remembered
+that the money for your lessons has been for several days
+in the hands of my maid; just knock at her door as you
+go by, and she will give it to you with a receipt, which
+you will please sign."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But, Amalie!" exclaimed Helene.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I will do as you desire, madame," replied Elizabeth,
+quietly.  She had noticed that while the baroness was
+speaking a lightning flash of rage shot from Herr von
+Walde's eyes, a thunder-cloud seemed to pass over his
+countenance, but in a moment these witnesses to his
+agitation gave place to a look of withering sarcasm.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"If I might offer a little advice, Fräulein," he said,
+turning to Elizabeth,—"I should counsel you not to
+venture rashly into the baroness' apartments,—they are
+uncanny.  Evil spirits are seen there in broad daylight, and
+they have often worked mischief.  Do not give yourself
+the slightest trouble in the matter,—my steward shall
+attend to it; he is thoroughly trustworthy, and manages
+such affairs with so much delicacy that he would really
+shame even a lady."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The baroness hastily folded her work together and arose.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It would be better for me to pass the rest of the day
+in my solitary room," and she turned to Helene, and her
+lips quivered; "there are times when our most harmless
+words and actions are misunderstood and resented.  I
+pray you, therefore, to excuse me from appearing at tea."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She made a ceremonious courtesy to the brother and
+sister, took the arm of her son, who looked much confused,
+and rustled out of the room.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene arose with tears in her eyes, and was about to
+follow her, but her brother took her hand with kindly
+gravity, and drew her down again upon the Sofia beside
+him.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Will you not give me the pleasure of your company
+while I drink my coffee?" he said gently, and as quietly
+as if nothing had occurred.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, yes, if you wish it," she replied hesitatingly and
+without looking at him; "but I am sorry to tell you that
+you must hurry a little, for Fräulein Ferber has come to
+practise with me, and she has already been kept waiting
+an unconscionable time."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, let us go to the piano immediately,—but upon
+one condition, Helene."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And that is?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That you allow me to listen."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, no, that I cannot permit,—I am not far enough
+advanced,—your ears could not endure my bungling.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Poor Emil!  He does not dream that he owes the
+delight of listening to you to his uncultivated ear!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene blushed.  She had hitherto never mentioned
+Hollfeld's visits to her brother for reasons that may
+easily be imagined.  Besides, she supposed that they
+would have been a matter of entire indifference to him,
+and now it appeared that he really attached importance
+to them.  She seemed to herself to be a detected deceiver,
+and for a few moments she could not speak.  Elizabeth
+suspected what her sensations were; she too grew
+confused, and felt her face flush painfully.  Just at this
+moment Herr von Walde turned towards her, his keen,
+searching glance scanned her countenance, and the
+gloomy wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Does Fräulein Ferber improvise during these hours
+for practice as they are called?" he asked his sister,
+speaking more quickly than was his wont.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh no," she answered, glad to recover her composure,—"had
+she done so I should not have spoken of bungling.
+I admitted Emil because I think that where there
+is a budding taste for music, it should be encouraged."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Herr von Walde smiled slightly, but it was not the smile
+which had lately possessed such a peculiar charm for
+Elizabeth.  The dark lines in his brow did not disappear,
+and his look was gloomy as he still observed Elizabeth
+keenly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You are right, Helene," he said at last, not without
+a tinge of irony.  "But what magnetism there must
+be in these musical practisings that they have worked
+such miracles!  A very short time ago Emil would much
+rather have listened to his Diana's baying, than to
+Beethoven's sonatas."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene was silent, and cast down her eyes.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But we have forgotten Miss Mertens," said her
+brother suddenly, in a different tone.  "Would it not be
+advisable for Fräulein Ferber to settle that matter as
+soon as possible?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, indeed," replied Helene, quickly, seizing upon
+any pretext to divert the conversation from its present
+painful direction.  "We had better omit the lesson for
+to-day,—while you, dear child," and she turned to Elizabeth,
+"take the necessary steps,—pray go now, then, to your
+parents, and ask them in my name to offer an asylum to
+the poor lady."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth arose, and Helene also stood up.  When her
+brother saw that she wished to leave the pavilion, he put
+his arm about her little form, raised her from the ground
+like a feather, and carried her to the wheeled chair that
+stood outside the door.  After he had arranged the cushions
+at her back, and covered her little feet carefully with
+a shawl, he raised his hat to Elizabeth, who saw that the
+wrinkle between his eyebrows was not yet gone, and
+pushed the chair along the nearest path leading to the
+castle.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"She quite fills his heart," thought Elizabeth, as she
+ascended the mountain, "and Miss Mertens must be
+wrong if she imagines that he will ever give to another a
+higher, or even a like place in his affections.  He is
+jealous of his cousin, and rightly so.  How can it be—"
+and here she stood still for a minute as two masculine
+figures arose to her mind's eye,—"that such a man as
+Hollfeld can have any charms for Helene by the side of
+Herr von Walde?  The one retreats behind an appearance
+of wise silence because he has nothing to say, while
+the other, through whose noble external repose breaks
+such fire, possesses a world of power trained and
+restrained by force of character.  Hence his seeming great
+reserve, which commonplace people cannot possibly
+understand."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She suddenly remembered the look that Herr von
+Walde had fixed upon her.  Did he think her an
+accomplice,—his sister's confidante,—and was he vexed with
+her when, in fact, she had, at this present moment, no
+more earnest desire than that Herr von Hollfeld's
+passion for music might subside as quickly as it had been
+aroused?  Of course, she could not say so to any one,—least
+of all to Herr von Walde,—and, therefore, she must
+silently pay the penalty for those painful blushes that
+had suffused her cheeks just at the wrong moment, and
+when there was no earthly reason for them.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-xii"><span class="large">CHAPTER XII.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>Her father and mother instantly acceded to Elizabeth's
+request; and she hastened back to the castle to carry to
+Miss Mertens their cordial invitation.  The governess,
+when Elizabeth entered her room, was leaning with folded
+hands against the wall.  At her feet stood a trunk half
+packed, closets and wardrobes were wide open, and the
+chairs were heaped with books, dresses, and linen.  The
+young girl hastened to her friend, threw her arms around
+her, and looked into her face, which, while it bore traces
+of tears, was beaming with happiness.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am so astounded by the sudden change in my lot,"
+said Miss Mertens, after Elizabeth had offered her
+congratulations, "that I am obliged to close my eyes how and
+then and collect my senses.  Only this morning everything
+seemed so dark before me,—I actually could not
+tell where to go,—the ground seemed slipping from under
+my feet.  And just in the midst of my anxiety a home is
+suddenly provided for me.  A man whom I esteem
+thoroughly, but whose regard for the poor governess I had
+never suspected, will be forever faithful to me, and I can
+fulfill the warmest desire of my heart and have my dear
+good mother to live with me!  What will she say when
+she receives the news,—she, who has suffered so much in
+thinking that I must battle with the storms of life alone,
+and that she could not recall me to her loving heart!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She told Elizabeth that in a few weeks Reinhard would
+go to England for her mother.  His employer had
+himself proposed the journey, and insisted upon defraying
+all the expenses.  Whenever Miss Mertens mentioned
+Herr von Walde the tears filled her eyes,—she declared
+that all the wrong done her by the baroness was
+more than overbalanced by his kindness and generosity;
+he could not endure to have any one beneath his roof
+suffer injustice.  Elizabeth completed the measure of her
+happiness by the invitation which she brought.  Miss
+Mertens had intended to go to the little village inn until
+she could find lodgings.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But now we will go to your house together as soon
+as possible," she said, her face beaming with joy.  "The
+baroness, a short time ago, sent me my salary, requesting
+that I would not again enter her presence, and Bella
+passed through my room without even looking at me,—that
+grieves me, grieves me very deeply, for I have
+cherished her like the apple of my eye.  Her health
+used to be very delicate, and while her mother has been
+absent, attending the court balls, I have sat by her
+bedside and watched her feverish slumbers night after night.
+Now it is all forgotten,—but I only meant to let you
+know that I need not take leave of either of them."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>While Miss Mertens went to bid good-by to Fräulein
+von Walde and a few others in the house who were fond
+of her, Elizabeth packed up a travelling bag for her.
+The new inmate of Gnadeck only took a few necessary
+articles with her; the rest of her possessions were sent to
+the future apartments of the betrothed pair.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>It was an amusement for Elizabeth to arrange Miss
+Mertens' books in a bookcase in one of these apartments.  Herr
+von Walde had allowed all the furniture in the rooms
+to remain for the use of their new inhabitants.  Many of
+these books were most interesting; she not only glanced
+at their title pages, but, as she stood there, ran over
+several pages.  Miss Mertens and her affairs were all
+forgotten for the moment as if they had never existed.  While
+she was buried in Goethe's appearance in the crowd at
+the coronation of Joseph II., a fresh rose fell over her
+shoulder upon the pages of the book Elizabeth started,
+but instantly smiled, shook off the rose, and went on
+reading.  Miss Mertens, who was doubtless standing
+behind her, should not exult in any effect of her teasing.
+But she suddenly uttered a low cry,—a white,
+well-formed man's hand appeared and was gently laid upon
+hers.  She turned round,—not Miss Mertens, but Hollfeld,
+was standing behind her and spreading out his arms
+with a smile, as if to seize the startled girl.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Instantly her alarm was converted into indignation;
+but before she could breathe a word, a harsh commanding
+voice cried out: "Emil, everybody is looking for
+you.  Your superintendent from Odenberg is here to see
+you upon business of importance.  Pray go to him instantly!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Beside Elizabeth was an open window.  Outside of it
+stood Herr von Walde, with his arms leaning upon the
+broad sill looking in.  It was his voice which banished
+Hollfeld on the instant in great embarrassment.  What an
+angry expression there was upon the uncovered forehead,
+in the compressed lips, and in the eyes that flashed upon
+Hollfeld's retreating figure as it vanished through the
+opposite door!</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At last his glance returned to Elizabeth, who had
+hitherto stood still, but who now, recovering from her
+two-fold fright, was about to retreat into the recesses of the
+apartment.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What are you doing here?" he asked, brusquely; his
+voice had not lost its former harsh tone.  Elizabeth,
+deeply wounded by the manner and style of his address,
+was about to return a defiant answer, when she suddenly
+recollected that she was in his house, and therefore she
+simply answered:</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am arranging Miss Mertens' books."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"There was another answer upon your lips,—I saw it,
+and I wish to know what it was."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, then,—I was about to say that I do not reply
+to questions asked in such a manner."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And why did you suppress this reproof?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Because it occurred to me that you have the right to
+command here."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am glad,—it is well that you think thus,—for I
+should like just at this moment to exercise this obvious
+right of mine: tread upon that rose which lies languishing
+there at your feet."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That I shall not do,—it has done no wrong."  She
+picked up the rose, a beautiful half-open centifolia, and
+laid it upon the window-sill.  Herr von Walde took the
+flower, and without more ado tossed it away over the lawn.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"There let it die a poetic death," he said with a sneer,
+"let the grasses bend above it, and the evening dews shed
+sympathetic tears over the poor victim."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The rigid expression had passed away from his features,
+but there was still the same inquisitorial look
+in his eyes, and his voice was not much gentler, as he
+asked:</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What were you reading when it was my misfortune
+to interrupt you?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Goethe's 'Wahrheit und Dichtung.'"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you know the book?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Only selections from it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, how do you like the touching story of Gretchen?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I do not know it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You have it open in your hands."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, I was reading the coronation of Joseph II., at
+Frankfort."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Let me see it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She handed him the open book.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It is even so!  But look how ugly that is!  Just
+where Goethe describes the emperor ascending the throne,
+there is an ugly green spot.  Doubtless you pressed
+the green rose leaves too tenderly upon the leaf of the
+book; the Emperor, Goethe, and Miss Mertens will hardly
+forgive you for it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That spot is old—I did not touch the rose."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But you smiled at sight of it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Because I thought it came from Miss Mertens."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, there is something touching in this friendship!
+It must have been a great disappointment when, instead
+of your friend, you saw my cousin's handsome face
+behind you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes.'  How that sounds!  I like laconic brevity,
+but it must not be ambiguous.  What does that 'yes'
+mean?  It sounds neither sweet nor bitter; and then
+your face!—why is that defiant frown there between
+your eyebrows?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Because I think that there are limits to every right."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I did not know that I was making use of my right
+just at present."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But you will know it if you will ask yourself whether
+you would address me thus harshly in my father's
+house."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Herr von Walde grew pale.  He compressed his lips,
+and retreated a few paces.  Elizabeth took the book which
+he had laid upon the window-sill, and went to the
+bookcase to close it.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Under the same circumstances, I should have spoken
+exactly so in your father's house," he said, after awhile,
+somewhat more gently, as he again approached the
+window.  "You make me impatient.  Why do you answer so
+ambiguously?  How could I tell from that simple syllable
+whether the disappointment of which you spoke were a
+disagreeable or a pleasant one?  Well?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He leaned far across the window-sill, and looked full into
+her face, as though to read the answer upon her lips; but
+she turned away with irritation.  Hateful thought!  How
+could any one suppose that Hollfeld could ever be
+agreeable to her?  Did not her face, her whole bearing
+towards the man, show how thoroughly disagreeable she
+thought him?</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At this moment Miss Mertens entered the room to seek
+Elizabeth.  She had completed all her preparations, and
+was quite ready to leave the house.  With a sigh of
+relief, Elizabeth hastened to her, while Herr von Walde
+left the window and paced to and fro several times on
+the lawn.  When he again approached, Miss Mertens
+went towards him, and courtesied profoundly.  She told
+him that she had in vain endeavoured to obtain access to
+him several times that day, and that she rejoiced to have
+an opportunity to thank him for his kindness and
+thoughtfulness.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He made a deprecating gesture, and offered his
+congratulations upon her betrothal.  He spoke very calmly.
+Again his whole presence breathed an atmosphere of
+dignity and reserve, so that Elizabeth could not
+understand how she had ever found the courage to remind
+this man of the laws of common politeness.  The eyes
+that had flashed so passionately now looked serenely
+into Miss Mertens' face.  The deep, gentle tones of his
+voice obliterated all remembrance of the cutting irony
+that had rendered it so sharp a few moments before, when
+it had given to his words such an accent of irritation,
+and had sounded as if designed only to wound and avenge.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>That Herr von Walde was filled with bitterness towards
+his cousin, Elizabeth had already noticed once before that
+day.  But why should she be made to suffer whenever
+he encountered him?  Was not Hollfeld's continual
+intrusiveness sufficient annoyance to her?  Why should she
+be made the victim of an irritation for which Helene alone
+was to blame?  A sharp pang shot through her as she
+remembered how tenderly and forgivingly Herr von Walde
+had taken his sister in his arms, never casting a single
+look of reproach upon her when Hollfeld's visits had
+been alluded to.  She, the poor piano-player, who was of
+necessity forced to endure Hollfeld's presence, must be
+the scapegoat.  Or had he perhaps seen how Hollfeld
+had thrown the rose upon her book, and was his
+aristocratic pride wounded that his cousin should pay such
+homage to an untitled maiden?  This thought flashed
+upon Elizabeth as an explanation of everything.  Yes,
+thus only could his conduct be explained.  She was to
+crush the poor flower, that all proof might be destroyed
+that Herr von Hollfeld had for one moment forgotten his
+aristocratic descent.  That was the reason why he had
+suddenly spoken in such a harsh tone of command,—a
+tone which only those heard from him who had
+committed some fault, and why she was called upon to
+explain the impression which Hollfeld's sudden
+appearance had made upon her.  At this moment she would
+have liked to confront him, and tell him frankly how
+odious his high-born cousin was to her,—that so far
+from feeling honoured by his attentions, she looked upon
+them as nothing less than insults.  But it was too late.
+Herr von Walde was discussing Reinhard's journey to
+England with Miss Mertens so calmly and kindly that it
+would have been ridiculous, in the midst of such a
+discussion, suddenly to resume the thread of the previous
+stormy conversation.  Besides, he did not once look at
+her again, although she stood tolerably near to Miss
+Mertens.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am really half persuaded to go with him," he
+said in conclusion to the governess.  "Reinhard shall
+return with your mother, for I intend to give him the
+entire charge of Lindhof here, and I will pass the winter
+in London, and go to Scotland in the spring."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And not return for years?" Miss Mertens interrupted
+him, anxiously.  "Has Thuringia, then, no attraction
+for you?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, yes; but I suffer here, and you know that prompt
+and active treatment will often cure where cautious,
+cowardly delay might bring danger.  I hope much from the
+air of Scotland."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The last words were spoken in a tone meant to be gay,
+but the lines between his brows were stronger than ever,
+and caused Elizabeth to doubt much whether his
+cheerfulness were genuine.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He shook hands with Miss Mertens, and walked slowly
+away, soon disappearing behind a clump of trees.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"There it is," said the governess, sadly; "instead of
+bringing a lovely young wife home to Lindhof, as I hoped
+he would, he is going away again, and perhaps will not
+return for years.  He is restless, and no wonder, when
+one thinks of the comfortless home that he has.
+Baroness Lessen he cannot endure, and yet he is forced
+to see her daily at his fireside, for his sister, whom he
+loves so tenderly, has declared to him, that in the society
+of this woman she is able to forget the bitter trials of her
+life.  And his cousin, too, is an unbidden guest.  Herr
+von Walde's nature is too frank and open to allow him
+to conceal his dislikes; but these people are made of iron
+and steel,—the indifference of the master of the house
+never affects them in the least; they have neither eyes
+nor ears when he hints at their leaving.  And as for
+Herr von Hollfeld, he seems to me a very insignificant
+creature, and very repulsive.  I cannot conceive how he
+could have won Fräulein von Walde's heart."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you know that too?" asked Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, child, that has been a secret known to everybody
+for a long time.  She loves him as truly and deeply as
+only a woman can love.  But this unfortunate
+attachment, on which she now lives and breathes as in
+sunlight, will one of these days cast the darkest shadow that
+has yet fallen upon her sorrowful existence.  All this
+Herr von Walde comprehends; but he cannot open the
+eyes of his sister without inflicting a mortal wound,
+and so he sacrifices everything to his fraternal
+tenderness, and leaves the home where he is made so unhappy."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>During this conversation, Miss Mertens and Elizabeth
+had left the castle, and were now ascending the
+mountain path.  Reinhard, who had been to the village, soon
+joined them.  Miss Mertens told him of her interview
+with Herr von Walde, and all that he had said about
+going to England.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"He has not yet mentioned it to me," said Reinhard;
+"but he often looks as if he longed to leave Lindhof.
+Such a household!  The master of the house is considered
+by his relatives in the light of a fifth wheel to a
+coach,—he maintains them, and they show their gratitude
+by estranging his sister's heart from him.  Good
+Heavens! if I could only take his place for two days, I
+would soon exorcise the evil spirit and not a trace of
+it should ever appear again.  However, I hope that Herr
+von Hollfeld will at least soon return to Odenberg for
+a few days.  His superintendent has just arrived with
+the intelligence that the housekeeper has left,—no one
+stays there long—my gentleman is too stingy.  And
+several other matters are in disorder there."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>When they reached Castle Gnadeck, the guest was
+most cordially welcomed by the Ferbers.  How
+comfortable and homelike did Miss Mertens' room seem to its
+new inmate!  It shone with neatness; the counterpane
+and table-covers were spotless, a beautiful Schwarzwald
+clock was ticking softly just above the prettily arrayed
+writing-table, and a vase of roses and mignonette upon
+the window-sill filled the air with fragrance.  Through
+the open door could be seen the dwelling-room of the
+family.  There the table was already laid, and Elizabeth
+lighted the spirit-lamp beneath the tea-kettle, while
+Miss Mertens was arranging in drawers and wardrobe the
+few articles that she had brought with her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the mean while the forester, with his long pipe and
+Hector, had arrived, and Reinhard also stayed, so that a
+merry circle was soon assembled.  The forester was in a
+particularly happy humour.  Elizabeth sat beside him, and
+did her best to join in his gaiety; but it had never
+seemed so difficult to her before, and he, who had an
+acute perception of the most delicate modulations of her
+voice, soon perceived it.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Holla, Gold Elsie, what is the matter with you?"
+he cried, suddenly.  "All is not right here."  He took
+her by the chin and looked into her eyes.  "I see,—there
+is a veil over your eyes, and over your heart, too!
+Zounds! what a sudden change!  And what does this
+sad nun's face mean?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth blushed deeply beneath his scrutinizing gaze.
+She did all that she could to parry his questions by
+jest and laughter, but she did not succeed very well,
+and at last there was nothing for her but to seat
+herself at the piano, where he never teased nor laughed
+at her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>How much good it did her heavy heart to give it voice
+in full rolling chords, as the sound floated sadly out into
+the gathering twilight,—telling of the gloom that had
+fallen upon her at the thought of Herr von Walde's again
+leaving Thuringia!  Where now were all her dreamings
+and all her endeavours to read the meaning of that
+mysterious warning that had of late breathed through her
+melodies?  It rung out clearly now in mighty tones, at the
+sound of which all the former gentle breathings of her
+inward emotions died away in an inaudible whisper.  A fairy
+land, full of golden promise, was revealed before her;
+her enchanted eyes gazed rapturously upon the fair
+landscape,—but never, never might she tread that magic
+ground, for nothing could bridge the abyss at her feet.
+The veil beneath which her heart had hitherto lain in
+blissful self-ignorance was rent, and with joy and pain
+unspeakable she knew—that she loved.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She did not know how long she had been playing.
+But she was suddenly aroused from her utter forgetfulness
+of the world without by a bright gleam of light
+falling directly on the pale bust of Beethoven.  Her
+mother had just lighted the large lamp, and Elizabeth
+saw her uncle sitting near her on the broad window-seat.
+He must have entered noiselessly.  As her hands
+dropped from the keys, he gently smoothed her hair with
+his hand.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you know, child," he said, after the last faint
+sound had died away, and his voice trembled with
+emotion, "if I had not already seen that something was the
+matter, I should soon have learned it from your playing,—it
+was tears, nothing but tears!"</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-xiii"><span class="large">CHAPTER XIII.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>Miss Mertens' presence lent an additional charm to
+the circle at Gnadeck.  For the first time for long, dreary
+years the governess found herself an object of interest
+and affection, and at home.  Her gentle nature, so
+long chilled and repressed, now showed itself, and,
+combined with her varied culture, made her a most attractive
+addition to the household.  She longed to be of use
+whenever she could, and took great pains with little
+Ernst, who had a lesson every day in French and
+English; while Elizabeth, too, gathered all the advantage
+that she could from her visitor, and studied diligently,
+knowing that it was the best resource to ward off sad
+reveries.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the mean while, the practisings at Castle Lindhof
+went on as before.  Hollfeld, who had only been absent
+at Odenberg for one day, was still an enthusiastic auditor,
+trying by every means in his power to obtain a private
+interview with Elizabeth.  Once or twice he had
+cunningly contrived that, in the intervals of rest, Helene
+should leave the room to find something that he wanted,
+but he gained nothing by these manoeuvres, for Elizabeth
+always left the room at the same time to procure a
+glass of water.  His attempts to meet her upon her
+return to her home she frustrated also, for Miss Mertens
+and little Ernst were always awaiting her at the
+borders of the park.  This perpetual frustration of his
+endeavours at last made him impatient and less
+cautious.  He no longer held his hand before his face.  His
+looks were entirely unguarded, and it was only owing
+to her near-sightedness that Helene was spared a most
+painful discovery.  Thus Elizabeth's visits to the castle
+grew more and more annoying, and she was thankful
+that the fête day was at last close at hand, since with
+that celebration the daily practisings would, at all events,
+be discontinued.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The day before Herr von Walde's birthday, Reinhard
+announced at Gnadeck that a guest had already arrived
+at Castle Lindhof.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That scatter-brain completes our misery," he said,
+with vexation.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Who is she?" said Miss Mertens and Frau Ferber,
+laughing at the same moment.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, she is said to be a friend of Fräulein von Walde,—a
+lady from court at L——.  She is to assist in the
+ordering of the fête.  Heaven help us all, for she turns
+everything upside down."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, it must be Fräulein von Quittelsdorf," cried
+Miss Mertens, still laughing.  "Yes, indeed, there is
+quicksilver in her veins.  She is terribly frivolous, but
+she is not really bad at heart."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Later in the afternoon Reinhard accompanied
+Elizabeth to Lindhof.  As she approached the castle, Herr
+von Walde's horse was led up to the great entrance on the
+southern front of it.  He himself immediately issued
+from the glass door, riding-whip in hand, and
+descended the steps.  Elizabeth had not seen him since the
+afternoon when he had treated her with such harsh want
+of consideration.  She thought he looked very pale and
+stern.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Just as he was mounting, a young lady, dressed in white,
+came out upon the steps.  She was extremely pretty,
+and with much grace she hastened down to pat the horse
+upon the neck and give him a lump of sugar.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Fräulein von Walde, who also appeared leaning upon
+Hollfeld's arm, stood at the top of the steps, and kissed
+her hand in token of farewell to her brother.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Is not that young lady Fräulein von Quittelsdorf?"
+asked Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Reinhard assented, with a wry face.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"She is certainly very pretty," said the young girl.
+"Herr von Walde seems much interested," she added,
+in a lower tone, as the rider leaned from his saddle, and
+appeared to be listening intently to what the young lady
+was saying.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, he does not wish to be rude, and therefore gives
+her a moment's attention.  She would talk the moon out
+of the sky, and, I verily believe, would seize and hang
+upon the horse's bridle if she saw any danger of his
+leaving before she had finished what she had to say."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the mean time they had reached the vestibule.  Here
+Elizabeth took leave of Reinhard, and betook herself to
+the music-room, where she found Fräulein von Walde and
+Hollfeld.  The former retired for a moment to her
+dressing-room, to arrange her curls, that were somewhat out of
+order, and Hollfeld took advantage of this moment to
+approach Elizabeth, who had retired to the recess of a
+window, and was turning over the leaves of a music-book.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"We were provokingly disturbed the other day," he
+whispered.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"We?" she asked, with emphasis, retreating a step or
+two.  "I, indeed, had reason to complain of being
+disturbed.  I was much provoked, I assure you, by the
+interruption of my reading."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, every inch a queen!" he cried jestingly, but in a
+low tone of voice.  "I certainly did not intend to
+offend you,—on the contrary, do you not know what that
+rose meant?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It would most certainly say that it would a thousand
+times rather be left to perish upon its stalk than be
+plucked for such idle purposes."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Cruel girl!  You are hard as marble.  Can you not
+guess, then, what lures me hither daily?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Admiration, doubtless, for our great composers."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You are wrong."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Then the hope of improving your musical taste."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, no!  That would not bring me a step hither.
+For me, music is only a bridge——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"From which you might easily fall into cold water."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And would you allow me to drown?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Most certainly—yes.  I am not ambitious of a medal
+from the Humane Society," replied Elizabeth, dryly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Fräulein von Walde returned.  She seemed surprised
+to find the pair conversing, for until this moment there
+had never been a word exchanged between them.  She
+looked keenly at Hollfeld, who could not control his
+feeling of annoyance, and then seating herself at the
+piano, began to prelude, while Elizabeth arranged the
+notes.  Hollfeld took his usual place, and leaned his head
+upon his hand with a melancholy air.  But never had his
+gaze rested upon Elizabeth with such glowing and
+passionate intentness.  She repented having entered into
+conversation with him.  Her endeavour to repulse him by
+coldness and severity appeared to have had quite a
+contrary effect.  Repugnance and fear overcame her at sight
+of him, and, notwithstanding the thought of her uncle's
+probable smile of triumph, the determination rather to
+resign the practisings entirely than to subject herself
+any longer to these insolent glances, gained ground in
+her mind.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The hour was nearly ended, when Fräulein von Quittelsdorf
+entered in haste.  In her arms she carried a
+little creature in a long, white, infant's cloak, pressing its
+head down upon her shoulder with one hand.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Frau Oberhofmeisterin von Falkenberg sends her compliments,"
+she said with formality,—"regrets excessively
+that a cold will prevent her presence to-morrow, but she
+takes the liberty of sending her lovely, blooming
+grandchild——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Here the creature in her arms made desperate
+exertions, and, with a loud howl, jumped down upon the
+ground, and ran under a chair, dragging the long robe
+after it.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, Cornelie, you are too childish," cried Fräulein
+von Walde, with a laugh of amusement and vexation, as
+Ali's distressed face, surrounded by a baby's cap, peeped
+out from beneath the chair.  "If our good Falkenberg
+could hear of this, you would play no more tricks at the
+court of L——."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Bella, who had also just entered, shrieked with laughter,
+only endeavouring to control herself when her mother,
+amazed at the noise, appeared and represented to her how
+unbecoming such loud merriment was.  The baroness,
+smiling, shook a threatening forefinger at Fräulein von
+Quittelsdorf when Helene told her what had happened,
+and then approached Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Perhaps Fräulein von Walde has not told you," she
+said rather graciously, "that all invited to the fête
+to-morrow will assemble at four o'clock in the large
+saloon.  Pray be punctual.  The concert will not be over
+until near six.  I tell you this that your parents may not
+expect you at home before that time."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At these words, Helene looked down upon the keys of
+the piano in great confusion, while Fräulein von Quittelsdorf
+took her stand beside the baroness, and stared Elizabeth
+impertinently in the face.  Beautiful as were the
+black eyes that were fastened upon her, Elizabeth was
+annoyed by their steady stare.  She bowed to the
+baroness, assuring her that she would be punctual, and then
+looked full and gravely at the fair impertinent.  The
+effect was instantaneous.  Fräulein von Quittelsdorf looked
+away, and, in some confusion, turned upon her heel like
+a spoiled child.  Just then she discovered Herr von
+Hollfeld in the recess of the window.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"How, Hollfeld," she cried, "are you here, or is it your
+spirit?  What are you doing here?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am listening, as you see."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You are listening?  Ha, ha, ha!  And of coarse
+enjoying such indigestible food as Mozart and Beethoven!
+Don't you remember telling me, four weeks ago, at the
+last court concert, that you always suffered from dyspepsia
+after listening to classical music?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She laughed boisterously.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, pray let nonsense go now, dearest Cornelie," said
+the baroness, "and aid me in this programme for the
+fête with your inventive genius.  And you, dear Emil,
+would do me a great favour if you would come too.  You
+know that I am obliged now to enforce my authority by
+the presence of a masculine supporter."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Hollfeld arose with visible reluctance.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, take me too, pray!  Would you be so cruel
+as to leave me here alone until tea-time?" cried Helene,
+reproachfully, as she stood up.  She looked displeased,
+and it seemed to Elizabeth that she noticed, for the
+first time, an envious expression in the lovely blue eyes
+as they looked at the tripping feet of Cornelie, who,
+without another word, had taken Hollfeld's arm, and was
+leaving the room.  Elizabeth closed the piano, and took
+a hasty leave.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In all the passages of the castle through which she
+went there was hurry and bustle.  The servants were
+carrying baskets of china, glass, and silver to the rooms
+adjoining the grand saloon.  From the subterranean regions
+of the kitchens there streamed a fragrant odour, and
+through the open door of one of the servants' rooms
+were seen heaps of green garlands and wreaths.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And he in whose honour all were exerting themselves
+to-day was riding alone in the forest, gloomily devising
+ways and means for fleeing from the joyless, unquiet life
+in his home.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth went down to the village to execute a
+commission for her father.  A few days before, a violent
+storm in the night had so shaken the ruinous jutty in
+the corner of the garden that there was danger that the
+slightest jar might send it toppling down upon the
+garden, burying beneath its fragments the beds and paths
+which had just been so laboriously arranged.  Two
+Lindhof masons had promised to take down the ruin the
+following Monday, but as the forester had declared that he
+knew from experience that small reliance was to be placed
+upon their promises, Elizabeth was to remind them of
+their engagement, and impress upon them the urgent
+necessity for keeping it.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The result of her expedition was favourable.  One of
+the workmen swore by all that was Holy that he would
+be upon the spot, and she was now wandering through
+the quiet, lonely path towards her home.  About midway
+upon the path leading from the village to the forest Lodge,
+a much narrower path branched off, and ascended the
+mountain to Castle Gnadeck.  It was seldom used, and
+might have escaped stranger eyes, for in some places it
+was overgrown with low bushes, and fallen leaves lay so
+thick among the gnarled roots of the trees that it seemed
+never to have been trodden by the foot of man.  Elizabeth
+loved the path, and now chose it for her return home.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She had never encountered a human being here, but
+to-day she had not penetrated far into the green twilight
+before she observed, about twenty paces in front of her,
+towards the right, just by the trunk of an enormous
+beech tree, something like an arm slowly projected and
+then dropped.  She could distinctly perceive this
+movement, as just at that spot the trees separated, and
+encircled a light spot of grass which shone like an oasis
+in the dark forest.  Elizabeth advanced noiselessly and
+slowly, but as she arrived opposite to the beech tree she
+suddenly stood still in terror.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A man was leaning against the tree.  His back was
+turned towards her; his head was uncovered save by
+masses of coarse, uncombed hair.  For one moment he
+stood motionless, apparently listening, then advanced a
+step, raised his right arm, and pointed the barrel of a
+pistol towards the light spot in the forest, after awhile
+letting his arm fall again by his side.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"He is practising at a mark," thought Elizabeth, but
+she only thought so to compose herself, for an indescribable
+terror had at once taken possession of her; she did
+not know whether to run backward or forward in order
+to escape observation, and so she stood still, rooted to
+the spot.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly the noise of a horse's hoofs struck upon her
+ear.  The man started and stood erect as though
+electrified.  A few moments afterwards a horseman appeared
+where the forest was more open.  The horse walked slowly
+over the soft turf; its rider, lost in thought, had dropped
+the bridle upon its neck.  The man with the pistol
+rapidly advanced a couple of paces; raised his arm in
+the direction of the horseman, and at the same moment
+turned his head so that Elizabeth instantly recognized the
+former superintendent, Linke, his features deadly pale and
+distorted with rage and hate, while the horseman, who
+was slowly coming within range of the deadly weapon,
+was Herr von Walde.  An instantaneous transformation
+took place in Elizabeth.  The girlish terror that had
+caused her to tremble at sight of the villain, gave place to
+a wondrous courage and an incomprehensible calmness
+and self-control at the thought that she was destined to
+come to the rescue here.  She glided noiselessly through
+the trees and stood suddenly, as if she had risen from the
+earth, beside Linke, who, his eyes riveted upon his
+victim, had no suspicion of her approach.  With all the
+strength of which she was mistress she seized his arm
+and threw it up.  The pistol was discharged with a loud
+report, and the ball whistled through the air and lodged
+in the trunk of a tree; as the startled wretch fell upon
+the ground, a woman's loud scream for help rang through
+the forest.  The assassin tottered to his feet and plunged
+into the thicket.  In the mean time the horse had reared
+and plunged with fright, but, speedily controlled by its
+rider, came galloping across the clearing to the spot
+where Elizabeth was leaning against a beech tree, pale
+as death.  The danger was past, and her feminine
+nature was reasserting itself.  She trembled in every limb,
+but a happy smile illuminated her countenance when
+she saw Herr von Walde coming towards her safe and
+unharmed.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At sight of her he leaped from his horse; but she, who
+had just manifested such extraordinary self-possession,
+screamed with fright and turned suddenly as she felt two
+hands laid upon her shoulders from behind,—Miss
+Mertens' agitated face was close to her own.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Good God!  Elizabeth," cried the governess, breathlessly,
+"what have you done! he might have killed you!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Herr von Walde pushed through the underbrush that
+separated them from him.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Are you wounded?" he asked Elizabeth, hurriedly and
+earnestly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She shook her head.  Without another word he raised
+her from the ground and carried her to the fallen trunk of
+a tree, where he gently placed her.  Miss Mertens sat
+down beside her and leaned the girl's head upon her
+shoulder.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Now pray tell me what has happened," said Herr
+von Walde to the governess.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, no," cried Elizabeth in terror; "not here, let us
+go,—the murderer has escaped,—perhaps he is lurking
+among the bushes, and may yet accomplish his design."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Linke was about to murder you, Herr von Walde,"
+said Miss Mertens, in a trembling voice.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Miserable wretch! that shot then was for me," he
+calmly observed.  He turned and went into the thicket
+where Linke had disappeared.  Elizabeth almost lost her
+self control, and was on the point of following him when
+he returned.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Reassure yourself," he said to her; "there are no
+traces of him to be seen; he will not shoot again to-day.
+Come, I beg you, Miss Mertens, tell me all about it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>It appeared that knowing that Elizabeth was going to
+the village, the governess had gone to meet her in the
+narrow forest path.  As she was slowly descending the
+mountain she saw all that Elizabeth had seen.  The
+villain's intentions were plain, but she had been so paralyzed
+by fright that she had not been able to move nor cry out.
+She stood fastened to the spot with deadly terror, when
+suddenly Elizabeth, whom she had not seen, stood
+behind the assassin.  In her horror at her friend's danger,
+the cry for help escaped her which had been heard
+simultaneously with the report of the pistol.  She related all
+this hurriedly, and in conclusion added: "Where did you
+get the courage, Elizabeth, to seize the man?  I shudder
+at the mere thought of touching him, and should have
+screamed loudly instead."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"If I had screamed," replied Elizabeth, simply, "Linke
+might have accomplished his purpose, in his involuntary
+start of alarm."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Herr von Walde listened quietly but intently to Miss
+Mertens' account.  Only when she described how
+Elizabeth had seized the murderer's arm, did his face lose
+colour for an instant, as he riveted a keen, anxious glance
+upon the girl, to assure himself that she had actually
+escaped the danger unhurt.  He leaned over her, took
+her right hand and pressed it to his lips, and Elizabeth
+plainly perceived that his hand trembled.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Miss Mertens, who observed how this expression of
+gratitude confused Elizabeth and called up a burning
+blush in her cheeks, left her seat, and picking up the
+pistol Linke had thrown from him in his flight, handed
+it to Herr von Walde.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Horrible!" he murmured.  "The wretch would have
+murdered me with one of my own weapons."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth now arose, and assured Miss Mertens that
+all traces of her fright had vanished, and that she was
+quite able to resume her walk towards Gnadeck.  They
+would both have taken leave of Herr von Walde, but he
+tied his horse to the terrible beech tree, and said, lightly:</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"We know well that Linke's nature is most revengeful;
+he may perhaps hate her to whom I owe my life even
+more than he hates me.  I cannot permit you to proceed
+without a protector."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>They ascended the mountain.  Miss Mertens hastened
+on, that she might incite Herr von Walde to greater
+speed, in order to take steps for the apprehension of the
+criminal as quickly as possible; but her exertions were
+all in vain.  He walked slowly by the side of Elizabeth,
+who, after a few moments of conflict with herself, begged
+him, in a gentle, timid tone, not to go back alone to his
+horse, but to send for him from Castle Lindhof.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He smiled.  "Belisarius is wild and obstinate; you
+know him already," he said.  "He obeys no one but
+myself, and would never allow any one but his
+master to take him home.  Besides, I assure you, that
+cowardly wretch will attempt nothing further to-day.  And
+if he should, I bear a charmed life.  Has not my happy
+star risen to-day in my heavens?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He stood still.  "What do you think," he asked, suddenly,
+in a low tone, and his eyes flashed as he looked at
+her, "shall I listen to the delicious hope that it may shine
+upon me for the rest of my life?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"If it is to tempt you to run repeated risks, it were
+certainly better not to place such unconditional faith in
+your star."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And yet I run the greatest risk of all in trusting
+such a hope," he murmured, half to himself, as his face
+darkened.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I do not understand you," said Elizabeth, surprised.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It is quite natural that you should not," he replied,
+bitterly.  "Your wishes and hopes lie in quite another
+direction.  Notwithstanding all our stern self-discipline,
+we are sometimes overmastered by a beautiful dream.
+No, no, say nothing more!  I am punished already, for I
+am awaking."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He quickened his pace, and walked by Miss Mertens'
+side, while Elizabeth followed more slowly, lost in wonder
+at the harsh tone which he had suddenly assumed, and
+which so wounded her.  He spoke not another word; and
+when at last the walls of the old castle appeared through
+the trees, he took his leave, coldly and shortly, and
+descended the mountain.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Miss Mertens looked after him in surprise.  "Incomprehensible
+man!" she said at last, and shook her head.
+"Even though he attaches but little value to his life, as
+would seem to be the case, surely a word or two of
+gratitude at parting from you would not be superfluous,
+when he knows that you have risked your life for his sake."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I see no necessity for anything of the kind," rejoined
+Elizabeth.  "You attach altogether too much importance
+to what I have done.  I simply fulfilled my duty to my
+neighbour; and would," she added, with a strange
+defiance in her tone and manner, "have done the same if
+the case had been reversed, and Linke's had been the
+threatened life.  I hope sincerely that Herr von Walde
+understands this, for to his haughty nature the feeling of
+obligation to another must be intensely painful, and I
+would not for the world be that other."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At this moment anxiety and anger were striving
+within her for the mastery.  In thought she followed
+Herr von Walde, and shuddered with horror as she
+remembered that perhaps he was just passing some spot
+where the assassin was lying in wait for him; then she
+reminded herself, as she quickened her steps, of what utter
+folly it was to waste so much thought and feeling upon a
+man who persistently turned the roughest side of his
+nature towards her.  Even in intercourse with the
+baroness, who was so utterly distasteful to him, he
+preserved his repose of manner, never for one moment
+forgetting the laws of common courtesy, although he
+invariably maintained his convictions with the greatest
+decision.  He had never been seen by those about him
+except when surrounded by an atmosphere of the serenest
+dignity.  It was only when talking with her that he did
+not appear to consider it worth his while to control
+himself.  How violent and bitter he could be then!  How
+his eyes flashed as he waited impatiently for her replies,
+when they were not prompt and decided!  And he
+required besides that she should understand him almost
+before he spoke, and yet was often utterly
+incomprehensible even when he did speak.  Perhaps every one
+else was cleverer than she, and could more easily
+comprehend his manner of speaking, which was such a riddle
+to her.  Was it unwise to determine to avoid all
+intercourse with him for the future?  Certainly not.  Well,
+fortunately, his departure was at hand.  Fortunately?
+The structure of self-deception, which her pride and
+defiance had erected, crumbled to ruins at this thought;
+yes, it so utterly vanished, that, to Miss Mertens'
+surprise, she turned and walked quickly down the path that
+led to Castle Lindhof.  She must satisfy herself that he
+reached his home in safety.  Miss Mertens followed her
+to a grove whence they could see the door where he
+usually dismounted, and they were greatly relieved when
+he shortly emerged from the forest.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-xiv"><span class="large">CHAPTER XIV.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>In the evening the Ferber family were sitting in the
+shade of the lindens at the spring.  Frau Ferber and
+Miss Mertens were busied in making a rug which was to
+lie upon the floor under the piano in winter time.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Frau Ferber had lost for awhile that dignified composure
+that so well became her still beautiful face.  She
+could not forget the afternoon's occurrence; for, although
+she saw her child before her safe and sound, she had been
+very much agitated by Miss Mertens' account.  She looked
+frequently at Elizabeth, fearing, as she remarked her
+slightest change of colour, that some illness would ensue
+from the excitement that she had passed through.  The
+father's views were different.  "That's my brave
+daughter!" he said with sparkling eyes, "determine coolly and
+execute quickly,—thus I would have you do."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>To Frau Ferber, her husband had always seemed the
+ideal of what a man should be.  Even now, after so many
+years of married life, she followed blindly where he led;
+and in her estimation his opinions admitted of no
+question.  But to-day, as she listened to his paternal praises,
+a sigh escaped her as she remarked that a mother loved
+her children infinitely more than a father possibly could.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Certainly not more, only differently," was Ferber's
+quiet rejoinder.  "It is because I love them that I
+educate them to be full-grown, responsible beings, capable of
+thinking and acting courageously and independently, that
+they may never belong to the miserable class whom want
+of all force of character condemns to constant suffering."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth had also brought her work-basket into the
+garden, but little Ernst looked greatly disappointed as he
+saw her take out her sewing.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Very well, then, Elsie," he said petulantly.  "Herr
+von Walde may ask me a dozen times if I love you,—I
+shall not say yes again.  You never play with me any
+more; and, I suppose, you think you are as big a girl as
+Miss Mertens!  But you needn't think that,—you won't
+be for a long while yet."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>They all laughed at this odd confounding of age with
+size.  But Elizabeth rose immediately to amuse the little
+boy, tucked up her long dress, and drew lots which should
+chase and which run from the other; and then they were
+both off like a flash, up and down the rampart, hither and
+thither through the garden.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the mean time there was a ring at the gate in the
+wall.  Herr Ferber opened it, and Dr. Fels, Reinhard, and
+the forester appeared upon the threshold.  Elizabeth was
+just running along the principal walk, and did not
+immediately see the visitors.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, I must say," laughed Dr. Fels, standing still,
+"this is a wonderful transformation.  In the afternoon
+Valkyria, and in the evening a butterfly!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>But the forester advanced, threw his arm around his
+niece, and then held her off at arm's length, that he might
+scan her delicate figure.  "My fine darling!" he cried
+with sparkling eyes, "she looks as fragile and delicate as
+though she were made of ivory, and yet she has the force
+of a man in her heart and hands; 'tis an immense pity
+you are not a boy.  I would clap you into a green
+hunting-coat in spite of all that your father could say."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the mean while Dr. Fels also drew near, and held out
+his hand to Elizabeth.  "Herr von Walde rode to town
+to-night," he said, "and requested me to come hither.  He
+is very anxious to know that your fright and terror have
+produced no evil consequences."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"None whatever," she replied, blushing deeply.  "As
+you see," she added, laughing, "I am perfectly well able
+to perform my sisterly duties, and Ernst has just assured
+me that I am very hard to catch."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, I will carry Herr von Walde this message, word
+for word," said the doctor with an arch smile.  "Let
+him decide whether it is a comforting one, or the contrary."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Ferber now invited the gentlemen to join the circle
+beneath the lindens.  The doctor lighted a cigar and
+seemed most content.  They discussed Linke's attempt
+very fully.  After his dismissal from Lindhof, many
+of the underhand dealings by which he had taken
+advantage of his master's absence, had come to light.
+Although Herr von Walde had taken no steps to bring
+the offender to justice, the knowledge of his dishonesty
+spread abroad, and was the means of preventing the
+superintendent from procuring another situation.  Undoubtedly
+this had filled the measure of his desire for revenge, and
+had excited him to to-day's deed.  Every means had been
+tried for the apprehension of the assassin; the forester
+with his men had searched the forest, but their
+exertions had been followed by no result.  Reinhard said
+that every one at Castle Lindhof had been forbidden to
+mention the matter to Fräulein von Walde, lest the fright
+should injure her.  And the baroness, Hollfeld, and the
+old waiting-maid were to know nothing of it.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Herr von Walde has also requested," he continued,
+"that the matter should be kept as secret as possible in
+L——, for he knows that half the town is invited for
+to-morrow's fête."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That is, everything that creeps or flies upon a golden,
+silver, or coloured field," interrupted the doctor
+sarcastically; "every coat of arms that can be found, and all
+the court-councillors, and officials.  Oh, the selection has
+been made upon the strictest principles of court etiquette,
+I assure you.  So I have enjoined it upon my wife to
+conduct herself with becoming humility, like a crow among
+soaring falcons.  To our surprise the baroness,—for she
+manages the whole affair,—has sent us an invitation."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Apropos, my dear doctor!" cried Reinhard laughing,
+"they told me in L—— to-day that the old Princess
+Catharine wished to install you as her physician, but you
+declined the honour,—is that true?  All L—— is actually
+standing on its head with surprise."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, that is nothing new; the dear little town passes
+half its time in that posture, and the consequence is that
+the light of intelligence shines upon the tough soles of its
+feet.  But you have heard correctly.  I was sufficiently
+bold to decline that honour."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But why?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"First, because I have no time to be coddling the
+hysterical whims of her aristocratic head every day; and
+then my sacred respect for court etiquette is too great."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, yes," cried the forester, laughing, "that is the
+reason why I always cross myself three times when I
+leave the royal castle behind me.  The prince and
+princess,—our good princess especially troubles no
+one,—they shut their eyes when mere matters of ceremony are
+not according to stiff, prescribed rules; but that court
+mob, that lisps and crawls and wags its tail about
+them,—heaven help us! it absolutely shrieks murder if a man
+walks boldly and uprightly, and goes into fits at the sound
+of a voice that comes clear and full from the chest just
+as God meant it should."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>It had grown very dark.  The family and Miss
+Mertens accompanied the visitors to the gate in the wall; and,
+as they all stepped forth upon the open sward, they heard
+sweet sounds floating up from the valley through the
+forest, which lay steeped in the silence of night, and where
+the birds had ceased to flit among the boughs, and even
+the breeze had fallen asleep in the tree-tops in the midst
+of the strange tales from distant lands that it whispered
+to them every evening.  The band from the town was
+serenading Herr von Walde.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-xv"><span class="large">CHAPTER XV.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>The next morning at five o'clock the inmates of Gnadeck
+were awakened by a discharge of artillery.  "Aha!"
+said Ferber to his wife, "the celebration is beginning."  But
+Elizabeth was startled from a fearful dream, in which
+the misfortune which she had yesterday averted seemed
+actually to take place.  She had just seen Herr von Walde
+fall dying to the ground, when the cannon in the valley
+awoke her.  It was some time before she could collect
+herself.  For one moment she suffered fearfully.  It
+seemed as if heaven and earth were vanishing from her
+as that noble figure fell; and even now, when she saw
+the golden light of morning falling upon the familiar
+objects in her room and not upon the blood-stained sward,
+her agitated nerves still quivered; she had never, not
+even the day before, when she had so fearlessly risked her
+life for his, felt so deeply that his death would be hers
+also.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Again and again the cannon thundered up from the
+valley.  The window-panes shook slightly, and the little
+canary fluttered in terror from side to side in his cage.
+At each report Elizabeth shuddered; and when her
+anxious mother, who could not quite allay her fears for the
+result of the previous day's occurrence, although her child
+had seemed unharmed and well, came to her bedside to
+ask how she had slept, the girl threw her arms around
+her neck and burst into an uncontrollable fit of tears.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Good heavens, my child!" cried Frau Ferber, much
+frightened, "you are ill.  I knew that you would suffer
+from yesterday's shock, and there is that terrible shooting
+going on in the valley."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth had some trouble in convincing her mother
+that she felt perfectly well, and that she could not be
+induced to lie in bed, but was resolved to take her breakfast
+with the family.  And to put a stop to all further
+remonstrance, she immediately arose, bathed and dressed, and
+assisted her mother in preparing the simple breakfast.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The sound of the cannon suddenly ceased, and before
+long all traces of tears vanished from Elizabeth's eyes.
+The world looked brighter to her; for, although a life of
+renunciation lay before her, he still lived; this thought
+had, in consequence of her fearful dream, a soothing
+effect upon her restless heart.  Even if he went away to
+distant lands, and she was forced to live years without
+seeing him, a time must come when he would return.
+And she could still love and think of him, for he belonged
+to no one else.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Later in the day she went with her family and Miss
+Mertens to the Lodge, where they had been invited to
+dine.  There was a dark cloud upon the forester's brow
+as he came to meet them.  Elizabeth soon discovered
+that he was troubled about Bertha.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I cannot and will not bear it any longer!" he cried
+angrily.  "Must I turn spy in my old age, and constantly
+be upon the watch to prevent a wayward, foolish child,
+who has no possible claim upon me, from making a
+perpetual fool of herself?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But remember, uncle, she is unhappy," said Elizabeth,
+somewhat alarmed.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Unhappy?—she is a deceitful fool!—I am no ogre, and
+when I thought her really unhappy, that is, when she lost
+both her parents, I did all that I could to protect and
+guide her.  But that is not what is the matter with her,
+for scarcely two months after her loss she went singing
+about and chattering like a magpie, so that I was really
+grieved to see such heartlessness and frivolity.  What is
+she unhappy about, eh?  But I don't want to know her
+state secret if she has no confidence in me;—let it alone.
+For all I care she may wear that die-away look upon her
+face for the next year; but to pretend to be dumb, to run
+about in the forest at night like a maniac, and perhaps
+one of these fine days burn down my house about my
+ears, it is more than I can bear, and I must have a word
+or two to say about the matter."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Did you not heed the warning that I gave you?"
+asked Ferber.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Certainly I did; I put her into another room; she
+sleeps now just above me, so that I can hear her lightest
+step.  At night both the house doors are not only bolted,
+as they have always been at night, but locked too, and I
+take the key into my room.  And oh! the cunning of
+women,—but that's an old story.  At any rate my
+precautions ensured us some rest.  But last night I could
+not get to sleep; the affair with Linke was running through
+my brain, and I heard steps above me, cautious steps, soft
+as a cat's.  Aha! I thought, she is at her nightly
+promenades again, and I rose, but when I went up-stairs the
+nest was already empty.  On a table at the open window
+a light was burning, and as I opened the door the curtain
+flew into the flame.  Zounds! if I had not been quick as
+a flash we should have had a blaze that would have been
+well fed by those old balconies.  And how did she get
+out?  Through the kitchen window.  I would rather take
+care of a swarm of ants than of such a sly, deceitful
+creature."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am convinced that some love affair is at the bottom
+of the girl's conduct," said Frau Ferber.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, you told me so once before, sister-in-law,"
+replied the forester with irritation, "and if you would be
+kind enough to tell me with whom, I should be infinitely
+obliged to you.  Look around us and see if there is any
+one here to turn a girl's brain.  My assistants,—they are
+not half good enough for her; she never would have a
+word to say to them; it cannot be the rogue Linke, with
+his crooked legs and carroty wig, and there is no one
+else here."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You have forgotten one," said Frau Ferber significantly,
+with a glance towards Elizabeth, who had lingered
+behind to cut a whip for Ernst.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well?" asked the forester.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Herr von Hollfeld."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The forester remained silent for awhile.  "Hm!" he
+muttered at last, "I should never in the world have thought
+of him.  No, no," he continued quickly, "I do not believe
+it, for in the first place the girl cannot possibly be such a
+fool as to believe that he would make her my lady von
+Odenberg, and——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Perhaps she hoped that he would, and finds herself
+mistaken," interrupted Frau Ferber.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"She is vain and arrogant enough for it, but he,—he
+cares nothing for women,—he is a cold, heartless egotist,"
+said the forester.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"An egotist, I grant you," said Frau Ferber, "and that
+explains Bertha's conduct and manner."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That would be a fine affair," cried the forester angrily,
+"to think that I should have been hoodwinked like any
+old fool in a comedy!  I will sift the matter now to the
+bottom, and woe to the girl if she has really dared to bring
+disgrace upon herself and me!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The dinner was a very quiet one.  The forester was
+out of sorts, and would have extorted a confession from
+Bertha upon the spot had not Frau Ferber prayed him to
+wait for a few days.  After coffee the guests left the
+Lodge; the forester threw his rifle across his shoulder, and
+plunged into the forest, which, as he said, always soothed
+and brought him to reason.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth dressed herself for the concert, that is, she
+put on a simple, white muslin dress, whose only decoration
+was a bouquet of fresh wild flowers.  Her mother tied
+around her neck a little locket attached to a very narrow
+black velvet ribbon, and this was her toilet, which would
+certainly have seemed most embarrassingly simple to most
+young girls going for the first time among a large
+assemblage of brilliantly-dressed people; but Elizabeth, if she
+thought of it at all, congratulated herself upon the
+delicate neatness of her muslin, and would rather not have
+worn her mother's little ornament on this occasion, as she
+considered that she was to appear only as a musician and
+not as one of the guests, and that her fingers were all that
+she need be anxious about.  She was rather annoyed
+that the arms above these same fingers were bare, and
+that her dress was low-necked.  She had hitherto never
+worn a dress that did not cover her neck to her chin, and
+could not see why the fashionable world had decided that
+women should be </span><em class="italics">decolleté</em><span> in large assemblies.  She
+thought as little of the exquisite form and dazzling
+whiteness of her shoulders and arms as of the beauty and grace
+of her head, which, with its heavy braids of golden hair,
+was set so exquisitely upon her finely-moulded neck.  Her
+mother herself had arranged her hair to-day, and it
+clustered in short shining curls above her forehead, contrasting
+wondrously with the delicately pencilled but decided arch
+of the dark eyebrows.  And Frau Ferber could not but
+agree with Miss Mertens, who, as she watched Elizabeth
+disappear upon the forest path, declared with enthusiasm
+that she was supernaturally lovely.  The mother had just
+acknowledged to herself that her child's beauty had
+unfolded in a most striking degree.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>When Elizabeth entered the vestibule of Castle
+Lindhof she encountered Dr. Fels, who, with his wife upon
+his arm, was just turning down one of the corridors.  She
+hastened towards him, and accosted him gaily, for her
+heart had been beating anxiously as she approached the
+castle, at the thought that she should be obliged to enter
+entirely alone the spacious saloon, where the greater part
+of the company were doubtless already assembled.  The
+doctor received her most cordially, and presented her to
+his wife, in an undertone, as "yesterday's heroine."  Both
+gladly took her under their protection.  The large
+folding-doors were flung open, and Elizabeth was grateful for the
+lucky star that had allowed her to take shelter behind the
+tall, commanding figure of the doctor's wife, for she was
+at first rather overcome at sight of the large, richly-decorated
+apartment, over whose highly-polished floor glided
+the costly dresses of the ladies and the polished boots of
+the gentlemen.  In the centre of the saloon stood the
+Baroness Lessen, arrayed in magnificent dark-blue
+moire-antique, and receiving the guests.  She returned the
+salutations of the doctor and his wife very politely, but very
+coolly, and replied to the doctor's question, "Where is
+Herr von Walde?" by pointing to a knot of men
+standing near a window, whence issued a murmur like the
+Babylonish confusion of tongues.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>While Fels and his wife walked towards the spot,
+Elizabeth gladly and gratefully obeyed a gesture from Helene,
+who, sitting at another window, hurriedly and agitatedly
+informed her that she had suddenly had an attack of what
+is called "stage fright;" that she was in overwhelming
+terror at playing before so many people, and would rather
+creep into a mouse-hole.  And then she begged Elizabeth,
+instead of the four-handed composition with which the
+concert was to open, to play a sonata of Beethoven's, a
+wish with which Elizabeth immediately complied.  Her
+embarrassment vanished.  She stepped up to the table
+where the music was lying, and selected the sonata which
+she was to play.  Meanwhile, carriage after carriage
+rolled into the court-yard.  The folding-doors opened and
+closed incessantly upon such quantities of tulle and
+velvet and lace, which were crowded into the saloon, that
+Elizabeth smiled pityingly at the thought of her simple
+white muslin, so soon to loose its unwrinkled smoothness
+in such a crush of crinoline.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She could very easily decide, from the manner of the
+baroness, upon the social rank of the guests.  One
+gracious wave of the feather-crowned head of the great lady
+answered every social requirement whenever she received
+untitled guests, and these untitled guests did their part
+well in acknowledging and respecting this aristocratic
+reserve.  All, in obedience to a gesture from the baroness, first
+made their way towards the window where stood Herr von
+Walde,—who, however, remained entirely invisible to
+Elizabeth,—and then scattered into single groups, either
+awaiting the opening of the concert, or engaged in
+conversation among themselves.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly the doors flew open again, and a corpulent
+old lady hobbled in upon the arm of an equally aged
+gentleman, whose coat glittered with orders,—and with them
+came Fräulein von Quittelsdorf.  The baroness hastened
+toward these guests, and Fräulein von Walde also arose
+with difficulty, and, taking Hollfeld's arm, went to meet
+the aged pair, while all the ladies standing around her
+followed like the tail of a comet.  The crowd of men
+at the window divided suddenly as by magic, and Herr
+von Walde's lofty figure appeared.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"We must come to you, if we wish to see you, naughty
+man!" cried the old lady, shaking her forefinger at him,
+as she hobbled towards him.  "You see, in spite of my
+poor feet, and although you have neglected me shamefully,
+I am here to-day to offer you my congratulations."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He bowed, and said a few words to her, to which she
+replied by laughingly tapping him upon the shoulder with
+her fan.  Then he conducted her to an arm-chair, where
+she seated herself with much majesty.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The Countess of Falkenberg, chief lady in waiting at
+the court of L——," was the reply of the doctor's wife
+when Elizabeth asked who the old lady was.  Fräulein
+von Quittelsdorf looked exquisitely beautiful to-day in her
+white crape dress, with a wreath of scarlet euphorbia in
+her dark hair, as she busied herself about the noble lady,
+while she did not forget to cast a roguish glance now
+and then at Fräulein von Walde.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The arrival of the guests from the court was the signal
+for the beginning of the concert.  Elizabeth could almost
+hear her own heart beat.  She was standing behind the
+doctor's wife, and was hidden from all the eyes which
+would in one moment be directed towards her, following
+every one of her movements.  Suddenly she was overcome
+with timidity, and she repented bitterly having
+consented to play first alone.  She trembled when Fräulein
+von Walde motioned to her to begin, but there was no
+time to withdraw.  She took a long breath, and walked
+slowly, with downcast eyes, to the piano, where she
+courtesied timidly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At first there was a breathless silence; then a whisper
+ran from mouth to mouth, which was instantly hushed
+when the young girl struck the keys.  Elizabeth's fear
+and embarrassment all vanished at the sound of the first
+chords.  She was no longer alone.  He with whom she
+had so often wandered along meadow paths in brilliant
+sunshine, and past gloomy abysses in storm and rain, was
+with her,—the one who had so often aroused within her
+joyous presentiments, and who had expressed in immortal
+harmonies all the loftiest and most sacred aspirations
+of her nature,—who was as dear and familiar to her
+as her mother's face, although her gaze fell dazzled by the
+fiery glories which wreathed his majestic head.  The
+flower-crowned heads ranged against the walls, the
+lorgnettes and spectacles which, glittering in the sunlight,
+shot their lightning directly upon the lonely performer in
+the midst of the saloon, all vanished.  She was alone
+with the great master, following with rapture every
+manifestation of his creative spirit.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>An actual storm of applause startled her when she had
+finished.  She courtesied, and then almost flew to her
+protectress, Frau Fels, who, speechless with emotion, held
+out both hands to her.  The concert did not last very
+long.  Four young gentlemen from L—— sang a delightful
+quartette, and then there was a performance by
+a famous violin player.  Fräulein von Quittelsdorf sang
+two songs in a charming voice, but without any ear, so
+that at every high note the guests either moved involuntarily
+and nervously upon their chairs, or cast their eyes
+down in confusion.  And then came one of the
+well-practised duets.  Fräulein von Walde had recovered her
+composure, and played excellently well with Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>When the concert was over, Elizabeth went towards
+the door of an anteroom, where she had left her shawl.
+She was closely followed by an elderly gentleman, who
+had been sitting opposite her, and had regarded her
+attentively.  At his request, Frau Fels presented him to
+the young girl as the Military Inspector-general Busch.
+He said many flattering things about Elizabeth's
+performance, and added that he was much pleased to
+become acquainted with the heroic preserver of the life of
+the lord of the castle; he had accepted to-day's invitation
+with all the greater pleasure, since within the last few
+hours he had been deprived of all hope of claiming her
+assistance in the investigation of the murderous attempt.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He laughed heartily at Elizabeth's sudden alarm.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, no, I pray you not to look so horror-stricken,
+Fräulein," he said at last.  "As I have just told you, we
+shall have no occasion to subject you to a cross-examination.
+Linke has himself put a stop to our proceedings
+by a single blow.  His dead body was taken from the
+lake in the park this afternoon," he added, in a low
+tone.  "They informed me of it at the inn, where I
+alighted.  I proceeded, accompanied by the Waldheim
+physician, who happened to be at the inn, to the scene of
+the suicide, and convinced myself that that hand will
+never again be raised against the life of another.  The
+condition of the body shows that Linke must have sought
+death immediately after the failure of his murderous
+purpose."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth shuddered.  "Does Herr von Walde know
+of his fearful end?" she asked in a trembling voice.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No; I have had no opportunity to speak with him alone."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"None of the company present appear to have any
+suspicion of yesterday's occurrence," said Frau Fels.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Fortunately they have not, thanks to our foresight
+and reserve," replied the inspector-general, ironically.
+"As it is, poor Herr von Walde has been quite
+overwhelmed with congratulations upon being born into the
+world.  What would his friends have done to him had
+they known how fortunately his life has been preserved?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The butler, Lorenz, at this moment approached Elizabeth
+and held out to her a little silver waiter, upon which
+lay several folded slips of paper.  She looked up in
+questioning surprise, and he said respectfully:</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Will you have the kindness to take one of the papers?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth hesitated.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"This is probably part of our entertainment," said
+Frau Fels.  "Take it quickly, that the butler may not be
+detained."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Almost mechanically she took up one of the slips of
+paper, but started in alarm as the Baroness Lessen
+suddenly appeared at the door, and looked searchingly around
+the room.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Come, Lorenz," she said hastily, stepping towards
+the servant, "what are you doing here?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I have just handed Fräulein Ferber the salver,
+gracious lady," replied the old man.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The baroness gave him an angry look, and then
+measured Elizabeth from head to foot.  "How, Fräulein
+Ferber," she said sharply, "are you still here?  I thought
+you were at home long ago, resting upon your laurels."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Without waiting for a reply, she turned to leave the
+room; but just upon the threshold she looked back at the
+old butler with a frown and shrugged her shoulders.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What can you be thinking of, Lorenz?  You grow
+very thoughtless.  This infirmity has grown upon you
+of late."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>With these words, she bustled out, and the old man
+quietly followed.  He replied not one word to her harsh
+reproof,—only contracted his bushy, gray eyebrows, so
+that his honest eyes almost disappeared.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The others remained looking at each other in astonishment,
+when the doctor entered.  He made a profound,
+comical obeisance to his wife, and said solemnly:</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"In consideration of the fact that Fräulein von
+Quittelsdorf has just had the clemency to unite us again as
+closely as by the priestly blessing fifteen years ago, I am
+content still further to endure the conjugal yoke, and
+particularly on this day to enjoy by your side, and, cherished
+by your tender care, O true and faithful spouse, all the
+delights prepared for us!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"My dear husband, what do you mean?" cried his
+wife, laughing.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Pardon me,—I mean nothing at all.  Ah, I see you
+have not heard Fräulein von Quittelsdorf's directions.
+What a pity!  I am then compelled to inform you that
+every married couple here present, whether now upon a
+war footing or otherwise, must repair, within the next
+quarter of an hour, to the convent tower in the forest, where
+a rural festival will be held.  There it will be your duty
+to provide me with as much to eat and drink as my soul
+may desire, and in every way to attend upon my wishes,
+after the pattern of the famous Penelope.  But that the
+unmarried men who are present in large numbers may
+have no reason to complain,—that their mouths also may
+be filled,—a sort of lottery has been ingeniously devised.
+Every unmarried lady is provided with a slip of paper,
+upon which stands written the name of some unmarried
+man, and it is left to Cupid and Fate either to unite or to
+separate faithful hearts."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At these words Elizabeth was seized with actual
+terror.  She had never thought of other entertainments
+following upon the concert; but now she clearly
+understood why the baroness, on the previous day, had so
+distinctly alluded to her return home after the conclusion of
+the music.  Her cheeks glowed with shame, for she had
+exposed herself to the charge of being very assuming by
+taking from the butler's salver the little slip of paper,
+which now burned like fire in her hand.  Always quick
+to decide, she went into the saloon where the opening
+of the mysterious papers was going on amid the laughter
+of the ladies and their assigned partners.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What a senseless idea this, of Fräulein von Quittelsdorf's,"
+a young sprig of nobility was just exclaiming peevishly
+to his neighbour as Elizabeth passed them.  "Here
+I have that stout, pious Fräulein Lehr upon my hands.
+</span><em class="italics">Fi donc!</em><span>"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth had not long to look for the baroness.  She
+was standing apart, near a window, in lively, but, as it
+seemed, not entirely agreeable conversation with Fräulein
+von Quittelsdorf, the chief lady in waiting, and Helene.
+The countess seemed to be remonstrating with Fräulein
+von Quittelsdorf, who did nothing but shrug her pretty
+shoulders helplessly from time to time.  Intense vexation
+was expressed in the baroness' countenance,—there was
+no need of the round, red spot on either cheek to show
+that she was angry.  Not far from the group Herr von
+Walde was leaning with folded arms against a pillar.
+He seemed to be only half listening to the words of the
+be-ribboned old courtier who was standing beside
+him,—his eyes were fixed upon the gesticulating ladies.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth hurriedly approached the baroness.  It did
+not escape her that, at sight of her, Fräulein von
+Quittelsdorf gently nudged the countess, whereupon the latter
+turned and regarded her with a malevolent air.  She saw
+that she was the subject of their discussion, and she
+quickened her pace, that she might avert from herself as soon
+as possible any unworthy suspicion.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Most gracious lady," she said, with a slight
+courtesy, "in consequence of a misunderstanding, I have
+become possessed of this slip of paper, and have just
+learned that it entails upon me duties which I cannot
+possibly undertake, for my parents are expecting me at
+home."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She handed the little slip to the baroness, who took it
+immediately, while a ray of actual sunshine broke over
+her features.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I think you are in error, Fräulein Ferber," Herr von
+Walde suddenly interposed, in a clear, melodious voice.
+"It is incumbent upon you to excuse yourself to the
+gentleman whose name the paper contains; it rests with
+him whether he will release you or not."  He scanned, with
+a peculiar smile, the company, who were dividing into
+couples and making ready for departure; even the old
+gentleman beside him approached the countess, and
+offered her his arm.  Herr von Walde continued, as he
+slowly approached: "As master of the house, I cannot
+permit any want of consideration of one of my guests,
+wherefore I must beg you, Fräulein Ferber, to open
+the paper."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth obeyed, and then handed him the open slip,
+with a crimson blush.  He glanced at it.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah!" he cried, "I have, as I see, defended my own
+rights.  You must admit that I am fully justified in either
+accepting or refusing to accept your excuses.  I prefer the
+latter course, and must entreat you strictly to comply
+with the injunctions laid upon you by that paper."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The baroness approached him, and laid her hand upon
+his arm.  It looked as if she were almost struggling to
+suppress her tears.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Forgive me, dear Rudolph," she said, "it is really
+not my fault."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I do not know to what fault you allude, Amalie," he
+replied, with icy coldness; "but you certainly choose the
+right time in which to ask forgiveness,—-just at this
+moment I could easily forgive an injury."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He took his hat which a servant handed to him, and
+made the signal for departure.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But my parents!" stammered Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Are they ill, or about to leave Gnadeck immediately?"
+he asked, standing still.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Neither."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, pray then let me see to it that they receive
+intelligence of the cause of your delay."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He called a servant, and despatched a message to
+Gnadeck.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>While the saloon was gradually emptied, the group of
+ladies which had been joined by the aged cavalier and
+Hollfeld, who looked much chagrined, remained standing
+near the window.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It serves you quite right, Cornelie," said the
+countess.  "You have set the crown upon your folly to-day.
+What a silly idea this lottery is!  How often have I
+endeavoured to put a stop to your nonsense, to which,
+unfortunately, our gracious princess lends only too willing
+an ear?  How should the butler know any better, when
+you gave him no instructions?  You consider yourself to
+belong naturally to the court, and yet do not know that
+that sort of person has not an idea of his own.  I should
+not for an instant grudge you this lesson, if only poor von
+Walde were not the victim of your frivolity.  There he
+goes with that little white goose upon his arm; he who,
+with his haughty, aristocratic self-consciousness, has many
+a time been regardless of the wishes of some high-born
+lady, who would have been charmed to take his arm.
+What must he suffer to be tied for several hours to that
+little piano-player, the daughter of a—forester's clerk?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Why does he sacrifice himself so very readily?" rejoined
+Fräulein von Quittelsdorf.  "It was quite unnecessary
+for him to meddle at all in the matter.  The girl had
+made up her mind to go, when suddenly he steps forth
+like a knight without fear or fault, and takes up the
+burden voluntarily."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"At all events the burden is dazzlingly beautiful," said
+the old cavalier with a conceited smile.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What are you thinking of, count?" cried the
+countess.  "That is just like you, who rave about every
+round-faced peasant girl that you meet.  I do not
+deny that the girl is pretty; but was not poor Rosa
+von Bergen an actual angel of beauty?  Hundreds were
+languishing at her feet; but von Walde, whom she
+really preferred, was like a glacier to her.  No, he has
+not the smallest sensibility to feminine beauty and
+loveliness.  I long ago erased his name from my list of
+eligibles for my young protegées.  He has just declared, most
+distinctly, his reason for sacrificing himself to-day.  He is
+evidently much pleased and delighted with the attentions
+that we have lavished upon him, and wishes to see
+every one happy and contented about him,—even the
+little thing who played the piano.  I advise my dearest
+Lessen for the future not to trust implicitly to the tact
+and ingenuity of our charming Quittelsdorf."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The maid of honour bit her lips, and dragged her lace
+shawl over her lovely shoulders.  The carriage now drew
+up in which the countess and Helene, accompanied by
+the baroness and the count, were to be driven to the place
+of rendezvous.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The old cat!" cried Fräulein von Quittelsdorf, after
+she had assisted the countess into the carriage.  "She is
+furious because she was not asked to assist in the
+arrangements for to-day.  Did not you see, Hollfeld, how very
+nearly that false front of hers slipped down upon her nose
+when she was waggling her head in such agitation?  I
+should have laughed for two weeks without intermission
+if her bald head had suddenly made its appearance
+underneath that flower garden on top!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She was convulsed with laughter at the idea.  Her
+companion walked, without a word, and with accelerated pace,
+by her side, as though he heard nothing of her chatter.
+His whole bearing manifested hurry and disquiet.  He
+seemed most desirous to overtake the rest of the
+assemblage as quickly as possible.  He cast searching glances
+through the bushes on either side of the way, and,
+whenever he caught a glimpse of a white dress, stopped for a
+moment, as though to identify the wearer.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed, you are too tiresome, Hollfeld; you weary
+me to death!" cried the lady peevishly.  "To be sure it
+is your privilege to be as mute as a fish and yet enjoy
+the reputation of a clever man.  Where your wits are
+now I am sure I cannot imagine.  What, in Heaven's
+name, are you running so fast for?  Allow me to entreat
+you to have some regard for my crape dress, which will
+be torn to rags by these bushes through which you are
+hurrying me, with such speed."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The convent tower,—the only uninjured remnant of
+a former nunnery,—was situated in the depths of a grove
+of oaks and beeches in a part of the forest domain
+appertaining to the Lindhof estate, which here extended far
+towards the east.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A certain lady of Gnadewitz, a sister of the ancestor
+of the wheel, had built the nunnery, whither she, with
+twelve other young maidens, retired to pray for the soul
+of her brother, cut off so ignominiously in the flower of
+his days.  Year after year the giant boughs of the oaks
+had tapped at the windows of the cells and leaned above
+the high wall over the small garden of the convent.  They
+had seen many a fresh young creature pass hurriedly
+along the dim narrow forest path to ring the bell at the
+convent portal with feverish impatience, as though unable
+to wait one instant longer for the promised peace abiding
+within those walls.  They had seen how, behind those
+irrevocable bolts and bars, the mute lips of the nun grew
+white,—how convulsively her waxen hands clutched the
+crucifix, while her agonized looks would seek the ground;
+for the sight of the clear, blue heavens, arching above
+the gay children of the outer world, awakened joyous
+memories within her, and breathed a keen desire for
+pleasure and life into the soul and heart muffled forever
+in the folds of the sackcloth of her order.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The Reformation, which overthrew the convents like
+card houses, had stridden through this still forest also,
+and had passed its mighty hand over the walls of this
+gloomy pile, which had, in expiation of the misery and
+crime that had cursed its origin, been the perpetual abode
+of unhappiness.  And even the hollow mockery of existence
+within its walls had vanished to the four winds.  One
+stone after another had tumbled to the feet of the lofty oaks,
+whose branches had brushed against it while it formed
+part of some carved arch or window-frame, and which
+now strewed leaves upon it till it sank away far more
+softly bedded than the poor bodies of the nuns, which
+were, so said the legend, all sleeping together in a
+subterranean dungeon.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The tower was square, clumsy, and ugly.  On the flat
+roof above, that was surrounded by a stone balustrade,
+the stairs were capped by a very small, square apartment,
+from which egress upon the roof was obtained through
+a massive oaken door.  Here there was a magnificent
+prospect and distant view of L——.  For the sake of
+this prospect the tower had been rebuilt and kept in
+constant repair.  Immense iron clamps bound the walls
+together at the corners, and numberless lines of fresh
+mortar meandered across its blackened surface, so that
+the old building looked at a distance like a gigantic piece
+of agate.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>But to-day the old pile was decked out like some old
+fellow dressed for a wooing.  Fresh flowers,—that is to
+say, four gigantic fir trees—were sticking in his hat; and
+from their tops gay banners were floating, like large
+birds above the green waves beneath.  The old fellow,
+who, until to-day, had only whispered nightly and daily
+confidences to his comrades the oaks but had never made
+an advance towards them from his dignified position, was
+now clutching them with green wide-spread arms; huge
+garlands were draped from his topmost walls, and were
+lost among the boughs of the surrounding forest; while
+from one side a white sail-cloth was extended and
+attached to the trunks of two tall hemlocks.  Beneath the
+shade of this tent were several refreshing-looking casks,
+a whole battery of dusty red-sealed flasks and countless
+silver-capped bottles in ice-buckets,—all presided over by
+a very pretty girl in the dress of a vivandiere.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth had silently and passively left the large hall
+upon Herr von Walde's arm.  In spite of her determination
+to go home, she had not had the courage to gainsay
+him, or to tell him of her desire,—he had spoken in a tone
+of such authority; and, what had influenced her still more,
+had entered the lists, as it were, for her, and sought to
+help her out of her embarrassment.  Any opposition on
+her part would have seemed like obstinate defiance of
+him, and would have served only to increase her painful
+apprehension of drawing to herself general attention.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The silken garments of the ladies rustled along the
+walls of the corridor behind her.  Laughing and chattering,
+the gay crowd followed Herr von Walde in a long
+train until it issued from the chief entrance door, and
+then it scattered hither and thither, taking the various
+forest paths which led to the convent tower.  Those
+whose elaborate toilets required special care took the
+broad, well-kept path.  Herr von Walde certainly never
+dreamed that his companion's simple, snowy muslin
+could be as precious in her eyes as were the rich dresses
+of the other ladies in theirs, or he certainly would not
+have selected the narrow, lonely pathway into which he
+suddenly turned.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It is usually very damp here," Elizabeth broke silence
+timidly,—hitherto no words had passed between them.
+Her feet trembled as though they would far rather retreat
+than advance, and yet it is possible that her thoughts were
+not of her dress nor her thin shoes, but rather of the long,
+narrow, leafy way before them, through which she must
+pass alone by his side, and of the voice that would
+suddenly sound in her ears with that harsh, authoritative
+tone almost always adopted by him when alone with her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It has not rained for a long time,—see how dry the
+ground is," he quietly replied, as he walked slowly on and
+broke off a twig which threatened to brush Elizabeth's
+cheek.  "This path is the shortest, and we can for a
+quarter of an hour at least escape from the buzz and
+clatter with which my friends and relatives are celebrating
+the completion of my thirty-seventh year.  But perhaps
+you are afraid of meeting Linke in this sequestered
+spot?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A shudder passed through the young girl's frame.  She
+thought upon the criminal's desperate end, but she could
+not control herself sufficiently to impart her knowledge
+to Herr von Walde.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I do not fear him any longer," she said gravely.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"He has probably left the country, and if not, he would
+hardly be so discourteous as to intrude upon the pleasures
+of people who are seeking to indemnify themselves for the
+pains they have taken with their formal congratulations.
+By-the-way, you cannot have failed to observe that every
+member of the company to-day has honoured me with a
+few moments of special attention, even the youngest slip
+of a girl in white muslin has made me her courtesy and
+uttered her studied desire for my health and happiness.
+You, perhaps, do not think me old enough yet to need the
+wishes of others for a prolongation of my life?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I should suppose that such wishes were as
+appropriate to youth or the prime of life as to advanced age;
+the one possesses as little as the other a monopoly of
+existence."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, then, why did you not come to me?  Yesterday
+you saved my life, and to-day you care so little about
+it that you do not even take the trouble to open your lips
+and say 'God protect it for the future.'"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You have just said yourself 'every one of the
+company.'  I did not belong to the company, and therefore
+could not intrude myself among those who offered their
+congratulations."  She spoke quickly, for there was
+discontent in his tone, and the arm upon which her hand
+rested moved impatiently.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But you were invited——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"To entertain your guests."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Was that modest view of the case the only reason
+why you did not wish to come with me?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes; most certainly my refusal could not have had
+anything to do with the gentleman who had fallen to my
+lot, whose name I could not possibly know."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You can hardly persuade me of that; you must have
+seen at the first glance that all the gentlemen present,
+with the exception of myself, were already appropriated;
+you must have known that my sister, without drawing a
+paper, had requested Hollfeld to accompany her, as she
+can walk more easily leaning upon his arm than upon any
+other.  Confess——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I knew and saw nothing.  I was far too much
+troubled when I entered the ball-room to return the
+paper, for the hour at which I was expected to return
+home had been particularly mentioned to me yesterday.
+I had no idea that any special festivity was to follow the
+concert, and in taking the folded slip of paper I
+committed an indiscretion, for which I cannot forgive
+myself."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He suddenly stood still.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I pray you look at me," he said, in a tone of command.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She raised her eyes, and although she felt her cheeks
+glow, she sustained unflinchingly the gaze which at first
+rested sternly upon her and then became indescribably
+gentle.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, no," he muttered softly, as if to himself, "it were
+a crime to suspect deceit here.  Yes, double-dyed," he
+continued in an altered, sarcastic tone; it sounded as though
+he wished to sneer away some momentary weakness,—"was
+I not the involuntary auditor of your declaration:
+'It needs more courage to tell a lie boldly than to confess
+a fault?'"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That is my conviction, I repeat it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, what a splendid thing strength of character is!
+But I should suppose that if one were too upright to
+soil the lips with deceit, a strict watch should be kept
+upon the eyes also, lest they lie.  I know one moment in
+your life when you appeared what you were not."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth, wounded, attempted to withdraw her hand
+from his arm.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, no—you do not escape me so easily!" he cried,
+retaining it.  "You must either deny or acknowledge it.
+You looked indifferent lately, when I threw away my
+cousin's tender token, the rose."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Should I have flown after it?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Certainly, if you had been true."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth knew now why he had entered this lonely
+path with her,—she was to confess her feelings towards
+Hollfeld.  She was confirmed in her former suspicions,—Herr
+von Walde was evidently most anxious lest she
+should prize his cousin's homage too highly and perhaps
+imagine that he could forget her social position.  The
+moment had come when she could declare her sentiments.
+By a hasty movement she released her hand from his
+arm, and stepped a little aside.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I grant you," she said, "that if my face that day
+expressed indifference, it was not in harmony with my
+thoughts."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I thought so!" he cried, but there was no triumph in
+the exclamation.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I was in fact indignant."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"At my interference?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"At the unauthorized levity of Herr von Hollfeld."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"He startled you greatly; but——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, he insulted me!  How dared he intrude upon
+me?  I abhor him!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She must have been right in her solution of his
+manner; but she had never dreamed that her declaration
+would be so highly prized by him.  A weight seemed to
+fall from his heart.  A ray of purest joy broke from the
+eyes which had gazed at her with a mixture of mistrust,
+contempt, and sarcasm.  He drew a deep breath, and
+half extended his arms.  Elizabeth involuntarily looked
+round to discover what it was that caused his eyes to
+flash and glow so.  She saw nothing, but she felt his
+hand tremble as he laid hers once more upon his arm.
+They walked on a few paces without a word.  Suddenly
+he stood still again.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Now we are entirely alone," he said, in the gentlest
+possible tone.  "See, only one small eye of heavenly
+blue looks down upon us,—no prying faces are near to
+come between us,—I cannot,—I will not be deprived of
+a birthday greeting from you.  Give it to me now, when
+no one can hear it but myself alone."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She was silent and confused.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, do you not know how it is done?" he asked.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, yes," she replied, and an arch smile hovered
+upon her lips.  "I am well practised in such things.  My
+parents, my uncle, Ernst——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"All have birthdays," he interrupted her, smiling.
+"But you cannot wonder that I want a birthday greeting
+all to myself,—that I desire that it may sound quite
+different from any that you have hitherto uttered,—for I am
+neither your father, nor your bluff forester uncle, and
+certainly I cannot lay claim to the rights of the brother with
+whom you play.  Come, speak!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Still she said nothing.  What should she say?  Her
+eyes were cast down, for she could no longer endure that
+searching glance, that seemed to penetrate her very soul
+with its troubled expression of entreaty.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Then come," he cried abruptly, drawing her forward,
+after waiting in vain for some moments for one word
+from her lips.  "It was a foolish wish of mine.  I know
+that your tongue, which is always ready to say what is
+kind and gentle to others, is dumb for me, or only ready
+with some rebuke."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At these words she grew pale, and involuntarily stood
+still.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You will, then?" he asked more gently, "and cannot
+find the words?" he continued, shaking his head, as
+she was silent but looked up at him beseechingly.  "Well,
+then, I have a plan.  Let me say what I should like to
+hear from your lips, and you will repeat it after me word
+for word."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Again the smile played around Elizabeth's mouth, and
+she murmured assent.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"In the first place, you give your friend your hand,"
+he began, and took her hand in his,—she trembled, but
+did not withdraw it,—"and then you say, 'You have
+hitherto been a wretched wanderer upon the face of the
+earth,—it is high time that the clouds above you should
+break, and be penetrated by the pure ray of light which
+has transformed your whole existence.  It is my true
+and earnest wish that this light may never forsake you.
+Here is my hand, as the pledge of a happiness so
+inconceivable——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>So far she had repeated this strangely-worded greeting
+after him, but at the last words she hesitated.  He
+seized her other hand also, and urged passionately, "Go
+on, go on!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Here is my——" she began at last.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, Herr von Walde," suddenly cried Cornelie's voice
+from the thicket, "what a delightful meeting!  Now I
+shall enjoy in company with you the triumph of being
+received with a flourish of trumpets!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Never in her life had Elizabeth seen such a sudden
+change take place in a human countenance as now
+transformed Herr von Walde's features.  One strong blue vein
+stood out upon his pale forehead, his eyes flashed, and
+he involuntarily stamped his foot.  It really seemed
+as if he would have liked to hurl back into the thicket
+the unwelcome intruder, who, holding up her crape skirt,
+came hurrying through the bushes towards them.  He
+could not command his emotion as quickly as usual;
+perhaps he did not wish to do so, for he frowned angrily as
+Hollfeld made his appearance behind the lady.  As he
+came in sight, Herr von Walde drew Elizabeth's hand
+through his arm with gentle violence, as if he feared lest
+she should be snatched from him.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Why, how you look, Herr von Walde," cried Fräulein
+von Quittelsdorf, stepping into the middle of the path;
+"actually as if we were bandits, with designs upon your
+life; or, at all events, upon your property!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Without replying a word to this attack, he turned to
+his cousin and asked, "Where is my sister?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"She was afraid of the long rough path," the latter
+replied, "and preferred to drive."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, I suppose you will hardly leave Helene to be
+lifted out of the carriage by the old Count Wildenau;
+I cannot understand how, as her faithful knight, you
+could leave the principal path.  A few, quick steps will
+enable you to rejoin her.  I will not prevent you from
+doing so," said Herr von Walde sharply, while a
+sarcastic smile quivered around the corners of his mouth.
+He stepped aside with Elizabeth to allow the pair to pass.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And pray, if one may ask, why did you leave the
+principal path yourself?" asked Fräulein von Quittelsdorf
+flippantly, much more like a pert chamber-maid than
+a maid of honour.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That you can easily learn; simply because I hoped,
+by coming along this lonely path, to escape the eloquent
+tongues of certain ladies," replied Herr von Walde drily.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, how cross you are!  Heaven shield us from such
+an irritable birthday hero!" cried the lady, shuddering,
+and retreating a few paces with a comical assumption of
+terror.  "It was a mistake that we did not come to you
+to-day with funereal faces, and muffled to the eyes in black
+crape!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She pouted, and, taking Hollfeld's arm, would have
+dragged him forward; but he, strangely enough, seemed
+inclined, for the first time in his life, to set his cousin's
+wishes at defiance.  He walked on slowly, and as if
+weary of existence, peering right and left into the bushes,
+apparently intensely interested in every stone in the
+pathway, every squirrel that ran swiftly past.  Then he began
+a conversation with his companion, whose answers
+absorbed his attention so entirely that he paused and stood
+still to listen to them.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Herr von Walde muttered something between his teeth;
+Elizabeth could not understand it; but the hostile glance
+that he cast after his cousin showed how the behaviour
+of the latter incensed him.  He said not another word to
+her.  He turned slowly towards her, and she felt that he
+continued to regard her steadfastly, but she was unable
+to lift her eyes to his.  Had she done so he must have
+discovered on the spot how greatly she was moved by
+the strange words that he had just whispered to her
+with so much emotion in his voice.  One look would
+have betrayed the conflict within her, and then,—she
+could not pursue the thought,—he would doubtless have
+repented the simple wish that he had expressed.  Thus
+deeply agitated, it was natural enough that the young
+girl's eyelids fell low over her eyes, and that she failed
+to observe the inaudible sigh that escaped her companion,
+or mark how all signs of irritation vanished from his
+features to give place to the shade of melancholy that was
+so wont to rest upon his brow.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A faint and dying trumpet note, which was doubtless
+the result of the impatience of the musicians who were
+waiting upon the roof of the tower, betrayed the close
+vicinity of the scene of festivity.  And soon a buzz and
+noise, as of some neighbouring gypsy encampment, broke
+upon their ears; the path grew broader, gay throngs were
+seen fluttering through the bushes, and suddenly a loud
+flourish of bugles and trumpets sounded over their heads.
+Elizabeth availed herself of the opportunity to slip her
+hand from the arm of her conductor and to lose herself
+in the crowd that gathered around the lord of the feast;
+while a young girl, habited as a Dryad, and accompanied
+by four other wood-nymphs, approached, and, in limping
+hexameters, welcomed him to the forest.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, von Walde has gotten rid of his Dulcinea at the
+right moment.  I don't see the girl at all, now," the
+Countess Falkenberg whispered smilingly to Count
+Wildenau, who was sitting beside her upon a kind of raised
+dais, beneath the shade of a group of oaks.  "He will never
+forgive the baroness and our flippant Cornelia for so
+stupidly forcing him into playing the knight, even for
+a few moments, to such a creature.  My child," and
+she turned to Helene; seated at her right, who was
+anxiously searching the crowd with troubled eyes, "when
+those people release him we must take him in here among
+us, and do everything in our power to make him forget
+the provoking beginning of the festival."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene nodded mechanically.  Apparently she had only
+heard half of what the lady had whispered in her ear.
+Her poor little figure, enveloped in a heavy, light-blue
+silk, leaned helplessly and wearily back in her huge
+armchair, and her cheeks were whiter than the lily-wreath
+that crowned her brow.'</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Meanwhile Elizabeth had encountered in the throng
+Dr. Fels and his wife.  The latter immediately took the
+young girl under her care, that they might not be
+separated again.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Only stay until the dancing begins," she replied to
+Elizabeth's remark that the moment seemed to have
+arrived when she could slip away unnoticed, and go home.
+"I do not wonder that you wish to leave as soon as
+possible," she added, with a smile.  "We, too, shall not stay
+long.  I am anxious about my children at home.  I made
+a great sacrifice to my husband's position in coming at
+all.  Herr von Walde, to whom you are assigned for the
+day by lot, does not dance.  So never fear, you will be
+released."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly the crowd separated.  From the top of the
+tower sounded a grand march, and while the gentlemen
+sought the shade of the trees, the ladies, according to
+the rules of the feast, hastened to provide them with
+refreshments from the tent.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Herr von Walde walked slowly across the sward, his
+hands clasped behind him, talking with the
+military-inspector Busch, by his side.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"My dear Herr von Walde, now pray come to us!"
+the Countess Falkenberg cried out to him, extending
+her hand with an air almost caressing.  "I have kept
+such a charming place here for you.  Come, rest upon
+your well-earned laurels.  'Tis true, all the young ladies
+present are disposed of by lot, but here are our fair
+and lovely wood-nymphs all ready to wreathe your
+goblet, and furnish you from the tent with all that your
+heart can desire."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am deeply touched by your kindness and care for
+me, gracious lady," the gentleman replied, "but I cannot
+think that Fräulein Ferber will leave me to appeal to the
+general sympathy."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He spoke loudly, and turned to Elizabeth, who was
+standing quite near.  She had heard every word, and
+instantly walked quietly towards him, placing herself at his
+side, as though she were by no means inclined to delegate
+to others one jot of her duty.  As he saw her approach
+him thus, something of a joyful surprise lit up his
+countenance.  He cast an answering glance at the face that,
+unembarrassed now by those around, looked smilingly
+up at him.  Strangely enough, he seemed entirely to forget
+the charming place that the countess had reserved for
+him, for, after a slight obeisance to her stately ladyship
+and her court of young ladies, he offered his arm to
+Elizabeth, and conducted her to the shade of a giant oak,
+where Doctor Fels had just provided comfortable places
+for his wife and himself.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Now, that is carrying his revenge a little too far,"
+said the great lady, with irritation, turning for sympathy
+to Count Wildenau and the five disconcerted Dryads.
+"He really throws scorn upon the entire fête by taking
+so much notice of that young person.  I begin to be
+really vexed with him.  No one is more ready than I to
+grant that he is entirely right to be angry, but I really
+think that he should not allow himself to be so carried
+away by his indignation as to forget those of his guests
+who have had no share in the absurdities of the baroness
+or of von Quittelsdorf.  I'll wager that that little fool
+there attributes his attentions to the influence of her
+beautiful eyes."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The small band of amiable Dryads shot annihilating
+looks at Elizabeth, who was quietly proceeding to the
+refreshment tent, whence she presently issued with a flask
+of champagne and four glasses, which she placed upon
+the table beneath the oak, where Herr von Walde was
+sitting with the doctor and his wife.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Our young ladies to-day are wearing perfect flower
+gardens upon their heads," said Frau Fels, as the young
+girl approached the table.  "Fräulein Ferber alone is
+as destitute of ornament as Cinderella.  I cannot have
+it so."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She took two roses from the large bouquet which she
+held in her hand, and stood up to place them in
+Elizabeth's hair.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Stop, I pray you," cried Herr von Walde, detaining
+her hand, "nothing should adorn that hair but orange
+blossoms."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But they are only worn by brides," said the doctor's
+wife naively.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I know that well," he replied quietly; and as if he
+had said the most natural thing in the world, he filled
+the glasses, and turned to Dr. Fels.  "Clink glasses with
+me, doctor," he said; "I drink to the welfare of the
+saviour of my life—of Gold Elsie of Castle Gnadeck!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The doctor smiled, and the glasses clinked with a loud
+ring.  At this signal, a group of gentlemen approached,
+glasses in hand.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You come at the right moment, gentlemen," the lord
+of the feast cried out to them.  "Drink with me to the
+fulfilment of my dearest wish!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A loud "vivat" resounded through the air, and the
+glasses clinked merrily.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Scandalous!" cried the old court lady, and dropped
+her fork, with its choice morsel, upon her plate; "really,
+they are conducting themselves over there like students
+at a carouse!  I am positively shocked!  What an
+unseemly noise!  Actually the mob in the street is better
+behaved when they shout 'vivats' to our gracious Prince.
+Apropos, my love," she continued, turning to Helene, "I
+observe that your brother seems quite intimate with
+Doctor Fels."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"He esteems him highly as a thoroughly upright man
+of great scientific attainments," replied Helene.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That is all very well,—but he certainly cannot be
+aware that the man just now is in very bad odour at
+court.  Only imagine, he has had the inconceivable
+insolence to refuse our beloved Princess Catharine——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes; I know that story," said Fräulein von Walde,
+interrupting the irritated lady; "my brother related the
+circumstance to me himself a few days ago."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"How!—is it possible that the facts are known to him,
+and that he has so little regard for the sentiments of the
+court,—which has always distinguished him so highly!
+Incredible!  I assure you, dear child, my conscience
+pricks me sorely; I shall scarcely be able to lift my eyes
+in the presence of their Serene Highnesses, when they
+arrive in L——, at the thought of having been in the
+society here of that impertinent creature."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene shrugged her shoulders, and left the lady to her
+qualms of conscience and a brimming glass of champagne,
+with which she probably intended to fortify herself in
+anticipation of the dreaded arrival.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the society of this lady Fräulein von Walde suffered
+all the galling annoyance that conventionalities
+inflict;—she was obliged to listen, with an amiable and interested
+smile, to a thousand wretched trifles, while her heart
+was tortured with pain; indeed, only just such a person
+as the Countess Falkenberg, who sought and found her
+highest earthly happiness in a gracious glance from a
+Princely eye, a person whose whole intellectual capacity
+was exercised in standing sentinel before the domain of
+etiquette and in guarding religiously the hardly-won
+prestige of her social position,—only such a one could have
+been blind to the signs of the deepest suffering in the
+countenance of the younger lady.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Hollfeld had not only been so inattentive as to leave
+Helene, upon her arrival at this spot, to the care of Count
+Wildenau, he had even, upon his tardy appearance,
+omitted all explanation or apology for his delay, and had finally
+seated himself beside her in a sullen and abstracted mood.
+She thought him strangely altered, and she racked her
+restless heart and brain with vain surmises.  At first her
+suspicions rested upon Cornelie, who, true to her
+mercurial temperament, fluttered hither and thither like a
+will-o'-the-wisp, talking and laughing incessantly.  But she
+was soon reassured upon this point, for she could not
+catch a single glance of Hollfeld's directed towards the
+coquettish and graceful court beauty.  The anxious
+inquiries that she made of him were answered in
+monosyllables.  She beckoned to one of the servants who was
+bearing past a tray of delicacies, and herself placed them
+before Hollfeld,—but he did not eat a morsel, and only
+swallowed in quick succession several glasses of fiery wine
+which he procured for himself at the refreshment tent.
+This careless conduct, which she now observed for the
+first time, caused her unspeakable pain.  At last she was
+silent, and closed her eyes as though fatigued; no one
+noticed the crystal drops trembling on their lashes.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly a shadow was cast upon the universal merriment,
+which had been all the more unrestrained from the
+fact that the lord of the feast, usually so grave and serious,
+had joined in it so cordially,—at least Elizabeth felt
+convinced that the face of the butler, Lorenz, who now
+appeared in the distance, boded no good.  The old man took
+the greatest pains to attract his master's attention without
+being seen by the other guests.  At last he succeeded.
+Herr von Walde arose, and stepped aside with him into
+the thicket, while the group of gentlemen around him
+dispersed.  He soon returned, with marks of dismay in
+his countenance.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I have just received sad news, which will compel me
+to leave you immediately," he said, in a low voice, to
+the doctor.  "Herr von Hartwig, in Thalleben, one of
+my oldest friends, has met with a terrible accident; the
+injury is fatal; they write me that he cannot live a day
+longer.  He summons me to him that he may entrust his
+young children to my care.  I pray you inform the
+Baroness Lessen of my departure, and its cause; she will
+see that the festivities are not interrupted.  Let my sister
+and my guests suppose that I am called away for a few
+minutes by some trifling matter of business, and will
+return hither shortly.  I shall not be missed after the
+dancing begins."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The doctor went instantly to find the baroness.  His
+wife had strayed away from the spot a few moments
+before, so Elizabeth was left alone with Herr von Walde.
+He turned to her quickly:</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I thought we should not part from each other to-day
+without the conclusion of my birthday greeting," he said,
+while striving to meet her eyes, which shyly avoided his,
+"but I seem to be one of those unfortunate ones whose
+unlucky stars snatch from them the prize when it seems
+almost within their grasp."  He endeavoured to give an
+air of humour to his words, but they only sounded the
+more bitter.  "However, I submit," he continued, in a
+determined tone; "I must go.  It cannot be helped, but
+my duty may be made easier and sweeter for me by a
+promise from you.  Do you remember the words which
+you lately repeated after me?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I do not forget so quickly."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, that encourages me greatly!  There is a fairy
+tale which tells of a realm of inexhaustible riches and
+endless delights, revealed by a single word.  Such a word
+the conclusion of your greeting can be to me.  Will you
+aid me in having it uttered?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"How can I help you to the attainment of riches and
+delights?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That is my affair.  I do most earnestly entreat you
+at this moment to make no further attempt at evasion,
+for time presses.  Let me ask you,—will you endeavour to
+retain in your memory, during my absence, the beginning
+of that birthday greeting?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And will you be ready, when I return, to hear the
+conclusion?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Good; in the midst of the sorrow and gloom to
+which I am summoned there will be a glimpse of clear
+blue sky above me, and for you——may my good angel
+whisper in your ear the word that will unlock that fairy
+realm for me.  Farewell!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He gave her his hand, and disappeared upon the path
+leading directly to the castle.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth stood still for a few moments in a state of
+delicious stupefaction, from which she was roused by the
+surprise of the doctor's wife at finding the gentlemen
+gone.  Elizabeth told her what had happened, and the
+doctor shortly returned and related that the baroness had
+been greatly piqued that her cousin had not considered
+it worth his while to inform her in person of the cause
+of his departure.  The unlucky doctor had been obliged
+to bear the brunt of the lady's ill humour, which had
+vented itself in several biting remarks, but he had been
+so discourteous as to allow them to pass him by
+without in the least disturbing his serenity.  He seated
+himself at the table and began to eat with an excellent
+appetite.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Meanwhile Elizabeth went to take leave of Fräulein
+von Walde.  There was nothing now to detain her any
+longer.  She longed to be alone with her thoughts, to
+recall undisturbed every word that he had spoken, and
+to ponder upon its meaning.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Are you going?" asked Helene, as Elizabeth stood
+behind her chair and bade her farewell.  "What does my
+brother say to that?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Rudolph has been summoned to the castle upon some
+business matter," the baroness, who just now appeared,
+answered in Elizabeth's stead.  "Fräulein Ferber is
+released from all necessity of remaining any longer."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene cast a glance of displeasure at the speaker.
+"I cannot see why," she said.  "His business cannot
+detain him long, he will certainly return."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Probably," rejoined the baroness; "but he may be
+delayed quite late.  Fräulein Ferber, meanwhile, will be
+very much fatigued in a circle where she is such an utter
+stranger."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Has my brother released you?"  Helene turned to
+Elizabeth, hardly allowing the baroness to complete her
+sentence.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes," answered she, "and I pray you to allow me to
+take my departure."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>During this short dialogue the Countess Falkenberg
+leaned back and measured Elizabeth from head to foot
+with her cold, piercing eyes; but Hollfeld arose and
+departed without saying a word.  Fräulein von Walde
+looked after him with an air of anxious discontent, and
+at first did not reply to Elizabeth's request; but at last,
+with evident absence of mind, she held out her hand and
+said, "Well, then, go, dear child, and a thousand thanks
+for your kind assistance to-day."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth took a hasty leave of Doctor Fels and his
+wife, and then entered the forest with a light heart.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She breathed more freely as the throng was left behind
+her, and as a few sounding chords concluded the waltz
+whose bewildering notes had for a short distance
+accompanied her.  She could now yield herself up undisturbed
+to the magic that had laid so sweet a spell upon her
+entire mind and being, and forced her to listen still to the
+tones of that voice which had died upon her ear, ensnaring
+her heart with its thrilling melody, and at the sound of
+which all the suggestions of maidenly reserve, all the
+arguments of her understanding, vanished.  She called to
+mind how passively she had followed him, although her
+deeply offended pride had prompted her instantly to
+leave the circle where she seemed to be so unwelcome a
+guest; she still experienced the delight with which she
+had hastened to his side when he had so emphatically
+declared, before all present, that he belonged to her for
+the day, and would accept of no substitute in her place.
+He might have conducted her to the end of the world,—she
+would have followed him blindly with unhesitating
+reliance and the most entire abandonment of herself to
+his guidance.  And her parents?  She understood now
+how a daughter could forsake father and mother to follow
+a man whose path in life had been widely separated from
+her own, leading, perhaps, in directly an opposite
+direction,—a man who had known nothing of the inclinations,
+influences, occurrences great and small, by which every
+fibre of her life had been previously intertwined with the
+life of her family.  Two months before, all this would
+have been an inexplicable riddle to her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She turned into a path which she had often trodden
+with Miss Mertens.  It led, by many a narrow winding,
+through the thicket, out upon the broad path which
+traversed the forest, and for some distance formed the
+boundary line between the Prince's domain and the estate
+of Herr von Walde.  On the other side of this broad path
+opened the wide road which led through the forest to her
+uncle's Lodge.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Lost in her day-dreams, Elizabeth did not hear the sound
+of hasty footsteps approaching; she therefore started in
+alarm when she heard her name pronounced, close to her,
+by a man's voice.  Hollfeld stood just behind her.  She
+suspected why he had followed her, and she felt her heart
+beat quickly, but she collected herself, and, standing aside,
+made room for him to pass her in the narrow pathway.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, that was not what I wished, Fräulein Ferber,"
+he said smiling, and in a tone of such familiarity as deeply
+offended her.  "I wished to have the pleasure of
+accompanying you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I thank you," she coldly replied, "it would be giving
+you needless trouble; I always greatly prefer walking
+alone in the forest."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And have you no fear?" he asked, stepping so close
+to her that she felt his hot breath upon her cheek.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Only of unwelcome companionship," she replied,
+retaining her self-possession by an effort.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah! here is the same dignified reserve again in which
+you always entrench yourself with me; and wherefore?
+I shall soon put an end to it, however.  To-day, at least,
+I shall not respect it as I have hitherto been forced to
+do,—I must speak to you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Is what you have to say of such consequence as to
+require you to absent yourself from your friends and the
+fête?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes; it is a wish upon which my life depends; it
+pursues me day and night; I have been ill and wretched at
+the idea that it may never be gratified—I——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the mean time Elizabeth had accelerated her pace.
+It was hateful to her,—the presence of this man, in whose
+eyes glowed all the passion which he had hitherto partly
+repressed and which had already inspired her with such
+deep aversion and disgust; but she was perfectly
+conscious that absolute self-possession was her only weapon,
+and therefore she interrupted him, while her lips quivered
+with the sickly semblance of a smile.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah!" she said, "our practisings, then, have had most
+desirable results; you wish my assistance in music, if I
+understand you rightly?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You misunderstand me intentionally," he exclaimed.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Accept the misunderstanding as an act of forbearance
+on my part," said Elizabeth seriously; "I should else be
+obliged to say much to you which it might please you
+still less to hear."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Go on, I pray.  I know your sex sufficiently well to
+be quite aware that they delight in wearing the mask of
+coldness and reserve for awhile,—their favours are all
+the more welcome.  I do not grudge you the pleasure of
+this innocent coquetry, but then——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth stood for one moment dumb and stupefied at
+his insolence; such hateful words had never before
+shocked her ears.  Shame and indignation drove the
+blood to her face, and she sought in vain for terms in
+which to punish such unexampled temerity.  He
+interpreted her silence otherwise.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I knew it," he cried triumphantly.  "I see through
+you; the blush of detection becomes you incomparably!
+You are beautiful as an angel!  Never have I seen so
+perfect a form as yours!  Ah! you know well enough that
+you made me your slave the first time I saw you; since
+then, I have languished at your feet.  What shoulders
+and what arms!  Why have you hitherto veiled them so
+enviously?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>An indignant exclamation broke from Elizabeth's lips:</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"How dare you," she cried loudly and violently,
+"offer me these insults!  If you have not understood me
+hitherto, let me tell you now, clearly and distinctly, that
+your society, which you force upon me thus, is hateful to
+me, and that I wish to be alone."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Bravo! that authoritative tone becomes you
+excellently well," he said, with a sneer; "the noble blood
+that you inherit from your mother shows itself now.
+What have I done to make you suddenly play this
+indignant part?  I have told you that you are beautiful,
+but your mirror must tell you the same thing fifty times
+a day, and I do not believe that you break it for the
+telling."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth turned her back upon him contemptuously,
+and walked quickly onward.  He kept pace with her,
+and seemed quite sure of a final victory.  She had just
+reached the broad forest-road when a carriage dashed
+past.  A man's head appeared at the window, but at
+sight of her was drawn back quickly, as though surprised.
+He looked out once more, as if to convince himself that
+he had seen correctly, and then the carriage vanished
+around a sharp turn in the road.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth involuntarily extended her arms after the
+retreating carriage.  Its inmate well knew how she
+detested Hollfeld; after the declaration that she had made
+to him a few hours before, how could he doubt that she
+was most unwillingly in the society of this man?  Could
+he not delay his journey for one moment, to free her from
+such odious importunity?</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Hollfeld observed her action.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Aha!" he cried, with a malicious laugh, "that looked
+almost tender.  If it were not for my cousin's seven and
+thirty years, I might actually be jealous!  Perhaps you
+supposed that he would immediately descend from his
+vehicle and gallantly offer you his arm to escort you to
+your home!  You see he is too conscientious; he denies
+himself that indulgence, and prefers to fulfil a sacred
+duty.  He is an iceberg, for whom no woman possesses
+a single charm.  You owe his behaviour to you to-day,
+which was so very courteous, not to your enchanting eyes,
+O bewitching Gold Elsie, but to his desire to provoke my
+honoured mamma."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And does nothing deter you from ascribing such
+mean motives to the man whose hospitality you enjoy so
+freely?" cried Elizabeth, provoked.  She had determined
+not to reply to him again by a single syllable, in hopes
+that she might thus weary out his pertinacity; but the
+manner in which he spoke of Herr von Walde overcame
+her self-control.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Mean?" he repeated.  "You express yourself strongly.
+I only call it a little revenge which he was fully justified
+in taking.  And as for his hospitality,—I am only using
+now what will be all my own at some future period; I
+cannot see that it should alter my opinion of my cousin.
+Besides, I am the one to sacrifice myself, I deserve all the
+gratitude.  Is my devotion and attention to Fräulein von
+Walde to go for nothing?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It must be a hard task to pluck a few flowers and
+carry them to a poor invalid!" said Elizabeth ironically.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Aha! you are, as I am happy to observe, jealous
+of these little attentions of mine," he cried triumphantly.
+"Did you seriously suppose for one moment that
+I could really be in love with her, while my sense of
+beauty was so perpetually outraged?  I esteem my cousin,
+but I never forget for one instant that she is a year older
+than I, that she limps, is crooked, and——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Detestable!"  Elizabeth interrupted him, beside herself
+with the abhorrence he inspired; she hastily crossed
+the broad forest-road.  He followed her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Detestable, say I, too," he continued, endeavouring to
+keep pace with her; "especially when I see your
+Hebeform by her side.  And now I beg you, do not run so
+fast; let there be the peace between us of which I dream
+day and night."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He suddenly passed his arm around her waist and
+forced her to stand still, while his glowing face, with eyes
+sparkling with unholy fire, approached her own.  At first
+she gazed at him speechless and stupefied, then a
+shudder convulsed her frame, and with a gesture of utter
+aversion she pushed him from her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't dare to touch me again!" she cried in a clear
+ringing voice,—and at the same moment she heard the
+loud barking of a dog near her.  She turned her head in
+joyful surprise towards the spot whence the noise proceeded.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Hector!  Hector! here, good dog!" she called; and
+the forester's huge hound burst through the thicket and
+fawned upon her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"My uncle is not far off," she turned coldly and quietly
+to her discomfited companion; "he will be here in a
+moment.  As you can hardly desire that I should request
+him to rid me of your society, I advise you to return
+immediately to the castle."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And, in fact, he stood still like a coward, while she,
+accompanied by the dog, proceeded towards her home.
+Hollfeld stamped his feet in his rage, and cursed the
+blind passion that had robbed him of all prudence.  He
+did not for one instant imagine that he could really be
+disagreeable to Elizabeth,—he, the pet of society, whose
+slightest word, were it only an invitation to dance, made
+such a sensation in the little world of L——, and was
+so often an occasion of envy and discord among the ladies!
+The idea was absurd.  It was far more likely that the
+daughter of the forester's clerk was a coquette, who
+intended to make conquest as difficult as possible for him.
+He had no faith in the existence of that virgin purity
+of soul which made Elizabeth thus insensible, and the
+magic of which affected even him most powerfully,
+although he did not understand its influence.  He had no
+faith in the sacred reserve of a young girl's inner life, and
+therefore could not possibly conceive of the instinctive
+aversion which his selfish, unprincipled nature inspired.
+He reproached himself angrily for having been too
+sudden and violent, thus defeating his own ends, and
+deferring indefinitely the accomplishment of his hopes.  He
+wandered about in the forest for an hour before he could
+master his emotions; for the guests, who were still dancing
+on the green before the convent tower whence the gay
+music reached his ears, must not suspect the volcano
+seething beneath that cold and interesting exterior.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth had apparently walked away with a firm,
+decided step, but she took care to look neither to the
+right nor the left, lest she should suddenly see his hated
+face beside her.  At last she ventured to stand still and
+look around her.  He had disappeared.  With a sigh of
+relief, she leaned against the trunk of a tree to collect
+her thoughts, while Hector stood beside her sagely
+wagging his tail, seeming thoroughly to understand that he
+was playing the part of her protector.  Doubtless he had
+been taking a forest walk for his own amusement, for
+there were no signs of his master.  Elizabeth felt her
+knees tremble beneath her.  Her terror, when Hollfeld
+had clasped her waist, had been extreme.  In her
+innocence she had never imagined such rudeness, and hence
+his sudden touch had made her for one moment rigid with
+horror.  She shed bitter tears of shame as she recalled
+Herr von Walde's image, not clothed in the gentleness of
+the last few hours, but stern and reserved.  She thought
+she should scarcely dare ever to look up at him again
+since that wretch had touched her.  All her happy
+visions lay shattered at her feet.  This unhappy
+encounter with Hollfeld had ruthlessly brought her back
+to reality.  What he had said of Herr von Walde, coarse
+and slanderous as it was, had revived much in her mind
+which she had once believed, and considered as a bar
+to her growing interest in him.  She thought of his
+invincible pride of descent, of his self-renouncing love for
+his sister, and of the universal opinion that his heart was
+cold as ice where women were concerned.  All the gay
+brilliant dreams which had hovered around her path
+through the forest now folded their wings and vanished
+beneath the searching gaze of her awakened consciousness.
+She could hardly tell what it was that formerly
+made her so happy.  Was it not most likely that only a
+strong sense of justice had induced him to show her such
+gentle kindness and consideration to-day,—to protect her
+from the insolent annoyance of his relatives?  Had he not
+in like manner protected Miss Mertens, and endeavoured to
+indemnify her for the injustice that she had encountered
+beneath his roof?  And the birthday greeting!  Ah, she
+must not think of that, or its unfinished conclusion, for
+then all her dead visions would instantly celebrate a
+blissful resurrection!</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>As she entered the Lodge Sabina came towards her, pale
+as ashes, in great distress.  She pointed mutely to the
+door of the dwelling-room.  Within the apartment her
+uncle was speaking loudly, while he was pacing heavily to
+and fro.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh dear! oh dear!" whispered Sabina, "everything is
+going wrong in there.  Bertha has kept out of your
+uncle's way most carefully for the last few weeks, but a
+little while ago she was standing at the great door and
+did not see that he was coming into the yard.  He gave
+her no time to run off, but took her by the hand and led her
+instantly into the room there.  She was as white as the
+wall, in her fear of him,—but that didn't help her,—go she
+must.  Ah, Lord have mercy upon me!  I should not like
+to have the Herr Forester for a father confessor——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A loud burst of sobbing, that sounded almost like a
+stifled shriek, interrupted Sabina's whispering.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Better so!" they now heard the forester say in a far
+gentler tone of voice; "at least that is a sign that you are not
+quite hardened.  And now speak out!  Remember that I
+stand here in place of your good parents.  If you have a
+sorrow confide it to me; be sure that if it has befallen you
+without fault on your part, I will faithfully assist you to
+bear it."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Only stifled sobs ensued.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You cannot speak?" asked the forester after a short
+pause.  "I know of a certainty that there is no physical
+obstacle in the way of your speaking, for you talk to
+yourself continually when you believe yourself
+unobserved; you must be putting some force upon
+yourself,—have you made a vow against the use of your
+tongue?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Probably an assenting nod must have confirmed him in
+this supposition, for he continued, with great irritation,
+"What an insane idea!  Do you suppose that you can
+do your Heavenly Father good service by renouncing one
+of his best gifts, the power of speech?  And are you
+going to be silent all your life long?  No!  You will
+speak, then, if that which you hope to effect by means of
+your vow fails to come to pass?  Very well, I cannot
+force you to speak,—then endure alone what depresses
+you and makes you so unhappy, for that you are unhappy
+any one can read in your face.  But let me tell you that
+you will find an inexorable judge in me, if it should ever
+appear that you have done anything that shuns the light
+and should not be told to honest men; for in your
+boundless arrogance you have hitherto rejected every
+well-meant piece of advice, every attempt to guide and direct
+you, making it impossible for me to care for you as it is
+my duty and desire, standing as I do in the place of your
+parents.  I will bear with you a little longer; but should
+I find you once leaving the house after nightfall, this is
+your home no longer,—you must go.  And let me tell you
+also, to-morrow I shall send for the doctor to tell me
+whether you are really ailing; you have looked wretchedly
+for the last few weeks.  Now go!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The door opened, and Bertha staggered out.  She did
+not notice Sabina and Elizabeth, and when she heard the
+door close behind her, she suddenly wrung her hands
+above her head in the speechless agony of despair, and
+rushed up the stairs as though hunted by the furies.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That girl has something on her conscience, whatever
+it may be," said Sabina, shaking her head.  Elizabeth
+went in to her uncle.  He was leaning against the
+window, and drumming upon one of the panes with his
+fingers, a common habit with him when irritated.  He
+looked very gloomy, but his features lighted up as
+Elizabeth entered.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm glad you are come, Gold Elsie!" he exclaimed;
+"I need to see some true, pure face beside me; I
+shudder at the black eyes of that girl who has just gone out.
+Never mind, I have taken up my domestic cross again,
+and shall bear it on for awhile; I cannot see the child
+cry, even though I were sure that the effect of every tear
+was exactly calculated."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth was heartily glad that the dreaded encounter
+between Bertha and her uncle was well over.  She hastened
+to divert his thoughts entirely from the unfortunate
+girl by describing to him the festivities she had just
+witnessed, telling him cursorily of Herr von Walde's sudden
+departure.  She informed him also of Linke's dreadful
+end, at which, however, he was not greatly surprised, as
+he had expected some such termination to the affair.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He accompanied Elizabeth to the garden gate.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Be very careful not to ring too loudly at the gate in
+the wall," he warned her as she left him.  "Your mother
+had an attack of headache to-day, and has gone to bed.
+I was up there a little while ago."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth ran up the mountain in some anxiety, but
+Miss Mertens, leading little Ernst by the hand, came to meet
+her on the sward before the castle, and soothed her fears.
+The attack was over, and her mother was enjoying a
+refreshing sleep when Elizabeth softly went to her bedside.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>It was already twilight; the most profound quiet
+reigned throughout the house,—the striking clocks had
+been stopped,—the window shutters were closed that the
+rustling of the leaves without might not be heard,—not
+even a fly buzzed,—for Ferber had tenderly taken care
+that nothing should disturb the stillness that surrounded
+the sleeper.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>If her mother had been sitting in her arm-chair in the
+window recess of the dwelling-room behind the protecting
+curtains, looking upon the green domain without,
+above which stretched the calm evening skies,—the dear
+familiar corner would have become a confessional, where
+Elizabeth, kneeling upon the cushion at her mother's
+feet, would have poured out her overcharged mind and
+heart.  But now she thrust back her precious secret
+into the inmost recesses of her soul: and who knows
+whether she will ever find courage to reveal what must
+fill her mother's heart with the keenest anxiety?</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-xvi"><span class="large">CHAPTER XVI.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>The ruins of Gnadeck might well listen in amazement
+to the strange noise which had resounded through their
+crumbling walls from the first peep of dawn.  It was
+not the familiar sound of destruction caused by furious
+storms, or the melting of the snow when spring appeared.
+Then the water softly excavated little gutters between
+the stones, and lifted from its niche, without any other
+warning, one block of granite after another, that, the
+instant before its final downfall, looked proudly and
+threateningly down upon the world; for its overthrow had been
+planned more secretly than that of a royal favourite or
+an unpopular ministry.  And then a violent storm would
+arise some midnight,—a mighty crash would come, and
+the rays of the rising sun would wander for the first
+time over walls and floors that they had never touched
+before.  There would be a huge pile of masonry heaped
+upon the pavement, and all through the day, with every
+gentle breeze, broken bits of mortar and little rills of sand
+would trickle down from the wound; but before long,
+tender grass would sprout from the jagged edges, and
+years, long years, would again ensue before the
+mischievous water beneath the green garment would prepare a
+new victim for the tempest.  It was a slow, scarcely
+perceptible decline.  The ruins might be as easy as the invalid
+whose disease, though incurable, may permit him to rival
+the Old Testament patriarchs in length of days.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>It was human hands to-day that were effecting the work
+of destruction.  With incredible speed and activity they
+dislodged stone after stone.  The old jutty, which had
+advanced so boldly for years, like a valiant sentinel
+keeping watch before this wing of the castle, presented a
+most deplorable appearance.  It had already been shorn
+of much of its height; its ivy mantle was torn, and dark
+window niches and mossy masonry came to light, which,
+perhaps, once were rich in stone carving.  The
+workmen were very diligent.  It interested them greatly,
+hazardous as was their task, to obtain a glimpse down
+into the dark nooks and corners of the old pile, that
+popular superstition had peopled with countless ghastly
+apparitions.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the afternoon, Frau Ferber was sitting upon the
+shady rampart with Miss Mertens and Elizabeth, when
+Reinhard, who, always made his appearance at a
+certain hour of the day, interrupted their reading.  He
+announced that Linke's body had been committed to the
+earth as privately as possible that morning, and that
+Fräulein von Walde had learned, through the carelessness of
+a servant, of the attempt upon her brother's life.  But
+he remarked, with some bitterness, that Herr von Walde's
+anxiety, lest his sister's fright upon hearing of the assault
+should have disastrous consequences, had been wholly
+unnecessary, since the lady had heard of it with entire
+composure, and even the terrible accident that had befallen
+Herr von Hartwig, whose wife was one of her friends,
+had apparently produced very little impression upon her.
+"But if the life of her fair-haired favourite had been in
+danger," he declared angrily, "she would most certainly
+have torn her chestnut curls.  That Herr von Hollfeld is
+utterly odious to me!  He has been walking about the
+house to-day, looking as if he would like to poison us
+all.  I'll wager that this charming mood of his is the
+cause of Fräulein von Walde's red and swollen eyes,
+which she tried to conceal from me when I met her in
+the garden just now."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At the mention of the hated name, Elizabeth bent low
+over her work.  The blood rushed to her face at the
+thought of Hollfeld's insolence the day before, of which
+she had not yet told her mother, for fear that it might
+cause a return of her headache; and perhaps there were
+other reasons for her silence; but she would not
+acknowledge to herself how much she dreaded lest her parents,
+upon learning of Hollfeld's rudeness, should prohibit her
+from going to Lindhof again, in which case all chance of
+seeing Herr von Walde would be at an end.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the mean time, the destruction of the jutty was
+going on uninterruptedly.  After awhile Ferber entered
+the garden.  He had been to the Lodge, and had brought
+the forester home with him to take coffee.  Ernst came
+running to them in a great state of excitement.  The
+child had obediently forborne to transgress the bounds
+which his father had set for him, that he might not be
+exposed to danger; but he had been looking on from
+his post of observation, following the progress of the
+workmen with the greatest interest.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Papa! papa!" he cried, "the mason wants to speak
+to you,—come right away; he says he has found something!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And in fact one of the workmen made signs to the
+brothers to come nearer.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"We have come to what seems to be a small chamber,"
+the man called down to them, "and, as well as I can see,
+there is a coffin in it.  Will you not examine into the
+matter, Herr Ferber, before we proceed?  You can come
+up here with entire safety; we have firm foothold."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Reinhard had heard the call and came hastily down
+the terrace steps.  A concealed apartment, containing a
+coffin!—the words were music to his antiquarian ears.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The three men cautiously ascended the ladder.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The workmen were standing just where the huge
+jutty sprang forth from the main building, and they
+pointed down to a tolerably large opening at their feet.
+Until now they had come upon no room that had been
+closed; the roof of the main building was partly gone,
+and standing upon this spot, you could look in all
+directions through a labyrinth of open rooms, half ruinous
+passages, and through great gaps in the floors down into
+the castle chapel.  The old ruins did not seem half so
+desolate from within as from without; the blue heavens
+peeped in everywhere, and the fresh breeze swept through
+as often as it would.  But now a space suddenly appeared
+at their feet surrounded by firm walls, and covered by a
+tolerably well-preserved ceiling.  As well as they could
+judge from where they stood, the room lay like a wedge
+between the chapel and the space behind.  At all events,
+there must be a window somewhere at the extreme
+corner formed by the wall of the jutty and that of the
+main building, for from that direction a weak reflection
+streamed in through coloured glass, and flickered upon
+the object which was dimly visible, and which the masons
+took for a coffin.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Immediately a ladder of greater length was procured,
+as the room was quite a high one, and one by one all
+went down in a state of highly-wrought expectation.
+In descending, there was within reach a wainscoted wall
+almost black with age.  The profusion of strange, rich
+carving that adorned it startled the eye.  Close to the
+ceiling a plain strip of wood, of much more modern date,
+had been nailed, upon which were still hanging some rags
+of black cloth; while the rest of what had once been the
+mourning drapery of the apartment lay in mouldering,
+shapeless heaps upon the floor.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Doubtless concealment had been the purpose of the
+room from the beginning, for there had been no heed
+paid to symmetry of form in its construction.  It
+represented an irregular triangle, and in one somewhat
+rounded corner was the very small window whose
+existence they had suspected.  It lay so close to the
+chapel that Reinhard's supposition that in old Catholic
+times the church treasures had been secreted here
+seemed most probable; all the more so as on one side
+five or six worn stone steps led down to a door in the
+chapel wall, which had been walled up from within.
+The window was just behind the evergreen oak, which
+pressed its thick branches against it, and the ivy had
+twined a tender lattice-work across the panes; but
+nevertheless the sun stole through the coloured glass in the
+graceful, delicate stone rosette, which was in a state of
+perfect preservation.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>It was in fact a coffin,—a small, narrow, leaden
+coffin,—standing out in strong contrast with the black velvet
+covering of its pedestal, which was thus found lonely and
+forgotten within these three walls.  At its head was a
+huge candelabrum, in the branches of which were still to
+be seen the remains of wax candles; but at its foot was
+a footstool, upon which lay a mandolin, its strings all
+broken.  It had been an old instrument in the hands of
+its last possessor, for the black colour of its neck was
+worn away in spots, and the sounding-board was slightly
+hollowed where the player had pressed her little fingers.
+At the approach of the intruders the last fragments of the
+withered heap of flowers fluttered down from the coffin,
+upon whose lid in gilt letters was inscribed the name "Lila."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Set in the thick wall of the most extensive side of the
+apartment was a kind of press, of dark oak, which
+Reinhard at first supposed had been appropriated to the
+safe-keeping of the priestly robes and ornaments.  He opened
+the doors, which stood ajar; as they shook in opening
+there was a rustle within, and little clouds of dust flew
+forth from a quantity of female garments hanging
+inside.  They formed a strange, fantastic wardrobe,—gay,
+and most coquettish in fashion, they contrasted
+oddly enough with the grave solemnity of their surroundings.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She who had worn these garments must have been a
+wonderfully small and delicate creature, for the silk
+skirts,—most of them bordered with embroidery in gold
+thread,—were as short as though made for a child; and
+the shape of the black and violet velvet bodices, with
+their silken ribbons and tinsel trimmings, must have
+fitted an exquisite, pliant, maiden waist.  Many, many
+years must have elapsed since a human being had breathed
+within these walls,—since any hand warm with life had
+touched these hidden objects.  The hooks in the press
+had, in some cases, pierced the mouldering stuffs; and
+the threads, which had once confined the pearls and
+spangles of the trimming, hung loose and broken.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Against one wall was placed a little table with a stone
+top.  Its legs, grown weak with age, appeared scarcely
+able to sustain it, and it leaned forward, endangering
+the safety of a casket that stood upon it.  This casket
+was a master-piece of workmanship in ivory and gold.
+The cover did not seem to be locked; it looked rather
+as if it had been lightly closed, in order to preserve a
+broad parchment which projected from the box and had
+obviously been arranged with the view of attracting
+attention.  It was yellow with age and covered deep,—as was
+all else,—with dust; but the large, stiff, black characters
+upon it were distinctly visible, and the name, "Jost von
+Gnadewitz," was perfectly legible.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Good Heavens! what have we here?" cried the
+forester, whose speech almost failed him with
+amazement "Jost von Gnadewitz!—the hero of Sabina's
+tale of her great-grandmother!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Ferber approached the table, and carefully raised the
+cover of the casket.  Within, upon a dark velvet
+cushion, lay ornaments of antique workmanship, bracelets,
+brooches, a necklace of gold coins, and several strings
+of costly pearls.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The parchment had fallen to the ground.  Reinhard
+picked it up, and offered to read the contents aloud.  It
+was, even for the time when it had been composed,—about
+two hundred years before,—very clumsily written, and
+very badly spelled.  The writer had evidently understood
+how to wield the hunting-spear better than the
+pen,—nevertheless an air of poesy breathed through the lines.
+They ran thus:</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Whoever you may be who are the first to enter this
+room, by all that is sacred to you, by everything that
+you love or that has a home in your heart, do not
+disturb her repose.  She lies there sleeping like a child.
+The sweet face beneath the dark curls smiles again now
+that death has touched it.  Once more, whoever you are,
+whether noble or beggar, descendant of hers or not, let
+my eyes be the last to rest upon her!</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I could not lay her in the dark, cold ground.  Here
+the golden light will play around her, and birds will
+alight upon the branches of the tree outside with the
+breath of the forest ruffling their feathers, while the songs
+that hushed her in her cradle gush from their throats.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The golden sunlight was quivering in the forest, and
+the birds were singing in the trees, when the graceful
+roe parted the bushes, and gazed with shy, startled eyes
+at the young huntsman who was lying in the shade.
+His heart beat quickly and wildly at sight of her; he
+threw his weapons from him, and pursued the maiden-form
+that fled before him.  She, the child of the forest,
+a daughter of that people which the curse of God
+pursues making them wanderers upon the face of the earth,
+with no home for their weary feet, not a foot of land that
+they can call their own whereon to lay their dying
+heads,—she had vanquished the heart of the proud,
+fierce huntsman.  Suing for her love, he haunted the
+camp of her tribe, day and night; he followed her
+footsteps like a dog, and entreated her passionately until she
+was touched, to leave her people and fly with him in
+secret.  In the silence of night he bore her away to his
+castle, and, alas! became her murderer.  He did not heed
+her prayers, when she was suddenly seized by the uncontrollable
+longing for her forest liberty.  As the prisoned
+bird flutters wildly about its cage, beating its delicate wings
+against the confining wires, so she wandered in despair
+through the halls which had once resounded to her
+intoxicating song and the delicious music of her lute, but
+which now only echoed to her sighs and complaints.  He
+saw her cheeks grow pale, saw her eyes averted from him
+in hate; his heart died a thousand deaths when she thrust
+him from her, and shuddered at his touch; despair
+possessed him, but he doubly bolted every door, and guarded
+them in deadly terror, for he knew that she was lost to him
+forever if once again her foot should press the woodland
+turf.  And then there came a time when she grew less
+restless,—'tis true she glided past him as though he were
+a shadow, a nothing,—she never lifted her eyes when he
+approached her and addressed her in the tenderest tones
+of entreaty,—it was long since she had spoken to him,
+and still no words passed her lips; but she no longer
+beat her tiny hands against the window-bars, tearing her
+hair, and calling with shrill shrieks upon those who passed
+through the forest without, enjoying all the sweets of
+liberty.  She no longer fled madly, like some hunted
+thing, through halls and corridors, nor mounted the castle
+wall to throw her fair body into the gloomy waters of
+the moat.  She sat beneath the evergreen oak with a sad,
+patient look upon her lily-white face; she knew of the
+life within her own,—she was about to become a mother.
+And when night came, and the huntsman bore her up the
+broad stairway in his arms,—she did not resist, but she
+turned her face from him, that his breath might not touch
+her cheek, that no glance of his loving eyes might fall
+upon her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And one day the pastor of Lindhof came to the
+castle.  The people declared that Jost, a lamb of his flock,
+had dealings with the devil, and he came to rescue the
+lost soul.  He was admitted, and saw the creature for
+whose sake the wild huntsman had renounced his merry
+life in the forest, and heaven itself.  Her beauty and
+purity touched him.  He spoke to her in gentle tones, and
+her heart, paralyzed with suffering, melted at his addresses.
+For the sake of the child that was to come, she was
+baptized, and the unholy tie that had bound her to her lover
+was hallowed by the sanction of the church.  And when
+her dark hour of pain had passed, she pressed her cold lips
+upon the brow of her child, and, with that kiss, her spirit
+burst its bonds,—she was free, free!  The triumph of that
+moment transfigured the earthly tenement from which the
+soul had departed.  The wretched man saw those
+glorious eyes darken in death; he writhed at her feet in an
+agony of remorse and despair, and implored her in vain
+for only one last glance of love.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The boy was christened, and received his father's
+name,—my baptismal name.  I gazed with a shudder into his
+eyes,—they are my eyes.  Together we have murdered her.
+My old servant, Simon, has taken the boy away.  I cannot
+live for him.  Simon says, and the pastor also, that no
+woman can be found willing to nourish my child at her
+breast, for, in the eyes of the people I am lost,—doomed
+eternally to hell-torments.  The wife of my forester,
+Ferber, has adopted the child without knowing whence it
+comes——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Here the reader paused, and looked up over the parchment
+at the brothers.  The forester, who, until now, had
+been leaning against the opposite wall listening with
+the greatest attention, suddenly stood by his side, and
+clutched his arm convulsively.  The colour left his
+sun-burnt cheeks for one moment.  It seemed as if his heart
+ceased to beat, so great was his agitation.  And Ferber
+also drew near, testifying in his face and gestures
+extreme surprise.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Go on, go on!" cried the forester at last, in stifled accents.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Simon laid him upon the threshold of the forest
+lodge," Reinhard read further, "and to-day he saw
+Ferber's wife kissing and tending him like her own little
+girl.  By the laws of my family, he has no claim upon
+the Gnadewitz estate, but my maternal inheritance will
+preserve him from want.  My directions I have confided,
+in a sealed packet, deposited in the town-house at L——,
+to the public authorities.  They will substantiate his claim
+to be my son and heir.  May he, as Hans Jost von Gnadewitz,
+found a new race.  The Almighty will provide kind
+hearts to protect his youth,—I cannot.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Everything which adorned that lovely form in happier
+days shall surround it in death, and yield to the same
+decay.  Her child has a claim upon her jewels, but my
+heart revolts at the thought that what has rested upon
+her dazzling brow, her pure neck, may perhaps be torn
+asunder and desecrated by faithless hands.  Better to
+leave all here to fade and fall to ruin.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Once more I implore you, whom chance may lead to
+this sanctuary, after the lapse of centuries
+perhaps,—honour the dead, and pray for me,</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>"JOST VON GNADEWITZ."</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>The two brothers clasped each other's hands, and,
+without a word, approached the coffin.  In their veins
+flowed the blood of that strange being who had once
+kindled to a flame the heart of the fierce, proud lord of
+the castle,—of that woman whose ardent soul, thirsting
+for freedom, exultingly fled from the idolized body which
+had crumbled to a little heap of ashes here in its narrow
+leaden tomb.  Two tall figures stood there, descendants
+of him who, with his dying mother's consecrating kiss
+upon his brow, was borne out into the forest, and laid
+upon the low threshold of a servant, while his nobly-born
+father, despair in his heart, rushed madly to death.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"She was the mother of our race," Ferber said at last,
+with much emotion, to Reinhard.  "We are the descendants
+of the foundling whose parentage has been a mystery
+until this hour, for the papers which would have
+established him in his rights were destroyed when the
+townhouse at L—— was burned down.  We must suspend
+work here for a few days," he said, turning to one of the
+masons, who, prompted by a pardonable curiosity, had
+descended the ladder half way, and, from this post of
+observation, had listened in speechless amazement to the
+unfolding of a tale which would afford a subject for
+winter evenings in the large, peasant spinning-rooms, for a
+long time to come.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Instead, you must prepare a grave to-morrow in the
+church-yard at Lindhof," the forester called up to him;
+"I will speak to the pastor about it afterwards."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He went again to the press, and looked at the
+garments that had once enveloped the delicate limbs of the
+gypsy maiden, and had evidently been adjusted with
+great care, that they might recall the times when they
+had been seen upon the beautiful Lila by the enraptured
+eyes of her lover.  Upon the floor of the press were
+ranged shoes.  The forester took up a pair of them;
+they were scarcely longer than the width of his broad
+hand,—only Cinderella's feet could ever have worn them.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I will take these to Elsie," he said, smiling, holding
+them carefully between his forefinger and thumb, "she will
+be surprised to find what a Liliputian her ancestress was."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Meanwhile Ferber, after brushing the dust from the
+mandolin, took it carefully under his arm, while Reinhard
+closed the jewel-box and lifted it from the table by the
+exquisitely wrought handle on the lid.  Thus the three
+men ascended the ladder again.  Arrived at the top, all
+the boards that they could procure were placed over the
+opening, so as to afford a temporary protection from
+wind and rain, and then they descended from their
+perilous position upon the summit of the ruin.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Below, the ladies had been awaiting them for some
+time, in a state of great expectation, and were not a
+little surprised at the strange procession that descended
+the ladder.  But not one word did they learn of what
+had been seen or heard, until the whole party were once
+more seated beneath the linden.  Then Reinhard placed
+the casket upon the table, described minutely the hidden
+apartment and its contents, and, at last producing the
+parchment, read again what we have already learned;
+of course with far greater fluency than before.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In breathless silence the ladies listened to these
+outpourings of a passionate, burning heart.  Elizabeth sat
+pale and still; but when Reinhard came to the words
+that suddenly threw such a glare of light upon the dim
+past of her family, she started up, and her eyes rested in
+speechless surprise upon the smiling face of her uncle,
+who was observing her narrowly.  Even Frau Ferber sat
+for awhile after the reader had finished, fairly dumb with
+amazement.  To her clear, calm mind, accustomed to
+reason carefully, this romantic solution of family
+questions, which had been unanswered for centuries, was
+almost incomprehensible.  But Miss Mertens, to whom
+the whole bearing of the discovery was explained by
+Ferber, as she did not even know the story of the
+foundling, clapped her hands above her head at such a
+revelation.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And does not this parchment give you a claim to your
+inheritance?" she asked quickly and eagerly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Undoubtedly," replied Ferber, "but how can we tell
+in what that maternal inheritance consisted?  The family
+has died out, the very name of Gnadewitz is extinct.
+Everything has passed into strange hands; who can tell
+to what we may lay claim?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, let all that rest," said the forester with decision;
+"such matters cost money, and in the end we might come
+into possession of only a few thalers.  Oh no! let it go!
+We have not starved yet."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth musingly took up the shoes which her uncle
+had placed before her.  The faded silk of which they were
+made was torn here and there, and showed perfectly the
+shape of the foot.  They had been much worn, but not
+apparently upon the soil of the forest; the soles showed
+no traces of such contact; probably they had covered the
+restless feet at the time of her imprisonment, "when she
+fled madly through halls and corridors like some hunted
+thing."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Aha!  Elsie, now we know where you got your slender
+waist and those feet that trip over the sward, scarcely
+bending the blades of grass," said her uncle.  "You are
+just such a forest-butterfly as your ancestress, and would
+flutter just so against the bars of your cage if you were
+shut up within locked doors; there is gypsy blood in your
+veins were you ten times Gold Elsie and though your
+skin is like a snowdrift.  There, put on those things, you
+will find that you can dance in them easily."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh no, uncle," cried Elizabeth deprecatingly, "they
+seem to me like sacred relics; I could not put them on
+without fearing that Jost's fiery black eyes might
+suddenly glare out at me."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Frau Ferber and Miss Mertens agreed with her, and the
+former declared that in her opinion the press, with all that
+it contained, ought to be carefully removed to some quiet,
+dry place, where it might be preserved untouched as a
+family relic until it fulfilled its destiny, which was to
+decay with all else that is mortal.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, with regard to the press, let it be as you say,"
+Reinhard here interposed; "but it seems to me that a
+different fate should await these articles."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He opened the casket.  The sunlight penetrating, its
+interior came flashing back in a thousand sparkling
+rays, dazzling the eyes that looked on.  Reinhard took
+out a necklace,—it was very broad, and of admirable
+design.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"These are brilliants of the purest water," he explained
+to the rest,—the necklace was set thick with precious
+stones,—"and these rubies here must have gleamed
+magnificently from the dark curls of the beautiful gypsy
+girl," he continued, as he took two pins from their velvet
+cushion with heads formed like lily-cups of red stones,
+from which chains, set thick with rubies, fell like a
+glittering little shower.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth, smiling, held a costly agraffe above her forehead.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And so you think, Herr Reinhard," she said, "that
+we should let all reverence for the past go, and
+recklessly adorn ourselves with these jewels?  What would
+my white muslin dress say if I should some day introduce
+it into such distinguished society?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The brilliants are exquisitely becoming to you,"
+replied Reinhard, smiling; "but to my mind a nosegay of
+fresh flowers would be far more suitable with the white
+muslin; and therefore I should advise that these precious
+stones be transformed at the jeweller's into shining coin."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Ferber nodded assentingly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What!  Reinhard," cried Miss Mertens, "do you think
+these family jewels should be sold?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Certainly," he replied; "it would be both foolish and
+sinful to let such capital lie idle.  The stones alone must
+be worth full seven thousand thalers, and then there are
+these very fine pearls, and this wrought gold, which will
+bring a very clever little sum besides."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Zounds!" exclaimed the forester; "let them go then
+on the spot,——See, Adolph," he continued more gently,
+and rested his arm upon his brother's shoulder, "Heaven
+has been kind to you here.  Did I not tell you that
+all would go smoothly with you in Thuringia, although
+I never dreamed that eight thousand thalers were
+waiting for you?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"For me?" cried Ferber with surprise.  "Does it not
+all belong to you as the elder?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"None of that!  What, in Heaven's name, should I do
+with the trash?  Am I to begin to invest capital in my
+old days?  I think I see myself at such work!  I have
+neither chick nor child in the world, hold an excellent
+office,—and when my old bones fail me, there is a pension
+for me, which, try as I may, I shall never be able to
+spend.  Therefore I resign my birthright in favour of the
+girl with the golden hair and Ernst, the rogue, who shall
+perpetuate our stock; I will not even have a mess of
+lentil pottage in exchange, for Sabina says it is not good
+with venison.  Don't touch me!" he cried, with a comic
+gesture of refusal, clasping his hands behind him, as Frau
+Ferber, with tears in her eyes, came to him with
+outstretched arms, and his brother would have remonstrated
+with him.  "It would be much better for you, sister-in-law,
+to go and see about our coffee.  It is really past
+hearing! four o'clock and not a drop of the usual
+refreshments, for the sake of which I dragged myself up here."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He accomplished his aim in diverting from himself all
+grateful acknowledgments.  Frau Ferber hastened into
+the house, accompanied by Elizabeth, and the others
+laughed.  The whole party were soon seated upon the
+terrace, busy with the brown, fragrant beverage.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, yes," said the forester, leaning comfortably back
+in his chair; "I never thought, when I awoke this
+morning, that I should lie down at night a Herr von
+Gnadewitz.  I shall gain a step in my profession, of
+course, instantly; that yellow parchment, with its crooked
+letters, has done for me in an instant what thirty years
+of hard service have failed to accomplish.  As soon as
+his Highness arrives in L—— I shall make my best
+bow, and introduce myself by my new name.  Zounds! how
+those people will stare!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A peculiar side glance was directed, as these words
+were spoken, towards Elizabeth, and at the same moment
+the speaker puffed away at his pipe so vigorously that
+his face was quite concealed by a thick cloud of smoke.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Uncle," cried his niece, "say what you will, I know
+that you can never intend to patch up again the shattered
+crest of the Gnadewitzes."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I can't see why not, 'tis a beautiful coat of arms, with
+chevrons, stars——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And a wheel covered with blood," interrupted
+Elizabeth.  "God forbid that we should swell the number
+of those who revive the sins of their ancestors to prove
+the antiquity of their race, and thus make nobility
+ignoble,—nothing in the world seems to me more detestable.  I
+should think that all those who have been tortured and
+hunted down in life by that pitiless, haughty race, would
+arise, like accusing ghosts, from their graves, if the
+name should ever be revived, beneath whose shelter such
+oppression and tyranny existed for centuries.  When I
+compare the two fathers,—one seeking death like a coward,
+never considering for an instant that his poor child had
+the most sacred claims upon him; the other, a poor
+servant, taking the outcast compassionately to his heart,
+and bestowing upon it his own honest name,—then I know
+well which was the noble, which name deserves to be
+perpetuated.  And think what sorrow that haughty race
+has caused my poor, dear mother."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"True enough, true enough," Frau Ferber declared
+with a sigh—"in the first place, I owe to it a stormy,
+unhappy childhood, for my mother was a beautiful,
+amiable girl, whom my father married against the will of
+his relatives, who could not forgive her ignoble
+extraction.  This misalliance was a source of endless
+suffering and annoyance to my poor mother, for my father had
+not sufficient strength of character to break with the chief
+of the Gnadewitz family, and live only for his wife.  This
+weakness on his part was the cause of constant strife
+between my parents, which I could not but be cognizant
+of.  And we"—here she held out her hand across the table
+to her husband—"we can never forget all we had to
+contend with before we could belong to each other.  I would
+not for the world return to the class who so often
+ruthlessly stifle every warm, humane sentiment, that outward
+rank and show may be preserved."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And you never shall return, Marie," said her husband,
+with a smile, as he pressed her hand.  He glanced
+mischievously at his brother, who was still puffing forth
+immense clouds of smoke, while he was doing his best,
+most unsuccessfully, to keep up the frown upon his
+brow.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah! my fine plans," he sighed at last, with a comical
+look of disappointment.  "Elsie, you are a cruel, foolish
+creature.  You forget what a fine life we should lead, if I
+had a position at court, and you were a fine lady.  There,
+does not that tempt you?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth shook her head, smilingly, but most decidedly</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And who knows," added Miss Mertens, "but that,
+before we could turn round, some noble knight, of
+stainless lineage, would bear away from old Gnadeck our
+high-born Elsie as his wife!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you think I would go with him?" cried Elizabeth,
+indignantly, her cheeks aglow.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And why not?—if you loved him."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, never," replied the girl in a suppressed voice,
+"not even if I loved him,—for I should then be all the more
+wretched in the consciousness that the prestige of my
+name had weighed heavier in the balance than my heart,
+that in the eyes of that man all aspiration after spiritual
+elevation and moral excellence was worthless in
+comparison with a phantom, which the miserable prejudices
+of men had tricked out with tinsel."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Frau Ferber gazed with surprise at her daughter,
+whose face showed evident signs of deep emotion.  The
+forester, on the other hand, held his pipe firmly between
+his teeth, and clapped his hands loudly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Elsie, child of gold!" he cried at last, "give me your
+hand! that's my brave girl! true metal, through and
+through!  Yes, I say, too, God keep me from swelling
+the number of those who give up an honest name for the
+sake of their own personal advantage.  No, Adolph, we
+will not cast scorn upon the parish register of the little
+Silesian village where we were christened; we will go
+on writing our names as they are written there."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And as they have faithfully clung to us in joy and
+sorrow for half a century," added Ferber with his quiet
+smile, "I will keep this document for this fellow," and
+he laid his hand upon little Ernst's curly head, "until
+his judgment is clear and ripe.  I cannot and must not
+decide for him, but I trust I shall train him so that he will
+prefer to carve out a path for himself by his own energy,
+rather than to lie idly in the hot-bed of old traditions
+and wrongs enjoying privileges which should be the
+reward only of lofty endeavour.  The Gnadewitzes in
+their long career added nothing to the world, but took
+much from it; let them moulder in their graves, and their
+high-sounding, undeserved titles with them!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Selah!" cried the forester, knocking the ashes from his
+pipe.  "And now let us go," he said to his brother, "and
+advise with the Lindhof pastor.  A spot beneath the
+beautiful lindens in our village church-yard seems to me
+infinitely preferable to those three gloomy walls, within
+which the mother of our line has lain for so long; and that
+the 'dark, cold ground' may not touch her coffin, let us
+have a grave built in the earth and closed with a tombstone."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He departed, accompanied by Ferber and Reinhard,
+and, whilst her mother and Miss Mertens were putting
+the jewel-box away in a place of security, Elizabeth
+climbed the ladder placed against the ruined jutty,
+pushed aside the boards, and descended into the secret
+chamber.  A slender ray of the setting sun touched a ruby
+pane in the little window and threw a bloody stain upon
+the name "Lila," on the lid of the coffin.  Elizabeth, with
+head bowed and hands clasped, stood for a long while
+beside the lonely bier, whereon that burning heart had
+slept undisturbed since the moment when death had
+stilled its wild beating and ended its sorrow.
+Centuries had flown by, effacing, as if they had never
+existed, all the transporting charm of that short life,—all
+the stormy emotion which had worked its ruin,—and yet
+the young heart that was throbbing restlessly in that
+chamber of death beside that bier, fancied that the
+emotions causing it to throb so wildly could never die.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-xvii"><span class="large">CHAPTER XVII.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>The news of the occurrence at Gnadeck had reached
+Lindhof Castle even before Reinhard returned thither.
+The masons on their way home to the village had related
+the wonderful story to a servant whom they met in the
+park, and the tale had flashed like lightning from mouth
+to mouth until it reached the boudoir of the ladies of the
+castle, where it produced the effect almost of a bombshell.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>One of the favourite themes of the baroness had always
+been her own infallibility with regard to blue blood.  She
+maintained that by means of a very delicate and sensitive
+organization she could recognize the existence of this
+life-giving stream even in people whose names she did not
+know.  It was thus only natural that she should be
+able to detect immediately every noble drop happening
+to flow in plebeian veins.  She always had admitted
+that "the little Ferber" had something distinguished in
+her appearance in right of the noble descent of her mother.
+But with regard to the forester, that delicate perception of
+hers had been so much at fault that she had never dreamed
+of acknowledging his bow except by an almost imperceptible
+inclination of the head, which was all she deigned
+to bestow upon people of so low a rank in life.  Why, in
+her noble rage at the rude blasphemer, who could forbid
+his ward, Bertha, to attend the Bible-class at the castle,
+she had often gone so far as to declare that she could
+detect his low origin a hundred paces off.  And this
+was the man to bring to nought her reputation for
+this keen perception of aristocracy!  He was the
+descendant of a lofty line,—the possessor of a name which,
+centuries back, had glowed in all the light of feudal splendour!</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>To be sure, there was great consolation for her in the
+thought that two centuries of ignoble marriages had
+rendered the noble blood very difficult to recognize.  She
+declared as much very earnestly to Fräulein von Walde,
+who, reclining upon her lounge, was observing the
+baroness' agitation with a slight, rather contemptuous,
+smile.  Personal interest in Fräulein Ferber, or the more
+unprejudiced mind of the younger lady, may have prompted
+some little reproof to her cousin; at all events she lifted her
+head and said quickly, not without a slight appearance of
+irritation: "Pardon me, Amalie, but that is a mistake.
+I know for a certainty that the wife of the forester's clerk
+is not the only nobly-born person who has married into
+the Ferber family.  They have always been a fine,
+remarkably intellectual race, whose personal advantages
+have often conquered the prejudices of birth.  I really do
+not believe that there have been more plebeian marriages
+in their family than can be found in the pedigree of the
+Lessens, and you would hardly maintain that there is not
+a drop of genuine noble blood in Bella's veins."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A delicate colour flickered over the elder lady's faded
+cheek, and the glance which she directed towards her
+companion from beneath her half-closed eyelids, was
+anything but gentle or amiable.  A sickly smile still hovered
+upon her lips.  Since the previous day she had, to her
+horror, frequently felt the ground tremble beneath her
+feet.  It was actually terrifying suddenly to meet with
+contradiction in a quarter where for years she had found
+only complete adherence and blind submission.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She was, however, quite right in attributing the change
+in Helene's demeanour not only to the "unhappy"
+influence exercised upon her by her brother, but far more to
+her own son, who had conducted himself so strangely
+during the last few days.  Helene's was, in reality, a
+noble nature, capable of appreciating all that was lofty and
+honourable, and animated by the purest desire for the good
+and true; but she had been accustomed from childhood to
+consider herself as the centre of the loving care and
+attention of all around her.  Notwithstanding her physical
+infirmity, she had never known the bitterness of being
+slighted.  That she might forget her weakness, every
+one around her made her the object of marked attention.
+While she knew that she could never occupy a wife's
+position, her heart, overflowing with tenderness, had
+joyously welcomed a first love; and although, when
+alone, she might bewail with tears the neglect of nature,
+which had denied her the crowning joys of life, still she
+possessed the blissful conviction that her love was
+returned.  Hollfeld's constant attentions, his frequent
+sojourn at Lindhof, his continual expressions of tenderness,
+were well calculated to plant this conviction ineradicably
+in her mind.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly he had appeared altered and constrained in
+her presence, and neglected her in the most unaccountable
+manner.  She suffered greatly; her inner self revolted;
+insulted feminine dignity, an irritation hitherto unknown,
+and devoted affection, were all at war within her; she
+was yet far from that height to which, early or late, every
+noble nature attains: resignation and forgiveness.  She
+grew bitter and violent, and she manifested this change
+less towards him who had caused her suffering than, by
+way of indemnifying herself, towards those whose tyranny
+she had endured for the sake of her love.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Hollfeld had been reading aloud to the ladies, when
+the old waiting-maid of the baroness entered the room
+upon some errand, and, before leaving, glibly narrated
+the remarkable discovery at Gnadeck.  If Helene's
+eyes had not been riveted upon the lips of the speaker,
+the change in her cousin's features could not have
+escaped her.  He listened breathlessly, with an expression
+of the intensest delight.  In passing from mouth to
+mouth, the discovered jewels had come to be of "priceless
+value," and the beautiful Lila's coffin was now pure
+silver.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The baroness also had not observed the striking change
+in her son's sullen aspect; and in consequence of Helene's
+reproof, very naturally darted at him an angry glance,
+which was not seen by Fräulein von Walde.  She was
+greatly amazed to see him suddenly approach his
+cousin.  He smoothed the embroidered cushion beneath
+her head, and pushed the bouquet of flowers in the vase
+nearer to her, that she might more easily inhale their
+fragrance.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Helene is quite right, mother," he said with a kindly
+glance at his cousin, who replied by a happy smile.  "You
+should be the last to bring in question the nobility of that
+family."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Although the baroness was tortured by the thought
+that those who had been so far beneath her, might now
+be her equals,—nay, even rank considerably above her in
+wealth; still she wisely suppressed the bitter retort that
+rose to her lips, and contented herself with observing
+that the whole story at present had altogether too much
+the air of a legend or fable to be implicitly believed.  For
+her part, she should require the testimony of more
+competent eye-witnesses than the two masons, before she
+could consider it worthy of credit.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A competent eye-witness was just passing beneath
+the windows.  It was Reinhard, who was returning from
+the mountain.  He smiled as his attendance upon
+Fräulein von Walde was immediately required; for, from the
+curious looks of the servant, he guessed that the story of
+the discovery at Gnadeck had reached the castle, and
+that information from him upon the subject was what the
+ladies desired.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At his entrance he was immediately assailed by Helene
+with questions.  He answered them in his usual calm
+manner, and took a malicious pleasure in detecting the
+keenest curiosity and the greatest irritation behind the
+apparently careless and indifferent remarks and questions
+of the baroness.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And will the Ferbers venture to lay claim to the old
+name on the strength of that scrap of parchment?" she
+asked; taking a large dahlia from the vase of flowers,
+and smelling it.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I should like to know who could dispute their claim,"
+replied Reinhard.  "It only remains to be proved that
+they are the descendants of Jost von Gnadewitz, and
+that can be done at any moment."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The lady leaned back in her large arm-chair, and
+dropped her eyelids, as if she were weary or bored.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed! and those treasures of Golconda, are they
+really as priceless as Dame Rumour reports them to
+be?"  The tone of voice was meant to be contemptuous, but
+Reinhard's practised ear detected with great satisfaction
+that it betrayed great eagerness, and something like
+secret anxiety.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He smiled.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Priceless?" he repeated.  "Well, in such cases so much
+depends upon the estimation in which such things are
+held by their possessors, that I can hardly judge."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He might, we know, have told their value, but he
+thought, rather ungallantly, that a little uncertainty would
+prove a healthy excitement for the lady.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The examination would probably not have concluded
+here, if Bella had not suddenly burst into the room with
+her usual violence.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Mamma, the new governess has come," she cried, out
+of breath, shaking back, with a toss of her head, the sandy
+locks that had fallen over her forehead; "why, she is
+uglier than Miss Mertens!" she went on, without taking
+the least notice of Reinhard's presence.  "She has a
+bright red ribbon on her bonnet, and her mantilla is even
+more old-fashioned than Frau von Lehr's.  I won't go to
+walk with her, you need not tell me to, mamma!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The baroness put both hands to her ears.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"My child, I pray you, for Heaven's sake, do not speak
+so loud," she gasped; "your voice goes through and
+through me; and what nonsense you talk! you will have
+to walk out with Mademoiselle Jamin whenever I bid you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>This reproof, uttered with considerable emphasis, causing
+Bella to pout angrily while she secretly tore a piece
+of the fringe from one of her mother's cushions, was
+the result of what might have been called the period of
+martyrdom that had followed Miss Mertens' departure.
+The baroness had been forced to take upon herself the care
+of Bella, and it was, as she declared, death to her nerves.
+To Fräulein von Walde she always maintained that all
+her trouble was in consequence of the defects of Miss
+Mertens' educational system; but in the depths of her
+soul she acknowledged, that her daughter strikingly
+resembled in disposition the deceased Lessen,—among
+whose characteristics an indomitable obstinacy and a
+determined proclivity to a perpetual </span><em class="italics">dolce far niente</em><span>,
+were the most prominent.  She was, however, far from
+admitting that any injustice had been done to Miss
+Mertens; that person had been paid to educate her daughter,
+and consequently should have known, without ever
+acting in opposition to the mother's views, or reproving the
+child, how to correct all her faults.  Therefore, the glimpse
+that she had just had perforce of Bella's character, was of
+no advantage for the new governess; the unfortunate
+French woman, with the gay ribbons on her bonnet, had
+no presentiment of the joyless days that awaited her.
+Just now, her arrival removed a weight from the mind
+of the baroness, to whom nothing could have been less
+desirable than a dispute at present between teacher
+and pupil, and hence her rebuke of Bella's impertinent
+remarks.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The baroness arose and went to her apartments, accompanied
+by her sullen daughter, to receive the stranger.
+At the same time, Reinhard departed.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you wish me to go on reading, Helene?" asked
+Hollfeld, after the three had left the room.  As he took
+up the newspaper his manner was almost caressing.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"By and by," she replied with hesitation, looking at
+him searchingly, with a kind of timid anxiety in her eyes.
+"I should like to ask you, now that we are once more
+alone together, to tell me what has changed you so during
+these last few days.  You know, Emil, that it pains me
+deeply when you refuse to let me share in what delights
+or troubles you.  You know that it is not idle curiosity
+which leads me to pry into your affairs, but a sincere and
+heartfelt interest in your weal or woe.  You see how I
+suffer from your reserve.  Tell me frankly if I have done
+anything to make you think me unworthy of your confidence."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She stretched out her hands towards him as if in
+entreaty.  The gentle melancholy in the tones of her voice
+would have melted a stone.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Hollfeld crushed and twisted the rustling newspaper
+uneasily in his hands.  He held down his head, and
+avoided meeting the pure, frank gaze of the poor girl.
+Any one with any knowledge of the world could not
+have failed to perceive in his attitude, and in the restless
+eyes that sought the ground, the crafty plotter endeavouring
+to hit upon some device by which to deceive.  To
+Helene's innocent, loving eyes, the lofty figure, slightly
+leaning forward, the face beneath the thick, light curls,
+rather suggested a thoughtful Apollo.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You will always have my confidence, Helene," he
+broke silence at last.  "You are indeed the only being
+in the world in whom I can confide,"—Helene's eyes
+sparkled at these words, the poor child was so proud of
+the distinction,—"but there are obligations in life whose
+existence we can hardly acknowledge to ourselves, far less
+have the courage to confess to others."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Fräulein von Walde sat upright, in eager expectation.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am forced," Hollfeld continued, with a stammer,
+"to adopt a certain resolution, and it has been weighing
+heavily upon me for days."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He looked up to see what impression his words had made.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene seemed to have no suspicion of what he was
+about to say, for she never changed her attitude, and
+looked as if she would have read the words upon his lips.
+He was therefore compelled to proceed without any
+assistance from her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You know, Helene," he slowly continued, "that for
+the last year I have had constant trouble with my
+housekeepers.  They are continually leaving me, often without
+warning even, and I have no way of ordering my domestic
+affairs.  The day before yesterday, the last one, who
+only entered my house two weeks ago, declared she would
+not stay.  I cannot tell what to do about it; my house
+is nothing but an annoyance to me under these
+circumstances—"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, you want to sell Odenberg?" Helene interrupted
+him eagerly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, that would be folly, for it is one of the finest
+estates in Thuringia; but I am forced to find some other
+way out of my troubles, and nothing is left for me
+but—to marry."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>If some unseen and mysterious agency had suddenly
+opened a yawning abyss at Helene's feet, her face
+certainly could not have expressed more horror and
+amazement than at this moment.  She opened her white,
+quivering lips, but no sound issued from them, and, entirely
+incapable of concealing her pain, she covered her face
+with her hands, and sank back among the cushions with
+a low cry.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Hollfeld hastened to her side, and took both her hands
+in his.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Helene," he whispered, in a low, tender tone,—his
+manner was perfect,—"will you let me speak and show
+you how sore my heart is?  You know only too well that
+I love, and that this love will be my first and only one as
+long as I live."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>His tongue did not stammer over this odious lie; on
+the contrary, it aided his plans with such insinuating
+tones that the poor girl's heart was torn by a wild conflict
+of emotions.  If some good angel would only have
+whispered to her to lift her eyes for one moment, she could
+not but have been undeceived, for the look that
+accompanied his protestations was utterly contemptuous as it
+glanced at her crippled figure; and perhaps, in the first
+moments of her indignation, she might have found strength
+enough to have extricated herself from the snares of the
+wily egotist.  But her eyes were closed as if she would
+shut out all the world, and revel only in the sound of
+the voice which for the first time spoke of love to her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Would to Heaven," he continued, "that I might follow
+the dictates of my heart, and live for this love only,
+for I desire nothing beyond the pleasure of constant
+intercourse with you, Helene.  But you know I am the last of
+the Hollfelds and must marry.  My sacrifice can be
+lessened only in one way,—I must choose a wife who knows
+you, and——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"O tell me quickly!" cried Helene, giving way to her
+grief, while the tears burst from her eyes.  "Your choice
+is already made!  I know it,—it is Cornelie!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The Quittelsdorf?" he cried, with a laugh.  "That
+will-o'-the-wisp?  No, I would far rather leave the
+administration of my domestic affairs to the most repulsive
+of housekeepers!  What should I do without an enormous
+income with such an extravagant, frivolous wife!  Besides,
+let me tell you most emphatically, my sweet Helene, my
+choice is not yet made,—hear me, and do not weep so
+violently, you break my heart; I must have a wife who
+knows and loves you; a simple-hearted woman, of
+genuine understanding, to whom I can say: my heart belongs
+to another who never can be mine, be my friend and here."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And do you imagine that any one could understand you?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Most certainly, if she loved me."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, I could not,—never, never!"  She buried her face
+in the cushions, sobbing convulsively.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And now an ugly frown appeared on Hollfeld's smooth
+forehead.  His lips were compressed, and for an instant
+the colour left his cheeks.  He was evidently very angry.
+An expression of hatred lighted up the eyes that rested
+upon the young creature who was unexpectedly rendering
+his part so difficult to play.  But he controlled himself,
+and lifted her face with a light, caressing touch.  The
+poor thing trembled beneath his hypocritical contact, and
+let her delicate head rest passively upon his hand.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And would you then forsake me, Helene," he asked
+sadly, "if I were compelled to fulfil so hard a duty?
+Would you turn away and leave me lonely, with a wife
+whom I did not love?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She raised her swollen eyelids, and from beneath them
+broke a ray of inexpressible love.  He had played his
+part admirably, and that glance told him that the game
+was in his own hands.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You are now fighting the same battle," he continued,
+"which I have struggled through during the last few days,
+before I could arrive at any fixed determination.  At first
+the thought that any third person may interfere with our
+relations to each other may well appall you, but I give
+you my word that shall not be.  Think, Helene, how
+much more I can do for you; how much more truly I
+can live for you then than now.  You can come to me
+at Odenberg.  I will guard your every footstep, and
+cherish you as the apple of my eye."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Hollfeld possessed very little intellect, but he had a
+vast amount of cunning, which, as we see, served his turn
+better than intellect could have done.  His poor victim
+flew into the net, her heart torn and bleeding, her force
+of will utterly annihilated.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I will try to endure the thought," Helene at last
+whispered almost inaudibly.  "But what a being that woman
+must be who could bear with me, and whom I might at
+last learn to love like a sister!  Do you know any such
+lofty-minded, self-sacrificing creature?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I have an idea,—it occurred to me just now quite
+suddenly,—at present it is vague and unformed.  After due
+consideration I shall certainly unfold it to you.  But you
+must first be more composed, dear Helene.  Think for a
+moment.  I place the choice of my future wife solely and
+entirely in your hands.  It depends upon you to approve
+or condemn what I propose."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And are you strong enough to pass your life with a
+woman to whom you cannot give your love?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He suppressed a contemptuous smile, for Helene's eyes
+were riveted upon his lips.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I can do all that I resolve to do," he answered; "and
+to have you near me will give me strength.—But let
+me entreat one favour of you,—say nothing as yet to my
+mother of this important matter, as you know she wishes
+to control everything and everybody, and I could not
+now endure her interference.  She will learn all soon
+enough when I present my future wife to her."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At any other time, this heartless, unfilial speech would
+have disgusted Helene; but, at this moment, she scarcely
+heard it, for every thought and feeling had been thrown
+into the wildest uproar by the words, "future wife,"
+which suggested, in spite of the multitude of unhappy
+wives, the idea of supreme contentment and bliss.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, my God!" she cried, wringing in an agony of grief
+the little hands that lay in her lap.  "I always hoped
+to die before this; I was not, indeed I was not so selfish
+as to think you could lead a lonely life for my sake; but
+I hoped that the necessarily short period of my life might
+induce you to let this cup pass from me,—to wait until
+my eyes should be closed upon my misery."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But, Helene, what do you mean?" cried Hollfeld, still
+controlling his temper with difficulty.  "At your age,
+who would think of dying?  We will live—live, and in
+time be, as I confidently hope, happy indeed.  Think of
+the matter, and you will see it all as I do."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He pressed her hand affectionately to his lips, imprinted
+a kiss upon her brow, for the first time,—took his hat, and
+left the room.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Outside, as the door closed upon the suffering girl,
+he gave full play to the expression of contempt that he
+had so long suppressed, and which gave place only to a
+look of self-satisfaction still more detestable.  One hour
+before, his heart had been filled with rage.  His passion
+for Elizabeth, fanned into a flame by her rejection of
+his advances, had been a consuming fire, and had robbed
+him of all his boasted self-control.  But the idea of
+marriage with the daughter of the forester's clerk had never
+occurred to him,—such a thought would have seemed to
+him insane.  He had exhausted his ingenuity in
+contriving plans to procure a return of affection from the
+object of his passion.  The late occurrence at Gnadeck
+had given his thoughts another direction.  Elizabeth was
+now a most desirable match, noble and wealthy.  No
+wonder, then, that he exulted at the news, and
+immediately formed the magnanimous resolution of honouring
+the fair flower of Castle Gnadeck with an offer of
+marriage.  There was, of course, no doubt that she would
+accept the offer, for although coquetry had led her to
+reject his advances hitherto, she could not possibly pursue
+such a line of conduct, in view of the brilliant prospect of
+becoming the envied wife of Herr von Hollfeld.  He was
+so secure upon this point that not a cloud of distrust
+darkened the horizon of his future.  It was not only his
+intense desire to possess Elizabeth that urged him on to
+act as quickly as possible,—the thought, that as soon as
+the discovery in the ruins became known, other suitors
+would present themselves for the hand of Gold Elsie,
+already so famous for her beauty,—this thought made his
+blood boil in his veins.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Only one obstacle stood between him and the fulfilment
+of his determination, and that was Helene.  It was
+not that he hesitated, through sympathy, at the thought
+of how the fondly-loving girl would suffer,—he knew no
+pity with regard to her,—but he was in dread lest too
+hasty a marriage might cost him the inheritance which
+he looked for from her.  It was a case for prudence and
+forethought.  We have seen how, in cold blood, he made
+use of the unhappy girl's deep and blind affection, and,
+while pretending to submit to her decision the weightiest
+questions concerning his future life, riveted the chain that
+bound her to him.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>As soon as he had left the room Helene tottered to the
+door, and bolted it after him.  And then she resigned
+herself to utter despair.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>They who have never known the hours of torture that
+ensue upon the sudden hearing of some unexpected
+misfortune,—hours when we would fain shriek out our
+misery into the ears of the universe, and when, needing the
+sympathy and support of others as never before, we are
+driven, as by some evil spirit, to darkness and loneliness,
+as though light and sound were deadly poison to our
+wound,—they, we say, who have never known the
+pangs that threaten to efface all the landmarks of a
+previously harmonious inner life, will scarcely be able
+to conceive that Helene sank down upon the floor, with
+her little hands plucking wildly at her fair curls, and her
+frail, diminutive form shivering as from a fever fit.  She
+had lived and breathed only in her absorbing affection for
+this man.  If a few gloomy looks, some slight neglect of
+his, had sufficed to plunge her into the deepest melancholy,
+and make her utterly careless of an event that would
+once have wrung her sisterly affection to the very soul,
+how much greater must her agony now be in the conviction
+that she was about to lose him forever!</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the wild chaos of thought filling her brain, she
+was entirely incapable of one clear, decided conclusion.
+The humiliating consciousness of her physical infirmities,
+which caused her to be thrust out of an earthly
+paradise; Hollfeld's confession of love to which she had
+just listened, and which brought such infinite joy and
+woe; a frantic jealousy of the woman, whoever she might
+be, who was to stand beside him as a wife,—all these
+emotions were seething in her mind, threatening to sever
+the frail thread that bound together soul and body.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>It was late, and night had already fallen, when she
+admitted her anxious maid, and yielded to her entreaties
+to retire to rest.  She emphatically refused to see the
+physician, sent word to the baroness, who asked to come
+in to say good-night, that she could not be disturbed,
+her need of rest was so great,—and then passed the
+most wretched night of her life.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She grew a little more quiet, that is, the fearful tension
+of her nerves relaxed somewhat, when the first beam of
+morning light pierced the curtains of her room.  The
+thin golden ray seemed to glide into her darkened soul,
+and illumine thoughts which had hitherto been hidden in
+the wild tumult of her mind.  She began to believe that
+Hollfeld's course was one of the purest self-sacrifice.
+She had never been able to disguise or thrust from her
+the haunting conviction that his marriage might one day
+become an imperative necessity, and she could not fail to
+be conscious that her idea of his waiting until she should
+be no more had never occurred to him.  Was not his
+sacrifice great?  Loving her, and her only, he must belong
+to another; ought she to make the performance of a
+sacred duty difficult for him by her grief?  He had asked
+her to tread a thorny path with him.  Should she draw
+back like a coward when he set her such an example of
+strength and endurance?  And if another woman could
+be found content with friendship instead of love, should
+she allow herself to be outdone in self-renunciation?</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In feverish haste she rang the bell by her bedside, and
+summoned her maid.  Yes, she would be strong; but
+she was conscious that only entire certainty could give
+her courage and the power of endurance; she must
+know, as soon as possible, the name of the woman whom
+Hollfeld thought capable of undertaking so hard a part
+in life.  She had passed before her, in review, every
+unmarried woman of her acquaintance, but had rejected
+on the instant each and all.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The hour had not yet arrived at which she was accustomed
+to take breakfast with the baroness and Hollfeld;
+her brother always avoided this early meeting of his
+household, but she could not remain in her lonely room,
+and, as she was greatly exhausted, was pushed in her
+wheeled chair into the dining-room.  To her surprise,
+she heard from one of the servants that the baroness had
+gone to walk half an hour previously,—a very strange
+piece of news, but one that she was most glad to learn,
+for just as she was wheeled into a recess of one of the
+windows she discovered Hollfeld pacing to and fro upon
+the lawn without.  He seemed to have no suspicion that
+he was observed.  His fine, manly figure moved with
+elastic grace.  Now and then he put a cigar to his lips
+with evident enjoyment, and the delicate aroma floating
+through the air reached Helene at her window.  At first
+the little lady was painfully impressed by his unusually
+gay and cheerful expression; she could not but confess to
+herself that youthful exuberance of spirits, love of life,
+and an unwonted exhilaration of mind were manifest in
+his every look and motion, even in the half-unconscious
+smile that now and then parted his lips, discovering his
+wonderfully white teeth.  There was no trace there of
+those struggles which she had passed through during the
+night; he certainly did not look much like the victim of
+an inexorable combination of circumstances.  But was
+not his self-possession the result of great mental force
+and a strong manly will?  He must have reached a
+height almost too lofty for human nature to attain.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The little lady's brow contracted in a frown.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Emil!" she cried loudly, almost harshly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Hollfeld was evidently startled, but in a second he
+stood beneath her window, and waved a "good-morning"
+to her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What!" he cried, "are you there already?  May I
+come up?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes," she replied more gently.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And in a few moments he entered the room.  Helene
+had reason to be better pleased with his present air and
+manner; there was an expression of great gravity upon
+his countenance as he threw his hat upon the table and
+pushed a chair close to her side.  Taking both her hands
+tenderly within his own, he gazed into her face, and really
+seemed struck by her ashy cheeks and the lustreless eyes
+that met his.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You look ill, Helene," he said pityingly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you wonder at it?" she asked, with a bitterness
+that she was unable to conceal.  "Unfortunately I am
+denied the gift of such perfect self control as could enable
+me in a few hours after a crushing experience to look
+forward with content and gaiety to the future.  I envy you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You are unjust, Helene," he replied quickly, "if you
+judge me from my exterior.  Is it the part of a man to
+whine and cry when he submits to the inevitable?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You certainly do not seem inclined to any such course."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He was provoked beyond measure.  The puny, little
+creature at his side, who, with her crippled figure, ought
+to be thankful to God if a man could so far control
+himself as not to treat her with absolute rudeness and
+aversion, and who had previously been so grateful for the
+smallest attention, had suddenly taken upon herself to
+reprove him!  Although he had done all he could to inspire
+her with faith in his ardent love for her, in his soul he
+thought it showed a measureless vanity in the child to
+imagine herself capable of inspiring any man with such
+a passion, and with great irritation he acknowledged to
+himself that in her case he had to contend with most
+determined obstinacy and disgusting sentimentality.  It cost
+him great pains to control himself, but he even
+accomplished a melancholy smile, which became him infinitely.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"When I tell you of the cause of my cheerful looks
+you will repent your reproaches," he said.  "I was just
+picturing to myself the moment when I could go to your
+brother and say, 'Helene has decided to live in my family
+for the future,' and I cannot deny that the thought gave
+me satisfaction, for he has always regarded my love for
+you with an eye of disfavour."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>They say Love is blind, but in most cases he closes his
+eyes voluntarily; knowing that perfect vision would kill
+him, he fights desperately against annihilation.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene did her best to reconcile what he said with his
+previous appearance, and succeeded excellently.  With a
+deep sigh she held out her hand to him.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I believe and have faith in you," she said fervently.
+"The loss of this faith would be my death-blow.  Ah,
+Emil, you must never, never deceive me, not even
+although you think it would be for my good.  I would
+rather learn the harshest truth than harbour the faintest
+suspicion that you were not perfectly true to me.  I
+have had a terrible night, but now I am composed, and
+I beg you to tell me more of what you spoke of yesterday.
+I am but too sure that I shall not regain entire self-command
+until I know with certainty who it is that is to
+stand between us.  At present she is a phantom, and in
+her unreality lies the cause of the tormenting anxiety that
+is consuming me.  Tell me the name, Emil, I entreat you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Hollfeld's eyes sought the ground.  Affairs just then
+did not look very promising.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you know, Helene," he began at last, "that I
+hesitate to discuss this subject with you to-day?  You are
+greatly agitated.  I am afraid that such a conversation
+will make you ill.  And, as I must say that the project
+which I spoke of yesterday seems more and more feasible
+to me the more I ponder it, I fear much lest in your
+agitation you should overlook its great advantages."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed I will not!" cried Helene, as, sitting upright
+she riveted her unnaturally bright eyes full upon him.
+"I have overcome myself, and am ready to submit to the
+inevitable.  I promise you I will be thoroughly impartial;
+as impartial as if I—did not love."  She blushed as the
+confession escaped her for the first time.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, then," said Hollfeld, with hesitation,—he could
+not quite master his emotion,—"what do you think of the
+young girl of Castle Gnadeck?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Elizabeth Ferber?" cried Helene, in the greatest
+astonishment.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Elizabeth von Gnadewitz," he hastily corrected her.
+"The sudden change in her social position first suggested
+the girl to me.  Hitherto I have scarcely noticed her,
+except that her modest demeanour and the repose of her
+countenance impressed me favourably."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What! did you see nothing to admire in that lovely,
+wondrously-gifted creature, except repose and a modest
+demeanour?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, yes," he replied, with an air of indifference, "I
+remember that several times, when you were provoked
+at some mistake that you had made, she never altered a
+muscle, but patiently went over the passage with you
+again and again, until you were perfect in it.  That
+pleased me.  I believe her to possess great equanimity
+of mind, and that is the characteristic that my wife will
+need above all others.  I know, too, that she fairly adores
+you, and that is the chief consideration.  Besides, she has
+been educated in the strictest economy, her requirements
+will be few, and she will readily assume her right
+position with regard to you and me.  I believe that she has
+a certain amount of tact, and she has been notably
+brought up,—a great advantage to——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene had sunk back upon her pillows, and covered
+her eyes with her hand.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, no," she cried, sitting up once more, and
+interrupting his eager flow of panegyric,—"not that poor,
+darling child!  Elizabeth deserves to be truly loved."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A loud and sudden howl here caused her to give a
+little cry of fright.  Hollfeld had just stepped upon the
+paw of his pointer, Diana, who had accompanied him
+into the room, and was lying stretched out at her
+master's feet.  The interruption was most welcome to
+him,—for Helene's last words sounded to him so comical, in
+connection with his own vehement desires, that he could
+hardly restrain his laughter.  He opened the door and
+sent the limping brute from the room.  When he
+returned to the young girl he was all grave composure
+again.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, we will both love the girl, Helene," he said
+with apparent indifference, as he resumed his seat.  Helene
+was in a state of too great excitement to notice the
+flippancy of his tone and manner.  "Let her only leave you
+the first place in my affections.  She must do that.  She
+certainly has enough coolness and presence of mind; she
+testified those qualities abundantly the day she saved
+Rudolph's life."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, how?" cried Helene, opening wide her eyes in
+amazement.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The servant, who had on the previous day involuntarily
+let slip some mention of the occurrence in the forest, had,
+in terror at his oversight, instantly refrained from all
+further particulars relating to it, simply asserting that
+the bullet intended for Herr von Walde had fortunately
+fallen wide of its mark.  Hollfeld had heard the exact
+account of the murderous attempt only an hour before
+from the gardener.  Elizabeth's fearless conduct
+naturally lent her a new charm in his eyes, and goaded afresh
+his desire to win her as soon as possible.  He related
+the story, which he had just heard, to Helene, concluding
+his account by saying: "You now have one more reason
+to love the girl, and her conduct strengthens my
+conviction that she is the only one whom I should select."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>This was his last round of ammunition.  He stroked
+back the hair from his brow with his delicate white hand,
+and from beneath it narrowly and eagerly watched the
+little lady, whose head was so sunk amid the pillows that
+only her profile was visible.  The tears were gushing
+from her closed eyelids; she said not a word; perhaps
+she was struggling with herself for the last time.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>But why did it never occur to her that Elizabeth might
+fail to accede to Hollfeld's wishes?  Any loving woman
+can answer this question for herself, if she will only
+reflect that the loving heart believes the object of its
+passion irresistible, and learns with difficulty that all the
+world does not share its conviction.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The silence, which began to be painful, was interrupted
+by the return of the baroness from her walk.  Helene
+started, and quickly dried her tears.  With evident
+impatience she submitted to the caresses with which the lady
+overwhelmed her, replying in monosyllables to the tender
+inquiries with regard to her health.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah!" cried the baroness, as she shook the scarf from
+her shoulders and left it in her son's hands, while she
+sank clumsily into an arm-chair.  "How very warm I
+am!  That path up the mountain is terrible!  No power
+upon earth shall take me over it again!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Did you go up the mountain, mother?" asked
+Hollfeld incredulously.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Why, yes; you know the physician prescribed an
+early morning walk for me."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh yes; but that was so many years ago, and I
+thought you always maintained that the trouble with
+your heart made any such exercise impossible."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Still, everything ought to have a fair trial," replied
+his mother, a little embarrassed, "and as I could not
+sleep last night, I determined to try once more; but it
+will do no good,—I have just had fresh cause for
+vexation.  Only think, Helene, just outside in the gravel walk
+I met Bella with her new governess,—would you believe
+it, the woman had the impertinence to let the child walk
+by her left side!  And she looks, too, like a perfect
+simpleton.  I was really angry, and defined her position to
+her as clearly as I could.  But tell me yourself, is it not
+hard that I cannot even attempt to refresh myself with
+a walk without encountering what makes me miserable
+and ill?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Just as she leaned her forehead in a melancholy
+manner upon her hand, she discovered that the false curls
+upon her temples had been pushed considerably awry
+by her bonnet.  She arose hastily, and begged for a
+little time before breakfast that she might arrange her
+dress.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"By the way," she said carelessly, turning round to
+her son and cousin as she reached the door, while she set
+her bonnet firmly upon the rebellious front, "that fellow,
+Reinhard, imposed upon us finely yesterday.  I accidentally
+encountered the forester's clerk, Ferber, up there
+near the ruins,—I congratulated him——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah! now I understand the ascent of the mountain!"  Hollfeld
+interrupted his mother ironically.  "And you
+actually spoke to the man, mother?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh! now there is no reason why I should not.  The
+jewels principally interested me."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Did you wish to buy them?" asked her son contemptuously,
+remembering the constant ebb in her finances.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Hardly," she replied with an angry glance; "but I
+have always had a perfect passion for precious stones;
+and if your father had not died so suddenly, I should
+now have had a charming set of diamonds, which he had
+promised me, and you would have been six thousand
+thalers the poorer.  But to return to the discovered jewels.
+Ferber told me just what they were, and, when I asked
+him, frankly replied that they would bring about eight
+thousand thalers,—that is what that fellow, Reinhard,
+calls inestimable wealth.  Once more adieu for a few
+minutes."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The contemptuous smile disappeared from Hollfeld's
+face, as he listened to his mother's words, and gave
+place to a decided expression of disappointment; he had
+suddenly experienced a sensation like the shock of a
+shower-bath.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Scarcely was the door closed behind the baroness, when
+Helene aroused herself from her apparent apathy, and
+stretched out both hands to Hollfeld.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Emil," she said quickly, in a low voice, with trembling
+lips, "if you succeed in gaining Elizabeth's love, and
+I cannot doubt that you will, I agree to your plan, but I
+must always live with you at Odenberg."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Of course," he replied, although with some hesitation;
+his voice had lost its former decision of tone, "but let me
+warn you that you will have to resign many luxuries.
+My income is not large, and as you have just heard,
+Elizabeth has nothing."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"She shall not come to you poor, Emil,—rely upon
+that," the little lady rejoined in a tender voice, and with
+eyes unnaturally bright.  "From the moment she promises
+to be yours I regard her in the light of a sister; I
+will share faithfully with her, and will instantly make
+over to her the rents of my estate of Neuborn, in Saxony;
+I will talk to Rudolph about it as soon as he returns,
+and when death closes my eyes, all that I possess will
+be hers and yours.  Are you content with me?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You are an angel, Helene," he cried; "you shall never
+repent your magnanimity,—your generous devotion."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And this time there was no dissimulation in his
+delight, for the rents of Neuborn made Elizabeth a very
+wealthy bride.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-xviii"><span class="large">CHAPTER XVIII.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>Two days had passed since the morning upon which
+Helene had, as she thought, won such a victory over
+herself, and had been convinced that the conflict within her
+would be quieted by absolute certainty.  But she had
+been far from fathoming the depths of her sentiments;
+she had snatched at a straw in the whirling flood, and it
+had afforded her not one instant's support.  Only two
+days!—but they outweighed in suffering her whole
+previous life.  She constantly repeated to herself that the
+long desired repose that she had dreamed of was close at
+hand, and yet she shuddered at the thought of the time
+that must intervene before death should bring her release,
+with the same horror with which the sceptic looks
+forward to the moment of dissolution.  She became distinctly
+aware that her promise to pass her days at Odenberg
+converted her remaining years into a period of
+superhuman self-sacrifice, and yet, for worlds, she would not
+have retracted one iota of all that she had vowed to
+Hollfeld.  She would be worthy of his love.  No
+sacrifice was too great that was rewarded by his esteem.
+Poor dupe!</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Her nerves suffered intensely during this protracted
+mental conflict.  She had constant fever, and could
+scarcely sleep at all.  The subject that occupied her
+whole mind was constantly hovering upon her lips, but
+she refrained from all mention of it in accordance with
+Hollfeld's request.  He had also entreated her to forego
+Elizabeth's society for a few days; he feared that, in her
+agitation, she might stand in the way of his wishes.  He
+himself had already taken the first steps towards a
+continuation of his pursuit of Elizabeth.  He had twice
+presented himself at Gnadeck at the gate in the wall, to
+make inquiries after the health of the "von Gnadewitzes,"
+but although he had nearly pulled off the bell-handle the
+door had not been opened.  The first time no one had
+been in the house, and upon the last occasion Elizabeth
+had observed him coming.  Her parents had gone with
+little Ernst to the Lodge, and Miss Mertens had agreed
+to Elizabeth's idea of not admitting the unwelcome
+visitor.  They sat together in the dwelling-room, laughing,
+while the little bell rang till it was quite hoarse.  Of
+the conspiracy against his admission the visitor of course
+had no suspicion.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>It was seven o'clock in the morning; Helene was
+already lying dressed upon her lounge, she had passed
+a restless, sleepless night.  The baroness was still in bed,
+and Hollfeld had not yet made his appearance; but
+the little lady could not be alone, and therefore her maid
+was sitting sewing in the room.  Her replies to Helena's
+remarks were unheard by the poor sufferer, but there was
+something soothing in the mere sound of a human voice
+after her wretched, lonely night.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The noise of an approaching carriage was heard.
+Helene opened the window and leaned out.  Her brother's
+travelling carriage was just driving up the sweep, its
+wheels sinking deep in the smooth gravel; but it was
+empty.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Where is your master?" Helene cried out to the
+coachman, as the vehicle passed beneath her window.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"My master got out at the entrance of the park road,"
+the old man replied, taking off his hat, "and is coming
+home on foot over the mountain, past Castle Gnadeck."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The little lady shut the window, and shivered as though
+she were cold; the single word "Gnadeck" had acted upon
+her nerves like an electric shock.  Every word that
+brought Elizabeth to her mind produced the same effect
+upon her that one's imagination would experience from
+some sudden apparition.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She arose, and leaning upon the arm of her maid, went
+down to her brother's apartments.  She ordered
+breakfast to be served in the room opening with glass doors
+upon the grand staircase, and seated herself in an
+armchair to await the traveller's return.  She took up one of
+the gorgeously bound books that were lying about, and
+mechanically turned over the leaves; but, although her
+eyes rested upon the engravings that filled its pages,
+she could not have told whether it were portrait or
+landscape that lay open before her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>After she had waited half an hour, her brother's tall
+form appeared behind the glass door.  The book slipped
+from her lap as she held out her hands to welcome him.
+He seemed surprised at this reception; but he was
+evidently much pleased at finding his sister alone and glad
+to see him.  He hurried towards her, but started in alarm
+at a nearer view of her face.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you feel worse, Helene?" he asked with anxious
+tenderness, as he seated himself beside her.  He put
+his arm around her and raised her head a little, that he
+might see her face more closely.  There was so much
+kindness and caressing sympathy in his accent and
+manner that suddenly it was as if the warm air of spring
+breathed over her heart, that had been as it were
+congealed with pain.  Two large tears rolled down her
+cheeks as she leaned her head upon her brother's
+shoulder.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Has not Fels been to see you while I have been
+away?" he asked anxiously.  The little lady's aspect
+evidently caused him great alarm.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No.  I gave express orders that he should not be
+sent for.  I am taking the drops that he prescribed for
+my nervous attacks, and he can do nothing more for me.
+Don't be concerned, Rudolph, I shall be better soon.  You
+have had a sad time at Thalleben?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes," he answered, but his eyes still rested anxiously
+upon his sister's altered features.  "Poor Hartwig died
+before I arrived; he suffered fearfully.  He was buried
+yesterday afternoon.  You would scarcely know his unfortunate
+wife, Helene; this blow has added twenty years to her life!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He imparted to her some further particulars
+concerning the sad event, and then passed his hand across
+his eyes, as though desirous of banishing from his mind
+all the trouble and sorrow that he had witnessed during
+the last few days.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, and is all going on here as usual?" he asked
+after a short pause.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Not quite," Helene replied with some hesitation.
+"Möhring left us yesterday."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah, Heaven speed him!  I am glad that I escaped
+a final interview with him.  Well, I have one more
+enemy in the world, but I cannot help it; he belongs to
+a class of men whom I despise."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And at Gnadeck a piece of good fortune has befallen
+the Ferbers," Helene continued in an unnaturally quiet
+voice, averting her face.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The arm-chair in which she was sitting was suddenly
+pushed aside by the arm upon which her brother had been
+leaning.  She did not look up, and therefore could not
+see the livid pallor that overspread his face for a moment,
+while his quivering lips essayed twice to frame the simple
+monosyllable "Well?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene related the story of the ruins, to which her
+brother listened breathlessly.  Every word that she spoke
+seemed to lift a weight from his heart, but he never
+dreamed how it cut into the very soul of the narrator
+like a two-edged sword, and that all this was only the
+prelude to her announcement of the terrible sacrifice that
+she was about to make.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"This is, indeed, a most wonderful solution of an old
+riddle," he said, when Helene had finished.  "But I
+question whether the family will think it great good
+fortune to belong to the von Gnadewitz race."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah! you think so," Helene interrupted him quickly,
+"because Elizabeth has always spoken so slightingly of
+the name.  I cannot help, however, in such cases, thinking
+of the fable of the fox and the grapes."  She spoke these
+last words with cutting severity.  Her passionate
+excitement and agitation had brought her to the point of
+denying her nobler nature and of attributing mean motives to
+one who had never injured her, and whom, in cooler
+moments, she knew to be all purity and honour.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>An expression of intense amazement appeared upon
+Herr von Walde's countenance.  He stooped and looked
+keenly into his sister's averted face, as if to convince
+himself that her lips had actually spoken such harsh words.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Just at this moment Hollfeld's large hound rushed up
+the staircase and into the room, where he made two or
+three playful bounds, and then vanished again at the
+sound of a shrill whistle from the lawn without.  His
+master was passing by, who apparently did not know
+of Herr von Walde's return, or he would certainly have
+appeared to welcome him.  He walked on quickly,
+and turned into the path that led up the mountain to
+Gnadeck.  Helene's gaze followed the retreating form
+until it was lost to sight, and then, clasping her hands
+convulsively, she sank back in her chair.  It seemed as if
+for a moment all strength failed her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Herr von Waldo poured a little wine into a glass, and
+held it to her lips.  She looked up gratefully, and tried to
+smile.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am not yet at the end of all I have to tell," she
+began again, rising from her half-reclining position.  "I
+am like all novelists,—I reserve my most interesting
+facts until the last."  She could not hide her struggle for
+firmness and composure beneath the mask of playfulness
+which she attempted to assume in these words.  Her gaze
+was riveted upon the trees outside the window, as she
+said: "A happy event is about to take place among
+us,—Emil's betrothal."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She had certainly expected some instant expression of
+astonishment from her auditor, for, after a moment's
+silence, she turned around to him in surprise.  His brow
+and eyes were covered by his hand, and the uncovered
+portion of his face was deadly pale.  At Helene's touch
+he dropped his hand, arose hastily, and went to the open
+window, as if for a breath of fresh air.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Are you ill, Rudolph?" she cried, with anxiety.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"A passing faintness, nothing more," he replied, again
+approaching her.  His face looked strangely altered as he
+walked several times up and down the room, and then
+resumed his seat.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I told you of Emil's approaching betrothal, Rudolph,"
+Helene began again, emphasizing each word.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I heard you," he replied mechanically.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you approve this step on his part?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It is no affair of mine.  Hollfeld is his own master,
+and can do as he pleases."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I believe his choice is made.  If I dared, I would
+tell you the young girl's name."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"There is no need to do so.  It will be time enough to
+hear it when the banns are published in church."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>His expression was icy; the tone of his voice sounded
+rough and harsh; the blood seemed to have forsaken his
+cheeks.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Rudolph, I implore you not to be so rough," Helene
+begged, in a tone of entreaty; "I know that you are no
+friend to much speaking, and I am accustomed to your
+laconic replies; but now you are too cold and silent, just,
+too, when I have a request to make of you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Tell me what it is; am I to have the honour of
+playing the part of groomsman to Herr von Hollfeld?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene recoiled at the bitter contempt expressed in
+these words.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You do not like poor Emil, it is more evident to-day
+than ever before," she said reproachfully, after a little
+pause, during which Herr von Walde had arisen and
+traversed the room with hasty steps; "I entreat you
+earnestly, dear Rudolph, listen to me patiently; I must
+talk over this matter with you to-day."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He folded his arms and stood still, leaning against a
+window-frame, whilst he said briefly: "You see I am
+ready to listen."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The young girl," she began, with a hesitation which
+was the result less of her own internal agitation than of
+her brother's icy demeanour, "the young girl whom Emil
+has selected is poor."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Very disinterested on his part; proceed."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Emil's income is not large."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The poor man has only ten thousand a year; starvation
+in his case seems unavoidable."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She paused, evidently surprised.  Her brother never
+exaggerated; the sum, then, which he had mentioned, must
+be correct to a farthing.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, he may be wealthier than I thought," she went
+on after a short pause; "that is not the question at
+present; his choice is a girl who is very dear to me, very
+dear."  What effort this cost her!  "She has done what
+must forever fill my sisterly heart with gratitude."  Herr
+von Walde unfolded his arms, and drummed with
+such force upon the window-pane with the fingers of
+his left hand, that Helene thought the glass would be
+broken.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"She will be as a sister to me," she continued, "and I
+do not wish that she should come into Hollfeld's house
+without a dowry.  I desire to make over to her the rents
+of Neuborn.  May I?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The estate belongs to you,—you are of age.  I have
+no right either to consent or refuse."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh yes, Rudolph, you are my next of kin, and
+should inherit all that I have.  Then I may be sure of
+your consent?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Perfectly so, if you really think it necessary——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, thank you, thank you!" she interrupted him,
+extending to him her hand.  But he did not seem to notice
+it, although he was looking fixedly at her.  "You are not
+angry with me for this?" she asked, anxiously, after a
+few moments.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am never angry when you are striving to make
+others happy.  You must remember how I have always
+encouraged and assisted you in such efforts.  But here I
+do think you are in too great haste.  You seem to me
+very ready to plunge that young creature into misery."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She started up as though a viper had stung her.  "That
+is a cruel accusation!" she cried.  "Your prejudice against
+poor Emil, which is founded, Heaven only knows upon
+what, leads you beyond all bounds.  You know the man
+far too slightly."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I know him far too well to wish to know him any
+better.  He is a dishonourable villain, a miserable fellow
+of no character, by whose side a woman, let her claims
+for honour and uprightness in a man be ever so small,
+must be wretched.  Woe to the poor creature when she
+finds him out!"  His voice trembled with suppressed
+pain; but Helene heard in it only anger and violence.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh Heavens! how unjust!" she cried, raising her
+tearful eyes to the ceiling.  "Rudolph, you are committing
+a great sin.  What has poor Emil done to you, that
+you should persecute him so unrelentingly?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Must a man be personally aggrieved in order to
+estimate correctly another's character?" he asked, angrily.
+"My child, you have been grossly deceived; but your eyes
+are blinded.  The time will come when you will acknowledge
+it with shame.  If I should try to remove this cup
+of suffering from your lips, it would avail nothing; you
+would repulse me, seeing in me only a barbarian treading
+under foot all your holiest affections.  You force me
+to leave you to pursue your path alone, until the
+moment when you will fly to me for consolation and succour.
+My heart will always be open to you; but what will
+become of that other, bound irrevocably to her dreadful
+fate?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He went into the next room, and locked the door after
+him.  For awhile Helene sat as if paralyzed,—then she
+arose with difficulty, and supporting herself by the walls
+and the furniture, left the apartment.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Her soul was filled with bitterness, almost with hatred,
+towards her brother, who had to-day roughly and
+ruthlessly handled all that she had tenderly encircled with
+the most delicate fibres of her heart.  That heart was
+well nigh broken as she called vividly to mind the
+self-sacrifice which her lover proposed.  She seemed to herself to
+have already wronged him deeply in allowing such terrible
+abuse of him to fall upon her ears.  He should never,
+never learn how her brother's prejudices had carried him
+away.  No sacrifice, not the greatest, would now be
+sufficient to atone for the injustice which he was forced
+unconsciously to endure.  And since her brother had so
+openly declared his opinion of Hollfeld, she would not
+allow that he should longer share the hospitality of
+Lindhof.  She would herself request him to return to
+Odenberg, of course suppressing her reason for such a
+request.  But first his engagement to Elizabeth should
+be concluded.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Occupied with these thoughts, she entered the dining-room,
+and when Hollfeld appeared shortly afterward, she
+received him with a quiet smile, and announced to him
+that her brother, without even hearing the name of the
+future bride, had approved of her resolution with regard
+to her dowry.  She desired to see Elizabeth now as
+soon as possible, and Hollfeld, greatly rejoiced to observe
+her repose of manner, assented.  It was agreed that the
+interview should take place at four o'clock that afternoon,
+in the pavilion.  Hollfeld left the room to despatch a
+servant to Gnadeck with a request, in Helene's name,
+to that effect.  How surprised the little lady would have
+been, could she have heard it expressly enjoined upon the
+servant to name three, as the appointed hour, while the
+butler was ordered to have everything arranged in the
+pavilion at that time!</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-xix"><span class="large">CHAPTER XIX.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>When the servant from Lindhof rang the bell at the
+gate in the wall, Elizabeth was sitting in the hall.  She
+was weaving a long garland of evergreens and ivy, and
+Miss Mertens, sitting beside her, had in her hand a
+half-finished wreath of asters.  The grave had been made
+ready in the Lindhof church-yard, and in the afternoon,
+between five and six o'clock, the leaden coffin containing
+the mortal remains of the beautiful Lila was to be
+consigned to the earth.  If Jost's dreaded eyes could have
+gazed upon his lovely descendant, they would certainly
+have beamed with a mild and tender light to see her
+engaged in preparing an offering of fresh flowers and green
+vines with which to adorn the bier of his idolized love.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>After consulting her mother, Elizabeth accepted the
+invitation, all the more willingly as it referred only to "an
+hour's talk."  Soon after the servant's departure,
+Reinhard appeared.  He looked very grave, and told Miss
+Mertens that his master had returned from Thalleben in
+the strangest state of mind.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"He must have been greatly shocked by the misery
+that he witnessed in the desolate home," he remarked,
+"for I really do not recognize my kind master.  I had
+several unavoidable communications to make to him, but
+I saw that I spoke in vain; he did not listen, but sat
+opposite me, looking utterly crushed, evidently lost in the
+most painful reflections.  He started up hastily when I
+began at last to tell him of our discovery up here in the
+ruins, and interrupted me angrily with 'I have heard
+all about that matter already; I pray you leave me
+alone.'"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Miss Mertens plainly perceived that Reinhard was
+really wounded by Herr von Walde's manner towards him.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Dear friend," she said soothingly, "in moments of
+great mental suffering we either are not aware of the
+external world, or the consciousness of it increases our pain;
+we cannot endure that all around us should pursue its
+customary course while all within has received such a
+shock, a shock that we cannot recover from.  Herr von
+Walde was doubtless warmly attached to his unfortunate
+friend, and—but, good Heavens!  Elizabeth, what are you
+doing?" she interrupted herself, "do you really think that
+looks well?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She pointed to the garland.  In fact, whilst Reinhard
+had been speaking Elizabeth had, with trembling hands,
+picked up two or three large dahlias and woven them
+into her graceful green wreath.  She now looked down,
+and was aware for the first time of what she had been
+doing.  The poor flowers were instantly torn from the
+soft green pillow where they had laid their heavy heads
+so comfortably, and treated with as much severity as if
+they had insisted on going where they were not wanted.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Three o'clock had long since struck in the Lindhof
+church-tower when Elizabeth hurried down the mountain.
+Her uncle had detained her in conversation; he was
+provoked that she had accepted the invitation.  "For," he
+said, and with some justice, "surely the poor creature
+whom we consign to her resting-place to-day deserves
+that we should consecrate at least one day to her
+memory."  He had no idea of what was passing in the heart
+of his niece.  He did not dream that for the last few days
+his darling had counted the hours which must pass before
+she could think, "He is at home again;" and, to his
+vexation, his usually obedient child slipped from him and
+vanished through the garden gate.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Her feet scarcely touched the ground.  She hoped by
+walking quickly to overtake the time which she had lost,
+and could have cried, when her thin dress caught upon a
+bramble, and could only be extricated by patience and
+skill.  At last, almost out of breath, she reached the
+pavilion.  Both of the folding-doors were open; the room
+was still empty.  Upon the table stood a salver of
+refreshments, and Helene's corner of the sofa was arranged
+for her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Much relieved, Elizabeth entered, and was leaning
+against one of the opposite windows which looked out
+upon some tall shrubbery, when she heard, a slight noise
+behind her.  Hollfeld had hitherto been concealed by one
+of the open folding-doors, and he now approached her.
+She turned to leave the apartment without even honouring
+the object of her aversion by a look; but he placed
+himself in her path, although his manner was no longer
+insolent,—on the contrary, it was respectful and even
+submissive, as he assured her that the ladies would appear
+directly.  Elizabeth looked up surprised; there was not
+in his voice the faintest trace of that impertinent tone
+that had so irritated and outraged her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I give you my word that Fräulein von Walde will be
+here in one moment!" he repeated, as she again attempted
+to reach the door.  "Is my presence, then, so disagreeable
+to you?" he added more gently, with a tinge of sadness.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Most assuredly it is," Elizabeth replied coldly and
+decidedly; "if you will remember your late conduct
+towards me, you will know that to be left one moment
+alone with you must be odious to me."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"How stern and implacable that sounds!  Must, then,
+my punishment for my thoughtless jest be so severe?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I advise you, in future, to be more prudent in your
+choice of those with whom you wish to jest."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Good Heavens!  I see now that it was a mistake; I
+regret my impetuosity, but how could I dream——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That any respect was due to me?" Elizabeth
+interrupted him, with flashing eyes.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, no!——, I never doubted that!—Heavens! how
+angry you can be!  But I could not possibly know that
+you possessed the right to claim more, far more, than
+mere respect."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth looked at him inquiringly; she evidently did
+not understand him.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Can I do more than sue on my knees for pardon?"
+he continued.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It shall be granted upon condition that you leave me
+instantly."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What cruel obstinacy!  I should be a fool indeed to
+lose this precious moment.  Elizabeth, I have told you
+already that I love you ardently,—that I am dying of
+love for you!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And I am quite aware of having distinctly told you
+that it is a matter of utter indifference to me."  She began
+to tremble, but her glance was, nevertheless, firm and
+composed.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Elizabeth, do not drive me to extremities!" he cried
+in great agitation.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I would especially request you to remember the common
+rules of politeness, which require us not to address
+strangers by their Christian names."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You are a very imp of coldness and malice!" he cried,
+now trembling with rage.  "Well, I grant that there is some
+show of reason for your irritation with me," he added,
+controlling himself by an effort; "my conduct towards
+you has not been what it should be, but I will atone for
+it abundantly.  Listen to me quietly for one moment, and
+you will relax your severity.  I offer you my hand.  You
+must know that I can give a brilliant position, as far as
+rank and wealth are concerned, to my future wife."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He looked down at her with a smile of triumph.  It
+was so natural that his lovely opponent should be
+paralyzed with joyful surprise at this unexpected disclosure
+of his intentions; yet, strange to say, the result that he
+anticipated did not ensue.  Elizabeth stood proudly erect,
+and retreated a pace or two.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I regret this, Herr von Hollfeld," she said with quiet
+dignity.  "You might have spared yourself this humiliating
+moment.  After all that I have hitherto said to you,
+I scarcely comprehend what you have just declared.  Since
+you force me to it, I must tell you most emphatically
+that our paths in life lie in opposite directions; and——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And that nothing could induce me to connect my lot
+with yours."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He stared at her for a moment vaguely, as though
+perfectly incapable of understanding her words.  His face
+grew livid, and his white teeth were buried in his underlip.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And would you really carry the farce so far as to give
+me such an answer?" he asked at last in a hoarse voice.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth smiled contemptuously, and turned away.
+Her behaviour transported him with rage.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Your reasons?  I will know your reasons!" he
+ejaculated, stepping between Elizabeth and the door which
+she was trying to reach.  He caught at her dress to
+detain her.  She shrunk from him, and retired a few steps
+farther into the room.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Leave me!" she cried, gasping for breath.  Terror
+almost choked her utterance; hut, nevertheless, she once
+more took courage, and raised her head proudly, with an
+air of command.  "If there is no spark of honour in you
+to which I can appeal, you force me to use the only
+weapons at my command, by declaring to you that I
+thoroughly despise you; I detest the sight of you; the
+hiss of a poisonous viper could not inspire me with the
+aversion and disgust with which I listen to the words by
+which you would awaken my affection.  I have never
+harboured one sentiment of regard for you; but, if I
+had, it must have been instantly annihilated by your
+despicable conduct towards me.  Let me go now in peace,
+and——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He did not allow her to finish her sentence.  "That I
+shall certainly not do," he hissed between his teeth; his
+face that had hitherto been so pale, flushed crimson, and
+his eyes flashed as he darted towards her, like some
+raging wild beast.  She fled to the window, as she
+saw it was impossible to reach the door, and tried to lift
+the sash, hoping to be able to leap from the low sill
+to the ground without.  But she stood still, transfixed
+with horror.  A terrible face was looking into the room
+from the shrubbery outside.  The features were deadly
+pale, and distorted by a fiendish grin, while the fire of
+madness gleamed in the eyes that were riveted upon
+Elizabeth's face.  She hardly recognized in the dreadful
+apparition dumb Bertha; shivering with terror, she
+recoiled; Hollfeld's extended arms encircled her
+form,—blinded by passion, he did not perceive the ghastly face
+at the window.  Elizabeth pressed her ice-cold fingers
+upon her closed eyes to shut out the horrible sight; she
+felt her persecutor's hot breath upon her hands; his hair
+brushed her cheek; she shuddered, but her physical force
+failed her; she succumbed beneath the twofold horror,—no
+sound escaped her lips.  At sight of Hollfeld, Bertha
+raised her clenched fists as though to dash them through
+the window panes,—then, suddenly she paused as if listening
+to some noise near, dropped her hands, and with a
+shrill laugh, vanished among the shrubbery.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>All this was the work of a few seconds.  The sound of
+the shrill laughter startled Hollfeld, and he looked up.
+For one moment, his gaze sought to penetrate the bushes,
+behind which Bertha had disappeared, and then it returned
+to the form which lay in his arms, and which he clasped
+to his heart.  His cunning foresight, his prudent hypocrisy,
+that had always enabled him to conceal his baseness
+from the eyes of the world, were all forgotten.  He did
+not remember that the time that Helene had appointed
+had arrived,—that through the wide open door the
+gardener, or any of the servants, might enter the room; his
+passion had mastered him, and he never observed that, in
+fact, Fräulein von Walde was standing upon the threshold
+of the door, leaning on her brother's arm, while,
+behind them, the baroness was stretching out her long
+neck, with an unmistakable air of great displeasure.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Emil!" she cried, her voice vibrating with anger.  He
+started, and looked wildly around; involuntarily he
+opened his arms; Elizabeth's hands dropped from her
+eyes, and she staggered towards the nearest couch.  The
+harsh, rude voice of the baroness sounded like sweet
+music in her ears, for it brought her succour.  There too
+stood the tall, manly form, at sight of which her failing
+pulses throbbed wildly again.  She could have thrown
+herself at his feet, and prayed him,—"Save me from that
+man, whom I detest and flee from, as I would from sin
+itself."  But what a look met hers!  Did that annihilating
+glance really come from the same eyes that a few days
+previously had so tenderly sought her own?  Was this
+man, with the stern, erect head, and the pale, cold brow,
+the same who had bent over her, saying with such
+unutterable gentleness,—"may my good angel whisper in
+your ear the word that will unlock that fairy realm for
+me?"  He stood there now like an evil angel, whose
+mission is to avenge and to crush to the dust some poor,
+quivering, human heart.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Helene, who had stood as though lifeless or rooted to
+the ground during the scene in the interior of the
+apartment, now withdrew her arm from her brother's and
+approached Elizabeth; she did not for one instant doubt
+that Hollfeld had prospered in his wooing, and that the
+matter had been happily concluded.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"A thousand welcomes to you, dearest Elizabeth!"
+she cried in great agitation, and, while tears broke from
+her eyes, she took the young girl's trembling hands
+between her own.  "Emil brings me a dear sister,—love
+me as a sister, and I shall be grateful to you as long as I
+live.  Do not look so stern, Amalie," she turned beseechingly
+to the baroness, who was standing like a pillar of
+stone just outside the pavilion; "Emil's future happiness
+is at stake.  Look at Elizabeth!  Does she not satisfy
+every desire that you can have with regard to the one
+who will occupy such a close relation to you?  Young,
+richly endowed by nature, of an ancient family and
+distinguished name."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She stopped, startled.  At last the life seemed to
+return to Elizabeth's stiffened limbs, and she was capable
+of understanding what was said.  By a hasty movement
+she released her hands from Helene's, and stood erect
+before her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You are mistaken, gracious lady," she said in a clear
+ringing voice; "I have no claim to such distinction."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What! have you not an undeniable claim to the name
+of von Gnadewitz?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Doubtless; but that claim will never be asserted."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Would you really reject such happiness?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I cannot see that true happiness has anything to do
+with an empty sound."  Her endeavour to lend firmness
+to her faithless voice was distinctly perceptible.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Meanwhile the baroness had drawn near.  She was
+inwardly furious that her son had made his choice without
+in the faintest degree consulting her, or asking her maternal
+consent; besides, the object of his choice was detestable to
+her.  But she knew well that her interference would
+accomplish nothing,—her son would shrug his shoulders,
+perhaps smile contemptuously, and be confirmed in his
+resolve.  It was most fortunate, too, for her and her
+interests, that Helene had taken up the matter as she had,
+determined, as it seemed, to carry it through with an
+enthusiastic degree of self-sacrifice.  Although she was
+thoroughly in the dark as to the little lady's motives for
+such a line of conduct, she could not fail to perceive that
+she was in earnest, and therefore, however discontented
+at heart, she resolved to put a good face upon the matter,
+and to play the part of a forgiving and blessing parent.
+Elizabeth's replies suddenly closed her lips.  She
+conceived a hope that Elizabeth might put a stop to the
+matter by her own obstinacy; if so, she would pour oil
+on the flames.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"We have to contend here with a plebeian prejudice,
+my love," she said to Helene, who had listened in
+amazement to Elizabeth's answers.  "You may, however, have
+most excellent reasons for shunning the light of loftier
+realms," the lady continued, in a cutting tone, turning to
+Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I have no reason to shun that light," the young girl
+replied, "even should it suddenly reveal faults hitherto
+unsuspected, as it sheds a brilliant glare on the stains
+upon the crest of the Gnadewitzes.  But we love our
+name because it is true and honest, and we would not
+exchange this stainless inheritance for a title made famous
+by the tears and toil of others!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Heavens, what exalted sentiments!" cried the baroness
+with a sneer.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You cannot be serious, Elizabeth," said Helene.  "Do
+not forget that the earthly happiness of two human beings
+hangs upon your decision."  She cast a meaning glance
+at Elizabeth, which of course was utterly incomprehensible
+to her.  "You must bring a noble name with you
+into the sphere to which you will now belong, and you
+certainly would not destroy your own hopes and those of
+others?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am utterly at a loss to understand you,"' said
+Elizabeth with some irritation.  "It never occurred to
+me to connect the name of von Gnadewitz with any
+hopes whatever; least of all can I conceive how the
+wishes or happiness of others can depend upon the
+resolution of such a poor, insignificant girl as I."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You are not poor, dear child," rejoined Helene.
+"Come," she continued, with emotion, "let us from
+to-day be sisters indeed!  You too, dear Rudolph," and
+she turned with some embarrassment to her brother;
+"you will welcome Emil's bride into our family, and
+permit me to share everything with her like a sister?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes," was the reply, spoken sternly, but firmly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth put her hand to her forehead; what she had
+heard sounded so incredible.  "Emil's bride" was what
+Fräulein von Walde had said; was she speaking of
+her?—impossible!  Had these people conspired to terrify her
+thus?  And he,—he who knew how she detested Hollfeld,
+had sided with them; he was standing there with folded
+arms, the perfect image of implacable sternness and
+reserve.  He had been, hitherto, quite silent, and had opened
+his lips only to utter the "yes," which had so crushed
+her.  Had he not, previously, endeavoured almost rudely
+to prevent his cousin's advances?  At thought of that, it
+suddenly flashed upon her that she was now of noble rank,—that
+explained everything.  Hollfeld's nobility could not
+be dishonoured now by an alliance with her; his relatives
+were, therefore, all quite willing to accede to his suit, and
+Helene's surprise at her announcement that she despised
+the name which they thought noble, was perfectly
+natural; still, how they could possibly imagine an
+understanding, upon her part, with the man whom she
+detested, was utterly beyond her comprehension, for her
+brain reeled with the wild uproar of her thoughts.  One
+thing only was quite clear, she must immediately
+convince them of their error.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I find myself the object of a misunderstanding, the
+origin of which I cannot possibly comprehend," she said
+hastily.  "It is Herr von Hollfeld's duty to make an
+explanation here; but as he prefers to be silent, I am
+forced to declare that he has had no encouragement
+whatever from me."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"But, dear child," said Helene, in great confusion,
+"did we not see with our own eyes as we entered that——"
+she did not proceed.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>These words sounded like a thunder clap in Elizabeth's
+ears.  The idea that that moment of helpless terror could
+be misunderstood by any one, had never entered her pure
+and innocent mind.  And now she found, to her unutterable
+pain, that it had placed her in a hatefully false light.
+She turned, for an instant, toward Hollfeld, but one
+glance convinced her that she had no satisfaction,—no
+concern for her honour, to look for from him.  With his
+back turned to the rest, he was standing at the window
+like a detected school-boy.  If the ladies only had been
+present, he would doubtless have extricated himself by
+some bold and cunning lie; but Herr von Walde was
+there, and he was utterly at a loss.  He contented
+himself by preserving an ambiguous silence, which gave
+unlimited scope for conjecture.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"God in heaven, how terrible!" cried the young girl,
+wringing her hands.  "As you entered you saw," she
+continued, averting her face, and drawing a deep breath,
+"a defenceless girl striving vainly to repel the insolence
+of a man lost to all sense of honour.  The reiterated
+declaration on my part that I thoroughly despise and
+utterly detest him was of no avail in freeing me from his
+presence.  I have never concealed these sentiments from
+Herr von Hollfeld,—on the contrary——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Here she was interrupted by a loud noise.  Helene
+had sunk back upon the couch, and her right hand
+clutched the table near her, shaking it so that the china
+and glass upon it rattled.  The little lady's face was
+ashy-pale,—her despairing glance sought Hollfeld.  In
+vain she endeavoured to conquer her agitation.  The
+light that suddenly revealed such a hateful web of
+intrigue was too lurid,—its glare had the annihilating
+effect upon her hitherto unsuspicious mind of a flash
+of lightning.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth, although she was herself much agitated, and
+prepared to give further expression to her indignation,
+felt her heart melt with sympathy at sight of the little
+lady.  In vindicating her own honour she had torn
+the bandage from Helene's eyes, and she was filled
+with sorrow for her, although she knew that she must
+have been undeceived sooner or later.  She hastily
+approached her, and took the icy little hands, which had
+dropped from the table, between her own.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Forgive me if I have terrified you by my hasty
+words," she said beseechingly, but firmly.  "You can
+readily understand my position.  A few explanatory
+words from Herr von Hollfeld would have sufficed to
+clear me from every degrading suspicion.  I should not
+then have been forced to declare so emphatically what
+I thought of his character and conduct.  I regret what
+has happened, but I cannot retract one word that I have
+said."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She kissed Helene's hand, and silently left the
+pavilion.  She fancied that Herr von Walde extended his
+hand to her as she passed him, but she did not look up.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Outside, she followed the narrow, winding way that
+led through a grove to the pond.  She passed by the
+castle, along the broad gravel-walk, and entered the little
+forest-path leading to the convent tower, without knowing
+whither she was going, or remembering that every step
+took her farther from her home.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She was in a state of fearful excitement.  A wild
+chaos was seething in her brain.  Hollfeld's offer of
+marriage,—his insolent passion,—Bertha's sudden
+appearance at the window of the pavilion,—the inconceivable
+fact that Helene had received her with joy as the bride
+of the man whom she herself loved,—all these things
+passed through her mind, and in the midst of the
+confusion she distinctly heard Herr von Walde's
+"yes."  He too, then, would have welcomed her as Herr von
+Hollfeld's bride!  It would have cost him nothing to see
+her his cousin's wife.  This marriage had doubtless
+been decided upon in family conclave.  Herr von Walde
+had weighed the for and against with his usual cool
+judgment, and had finally agreed with Helene that
+Emil's choice would not prove a blot upon the von
+Hollfeld escutcheon.  She could be graciously received, and
+they would themselves provide the dowry which the
+bride was deficient in.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At these thoughts Elizabeth set her teeth, as if she
+were enduring physical agony.  She was filled with
+unutterable bitterness; her sincere and ardent
+sentiments had been misunderstood and crushed under foot
+by that cold-blooded, calculating aristocrat.  How could
+she ever have imagined that he could sympathize in
+the least with a young, earnest heart, enamoured of
+freedom, and giving no heed to the belittling, often
+ridiculous institutions of the world,—he who found the
+pride and glory of woman only in the ruins and ashes
+of a long ancestral line?</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Several times she paused, lost in thought, and then she
+walked on quickly, heedless that she was traversing the
+same path along which she had gone in such confusion
+by his side a few days before.  The overhanging boughs
+and branches brushed her forehead; she forgot how he
+had bent them aside, lest they should annoy her.  The
+underbrush was still trodden down, and the stripped
+leaves were not quite withered upon the spot where
+Fräulein von Quittelsdorf and Hollfeld had broken through the
+bushes to reach the two lonely wanderers.  Here was the
+place where the unfinished birthday greeting had been
+whispered; Elizabeth passed unheeding by, and it was
+well that she did so, for there were no tears in her burning
+eyes; here where she could have wept her very heart out.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At last she looked around her with surprise.  She
+stood before the convent tower.  Hers was perhaps the
+first human foot that had pressed this turf since the
+place had been deserted by the latest guests or the weary
+servants on the night of the fête.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>It looked sadly out of order; the grass had been
+trodden down by the dancers, whose tread had not been
+fairy-like.  The two hemlocks, which had sustained the
+refreshment tent, lay prostrate upon the ground in the midst of
+fragments of broken bottles and the remains of the
+fireworks.  Above, the shrivelled garlands were still
+hanging between the tower and the oaks, while a gentle breeze
+swept whispering among the poor flowers, which hung
+crushed together in the air, their short season of triumph
+long since ended.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>It was already twilight beneath the oaks, although a
+golden light illumined their topmost boughs, and played
+upon the gray roof of the tower.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>It was with a slight shudder that Elizabeth became
+aware of her loneliness in the heart of the dim, silent
+forest; nevertheless she was irresistibly drawn towards
+the spot where Herr von Walde had taken leave of her.
+She stepped across the trampled sward,—then stood for
+an instant as if rooted to the earth,—for the evening
+breeze brought to her ear single broken tones of a
+human voice.  At first she seemed to hear something like
+a distant ejaculatory cry for help; then gradually the
+sounds grew more connected, and rapidly drew near.  It
+was a shrill, piercing, female voice, shouting, rather than
+singing, a hymn.  Elizabeth could hear that the singer,
+whoever she might be, was running quickly as she sang.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>All at once the melody ceased, or rather it was
+interrupted by a burst of horrid laughter, and then by a
+shriek, which ran through a perfect scale of scorn,
+triumph, and bitter agony.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A foreboding of evil filled Elizabeth's mind.  She looked
+anxiously in the direction, in the dark wood, whence the
+noise was approaching.  It was hushed for a moment,
+and then the hymn began again, while the singer came
+rushing on like the wind.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth stepped within the open door of the tower,
+for she did not wish to encounter the strange singer;
+scarcely had she crossed the threshold, when the laughter
+was repeated close at hand.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>On the opposite side of the open sward Bertha rushed
+out of the thicket, and by her side ran Wolf, the forester's
+savage watch-dog.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Wolf, seize her!" she shrieked, pointing with both
+hands to Elizabeth.  The animal came tearing, barking,
+across the open space.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth shut the door behind her, and ran up the
+tower stairs.  She thus gained a moment's advantage;
+but before she had reached the roof of the tower the door
+below was opened.  The growling dog rushed up the
+stairs followed by the maniac cheering him on.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The terrified and hunted girl reached the topmost stair,—she
+heard the growl of the savage brute behind her,—he
+was just at her heels,—with one last effort she stepped
+out upon the roof, closed the oaken door, and leaned her
+whole weight against it.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>For a few moments Bertha rattled at the latch upon
+the other side,—it did not yield.  She raved, and threw
+herself against the oaken panels, while Wolf, barking and
+growling, scratched at the threshold.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Amber witch out there!" she shrieked.  "I'll throttle
+you!  I'll drag you through the thicket by your long,
+yellow hair!  You have stolen his heart from me, with
+your moonshine face,—vile hypocrite that you are!
+Seize her, Wolf, seize her!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The dog whined, and tore at the door with his paws.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Tear her in pieces, Wolf; bury your teeth in her
+white fingers that have bewitched him with their devilish
+music! curse her! cursed be the tones that come from
+her fingers! may they turn to poisonous arrows, and
+bury themselves in her own heart and destroy it!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Again she threw herself against the door; the old
+oaken planks creaked and groaned, but it did not yield to
+the little powerless feet.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth meanwhile leaned against the door on the
+other side, with lips tightly closed and a face pale as
+death.  She had seized a piece of wood that lay at her
+feet that she might defend herself, if need should be,
+against the dog.  Her whole frame shuddered at the
+curses which Bertha shrieked out, but she nerved herself
+with new resolution.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Had she only glanced at the latch of the door, she
+would have seen that any effort upon her part to keep it
+closed was wholly needless,—a huge bolt had slipped
+forward, against which the maniac's utmost strength could
+avail nothing.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Open the door!" Bertha shouted again.  "Transparent,
+brittle creature!  Ha! ha!  Old Bruin, whom I hate,
+calls her Gold Elsie.  The old fellow despises heaven,
+and may go to hell for all I care, for I shall be blessed,
+eternally blessed.  He calls her Gold Elsie because she
+has hair of amber.  Fie! how ugly you are! my hair is
+black as the raven's wing.  I am a thousand times the
+fairer.  Do you hear me, moonlight face?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She paused exhausted, and Wolf, too, ceased his
+whining and scratching at the threshold.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At the same moment the tolling of a distant bell broke
+the evening silence of the forest.  Elizabeth well knew
+what it signified,—a funeral train was descending the
+mountain from the ruins of old Castle Gnadeck.  Lila's
+mortal remains were leaving the walls which had once
+echoed the sighs and groans of the lovely gypsy girl.
+She was borne through the forest, in longing for which
+her heart had broken two centuries before.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Bertha, too, seemed to listen to the sound of the bell;
+for a moment she did not stir.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"They are ringing," she cried suddenly; "come, Wolf,
+let us go to church; let her stay up here with the clouds
+that will fall upon her in the night,—the tempest will tear
+her hair, and the ravens will come and pick out her eyes,
+for she is accursed, accursed!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And then she began the hymn again.  Her terrible
+voice echoed eerily against the narrow walls of the
+tower.  She ran down and out of the door below, then
+rushed singing across the open space, and disappeared
+in the thicket whence she had issued at first,—the dog
+following her.  She never once turned round towards
+the tower.  As soon as she turned her back upon it she
+seemed to forget entirely that the object of her hatred was
+standing up there upon the gray stone platform.  Elizabeth
+caught a last glimpse of her scarlet jacket among the
+dark bushes, and then, with her savage companion, she
+was seen no more.  Gradually her song died away, and
+soon the gentle breeze wafted only the tolling of the bell
+to the ears of the lonely girl upon the roof of the tower.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>With a deep-drawn breath of relief she relinquished
+her constrained position, which she had until now retained
+mechanically, and tried to lift the latch of the door.  It
+was rusty and resisted her efforts as it had Bertha's.
+She now discovered with alarm that the bolt had sprung,—it
+had, indeed, defended and protected her, but it was
+also her jailer,—for she could not possibly stir it; worn
+out at last with her fruitless attempts to withdraw it, she
+dropped her hands at her sides.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>What was to be done?  She thought with distress of
+her parents who had probably been made anxious by her
+prolonged absence,—for they knew that she fully intended
+to be present at the interment of her ancestress.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Around her were grouped the mighty monarchs of the
+forest, their topmost boughs still tipped here and there by
+the fading western light.  Far in the distance gleamed a
+strip of light,—there lay L—— with its lofty castle, whose
+long rows of windows glittered for a few moments, and
+then disappeared in gloom.  And there towered the
+mountain crowned by the ruin of Gnadeck; but the forest hid
+from her her dear home, she could not even see the lofty
+flagstaff.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth soon relinquished all hope of being seen by
+passers-by,—and she knew that her feeble cry for help
+must die away unheard, for the tower lay hidden in the
+depths of the forest; no frequented road passed near it;
+and who would be likely to be walking at nightfall in
+the quiet path which led nowhere except to the convent
+tower?</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Nevertheless she made one attempt, and uttered a loud
+cry.  But how weak it sounded!  It seemed to her that
+the boughs of the nearest tree absorbed it entirely; it
+only startled some ravens in the vicinity, and they flew
+croaking away overhead; then all was still again,—fearfully
+still.  The Lindhof church bells were silent.
+A faint red yet glimmered in the west, tinging a few
+little floating clouds,—the forest lay in deep shadow.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Utterly at a loss, Elizabeth walked to and fro upon
+the flat roof.  Sometimes she stood still at the corner
+looking toward Castle Lindhof, which was the
+nearest inhabited mansion, and raised her voice in a vain
+cry for help.  At last she ceased all such efforts, and
+seated herself upon the bench which was set into the
+outer wall of the small landing, at the top of the stairs,
+and which was tolerably protected by the projecting roof
+from wind and weather.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She was not afraid of passing the night here, for she
+did not doubt that search would be made for her in the
+forest; but how many anxious hours her friends must
+pass before she could be found!</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>This thought troubled her greatly and increased her
+nervous agitation.  She had passed through so much
+during the day, and had had no assistance, nothing but
+her own force of character to sustain her.  She was still
+trembling from the terror of the last shock.  What could
+have caused poor Bertha's outbreak of insanity?  She
+had spoken of a heart which Elizabeth had stolen from
+her,—was it possible that Hollfeld had played some part
+in this sad story, as Frau Ferber had lately so often
+insisted?</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Such a suspicion revived all the painful sensations that
+had before possessed her.  But now, sitting motionless
+against the old wall, while the darkening heavens seemed
+to draw near her, and nothing spoke of life around save
+the damp night air that swept soothingly across her hot
+cheek,—now her moistened eyes bore witness that the
+stern stoicism with which her crushed heart had armed
+itself, had vanished.  All, all was over; she had broken
+with the inmates of Lindhof forever.  She had shattered
+Helene's ideal, and she had thrown back to Herr von
+Walde the gift of his consent to her marriage which he
+had offered her; doubtless his pride had been mortally
+wounded.  Most probably she should never see him
+again.  He would soon set out upon his travels, glad to
+efface the impression made upon him by the ingratitude
+of the poor music-teacher.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She covered her face with her hands, and the tears
+trickled through the slender white fingers.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the mean time the night had fallen, still it was
+not quite dark.  The crescent moon was reigning in the
+skies, where all the other shining wanderers appeared and
+went their way, never heeding that their sister planet,
+the earth, careering in space with them, contained millions
+of little worlds, each inclosing in its sphere heights
+and depths, tossing waves with their ebb and flow, mighty
+storms, and only too rarely a sacred repose.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And now life began to stir in the old tower.  There
+was a low murmur and moaning upon the stairs; slight
+blows were struck from within upon the oaken door, and
+wings brushed the inner wall; the owls and bats were
+longing to be abroad, and could not find their accustomed
+place of egress.  And in the forest below there arose a
+rustling and crackling,—the deer broke through the thicket
+and roamed about in entire security.  From the distant
+east, where the forest almost in its primeval luxuriance
+descended into the valley and then again climbed an
+opposing range of mountains, a faint shot was occasionally
+heard.  Every time Elizabeth heard the sound she
+nestled closer against the wall beneath the protecting
+roof, as if in fear lest she should be discerned by some
+unfriendly eye gazing thence;—those hunting there were
+outlaws.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Still no succour came.  Her fear, then, lest her parents
+should be anxious, had been unfounded.  Of course, they
+supposed her to be yet at the castle,—perhaps they were
+displeased at her long absence from home; but they
+would possibly wait until ten o'clock for her return.  It
+might be midnight before she was released.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>It grew quite cold.  With a shiver, she drew her thin
+shawl close about her, and tied a handkerchief around
+her throat.  She was obliged to leave her seat, and walk
+to and fro on the roof, to prevent herself from becoming
+chilled.  Occasionally she leaned over the balustrade and
+looked down.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>White cloud-like phantoms were hovering hither and
+thither over the open space beneath,—the mists rising
+from the damp ground.  Elizabeth no longer thought
+of the motley spectacle,—the ostentation and vanity
+that had filled this place a few days before.  She forgot
+the countless idle words that had filled the air, causing
+such a confusion of tongues that the old tower, instead
+of standing upon honest Thuringian soil, might have
+challenged the skies upon the banks of the Euphrates.
+Forth from the billows of mist floated the shadowy forms
+of the nuns buried under these walls, their features
+pale and passionless, their desolate hearts stilled within
+their long-flowing robes, and their waxen brows, beneath
+their white bands, haunted no longer by restless doubts
+and longings.  They would fain have trodden the path
+leading from the world to heaven, had they not been so
+often dragged down to earth again.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth thought of those dark times, when these
+gloomy walls were erected in expiation of the crime of a
+knightly assassin,—cold stone walls to appease Him from
+whom has come the Word made life,—who is the source
+of Eternal Love.  Could all the prayers, breathed by
+the inmates of that living tomb,—all the masses,—the
+organs rolling thunder, blot out the stain of blood which
+the criminal carried to the foot of the eternal throne?
+No, a thousand times no!  He heeds no incense wafted
+before the shrine of Baal.  His eternal edicts are not
+reversed by the creatures whom He has made.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>What a terrible episode in the family history of the
+Gnadewitzes those crumbling ruins commemorated!
+And could it be possible that a being, conscious of a
+fervent desire for moral elevation and spiritual growth,
+should be duly respected only when permitted to bear
+that name?  Must she learn that a spotless life was
+nought, laid in the balance with a human device, which
+was, in fact, a phantom of the brain,—an absolute nothing?</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Was the superstition that committed witches to the
+flames darker than this delusion of the privileges of birth,
+by which many a true and richly-gifted human life is as
+ruthlessly destroyed as by the faggot of the executioner,—the
+delusion, that flatly contradicts the Almighty decree,
+which declares all God's children to come alike from His
+creating hand,—alike in outward form, in physical
+structure, in the possession of senses, whereby both king and
+beggar enjoy and suffer, alike in the possession of that
+vital spark that animates these outward shapes?  Where
+is there a soul, even although it has attained the
+summit of human perfection, that is not conscious of some
+weakness, or a human being so depraved, that one good
+quality at least does not glimmer forth from the slough
+of vice into which he has sunk?—And can he be
+influenced by such narrow prejudice,—he, whose brow
+bears the impress of high intelligence, whose glance and
+voice can melt with a tenderness that reveals a soul
+alive to the best and deepest emotions of our nature?
+Could he rank the hollow form above the immortal
+rights of humanity, which accord freedom of thought
+and action to all?  Did not that false system
+continually crush out the highest and holiest sentiment of
+the human heart, love?  If Elizabeth had loved Hollfeld,
+what would her lot have been without the discovery in
+the ruins?  And if,—here a sarcastic smile hovered
+upon her quivering lips,—if one thought of affection for
+her had ever stirred Herr von Walde's heart, and he
+should come now and offer his hand?——Never, never
+would she consent to give herself to him, with the
+consciousness that her unutterable love had only been
+returned when such return was no longer forbidden by the
+old worn-out laws of society.  The pain of renunciation
+lost much of its torture, contrasted with the torment
+that would be the result of such a life.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>With looks full of gloom, Elizabeth once more walked
+to the corner of the balustrade looking towards Castle
+Lindhof, and stood gazing in that direction.  One and
+the same star rose above that graceful pile and the poorest
+hut in the neighbouring village, casting its mild light
+impartially upon each,—or was there really a stronger gleam
+upon the spot where the park opened into the forest?  No;
+that light came from below, and penetrating quickly
+farther and farther into the forest, faintly tinged the boughs
+above with its rays.  It was most certainly a torch borne
+along the narrow path by which Elizabeth had reached
+the convent tower.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Once the light was, for an instant, immovable, and a
+faint shout reached her ears.  She felt convinced now
+that help was at hand,—that search was made for her,—and
+she raised her voice in reply, although she knew that
+the faint sound could not reach the bearer of the torch.
+The light hesitated but for a moment, and then quickly
+came nearer and nearer.  She could soon plainly distinguish
+the flame of the torch, and see the shower of sparks
+that fell from it to the ground.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Elizabeth!" suddenly resounded through the forest.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The voice thrilled through her every nerve,—for it was
+his voice.  Herr von Walde was calling her in tones of
+unutterable anxiety.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Here," she called down to him; "I am here, upon the
+convent tower."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The torch-bearer plunged through the thickets and
+hurried across the open sward.  In a few moments he stood
+upon the landing without, shaking the door with a
+powerful hand.  Several stout blows followed, and the old
+planks were burst open.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Herr von Walde stepped out upon the roof.  In his
+left hand he held the torch, while with his right he drew
+Elizabeth within the circle of its light.  His head was
+uncovered, his dark hair lay in dishevelled locks upon his
+forehead, and his face was very pale.  He hastily scanned
+her figure, as if to convince himself that she was unhurt.
+He was evidently in a state of great agitation, the hand
+which grasped her arm trembled violently, and for a
+moment he could not speak.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Elizabeth, poor child!" he ejaculated at last, with a
+gasping sigh, "did the insult that you received in my
+house to-day drive you hither to this dreary ruin, and the
+gloomy night?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth explained to him that her stay here had not
+been voluntary on her part, as the bolted door testified,
+and related in a few words, as she descended the stairs,
+all that had occurred.  He went before and offered her his
+hand to support her, but she took hold of the rope which
+served for a hand-rail, and turned away her eyes that she
+might ignore his proffered aid.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At this moment a strong draught of air extinguished
+the torch, which had burnt only dimly, and all was
+enveloped in darkness.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Now give me your hand!" he said, in the tone of
+command which she knew so well.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I can take hold of the rope, I need no other support,"
+she replied.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The last word had scarcely left her lips when she felt
+herself lifted from the ground like a feather by two strong
+arms and carried down the steps.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Foolish child!" he said, as he set her down upon the
+grass outside.  "I will not have you dashed to pieces
+upon the stone pavement of that dreary tower."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She entered the path which led directly to Castle
+Lindhof,—it was the shortest.  Herr von Walde walked silently
+by her side.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you intend to leave me to-night without saying
+one kind word to me?" he suddenly asked, standing
+still.  Pain and suppressed auger strove in his voice
+for the mastery.  "Have I had the misfortune to offend you?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, you have wounded me grievously."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Because I did not instantly chastise my cousin?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You could not,—his suit had your entire approbation.
+You, as well as the others, would have forced me to
+accept Herr von Hollfeld."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I force you?  Oh, child, how little you understand a
+man's heart?  I was the victim of a terrible error when
+I uttered that 'yes.'  I longed to try if it were a delusion,
+and to free myself from it.  Now you shall learn that I
+will banish everything that can remind you of to-day's
+terror.  You like Lindhof?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The Baroness Lessen is about to leave the castle.
+Let me entreat you to be my sister's stay and support
+when I leave her again, when I begin my wanderings
+anew.  Will you consent?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I cannot promise to do so."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And why not?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Fräulein von Walde will not desire my society, and
+even if——.  I have already declared once to-day that I
+shall not bear the new name."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"What a strange reply!  What has that to do with
+the matter?  Ah, now I understand.  At last I begin to
+see clearly.  Then you think that I agreed to Hollfeld's
+suit because you suddenly had a right to an ancient name?
+Speak, is not this the fact?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, I believe this to be the fact."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And you suppose further, that the same reason leads
+me to desire your companionship for my sister.  You are
+convinced that aristocratic pride prompts all my thoughts
+and actions?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, yes."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Pray let me inquire of you what name you bore when
+I asked you for a birthday greeting, when we last walked
+together here in this path?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Then we did not know of the secret hidden in the
+ruins," said Elizabeth, in an almost inaudible tone.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Have you forgotten the words which I dictated to
+you that afternoon?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No,—I remember every syllable of them with the
+greatest distinctness," she replied quickly.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And do you think it possible that such words can end
+with, 'I hope the coming year will prove a happy one,'
+or the like?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The girl did not speak, but looked up at him with a
+crimson blush.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Listen to me quietly for one moment, Elizabeth," he
+continued, but he himself was so far from quiet that his
+voice sounded faint and faltering, as though half stifled
+by the throbbing of his heart, "a man who might have
+been regarded as fortune's favourite, so richly did she
+endow him in his cradle with rank and wealth, mistrusted
+these advantages when he arrived at years of discretion.
+He feared that they would stand in the way of what he
+considered the true happiness of his life.  He had created
+for himself an ideal of her by whose side alone he could
+find real peace,—not that he required extraordinary
+physical beauty or intellectual power,—he sought a pure,
+true heart, that should be influenced by no consideration
+of worldly advantages, but should give herself to him
+for his own sake alone.  He gradually arrived at the
+conviction that his ideal must remain an ideal, for in his
+search for its realization, he came to be thirty-seven
+years old.  When hope has folded her wings, and night
+is falling around us, there is something overpowering
+in the sudden flushing of a morning light, at the
+eleventh hour.  The mind is unhinged, the long, weary
+waiting has rendered it almost incapable of believing
+in great, unexpected happiness.  At last, Elizabeth, he
+found the heart he had sought,—a heart accompanied
+by a clear, well-balanced intellect that was infinitely
+superior to all narrow, sordid considerations,—but this
+heart throbbed in a youthful form adorned with every
+imaginable grace.  Was it to be wondered at that the
+man of riper years, possessing, as he knew, no personal
+advantages, regarded with mistrust another who could
+lay in the balance youth and a fine person?  Was it to be
+wondered at that he allowed himself to be carried away
+one moment, inspired by the boldest hopes, by some word,
+some act on the young girl's part, only to be cast down
+utterly the next, when he saw that other in her society?
+Was it not natural that he should fear that youth only
+could attract youth?  Never did heart of man long
+more wildly than his for the accomplishment of his
+desire,—never was there a man more possessed, in
+moments of despair, by a cowardly doubt as to its
+fulfilment.  And when they told him that his little idolized
+darling belonged to that other, he emptied the bitter cup
+to the dregs, and said 'yes' because he imagined that she
+had already said it.  Elizabeth, I stood on the threshold
+of the pavilion to-day in a state of utter despair.  You
+do not know what it is, when a merchant heaps all his
+treasure, every jewel that he possesses, in a single ship,
+and sees it sink before his eyes.  Shall I try to tell you
+what I felt when you so decidedly rejected the rank which
+you might have claimed, and so made an alliance with
+Hollfeld impossible?  Shall I tell you that my sister's
+condition, and consideration for you yourself, alone
+prevented me from chastising that scoundrel upon the spot?
+He has already left Lindhof, and will never cross your
+path again.  Will you forget the insult that you received
+in my house to-day?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>He had taken her hands in his, and held them pressed
+close to his breast.  Without withdrawing them she
+assented to his question with trembling lips.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And shall we not forget everything, my darling little
+Gold Elsie, that has occurred between the beginning and
+the conclusion of the birthday wish?  My golden darling,
+the delight of my eyes, my own Elizabeth Ferber stands
+again before me, and will repeat after me what I say,
+will she not?  The last sentence which was so cruelly
+interrupted—tell me what it was."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Here is my hand as the pledge of an unutterable bliss,"
+faltered Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"In life, in death, and for all eternity, I will be your own."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>But she opened her lips in vain to repeat after him the
+words which he uttered so solemnly, with the most
+profound emotion.  She burst into tears and threw her
+arms around the neck of her lover, who clasped her to
+his heart.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"This divine dream must not fade," he said with a
+sigh, as Elizabeth gently extricated herself from his
+embrace.  "Leave me your hand at least, Elizabeth, I must
+learn to believe in my bliss.  If you leave me now, I
+shall be crushed by doubt again to-night.  You are
+thoroughly conscious that you are irrevocably mine?  Do
+you know that you must leave father and mother, and the
+dear home upon the mountain, for my sake?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I know it, and will do so gladly, Rudolph," she said
+smiling, but firm.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"God bless you, my darling, for those words!  But you
+must know the depths of my doubt.  Is it not pity for
+my boundless love that induces you to yield your consent
+to my suit?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"No, Rudolph, it is love,—a love which first awoke
+in my heart,—does not this sound strangely,—when I saw
+in your angry eyes, and heard in the tones of your voice,
+how you detested cruelty and injustice!  And since that
+moment it has never left me; on the contrary, it has
+increased and grown stronger, in spite of all my efforts to
+destroy it, notwithstanding all the harsh words that have
+so often wounded it sorely."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Who spoke such words?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"You, yourself; you were harsh and unkind to me."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, child, those were the outbreaks of insane
+jealousy!  I have struggled for and exercised self-control
+all my life long, but I could not conceal how I was
+tortured then.  And would you, on that account, have
+closed upon me the heaven that is opening before me?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Not on that account,—for one kind look from you made
+me happy again; but another obstinate opponent entered
+the lists,—my reason.  It had grown well aware of
+everything that report declared concerning your incredible
+aristocratic arrogance, and, at every wild throb of my
+heart, dinned into my ears your reasons for refusing the
+alliance which the prince proposed to you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Ah! those sixteen quarterings!" cried Herr von
+Walde, smiling, "But see, my little Gold Elsie, what a
+Nemesis that was!" he continued more gravely.  "To
+avoid annoyance, I seized upon the first means at hand,
+and, as I now know, it almost cost me the happiness of my
+life.  I like the Prince of L——, but any residence at his
+court was rendered, for a time, utterly odious to me, by the
+matrimonial alliances proposed for me, principally by the
+Princess Catharine.  She had taken it into her head that
+I must marry one of the ladies of her court.  No one
+could believe that the girl was entirely indifferent to me,
+for she passed for a brilliant beauty, and had broken many
+a heart.  All that I could say was of no avail; they
+continued to plot and intrigue, and so one day I cut the
+whole matter short by declaring to her Highness that
+her plan for me would cost me one of my estates, since,
+as is true, by my uncle's will it was devised to the State
+if I should marry a wife who could not show sixteen
+quarterings in her escutcheon.  This declaration put an
+end to my torment; no such person was to be found in
+the length and breadth of the little kingdom, and all
+thought it natural that I should wish to retain my estate."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"And will you suffer this loss for my sake?" cried
+Elizabeth, in surprise.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It is no loss, Elizabeth; it is an exchange,—an
+exchange by which I gain a priceless treasure,—the
+happiness of an entire existence."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A torch glimmered through the thicket.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Halt! this way!" cried Herr von Walde.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In a few moments one of the servants appeared,
+and was ordered to hasten as quickly as possible to
+Gnadeck and announce Fräulein Ferber's safety.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The servant hurried away.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I have been very selfish, Elizabeth," said Herr von
+Walde, putting her hand within his arm, and no longer
+loitering.  "I knew that your family was most anxious
+about you; that your father and uncle were ranging the
+forest in search of you, while my people, and many of the
+Lindhof peasants, were traversing the country in all
+directions upon the same errand, and yet I forgot
+everything when I found you."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"My poor father and mother!" sighed Elizabeth, not
+without a slight twinge of conscience; the whole world
+had ceased to exist for her when he appeared.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Friedrich runs quickly," von Walde said, soothingly;
+"he will reach the summit of the mountain long before
+us, and tell them you are safe."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>They entered the park and passed by the castle.  It
+lay in darkness and silence.  Only from Helena's
+chamber window gleamed a faint light.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"There is a life-and-death struggle going on there,"
+murmured Herr von Walde, looking up.  "She loved
+that wretch devotedly; how fearful her awakening must be!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Go and comfort her," begged Elizabeth.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Comfort her?  At such a moment?  My child, who
+could have come to me with comfort when I thought I
+had lost you?  Helene shut herself in her room when I
+ordered Herr von Hollfeld's horse to be brought to the
+door; her maid is near her.  A long time must elapse
+before she wishes to see me; when we have been grossly
+deceived we do not immediately turn to those who warned
+us of the deceit.  Besides, I will not enter my house
+again until I am sure that your parents will not snatch
+you from me."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The path branched aside to the well-known bank in
+the forest.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you remember?" asked Elizabeth, smiling, as she
+pointed to it.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, yes.  There you told me so bravely of your
+determination to go out into the world as a governess, and
+I took the liberty of declaring to myself that I never
+would permit it.  I had to exert all my self-control to
+prevent myself from then and there clasping my little bird
+in my arms and pressing its golden head, filled with such
+bold resolve, to my breast.  And there I drew from you
+the unconscious naive confession that your parents still
+held the first place in your heart.  But you adopted a
+cold, repellant demeanour, as soon as I attempted to be
+confidential."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It was shyness,—and I am not yet quite sure that
+to-morrow, when I see your stern face by daylight, I
+shall not fall into the same embarrassment."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It will never be stern again, my child; joy has
+touched it with its gentle finger."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Soon afterwards, the old beeches which look in at the
+windows of the Ferber's dwelling-room saw a strange
+sight.  A man of fine presence, his face pale with
+profound emotion, conducted the daughter to her parents,
+and then asked them to give her back to him as his
+future wife,—his other self.  The old beeches saw him
+take his young love in his arms, and receive the blessing
+of her agitated parents.  They saw the mother's face,
+smiling through tears, raised gratefully to Heaven, and
+little Ernst shaking the canary's cage, that he might
+awaken that sleepy songster and announce to him, with
+great solemnity, that Elsie was betrothed.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst" id="chapter-xx"><span class="large">CHAPTER XX.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>While happiness was reigning in the home upon old
+Gnadeck, a sad event occurred in the valley.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Two peasants from Lindhof, who, provided with
+torches, had been looking for Elizabeth, heard, as they
+were proceeding from their village to the forest, a loud
+growling at a little distance,—it sounded like an angry
+dog.  Not far from them lay stretched across the road
+a human form, while a large dog lying beside it, as
+if to defend it, had placed both his forepaws upon its
+breast.  The animal became infuriated at the approach of
+the men, and, gnashing its teeth, threatened to fly at
+them.  They were afraid, and ran back to the village,
+where they met a party bearing torches, and among them
+the forester, who had just heard from Herr von Walde's
+servant of Elizabeth's safety.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Instantly all hastened to the spot which the frightened
+peasants described.  This time the dog did not growl.
+He whined, and crept to the forester's feet; it was Wolf,
+his watch-dog, and there lay Bertha, apparently lifeless.
+She was bleeding profusely from a wound in her head,
+and her face was as pale as death.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The forester did not speak, he shunned the sympathetic
+glances of the by-standers; anger and pain strove for the
+mastery in his features.  He raised Bertha from the
+ground, and carried her into the first house in the village;
+it was the poor weaver's.  Then he sent a messenger for
+Sabina.  Fortunately, the Waldheim physician was with
+one of his patients in the village.  He was sent for, and
+soon brought the poor girl to herself.  She recognized
+him, and asked for water.  Her wound was not
+dangerous, but the physician shook his head and looked
+meaningly at the forester, who was anxiously watching him.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The doctor was a blunt man, with rather rude manners.
+He suddenly approached the forester, and said a few
+words to him in a slight undertone.  The old man
+staggered back as though from a mortal blow, stared
+absently at the doctor without replying a word,—and then
+left the house without looking at the sick girl.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Uncle, uncle, forgive me!" she cried after him in
+heart-breaking tones, but he had already vanished into
+the dark night.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>And now Sabina made her appearance in the doorway.
+A maid followed her, bearing a huge bundle of linen upon
+her head, and a basket upon her arm, containing bandages,
+provisions, and all manner of necessary articles.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Gracious Powers! what have you been doing with
+yourself, Bertha?" cried the old woman with tears in her
+eyes, as she saw the pale face, and the bandaged head
+lying upon the pillow.  "And to-day, too, when I thought
+you went out looking so much better,—you had such
+beautiful red cheeks!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The girl buried her face in the bedclothes, and began
+to sob convulsively.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The physician told Sabina what was to be done, and
+strictly forbade the invalid to converse or even to speak.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Must I be silent?" cried Bertha, raising herself in
+bed.  "Ah! silence may be easy for such an old man,
+whose blood runs cool and calm in his veins.  But I must
+speak, Sabina, and if it kills me,—so much the better!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She drew the old housekeeper towards her upon the
+bed, and, weeping bitterly, confessed all to her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She had had a love affair with Hollfeld, who had
+promised to marry her, and had induced her to swear
+solemnly that she would keep silent concerning their
+relations to each other, and not claim her rights until he
+should authorize her to do so; for, as he told her, he
+must first influence his mother and his relatives at
+Lindhof to accede to his wishes.  The unthinking girl
+promised all that he asked,—and in addition vowed solemnly
+that no human being should hear one word from her lips
+until she could proclaim her proud secret to the world.
+The meetings of the pair usually took place in the
+convent-tower or in the pavilion in the park.  No one
+discovered them.  The baroness' suspicions were aroused
+by some slight circumstance,—she fell into a violent rage,
+and forbade Bertha ever to show her face at Lindhof
+Castle.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Still Bertha's lofty hopes were unshaken, for Hollfeld
+consoled her, and referred to the future.  But then came
+Elizabeth Ferber, and he was an altered man from that
+moment.  He avoided Bertha, and when she compelled
+him by threats to an interview, he treated her with a
+coldness and contempt that excited the girl's passionate
+nature to frenzy.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>When at last she became convinced that she had to do
+with a man utterly devoid of honour, the whole horror
+of her situation was laid bare before her.  She fell into
+a state of the wildest despair, and then began her nightly
+escapades.  Sleep scarcely visited her eyes, and she grew
+more composed only when she could shriek out her agony
+and woe in the lonely forest.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At last came the end to the tragedy,—the same end that
+has befallen such tragedies hundreds of times before, and
+that will continue to befall them,—for the warning example
+convinces the understanding but never touches an
+unsuspecting, loving heart.  Hollfeld offered the poor girl
+a sum of money if she would relinquish her claims and
+leave that part of the country.  He pretended that his
+mother and his Lindhof relatives forced him to marry the
+newly-made Fräulein von Gnadewitz.  Bertha denounced
+him as an unprincipled liar, and rushed from his presence.
+In a frenzy of rage she presented herself before
+his mother and told her all.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Thus far Bertha continued her sad tale connectedly,
+only interrupted by her violent gestures, sobs, and tears.
+She paused for a moment, and an expression of
+inextinguishable hatred distorted her countenance.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"That horrible woman," she cried at last, gasping
+for breath, "has the Bible always upon her lips.  She
+knits and sews night and day for missionaries, who are
+to carry the word of God to the heathen, that they may
+be converted; but they cannot in their ignorance be
+more inhuman and cruel than this Christian in her pride.
+She wishes to root out idol-worship, and sets up herself
+for an idol, surrounding herself by a crowd of fawning,
+flattering hypocrites, who declare that she is one of the
+elect,—not as other people are.  Woe to the upright,
+honest man who refuses to consider her as such,—his
+crime is blasphemy!  She thrust me from her doors, and
+threatened to have the dogs hunt me from the park, if I
+ever showed my face there again.  From that time I
+do not know what became of me," she said, sinking back
+exhausted among the pillows, and pressing her hands
+upon her aching forehead.  "I only know that I awaked
+and saw the doctor's face bending over me.  He told my
+uncle of my disgrace,—I heard him.  What will become
+of me!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Sabina had listened to this confession with horror and
+grief.  She had always advocated the strictest purity
+and decorum, and had been, as Bertha well knew, a
+stern and inflexible judge in such unhappy cases as that
+of the wretched girl.  But her heart was full of love and
+pity.  She looked down upon the crushed sinner before
+her with tears of compassion, and soothed the weary
+head upon her kind old breast.  She was rewarded by
+seeing the poor girl fall asleep in her arms, like a child
+worn out with weeping.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Soon nothing was heard in the little room but the quiet
+breathing of the sick girl and the ticking of the clock.
+Sabina put on her spectacles, drew an old worn copy of
+the New Testament from her basket, and watched faithfully
+by the bedside until the bright dawn looked in at
+the windows.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Bertha did not die, as she had hoped to do in
+consequence of her agitating confession.  On the contrary,
+she recovered very quickly, nursed and tended by
+Sabina and Frau Ferber.  There was no return of her
+insanity.  The wound in her head, which had been caused
+by a fall upon a sharp stone, had produced a most beneficial
+result in the copious loss of blood which had ensued.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The forester was beside himself at the disgrace which
+Bertha had brought beneath his honest roof.  For some
+days he would not even listen to his brother's calm, soothing
+words.  After Sabina had communicated to him Bertha's
+confession, he rode to Odenberg to call "the worthless
+scoundrel to account;" but the servants there informed
+him, shrugging their shoulders, that their master had
+started upon a journey; they could not tell whither, or
+when he would return.  Herr von Walde's search for
+him was also without result.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Bertha herself declared that she would never again
+hear of her betrayer, whom she now regarded with a hate
+as fervent as had been her love.  A few weeks after her
+recovery she left the weaver's hut,—she never again
+entered the Lodge,—to go to America.  But she did not go
+alone.  One of her uncle's assistants, a fine young fellow,
+begged for his dismissal, because he had always loved
+Bertha in silence, and could not find it in his heart to let
+her go alone into the wide world.  She had promised
+to be his.  They were to be married in Bremen, and
+sail thence for the New World, where he would lead a
+farmer's life.  Herr von Walde provided the pair with a
+considerable sum of money; and, at Frau Ferber's and
+Elizabeth's request, the forester silently consented that
+Sabina should rob the overflowing store of linen that his
+deceased wife had accumulated, to furnish the household
+of the emigrants.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst"><span>*      *      *      *      *</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>Upon a gloomy autumn day a well-packed travelling
+carriage left Castle Lindhof and slowly rolled towards
+L——.  Her haughty arrogance all vanished, the
+baroness sat huddled together in one corner of it.  Her
+brilliant part at Lindhof was played; she was
+reluctantly returning to her small rooms and reduced
+circumstances.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Mamma," said Bella, in her shrill, childish accents,
+as she opened and shut the carriage window and drummed
+against the seat with her feet, "does the castle belong
+now to Elizabeth Ferber?  Will she drive in our beautiful
+carriage with the white damask cushions?  Can she go
+into your room whenever she pleases and sit in the
+embroidered arm-chairs?  Old Lorenz says that she will be
+the mistress there now, and that all her orders must be
+obeyed."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Child, do not torment me so with your chatter,"
+groaned the baroness, burying her face in her
+pocket-handkerchief.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"It is very unkind of Uncle Rudolph to send us away,"
+the child continued, without heeding what her mother
+said.  "You know we have no silver dishes to eat from
+in B——, have we, mamma?  Shall we dine at a
+restaurant, mamma? and will you dress your own hair while
+Caroline washes and irons?  Why——"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Silence!" her mother interrupted the flood of speech
+that so tormented her.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Bella cowered terrified in a corner, and did not look up
+until the carriage was rolling over the stone pavement of
+L——.  The baroness cast a hasty glance at the Princely
+castle, then drew her veil over her face and burst into
+tears.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In consequence of Bertha's confession there had been
+a stormy interview between Herr von Walde and the
+baroness, which had ended in the departure of the latter.
+Helene repulsed her with aversion when she appealed to
+her, and she was forced to enter the travelling carriage,
+which appeared punctually before the castle at the hour
+appointed by its master.  There was one consoling drop
+in her cup of misfortune,—Herr von Walde had provided
+the means for Bella's education, upon condition that it
+should be more sensibly conducted than heretofore.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Almost at the same hour in which the Baroness Lessen
+was leaving Lindhof forever, the Countess von Falkenberg
+presented herself in the boudoir of the princess, who
+had returned with her husband a few days before from
+the baths.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The countess made as profound an obeisance as her
+uncertain limbs would permit, but showed a degree of
+haste that she would have stigmatized in another as
+contrary to all rules of etiquette.  She held an open letter
+in her hand, which had been somewhat crushed by her
+trembling fingers.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"I am most unhappy," she began in an unnatural tone
+of voice, "to be obliged to impart to your highnesses a
+most scandalous piece of news.  Oh, mon Dieu, who would
+have thought it!  Well, if even in our own sphere all
+sense of shame, all dignified self-consciousness, is at an
+end,—if every one is to heed the dictates of low and
+vulgar impulses,—no wonder that the halo surrounding
+us is dimmed, and the mob ventures to attack the throne
+itself!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Calm yourself, my dear Falkenberg," said the prince,
+who was present, with evident amusement.  "Your preface
+is somewhat after the magnificent style of a Cassandra.
+But as yet I see no signs of earthquake; and to my great
+satisfaction I observe,"—and he glanced out of the
+window at the quiet market-square with a smile,—"that my
+faithful subjects are quite composed.  What have you to
+tell us?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>She looked up surprised,—his sarcastic tone made her
+falter.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, if your highness only knew!" she cried at last.
+"That man, upon whose pride of birth I so relied, Herr
+von Walde, informs me that he is betrothed.  And to
+whom? to whom?"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"To Fräulein Ferber, the niece of my brave, old forester,"
+the prince, smiling, replied.  "Yes, yes, I have heard
+something of this; Walde knows what he is about, I see.
+The little girl is a miracle of beauty and loveliness they
+say.  Well, I hope he will not keep us waiting long to
+make her acquaintance, but will present her to us soon."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Your highness," cried the paralyzed countess, "she is
+the daughter of your highness' forester's clerk!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, yes, my good Falkenberg," chimed in the
+princess, "we know that.  But be calm; she is I assure you
+of noble rank."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Will your highness graciously permit me," rejoined
+the old lady, her face crimson, as she pointed to the
+crumpled letter, "here it stands in black and white,—his
+betrothal with a person of low birth,—here is the name,
+Ferber, and no other, and just so it will be written upon
+von Walde's genealogical tree forever.  It actually seems
+as if the man paraded it with a sort of ostentation.  The
+inconceivable indifference of these people in refusing to
+assume the name of von Gnadewitz shows plainly enough
+that they have nothing in common with that aristocratic
+family.  Their noble blood has utterly degenerated in the
+course of years, and, according to my notions of nobility,
+the girl is and always will be of low birth.  I sincerely pity
+poor Hollfeld, who is, as your highness knows, of stainless
+descent; by this misalliance he will lose at least half a
+million,—and the poor Lessen, too, from whom I have just
+had a few sad lines,—she leaves Lindhof to-day, of course
+to escape from such scandalous proceedings."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Those are matters affecting your own personal
+feeling, and of course I say nothing with regard to them,"
+rejoined the prince, not without severity.  "But I herewith
+request you to announce to the princess and myself the
+fact, as soon as Herr von Walde wishes to present his
+bride to us."</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>In the next room, the door of which was open, Cornelie
+was merrily turning upon her heels and snapping her
+fingers.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Aha! and that was why Sir Bruin wished to escape
+the tongues of certain eloquent ladies!" she cried, with a
+stifled laugh.  "Cornelie, where was your usual penetration
+with regard to the masculine heart?  Oh, the thing
+delights me for old Falkenberg's sake," she said, in a
+whisper, to another young lady who sat at the window
+embroidering.  "Now for at least two weeks we shall have
+the pleasure of seeing how the loyal creature will look
+daggers at their highnesses whenever their backs are
+turned, while all the honey of the promised land will
+overflow her withered lips as soon as the sun of their
+royal smile shines upon her.  I could wish that every
+man whom we know would follow Herr von Walde's silly
+example!"</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Good Heavens!  Cornelie, are you insane?" cried her
+companion at the window, dropping her needle from her
+fingers.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>At the same time that every drop of blood in the
+Falkenberg's aristocratic veins was so outraged, Doctor
+Fels returned to his home, and went to the nursery, where
+his wife was bathing her baby and superintending the
+knitting fingers of her two little daughters.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Rejoice with me, dear love!" he cried, with sparkling
+eyes, as he stood upon the threshold of the door.
+"Lindhof will have a mistress, and such a mistress!  Gold
+Elsie, our beautiful Gold Elsie!  Do you hear, my
+darling?  Now the sun will shine brightly there.  The
+healthy atmosphere has conquered, and the evil spirit
+that actually dropped mildew upon poor human souls has
+fled.  I have just seen it drive past in Herr von Walde's
+travelling carriage.  The announcement of the betrothal
+has fallen upon our worthy town like a bomb-shell.  I
+tell you it is wonderful to see the long, incredulous faces!
+But the news has not surprised me at all.  I have known
+what must happen ever since Linke's murderous
+attempt.  Since I drove that evening to Lindhof by Herr
+von Walde's side, to see whether the excitement had
+produced no ill effects upon the brave child, I have known
+well that his hour had struck, that he had a heart indeed,
+a heart full of fervent, passionate love."</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst"><span>*      *      *      *      *</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="pfirst"><span>Let us pass over a space of two years, and once more
+enter the old Gnadeck ruins.  We shall ascend the mountain
+by a broad well-kept road, leading to the castle gate,
+which has exchanged its rusty bolts and bars for more
+convenient fastenings.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>We remember with a shiver the cold, damp court-yard
+behind this gate, shut in by gloomy colonnades on three
+sides, while the crumbling buildings threatened to bury
+us beneath their ruins.  We remember the lonely basin in
+the centre, that, surrounded by the lions of stone, has
+waited in vain during so many years for the silver stream
+that should fill it.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Remembering all this, we ring the bell.  At its clear
+sound, a fresh, trim maiden opens the massive gate, and
+invites us to enter.  But we start back almost dazzled,
+for from the open gate what a flood of light and colour
+greets us!  The ruins have vanished, the high wall that
+surrounded them alone remains, and we are for the first
+time aware how extensive is the space which it encloses.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>We do not tread upon the echoing pavement of a
+courtyard, a smooth gravel-walk is beneath our feet; before
+us stretches a level, well-kept lawn.  In its centre stands
+the granite basin, and from the threatening jaws of the
+lions are pouring four powerful streams of water.  The
+chestnuts still remain the faithful guardians of the
+fountain, but since their boughs have been bathed in heaven's
+air and light they have grown strong and young again,
+and are now covered with a wealth of fan-like blossoms.
+We wind among the gravel paths that intersect the lawn,
+delight our eyes with the groups of shrubbery, still
+very young, that are so tastefully scattered here and
+there, and with the gay beds of carefully tended flowers.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Before us lies the home.  Its four walls are free now
+to the air and light, and have put on a fresh bright
+garment; but its front is far more stately than it used to be.
+New windows are seen on every side.  Ferber has had
+four rooms added to it; for when the forester retires to
+private life, he and Sabina are to live there also.  In the
+family dwelling-room,—from whose two high windows
+can now be seen the same view formerly seen only from
+Elizabeth's room above,—Herr von Walde has had the
+trees thinned so that her parents might always have the
+home of their darling before their eyes,—stands the young
+Frau von Walde.  She has been kept in the house for
+several weeks, and her first expedition has been to carry
+her first-born to her parents' home.  There he lies in her
+arms.  Miss Mertens, or rather the happily married Frau
+Reinhard, has just removed the veil from the little thing.
+The minute, plump, red face shows, in the eyes of the
+mother, an unmistakable resemblance to Herr von Walde.
+Ernst is laughing loudly at the vague movements of the
+fat little fists, which are stretching out in all directions.
+But the forester stands with his own powerful hands
+behind him, and an expression of great anxiety, as if he
+feared that if he moved he might do the frail atom
+an injury.  He is no less delighted with his
+grand-nephew than are Elizabeth's parents with their
+grandchild.  He has outlived his distress concerning Bertha,
+and basks in Elizabeth's happiness, which was a great
+surprise to him at first, and which he maintained he was
+obliged to become accustomed to anew every morning.
+Not, indeed, that he thought such good fortune one whit
+too great for his darling,—he would have thought the
+richest of earthly crowns well placed upon Elizabeth's
+head; but it was so strange to him to see his sunny Gold
+Elsie by the side of her grave, thoughtful husband.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth is happy in the fullest sense of the word.
+Her husband adores her, and his words have proved
+true,—the expression of stern melancholy has faded forever
+from his brow.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Just now the young wife is looking tenderly at the
+little creature in her arms, and then down into the valley,
+whence Herr von Walde will soon appear to conduct her
+to her home.  Her glance grows sad for a moment, and
+tears fill her eyes, as they rest upon a lofty gilded cross,
+glimmering among the trees upon the shore of the
+lake,—beneath those rustling boughs Helene has slept for a
+year.  She died in Elizabeth's arms, praying God to bless
+the dear sister who had so helped her to bear her burden
+of woe until her spirit could soar away from its frail
+mortal tenement.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Hollfeld has sold Odenberg, and no one knows in what
+corner of the earth he hides his discontent at the
+overthrow of all his plots.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">THE END.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst"><span>*      *      *      *      *      *      *      *</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">ENTERTAINING NEW BOOKS</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">Published by J. B. LIPPINCOTT &amp; Co., Philadelphia.</span></p>
+<p class="center pnext"><em class="italics small">Will be sent by Mail, post-paid, on receipt of price.</em></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">THE WHITE ROSE.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A Novel.  By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE, author of "Cerise,"
+"Digby Grand," "The Gladiators," etc.  12mo.  Cloth.  $1.60.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The book abounds in beautiful sentiments, beautifully
+expressed, and its moral tone is undeniably good.  We take pleasure
+in commending it to the public."—</span><em class="italics">Phila. Ev. Bulletin</em><span>.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A Novel.  After the German of E. Marlitt.  By
+MRS. A. L. WISTER.  12mo.  Fine cloth.  $1.75.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">THE VOICE IN SINGING.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Translated from the German of EMMA SEILER by a Member of
+the American Philosophical Society.  One vol.  12mo.  Tinted
+paper.  Fine cloth, beveled boards.  $1.50.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"We would earnestly advise all interested in any way in the
+vocal organs to read and thoroughly digest this remarkable
+work."—</span><em class="italics">Boston Musical Times</em><span>.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">ABRAHAM PAGE, ESQ.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A Novel.  "Pity the sorrows of a poor old man."  12mo.  Tinted
+paper.  Cloth.  $1.50.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">WALDEMAR KRONE.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The Story of Waldemar Krone's Youth.  By H. F. EWALD,
+author of "The Nordby Family," "Johannes Falk," etc.
+Translated from the Danish.  One vol.  12mo.  Neat cloth.  $1.75.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"Since reading 'Quits' and the 'Initials,' we have met with few
+more interesting books....  It claims unwearied attention
+from beginning to end, and shows no ordinary
+power."—</span><em class="italics">Phila. Ev. Bulletin</em><span>.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">FIGHTING THE FLAMES.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A Tale of the Fire Brigade.  By R. M. BALLANTYNE, author of
+"The Wild Man of the West," "The Coral Islands," "The
+Red Eric," etc.  With Illustrations.  12mo.  Cloth.  $1.50.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"An interesting and spirited little work.  Mr. Ballantyne is well
+known as a popular writer for youth, and his present work does
+not detract from his reputation."—</span><em class="italics">Phila. Ev. Telegraph</em><span>.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">OLD DECCAN DAYS;</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Or, Hindoo Fairy Legends current in Southern India.  Collected
+from Oral Tradition By M. FREER.  With an Introduction
+and Notes by SIR BARTLE FREER.  12mo.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">SILVER LAKE;</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Or, Lost in the Snow.  By R. M. BALLANTYNE, author of "Fighting
+the Flames," "The Coral Islands," etc.  Illustrated.  12mo.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">THE AMERICAN BEAVER, and his WORKS.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>By LEWIS H. MORGAN, author of "The League of the Iroquois."
+Handsomely illustrated with 23 full-page lithographs and
+numerous wood-cuts.  One vol.  8vo.  Tinted paper.  Cloth
+extra.  $5.00.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"We have read Mr. Morgan's elaborate but most lucidly written
+volume with intense delight and full
+satisfaction."—</span><em class="italics">Boston Ev. Transcript</em><span>.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">DIXON'S SPIRITUAL WIVES.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>By W. HEPWORTH DIXON, author of "New America," "William
+Penn," "The Holy Land," etc.  SECOND EDITION.  Complete
+in one crown 8vo volume.  With Portrait of Author from
+Steel.  Tinted paper.  Extra cloth.  $2.50.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"The subject of 'Spiritual Wives' is at once sensational, appalling,
+and full of deep interest.  If we look at it simply as a system,
+it is replete with scenes which cannot be surpassed even in
+fiction."—</span><em class="italics">London Morning Post</em><span>.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">U. S. CHRISTIAN COMMISSION.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Annals of the United States Christian Commission.  By
+REV. LEMUEL MOSS, Home Secretary to the Commission.  In one
+vol.  8vo of 752 pages.  Handsomely illustrated.  Tinted
+paper.  Cloth extra.  $4.50.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">LETTERS FROM THE FRONTIERS.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Written during a period of Thirty Years' Service in the
+U. S. Army.  By MAJ.-GEN. GEORGE A. McCALL, late Commander
+of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps.  One vol. crown 8vo.
+Toned paper.  Fine cloth.  $2.50.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>"His letters in the volume before us include a period of over
+thirty years of active service in Florida, the West, the Mexican
+War, and New Mexico.  They are admirably written—easy,
+familiar, graphic, anecdotal, descriptive, and full of information.
+It seems as if the gallant writer was as much master of the pen as
+of the sword."—</span><em class="italics">Phila. Press</em><span>.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">BAKER'S ABYSSINIA.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia, and the Sword Hunters of the
+Hamran Arabs.  By SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER, author of
+"The Albert Nyanza."  With Maps and numerous Illustrations,
+drawn by E. Griset from Original Sketches by the Author.
+Superfine paper.  One vol. royal 8vo.  Extra cloth.  $6.00.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>... "We have rarely met with a descriptive work so well
+conceived and so attractively written as Baker's Abyssinia, and we
+cordially recommend it to public patronage....  It is beautifully
+illustrated, and contains several well executed maps of
+great value."—</span><em class="italics">N. O. Times</em><span>.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">A TUTOR'S COUNSEL TO HIS PUPILS.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>En Avant, Messieurs!  Letters and Essays.  By the
+REV. G. H. D. MATHIAS, M.A.  Second Edition.  Small 12mo.  Extra Cloth.
+Price $1.50.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>This truly admirable little volume is made up of scattered
+fragments of instruction, furnished by the author in his capacity of
+tutor, to a pupil.  It comprises a series of brief essays on such
+topics as these: On the Study of Language; Where had I best
+Travel; On Style; On English Composition; On Novels; How to
+give money away; A little Learning is not a dangerous thing, etc.
+They are written in a lively, easy style, and abound with practical
+suggestions and information of the highest value.  The writer's
+power of illustrating and enforcing his precepts by the adduction
+of pertinent facts, is remarkable, and such as tutors are rarely
+blessed with.  The essays on Style and English Composition are
+particularly worthy of perusal; and every page of the book
+contains matter that will profit not only the young but the
+old.—</span><em class="italics">Boston Commercial Bulletin</em><span>.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">GLOBE EDITION OF SCOTT'S POETICAL WORKS.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>The Poetical Works of SIR WALTER SCOTT, Baronet, with a
+Biographical and Critical Memoir by Francis Turner Palgrave,
+late Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.  Square 12mo.  Price,
+Cloth, $2.00; Cloth, extra gilt top, $2.25; Half Turkey, gilt
+top, $3.50; Half Calf, gilt extra, $4.00; Full Roxburgh
+Turkey, gilt extra, $6.00.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">POEMS,</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>By MRS. FRANCES DANA GAGE.  Printed on fine tinted paper.
+12mo.  Cloth, beveled boards.  Price $1.75.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">ELSIE MAGOON; or, The Old Still-House,</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A Temperance Tale.  Founded upon the actual experience of
+everyday life.  By MRS. FRANCES D. GAGE.  One vol.  12mo.
+Cloth.  Price $1.50.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">LAST DAYS OF A KING,</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>An Historical Romance.  Translated from the German of Moritz
+Hartmann by MARY E. NILES.  12mo.  Cloth.  Price $1.50.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">ROBERT SEVERNE: His Friends and his Enemies,</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A Novel.  By WILLIAM A. HAMMOND.  12mo.  Extra Cloth.
+Price $1.75.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em">
+</div>
+<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">WORKS BY "OUIDA."</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">GRANVILLE DE VIGNE, or Held in Bondage.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>By "OUIDA," author of "Strathmore, or Wrought by his own
+Hand," "Chandos," etc.  One vol.  12mo.  Cloth, $2.00.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">STRATHMORE, or Wrought by his own Hand.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>By "OUIDA," author of "Chandos," "Granville de Vigne, or
+Held in Bondage," etc.  One vol.  12mo.  Cloth, $2.00.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">CHANDOS.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A Novel.  By "OUIDA," author of "Strathmore," "Granville de
+Vigne," etc.  One vol.  12mo.  Cloth, $2 00.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">IDALIA,</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A Novel.  By "OUIDA," author of "Chandos," "Strathmore,"
+"Granville de Vigne," etc.  12mo.  Cloth, $2.00.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">CECIL CASTLEMAINE'S GAGE, and other Stories.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>First Series of Novelettes.  By "OUIDA," author of "Idalia,"
+"Strathmore," "Chandos," "Granville de Vigne," etc.
+Revised for publication by the author.  12mo.  Cloth, $1.75.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">RANDOLPH GORDON, and other Stories.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Second Series of Novelettes.  By "OUIDA," author of "Idalia,"
+"Strathmore," "Cecil Castlemaine's Gage," etc.  12mo.  Cloth,
+$1.75.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">UNDER TWO FLAGS.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>A Novel.  By "OUIDA," author of "Idalia," "Chandos,"
+"Granville de Vigne," etc.  12mo.  Cloth.  $2.00.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
+</div>
+<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="bold">BEATRICE BOVILLE, and other Stories.</span></p>
+<p class="pnext"><span>Third Series of Novelettes.  By "OUIDA," author of "Cecil
+Castlemaine's Gage," "Idalia," "Strathmore," etc.  12mo.
+Cloth.  $1.75.</span></p>
+<div class="vspace" style="height: 6em">
+</div>
+<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- -->
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diff --git a/42426-h/images/img-cover.jpg b/42426-h/images/img-cover.jpg
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+++ b/42426-rst/42426-rst.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,13749 @@
+.. -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-

+

+.. meta::

+   :PG.Id: 42426

+   :PG.Title: Gold Elsie

+   :PG.Released: 2013-03-28

+   :PG.Rights: Public Domain

+   :PG.Producer: Al Haines

+   :DC.Creator: \E. Marlitt

+   :MARCREL.trl: Mrs. \A. \L. Wister

+   :DC.Title: Gold Elsie

+   :DC.Language: en

+   :DC.Created: 1868

+   :coverpage: images/img-cover.jpg

+

+==========

+GOLD ELSIE

+==========

+

+.. clearpage::

+

+.. pgheader::

+

+.. container:: titlepage center white-space-pre-line

+

+   .. class:: x-large

+

+      GOLD ELSIE

+

+   .. vspace:: 2

+

+   .. class:: small

+

+      FROM THE GERMAN

+      OF

+

+   .. vspace:: 2

+

+   .. class:: medium

+

+      \E. MARLITT

+

+   .. class:: small

+

+      AUTHOR OF "THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET."

+

+   .. vspace:: 3

+

+   .. class:: medium

+

+      BY

+      MRS. A. L. WISTER.

+

+   .. vspace:: 3

+

+   .. class:: medium

+

+      PHILADELPHIA:

+      J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.

+      1868.

+

+   .. vspace:: 4

+

+.. container:: verso center white-space-pre-line

+

+   .. class:: small

+

+      Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by

+      J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,

+

+      In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and

+      for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER I.`:

+

+.. class:: center x-large

+

+   GOLD ELSIE

+

+.. vspace:: 3

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER I.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+It had been snowing all day long,—so steadily that the

+roofs and window-sills were covered deep with spotless

+white cushions.  And now the early twilight fell,

+bringing with it a wild gust of wind that raged among the

+falling snow-flakes like some bird of prey among a flock of

+peaceful doves.

+

+Although the weather was such that the comfort-loving

+inhabitants of any small town would hardly have sent

+their dogs out of doors, not to mention venturing their

+own worthy persons, yet there was little difference to be

+seen in the size of the crowd that usually frequents the

+streets of the large Capital, B——, between the hours of

+six and seven in the evening.  The gas lamps were an

+excellent substitute for those heavenly lights which would

+not make their appearance.  Carriages were whirling

+around corners in such tempestuous haste that many a

+pedestrian rescued life and limb only by a sudden leap aside,

+while curses both loud and deep were hurled after the

+coachmen enveloped in their comfortable furs, and the

+elegant coaches which contained behind their glass doors

+charmingly dressed women, whose lovely flower-crowned

+heads, as they peeped from among masses of muslin and

+tulle, certainly had no suspicion of the fire and brimstone

+called down upon them.  In the warm atmosphere,

+behind the huge shop windows, elaborately curled and

+frizzed wax heads, surrounded by blond and black scalps,

+stared out upon the passers-by.  Smiling shopmen

+displayed their fascinating merchandise, and withered old

+flower-sellers stood among their fresh-blooming bouquets,

+which exhaled beauty and fragrance beneath the light of

+the lamps that shed a brilliant glare upon the slippery

+pavement and upon the flood of human life streaming by,

+revealing the pinched, blue features and the desperately

+uncomfortable movements of all, old and young.

+

+But stay,—not of all!  A female figure has just entered

+one of the principal streets from a narrow by-way.  A

+small threadbare cloak closely envelopes her slender form,

+and a worn old muff is pressed against her breast,

+confining the ends of a black lace veil, behind which two

+girlish eyes are glowing with the sunlight of early youth.

+They look out joyously into the whistling snow-storm,

+rest lovingly upon the half-open rosebuds and dark purple

+violets behind the glass panes of the shop windows, and

+only veil their light beneath their long dark lashes when

+sharp hail-stones mingle with the driving snow-flakes.

+

+Whoever has listened while childish fingers, or

+sometimes fingers no longer childish, confidently begin upon

+the piano a well-known melody, which goes bravely on for

+a few bars, then is arrested by a frightful discord

+followed by a wild grasping after every key on the

+instrument except the correct ones, while the patient teacher

+sits by, ceasing to attempt to evoke order out of chaos by

+the usual steady marking of the time, wearily waiting

+until the panting melody is seized again and carried on

+with lightning rapidity through several easy bars as over

+some level plain,—whoever has thus had his ears stretched

+upon the rack, can understand the delight with which

+this young girl, who has just given two music lessons in

+a large school, offers her hot cheek to the wind as to an

+energetic comrade, whose mighty roar can breathe wondrous

+melodies through the pipes of an organ or over the

+strings of an Æolian harp.

+

+Thus she passes lightly and swiftly through the storm

+and crowd; and I do not for an instant doubt that if I

+should present her now upon this slippery pavement to

+the gentle reader as Fräulein Elizabeth Ferber, she would

+with a lovely smile make him as graceful a courtesy as

+though they both stood in a ball-room.  But this

+introduction cannot take place,—and we really do not need

+it, for I forthwith intend to relate to the reader my

+heroine's antecedents.

+

+Baron Wolf von Gnadewitz was the last scion of a

+famous house whose remote ancestry could be traced back

+into the dubious twilight which even preceded that golden

+age when the travelling merchant, journeying through

+some sequestered pass, was forced to surrender his costly

+stuffs and wares to a knightly banner and shining steel-clad

+troup of retainers as often as to the buff-coated highway

+adventurer.  From those illustrious times there had

+been handed down, in the crest of the Gnadewitzes a

+wheel, upon which one of these same noble ancestors had

+breathed out his knightly soul in consequence of having

+spilt rather too much ignoble trading-blood in one of the

+above-mentioned assaults upon his merchant prey.

+

+Baron von Gnadewitz, the last of his race, was

+chamberlain in the service of the Prince Royal of X——, and

+possessor of various orders and large estates, as well as

+of those peculiarities of character and disposition which

+were, in his estimation, befitting the high-born, and which

+he was accustomed to designate as "distinguished,"

+because all common men, bound by work-a-day moral

+considerations, and compelled by the stern necessities of life,

+lose all taste for the inimitable grace and elegance of

+vice.

+

+Baron Wolf von Gnadewitz was as fond of pomp and

+show as his grandfather, who had forsaken the old castle

+Gnadeck upon a mountain in Thuringia, the cradle of his

+line, and had built him in the valley below a perfect fairy

+palace in the Italian style.  The grandson allowed the old

+castle to fall into decay, while he enlarged and improved

+the modern mansion considerably.  Yes, it seemed as

+though he entertained not the smallest doubt but that his

+latest descendant would be found occupying this favourite

+palace at the day of judgment, for the old castle was quite

+dismantled in order that the vast chambers of the new

+abode might be thoroughly furnished.  But he reckoned

+without his host.  Wolf von Gnadewitz had a son, 'tis

+true,—a son who, at twenty years of age, was so complete and

+thorough a Gnadewitz that the illustrious image of his

+ancestor who had perished upon the wheel paled before

+him.  This promising youth one day, upon the occasion

+of the great autumn hunt in the forest, struck one of his

+whippers-in a fearful blow upon the head with the loaded

+handle of his hunting-whip—a fearful blow, but a perfectly

+just punishment, as every one of the guests invited to

+the hunt declared, for the man had stepped upon the paw

+of a favourite hound so clumsily as to render the

+animal entirely useless for a whole day.  And thus it

+happened that, a short time afterward, Hans von Gnadewitz

+was to be found not only upon the boughs of the

+genealogical tree in the hall of the new castle, but suspended

+by a rope around his neck to a bough of one of the actual

+trees in the forest.  The beaten whipper-in expiated the

+deed upon the scaffold, but that could not bring the last

+of the Gnadewitzes to life again, for he was dead,—irrevocably

+dead, the physicians said; and the long tale of

+robber-knights, wild excesses, hunting orgies, and

+horse-racing came to an end.

+

+After this terrible catastrophe, Wolf von Gnadewitz left

+the castle in the valley, and indeed that part of the country,

+and dwelt upon one of his many estates in Silesia.  He took

+into his house to nurse him a young female relative, the

+last survivor of one of the collateral branches of his house.

+This young relative proved to be a girl of angelic beauty,

+at sight of whom the old baron entirely forgot the object

+for which he had invited her beneath his roof, and at

+last determined to clothe his sixty years in a

+wedding-garment.  To his exceeding indignation, however, he

+now learned that there might come a time, even to a

+Gnadewitz, when he could no longer be regarded as a

+desirable *parti*, and he fell into a violent rage when his

+young relative confessed that, in utter forgetfulness of

+her lofty lineage, she had given her heart to a bourgeois

+officer, the son of one of his foresters.

+

+The young man possessed no worldly gear, only his

+sword and a remarkably fine manly person; but he was

+rich in mind, accomplished, amiable in disposition, and

+of stainless character.  When Wolf von Gnadewitz, in

+consequence of Marie's confession, turned her from his

+doors, young Ferber carried her home with delight as his

+wife, and for the first ten years of their married life would

+not have exchanged his lot with that of any king on

+earth.  Still less would he have made such an exchange

+in the eleventh year, for that was the eventful 1848; but

+with it came fierce struggles for him, and an entire

+alteration in his circumstances.  He was obliged to decide

+between two duties.  One had been inculcated while he was

+in his cradle by his father, and ran thus: "Love your

+neighbour, and especially your German brother, as

+yourself;" the other, which he had in later years imposed

+upon himself, commanded him to draw the sword in his

+master's interest.  In this strife the teachings of his

+childhood conquered entirely.  Ferber refused to draw

+the sword upon his brethren; but his refusal cost him

+his commission, and with it all assured means of

+subsistence.  He retired from the army, and soon afterward,

+in consequence of a severe cold, was stretched upon a

+sick-bed, which he left only after years of disheartening

+weakness.  He then moved with his family to B——,

+where he obtained quite a lucrative situation as

+bookkeeper in an extensive mercantile establishment.  It was

+high time, for his wife's small property had been lost

+shortly before by the failure of a bank, and the

+remittances of money which came to the distressed family

+from time to time from Ferber's elder and only brother,

+a forester in Thuringia, were all that kept them from

+extreme poverty.

+

+Unluckily this good fortune was of short duration.

+Ferber's chief was a pietist of the most severe description,

+and spared no one in his zeal for proselytism.  His

+efforts to convert Ferber to his own narrow dogmas were

+met by such quiet but decided resistance, that the pious

+spirit of the saintly Herr Hagen was seized with holy

+horror.  Remorse at the thought of affording protection

+and subsistence to such an avowed free-thinker, gave

+him no peace by night or by day, until he had freed

+himself from such a burden of guilt, by a note of dismissal,

+which banished the tainted sheep from his fold.

+

+About the same time Wolf von Gnadewitz went home

+to his ancestors, and as during his earthly career he had

+strictly conformed to the Gnadewitz custom of leaving

+no insult, fancied or otherwise: unavenged, no worthier

+conclusion to his life could be found than the will which

+he drew up with his own hands shortly before he

+descended into the narrow chamber of lead which was to

+contain for all futurity his noble bones.

+

+This manly document, which constituted sole heir to

+his large estates a distant relative of his wife's,

+concluded with the following codicil:

+

+"In consideration of the undeniable claim which she

+has upon my property, I bequeath to Anna Marie Ferber,

+born von Gnadewitz, the castle of Gnadeck in the

+mountains in Thuringia.  Anna Marie Ferber will understand

+my benevolent intention in her behalf in leaving to her

+a mansion crowded with memories of the noble race to

+which she once belonged.  In full remembrance and

+consideration of the good fortune and many blessings

+which have always hovered above this ancient pile, I

+hold it entirely superfluous to increase my legacy further.

+But if Anna Marie Ferber, blind to the value of my gift,

+should wish to sell or exchange it in any way, her right

+to it must be abdicated in favour of the orphan asylum

+of L——."

+

+And thus, with the utterance of a biting satire, Wolf

+von Gnadewitz betook himself to his funeral bed of state.

+Ferber and his wife had indeed never seen the old castle,

+but it was notoriously a crumbling heap of ruins, which

+the hand of improvement had not touched for fifty years,

+and which, when the modern abode in the valley was

+completed, had been stripped of furniture, tapestries, and,

+in the case of the main building, even of the metallic

+roofing.

+

+Since that time the ponderous oaken door of the

+principal entrance had remained closed, and the dusty, rusty

+bolts and bars had never once been withdrawn.  The huge

+forest trees which were growing before it spread abroad

+their mighty branches, and drooped them among the thick

+brushwood at their feet, so that the deserted castle lay

+behind the green impenetrable wall like a coffined mummy.

+

+The lucky heir, who was greatly annoyed by seeing

+so large a part of his woodland possessions in stranger

+hands, would gladly have purchased the old castle at a

+high price, but the cunning clause at the conclusion of the

+codicil forbade any such transaction.

+

+Frau Ferber laid the copy of the will which had been

+sent her, and upon which there dropped from her eyes a

+few tears of regret, upon her husband's desk, and then

+took up her work,—some delicate embroidery,—with

+redoubled, almost feverish industry.  In spite of his

+exertions Ferber had been unable to procure another situation,

+and was now doing his best to maintain his family by

+translating, a labour but poorly paid, and even by copying

+law papers, while his wife eked out their scanty means by

+the proceeds of her needle, which she plied night and day.

+

+But dark as were the heavens above the struggling

+pair, one star rose quietly among the black clouds and

+seemed not unlikely to indemnify them by its radiance

+for all the storms with which fickle fortune had

+overwhelmed them.  A presentiment of this gentle light

+which was to beam upon his gloomy path possessed

+Ferber when he stood for the first time beside the cradle

+of his first-born, a daughter, and gazed into the lovely

+eyes which smiled upon him from the baby face.  All Frau

+Ferber's friends had been unanimously of opinion that

+the little girl was a charming creature, a wonderfully

+gifted child; indeed, they had declared it did not look in

+the least like an ordinary baby, did not appear to belong to

+the class of miserable little wretches, who, red as lobsters,

+seem determined to scream their way through the world;

+but,—here they had broken off; and it was intimated

+that were it not for fear of the sneers of their liege

+lords, and the utterly prosaic tendencies of the nineteenth

+century, they should certainly suspect that some

+benevolent fairy had been at work in this case.

+

+They contended as to who should be so far favoured as

+to hold the little creature at the baptismal font, and

+should show the deepest tenderness for the little

+god-daughter, declaring that the day of her baptism could never

+be effaced from their remembrance; but this demand upon

+their memories was altogether too great, for when Ferber

+fell into difficulties, selfishness passed its finger over the

+recorded day, and no trace of it remained in their minds.

+

+This change, which little Elizabeth experienced in the

+ninth year of her existence, disturbed her not at all.  Her

+probable fairy protectress had, in addition to other rich

+gifts, endowed her in her cradle with an invincible

+joyousness of temperament and great force of will; so she

+took from her mother's hand her scanty evening meal

+as gratefully and gaily as she had once received the

+inexhaustible delicacies presented to her by admiring

+god-parents; and when on Christmas-eve the room was adorned

+only by a poor little Christmas-tree hung with a few

+apples and gilded nuts, the child did not seem to remember

+the time when friends had crowded around to deck its

+boughs with all imaginable toys.

+

+Ferber educated his daughter himself.  She never

+attended a school of any kind, an omission in her training

+which cannot, unfortunately, in the present age, be

+regarded as anything but an advantage, when we see how

+many young girls leave school with far more knowledge

+upon some subjects than is at all desirable or pleasing to

+the anxious mother, who strives at home to preserve

+unsoiled her child's purity of mind and heart, and often does

+not dream how her tender care is made of no avail by

+the taint which one impure nature in the school will

+communicate, and which may perhaps colour an entire

+after-life.

+

+Elizabeth's pliant mind was finely developed beneath

+the control of her gifted parents.  Thoroughly to

+understand the study which occupied her, and to appropriate

+its results in such a manner as to make them inalienably

+her own were duties which she most conscientiously

+fulfilled.  But she gave herself to the study of music

+with an ardor that inspires a human being only when

+engaged in a pursuit felt to be especially his own.  She

+soon far outstripped her mother, who was her instructress,

+and as when a child she would often leave her playthings

+if she saw a cloud upon her father's brow, to

+sit on his knee and divert him with some tale of

+wonder, thus, as a girl, she would charm away the demon

+of gloom from her father's mind by strange and

+delicious melodies which lay like pearls in the depths of her

+soul, until she brought them to light for the first time

+for his relief and enjoyment.  And this was not the only

+blessing springing from her rare talent for music.  The

+exquisite touch upon the piano, in the garret in which the

+family lived, attracted the attention of several of the more

+aristocratic inhabitants of the house, and Elizabeth soon

+had two or three pupils in music, and had lately been

+employed in a large school as teacher of the piano, thus

+sensibly increasing the means of subsistence of the family.

+

+Here let us resume the thread of our story, and we shall

+not shrink, I hope, from the trouble that we must take in

+following our heroine through the wet streets upon this

+stormy evening to her home and her parents.

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER II.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER II.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+Even during the long walk through the streets, alternately

+straight and crooked, gloomy and bright, Elizabeth

+enjoyed in imagination the delicious sensation of comfort

+that the sight of the cosey room at home always caused

+her.  There sat her father at his writing-table with its little

+study-lamp, ready to raise his pale face with a smile when

+Elizabeth entered.  He would take his pen, which had

+been travelling so busily over the paper for hours, in his

+left hand, and with his right draw his daughter down

+beside him to kiss her forehead.  Her mother, who, with

+her work-basket at her feet, usually sat close beside her

+husband that she might share the light of his study-lamp,

+would welcome her with tender loving eyes, and point to

+Elizabeth's slippers, which her care had placed by the

+stove to warm.  Upon the stove apples would be roasting

+with a cheering hiss, and in the warm corner beside

+it was the sofa-table, where the tea-kettle would be

+singing merrily above its spirit-lamp, whose weak, blue

+light illumined the regiment of tin soldiers, which her

+only brother, Ernst, a child six years of age, was busily

+drilling.

+

+Elizabeth mounted to the fourth story before she

+reached the dark, narrow passage which led to her

+father's rooms.  Here she hastily took off her bonnet and

+placed upon her lovely fair hair a boy's cap, trimmed

+with fur, which she drew from under her cloak.  Then

+she entered the room, where little Ernst ran toward her

+with a shout of joy.

+

+But this evening the light shone from the sofa-table in

+the usually dark corner by the stove, while the writing-table

+was left neglected in the gloom.  Her father sat

+upon the sofa, with his arm around her mother's waist;

+there was a joyous light upon the countenances of both,

+and, although her mother had evidently been weeping,

+Elizabeth instantly perceived that her tears had been tears

+of joy.  She stood still upon the threshold of the door

+in great astonishment, and must have presented a most

+comical appearance with the child's cap surmounting her

+amazed countenance, for both father and mother laughed

+aloud.  Elizabeth gaily joined in their laughter, and

+placed the fur cap upon her little brother's dark curls.

+

+"There, my darling," she said, tenderly taking his rosy

+face between her hands and kissing it, "that is yours;

+and there is still something left to help on your

+housekeeping, mother dear," she continued, with a happy smile,

+as she handed her mother four shining thalers.  "They

+gave me my first five thalers of salary at school to-day."

+

+"But, Elsbeth," said her mother, with the tears in

+her eyes, as she drew her down to kiss her, "Ernst's last

+year's cap is still quite respectable, and you needed a pair

+of warm winter gloves much more."

+

+"I, mother? just feel my hands; although I have

+been in the street for an hour almost, they are as warm

+as if I had been holding them before the fire.  No; new

+gloves would be a most superfluous luxury.  Our boy is

+growing taller and stouter, and his cap has not kept pace

+with him; so I consider the cap a necessary expense."

+

+"Ah, you good sister!" cried the child with delight;

+"even the little baron on the first story has not such a

+charming cap as this.  How fine it will look when I go

+hunting, hey, papa?"

+

+"Hunting!" laughed Elizabeth; "are you going to

+shoot the unfortunate sparrows in the Thiergarten?"

+

+"Oh, what a miserable guesser you are, Madam Elsie!"

+the boy rejoined, gleefully.  "In the Thiergarten, indeed!"

+he added, more seriously; "that would be pretty sport.

+No, in the forest,—the real forest,—where the deer and

+hares are so thick that you don't even have to take aim

+when you want to shoot them."

+

+"I should like to hear what your uncle would say to

+this view of the noble chase," said his father with a smile,

+taking up a letter from the table and handing it to Elizabeth.

+

+"Read this, my child," said he; "it is from your 'forester

+uncle,' as you call him, in Thuringia."

+

+Elizabeth glanced over the first few lines, and then read

+aloud:

+

+"The prince, who sometimes prefers a dish of bacon

+and sauerkraut at my table to the best efforts of his French

+cook in the castle of L——, passed several hours with

+me at my lodge yesterday.  He was very condescending,

+and informed me that he purposed employing an assistant

+forester, or rather forester's clerk, for he saw that my

+duties were too onerous.  I seized upon my opportunity,—the

+game was within shot, and if I missed I had nothing

+to lose but a couple of charges fired into the air;

+now was my time.

+

+"So I told him how the jade, fortune, had played the

+very devil with you for this many a year, and how, in spite

+of your fine talents and acquirements, poverty had knocked

+at your door.  My old master knew well what I was

+driving at, for I spoke, as I always do, in good German.

+Thus far in my life every one has understood what I had

+to say.  It is only the fops and fools of his court who

+fawn around him, who would persuade him that good,

+honest German is too coarse for royal ears, and that he

+must always be addressed in French.  Well, my old

+master said that he would like to offer you this situation as

+forester's clerk, because he thought that with regard to

+myself,—and here he said a couple of things that you need

+not hear, but which delighted me,—old fellow as I am,—quite

+as much as when in old times, upon examination-day,

+the schoolmaster used to say, 'Carl, you have done

+yourself credit to-day.'  Well, his highness has

+commissioned me to write to you, and he will arrange matters.

+Three hundred and fifty thalers salary, and your fuel.

+Now think it over; it is not so poor an offer, and the

+green forest is a thousand times pleasanter than your

+confounded attics, where the neighbours' cats are forever

+squalling, and where your eyes are blinded by the smoke

+of a million chimneys.

+

+"You must not think that I am one of those wheedling,

+parasitical fellows who use their master's favour to

+benefit all their own kith and kin.  No; I can tell you

+that if you were not what you are, that is, if you were

+not really talented and well educated, I would bite my

+tongue out before I would recommend you to my master;

+and, on the other side, I should always try to secure in

+his service such an honest, capable fellow as yourself.

+No offence; you know I always like a plain statement of

+a plain case.

+

+"But there is another matter to be considered.  You

+ought to live with me, and it could be very easily

+arranged if you were a bachelor, whom four walls would

+content, with a chest for his solitary wardrobe.  But,

+unfortunately, there is no possible room in my lonely old

+rat's-hole of a forest-lodge for an entire family.  It is in

+rather a tumble-down condition, and has needed a doctor

+for some time, but I suppose the authorities will do

+nothing for it until the old balconies come crumbling about

+my ears.  The nearest village is half a league, and the

+nearest town a league from the lodge; you cannot

+possibly walk these distances every day, in the miserable

+weather that we have here sometimes.

+

+"Now old Sabina, my housekeeper, who was born in the

+nearest village, has made a wild suggestion which I

+herewith impart to you.  Old castle Gnadeck, the deceased

+Baron Gnadewitz's brilliant legacy to you, is, as I have

+told you, situated at about a rifle's shot distance from the

+lodge.  Well, Sabina says that when she was a strong

+hearty girl,—which, by the way, must have been

+something beyond a quarter of a century ago,—she was a

+chambermaid in the Gnadewitz household.  Then the new

+castle was not entirely furnished, and did not suffice to

+contain the crowd of guests yearly invited to the great

+hunt.  And so part of the building connecting the two

+principal wings of the old castle was somewhat repaired

+and furnished.  Sabina had to make and air the beds and

+attend to the rooms, to her great terror, and no wonder,—her

+old brain is perfectly crammed with all sorts of witch

+and ghost stories,—for the rest she is a most respectable

+person, and rules my household with a steady rein.

+

+"She maintains most firmly that this part of the castle

+cannot be in a crumbling condition, for it was then in an

+excellent state of preservation, and would, she is sure,

+afford a capital shelter for you and yours.  May be she is

+right; but are your children bold enough to brave the

+ghostly inhabitants that are said to haunt those old walls?

+

+"You know how vexed I was about your worthless

+legacy, and that I have never once been able, since the

+death of the sainted Wolf von Gnadewitz, to induce myself

+to visit the old ruin.  But after hearing Sabina's tale

+yesterday afternoon, I made one of my men climb a tree

+which stood upon the only spot which could give you a

+glimpse into the robber's nest, and he declared that

+everything had fallen into decay there.  And this morning I

+have been to the authorities in the town, but they would

+not give me the keys of the castle without special

+permission from your wife, and made, besides, as much fuss

+about it as if the treasures of Golconda lay hid in the

+mouldy old rooms.  None of those who placed the seals

+upon the doors could tell me what sort of a place it was,

+for they never entered it, under the impression that the

+ceiling might fall and dash out their prudent brains, but

+contented themselves with placing a dozen official seals

+as large as your hand upon the principal entrance door.

+I should very much like to investigate matters with you,

+so pray decide quickly and start with your family as soon

+as possible."

+

+Here Elizabeth dropped the letter and looked with

+sparkling eyes at her father.

+

+"Well, how have you decided, father dear?" she asked

+hastily.

+

+"Ah," he replied gravely, "it is quite a hard task to

+tell you our resolution, for I see by your face that you

+would not for the world exchange this gay populous city

+for the loneliness and quiet of the Thuringian forest.

+Still, you must know that my application to the Prince

+of L—— for the place in question lies sealed in that

+envelope.  However, it is only reasonable that your wishes

+should be consulted in some degree, and we can be

+induced to leave you here in case——"

+

+"Ah, no; if Elizabeth will not go I would rather stay

+here, too," interrupted the little boy, clinging anxiously to

+his sister.

+

+"Never fear, my darling," she said to him with a laugh;

+"I shall find a place in the carriage, and if I could not, you

+know I am as bold as a soldier, and can run like a hare.

+My longing for the greenwood, which has been the fairy-land

+of my imagination ever since I was a very little child,

+shall be my compass, and I shall get along bravely.  What

+will papa do when, some evening, a weary way-worn

+traveller, with ragged shoes and empty pockets, prays for

+admission at the gate of the old castle?"

+

+"Ah, then, indeed, we must admit you," said her father,

+smiling, "if we would not draw down upon our crumbling

+roof the hostility of all good spirits who protect courage

+and innocence.  But you will have to pass by the old

+castle if you wish to find us, and knock at some modest

+peasant hut in the valley, for the ruined old pile will

+scarcely afford us an asylum."

+

+"I am afraid not, indeed," said his wife.  "We shall

+work our way laboriously through wild hedges and thick

+underbrush, like the unfortunate suitors of the Sleeping

+Beauty, to find at last——"

+

+"Poetry itself!" cried Elizabeth.  "Why, the first

+delicious bloom will be brushed from our woodland life if

+we cannot live in the old castle!  Certainly there must

+be four sound walls and a whole roof in some one of its

+old towers, and with heads to plan and strong willing

+hands to execute, the rest can be very easily arranged.

+We will stop up cracks with moss, nail boards over

+doorways that have lost their doors, and paper our four walls

+ourselves; we can cover the worm-eaten floors with

+homemade straw mats; declare war to the death upon

+the gray-coated, four-footed little thieves who would

+invade our larder, and soon banish all cobwebs by a good

+broom skilfully wielded."

+

+With glowing looks, quite carried away by her dreams

+of the future home in the fresh green forest, she went to

+the piano and opened it.  It was an old, worn-out

+instrument, whose hoarse, weak tones harmonized perfectly

+with its shabby exterior; but, nevertheless, beneath

+Elizabeth's fingers Mendelssohn's song, "Through the

+dark green Forest," rang deliciously through the little

+room.

+

+Her parents sat quietly listening.  Little Ernst dropped

+asleep.  Without, the howling of the storm was lulled,

+but the snow was driving noiselessly past the uncurtained

+window in huge flakes.  The opposite chimneys, no longer

+smoking, had put on thick white night-caps, and looked

+stiffly and coldly, like peevish old age, into the little attic

+room, which enclosed, in the midst of the snow-storm, a

+perfect spring of joy and gaiety within its four walls.

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER III.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER III.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+Whitsuntide!  A word that will thrill with its magic

+the human soul as long as trees burst into leaf, larks soar

+trilling aloft, and clear spring skies laugh above us.  A

+word which can awaken an echo of spring in hearts

+encrusted with selfishness and greed of gain, chilled by the

+snows of age, or deadened by grief and care.

+

+Whitsuntide is at hand.  A gentle breeze flutters over

+the Thuringian mountains, and brushes from their brows

+the last remains of the snow which whirls mistily into the

+air and leaves its old abiding-place in the guise of

+luminous spring clouds.  Freed from their wintry garments,

+the mountains deck their rugged brows with wreaths of

+young strawberry vines and bilberries.  In the valley

+below, the rippling trout-stream is flowing forth from the

+dark forest directly across the flower-strewn meadow.

+

+The lonely saw-mill is clacking merrily, while its low

+thatched roof shines white with the fallen blossoms of

+the sheltering fruit trees.

+

+Before the windows of the scattered huts of the

+wood-cutters and of the villagers many an accomplished

+bullfinch was singing in his little cage the airs which were

+the fruits of a course of instruction in high art, daring

+the winter in the hot, close room of his master.  And

+his brothers in the forest were trilling wilder but far

+sweeter lays, for their little throats inhaled the clear air

+of freedom.

+

+Where, a few weeks before, the melted snow had

+foamed down from the mountain tops in a bed created by

+its own torrent, beautiful moss was now weaving a soft

+carpet, that would soon quite conceal the scarred breast

+of the mountain, while here and there, through the thick

+green the silver thread of some little stream glittered in

+the sunlight.

+

+Upon the highway running through a charming valley

+of the Thuringian forest the Ferbers were travelling, in a

+well-packed carriage, toward their new home.  It was

+very early in the morning; the bell from a distant

+church-tower had just tolled the hour of three,

+wherefore only the shabby old sign-post by the roadside and

+a herd of stately stags were permitted the sight of a

+happy face that looked upon this lovely forest for the first

+time.

+

+Elizabeth leaned far out of the window of the dark

+carriage, and inhaled deep draughts of the invigorating air,

+which she maintained had already cleared away from her

+eyes and lungs all the dust of the city.  Ferber sat

+opposite, sunk in thought.  He too was refreshed by the

+beauty and tender grace of the forest; but he was more

+deeply moved by the delight in the eyes of his child, who

+was so susceptible to the charms of nature and so

+unspeakably grateful for the change in their circumstances.

+How busy her hands had been since the Royal answer to

+Ferber's application for the new office had been received!

+There had been much to do.  She had shared faithfully

+in all the cares which their departure from the city

+brought upon her parents.  It is true the prince had sent

+his new official a considerable sum of money for

+travelling expenses, and the forester uncle, too, had shown his

+usual generosity; but with the greatest economy it did

+not suffice, and therefore Elizabeth had employed every

+hour which she usually had for recreation in sewing

+for a large ready-made linen establishment,—occupying

+herself thus with her needle for many a night, after her

+unsuspecting parents were sleeping soundly.

+

+There had been one bitter experience amid all the busy

+hurry, which had cost the young girl many tears.  She

+had seen her dear piano borne off upon the shoulders of

+two strong men to its new possessor.  It had to be sold

+for a few thalers, because it was old and frail,—too frail

+to be transported to the new home.  Ah, it had been so

+true a friend to the family!  Its thin, quavering voice had

+sounded in Elizabeth's ears tender and dear as the voice

+of her mother.  And now, probably, unfeeling children

+would thrum upon its venerable keys, and tease the old

+instrument to speak more strongly, until it should be

+mute forever.  But this sorrow was past, and lay behind

+her, with much beside which she had sacrificed and

+endured silently; and as she sat looking out into the

+morning twilight, with eyes sparkling with delight,—eyes that

+seemed to read behind the misty veil of the dawn all

+kinds of brilliant prophecies for the future,—who could

+have discerned in that figure, glowing with the

+elasticity of youth, one trace of the fatigue of the last busy

+weeks?

+

+For another half hour the travellers drove along the

+smooth, level highway, and then turned aside into the

+thick forest by a well-kept carriage-road.  The sun was

+just rising in the eastern sky, and shot his rays upon the

+earth in splendid amazement at the diamonds with which

+she had adorned herself during his absence.  In the night

+a heavy shower had come up, much rain had fallen, and

+the large drops were still hanging upon twig and leaf,

+falling pattering upon the roof of the carriage whenever

+the postillion touched one of the overarching boughs with

+his whip.  What a glorious forest!  From the thick

+underbrush at their feet the trees reared their colossal

+trunks, and above, their boughs intertwined in a fraternal

+embrace as though determined to defend their peaceful,

+quiet home from light and air as from two deadly enemies.

+Only here and there a slender, green-tinted sunbeam

+would slip from bough to bough down upon the feathery

+grass and the little strawberry-blossoms, sprinkled

+everywhere like snow-flakes, even laying their little white

+heads impertinently upon the road.

+

+After a short drive the wood grew less dense, and soon

+the retired Lodge appeared in the midst of a meadow in

+the heart of the forest.  The postillion sounded his horn.

+A tremendous barking of dogs was heard; and with a

+loud whirr a large flock of doves soared, terrified, into

+the air from the pointed gable of the house.

+

+A man in a hunting uniform was standing at the open

+door,—a gigantic figure, with a huge beard that almost

+covered his breast.  He shaded his eyes with his hands

+as he looked keenly at the approaching carriage, but

+suddenly running down the steps, he tore open the door, and

+threw his arms around Ferber, as the latter sprang out.

+For one instant the brothers stood in a close embrace;

+then the forester gently released the slender figure of the

+younger, and, holding him by the shoulder at arm's length,

+gazed searchingly into his pale worn countenance.

+

+"Poor Adolph!" he said at last, and his deep voice

+trembled with emotion.  "Has fate brought you to this?

+But wait awhile, we will have you sound and well again;

+it is not too late.  A thousand welcomes to you!  And

+now let us stick together until the last great trumpet call,

+when we shall not be asked whether we will stay

+together or not."

+

+He tried to master his emotion, and helped his

+sister-in-law and little Ernst, whom he embraced and kissed, to

+descend from the carriage.

+

+"Well," said he, "you must have been knocked up at

+an early hour, I must say, and that's hardly the thing for

+women."

+

+"What can you be thinking of, uncle?" cried Elizabeth.

+"We are no slug-a-beds, and know exactly how the

+sun looks when he says good morning to the world."

+

+"Halloa!" cried the forester with a laugh of surprise.

+"Who is that quarrelling with me in the corner of the

+carriage?  Come out instantly, little one."

+

+"I, little?  Well, sir, you will be finely surprised when

+I do get out and you see what a tall, stately maiden I am!"

+

+With these words Elizabeth sprang down from the high

+carriage and stood on tiptoe, drawing herself up to her

+full height beside him.  But although her slender,

+graceful figure was something above middle size, she seemed

+at this moment like a pretty king-bird measuring itself

+with an eagle.

+

+"Look," she said, in a rather disappointed tone, "I am

+nearly up to your shoulder, and that is more than tall

+enough for a respectable girl."

+

+Her uncle, holding himself as erect as possible, looked

+down upon her with a roguish smile of great self-satisfaction

+for a moment, then suddenly picked her up in his

+arms as though she had been a feather, and amid the

+laughter of the others carried her into the house, calling

+in a voice of thunder—

+

+"Sabina, Sabina, come here, and I will show you how

+the wrens look in B——."

+

+He put his terrified burden down in the hall as gently

+and carefully as though he were handling some brittle

+plaything, took her head tenderly between his large hands,

+kissed her forehead again and again, and said, "That

+such a queen of Liliput, such a moonshine elf, should dream

+of being as large as her tall uncle!  But, forest fairy as

+you are, you know all about the sun, for your head is

+covered with its beams."

+

+As she was carried into the house upon her uncle's

+arm the girl's hat had fallen from her head, revealing a

+mass of fair hair, the golden colour of which was all the

+more remarkable as her delicately pencilled eyebrows and

+long lashes were coal black.

+

+In the mean while an old woman entered from a side

+door, and at the head of the first flight of stairs several

+boyish faces appeared, which, however, vanished as soon

+as they found themselves perceived by the forester.  "Oh,

+you need not run away," he cried, laughing.  "I have

+seen you peeping.  They are my assistants," he turned

+to his brother; "the fellows are as curious as sparrows,

+and to-day I really cannot blame them," and he glanced

+archly at Elizabeth, who, standing aside, was binding

+her loosened braids around her head.  Then he took the

+old woman by the hand and presented her, with an air of

+comical solemnity: "Fräulein Sabina Holzin, Minister of

+the Interior to the Forest Lodge, High Constable in all

+stable and farm affairs, and to every one therein concerned,

+and, lastly, absolute monarch in the kitchen department.

+While she is putting the dinner on the table do just as

+she tells you, and all will go well with you; but, if she

+begins with her stock of old proverbs and ghost stories,

+get out of her way as quickly as possible, for there is no

+end to them.  And now,"—he turned to the smiling old

+woman, who was a miracle of ugliness, and who yet

+prepossessed all in her favour by her honest eyes, by an

+expression of roguery and fun that lighted up her face, and

+especially by the spotless cleanliness of her attire,—"now

+bring us as quickly as you can whatever pantry and

+cellar will afford: I know you baked our Whitsuntide

+cakes earlier than usual, that our travellers might have

+something to refresh them after their fatigue."

+

+With these words he opened the door opposite to the

+one from the kitchen through which the old woman

+disappeared, and showed his guests into a large apartment

+with bow-windows.  But Elizabeth lingered behind,

+looking through the door which led into the court-yard,

+for, between the white picket fences which shut in the

+feathered tribes on each side of the enclosure, she saw

+gay beds of flowers, while three or four late-blossoming

+apple trees stretched their rosy bloom-laden branches

+over one corner of the space.  The garden was large,

+climbing a short distance up the mountain side by terraces,

+and even enclosing within its realm a beautiful group of

+old beeches, outlying members of the forest.  While

+Elizabeth, entranced, stood thus in the hall, the door of a side

+wing of the house opened and a young girl stepped out

+into the court-yard.  She was strikingly beautiful,

+although her figure was rather diminutive, a defect for which

+nature had seemed to wish to indemnify her by gifting her

+with a pair of large eyes that glowed like dazzling black

+suns.  Her abundant dark hair was arranged evidently with

+an eye to coquettish effect, and several charmingly curled

+locks had escaped just above the pale forehead.  Her

+dress, too, although of simple material, betrayed in its

+arrangement the greatest care, and the observer could not

+but suspect that the skirt was so artistically looped not

+merely that the hem might be kept from the dust, but also

+with an eye to the neat little boot which it revealed, and

+which certainly was not made to be hidden beneath the

+heavy woollen stuff of the dress.

+

+She had in her hand a bowl full of grain, and threw a

+handful upon the stones at her feet.  A great noise

+ensued; the doves fluttered down from the roof, the fowls

+left their roosts and nests with loud cacklings, and the

+watch-dog felt it his duty to assist in the universal

+clamour by barking loudly.

+

+Elizabeth was astonished.  It is true, her uncle had

+been married, but he never had any children, as she

+knew; who then was this young girl, of whom no

+mention had been made in his letter?  She descended the

+steps that led to the court-yard, and approached the

+stranger: "Do you live at the Lodge?" she asked, kindly.

+

+The black eyes were riveted searchingly upon her for

+one moment, with a look of unmistakable surprise, then

+an expression of annoyance flitted across her delicate lips,

+which closed more tightly than before; the eyelids fell

+over the glittering eyes, and she turned silently away, as

+though entirely unconscious of the presence or address of

+any one, and continued feeding the fowls with the grain.

+

+Just then Sabina passed through the hall with the

+coffee-tray.  She beckoned confidentially to Elizabeth, who

+stood amazed, and, when she drew near, bade her follow

+her into the house, saying: "Come, child, you can do

+nothing with her."

+

+In the sitting-room, Elizabeth found all as comfortable

+and happy as if they had lived together for years.  Her

+mother was sitting in a large arm-chair, which the forester

+had pushed near a window that commanded a lovely view

+down one of the vistas of the forest.  A large striped cat

+had sprung confidingly into her lap, where it was purring

+with satisfaction beneath the small hand that was gently

+stroking it.  And for little Ernst, the four walls of the room

+were a perfect museum of all imaginable curiosities.  He

+had climbed into one chair after another, and was then

+standing in speechless admiration before a glass case

+containing a gorgeous collection of butterflies.  The two men

+were seated, side by side, upon the lounge, in deep

+consultation concerning the future abode of the family, and,

+as Elizabeth entered, she heard her uncle say, "Well, if

+the old ruin on the mountain cannot afford you shelter,

+you must stay here with me.  I can move my writing-table

+and all my other matters out of your way for awhile,

+and then I will besiege the authorities in the town until

+they consent to add another story to the right wing of

+my old house."

+

+Elizabeth took off her travelling cloak, and assisted old

+Sabina to set the table.  The first shadow had fallen

+upon the enjoyment that had filled her soul.  Never before

+had any advance of hers been met with unkindness.  That

+she owed this exemption from the ill humour of others to

+her beauty, the charm of her manner, and the childlike

+purity of her nature, which exercised an unconscious

+influence upon all around her, had never occurred to her.

+She had taken it for granted that she should experience

+only kindness from all, since she was conscious of

+meaning well by all the world.  Her disappointment at the

+repulse was all the greater, because the sight of a young

+girl of about her own age had caused her such surprise

+and joy; and the beautiful face of the stranger had

+interested her deeply.  The studied arrangement of the

+girl's dress had not struck her, as she herself had never

+yet known the desire of heightening her attractions by

+the aids of the toilet.  Her father and mother had

+always assured her that no time spent in the cultivation

+of mind and heart was lost, and that if they were

+what they should be, her exterior could never be

+unattractive, whatever might be the form with which nature

+had endowed her.

+

+The thoughtful expression of Elizabeth's face did not

+escape her mother's notice.  She called her to her, and

+her daughter began an account of the meeting; but at the

+first words the forester turned towards her.  A deep

+wrinkle appeared between his bushy eyebrows, and made

+his face dark and gloomy.

+

+"Indeed," he said, "have you seen her already?  Well,

+then, let me tell you who and what she is.  I took her

+into my house some years ago, that she might assist

+Sabina in her housekeeping.  She is a distant relative of

+my deceased wife, and has no parents, brothers nor sisters.

+I wished to do good, but I have provided myself with

+a perpetual scourge,—although I do not deserve it.

+She had not been here a month before I discovered that

+she had not a single healthy thought in her entire

+composition; she is a mass of exaggerated ideas and

+inconceivable arrogance.  I had half a mind to send her back

+to the place she came from, but Sabina, who has still less

+cause than I to love her, entreated me not to do it.

+Why, I cannot tell, for the girl gave her a great deal

+of trouble, and was insolent.  I did all I could to tame her

+haughty spirit by giving her regular duties to perform,

+and for awhile matters went on pretty well.  But about

+a year ago a certain Baroness Lessen came to live over

+at Lindhof,—that is the name of the former Gnadewitz

+property, which the heir-at-law sold to a Herr von Walde.

+The possessor himself, who has neither wife nor child, is a

+kind of antiquary, travels a great deal, and leaves his only

+sister under the charge of the aforesaid baroness, more's

+the pity, for she turns everything upside down.  Years

+ago, when I used to hear great piety spoken of, all my

+veneration was excited, and I wished at least to take my

+cap off; but now, when I hear of such things, I clench

+my fist and pull my hat down over my eyes, for the

+world has greatly changed.  The Baroness Lessen

+belongs to those pious souls who grow cruel, hard, and

+narrow-minded out of what they call pure fear of the

+Lord; who persecute a fellow-creature who does not cast

+his eyes down hypocritically, but lifts them to heaven

+where God dwells, as persistently as a hound hunts down

+game.  This is the herd to which my excellent niece

+belongs; there could not be a better soil for all the weeds

+that her brain generates, and all sorts of annoyances are

+the consequence.  She made acquaintance with a lady's-maid

+over there, and spent all her leisure time with her.

+At first I was content enough, until all at once she began

+with her plans,—for our conversion, as she calls it.

+Sabina was a miserable sinner, because she would not leave

+off work, at least ten times a day, to pray; the poor

+old thing, who never misses church every Sunday at

+Lindhof, even through wind and rain, and often with

+rheumatism racking her old bones, and who has lived a

+faithful, laborious life, infinitely more religious than sixty

+years of idleness spent upon her knees.  And then my

+fine moralist attacked me; but there she found her match,

+and contented herself with a single effort.  Then I forbade

+all intercourse with Lindhof; but my prohibition was of

+little use, for whenever my back is turned she takes

+occasion to slip over there.  Of course, there can be no

+question of any gratitude towards me; I have no bond

+of union with her as her guardian, and that makes my

+task of guiding and guarding her doubly difficult.  God

+only knows what insane idea has taken possession of her

+now, but for two months she has been perfectly dumb,

+not only here at home, but everywhere.  For that space

+of time not a single word has passed her lips.  Neither

+sternness nor gentle entreaty produces the slightest effect

+upon her.  She attends to her duties just as she used to

+do, eats and drinks like every one else, and is not one

+whit less vain or wise in her own conceit.  But because

+she grew pale, and did not look very well, I consulted a

+physician, who had formerly known her, with regard to

+her health.  He assured me that her physical health was

+excellent, and advised that she should be treated with

+gentle firmness, as the minds of several of her family had

+previously been somewhat affected.  He said, too, that

+she would grow tired of her entire silence, and would

+begin talking some fine day like a magpie.  I am content

+to wait; but in the mean time it is a sore trial to me.

+All my life I have longed to have happy faces around

+me, and would rather eat bread and salt with cheerful

+people than the costliest dainties with morose

+companions.  Come, my Fair one with the golden locks," he

+concluded, stroking Elizabeth's head with his huge hand,

+"push your mother's arm-chair up to the table, tie a

+napkin round the neck of that little rogue who is staring his

+eyes out at my case of rifles, and let us breakfast together,

+for you all need repose, and must rest your weary limbs

+after your long journey.  After dinner we must begin to

+think of Castle Gnadeck; but first strengthen your eyes

+with a little sleep, lest they should be dazzled by the

+splendour which will flash upon them up there."

+

+After breakfast, while her father and mother were asleep

+and little Ernst was dreaming in a large bed of the

+wonders of the forest-lodge, Elizabeth unpacked in the upper

+room, which her uncle had resigned to her, all that was

+necessary for the coming night.  She would not for the

+world have gone to sleep.  She went repeatedly to the

+window and looked across to the wooded mountain which

+arose behind the lodge.  There, above the tops of the

+trees, she could see a black streak, which stood out

+distinctly against the clear blue sky.  That was, as old

+Sabina said, an ancient iron flag-staff upon the roof of

+Castle Gnadeck, from which in times long gone by the

+proud banner of the Gnadewitzes had flouted the air.

+Was there behind those trees the asylum for which she

+longed, where her parents might rest their feet, weary with

+long wandering upon foreign soil?

+

+And then her eyes sought the court-yard below, but the

+dumb girl did not appear again.  She had not come to

+breakfast, and seemed to wish to avoid all intercourse

+with the guests at the lodge.  For this Elizabeth was

+very sorry.  Although her uncle's account had not

+been promising, a youthful spirit is not quick to

+resign its illusions, and would rather be undeceived by the

+bursting of its gay bubble than admonished by the

+experience of age.  The beautiful girl, who could so

+determinedly conceal her secret behind closed lips, became

+doubly interesting to her, and she exhausted herself in

+conjectures as to the cause of this silence.

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER IV.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER IV.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+After a most cheerful dinner, Sabina brought from

+the cupboard a pipe, which she filled and handed with a

+match to the forester.

+

+"What are you thinking of, Sabina?" he said, rejecting

+it with a comical air of displeased surprise.  "Do you

+think I could find it in my heart to sit here and smoke a

+quiet pipe while Elsie's little feet are dancing with

+impatience to run up the mountain, and she is longing to poke

+her little nose into the magic castle?  No, I think we had

+better start at once upon our voyage of discovery."

+

+All were soon ready.  The forester gave his arm to his

+sister-in-law, and they started off through the court and

+garden.  After they had gone a little way, they were

+joined by a mason from the neighbouring village, whom

+the forester had sent for that he might be at hand if

+necessary.

+

+They walked up the mountain by a tolerably steep and

+narrow path through the thick forest, but this path

+gradually broadened, and at last led to a small open space, on

+one side of which arose what seemed like a tall gray rock.

+

+"Here I have the pleasure," said the forester to his

+brother, with a sarcastic smile, "of revealing to you the

+estate of the lamented Baron von Gnadewitz in all its

+grandeur."

+

+They were standing before a lofty wall, which looked

+like one solid block of granite.  They could see nothing

+of any buildings that might be behind it, because the

+surrounding forest was too thick and close to allow of a

+sufficiently distant point of observation.  The forester led

+the way along the wall, at the base of which thick

+underbrush was growing, until he reached a large oaken

+door with an iron grating in the upper half of it.  Here

+he had had the matted growth of underbrush cleared

+away, and he now produced a bunch of large keys which

+had been handed over to Frau Ferber as she had passed

+through L—— the day before.

+

+The utmost exertions of the three men were necessary

+before the rusty locks and bars would move, but at last

+the door creaked, or rather crashed upon its hinges, and

+a thick cloud of dust floated up into the air.  The

+explorers entered and found themselves in a court-yard

+bounded on three sides by buildings.  Opposite them was

+the imposing front of the castle, with a flight of broad

+stone steps, and a clumsy iron balustrade, leading to the

+entrance door upon the first story.  Running from each

+side of the main building were gloomy colonnades, whose

+granite pillars and arches seemed to defy the tooth of

+time.  In the centre of the court-yard a group of old

+chestnut trees stretched their aged boughs above a huge

+basin, in the midst of which couched four stone lions with

+wide open jaws.  Formerly four powerful streams of

+water must have poured through them from the bowels

+of the earth, filling the entire basin; but now there was

+only a small stream trickling through the threatening

+teeth of one of the monsters, sufficing to sprinkle with

+moisture the grass and weeds growing in the cracks of

+the stone basin, and, by its low, mournful ripple, giving a

+faint suggestion of life in this wilderness.  The outer

+walls of the structure and the colonnades were all that

+could be regarded without terror in this space.  The

+window frames, from which every pane of glass had been

+broken, showed the sad desolation within.  In some

+rooms the ceilings had already fallen in; in others, the

+joists were bent as though the lightest touch might

+send them crashing down.  Even the stone steps seemed

+half hanging in the air,—some mossy fragments had

+already become detached from them, and had rolled into

+the centre of the court-yard.

+

+"We can do nothing here," said Ferber.  "Let us go on."

+

+Through a deep, dark portal they entered another

+court-yard, which, although much larger than the first,

+by its striking irregularity produced an impression of

+far greater desolation.  Here, a dreary, crumbling pile

+of masonry projected far out, and formed a dark

+corner never visited by a sunbeam; there, a clumsy tower

+shot into the air, throwing a deep shadow upon the wing

+at its back.  An old elder bush, leading a straggling

+existence in one corner, with its leaves covered with

+fallen crumbs of mortar, and some dry grasses between

+the stones of the pavement, made the scene yet more

+desolate.  No noise disturbed the deathlike silence

+reigning here.  Even the jackdaws soaring in the air above

+ceased their chatter, and the echoes of the footsteps upon

+the stone pavement had a ghostly sound.

+

+"Yes, those old knights," said Ferber, almost appalled

+at the sight of the desolation around him, "have heaped

+up these piles of granite, and thought that this cradle of

+their race would proclaim the splendour of their name

+through all coming centuries.  Each has altered and

+arranged his inheritance after his own taste and convenience,

+as we see from these different kinds of architecture, and

+lived as if there were no end to it all."

+

+"And yet each lodged here but for a little space,"

+interrupted the forester, "and paid his landlord, the earth,

+for his lodging with his own crumbling bones,—now

+turned to dust.  But let us go on.  Brr—rr!—it makes

+me shiver.  Death everywhere,—nothing but death!"

+

+"Do you call that death, uncle?" suddenly exclaimed

+Elizabeth, who had hitherto been awed and silent, pointing,

+as she spoke, through a door which was half concealed

+by an interposing column.  There, behind a grating, fresh

+sunny green was shining, and young climbing roses

+leaned their blossoms against the iron bars.

+

+Elizabeth ran towards the door, and, exerting all her

+strength, pushed it open.  The space upon which she

+entered had probably been the former flower-garden, but

+such a name could scarcely be applied to the tangled

+wilderness of green, where not even the narrowest vestige

+of a path could be discerned, and where here and there

+only the mutilated remains of a statue appeared among

+the mass of shrubs, bushes, and parasitical plants.  A

+wild grape-vine had climbed to the upper story of the

+building, and taken firm hold there of the window-sills,—its

+green branches and wreaths falling thence like a shower

+upon the wild roses and lilac bushes beneath.  And in

+this secluded, blooming spot of ground, a buzzing and

+humming were heard, as if Spring had assembled here her

+entire host of winged insects.  Countless butterflies

+fluttered over the flowers, and golden beetles were running

+glittering across the broad fern leaves at Elizabeth's feet.

+And above this little world of bloom and busy life several

+fruit trees and magnificent lindens waved their leafy crests,

+while upon a slight elevation were seen the remains of

+what had once been a pavilion.

+

+The garden was surrounded upon three sides by

+buildings; the square was completed by a high, green

+wall, which had been constructed of earth, like a dam,

+and above which the trees of the forest waved a greeting

+to their neighbours within.  Here were also the same

+signs of decay,—tolerably well preserved outer

+walls,—complete ruin within.  Only one building of two stories,

+connecting two high wings, attracted attention from its

+closed appearance.  The light did not shine through it, as

+through its doorless and windowless companions; its flat

+roof, finished in front and at the back by a heavy stone

+balustrade, must have bidden defiance to time and tempest,

+as had also the gray window-panes which peeped out

+here and there from the tangled growth of vines that

+covered everything.  The forester measured it with a keen

+glance, and declared that this must be Sabina's famous

+building,—possibly the interior might not be in as

+crumbling a condition as the rest of the castle,—only he could

+not understand how they were to get into the old swallow's

+nest.  Certainly, the rank growth around the base

+of the walls would have obscured all trace of steps or

+door, even were there any such entrance.  They determined,

+therefore, to venture up into one of the large side

+wings by a worn but tolerably secure flight of stone steps,

+and thus attempt to arrive at the interior of the

+connecting building.  They succeeded in gaining ingress to the

+tall wing, although they could keep their footing only by

+clinging to the uneven walls.  They first entered a large

+saloon which had the blue sky for a ceiling, and whose

+only decoration was a few green bushes growing through

+its walls.  Remnants of galleries, worm-eaten joists, and

+various fragments of frescoed ceiling were heaped up in

+piles, over which the explorers had to scramble as best

+they might.  Then followed a long suite of rooms in the

+same utterly desolate condition.  Upon some of the walls

+fragments of family portraits were still hanging, upon

+which, strangely and comically enough, only an eye, or,

+perhaps, a pair of delicate folded hands, or a mail-clad,

+theatrically-posed leg, was yet distinctly to be traced.

+At length they reached the last apartment, and stood

+before a high-arched doorway which had evidently been

+bricked up.

+

+"Aha!" said Ferber, "here they intended to cut off

+this building from the universal desolation.  I think

+that before we venture any further upon this break-neck

+expedition it would be well to knock out these stones."

+

+His proposal was at once favourably received, and the

+mason began his task; he soon penetrated into a recess

+in the wall, which he assured them was double at this

+spot.  The other two men lent their assistance, and a

+thick oaken door was revealed behind the masonry that

+they cleared away.  This door was not locked, and yielded

+readily to the mason's strong arm.  They entered an

+entirely dark, close room.  One slender sunbeam, straying

+through a crack showed them where to find a window;

+the bolt of the shutter, rusty from long disuse, resisted

+for some time the strength of the forester, and the trees

+upon the outside opposed an additional obstacle to their

+exertions.  At last the shutter yielded with a crash;

+the golden-green sunlight streamed in through a high

+bow-window and disclosed an apartment not broad, but

+very deep, the walls of which were hung with Gobelin

+tapestry.  Upon each of the four corners of the ceiling

+were painted the arms of the Gnadewitzes.  To the

+surprise of all, this room was entirely furnished as a sleeping

+apartment.  Two canopied beds, with hangings dingy

+with age, that occupied the two long walls of the room,

+were all made up; the pillows were covered with fine linen

+cases, and the silken coverlid still preserved its colour

+and texture.  Everything that could conduce to the

+comfort of an aristocratic occupant was here, buried, indeed,

+beneath a mass of dust, but in a state of excellent

+preservation.  Beyond this apartment, and opening into

+it, was another much larger, with two windows; it was

+also completely furnished, although in antique style, and

+evidently with furniture hunted up from various other

+rooms for the purpose.  An antique writing-table, its top

+most artistically inlaid and resting upon strangely carved

+claw feet, harmonized but poorly with the more modern

+form of the crimson sofa; and the gilt frames, in which

+hung several well-painted hunting pictures, did not

+accord with the silver mountings of the huge mirror.

+Nevertheless, nothing was wanting that could complete

+the solid comfort of the room.  A thick, though

+somewhat faded carpet was laid upon the floor, and a large

+antique timepiece stood beneath the mirror.  A small

+boudoir, also furnished, and from which a door led to a

+vestibule and a flight of steps, opened from the larger

+apartment.  Behind these rooms were three others of a

+similar size, with windows looking upon the garden; one

+of these, containing two beds and pine furniture, was

+evidently intended for the servants.

+

+"Well done!" cried the forester with a smile of

+satisfaction; "here is an establishment that exceeds the

+wildest flights of our modest fancy.  If the sainted

+Gnadewitz could see us now he would turn in his leaden coffin.

+All this we owe, I suppose, to the neglect of a housekeeper

+or to the forgetfulness of some childish, old steward."

+

+"But do you think we ought to keep these things?"

+asked, in a breath, Frau Ferber and Elizabeth, who had

+been silent hitherto from wonder.

+

+"Most certainly, my love," said Ferber; "your uncle

+left you the castle with everything which it contained."

+

+"And little enough it was," growled the forester.

+

+"But in comparison with our expectations a perfect

+mine of wealth," said Frau Ferber, as she opened a

+beautiful glass cabinet containing different kinds of china; "and

+if my uncle had actually endowed me with an estate in

+my young days, when I was full of hope and enthusiasm,

+I doubt whether it would have made as much impression

+upon me as does this unexpected discovery, which relieves

+us all of so much anxiety."

+

+In the mean time Elizabeth had gone to the window of

+the first room which they had entered, and was trying to

+part the boughs and vines which grew so thick and strong

+all along this side of the building that they formed a

+barrier through which only a greenish twilight penetrated.

+"It is a pity," she said, as she found that her efforts

+were vain; "I should have liked some glimpse of the

+forest outside."

+

+"Why, do you think," said her uncle, "that I shall

+allow you to live behind this green screen, which shuts out

+air as well as light?  Rely upon me to take that matter

+in charge, my little Elsie."

+

+They next descended the stairs.  These, too, were in

+perfect preservation, and led to a large hall with a huge

+oaken table in the centre, surrounded by spindled-legged,

+straight-backed chairs.  The floor was of red tiles, and

+the panels on walls and ceiling were covered with

+beautiful carving.  This large apartment was provided with

+four windows and two doors opposite to each other; one

+of these led into the garden, and the other, which was

+opened with difficulty, into a narrow open court-yard lying

+between the building-and the outer wall.  Here the

+syringas and hazel bushes were growing everywhere, making

+an absolute thicket, through which, however, the three

+men penetrated, and reached a little gate in the outside

+wall which communicated with the forest without.

+

+"Now," said Ferber, delighted, "every obstacle to our

+living here is removed.  This entrance is most valuable.

+We shall never have to pass through the older court-yards,

+which are really dangerous places, surrounded as they are

+by crumbling ruins."

+

+They made one more tour through their newly found

+home with an eye to its future arrangement, and the mason

+was ordered to be upon the spot the next day that he

+might convert one of the back rooms into a kitchen.

+Then, after the oaken door leading into the large, ruinous

+wing had been well bolted and secured, they took their

+way through the gate in the wall, an undertaking difficult

+indeed, on account of the thick bushes which opposed

+their progress, but infinitely preferable to the perilous path

+by which they had entered.

+

+As the returning party entered the garden of the forest

+lodge, Sabina came towards them, in great anxiety to learn

+the results of their expedition, accompanied by little Ernst,

+who had been entrusted to her care while his mother and

+sister were away.  She had prepared the table with its

+snowy cloth and shining coffee-service upon a shady knoll

+under the beech trees, and now clapped her hands with

+delight upon hearing of all they had found.

+

+"Ah! gracious Powers," she cried, "I hope the Herr

+Forester understands now that I knew what I was talking

+about.  Yes, yes, all those things were left there and

+forgotten, and no wonder.  As soon as the young lord was

+buried, old Gnadewitz packed off as quick as he could,

+and took every servant with him except the old

+house-steward Silber, and he was childish with age, and

+besides had enough to do to take care of all that was left

+in the new castle; it was crowded with furniture and plate,

+and he had a hard time to keep it all right; so everything

+was left in the old rooms, and no one knew anything

+about them.  Ah, I've dusted and cleaned everything

+there often enough, and frightened indeed I was whenever

+I came to that old clock, for it plays such mournful music

+when it strikes, it used to sound like something unearthly,

+when I was all alone at work in the old place.  Ah, how

+time flies, I was young then!"

+

+Then came an hour of rest and comfortable discussion,

+while they drank their coffee.  As Elizabeth had decided

+that nothing could be more charming than to awaken in

+their own rooms upon Whit-Sunday morning,—when the

+ringing of the church-bells in the surrounding villages

+would come softly echoing through the forest glades,—a

+view of the matter in which her mother sympathized,

+they determined to undertake all the necessary repairs

+and cleaning immediately, that they might occupy the

+rooms upon the eve of Whit-Sunday, and the forester

+placed all his men at their disposal.

+

+Sabina had taken up her position upon a grassy bank

+at a short distance from the table, that she might be at

+hand if wanted; and that she might not be idle, she had

+pulled up a couple of handfuls of carrots from the garden

+and was busily scraping and trimming them.  Elizabeth

+sat down beside her.  The old woman gave a sly glance

+at the delicate white fingers, that contrasted so with her

+own brown, horny hands, as they picked some carrots up

+from her lap.

+

+"Don't touch," she said, "that is no work for you,—you

+will make your fingers yellow."

+

+"What matter for that?" laughed Elizabeth.  "I will

+help you a little, and you shall tell me a story.  You

+were born here, and must know many a tale about the

+old castle."

+

+"You may be sure of that," replied the old housekeeper.

+"The village of Lindhof, where I was born, belonged to

+the Lords von Gnadewitz time out of mind, and you see

+in such a little place as that every one talks and thinks of

+the great people who rule over it.  Nothing happens of

+any account in the castle that is not described and handed

+down from father to son in the village, and, long after the

+lords and ladies are dust, their stories are told by the

+village girls and boys.

+

+"Now there was my great-grandmother, whom I

+remember perfectly, she knew many a thing that would

+make your hair stand on end; but she had a monstrous

+respect for every one at Gnadeck, and used to bob down

+my head with her trembling hands whenever a Gnadewitz

+drove by our cottage,—for I was but a little thing then,

+and did not know how to make a respectable courtesy.

+She knew about all the lords who had lived at the old

+castle for hundreds of years; yes, many a thing that had

+happened there, that must have outraged God and man.

+

+"Afterwards, when I lived at the new castle, and had

+to sweep the long gallery where their pictures were all

+hanging upon the wall,—pictures of people whose very

+bones had mouldered away,—I often used to stand still

+before them and wonder to see them looking so like

+everybody else, when they used to make such a fuss about

+themselves, as if God Almighty had brought them down

+to the earth with his own hands.  There were not many

+beauties among the women.  I often thought, in my stupid

+way, that if pretty Lieschen, the most beautiful girl in the

+village, could only have been painted and hung in such a

+rich gold frame, with a silken scarf and such quantities

+of jewels upon her neck and in her hair, and the blackamoor

+with his silver waiter standing just behind her lovely

+face and neck, she would have looked a thousand times

+prettier than the lady who was so ugly, and frowned so

+with pride and arrogance that two great wrinkles went

+up to the very roots of her hair.  And yet she was the

+very one that the family was proudest of.  She had been

+a very wealthy countess, but hard and unfeeling as a stone.

+

+"Among the men, there was only one whom I liked to

+look at.  He had a frank, kind, honest face, and a pair of

+eyes black as sloes; but he had shown how true it is that

+the good always get the worst of it in this world.  All

+the others had a fine time of it as long as they lived.

+Many of them had done harm enough in their time, and

+yet their death-beds were as calm and peaceful as if they

+had always been just and true; but poor Jost von

+Gnadewitz had a sad fate.  My great-grandmother's

+grandmother had known him when she was a very little girl.

+Then they always called him the wild huntsman, because

+he never left the forest, but would hunt there from

+morning until night.  In the picture he had on a green coat

+and a long white feather in his cap, that was most

+beautiful to see dangling among his coal-black curls.  He was

+kind-hearted, and never harmed a child.  While he lived

+all the villagers prospered, and they wished he might live

+forever.

+

+"But all of a sudden he left this part of the country,

+and no one knew, for some time, where he had gone,

+until one night in a dreadful storm he came back as quietly

+as he had gone away.  But always after that he was a

+changed man.  The people of Lindhof prospered as

+before, but they saw no more of their master.  He

+dismissed all his servants, and lived alone in his old castle

+with only one favourite attendant.

+

+"And at last it began to be whispered that he was busy

+with magic and the black art up there, and no one dared

+to go near the castle even at high noon, let alone the

+dark night.  But my old great-grandmother was a bold,

+saucy girl, and used sometimes to pasture her goats right

+under the walls of the castle court-yard.  Well,—once as

+she was leaning against a tree there, gazing at the high

+walls, and lost in thoughts concerning all that might be

+going on behind them, suddenly an arm appeared above

+them white as snow, and then a face fairer than sun, moon,

+and stars, my grandmother said, and at last with a

+sudden spring a young maiden stood upon the top of the

+broad wall, and, stretching her arms up into the air, cried

+out something in a strange tongue that my grandmother

+could not understand, and was just about to leap down

+into the deep ditch full of water that then entirely

+surrounded the castle, when Jost appeared behind her, and,

+putting his arms around her, begged and implored her

+so that a stone would have melted at such entreaties

+wrung from a heart full of terror and anguish.  And

+finally he took her up in his arms like a child, and they

+both disappeared from the wall.  But the veil became

+loosened from the maiden's head and floated away across

+the ditch to where my grandmother was standing.  It

+was exquisitely fine, and she carried it home in great glee

+to her father; but he declared it was woven by the devil,

+and threw it into the fire, forbidding my grandmother

+ever to go up the mountain near the castle again.

+

+"Some time after,—certainly a whole year after Jost

+first shut himself up so closely at Gnadeck,—he came

+down the mountain very early one morning on horseback;

+but you would hardly have known him, his face was so

+haggard and pale, all the paler for the full suit of black

+that he wore.  He rode very slowly, and nodded sadly to

+every one whom he met; he never came back to this

+place again; he was slain in battle, and his old servant

+with him—'twas at the time of the thirty years' war."

+

+"And the beautiful girl?" asked Elizabeth.

+

+"Ah, no one ever heard tale or tidings of her again.

+Jost left a large sealed packet in the town-house at L——,

+and said that it was his last will, and must be opened

+whenever news of his death should be received.  But a

+short time after his departure, there was a terrible fire in

+L——; a great many houses, and even the church and

+the town-house, were burned to the ground with

+everything which they contained, and of course the packet

+was destroyed.

+

+"Before Jost left, the pastor from Lindhof went to see

+him several times; but the reverend gentleman kept as

+quiet as a mouse, and, as he was already very old, he

+soon departed this life, and everything that he knew

+was buried with him.  So no living being knows anything

+about the strange maiden, nor ever will know till the day

+of judgment."

+

+"Oh, never trouble yourself to keep the matter quiet,

+Sabina," called the forester to her from the table, as he

+shook the ashes out of his pipe.  "Elsie had better get

+used as soon as possible to the terrible conclusions to your

+stories.  Tell her at once—for you know all about

+it—how the beautiful maiden one fine day flew up the

+chimney and away upon a broomstick."

+

+"No, I don't believe that, sir, although I know——"

+

+"That the whole country is swarming with such creatures,

+all ripe for the gallows," interrupted her master.

+"Yes, yes," he continued, turning to the others, "Sabina

+is one of the old Thuringian stock.  She has sense enough,

+and her heart is in the right place; but when there is any

+question about witchcraft she loses one and forgets the

+other, and is nearly ready to turn any poor old woman

+away from the door, just because she has red eyes, without

+giving her a morsel of food."

+

+"No, indeed, sir, I'm not quite so bad as that," the old

+woman declared with some irritation.  "I give her

+something to eat; but I always stick my thumbs in the palms

+of my hands, and never answer one of her questions,—there's

+no harm in that!"

+

+Every one laughed at this charm against witches and

+witchcraft, which the old servant told with the utmost

+gravity as she arose and emptied the carrot-tops from her

+apron, that she might prepare the afternoon meal, which

+was to be eaten earlier than usual, as there was much to

+do in the old castle before nightfall.

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER V.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER V.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+As Elizabeth opened her eyes the next morning, the

+tall clock in the room below was striking eight, and she

+started up with the provoking consciousness that she had

+overslept herself; and it was all owing to a vivid and

+terrible dream.  The golden atmosphere of poetry, which

+had yesterday hovered around Sabina's narrative, had

+become a gloomy cloud in the night, the shadow of which

+embittered and burdened the first moments of her

+awakening.  She had been flying in deadly terror through the

+spacious, dreary halls of the old castle, always pursued

+by Jost.  Thick curls were waving wildly above his pale

+forehead, beneath which his black eyes gleamed upon her,

+and she had just stretched out her arms in greater terror

+than she had ever experienced in her life before, to defend

+herself from him, when she awoke.  Her heart was still

+beating violently, and she thought with a shudder of the

+wretched girl upon the castle wall, who, pursued, perhaps,

+as she had been, had sought relief in death, when she

+was again captured by her tormentor.

+

+She sprang up and bathed her face in cold water; then

+she opened her window and looked out into the courtyard.

+There sat Sabina under a pear tree, busy with her

+churn.  All the feathered crowd of the place stood around,

+looking impatiently for the crumbs that she threw to them

+from time to time from a bowl upon the table by her side,

+while she improved the occasion to rebuke the arrogant

+and greedy, and to console the oppressed and down-trodden.

+

+When she saw the young girl, she nodded kindly, and

+called up to her to say that every one in the lodge had

+been busy up there in the old castle since six o'clock.

+When Elizabeth reproached her for letting her sleep so

+long, she assured her that she had done so by the express

+desire of her mother, who thought that her daughter had

+overtasked her strength in the last few weeks of

+excitement and exertion.

+

+Sabina's kind, placid face, and the fresh air of the

+morning soothed Elizabeth's nerves at once, and brought back

+her thoughts to the world of reality which was just now

+opening so brightly before her.  She took herself seriously

+to task that, despite her uncle's fatherly admonition, she

+had leaned out of the open window until midnight upon

+the previous night, gazing across the moonlit meadow

+into the silent forest.  But common sense often plays a

+poor part when opposed to excited fancy.  Where it

+should conduct a rigid examination and discriminate

+wisely, it suddenly finds itself deserted in the

+judgment-seat, and must retire in confusion, while the varied and

+motley spectacle which fancy conjures up proceeds

+without interruption.  Thus Elizabeth's self-reproaches soon

+vanished before the picture which presented itself to her

+memory, and still threw around her all the magic of a

+moonlit night in the forest.

+

+As soon as she had dressed, and drank a tumbler of

+fresh milk, she hastened up to the castle.  The sky was

+overcast, but only with those light, thin clouds which

+foretell a fresh although not a sunny, spring day.

+Therefore the birds' morning concert was of longer duration

+than usual, and the dew-drops lay as large and full in the

+cups of the flowers as if their existence for the day were

+not threatened.

+

+As Elizabeth entered the large gate of the castle, which

+stood wide open, a huge green mound, piled up by the

+fountain, met her eye.  It was formed of thistle stalks,

+ferns, and bramble bushes, which had been torn from

+their home in the garden, and were here bidding farewell

+to their long, merry life.  The path through the arched

+gateway of the second court-yard to the grating was

+strewn with green boughs and leaves, as though a joyous

+marriage train had been passing through the old ruins;

+and even on the sill of a high window, that showed the

+remains of coloured glass in the lacework of the stone

+rosette of its pointed arch, some boughs had been caught

+as they were carried past, and the trailing end of a wild

+vine was coiling its living green lovingly around the

+stone trefoil of the Holy Trinity, which betrayed

+unmistakably that the dark, dreary hall within had once

+been the chapel of the castle.

+

+The garden, where it had yesterday been impossible to

+take two steps, seemed to Elizabeth entirely changed.

+A considerable part of it had been cleared, and showed

+distinct traces of having been tastefully laid out.  She

+could easily proceed along a partially cleared path, across

+which timid hares and squirrels ran fleetly now and then,

+until she reached the green rampart which had only

+been seen from a distance yesterday.  At each end of

+the long, grassy embankment, broad, worn, stone steps

+led up to a low breastwork, over which one could look

+out into the forest, and there, where the trees were

+somewhat thin, through a green vista down into the valley,

+where the forest lodge, with the white doves dotting its

+blue-slated roof, was nestling cosily.  At the foot of the

+embankment, just where the broad path terminated, was

+a little stone basin, into which a strong stream of crystal

+water flowed through the mouth of a mossy little marble

+gnome.  Two lindens arched their boughs above this

+gurgling brook, and threw their grateful shade upon the

+tender forget-me-nots, which grew here in masses in the

+damp earth and wreathed the little basin with their

+heavenly blue.

+

+Directly opposite the embankment lay her future

+habitation, which, with its window-shutters thrown back and

+the large door on the ground-floor wide open, looked so

+bright and hospitable to-day that Elizabeth welcomed

+with joy the thought that she was looking upon her home.

+Her gaze wandered over the garden, and she thought

+upon those moments of her childhood when, her little

+heart full of unconquerable longing, she had lingered

+behind her parents during some pleasant walk, and, with

+her face pressed close against the iron grating, had gazed

+into some strange garden.  There she had seen happy

+children playing carelessly upon the greensward; they

+could bend down the lovely roses that hung in such

+clusters, and inhale their fragrance as long as they liked.

+And what a pleasure it must be to creep under the flower-laden

+boughs and sit there in the green, just like grown-up

+people in an arbour!  But there was nothing for her then

+but the look and the longing.  No one had ever opened the

+barred door to the child with the wistful eyes, who would

+have been only too happy if they would have thrust a

+few flowers through the grating into her little hands.

+

+While Elizabeth was standing upon the embankment,

+the forester appeared at one of the upper windows of

+the dwelling.  When he saw her graceful figure leaning

+against the low breastwork, as, with her beautiful head

+half turned towards the garden, she seemed sunk in a

+reverie, his features were illumined by an expression of

+pleasure and quiet delight.

+

+And Elsie soon found him out, and nodding to him

+gaily, bounded down the steps towards the house.  Little

+Ernst ran to her in the hall, and she took him up in her

+arms.

+

+The assistance which the little boy had afforded had

+been, according to his own enthusiastic account,

+invaluable indeed.  He had carried bricks for the mason who

+had been mending the hearth, had helped his mother to

+shake out the beds, and declared with pride that the lords

+and ladies upon the woollen hangings looked far

+handsomer since he had brushed off their dusty faces.  He

+threw his arms around his sister's neck as she carried

+him up-stairs, assuring her all the way that he liked it a

+thousand times better here than in B——.

+

+The forester received Elizabeth in the antechamber

+above.  He scarcely gave her time to say good morning

+to her parents, but conducted her instantly into the

+gobelin-hung apartment.  Ah, what a transformation!  The

+green lattice-work that had obscured the window had

+vanished.  Without, beyond the outer wall, the forest

+retreated like side-scenes on either side, opening a full

+view of a distant valley that was to Elizabeth a perfect

+paradise.

+

+"There is Lindhof," said the forester, pointing to a

+large building in the Italian style, which lay tolerably

+near to the foot of the mountain upon which Gnadeck

+stood.  "I have brought you something that will show

+you every tree upon the mountains over there, and every

+blade of grass in the meadows of the valley," he

+continued, as he held an excellent spy-glass before her eyes.

+

+And then the grand, solemn mountain domes seemed

+to approach, their granite peaks, sometimes crowned by a

+solitary fir, breaking through the forest here and there.

+Behind these nearest summits towered countless ranges

+in the blue misty light, and from a distant, dim valley

+which separated two giant mountains, arose two

+slender, shadowy gothic towers.  A little river, a highway

+bordered by poplars, and several gay villages enlivened

+the background of the valley.  In front lay Castle

+Lindhof, surrounded by a park laid out in princely style.

+Beneath the windows of the castle extended a closely shaven

+lawn, beset with small, quaintly-shaped beds glowing with

+all the colours of the rainbow.  Thence Elizabeth's eyes

+soon wandered, and rested delightedly upon the mysterious

+gloom of an avenue of magnificent lindens, their heavy

+foliage interlacing above their brown trunks, while here

+and there drooping boughs swept the ground beneath with

+their broad leaves.  They bordered a little crystal lake,

+which just now looked melancholy enough amid all its

+flowery surroundings, for its depths mirrored a cloudy

+sky.  Now and then a swan stretched its white neck

+curiously among the low-hanging linden boughs, and sent

+a shower of feathery spray from its wings to sprinkle their

+old trunks.

+

+Hitherto Elizabeth had allowed the glass to range

+restlessly hither and thither, but now she attempted to hold

+it steadily, for she had made a discovery which excited

+her interest most powerfully.

+

+Under the last trees of the avenue stood a couch.  A

+young lady lay upon it, her charming head thrown back

+so that a part of her chestnut curls fell down across the

+pillow.  Beneath the hem of her long white muslin dress,

+which enveloped her form to the throat, peeped out two

+tiny feet encased in gold-embroidered satin slippers.  She

+held in her delicate almost transparent hands some

+auriculas, which she was thoughtlessly twisting and waving to

+and fro.  Her lips alone showed any colouring; the rest

+of her face was lily-pale; one would almost have doubted

+its being informed with life had not the blue eyes gleamed

+so wondrously.  But these eyes with their depth of

+expression were riveted upon the countenance of a man

+who, sitting opposite, appeared to be reading aloud to

+her.  Elizabeth could not see his face, for his back was

+turned toward her.  He seemed young, tall, and well

+made, and had a profusion of light-brown hair.

+

+"Is that lovely lady over there the Baroness Lessen?"

+asked Elizabeth, eagerly.

+

+The forester took the spy-glass.  "No," said he, "that

+is Fräulein von Walde, the sister of the proprietor of

+Lindhof.  You call her charming, and certainly her head

+is lovely, but she is a cripple; she walks upon crutches."

+

+At this moment Frau Ferber joined them.  She too

+looked through the glass, and thought the countenance

+of the young lady most beautiful.  She was particularly

+struck with the expression of gentle kindness which, as

+she said, "transfigured the features."

+

+"Yes," said the forester, "she is kind and benevolent.

+When I first came here the whole country around was

+full of her praises.  But matters are changed indeed, since

+the Baroness Lessen has had the control of affairs over

+there.  No more alms are distributed among the poor,

+unless they are earned by hypocrisy.  Woe to the wretch who

+asks any assistance there!  He will be turned away

+without a penny, if he ventures to hint that he would rather

+listen to the pastor in the village church on Sundays than

+go to the castle chapel, where the chaplain of the baroness

+every week calls down fire and brimstone, and every

+imaginable pain of hell, upon the heads of the ungodly."

+

+"Certainly such violent measures are poorly fitted to

+win souls to heaven and inspire people with Christian

+love," said Frau Ferber.

+

+"They destroy all good, and foster hypocrisy, I tell

+you!" cried the forester, angrily.  "Do they not set an

+example of it themselves?  They are always reading in the

+Bible of Christian humility, yet every day they grow

+haughtier and more supercilious.  Why, they would actually

+persuade us that their high-born bodies are moulded of a

+different clay from those of their poor brothers in Christ.

+It stands written, 'When thou doest thine alms, let not

+thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth;' but no

+hen ever makes more to-do over her newly-laid egg than

+these people over their charities.  There are perpetual

+collections, fairs, and lotteries for the poor, and the whole

+neighbourhood is black-mailed, but when it comes to

+taking the money from, where it is plentiest, their own

+purses,—oh, that's carrying the joke too far, as the

+saying goes.  I know people who have been for twenty

+years collecting subscriptions from others to found a

+poor-house.  These very people have a yearly income of six

+thousand thalers, but of course it never occurs to them to

+add one penny from their own store in aid of their

+charitable project.  They must purchase a reputation for

+benevolence and Christian self-sacrifice more cheaply than that.

+Zounds! how it enrages me to see people wearing

+their piety so pinned upon their sleeves!  Over there in

+the castle a bell is set ringing just so many times a day,

+that every one in the country around may say, when they

+hear it, 'They are having prayers at the castle.'  The

+closet, where God has commanded us to shut to the door

+and kneel in prayer, is altogether too small to suit their taste.

+And it is not only this trumpet-blowing that outrages me.

+I hold it to be actually wicked to make such a mere everyday

+form of the worship of the Holiest.  Do you suppose

+that the maid-servant, with a hot smoothing-iron in

+her hand, or the cook, who is just putting her roast to the

+fire, can rejoice in the sound of that bell?"

+

+"It is most certainly a dubious kind of piety," said

+Frau Ferber, smiling.

+

+"Or even the gracious ladies themselves, who are busy

+with the last novel or a piquante bit of court scandal—for

+an interest in all such things is quite consistent with the

+loftiest piety—do you suppose they are able to divert

+their thoughts in one instant from worldly affairs and turn

+them all heavenwards?  But these people run in and out

+of the kingdom of heaven without any thought or

+preparation, and congratulate themselves upon the honour that

+they are doing to the Creator."

+

+"And does Herr von Walde sympathize with these

+reforms of the baroness?" asked Frau Ferber.

+

+"From everything that I can gather from the villagers,

+I should judge not; but how does that mend the matter?

+He is probably at this moment prying into the pyramids

+that he may throw light upon antiquity; how should he

+know that his cousin here is zealously doing her best to

+blow out the advancing light of the present?  Besides,

+I dare say he has a crack in his own brain.  The prince

+of L——, who knows him well, wished some years ago to

+make a match between him and a young person of

+quality at court, but, as I hear, my gentleman refused the

+alliance because the fair one's pedigree was not sufficiently

+long."

+

+"Why, perhaps then he may install as mistress of

+Lindhof some fair daughter of a fellah, whose ancestors lie

+among the mummies at Memphis," said Elizabeth, laughing.

+

+"I don't believe he will marry at all," rejoined the

+forester.  "He is no longer young, is too fond of a

+wandering life, and has never shown any love for women's

+society.  I'll wager my little finger that that fellow there

+with the book in his hand thinks just as I do, and already

+in his inmost soul regards Lindhof and all the other

+charming estates in Saxony, and God only knows where else,

+as his own."

+

+"Has he any claims to them?" asked Frau Ferber.

+

+"Most certainly.  He is the son of the Baroness

+Lessen, whose family is the only one in the world related to

+the brother and sister von Walde.  The baroness was

+first married to a certain Herr von Hollfeld; that young

+man is the fruit of that marriage, and by the death of his

+father he came into possession of Odenberg, a large estate

+on the other side of L——.  The fair widow was fully

+conscious that her freedom must be made available to assist

+her up at least one step in the ladder of human happiness

+and perfection, and naturally this could only be attained

+by a marriage with high rank, wherefore Frau von

+Hollfeld one day became Baroness Lessen.  'Tis true the

+baron's name had been made somewhat notorious by

+several acts on his part which people of common, low-born

+ideas might call dishonourable; but what matter for that?

+Was he not a lord chamberlain, and did not the keys of

+his office unlock many a door for him where St. Peter's

+would have availed nothing, in spite of the power given

+to them?  However, the baron died after two years of

+marriage, leaving his widow a little daughter and an

+enormous amount of debts.  I have no doubt she is glad

+enough to queen it at Lindhof, for I hear that she has no

+part or parcel in her son's property."

+

+Here a maid from the lodge interrupted them with

+bucket and broom, giving unmistakable signs that she

+was about to begin the duties of her office in this

+apartment.  The spy-glass was hastily closed, and while the

+forester went into the garden to renew his labours there

+in clearing away the luxuriant green from the lower

+window-sills, Frau Ferber and Elizabeth busied themselves

+with dust-cloths and brushes in restoring the furniture of

+the room to something of its original appearance.

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER VI.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER VI.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+Whitsuntide was over.  The brazen bells had retired

+into private life, and looked black and silent through the

+loopholes in the bell-towers, that seemed like the coffins of

+the melodious life which had so lately streamed forth

+from them during the holidays.  But the bright flower-bells

+in the forest, hanging loosely on their stalks, could

+not forget the festival.  They had joined in bravely when

+the air had quivered with the brazen clang, and still rang

+gently with every breeze that swept through the

+underbrush.  What did they care that the wood-cutter, his

+holiday clothes and face all laid aside, tramped past them

+in his heavy boots, whistling some rude melody!  The

+forest heeded not, but kept up the same mysterious

+murmur amid its branches like a thousand-voiced whisper of

+prayer, and the little birds sang as before their matin and

+vesper hymns in God's praise.

+

+Up in old Castle Gnadeck, as in the forest, the festal

+spirit of the holidays still reigned, although Ferber had

+already entered upon the duties of his office, often making

+unavoidable visits to L——, while Frau Ferber and

+Elizabeth had, through Sabina, received several large

+orders from a ready-made linen establishment in L——,

+and were besides busy every day for some hours in the

+garden which even in this first year gave promise of

+abundant fruit and flowers.  Notwithstanding this constant

+industry, there was a holiday air pervading the whole place,

+arising from the consciousness in the minds of each one

+of the family that there had come a happy turn in their

+affairs; they were continually comparing their present

+with their former situation, and the new and unaccustomed

+life of the forest had an almost intoxicating effect

+upon their spirits.

+

+Her parents had given Elizabeth the gobelin room,

+because there was the finest prospect from its windows, and

+because the girl when she had first entered it had

+declared that she liked it best of all.  The gloomy door

+which led into the huge old wing Had been walled up

+and gave no sign that such a dreary waste lay beyond

+it.  The further end of the room was filled by one of the

+renovated canopied bedsteads, and by the window stood

+the antique writing-table, with its quaint inkstand and

+writing utensils of porcelain, and two vases filled with

+lovely flowers; while just outside the window, embowered

+in the topmost branches of a syringa bush, was the

+canary's cage; its occupant vying with the forest songsters

+in its shrill trilling with all the envy of some spoiled

+bravura singer.

+

+While they were arranging the room, and Frau Ferber

+was every moment bringing in some new piece of furniture

+to add to it a greater air of comfort and luxury, her

+husband went to the longest wall, and, stretching his

+arms across it, banished to the anteroom the lounge that

+had just been placed there.

+

+"Stay,—this space I appropriate," he said with a

+smile.  Then he brought a large bracket of dark wood and

+nailed it upon the wall, which was wainscoted neatly to

+the ceiling on this side.  "Here," he continued, as he

+placed upon the bracket a bust of Beethoven, "this

+mightiest mortal shall be enthroned alone."

+

+"But that looks so blank and bare," said Frau Ferber.

+

+"Only wait until to-morrow or the day after, and you

+will, I am sure, admit that my arrangements are not to

+be despised, and that Elizabeth will have both pleasure

+and profit from them."

+

+And on the next day, which had been Whitsun-eve,

+he went to town with the forester.  They returned

+toward evening, but did not enter through the gate in the

+garden wall.  The great gate was flung wide open, and

+four strong men bore in a large and shining object

+through the ruins.  Elizabeth was standing near the

+kitchen window, engaged, for the first time in her new

+home, in preparing the evening meal, when the men

+entered the garden with their burden.

+

+She cried out, for it was a piano—a large, square piano,

+which was immediately borne up stairs and placed in the

+gobelin room under Beethoven's bust.  Elizabeth laughed

+and wept at the same moment, as she rapturously

+embraced her father, who had expended his little capital,

+the proceeds of the sale of their furniture in B——, that

+he might provide her again with what had been the

+delight of her life.  And then she opened the instrument

+and a flood of rich melody filled the rooms where the

+silence of death had reigned for so many years.

+

+The forester had come with her father to enjoy

+Elizabeth's surprise and delight.  He now leaned silently

+against the wall, as the wondrous sounds flowed forth from

+beneath the girl's touch.  For the first time he heard the

+true speech of the glowing life that animated the

+delicate young frame.  How thoughtful and inspired was the

+air of the finely-shaped head which crowned her graceful

+form, so suggestive of earnest maidenhood!  Hitherto

+only jests and merry repartee had been exchanged

+between uncle and niece.  He often called her his butterfly,

+because of the airy grace of her motions and her quickness

+of mind, which never left her at a loss for a reply to

+his merry attacks; but his favourite name for her was

+"Gold Elsie," for he maintained that her hair was such

+perfect gold that he could see it shining and shimmering

+in the darkest parts of the forest as she approached, and

+that it heralded her coming to him as the jewel in the

+giant's shield had once announced his approach to Childe

+Roland.

+

+When Elizabeth had finished she spread her arms above

+the instrument as if to embrace it, and, leaning her head

+upon it, smiled the happiest smile; but her uncle

+approached her softly, gave her a silent kiss upon the

+forehead, and departed without a word.

+

+From this time he came up every evening to the old

+castle.  As soon as the last rays of the setting sun had

+faded from the tree-tops, Elizabeth sat down at the piano.

+The little family took their places in the large low

+window-seat, and lost themselves in the fairy world, which

+was opened to them by the great master whose image

+looked down from the wall upon the inspired young

+performer.  And then Ferber would think of how Elizabeth

+had portrayed the free life in the forest when the letter from

+her uncle had first arrived in B——.  'Tis true no elves

+or gnomes appeared, but the spirits which the mightiest

+of the masters of music had imprisoned in sound floated

+forth from their prison-house on a flood of melody,

+breathing into the solemn silence around a mysterious

+life—a life of whose joys and sorrows every sympathetic

+human soul is conscious, although to genius alone is

+granted power to embody and reveal them.

+

+One afternoon they were all sitting together at their

+coffee.  The forester had brought his pipe and newspaper,

+and begged of Elizabeth a cup of the refreshing beverage.

+He was just about to read aloud an interesting article in

+his paper, when the bell at the garden gate sounded.  To

+the astonishment of every one, when little Ernst ran to

+open it, a servant in livery entered and handed Elizabeth

+a note.  It was from the Baroness Lessen.  She began

+by saying much that was flattering with regard to the

+young girl's masterly performance upon the piano, to

+which she had listened for the two or three previous

+evenings while walking in the forest, and concluded by

+preferring a request that Elizabeth would consent, of course

+for a stipulated consideration, to come to Castle Lindhof

+every week and play duets with Fräulein von Walde.

+

+The style of the letter was extremely courteous; nevertheless

+the forester, after a second perusal of it, threw it

+angrily upon the table, and said, looking steadily at

+Elizabeth,—

+

+"I hope you will not consent?"

+

+"And why not, my dear Carl?" asked Ferber in her stead.

+

+"Because Elizabeth is, and always will be, far too good

+for those people down there!" cried the forester, with

+some irritation.  "But if you choose to see what you

+have carefully planted, choked up and ruined by poisonous

+weeds and mildew—why, do it."

+

+"It is certainly true," replied Ferber quietly, "that my

+child has known until now none other than a parent's care.

+We have endeavoured most conscientiously, as was our

+duty, to cherish every germ of good, to foster every plant

+of tender growth.  But we have had no idea of producing

+a mere hot house flower, and alas for us and for her, if

+all that we have unweariedly tended and nourished for

+eighteen years is so loosely planted in the soil that it can

+be torn thence by the first blast of life!  I have educated

+my daughter to live in the world; she must battle her

+way among its storms, as we all must.  If I should be

+taken from her to-day, she must herself guide the helm

+which I have hitherto held for her.  If the people in the

+castle below are not fit associates for her, matters will

+soon arrange themselves.  Either both parties will feel

+their unsuitability to each other and all intercourse will

+cease, or everything that offends Elizabeth's principles

+will pass by her like idle wind, leaving no impression.

+Why, you yourself never avoid a danger, but rather prove

+your strength by meeting it bravely."

+

+"But, zounds!  I am a man, and can take care of myself!"

+

+"And how do you know that Elizabeth hereafter will

+possess any support except what she finds in herself, or

+have any sharer in the responsibility of her actions?"

+

+The forester cast a keen glance at his niece, whose

+earnest eyes were riveted upon her father's face.  He

+who was to her the embodiment of wisdom and tenderness

+was echoing her own ideas, and the expression of

+her beautiful face showed what she felt.

+

+"Father," she said, "you shall see that you have not

+been mistaken—that I am not weak.  I never could

+endure the trite image of the ivy and the oak, and shall most

+certainly not illustrate it in my own person.  Be

+comforted, uncle dear, and let me go down to the castle,"

+she said, smiling archly at the forester, whose forehead

+showed a deep frown of decided irritation.  "If the people

+there are heartless, don't suppose for one moment that

+they will make a cannibal of me, and that I shall eat my

+own heart up.  If they try to crush me with supercilious

+arrogance, my own inner standard of action shall be so

+high that I can look down in pity upon the harmless

+arrows of their scorn; and if they are hypocrites, I shall

+turn with all the more delight to gaze into the sunny face

+of truth, and be more deeply convinced of the ugliness of

+their black masks."

+

+"Fairly spoken, oh incomparable Elsie, and incontestably

+true,—if only these same people would kindly hand

+you their masks to examine.  But you will awake some

+day to find that what you have believed to be gold is only

+the merest tinsel."

+

+"No indeed, dear uncle; I will not foolishly allow

+myself to be imposed upon.  Remember, we have had many

+trials since my childhood; they have not been borne

+without teaching me some good lessons.  Certainly we must

+all trust somewhat in our own strength, and I shall not

+despair for a long time, even if upon my first experience

+of the world I plunge into an abyss of Egyptian darkness,

+full of frightful monsters.  But look, uncle dear, to what

+your zeal for my soul's welfare has brought you,—your

+coffee looks as though it could be skated upon, and your

+meerschaum is at its last gasp."

+

+The forester laughed, although the laugh was not from

+his heart.  And while Elizabeth refilled his cup for him

+and handed him a lighted match, he said to her: "You

+must not suppose that my ammunition is exhausted

+because I say to you, 'Well, well, go and try it.'  I look

+forward to the satisfaction of seeing the courageous chicken

+come flying back again some day, only too thankful to

+creep under the sheltering wing of home."

+

+"Aha!" laughed Frau Ferber, "you have no idea of

+the stern determination in that little head.  But let us

+decide.  I advise Elizabeth to pay her respects to the

+ladies to-morrow."

+

+The next afternoon at about five o'clock Elizabeth

+descended the mountain.  A broad, well-kept path led through

+the forest, which melted imperceptibly into the park.  No

+gateway separated its carefully-tended grounds, with their

+clumps of trees and feathery grass, from the wild woods

+beyond.

+

+Elizabeth had put on a fresh light muslin dress, and a

+small, white, round straw hat.  Her father walked with

+her as far as the first meadow, and then she went bravely

+on alone.  No human being crossed her path during her

+long walk; it even seemed as though the trees rustled

+more softly here in the leafy avenues and arcades than

+in the forest beyond, and as if the birds modulated their

+notes more gently.  She started at the noise of the

+crunching gravel beneath her tread as she approached the

+castle, and wondered to find how timid the intense quiet

+had made her.

+

+At last she reached the principal entrance, and caught

+sight of a human face.  It was a servant, who was busy

+in an imposing vestibule, but who moved as noiselessly

+as possible.  Upon her request that he would announce

+her to the baroness, he slipped up the broad staircase

+fronting the hall door, at the foot of which stood two

+lofty statues, their white limbs half concealed by the

+orange trees placed at their bases.  He soon returned,

+and assuring her that she was expected, led the way

+quickly up the stairs, scarcely touching the steps with

+the tips of his toes.

+

+Elizabeth followed him with a beating heart.  It was

+not the grandeur around her that oppressed her, it was

+the sensation of standing all alone in this new untried

+sphere.  The servant conducted her through a long

+corridor, past the open doors of several apartments, which,

+furnished with extraordinary splendour, were heaped

+with such a profusion of elegant trifles that a simple

+child, unused to such luxury, would have supposed

+herself in a fancy-shop.

+

+Her guide at last carefully opened a folding-door, and

+the young girl entered.

+

+Near the windows, opposite Elizabeth, upon a couch lay

+a lady in apparently great suffering.  Her head was resting

+upon a white pillow, and warm coverings were spread over

+her entire figure, which, in spite of its wrappings, betrayed

+decided embonpoint.  In her hand was a vinaigrette.

+

+She raised her head slightly, so that Elizabeth could

+see her face distinctly; it was round and pale, and at

+first sight by no means unprepossessing.  Upon a closer

+view, the large blue eyes, that glittered beneath light

+eyelashes and elevated eyebrows as light, looked cold as

+ice, an expression in nowise softened by the supercilious

+lines about her mouth and nostrils, and by a broad,

+rather projecting chin.

+

+"Oh, Fräulein, it is very kind of you to come!" cried

+the baroness in a weak voice, which nevertheless sounded

+harsh and cold, as she pointed to a lounge near her, and

+motioned to Elizabeth, who courtesied politely, to sit

+down.  "I have begged my cousin," she continued, "to

+arrange matters with you in my room, as I am really

+too ill to take you to hers."

+

+This reception was certainly courteous, although there

+was a considerable amount of condescension in the lady's

+tone and manner.

+

+Elizabeth sat down, and was just about to reply to the

+question how she liked Thuringia, when the door was

+suddenly flung open, and a little girl of about eight years

+of age ran in, holding in her arms a pretty little dog,

+struggling and whining piteously.

+

+"Ali is so naughty, mamma, he will not stay with

+me!" cried the child, breathlessly, as she threw the dog

+upon the carpet.

+

+"You have probably been teasing the little thing

+again, my child," said her mother.  "But I cannot have

+you here, Bella; you make so much noise, and I have a

+headache.  Go away to your room."

+

+"Oh, it's so stupid there!  Miss Mertens has forbidden

+me to play with Ali, and gives me those tiresome old

+fables to learn; I cannot bear them."

+

+"Well, then, stay here; but be perfectly quiet."

+

+The child passed close to Elizabeth with a stare and

+an examination of her dress from top to toe, and mounted

+upon an embroidered footstool before the mirror in order

+the easier to reach a vase of fresh flowers.  In a moment

+the tastefully arranged bouquet was thrown into the

+wildest disorder by the little fingers, which busied

+themselves with sticking single flowers into the delicately

+embroidered eyelet-holes of the muslin curtain.  During this

+operation large drops of the water, in which the flowers

+had been placed, dropped from the stems upon Elizabeth's

+dress, and she was obliged to move her chair, as there

+seemed no likelihood that any stop would be put to the

+proceeding, either by the little Vandal herself or by her

+mother's prohibition.

+

+Elizabeth had only had time to move, and to reply to the

+reiterated question of the baroness, that she already felt

+very happy and, quite at home in Thuringia, when the

+lady hastily arose from her reclining posture, and, with

+an amiable smile upon her lips, nodded towards a large

+portière, which was drawn noiselessly aside and on the

+threshold of the door appeared the two young people

+whom Elizabeth had lately seen through the spy-glass; but

+how strangely ill-assorted they now seemed to be, as she

+saw them thus standing together.  Herr von Hollfeld, a

+slender figure of great height, was obliged to bend very much

+on one side to afford any support to the little hand that

+rested upon his arm.  The sylph-like little figure, which

+had lain upon the couch in the park, was no taller than a

+child's.  The exquisitely lovely head was sunk between the

+shoulders, and the crutch in her left hand showed how

+helpless was her crippled condition.

+

+"Forgive me, dearest Helene," cried the baroness, as

+the pair entered, "for troubling you to come to me; but,

+as you see, I am again the poor wretched creature upon

+whom you are so ready to bestow your angelic pity and

+kindness.  Fräulein Ferber," here she motioned towards

+Elizabeth, as if presenting her, and the young girl rose,

+blushing, "has had the kindness to come, in compliance

+with my note of yesterday."

+

+"And, indeed, I am very grateful to you fordoing so!"

+said the little lady, turning towards Elizabeth with a smile

+of great sweetness, and holding out her hand.  Her glance

+measured the blushing girl before her with an expression

+of surprise, and then rested upon the heavy golden braids

+that appeared below the hat.  "Oh, yes," she said, "I

+have already seen your lovely golden hair; yesterday as

+I was walking in the forest you were leaning over a wall

+up there at the old castle."

+

+Elizabeth blushed yet more deeply.

+

+"But because you were there," continued the little

+lady, "I lost the pleasure for which I had clambered up

+the height, the pleasure of hearing you play, which I had

+enjoyed on the previous evening.  So young and child-like,

+and yet with such a thorough appreciation of classic

+music! it seems impossible!  You will make me very

+happy if you will play often with me."

+

+Something like a shade of displeasure flitted across the

+features of the baroness, and a close observer might

+have noticed a scornful contraction of her lips, but it was

+lost upon Elizabeth, whose attention was entirely absorbed

+by interest in the unfortunate little lady whose delicate

+silvery voice seemed to come fresh from the depths of her

+heart.

+

+In the mean time, Herr von Hollfeld pushed a chair for

+Fräulein von Walde close to the lounge, and left the room

+without uttering a word.  But as he went out by the

+door directly opposite to Elizabeth, she could not help

+noticing that he directed a last long look at her before

+slowly closing it after him.  It disturbed her, for his

+expression was of so strange a kind that she hurriedly

+glanced over her dress to see if anything there could have

+struck him as odd or unsuitable.

+

+For the last few moments Bella had been sitting upon

+the carpet, playing with the dog.  It would have been a

+charming picture, if the whinings and uneasy movements

+of the little animal had not betrayed that the child was

+teasing it.  At each loud cry from the dog, Fräulein von

+Walde started nervously, and the baroness said,

+mechanically, "Don't tease him so, Bella!"  At last, however,

+when the animal uttered a most piteous howl, the mother

+raised her forefinger threateningly, and said, "I must

+call Miss Mertens."

+

+"Oh," replied the child contemptuously, "I don't care

+for her!  She doesn't dare to punish me, for you told her

+she mustn't."

+

+At this moment, the portière was gently drawn aside,

+and a pale, faded gentlewoman appeared.  She courtesied

+to the ladies, and said, timidly: "The chaplain is waiting

+for Bella."

+

+"But I won't have a lesson to-day!" the little girl

+cried, taking a ball of worsted from the table and

+throwing it at the speaker.

+

+"Yes, my child, you must," said the baroness.  "Go

+with Miss Mertens, and be a good little girl, Bella."

+

+Bella, as though the matter affected her no more than

+it did Ali, who had retreated behind the sofa, threw

+herself into an arm-chair and drew her feet up under her.

+The governess was about to approach her, but at an angry

+look from the baroness she retired to the door again.

+

+This disgraceful scene would probably have lasted much

+longer if the baroness had not brought up a *corps de

+reserve* to her assistance in the shape of a box of bonbons.

+The child, after she had crammed her mouth and pockets

+full, left her seat, and, pushing aside the hand which her

+governess held out to her, ran out of the room.

+

+Elizabeth sat petrified with astonishment.  The delicate

+features of Fräulein von Walde also showed evident

+disapproval; but she said nothing.

+

+The baroness sank back among her pillows.  "These

+governesses will be my death," she sighed.  "If Miss

+Mertens could only learn how to treat, judiciously, a child

+of Bella's sensitive, nervous temperament!  She never

+takes into account social position, temperament, and

+physical constitution.  She would model all after the same

+pattern—the daughter of a grocer or a peer; a finely-strung,

+sensitive nature, or a robust, rude, day-labourer

+physique—'tis all the same thing to her.  Miss Mertens is a

+disagreeable, pedantic schoolmistress; her English, too, is

+detestable.  Heaven only knows in what mean little

+English county she learned her native tongue!"

+

+"But really, dear Amalie," said Fräulein von Walde,

+"I do not find her English impure," and her voice sounded

+exquisitely kind and soothing.

+

+"There you come with your never-failing angelic

+amiability; but, although I do not understand English, I can

+always hear, in one instant, how much more high-bred

+your accent is, my dear, when you are talking with her."

+

+Elizabeth inwardly doubted the value of this estimate,

+and Fräulein von Walde blushed with a deprecating gesture.

+

+But the baroness continued: "And Bella hears it, too;

+she will not open her lips when her governess speaks

+English to her, and I cannot blame her in the least; it

+provokes me excessively when this person blames the

+child for obstinacy."

+

+Under the influence of her irritation the voice of the

+baroness, which had at first been very weak and suffering,

+had grown perceptibly stronger.  She suddenly seemed to

+become aware of this herself, and closed her eyes with an

+expression of great weariness.  "Oh heavens!" she sighed,

+"my unfortunate nerves are too much for me.  I grow

+excited instead of being kept quiet; these vexations are

+poison both to my mind and body."

+

+"I would advise you, Amalie, when you are as nervous

+and weak as you are to-day, to leave Bella without a fear

+to Miss Mertens' care.  I am convinced that nothing can

+be better for her.  While I fully understand your touching

+anxiety on the child's account, I can confidently assure

+you that Miss Mertens is far too gentle and cultivated a

+person to do anything that would not conduce to her

+welfare.  You look quite worn out," she continued,

+sympathizingly.  "We had better leave you alone; Fräulein

+Ferber will certainly have the kindness to accompany me

+to my room."

+

+So saying she arose, and leaning over the baroness

+imprinted a gentle kiss upon her cheek.  Then she laid her

+hand upon the arm of Elizabeth, whom the baroness

+dismissed with a gracious nod, and left the apartment.

+

+As they slowly walked through the various corridors,

+she told Elizabeth that it would be a special delight to

+her brother, who was so far from her, if she should resume

+her music.  He used to sit alone with her listening to her

+playing for hours, until a nervous malady that had

+attacked her had forced her to give up her beloved music

+for a long time.  Now she felt much stronger, and her

+physician had also given his consent; she would be very

+diligent, that she might surprise her brother upon his

+return home.  Elizabeth then took leave.

+

+She hastened with winged speed through the park,

+and along the path which ascended the mountain.  In

+the forest glade just before the open garden gate her

+parents were awaiting her return, and little Ernst ran

+lovingly to meet her.  What an air of home breathed all

+around her here!  The greeting that she received showed

+how she had been missed; the canary was singing merrily

+in his green embowered cage, the garden laughed in beauty,

+and in the background, under the group of lindens above

+the cool spring, the snowy table was spread for supper.

+

+The Italian castle with all its splendour, its aristocratic

+air, and its oppressive silence, only broken by the clamour

+of a spoiled child, faded behind her like a dream of the

+night; and when she had imparted her impressions of all

+that she had seen and heard to her parents, she concluded

+with the words: "You have taught me, father dear, never

+to form any settled judgment of others upon a slight

+acquaintance with them, for such judgment runs a fair

+chance of being unjust, but what can I do with my unruly

+fancy?  Whenever I think of the two ladies, I see in

+imagination a lovely young weeping willow, whose elastic

+graceful branches are the constant sport of a furious tempest."

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER VII.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER VII.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+From this time Elizabeth went regularly to Lindhof

+twice a week.  The day following her first visit Baroness

+Lessen had arranged the hours for the lessons in a very

+courteous note, and had insisted upon a most generous

+compensation for Elizabeth's time.  These lessons soon

+proved a source of much enjoyment.  Helene von Walde,

+owing to the absence of all practice for many years, was

+very deficient in technical knowledge and capacity, and

+could not be compared at all with Elizabeth; but she

+played with much feeling, her taste was refined and

+cultivated, and she was entirely free from the wretched

+habit, common to most dilettanti, of depreciating

+whatever lay beyond her reach.  Baroness Lessen was never

+present during the music lessons, and therefore the

+moments of rest gradually became especially delightful to

+Elizabeth.  At such times a servant usually brought in

+some light refreshments.  Helene leaned back in her

+armchair, and Elizabeth seated herself upon a cushion at her

+feet, and listened enchanted to the flute-like silvery voice

+of the unfortunate lady as she recounted many an

+experience of the past.  The image of the absent brother here

+played a principal part.  She was never weary of telling

+of his care and thoughtfulness for her, of how, although

+he was many years her senior, he was continually

+studying how to gratify and humour her childish whims and

+peculiarities.  She related how he had purchased Lindhof

+only because, upon a visit which she had formerly made

+in Thuringia, she had experienced great benefits from the

+pure Thuringian air; everything showed how dearly he

+loved her.

+

+One afternoon, when they had been practising unusually

+long, a servant entering announced a visitor.

+

+"Stay and drink tea with me this afternoon," said

+Fräulein von Walde to Elizabeth.  "My physician is here

+from L——, and several ladies from the neighbourhood

+have just arrived; I will send some one up to the castle

+that your mother may not be anxious about you.  My

+tête-à-tête with the doctor will not last long, and I shall

+soon be with you again."

+

+And so saying she left the room.  Scarcely ten minutes

+had elapsed before the door opened and Fräulein von

+Walde entered, leaning upon the arm of a gentleman whom

+she presented to Elizabeth as Doctor Fels, from L——.

+He was tall, with an intellectual countenance, and as soon

+as he heard Elizabeth's name he entered into a lively

+conversation with her, comically assuring her that his own

+surprise and horror, as well as that of the entire respectable

+population of L——, had really known no bounds when

+it was reported that old Castle Gnadeck had received

+within its crumbling walls inhabitants of flesh and blood.

+

+Suddenly there was a rustling in the antechamber, and

+upon the threshold of the door appeared two figures of

+rather singular exterior.  Their great resemblance of

+feature plainly revealed their relationship as mother and

+daughter.  Both wore dark dresses, which, contrary to

+the prevailing mode, fell limp and close around them, large

+scarfs of black woollen stuff, and brown, round straw

+hats, tied, in the case of the mother, with black ribbon,

+while the daughter had a lilac bow beneath her chin.

+

+Helene von Walde received the ladies courteously,

+presenting them as Frau and Fräulein Lehr, and Elizabeth

+afterwards learned that, residing in L——, they spent

+their summers in lodgings in the village of Lindhof.

+

+Immediately after their entrance the Baroness Lessen

+appeared, leaning upon her son's arm, and accompanied

+by a gentleman who was addressed by those present as

+Herr Möhring, the chaplain.

+

+The baroness was dressed in dark silk, but with the

+greatest elegance, and made a most imposing appearance.

+She paused for an instant upon the threshold of the door,

+and seemed to be disagreeably surprised at Elizabeth's

+presence.  She measured her with a haughty look of

+inquiry, and replied to her courtesy by a scarcely perceptible

+inclination of the head.

+

+Helene noticed the look, and approaching her said in a

+soothing whisper, "I kept my little favourite with me

+to-day—I had already detained her so long."

+

+This excuse did not escape Elizabeth's ear.  It offended

+her, and she would willingly have flown away through

+the window near which she was standing, had not pride

+induced her to stay and brave the arrogance of the

+baroness.  The great lady seemed entirely pacified by the

+explanation of what had occurred without her consent.

+She put her arm around Helene, stroked her curls

+tenderly, and said a hundred caressing things to her.  Then

+she requested those present to follow her to the adjoining

+room, where tea was prepared.  She did the honours of

+the tea-table, and discovered a talent, by no means to be

+despised, for leading and carrying on the conversation.

+With admirable tact, she contrived always to make

+Helene the centre of attention without in the least

+wounding the self-love of the others.

+

+Elizabeth sat silent between the doctor and Fräulein

+Lehr.  The conversation possessed little interest for her,

+inasmuch as it related to people and circumstances

+entirely strange to her.  Frau von Lehr had much to say,

+and seemed perfectly instructed in every matter, private

+or public, that had taken place during the last few weeks

+among the people living around Lindhof.  She spoke

+in a peculiarly mournful, suppressed tone of voice, and

+at the conclusion of the rehearsal of each exciting piece

+of news cast down her eyes and inclined her head with

+great apparent humility and resignation, as though she

+were a lamb suffering for the sins of the world.  Now

+and then she drew forth from a huge reticule which she

+carried a small bottle of rose-water, with which she

+moistened her eyes, as they seemed weak with perpetual

+casting towards heaven.

+

+What a contrast between her and Helene's madonna

+face, as it leaned against the dark plush of the lounge,

+reminding Elizabeth more than ever of the water-lily

+lying dreamily with its snow-white leaves upon the dark

+surface of the lake!  To-day there was a strange glow

+upon the delicate features.  It was not that all traces of

+suffering had vanished, but there was a peaceful light of

+content in her eyes, and a happy smile wreathed the pale

+lips as often as she took up from her lap the bouquet of

+rosebuds which Herr von Hollfeld had presented to her

+when he entered.  He sat beside her, and sometimes

+joined in the conversation.  As soon as he opened his

+lips the ladies were silent, listening with the greatest

+attention, although his talk was anything but fluent, and,

+as Elizabeth soon discovered, betrayed not the slightest

+originality of mind.

+

+He was a very handsome man, of about four and

+twenty.  There was great repose in the finely-cut

+features, which at first seemed to indicate manliness and

+strength of character; but any such impression which

+their regularity might have produced was effaced by a

+searching glance into his eyes.  Those eyes, although

+they were large and faultless in shape, had no depth

+whatever, and never lighted up with that meteoric flash

+which so often reveals the man of intellect, even when he

+does not speak.  Its want can be atoned for by that mild

+glow which speaks of deep sensibility, and which,

+although it does not instantly impress us, gradually

+attracts and enchains us.  But there was nothing of this

+to be discovered in Herr von Hollfeld's fine blue orbs.

+

+This sentence, however, would have been echoed by

+but few, for it was the present fashion, especially at the

+court of L——, to regard Herr von Hollfeld as a prodigy,

+whose silence gave warrant of unfathomable depths of

+intellect and sensibility,—in which opinion the ladies in

+and around Lindhof most cordially joined, as was

+illustrated by the conduct of Frau von Lehr's very stout

+daughter, who leaned forward, directly across the

+modestly shrinking Elizabeth, and listened, as if to the

+enunciation of a new gospel, whenever Herr von Hollfeld

+opened his lips.  And she, too, appeared quite willing to

+allow her light to shine.

+

+"Were you not charmed with the lovely sermons with

+which Herr Möhring edified us during the holidays?"

+she asked, turning to Elizabeth.

+

+"I regret not having heard them," she answered.

+

+"Then you did not attend divine service?"

+

+"Oh, yes!  I went with my parents to the village church

+at Lindhof."

+

+"Indeed!" said the Baroness Lessen, turning for the

+first time toward Elizabeth, and smiling sarcastically.

+"And were you greatly edified at the village church at

+Lindhof?"

+

+"Most truly was I, gracious lady," Elizabeth quietly

+replied, looking calmly into the contemptuous eyes that

+were turned upon her.  "I was deeply affected by the

+simple, earnest words of the preacher.  His discourse was

+not delivered in the church, but under the trees outside.

+When the service was about to begin it was evident that

+the little church could not contain the crowd of worshippers,

+and an altar was constructed under God's free sky.

+Such altars might often be erected."

+

+"Unfortunately, they often are," said Herr Möhring,

+who until then had spoken little, contenting himself with

+confirming all Frau von Lehr's remarks by an amiable

+smile or an assenting nod.  Now, however, his broad,

+shiny face grew purple, and, turning to the baroness, he

+continued, contemptuously: "Yes, most gracious lady, it

+is only too true; the old idols are being replaced in the

+sacred groves, and we shall have druids sacrificing to

+them beneath the oaken shades."

+

+"Really, that never occurred to me.  With the aid of

+my wildest imagination I should never have dreamed at

+the time that I was assisting at a heathen sacrifice,"

+rejoined Elizabeth.  She smiled, but continued with serious

+warmth: "It seemed to me, on that glorious spring

+morning, as the tones of the organ streamed forth from the

+open doors and windows of the church, and that reverend

+old man spoke in such devout tones, as it did when I

+entered the temple of God for the first time in my life."

+

+"You seem to have an excellent memory, Fräulein,"

+Frau von Lehr here remarked: "How old were you at

+that time, if I may ask?"

+

+"Eleven years old."

+

+"Eleven years old!  Oh, heavens! how can such a

+thing be possible?" cried the lady in holy horror.  "How

+possible with Christian parents!  Why, my children were

+familiar with the house of God from their earliest years,

+as you can testify, my dear doctor."

+

+"Yes indeed, madame," he replied with great gravity.

+"I remember that you ascribed the attack of croup, by

+which you lost your little son at two years of age, to a

+couple of hours in the cold church."

+

+Elizabeth looked up quite terrified at her neighbour.

+The doctor had joined in the conversation hitherto only

+by throwing in a sarcastic word here and there very drily,

+which amused Elizabeth greatly, inasmuch as he was

+always met by a reproving glance from the baroness.

+When the young girl began to speak she had not noticed

+him any more than had the others, whose entire attention

+had been occupied with the wretched heathen child, so

+that no one had observed how he was bursting with

+inward laughter at the daring replies of the young

+stranger, and their effect upon those present.  His

+answer appeared thoughtless and cruel to Elizabeth; but

+he must have known his companions well, for Frau von

+Lehr was not at all offended, but replied with great

+unction: "Yes, the Lord took the pious little angel to

+himself; he was too good for this world;" then, turning to

+Elizabeth, she said: "And so you were shut out from the

+Lord's kingdom for the first eleven years of your life?"

+

+"Only from His temple, gracious lady.  As a little

+child I was instructed in the history of Christianity, and

+with my first thoughts were blended ideas of God's

+wisdom and love.  I cannot remember the time when I did

+not hear of them from my father; but it is a firm

+principle of his never to allow very young children to go to

+church; he says they are entirely incapable of appreciating

+the importance and meaning of what they see and

+hear there; the sermon, which must be entirely beyond

+their comprehension, wearies them, and they conceive a

+dislike to the place.  My little brother Ernst is seven

+years old, and has never yet been to church."

+

+"Oh, happy father, who has the courage to frame and

+execute such plans for his children's culture!" exclaimed

+Doctor Fels.

+

+"Well, what hinders you from letting your children

+grow up without care, like mushrooms?" asked the

+baroness with malice.

+

+"That I can readily tell you in a very few words, most

+gracious lady.  I have six children, and cannot afford to

+have masters for them at home.  My profession prevents

+me from teaching them myself, and, therefore, I am

+obliged to send them to the public school and subject

+them to its laws, which require them to attend church

+regularly.  Just as little can I carry out my views with

+regard to another subject,—the putting of the Bible into

+the hands of young children.  The Sacred Book, which

+contains the holy principles that should regulate all our

+thoughts and actions, and, as such, should be regarded

+with veneration by the young,—does not belong in their

+hands at a time when childhood, with rare exceptions,

+seeks amusement instead of instruction, and is always

+curious to investigate whatever is forbidden and mysterious.

+And, therefore, I know,—and any observant teacher

+will admit,—that children who devote themselves

+constantly to the perusal of the Bible, for which they are

+commended by thoughtless parents, do not always search

+for the text of the last sermon,—but read much else

+beside,—often meeting with words and expressions which a

+careful mother would guard them from hearing at home,

+but whose significance is often made only too clear by

+their intercourse with other children not so carefully

+educated, left to the charge of ignorant and vulgar servants.

+And suppose, even, that they seek explanation of certain

+words and phrases from their mothers only; an intelligent

+mother will always know, 'tis true, how to reply to

+their queries, but she must, most certainly, forbid them

+the use of many expressions which they find in the Bible,—let

+us recall to mind the Song of Solomon,—and so the

+first seeds of doubt and unbelief are sown in the childish

+mind, which is wanting in the strength that only moral

+culture and riper understanding can give."

+

+Here the Baroness Lessen arose with a gesture of

+impatience.  Upon her full cheeks, usually so pale,

+two round, crimson spots had appeared, a sign to all

+who knew her, of great irritation.  Fräulein von Walde,

+who had been a passive listener to the conversation,

+also arose, took her cousin's arm, and, leading her to

+the window, asked whether she would not like to hear

+a little music from Elizabeth and herself.

+

+This propitiatory proposal was received with a gracious

+inclination of the head,—the more especially as the baroness

+did not feel herself quite equal to the doctor in a war of

+words; and, as everyone must have seen her indignation,

+she was quite willing to have it supposed that the

+beautiful, soothing music was the cause of her refraining from

+annihilating the impious defamer of her holy zeal, for she

+was perpetually presenting Bibles to poor children.

+

+She took her seat in a windowed recess, and looked out

+upon the landscape, upon which the first shadows of

+approaching evening were falling.  Her look was cold and

+cruel,—an expression often seen in a certain kind of

+light-blue eye, shaded by white eyelashes.  The corners of her

+mouth were drawn down, a sign of great displeasure,

+which did not vanish even when Schubert's Erlking,

+arranged for four hands, was performed in a masterly

+manner by Helene and Elizabeth.  The waves of melody

+broke against that breast unfelt, as the waves of the ocean

+upon a rocky shore.

+

+When the last chord died away, the ladies arose from the

+instrument, and the doctor, who had stood immovably,

+listening, hastened towards them.  His eyes sparkled as

+he thanked them for a treat which, as he assured them,

+was richer than any he had enjoyed for years.  Here

+Fräulein von Lehr's face grew scarlet, and her mother

+cast a malicious glance at the unlucky enthusiast.  Had

+not her daughter the preceding winter played several

+times in public in L——, for the benefit of some

+charitable association, and had he not attended every

+concert?  However, the doctor did not appear to notice the

+storms that he was calling down upon his head.  He

+discussed Schubert's compositions in a manner that manifested

+refined perception and a thorough knowledge of his subject.

+

+Suddenly there was a harsh clash of chords upon the

+piano; it seemed as though fingers of bone were

+belabouring the keys.  They looked round with a start.  The

+chaplain was seated at the instrument, with head thrown

+back and inflated nostrils.  He raised his hands for a

+second attack, and began a beautiful choral, which his

+horrible playing converted into torture for sensitive ears.

+Still it might have been endured, when, to Elizabeth's

+horror, he began to sing in a nasal, snuffling tone;—that

+was too much.  The doctor seized his hat, and bowed to

+Helene and the baroness, the latter only vouchsafing him

+a slight wave of the hand in token of dismissal, without

+turning her face from the window.

+

+An incomparable expression of humour hovered upon

+the doctor's features.  He pressed Elizabeth's hand

+cordially as he departed, and took leave of the rest with a

+courteous bow.

+

+As soon as the door closed behind him, the baroness

+arose with excitement and approached Helene, who was

+sitting in a corner of the sofa.

+

+"It is intolerable!" she cried, and her sharp voice

+sounded muffled, as if suppressed anger were choking

+her, while her searching gaze rested full upon the little

+lady, who looked up to her almost timidly.  "How can

+you, Helene, here in your own house, hear our rank, our

+dignity as women,—yes, even our holy of holies, which

+we are bound so faithfully to defend,—assailed so grossly

+without one word of reply?"

+

+"But, dear Amalie, I cannot see."

+

+"You will not see, child, in your inexhaustible patience

+and long-suffering, that this doctor insults me whenever

+he can.  Well, I must submit to that, for this is not my

+house, and besides, as a Christian, I would rather

+endure wrong than resort to retaliation.  But this

+submission must cease when the sacred claims of the Lord

+are assailed.  Here we should strive and struggle, and

+not grow weary.  Is it not actually blasphemous for this

+man to seize his hat, and, *sans façon*, take his departure

+from the room while our hearts are being stirred and

+elevated by the lofty thoughts which the truest form of

+music, the choral, can alone express?"

+

+She had spoken louder and louder, until she did not

+perceive that her voice was entirely destroying the effect

+of a touching phrase, just delivered by the unwearied

+chaplain, whose efforts had not been intermitted for an

+instant.

+

+"Ah, you must not blame the doctor for that," said

+Fräulein von Walde.  "His time is precious; most likely

+he has a patient to see in L——; he was about to leave

+just before we began to play."

+

+"While that heathenish Erlking was going on, the

+worthy man entirely forgot his patients," the baroness

+interrupted contemptuously.  "Well, I must submit.

+Unfortunately, in our degenerate days, the scoffers of our

+faith have gained the upper hand."

+

+"But, for heaven's sake, Amalie, what do you want

+me to do?  You know only too well that Fels is

+indispensable to me.  He is the only physician who knows

+how to relieve me when I am in great suffering," cried

+Helene, and her eyes filled with tears, while her cheeks

+were suffused with a blush of irritation.

+

+"I thought, Fräulein Helene,"—began Frau von Lehr,

+who had hitherto sat in her corner silently, and on the

+watch, like a spider in its web,—"I thought that the

+welfare of our souls should be our first consideration; care

+for our poor bodies should, in my estimation, rank second

+in our view.  There are many other skilful physicians

+in L——, with as great a reputation for learning as

+Dr. Fels enjoys.  Believe me, my dear, it often gives great

+pain to our Christian friends in L—— to know that a

+scoffer, an infidel, is admitted to your confidence as your

+friend and adviser."

+

+"Even if I consented to sacrifice myself so far," replied

+Helene, "as to employ another physician, I dare not take

+such a step without first obtaining my brother's consent;

+and I know that I should meet with determined opposition

+there, for Rudolph is warmly attached to the doctor,

+and puts entire confidence in him."

+

+"Yes, more's the pity!" cried the baroness.  "I have

+never been able to comprehend that weakness in

+Rudolph's character.  Doctor Fels imposes upon him utterly

+with his seeming frankness, which might better be called

+insolence.  Well, I wash my hands of the affair, only for

+the future I must decline any visits from the doctor, and

+entreat you, my dear Helene, to excuse me when he is

+with you."

+

+Fräulein von Walde made no reply.  She arose and

+looked sadly around the room for an instant, as if

+missing something.  It seemed to Elizabeth that her eyes

+sought Herr von Hollfeld, who had left the room

+unperceived a short time before.

+

+The baroness took up her lace shawl, and Frau von

+Lehr and her daughter prepared for departure.  Both paid

+several compliments to the chaplain, who had finished his

+performance, and was standing at the piano rubbing his

+hands with embarrassment; and then all took leave of

+Helene, who replied to their good-nights in a tone of great

+exhaustion.

+

+As Elizabeth descended the stairs she saw Herr von

+Hollfeld standing in a retired, dimly-lighted corridor.

+During his mother's outbreak of anger he had sat quietly

+turning over the leaves of a book, never joining in the

+conversation by word or look.  His conduct had

+disgusted Elizabeth, who had hoped that he would have

+stood by Helene and silenced his mother by a few serious

+words.  She was still more displeased when she noticed

+that he was steadily regarding herself while he was

+apparently occupied with his book.  He might easily have

+seen her displeasure in her face, but he continued to stare

+most insultingly.  She felt herself at last blush deeply

+beneath his gaze, and she was the more provoked at

+feeling this, as the same thing had occurred against her will

+several times before.  It was remarkable that she never

+went home from Castle Lindhof without chancing to meet

+Herr von Hollfeld either in the hall, upon the stairs, or

+stepping suddenly from behind a tree in the park.  Why

+these meetings at last became painfully embarrassing to

+her she could not have explained to herself.  She thought

+no more about it, and usually forgot him entirely before

+she reached her home.

+

+He was standing now in the dark passage.  A black

+slouched hat was pulled down over his face, and his

+summer coat had been exchanged for a light cloak.  He

+seemed to be waiting for some one, and as soon as

+Elizabeth had reached the last stair approached her hastily,

+as though about to address her.

+

+At the same moment Frau von Lehr and her daughter

+appeared on the landing above.

+

+"Aha, Herr von Hollfeld," cried the elder lady, "are

+you going to walk?"

+

+The young man's features, which had seemed to Elizabeth

+strikingly animated, instantly assumed a quiet

+expression of entire indifference.

+

+"I have just come in from the garden," he said negligently,

+"where I have been refreshing myself in the soft

+night air.  Attend Fräulein Ferber home," he said

+authoritatively to a servant who issued from the servants' room

+with a lantern, and then with an obeisance to the ladies,

+he retired.

+

+"How glad I am," said Elizabeth, as an hour later she

+was sitting at her mother's bedside relating the events of

+the afternoon, "that to-morrow will be Sunday.  In our

+dear little simple village church I shall forget all the

+disagreeable impressions which the last few hours have left

+upon my mind.  I never could have believed that I could

+have listened to a choral without being moved to

+aspiration and devotion.  But to-day I was really angry, when,

+amid the clatter of the teacups, and after an hour passed

+in talk certainly not inspired by love of our neighbour, I

+suddenly heard those tones which have always been

+sacred to hours of meditation and serious thought.

+Behind all this religious zeal there lies hidden boundless

+arrogance,—that I saw clearly to-day; but if others feel

+as I do, these people will scarcely make many proselytes.

+Acknowledge, mother dear, that I am not naturally

+antagonistic, and yet to-day I felt for the first time in my

+life an irresistible desire to defy and contradict."

+

+And then she spoke of Herr von Hollfeld and his

+strange behaviour in the hall, adding that she could not

+understand what he could possibly have wished to say

+to her.

+

+"Never mind, we will not puzzle ourselves about that,"

+said Frau Ferber.  "If he should ever propose to

+accompany you on your way home, do not fail to reject such an

+offer peremptorily.  Do you hear, Elizabeth?"

+

+"But, dearest mother, what are you thinking of?"

+cried the girl with a laugh.  "The skies will fall before

+such a thing happens.  If he could allow Frau Lehr and

+her daughter, who consider themselves persons of

+distinction, to go home without an escort, he will hardly

+condescend to notice my insignificant self."

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER VIII.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER VIII.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+About a week after the arrival of his relatives the

+forester had published an edict in his domicile, which, as

+he said, had been hailed with joy by his prime minister,

+and in accordance with which the duty of taking their

+mid-day meal every Sunday at the Lodge was imposed

+upon the Ferber family.  Those were joyous days for

+Elizabeth.

+

+Long before the first sound of the church bell they

+usually set out for church.  In her fluttering white dress,

+her soul filled with the consciousness of youth and

+happiness, convinced that such a clear, lovely day, must bring

+joy with it, Elizabeth walked beside her parents, and

+looked eagerly for the moment when the round gilt ball

+upon the village church tower at Lindhof emerged from

+the waves of green in the valley below them; then from

+the dark and silent forest paths to the right and left, groups

+of church-goers from the different hamlets around would

+appear and join them with kindly greetings, until, while

+the bells were ringing, the whole assembly arrived in the

+meadow just before the church, where the forester was

+usually awaiting them.  He welcomed them from a distance

+with sparkling eyes and a flourish of his hat in the

+air.  In every movement of his tall figure, in his whole

+bearing, might be read that inflexible integrity which

+never bowed to the mighty ones of the earth, that

+expression of manly power and force of character from which

+we expect to see quick resolve and bold action result, but

+which never suggests the tender emotions of a

+sensitive nature.  Elizabeth declared that it was always a

+touching surprise when a single gentle star beamed forth

+at night from a sky covered with clouds, and that the

+sudden look of melting tenderness that occasionally

+illumined her uncle's frank, determined countenance, affected

+her in like manner.  And she had many an opportunity

+of observing this change of expression, for she had grown

+to be the apple of his eye.  He had never had any children,

+and now poured forth all the paternal affection of which

+his large, warm heart was capable, upon his brother's

+lovely child, who, he felt with pride, resembled himself in

+many points of character, although in her they were

+transfigured by the charm of feminine delicacy and refinement.

+

+And she repaid his affection with the clinging love and

+filial care of a daughter.  She soon discovered how to make

+many an addition to his domestic comfort, and where

+Sabina's penetration or capacity were at fault, she effected

+many an improvement, with so much tact that the old

+servant was never offended, whilst a new life opened upon

+her uncle, surrounded by Elizabeth's tender care.

+

+On the return from church, her uncle led Elizabeth by

+the hand, "just like a little school-girl," as she said, and,

+indeed, it looked like it.  The excellent sermon which they

+had just heard, furnished matter for abundant conversation

+and exchange of newly-developed thoughts and sentiments;

+while the birds twittered and sang as though

+determined to vindicate their right to speak here, and the

+golden-green sunshine came quivering through the tops

+of the trees, flecking their heads as they passed with its

+transfiguring light.

+

+At the farthest end of the long dim forest aisle, for it

+was a very narrow path which led from the Lodge to the

+village of Lindhof, a little point of light indicated the

+meadow, in the middle of which stood the old house.

+With every step the picture grew more distinct, until at

+last they could distinguish Sabina waiting for them at the

+door, shading her eyes with the corner of her white apron,

+and retreating into the house when she saw them, that she

+might take her stand behind the soup tureen, which was

+smoking upon the table beneath the beeches, where she

+fulfilled her duty with the air of a general upon a rampart.

+

+But to-day Sabina had prepared a particularly delicious

+repast, for in the centre of the table was piled a huge

+crimson pyramid, the first wood-strawberries of the year,

+hailed with delight by little Ernst, and by full-grown

+Elizabeth too.  The forester laughed at the enthusiasm

+of the big and little child, and declared that he had a

+surprise to offer as well as Sabina,—he would have the horse

+harnessed and take Elizabeth to L——, where he had

+a little business to attend to,—a long-promised pleasure.

+The young girl accepted his proposal with delight.

+

+At table Elizabeth related the occurrences of the

+previous evening.  Her uncle shook with laughter.

+

+"The doctor's a bold fellow," he said, still laughing;

+"but 'tis of no use, he has drunk his last cup of tea at

+Lindhof."

+

+"Impossible, uncle,—it would be outrageous!" cried

+Elizabeth, earnestly.  "Fräulein von Walde would never

+permit such a thing, she will resist with all her might."

+

+"Well," he said, "I wish we could question the little

+lady to-day with regard to her sentiments towards the

+doctor, and you would see.  How can a strong will

+inhabit such a frail dwelling?  That imperious woman will

+soon influence her, and there is none to resist, for 'Heaven

+is high, and the Czar afar,' as the Russians say.  We

+know, Sabina, that many a strange thing has happened

+since the rule of the baroness began, eh?"

+

+"Ah, yes indeed, Herr Forester!" replied the old woman,

+who was just putting a dish upon the table.  "When I

+think of poor Schneider,—she is the widow of a

+day-labourer in the village," she said, turning to the others;

+"she always worked hard to make both ends meet, and

+no one could say a word against her, but she had four

+children to feed, and lived from hand to mouth.  And

+matters went badly with her last harvest, and she had

+nothing to give her children to eat, so she was driven to

+do what was wrong, and took an apron full of potatoes

+from a splendid field belonging to the castle.  But the

+overseer, Linke, who happened to be standing behind a

+tree not far off, saw her, sprang out upon her instantly,

+and knocked her down.  Even if he had stopped there

+'twould not have been so bad, but he kicked her brutally

+as she lay upon the ground.  I had been to Lindhof, and

+as I was passing beneath the cherry trees near the

+village, on my way home, I saw some one lying upon the

+ground,—it was the poor woman, bleeding profusely, and

+with not a soul near her.  She could not move, so I called

+some people, who helped me to carry her home.  The Herr

+Forester was absent, but I was sure of his permission,

+and so I nursed and tended her as well as I could.  The

+people in the village were furious at the overseer,—but

+what could they do?  There was some talk of arresting

+him, but it all came to nothing.  Linke is one of the

+saints, he is the baroness' right-hand man, turns up his

+eyes, and does everything in the name of the Lord.  It

+must never get abroad that such a pious man could

+behave so inhumanly, and so the baroness drove to town

+every day, and was wonderfully condescending, and, in

+short, the story was hushed up, and the poor woman,

+who has never entirely recovered, had to get along as

+best she might, for neither she nor her children ever had

+a bite or a drop from the castle all the while that she was

+sick.  Ah! yes, the overseer and the baroness' old

+waiting-maid make a hard time of it for the poor people, they

+keep a close watch to see who misses prayers or chapel

+over there, and they have been the means of depriving

+many an honest man of work at the castle."

+

+"Don't say any more about it," said the forester.  "I

+cannot relish my food when I think of these things, and

+our pleasant Sunday, to which I look forward all the week,

+must have no other shadows upon it than those cast by

+the white, fleecy clouds up there."

+

+As soon as the meal was concluded the forester's modest

+little equipage made its appearance.  He handed in

+Elizabeth, and seated himself by her side.  As she nodded a

+farewell to the others, she glanced up at the house, and

+started with actual terror at the eyes which were gazing

+down upon her from a window in the upper story.  'Tis

+true, the head disappeared instantly, but Elizabeth had

+time to recognize the mute Bertha, and to convince

+herself that she was the object of that look of rage

+and hate, although she could not divine its cause.  Until

+now Bertha had withdrawn herself entirely from all

+intercourse with the Ferber family.  She never appeared

+when Elizabeth was at the Lodge.  She took her Sunday

+dinner alone in her own room, and the forester allowed

+her to please herself in the matter.  He had no desire to

+establish any relation between the two girls.

+

+Frau Ferber had once made an attempt to address the

+unfortunate girl.  Her gentle feminine nature could not

+believe that mere wilfulness was the spring of Bertha's

+extraordinary behaviour.  She suspected the existence

+of some deeper cause, perhaps of some secret grief,

+which made her indifferent to her surroundings, or

+rendered her so irritable that she chose to remain silent

+rather than be engaged in perpetual strife.  A gentle

+word from her, a kindly advance on her side, would,

+she hoped, unseal Bertha's lips; but she succeeded no

+better than Elizabeth had done.  She was even so outraged

+by the girl's manner that she strictly forbade all further

+attempt at intercourse with her upon Elizabeth's part.

+

+After a charming drive, Elizabeth and her uncle

+reached their destination.

+

+L—— was certainly a small town, and bore the

+unmistakable impress of a small town, although the court

+resided there from the appearance of the first primrose to

+the fall of the last autumn leaf, and its inhabitants took

+the greatest pains to adapt themselves, in their social life,

+to the manners and customs of a large Capital.  But the

+loud, uneasy creaking of the machinery of a most complicated

+domestic economy could not be drowned by the rustle

+of the most flowing and elegant crinoline.  The honest

+townsfolk, who left their dwellings, with doors wide open,

+in perfect safety, to earn their daily bread in the little

+uneven streets, or in the strips of meadow land between

+their houses, fell as far short of being peacocks as did the

+ducks, that daily delighted to swim in the little brook

+running directly through the town, of becoming stately

+swans.

+

+The situation of the place was undeniably delightful.

+In the centre of a not very spacious valley, nestled at the

+foot of an eminence whose summit was crowned by the

+royal castle and domain, it lay buried in the dark, rich

+green of avenues of lindens, and surrounded in spring by

+the lovely blossoms of countless orchards.

+

+The forester took Elizabeth to the house of an assessor,

+one of his friends.  She was to wait for him there

+until he had concluded his business.  Although made

+cordially welcome by the lady of the house, she would

+gladly have turned round and followed her retreating

+uncle,—for she found herself, to her vexation, in the midst

+of a large assemblage of ladies.  Her hostess informed

+her that, in honour of her husband's birthday, she had

+gotten up a set of tableaux from mythology, to rehearse which

+was the cause of the present gathering.  At the

+coffee-table, in a pleasantly-furnished apartment, eight or ten

+ladies were seated, already dressed in mythological

+costume, and upon the arrival of the stranger, they measured

+her with glances that seemed to penetrate every plait and

+fold of her simple attire.

+

+All the goddesses, without exception, had submitted

+themselves, in their costume, to the sceptre of the royal

+fair of France, and wore their white robes over abundant

+crinoline, which was then the fashion, "For," said Ceres,

+a trig little blonde, upon whose flushed brow a whole

+harvest was waving, "one looks so forlorn without crinoline;"

+and how else could her dress have supported the huge

+bunches of wheat ears and red poppies with which it was

+adorned?  How Dame Ceres had managed this difficulty

+in her days of splendour was a problem which no one

+took the pains to solve.

+

+Perhaps the artificial light of the evening would be

+favourable to the remarkable arrangement of some of the

+toilets, but now the bright sunlight illuminated and

+revealed with cruel sincerity every pasted bit of gold-paper,

+every paper-muslin scarf that should have represented

+satin, and every basting stitch in the improvised tunics.

+Several old-fashioned paste shoe-buckles glittered in the

+girdle of Venus; and the silver crescent upon the forehead

+of Diana showed the blotting-paper behind it at every

+movement of the head which it adorned.

+

+The hostess went from one to the other of her guests,

+exerting herself for the entertainment of all.

+

+"What a shame!" she said, entering the room after a

+short absence, "Frau Räthin Wolf has sent to say that

+her Adolph cannot come to-night; he is in bed with a

+fever.  As soon as the note came, I ran across myself to

+Doctor Fels; but there is no doing anything with that

+man upon the subject of his children's education.  He

+repeated his former refusal, and so ungraciously, that I am

+quite outraged.  He says that he considers any part in

+such entertainments with grown-up people entirely unfit

+for half-grown boys like his Moritz, who get their heads

+filled with a sense of their own importance, their minds

+distracted from their lessons,—and Heaven knows what

+besides.  He told me, most insolently, that he thinks I

+should have done better this evening to have provided

+my suffering husband—suffering, indeed, he is as lively

+as a fish in the sea, except for a touch of rheumatism—with

+a supper that he liked, than to have worried him

+with such buffoonery, which will only deprive him of his

+usual comfort and night's rest, and do no living creature

+any earthly good."

+

+"How coarse! how rude!  He is always pretending

+to be a connoisseur of art, and doesn't understand it one

+whit better than my little finger," was heard from one

+and the other of the ladies.

+

+"Let my experience console you, dear Adele," said

+Ceres.  "Were it not that my husband cannot dispense

+with his services as a physician, Fels should never darken

+my doors again.  When I had that children's fancy-ball

+last winter, which was acknowledged to be a great

+success, he refused my invitation to his children; and what

+do you think he said to me, when I begged him to allow

+his little girls to come,—'Does it really give you pleasure

+to see such monkey-tricks?'  I never will forgive him!"

+

+Elizabeth suddenly seemed to see the doctor's intellectual

+face, with its searching glance, sarcastic smile,

+and the slightly contemptuous play of its finely-formed

+lips.  She laughed inwardly at his rude replies; but she

+was struck at the same time by the depressing thought,

+how hard it is for a man to live up to his convictions.

+

+"But what would you have, Frau Director?" broke in

+Flora, a delicate, languishing figure with a pretty but

+very pale face, who had hitherto been entirely occupied

+in smiling upon her flower-decked reflection in an

+opposite glass.  "He has treated us no better.  Two years

+ago he told my father and mother to their faces, that it

+was not only folly but want of principle—just think of

+such a thing!—to allow me to go into society so young,

+with my constitution.  Papa and mamma were furious,—as

+if they did not know best about their own children!  It

+was well that we all knew what prompted such tender

+care on his part.  His youngest sister was then still

+unmarried, and, naturally enough, she was by no means

+pleased to see young girls usurping her place in society.

+Papa would have dismissed the doctor upon the spot,

+but mamma depends upon his prescriptions.  Well, they

+paid no attention to his advice, and, as you see, I still

+live."

+

+The silence of the assemblage confirmed Elizabeth's

+conviction that the triumph which Flora spoke of was a

+very doubtful one, and that this delicate creature, with

+her narrow chest and pallid face, would still have to

+atone severely for the physician's neglected counsel.

+

+Suddenly a barouche slowly passing down the street

+attracted the ladies to the window.  Where she was

+sitting Elizabeth could plainly see the object of the

+universal curiosity.  In the elegant vehicle sat the Baroness

+Lessen and Fräulein von Walde.  The latter had her

+face turned towards the assessor's house, and she looked

+as if she were diligently counting the windows of the

+lower stories.  Her cheeks were slightly flushed, always

+a sign in her of inward agitation.  The baroness, on

+the contrary, was leaning back negligently among the

+cushions, and appeared to be entirely unconscious of

+everything around.

+

+"The Lindhof ladies," said Ceres.  "But, Heavens! what

+is the meaning of that?  They are entirely ignoring

+Doctor Fels' windows.  There stands the doctor's

+wife.  Ha, ha! what a long face; she tried to bow, but

+the ladies have no eyes in the backs of their heads."

+

+Elizabeth looked across at the opposite house.  A very

+beautiful woman, with a lovely fair-haired child in her

+arms, was standing at the window.  There certainly

+was a puzzled look in her pleasant blue eyes, but the

+delicate oval of her face was not in the least lengthened.

+Attracted by the movements of the child, who stretched

+out his little arms towards the fantastic heads at the

+windows of the assessor's house, she looked across, and,

+archly smiling, nodded to the ladies, who kissed their

+hands, and replied to her salutation by all sorts of tender

+pantomime.

+

+"Strange!" said the hostess; "what could the ladies

+mean by passing by her house without nodding to her?

+They never went by without stopping before to-day.

+Frau Fels would stand on the carriage-step for ever so

+long, and Fräulein von Walde seemed to like her so

+much—the baroness, 'tis true, often made a wry face.  It

+certainly is very strange; but we must wait and see what

+the future will bring forth."

+

+"Herr von Hollfeld must have stayed at Odenberg.

+He was with the ladies this morning when the carriage

+passed," said Diana.

+

+"How will Fräulein von Walde endure the separation?"

+asked Flora, with a sneer.

+

+"Why, is there anything in that quarter?" asked the

+hostess.

+

+"Don't you know that, child?" cried Ceres.  "We

+can't tell yet what his sentiments are, but beyond all

+doubt she loves him passionately.  In fact, it is almost

+certain that the love is all on one side; for how can

+such an unfortunate cripple inspire affection,—and in

+such a cold nature as Hollfeld's, which has been

+unmoved by the greatest beauties?"

+

+"Yes, true enough," said Venus, with a glance at the

+mirror, which Flora, in spite of her emaciation, had

+entirely monopolized.  "But Fräulein von Walde is

+enormously rich!"

+

+"Oh, he can have the wealth at a cheaper rate," said

+Flora.  "He is said to be heir to the sister and brother

+too."

+

+"Oh, the brother!" rejoined Venus.  "He had better

+not rely upon his chances there.  Herr von Walde is a

+man in the prime of life, and may marry at any time."

+

+"Nonsense!" cried Ceres, excitedly.  "The woman is

+yet to be born, or rather sent down from heaven, who

+can touch him.  He is haughtiness itself, and has less

+heart than his cousin.  How provoked I used to be at

+the court-balls, to see him standing in the doorway with

+his arms crossed as if they were glued together, and

+looking down so arrogantly upon the crowd.  Only when

+the princess, or one of the royal family, requested him to

+dance did he stir from the spot, and then he was at no

+pains to conceal that he cared not a bit for the honour.

+Well, we know well enough what his requisitions are for

+the woman at whose feet he will lay the proud name of

+von Walde—Ancestors! ancestors she must have, and

+her pedigree must date from Noah's ark."

+

+All laughed, except Elizabeth, who remained very

+grave.  Fräulein von Walde's behaviour had made a

+deep impression upon her.  She was annoyed, and felt

+that her views of human nature had been lowered.  Was

+such a change possible in the course of a few short

+hours?  The fact just stated by the ladies, that Helene

+von Walde loved the son of the Baroness Lessen, would

+have fully explained the influence exercised by the latter

+to any one of a practical, matter-of-fact nature,—but not

+to Elizabeth.

+

+The elevating sentiment, described by the poets of

+all ages and all climes as the truest and most ennobling

+of which human nature is capable, could not possibly be

+an incentive to unworthy conduct; and it was equally

+hard to imagine how Herr von Hollfeld could inspire

+that sentiment.  Here she judged from the one-sided,

+personal point of view from which we are prone to pass

+sentence on others; but whether from the instinct of

+her true womanly nature, or whether she really

+possessed the clear insight that sees in the lines of the

+face the clear indications of the soul within and traces

+them to their source, we cannot say,—certainly, in this

+case, her judgment of a man with whom she had had

+scarcely any intercourse was entirely correct.

+

+Herr von Hollfeld was certainly not calculated to

+personate the ideal of a refined feminine nature.  He neither

+possessed intelligence nor wit, was inordinately vain, and

+by no means content with the interest excited by his fine

+person.  He was fully aware that most women will

+forgive defects of person sooner than defects of mind; and

+therefore he adopted the mask of silence and reserve,

+behind which the world is so ready to see great intelligence,

+originality, and strength of character.  There was no

+man living who could boast of being upon intimate terms

+with Herr von Hollfeld; he was cunning enough to elude

+every attempt to test the quality of his mind, and avoided

+all earnest conversation with men, while women, as soon as

+they perceived the rough shell of his repellant behaviour,

+were only too ready to cry, "the sweeter the kernel."  Herr

+von Hollfeld understood his part,—he was moved by

+secret desires and hopes, which were strengthened by the

+difficulty attending their attainment.  Animated by no lofty

+aspirations, he was the slave of avarice and sensuality.

+To make his position a brilliant one from a worldly point

+of view, he disdained no petty intrigue, and his office as

+chamberlain at the court of L—— opened the way to

+many such.  He deceived and lied, and was all the more

+dangerous on account of the frank honest seeming

+behind which men never suspected the low schemer, or

+women the vulgar sensualist.

+

+Elizabeth was glad when she saw her uncle turn the

+corner and approach the house.  With a sigh of relief she

+took her place in the carriage at his side.  She took off her

+hat, and bathed her hot forehead in the fresh, delicious

+evening breeze that swept gently by.  The last rays of

+the sun were just gilding the trembling leaves of the

+poplars by the roadside, and there was a rosy light upon the

+fields of blooming grain; but the forest that enclosed in

+its bosom Elizabeth's home lay dark and gloomy beyond,

+as if it had already forgotten the sunny life which had

+penetrated its inmost recesses so short a time before.

+

+The forester glanced several times at the silent young

+girl at his side.  Suddenly he transferred both reins and

+whip to one hand, took hold of Elizabeth's chin, and

+turned her face up to him.

+

+"Come, let me see, Elsie!" he said.  "What! why,

+zounds! you have got two wrinkles there in your

+forehead as deep as old Sabina's furrows.  What has

+happened?  Come, out with it!  Something has vexed you,

+hey?"

+

+"No, uncle, I am not vexed, but pained that you were

+so right in your estimate of Fräulein von Walde," replied

+Elizabeth, while a deep blush of emotion covered her face.

+

+"Pained because I was right, or because Fräulein von

+Walde has acted unworthily?"

+

+"Well, because what you prophesied was evil, and——"

+

+"And therefore it follows that you should be angry

+with me.  He is always the criminal who tells the truth

+in such a matter.  And pray, which of the utterances of

+my worldly wisdom has been justified by time?"

+

+She told him of Helene's conduct, and of what the

+ladies had said.  The forester smiled meaningly.

+

+"Oh women, women, and those women in especial!

+They prophesy an immediate marriage if two people only

+say good morning to each other.  But perhaps they are

+right in this case,—it clears up much to my mind that has

+hitherto seemed inexplicable to me."

+

+"But, uncle, you cannot believe that any one would

+sacrifice the best feelings of our nature to such a preference?"

+

+"Many other things have happened, my child, for the

+sake of such a preference, and although I do not for one

+moment defend Fräulein von Walde's weakness and

+submission; still, I shall henceforth judge her more leniently.

+She succumbs to the power which leads us to forget father

+and mother for another's sake."

+

+"Ah! that is just what I cannot understand," said

+Elizabeth, earnestly.  "How can any one love a stranger

+better than father or mother?"

+

+"Hm!" rejoined the forester, touching the horses lightly

+with his whip, to accelerate their speed.  This "hm"

+was followed by a clearing of his throat, and he changed

+the subject, for he justly thought, "If that be so, she

+will never understand my definition of love, although

+I should speak with the tongues of angels."  And he

+himself?—Far, far in the past lay the time when he had

+carved the dear name upon the trees, and trained his deep

+voice to sing love songs; when he had walked miles for

+a single smile, and had hated as his bitterest enemy the

+man who dared to regard with favour the object of his

+adoration.  He looked back and rejoiced in that wonderful time,

+but to paint it with its tempests of excited feeling,—its

+tears and laughter, its hopes and fears,—was more than

+he could do.

+

+"Do you see that perpendicular black streak just above

+the forest there?" he asked, after a long silence, pointing

+with his whip to the mountain which they were approaching.

+

+"Yes, indeed, it is the flag-staff upon Castle Gnadeck.

+I saw it a few moments ago, and am now rejoicing

+unspeakably in the thought that there lies a spot of earth

+that we may call our own,—a place from which no one

+has the right to drive us.  Thank God, we have a home!"

+

+"And such a home!" said the forester, as his beaming

+eyes looked around the horizon.  "When I was quite a

+little child, how I longed for the Thuringian forest!  It was

+all because of my grandfather's stories.  In his youth he

+had lived in Thuringia, and had the tales and legends of

+his home at his tongue's end; and when I had reached

+man's estate, I came hither.  Then all the forest which

+we see before us belonged to the Gnadewitzes, but I would

+not enter their service,—my father had told me too much

+about them.  I was the first Ferber from time immemorial

+who had renounced their service.  I applied to the Prince

+of L——.  The last of the Gnadewitzes divided his forests

+because the Prince of L—— was willing to pay an

+immense sum of money that he might enlarge his own

+woodland possessions.  And thus it happened that the most

+ardent desire of my youth was gratified, for I live now

+in the house that may be called the cradle of the Ferbers.

+You know that we came at first from Thuringia?"

+

+"Oh yes, I have known that from my childhood."

+

+"And do you know the story of our origin?"

+

+"No."

+

+"Well, it was long ago, and perhaps I am the only one

+who now knows anything about it, but it shall not be lost,

+for remembrance is all the gratitude that posterity can

+show for a brave action,—so now you shall hear the story,

+and then you can tell it again.

+

+"About two hundred years ago,—you see we can trace

+back a considerable pedigree,—the only pity is that we

+have no idea who the mother of our race was,—if you

+should ever be asked any questions concerning her by the

+Baroness Lessen, or others, you can answer with

+confidence that we suspect her to have been either Augusta

+von Blasewitz,—for the story dates from the thirty years'

+war,—or a vivandiere: perhaps she was a good, honest

+woman, who clung to her husband through all the

+hardships of the war, although I cannot forgive her for

+forsaking her child,—well, then, about two hundred years

+ago, as the wife of the huntsman Ferber opened her door

+in the morning—the very door that now shuts upon my

+home—she saw a little child lying upon the threshold.

+She clapped the door to again in a great hurry, for the

+forest was then swarming with gypsies, and she thought

+it would prove to be one of their dirty brats.  But her

+husband was more of a Christian, and took the child in.

+It was scarcely a day old.  A paper was pinned upon its

+breast, stating that the child was born in holy wedlock,

+that he had been baptized by the name of Hans, and that

+whoever would take care of him should receive further

+revelations concerning him at some future day.  Hidden

+in the child's dress was found a purse containing some

+money.  The huntsman's wife was a good woman, and

+when she heard the child was born of Christian parents,

+and was probably the son of some honest soldier who

+had left it here that it might not be exposed to the

+dangers of the war, she took it to her heart and brought it

+up with her own little girl as if they had been brother

+and sister.  It was well for him that she did so, for no

+one ever heard another word about his relatives.  His

+foster-father afterwards adopted him, and, to make his

+happiness complete, he married his foster-sister.  He, as well

+as his son and grandson, lived where I live now, as

+foresters to the Gnadewitzes, and they all died there.  My

+grandfather was the first who left this place with his

+master for one of the estates in Silesia.  As a boy, I was much

+disappointed that some countess mother did not turn up

+in the end who should recognize the foundling as her son,

+stolen from her by the malice of an enemy, and bear him

+home in triumph to her castle.  Later in life I learned to

+endure the want of this romantic termination to the story

+with a good grace, as I considered that in such case my

+own appearance here would have been very dubious, and

+my honest name pleased me too much to wish it changed

+for any other; but imagine my sensations when I stood

+for the first time upon the threshold where the little

+foundling had passed the most helpless moment of his life, when,

+deserted by his natural parents, sympathy had not yet

+supplied their place.  The worn stone is undoubtedly the

+same upon which the child lay, and as long as I live here

+or have anything to do with the place, it shall never be

+removed."

+

+Suddenly the forester leaned forward and pointed

+through the boughs, for they had entered the wood.

+

+"Do you see that white spot?" he asked.

+

+The white spot was the cap of Sabina, who was sitting

+at the door of the Lodge waiting for them.  When she

+saw the carriage, she rose quickly, shook the contents of

+her apron, which proved to be a quantity of forget-me-nots,

+into a basket, and came to assist Elizabeth to alight.

+

+The horse trotted, neighing, behind the house, where he

+was awaited and received with a caressing pat.  Hector

+laid himself down upon the ground, wagging his tail

+contentedly, and the doves and sparrows, which the noise of

+the arrival had frightened away, returned and hopped

+fearlessly about upon the green painted bench and table

+under the linden, where, as the little rogues well knew,

+the forester was in the habit of taking his morning and

+evening meals.  He went into the house for a moment

+that he might exchange his uniform for the more comfortable

+garment worn at home, and soon returned, pipe and

+newspaper in hand, to the linden, where Sabina soon

+began to lay the table.

+

+"'Tis a fact, it's a silly piece of Sunday work for such

+an old woman as I am," said the housekeeper, laughing,

+as she passed Elizabeth, who, sitting upon the stone

+step which now possessed such an interest for her,

+continued the weaving of the wreath which Sabina had

+begun.  "But I have been used to such work from my

+youth.  I have two little black pictures up in my room,

+likenesses of my blessed father and mother; they certainly

+deserve that I should honour them and hold them in

+loving remembrance, so I hang fresh flowers around them

+every Sunday, as long as there is a blossom to be had.

+A couple of children from Lindhof bring me fresh ones

+every Sunday, and to-day they brought me so many that

+there is enough for a wreath for Gold Elsie; if she puts

+it in a dish of water it will keep fresh all through the

+week."

+

+Elizabeth sat a long time this evening with her uncle.

+A flood of memories came rushing over his mind, called

+forth by his narration of the old story of two hundred

+years before.  He recalled many a wish, plan, and

+aspiration of his youth, which now provoked only a smiling

+sigh of sympathetic pity,—they had all vanished before the

+actual, like dust before the wind.  He talked them over

+now, as one who, standing upon the land, hears the dash

+of the breakers afar that cannot reach him.  Sometimes

+he would make some witty attack, in the midst of his

+recollections, upon Elizabeth, who would parry his thrusts

+and retort merrily.

+

+Meanwhile a light arose behind the trees, which had

+blended undistinguishably with the dark heavens, but

+which now stood out in strong relief against the bright

+background.  Single rays shot like silver arrows between

+interlacing boughs, and lay motionless like oases of light

+upon the dim meadow, until at last the moon arose,

+large and victorious, above the tops of the trees, and its

+full lustre flooded the landscape.  The gentle breeze of

+evening had long since folded its wings,—you could

+have counted the shadows of the linden leaves upon the

+moonlit earth, so distinct and motionless they lay.  All

+the clearer was heard the gurgle of the little fountain in

+the court-yard of the Lodge, and the low, indefinite

+murmur from the woods, which Elizabeth called "the sleepy

+rain" of the forest.

+

+"There," said Sabina, crowning Elizabeth's head

+lightly with the forget-me-not wreath, which she had just

+completed.  "Carry it home so, and you'll not crush it."

+

+"Then it may stay there," said she, laughing, as she

+arose.  "Many thanks for my ride!  Good-night, uncle,

+good-night, Sabina!"

+

+And then she hastened through the house and garden,

+and was soon outside the gate, which she closed behind

+her, and flew along up the narrow moonlit forest path.

+In the dwelling-room above, the lamp was burning; in

+spite of the bright moonlight, its beams were distinctly

+visible, for the front of her home lay in deep shade.

+

+As she reached the little clearing, a remarkable shadow

+fell across her path.  It was neither a tree nor a post,

+but the figure of a man, a stranger, who had been

+standing upon one side of the path, and now, to her terror,

+approached her.  The apparition courteously removed its

+hat, and Elizabeth's terror vanished on the instant, for

+she saw before her the smiling, good-humoured countenance

+of a well dressed, rather elderly man.

+

+"I pray your pardon, Fräulein, if I have frightened

+you," he said, as he looked kindly over the large, shining

+glasses of his spectacles into her face.  "I assure you, I

+have no designs either upon your life or your purse, and

+am simply a peaceful traveller, returning to his home,

+who greatly desires to know what the light in the ruins

+yonder may betoken; and yet this moment convinces me

+that my question is quite superfluous.  Fairies and elves

+are holding their revels there, while the fairest among

+them keeps guard in the forest around, that none may

+invade their charmed circle with impunity."

+

+This gallant comparison, trite as it may appear, was

+not ill applied at this moment, for the slight girlish figure

+in white robes, with the blue wreath crowning her

+angelic countenance, and bathed in moonlight, might

+well have been mistaken for a fairy vision, as it glided

+so lightly among the trees of the wood.

+

+She herself laughed inwardly at the quaint compliment,

+but with a little pique at the thought of resembling

+such a mercurial elfish being, and she replied to the old

+gentleman with maidenly dignity.

+

+"I am really sorry," she said, "to be forced to lead you

+back to realities, but I fail to see anything in the light

+yonder, except a commonplace lamp in the dwelling-room

+of a forester's clerk in the service of the Prince of L——."

+

+"Ah!" laughed the gentleman, "and does the man

+live all alone in those uncanny old walls?"

+

+"He might do so with a quiet mind, for over those

+whose consciences are pure nothing uncanny can have

+any power.  Nevertheless some loving creatures bear him

+company, among the rest, two well-fed goats and a canary

+bird, not to mention the owls, who have retired into

+private life in great indignation, since the frivolous conduct

+of human beings does not assort at all well with the solemn

+views of life entertained by their grave worships."

+

+"Or perhaps because they shun the light and cannot

+endure——"

+

+"That the new arrival should adore the truth?"

+

+"Perhaps that, too; but I was about to suggest that

+they fly from the two suns that have suddenly arisen in

+the old ruins."

+

+"Two suns at once?  That would be a terrible

+experience for their poor owls' eyes, and might even prove

+too much for a fire-worshipper," replied Elizabeth,

+laughing, as she passed him with a slight inclination, for her

+parents had just emerged from the gate in the wall, and

+were advancing towards her.  They had come out with

+some anxiety when they heard Elizabeth's voice and that

+of a stranger, and they gently reproved her, after she had

+related her little adventure, for entering so thoughtlessly

+into conversation with strangers.

+

+"Your badinage might have had unpleasant consequences

+for you, my child," said her mother.  "Fortunately,

+they were gentlemen."

+

+"Gentlemen?" interrupted her daughter, with surprise.

+"There was only one."

+

+"Look around," said her father; "you can see for yourself."

+

+And certainly just where the path began to descend

+into the valley, two hats were plainly to be seen.

+

+"So you see, mother dear," said Elizabeth, "what an

+entirely harmless encounter it was.  One never stepped

+out from behind the bushes, and there was certainly not

+an atom of the brigand to be seen in the kind old face of

+the other."

+

+When she went to her room she carefully took the

+wreath from her head, laid it in fresh water, and placed

+it before the bust of Beethoven, then she kissed the

+forehead of the sleeping Ernst, and said good-night to her

+father and mother.

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER IX.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER IX.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+"Hallo, Elsie, do not run so!" shouted the forester,

+the next day at three o'clock in the afternoon, as he

+came out of the forest with his rifle on his shoulder and

+crossed the meadow towards the Lodge.

+

+Elizabeth was running down the mountain, her round

+hat hanging upon her arm instead of resting upon the

+braids that glanced in the sunlight, and as she reached

+the house she flew laughing into her uncle's arms, which

+he extended to receive her.

+

+She put her hand into her pocket, and stepped back

+a few paces.  "Guess what I have in my pocket, uncle,"

+she said, smiling.

+

+"Well, what can it be?  No need to puzzle one's brains

+long about it.  Probably a little sentimental hay,—a few

+dried flowers, kept for the sake of the melancholy

+associations that they recall,—or some printed sighs over the

+woes of the world, bound in gilt pasteboard?"

+

+"Wrong, indeed; twice wrong, Herr Forester, for, in

+the first place, your wit glances harmlessly aside from me,

+and in the next—look here!"

+

+She drew a little box from her pocket, and lifted the

+cover.  There, upon green leaves, was comfortably lying

+a large lemon-coloured caterpillar, with black spots, broad

+bluish-green stripes upon its back, and a crooked horn

+upon its tail.

+

+"By all that is wonderful, Sphinx Atropos!" cried the

+delighted forester.  "Ah, my sunbeam, where did you

+find that exquisite specimen?"

+

+"Over at Lindhof, in a potato-field.  Isn't it beautiful?

+There, let us shut the box carefully, and put it back in my

+pocket."

+

+"What! am I not to have it?"

+

+"Oh yes; you can have it,—that is if you are inclined

+to pay for it."

+

+"Zounds!  What a girl you have become!  Come, give

+it to me,—here are four groschen."

+

+"Not for the world.  You can't have it for one

+farthing less than twelve.  When many a ragged, yellow old

+bit of parchment,—that one can hardly bear to touch,—is

+paid for with its weight in gold, certainly such a

+perfect piece of Nature's workmanship is worth twelve

+groschen."

+

+"Yellow old parchment! never breathe such a word

+into scientific ears, if you value your reputation."

+

+"Ah, there are none such to be breathed into here in

+the forest."

+

+"Take care; Herr von Walde——"

+

+"Is hiding in the Pyramids."

+

+"But he might suddenly return and take a certain

+self-conceited young person to strict account.  He is

+cock-of-the-walk among learned men."

+

+"Well, for aught I care, they may raise monuments in

+his honour, and strew laurels in his path, as much as they

+choose.  I cannot forgive him for forgetting, in the midst

+of all that dead lumber, the claims that the living have

+upon him.  While he is engaged in an enthusiastic search,

+perhaps, for some wonderfully preserved receipt by

+Lucullus, or lost in investigations as to whether the Romans

+did actually feed their fish upon the flesh of slaves, the

+poor employed upon his estate starve under the baroness'

+rule—actually crushed beneath the yoke of modern slavery."

+

+"Hallo! how his left ear must burn!  What a pity that

+he cannot hear this confession of faith!  Here are your

+twelve groschen, if you must have them.  You want to

+buy some trinket or other, a feather, or ribbons for your

+hat, hey?" he said, smiling.

+

+She held her hat out at arm's length before her, and

+contemplated with admiration the two fresh roses which

+she had stuck into the simple band of black velvet that

+encircled it.  "Does not that look lovely?" she asked.

+"Do you think I would voluntarily hide my head beneath

+nodding plumes when I can have roses, fresh roses?  And

+there is your caterpillar, and now you shall know why I

+want to black-mail you.  This morning the poor widow

+of a weaver in Lindhof came to my mother, begging a

+little assistance.  Her husband had had a fall, which injured

+his arm and his foot, so that he has not been able to earn

+anything for weeks.  My mother gave her some old linen

+and a large loaf of bread.  She could do nothing more,

+as you know.  See, here I have fifteen groschen,—from

+my money-box,—there is not another farthing in it just

+now, and three from little Ernst, who would gladly have

+sold his tin soldiers to help the poor woman, and with

+the price for the caterpillar I shall have a whole thaler,

+which I shall carry to the poor thing immediately."

+

+"Let me see.  Here is another thaler; and, Sabina,"

+he called into the house, "bring out a piece of meat from

+your pickling-tub, and wrap it up in green leaves.  You

+shall take that too," he said, turning again to Elizabeth.

+

+"Oh, you dearest of splendid uncles!" cried the girl,

+taking his large hand between her slender palms and

+pressing it tenderly.

+

+"But take care," he continued, "that the piece of good

+salt meat does not turn into roses.  It would be a sad

+change for the poor weaver's wife.  You seem to be

+following in the steps of your saintly namesake."

+

+"Yes; but fortunately I have here no cruel Landgrave

+to fear.  And if I had, I would tell the truth in spite of

+him."

+

+"Gracious gods, what a heroic soul it is!"

+

+"But I think the courage to tell a lie would be far

+greater, even though it were a pious one."

+

+"True, true, my daughter.  I think I could hardly have

+done it either.  Ah, here comes Sabina!"

+

+The old housekeeper issued from the door, and whilst

+she wrapped up the meat for Elizabeth, in accordance with

+the forester's directions, she whispered to him that Herr

+von Walde, who had yesterday arrived from abroad, had

+been waiting for him for some time.

+

+"Where?" he asked.

+

+"Here in the dwelling-room."

+

+Now they had been standing directly beneath the

+open windows of this room.  Elizabeth turned quickly

+round, blushing scarlet, but could see no one.  Her

+uncle, without turning, shrugged his shoulders with an

+infinitely comical gesture, stroked his long moustache,

+and whispered, with a suppressed laugh: "Here's a nice

+state of things!  You have settled matters finely,—he

+has heard every word.7"

+

+"So much the better," replied his niece, throwing her

+head back with an air of defiance.  "He does not hear

+the truth very often, perhaps."  Then bidding farewell to

+her uncle and Sabina, she walked slowly away through

+the forest in the direction of Lindhof.

+

+At first she was annoyed at the thought that Herr von

+Walde had been obliged, entirely against his will, to listen

+to the judgment which had been passed upon him.  Then

+she was sure that she should have told him just the same

+truth to his face.  And as it was scarcely to be supposed

+that he would ever trouble himself about her estimate of

+him, it certainly could do him no harm that he had been

+involuntarily the auditor of a frank, impartial sentence

+passed upon him, even although such sentence came from

+the lips of a young girl.  But how had it happened that

+he had returned so suddenly and unexpectedly?  Fräulein

+von Walde had always spoken of her brother's absence

+as likely to continue for several years, and the day before

+she had had not the slightest expectation of his return.

+And then her encounter of the previous evening flashed

+into her mind.  The old gentleman had said that he was

+a traveller returning home; but it was impossible that he,

+with his smiling, good-humoured face, could be the grave,

+haughty proprietor of Lindhof, who, perhaps, was the

+person that had remained concealed beneath the trees while

+his companion was getting an answer to his inquiries.

+But what could Herr von Walde want with her uncle,

+who, as she knew, had never stood in any relation to

+him whatever?

+

+These and similar thoughts occupied her mind upon

+her way to the weaver's.  Husband and wife were delighted

+by the unhoped-for assistance, and heaped Elizabeth

+with profuse professions of gratitude as she left the

+house.

+

+She passed through the village, and directed her steps

+to Lindhof, where she had promised to practice as usual.

+The lesson had not been postponed, notwithstanding the

+return of Herr von Walde.  The proprietor's return had

+worked a great change in the whole look of the castle.

+All the windows of the lower story on the south side,

+which had so long been dark and closed behind their

+white shutters, now reflected the sunlight in a long, shining

+row.  The apartments within were undergoing a thorough

+airing and dusting.  A glass door stood wide open,

+revealing the interior of a large saloon.  Upon one of the

+steps which led down to the garden at the back lay a

+snow-white greyhound, with his slender body stretched

+out upon the hot stone and his head resting upon his

+forepaws; he blinked at Elizabeth as though she had been

+an old acquaintance.  At an open window the gardener

+was arranging a stand of flowers, and the old steward

+Lorenz was walking through the rooms, superintending

+everything.

+

+It was remarkable that all the people whom the young

+girl met had, as if by magic, entirely altered their whole

+expression.  Had a tempest swept through the sultry

+atmosphere and a fresh breeze filled all the rooms, so that

+voices sounded clearer, and bent forms grew straight and

+elastic?  Even old Lorenz, whose face had always worn

+so grim and depressed a look, as though there were a

+weight of lead upon his shoulders, shot real sunshine

+from his eyes, although he was scolding one of the maids;

+Elizabeth looked on in surprise.  She had only seen him

+before gliding about upon the tips of his toes, and in low,

+suppressed tones announcing guests to the ladies in the

+drawing-room.

+

+In amazement at this sudden bursting into bloom of

+new life and activity, Elizabeth turned towards the wing

+appropriated to the ladies.  Here the deepest silence still

+reigned.  In the apartments of the baroness the curtains

+were closely drawn.  No noise penetrated through the

+doors by which Elizabeth passed.  The air of the

+passages was heavy with the odour of valerian, and when at

+the lower end of one of the halls, Elizabeth saw through

+an open door one human face, what a change met her

+eye!  It was the baroness' old waiting-maid who looked

+out, probably to see who was so bold as to invade the

+solemn repose of the corridor.  Her cap was set upon her

+false curls all awry, and the curls themselves were but

+loosely put on.  Her countenance wore a troubled

+expression, and a round, red spot on each cheek, betokened

+either high fever or some violent, mental agitation.  She

+returned Elizabeth's salute shortly and sullenly, and

+disappeared into the room, closing the door noiselessly

+behind her.

+

+When Elizabeth reached Fräulein von Walde's apartment,

+she thought that she had arrived at the last act in the

+mysterious drama which had begun in the baroness'

+rooms, for no "come in" answered her repeated knock.

+Not only were the curtains here drawn, but the shutters

+also were closed as she saw when she gently opened the

+door.  The profound quiet and the darkness deterred

+her from entering, and she was about to shut the door

+again when Helene, in a weak voice, called to her to

+enter.  The little lady lay on a couch at the farther end

+of the room, her head resting on a white pillow, and

+Elizabeth could hear that her teeth were chattering as if with

+cold.

+

+"Ah, dear child," she said, and laid her cold, damp

+hand upon her young friend's arm, "I have had a nervous

+attack.  None of my people have observed that I am lying

+here so ill, and it has been terribly lonely in this dark

+room.  Pray open the windows wide,—I need air, the

+warm air of heaven."

+

+Elizabeth immediately did as she desired, and when the

+daylight streamed in upon the pale face of the invalid, it

+revealed traces of violent weeping.

+

+The sunshine aroused more life and motion in the room

+than Elizabeth had anticipated; she was startled by a loud

+scream which proceeded from one corner.  There she

+discovered a cockatoo, with snow-white plumage and a

+brilliant yellow crest, swinging to and fro upon a ring.

+

+"Heavens! what a fearful noise!" sighed Helene, pressing

+her little hands upon her ears.  "That terrible bird

+will tear my nerves to pieces!"

+

+Elizabeth's glance rested amazed upon the little stranger,

+and then explored the rest of the apartment, which looked

+like a bazaar.  Upon tables and chairs were lying costly

+stuffs, shawls, richly-bound books, and all kinds of toilet

+articles.  Fräulein von Walde noticed Elizabeth's look,

+and said briefly, with averted face: "All presents from

+my brother, who returned home quite unexpectedly yesterday."

+

+How cold her voice was as she said it!  And there was

+not the slightest hint of pleasure to be discovered in her

+features, swollen with weeping; the large eyes, usually so

+soft and gentle, expressed only vexation and annoyance.

+

+Elizabeth stooped silently and picked up a gorgeous

+bouquet of camellias, that was lying half faded upon the

+floor.

+

+"Oh yes," said Helene, sitting up, while a slight flush

+appeared on her cheeks, "that is my brother's good-morning

+to me; it fell down from the table, and I forgot it.

+Pray put it in that vase there."

+

+"Poor flowers," said Elizabeth, half aloud, as she looked

+at the brown edges of the white petals, "they never

+dreamed when they opened their tender buds, that they

+were to bloom in such a cold atmosphere!"

+

+Helene looked up into her friend's face with a searching,

+troubled glance, and for an instant her eyes expressed

+regret.  "Put the flowers on the sill of the open

+window," she whispered quickly, "the air there will do them

+good.  Oh, heavens!" she cried, sinking back among her

+cushions.  "He is certainly a most excellent man, but his

+sudden return has destroyed the harmony of our delightful

+home life."

+

+Elizabeth looked almost incredulously at the little lady

+who lay there, her clasped hands raised, and her eyes

+lifted to heaven, as if fate had decreed her a most bitter

+trial.  If she had failed yesterday to find the key to

+Helene's conduct, she was certainly more puzzled than

+ever to-day by this incomprehensible character.  What

+had become of all those sentiments of fervent gratitude

+that had breathed from every word whenever Helene had

+spoken of her absent brother?  Had all the sisterly

+tenderness which had seemed to fill her heart vanished in a

+single moment, so that she now lamented what, according

+to her own words, she had so lately regarded as the most

+delightful thing that could happen?  Even supposing

+that the returned brother did not sympathize with the

+circle in which alone she felt happy, if he should oppose

+her dearest wishes, was it possible that coldness and

+anger could exist between two beings whom fate had

+bound together by so close a tie, a tie which must bring

+them all the nearer to each other, since one was so

+helpless, and the other so alone in the world?  Elizabeth

+suddenly felt profound pity for the man who had sailed

+on distant seas and wandered through strange lands so

+long, only to be greeted as a disturbing element when

+he once more appeared at his own fireside.  Apparently

+there was one tender spot in his proud heart, love for

+his sister; how deeply wounded he must be that she had

+no loving welcome for him, and that her heart was cold

+and hard towards him!

+

+Occupied with these thoughts, Elizabeth arranged the

+flowers in the vase.  She returned not a syllable to

+Helene's outbreak, which had so maligned her brother to

+stranger ears.  And Helene herself, shamed probably by

+Elizabeth's silence, seemed to be conscious that she had

+lost her self-control, for she suddenly, in an altered voice,

+begged her to take a chair and stay with her for awhile.

+

+At this moment the door was violently flung open, and

+a female figure appeared upon the threshold.  Elizabeth

+was at some trouble to recognize in this apparition

+in its neglected, careless dress, betraying every sign of

+great agitation, the Baroness Lessen.  Her scanty locks,

+usually so carefully arranged, were streaming from under

+a morning-cap across her forehead, no longer white and

+smooth as ivory, but flushing scarlet.  The stereotyped

+self-satisfaction had vanished from her eyes, and she

+presented a most insignificant appearance as she looked shyly

+into the room!

+

+"Ah, Helene!" she cried anxiously, without noticing

+Elizabeth, and her corpulent figure advanced with

+unwonted rapidity.  "Rudolph has just sent for the

+unfortunate Linke to come to his room, and he abused the

+poor man so violently and loudly that I heard him in

+my bed-room on the other side of the court—Heavens! how

+wretched I am!  The morning has agitated me so

+that I can scarcely stand, but I could not listen to such

+injustice any longer, and sought refuge here.  And those

+servile wretches, the other servants, who, while Rudolph

+was away, scarcely dared to wink their eyes,—there they

+stand now boldly beneath the windows, taking a

+malicious pleasure in the misfortunes that are befalling a

+faithful servant.  Everything is destroyed that I had

+arranged so carefully and with such pains for the

+salvation of this household.  And Emil is at Odenberg!  How

+miserable and forlorn we are, dearest Helene!"

+

+She threw her arms around the neck of the little lady,

+who started up pale as ashes.  Elizabeth took advantage

+of this moment to slip out of the room.

+

+As she passed along the corridor leading to the

+vestibule she heard some one speaking loudly.  It was a deep,

+sonorous, manly voice, which grew louder now and then

+under the influence of excitement, but there was no

+sharpness in its tones even when they were loudest.  Although

+she could not distinguish a word, the tone thrilled through

+her,—there was something inexorable in the intonation

+of the emphasized sentences.

+

+The echo in the long corridor was deceptive.  Elizabeth

+did not know whence the voice proceeded, and she

+therefore ran forwards quickly that she might the sooner

+reach the open air.  But after a few steps she heard, as

+though the speaker were directly beside her, the words,

+"To-morrow evening you will leave Lindhof."

+

+"But, most gracious Herr!"—was the answer.

+

+"I have nothing else to say to you! now go!" was

+uttered in a commanding tone; and just then Elizabeth,

+to her terror, found herself opposite a wide-open folding

+door.  The tall figure of a man stood in the middle of

+the room, his left hand behind him, and his right pointing

+to the door.  A pair of flashing, dark eyes met her

+own as she passed hastily through the vestibule and into

+the garden.  It seemed as if that look, in which there

+glowed an indignant soul, pursued her and drove her

+onward.

+

+As the Ferber family were sitting at supper, her father

+told with expressions of pleasure how he had made the

+acquaintance of Herr von Walde that day at the Lodge.

+

+"Well, and how does he please you?" asked his wife.

+

+"That is a question, dear child, that I might be able

+to answer if I should happen to have daily intercourse

+with him for a year or so, although even then I cannot

+tell whether I should be able to give a satisfactory

+reply.  The man is very interesting to me—as one is

+continually tempted to try to discover whether he really

+is what he appears,—a perfectly cold, passionless nature.

+He came to my brother to learn the particulars concerning

+the affair between his superintendent and the poor

+labourer's widow, because he had been informed that

+Sabina had been an eye-witness of the ill treatment she

+had received.  Sabina was obliged to tell how she

+discovered the poor woman.  He asked about everything, even

+the smallest circumstance, but in a very short, decided

+manner.  What impression Sabina's account made upon

+him no one could tell; his looks were utterly impenetrable,

+not the smallest change of countenance betrayed

+his thoughts.  He comes directly from Spain.  From the

+few remarks that he let fall, I judge that his sudden return

+to Thuringia is owing to a letter from some one of his

+friends here, telling him of the mismanagement of affairs

+upon his estate and the unhappiness among his tenantry."

+

+"And his exterior?" asked Frau Ferber.

+

+"Is pleasing, although I have never seen so much

+reserve and inaccessibility expressed in a man's

+bearing I entirely understand how he has the reputation

+of boundless haughtiness; and yet I cannot, on the

+other hand, convince myself that such exceeding folly can

+lurk behind such remarkably intellectual features.  His

+face always wears the look of cold repose of which I

+have spoken; but, between the eyebrows, there is what

+I might call an involuntary, unguarded expression of

+what a superficial observer might think sternness; to me

+it seems settled melancholy."

+

+Elizabeth listened thoughtfully to this description.

+She had already learned how that cold repose could be

+entirely laid aside for a time, and she told her father of

+the scene which she had witnessed.

+

+"Then sentence has been passed sooner than I

+anticipated," said Ferber.  "Possibly your uncle may have

+done his part towards this end by his strong language,—he

+does not hesitate when asked for an opinion.  He

+was so frank with Herr von Walde, that he felt quite

+relieved and retained not an iota in his heart of all that

+had been vexing him in the course of the past year."

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER X.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER X.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+Scarcely a week had passed since the evening mentioned

+in the last chapter, but these few days had brought

+about great changes in the household at the castle of

+Lindhof.  The dismissed superintendent had already been

+replaced by a new man, whose power, however, was very

+limited, as Herr von Walde had undertaken the chief

+oversight of affairs himself.  Several day-labourers who

+had been summarily dismissed, either because they were

+warm adherents of the village pastor, and had, on

+account of their work, been frequently absent from prayers

+at the castle, or because they did not care to listen to

+the chaplain's sermons, were again working on the estate.

+

+The day before, Sunday, Herr von Walde, accompanied

+by the Baroness Lessen and little Bella, had attended

+service in the village church at Lindhof.  To the surprise

+of all, the chaplain, Herr Möhring, had appeared in the

+organ-loft as one of the audience, and at noon the worthy

+pastor had taken dinner with the family at Castle Lindhof.

+Doctor Fels paid daily visits there, for Fräulein von

+Walde was sick.  That was the reason why Elizabeth

+had not been requested to give her another lesson, and

+also, as the forester said, why the Baroness Lessen "had

+not been banished to Siberia, for," said he, "Herr von

+Walde would not be such a savage as to make his ailing

+sister still more ailing, by depriving her of the society

+which was dearest to her.  He knew that if his mother

+left, Herr von Hollfeld's visits would also cease."  It was

+malicious to say so, but, as he added, "incontrovertibly

+just."

+

+In the village it was well known that it had required

+several terrible tempests to clear the air at Castle

+Lindhof.  For the first three days after his arrival Herr von

+Walde had taken his meals alone in his private apartments,

+and the letters which the baroness' waiting-maid

+had delivered to him, at all times of the day, from her

+mistress, were returned unopened, until at last the

+violent illness of his sister had brought about a meeting

+between her brother and her cousin by her bedside.

+Since that day intercourse had again been apparently

+established between the two, although the servants

+declared that they exchanged scarcely a word at table.

+Herr von Hollfeld had been over once to greet the

+returned traveller, but it was observed that he rode away

+with a perceptibly lengthened face, after a very short stay.

+

+On a melancholy, rainy day in August, Elizabeth was

+again requested by Fräulein von Walde to spend half

+an hour with her at the castle.  The lady was not alone

+when she entered the room.  Herr von Walde sat in the

+recess by the window.  His tall figure was leaning back on

+a couch, his head nearly touching the light-coloured wall

+behind him, so that his dark-brown hair stood out in

+strong relief against it.  His right hand, which carelessly

+held a cigar, was resting upon the window-sill, while his

+left was raised as if he had just been speaking.  His

+neighbour, the Baroness Lessen, was bending towards

+him, and, with a most winning smile upon her face,

+seemed to be listening intently to his words, although, as

+it appeared, they were not addressed to her, but to

+Helene.  She was sitting tolerably near him, and had

+some crochet work in her hand.  Fräulein von Walde

+was lying upon a lounge.  A full dressing-gown entirely

+enveloped her small figure, and her beautiful brown

+curls escaped from beneath a morning-cap, trimmed with

+pink ribbons, which heightened, by force of contrast, the

+pallor of her countenance.  The cockatoo was perched

+upon her hand, and from time to time she held him caressingly

+to her cheek.  "The terrible bird" was now called

+"darling," and might scream as loud as it liked,—it was

+only soothed by a tender "What's the matter with my

+pet?"  Here, then, all was peace and reconciliation.

+

+Upon Elizabeth's entrance Helene beckoned to her

+kindly, but it did not escape her that there was a slight

+embarrassment in the little lady's manner.

+

+"Dear Rudolph," she said, as she took Elizabeth's

+hand, "let me present you to the delightful artiste to

+whom I owe so many pleasant hours,—Fräulein Ferber,

+called by her uncle, and in all the country around,

+Gold Elsie.  She plays so deliciously that I entreat her

+to make us forget the gray and gloomy skies above us this

+afternoon.  You see, dear child," she continued, turning

+to Elizabeth, "that I am still too weak to assist you

+at the piano; will you have the great kindness to play

+something alone for us?"

+

+"With all my heart," replied Elizabeth.  "But I shall

+play timidly, for there are two formidable powers to

+oppose me,—the gloomy heavens, and the favourable

+expectations that you have awakened of my performance."

+

+"Pray allow me to excuse myself for an hour," said

+the baroness, as she collected her working materials and

+arose; "I should like to drive out with Bella,—it is so

+long since the poor child has taken the air."

+

+"Really, I should suppose that she could easily take it

+here at any time, by simply putting her head out of the

+window," said Herr von Walde dryly, knocking the ashes

+from his cigar as he spoke.

+

+"Heavens! are you unwilling, Rudolph, that I should

+take a drive?  I will instantly remain at home, if——"

+

+"I can conceive of no reason why I should be unwilling.

+Drive as often and as much as you like," was

+the indifferent reply.

+

+The baroness compressed her lips, and turned to

+Helene: "We have decided, then, to take coffee in my

+room.  I shall not stay out long, on account of the mist.

+I shall be back punctually in an hour, and shall depend

+upon the pleasure of conducting you to my room myself,

+dearest Helene."

+

+"That pleasure you must resign," said Herr von

+Walde.  "It has been my office for many years, and I

+hope my sister does not think me grown too awkward

+during my absence to discharge it."

+

+"Most certainly not, dear Rudolph; I shall be greatly

+obliged, if you will be so kind," cried Helene, quickly,

+looking anxiously from one to the other.

+

+The baroness conquered her vexation bravely.  She held

+out her hand to Herr von Walde, with a smile of great

+sweetness, kissed Helene upon the cheek, and rustled out

+of the room with an "au revoir."

+

+During this conversation, Elizabeth observed more

+closely the features of the man, whose glance and voice

+had impressed her so profoundly.  It is true, her terror,

+for really the emotion caused by her first meeting with

+him was nothing less, had been renewed for a moment,

+as on entering she caught sight of Herr von Walde.

+How quiet the eyes were now, which had seemed

+before to flash fire; his look, as it rested upon the

+baroness, was icy cold.  With this expression in his eyes,

+the upper part of his face, which bore the stamp of great

+sternness, grew to iron.  A carefully arranged chestnut-brown

+moustache covered his upper lip, and his beard;

+which was unusually fine and silky, fell in soft waves

+upon his chest.  Herr von Walde did not look young,

+and although his well-knit figure had preserved all its

+elasticity, there was that indescribable composure and

+self-possession in his whole manner and heaping peculiar

+to the man of riper age, and which inspires involuntary

+respect.

+

+When the baroness had left the room, Elizabeth opened

+the piano.

+

+"No, no! no notes!" Helene cried to her, as she saw

+her turning over the music-sheets.  "We want to hear

+your own fancies; pray extemporize."

+

+Elizabeth seated herself immediately, and soon the

+outer world was all forgotten by her.  A wealth of

+melody welled up in her soul, which carried it far aloft.

+At such moments she knew that she was gifted beyond

+thousands of her fellow-mortals, for she had the power of

+giving expression to the most hidden emotions of her

+heart.  The purity of her whole inner world was

+mirrored in sound; she had never been obliged to seek for a

+melody which should embody her feeling, it lay ready

+in her soul,—ready as the feeling itself.  But to-day there

+was something blended with the tones that she could not

+herself comprehend; she could not possibly pursue and

+analyze it, for it breathed almost imperceptibly across the

+waves of sound.  It seemed as though joy and woe no

+longer moved side by side, but melted together into one.

+As she was herself impressed by this strange presence,

+she penetrated still deeper into her world of

+feeling,—gradually the clear depths of her pure, maidenly soul

+were revealed to the listeners; they stood, as it were,

+by some transparent, magic fountain, and saw within its

+quiet waters the lovely form of the young girl reflected,

+with twofold distinctness, for there was a perfect harmony

+between her exterior and her interior being.

+

+The last faint chord died away.  Large tear-drops

+hung from Helene's lashes, and her pallor was almost

+supernatural.  She glanced towards her brother, but he

+had turned his face away, and was gazing out into the

+garden.  When at last he looked towards her, his features

+were as calm as ever, only a slight flush coloured his

+brow; the cigar had dropped from his fingers and lay

+upon the ground.  He said not one word concerning her

+playing to Elizabeth, as she rose from the piano.  Helene,

+whom this silence distressed, exhausted herself in flattering

+expressions, that she might induce her young friend

+to forget, or, at least, not to notice the coldness and

+indifference which her brother displayed.

+

+"Was it not delicious?" she cried.  "The people in

+B—— could have had no idea of the golden fountain of

+music bubbling up in Elsie's heart, or they would never

+have allowed her to wander into the Thuringian forest."

+

+"Have you lived until now in B——?" asked Herr von

+Walde, fixing his eyes upon Elizabeth.  She met his gaze

+for an instant; the ice had all melted, and was replaced by

+a wondrous radiance.

+

+"Yes," she answered, simply.

+

+"It was a sad experience to come suddenly from a

+large beautiful city, which offers every imaginable

+diversion and enjoyment, to the silent forest, and live upon

+a lonely mountain.  You were, of coarse, inconsolable at

+the exchange?"

+

+"I regarded it as a piece of undeserved good fortune,"

+was the unembarrassed reply.

+

+"Indeed?  Most strange!  It seems to me that one would

+hardly choose the thistle when the rose might be had."

+

+"Of course, I cannot presume to pass judgment upon

+your opinions."

+

+"True, because you do not know me; but my idea is

+almost universal."

+

+"Yet surely it is very one-sided."

+

+"Well, then, I will not combat further your peculiar

+taste, with which you would scarcely find any one to

+sympathize among companions of your own age.  I will rather

+believe, for your credit, that it was not so easy to leave

+your friends."

+

+"But it was very easy, for I had none."

+

+"Is that possible?" cried Fräulein von Walde.  "Did

+you have no intercourse with any one?"

+

+"Oh, yes, with the people who paid me."

+

+"You gave lessons?" asked Herr von Walde.

+

+"Yes."

+

+"But did you never feel the want of a female friend?"

+cried Helene quickly.

+

+"Never, for I have a mother," replied Elizabeth in a

+tone of deep feeling.

+

+"Happy child!" she murmured, and drooped her head.

+

+Elizabeth felt that she had unwittingly touched a sore

+place in Helene's heart.  She was sorry, and longed to

+efface the impression.  Herr von Walde seemed to read her

+thoughts in her face, for, without noticing Helene's

+emotion, he asked: "And did you desire to live in the

+Thuringian forest especially?"

+

+"Yes."

+

+"And why?"

+

+"Because I had been told from my earliest childhood

+that my family had its origin in the Thuringian forest."

+

+"Ah, yes, you belong to the Gnadewitzes."

+

+"My mother's name was Gnadewitz.  I am a Ferber,"

+answered Elizabeth, with decision.

+

+"You say that as if you were thankful that you did

+not bear the name of Gnadewitz."

+

+"I am thankful for it."

+

+"Hm!—in its time it has made a fine noise in the

+world."

+

+"None pleasant to hear."

+

+"Why, what would you have?  At every court it was

+pure gold, for it was very old, and the last of those who

+bore it were heaped with dignities and honours, on

+account of the antiquity of their name."

+

+"Pardon me, but I cannot possibly understand how—"

+she blushed, and was silent.

+

+"Go on; you have begun the sentence, and I depend

+upon hearing the end."

+

+"Well, then, how sin can be honoured, because it is

+old," she rejoined, with hesitation.

+

+"Softly! they say that several of the Gnadewitz lineage

+were brave and true."

+

+"That may be; but is there not great injustice in the

+idea of rewarding their merit, centuries after, by honouring

+those who are neither good nor true?"

+

+"Should not noble deeds live forever?"

+

+"Most certainly; but, if we refuse to emulate them,

+we certainly are not worthy to share in their rewards,"

+was Elizabeth's prompt answer.

+

+A carriage rolled up the avenue.  Herr von Walde

+frowned, and passed his hand across his eyes as if he had

+been rudely awakened from a dream.  In a moment

+the door opened, and the baroness entered.  She, as well

+as Bella, who was walking by her mother's side to-day

+with quite an air of grown-up dignity, had not yet laid

+aside her bonnet and mantle.

+

+"I am glad to be at home again," she cried.  "The air

+to-day is horrible.  I repented a hundred times having

+left the house, and shall probably atone for my maternal

+solicitude by a heavy cold.  Bella was so anxious to see

+for herself how you are, dear Helene, that I allowed her

+to come in with me."

+

+The child went directly up to the lounge.  She did not

+appear to notice Elizabeth, who was sitting close by, and

+brushed past her so rudely, as she bent to kiss Helene's

+hand, that a button upon her sack caught in the

+delicate trimming of Elizabeth's dress and tore it.  Bella

+lifted her head and glanced at the mischief she had done;

+then she turned and went across to Herr von Walde to

+give him her hand.

+

+"Well," said he, withholding his hand, "have you no

+apology to make for your awkwardness?"

+

+She made no reply, and retired to the side of her

+mother, upon whose cheeks the ominous red spots

+appeared.  The look which she cast upon Elizabeth showed

+that her daughter was not the cause of her irritation.

+

+"Well, child, can't you speak?" asked Herr von Walde,

+rising.

+

+"Fräulein Ferber sat so close," said the baroness in a

+tone of excuse, as Bella continued obstinately silent.

+

+"Indeed, I should have moved aside.  There is no great

+harm done," said Elizabeth, and she held out her hand to

+Bella with an enchanting smile.  But the child took no

+notice of it, and hid both her hands in her dress.

+

+Without a word, Herr von Walde approached her, took

+her by the arm, and led her directly to the door, which he

+opened.  "Go instantly to your room," he said, "and do

+not come where I am again unless I particularly desire

+you to do so."

+

+The baroness was raging inwardly.  Her countenance

+worked for a moment, but what could she do?  She was

+powerless to contend with the violence and barbarism of

+this man, who was master here, and who now took his

+seat again with a composure that betrayed an utter

+unconsciousness of the cruelty of his behaviour.  Her

+prudence obtained the upper hand.

+

+"I hope, dear Rudolph," said she, and her voice trembled

+a little, "that you will not reckon this slight

+misdemeanour against Bella.  Pray, make some allowance,—it

+is all the fault of her governess."

+

+"Miss Mertens?  Indeed, it must have cost her, with

+her innate gentleness and refinement, infinite pains to

+train Bella to conduct herself as she has just done."

+

+The baroness blushed scarlet; but she controlled

+herself.  "Heavens!" she cried, determined to change the

+subject; "this stupid circumstance has made me forget

+to tell you that Emil has ridden over from Odenberg.

+He got wet through on horseback, and is just changing

+his dress.  May he pay his respects?"

+

+Helene's cheeks glowed, and a ray of happiness shot

+from her eyes; but she said not a word, only drooping

+her face so as to conceal every sign of her inward agitation.

+

+"Certainly," replied Herr von Walde.  "Does he intend

+to make some stay here?"

+

+"He will be here for a few days, with your permission."

+

+"By all means.  Then we shall see him in your room

+when we come to take coffee."

+

+"He will be most happy.  Will you not come immediately?

+My maid tells me that all is in readiness there

+to receive you."

+

+Elizabeth arose, and prepared to take her leave.  Herr

+von Walde, as soon as he saw this, looked inquiringly

+at the baroness.  Doubtless he expected that she would

+extend an invitation to the young girl, but just at this

+moment the lady discovered that the gardener's arrangement

+of the flower-stand in the window was "too charming,"

+and in enraptured contemplation of a bunch of

+azaleas she turned her back upon Elizabeth.

+

+Fräulein Ferber courtesied profoundly and left the room,

+after Helene had repeated, in a trembling voice, her

+expressions of gratitude.  Without, in the corridor, she met

+Herr von Hollfeld.  At sight of her he quickened his pace,

+casting a lightning glance around to assure himself that

+no listener was near.  Before she was aware of it, he had

+seized Elizabeth's hand, imprinted a glowing kiss upon

+it, and whispered: "How rejoiced I am to see you once

+more!"

+

+Her astonishment was so great that she could not at

+first find a word to say.  She drew back her hand as

+though she had been stung, and he accepted her repulse,

+because at that very moment the door of Helene's room

+opened, and Herr von Walde appeared.  Hollfeld raised

+his hat to Elizabeth as if he had just seen her, and his

+features subsided instantly into an expression of utter

+indifference as he walked towards his relative.

+

+Elizabeth was disgusted with his farce,—first, at the

+insulting familiarity, which made her blood boil with

+indignation, and then, at the denial of any acquaintance before

+a third person.  Her maidenly pride was deeply wounded.

+She reproached herself that she had not rebuked his

+impertinence boldly upon the spot.  A crimson flush glowed

+in her cheeks with shame that she should have been

+treated so by any man; it seemed as if the spot upon

+her hand, where his hot lips had rested, still burned, and

+she hastily held it beneath the stream of a fountain in

+the park, that the imaginary stain might be washed away.

+

+Much agitated, she reached her home, and complained

+with tears to her mother of the insult that she had

+received.  Frau Ferber was a sensible woman, possessed of

+clear, calm insight.  She was convinced by Elizabeth's

+resentment that her child's heart was not in the least

+danger, and her fears were laid to rest.  It was easy to

+defend her from attacks from without; but who could

+guard her from the grief that a misplaced attachment

+would entail upon her?

+

+"You know now what manner of man Herr von Hollfeld

+is," she said.  "It will not be difficult strictly to

+avoid all future contact with him, and if he should

+presume in spite of your efforts, he must be sternly repulsed.

+His conduct seems to be the result of aristocratic

+conceit and cowardice, two qualities which will probably

+deter him from any further advances, when he discovers

+how disagreeable they are to you.  But at all events,

+familiarize yourself with the thought that your behaviour

+towards him must of necessity create an enemy who will,

+at some future day, put a stop to your intercourse with

+Fräulein von Walde.  Of course such a consideration

+cannot for one instant lead you to hesitate as to your line of

+conduct.  Go on your way then, my child, quietly and with

+self-possession.  I should certainly not advise you to give

+up your visits to Castle Lindhof."

+

+"Assuredly not! no, that I will not do!" cried Elizabeth,

+quickly.  "What would my uncle say if the chicken should

+actually come flying back to creep beneath the shelter of

+home?" she added, smiling through her tears.  "It would

+be wretched indeed, if with all the strength of which I

+have boasted, I am not strong enough to repulse an

+impertinent man so effectually that he shall desist from all

+future advances."

+

+She recalled her conversation with Herr von Walde,

+and found, to her great satisfaction, that she must

+certainly be exceedingly brave, for assuredly it had required

+no small exercise of courage, while confronting that stern

+countenance, to declare her own convictions, which

+attacked so decidedly the proud edifice of his ancestral pride.

+She had expected every moment to see his glance sheathe

+itself in ice again, as it had done in conversation with the

+baroness; but the singular glow and expression which had

+so struck her when first he addressed her, had not faded

+from his eyes,—she could almost, in fact, believe that

+she detected beneath his moustache a smile lurking

+around the corners of his mouth.  Perhaps he had

+determined to-day to enact the part of the lion towards

+the mouse.  He had magnanimously permitted a little

+girl to pour out her naive ideas at his feet, where they

+might remain lying, since to bend his aristocratic back to

+pick them up and examine them was not to be thought

+of,—they probably amused him as exemplifying the saying

+of the dog "baying the moon."  She repeated all this

+continually to herself, that she might stamp afresh upon her

+treacherous memory his general reputation for boundless

+arrogance.

+

+She could not tell how she became conscious of it, but

+she was now perfectly aware that she should suffer

+unspeakably if Herr von Walde's arrogance was ever

+exercised towards her; so she must be doubly on her guard

+and not allow herself to be misled by his observance of

+the usual forms of common politeness, of his high regard

+for which the next day brought her a most convincing

+proof.

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER XI.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER XI.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+She had just gotten ready, the next afternoon, to go into

+the garden with her work-basket, when the bell rang at the

+gate in the wall.  In consideration of the scene of the day

+before, her surprise was certainly justifiable, when, as the

+gate was opened, she saw Bella standing before her.  Behind

+the child stood Miss Mertens and the elderly gentleman

+with whom Elizabeth had lately had an evening encounter.

+As she entered Bella extended her hand, but looked shy and

+confused and said not a word.  Elizabeth, much amazed, at

+once guessed the reason of her coming, and tried to help

+her in her embarrassment by saying how glad she was to

+have a visit from a little girl, and by asking her to come

+into the garden.  But Miss Mertens stepped forward.

+

+"Do not make it all so pleasant for Bella, Fräulein

+Ferber," said she, "she has been expressly ordered to

+make an apology to you for her misconduct yesterday.  I

+must insist upon her speaking."

+

+These words, spoken with much firmness, and still

+more, perhaps, the sheltering darkness of the hall through

+which Elizabeth was leading her by the hand, at last

+loosened Bella's tongue, and she softly begged pardon for

+her fault, and promised never to be so naughty again.

+

+"And now that is happily settled," cried the gentleman,

+as he advanced to Miss Mertens' side, and with an

+arch smile made a low bow to Elizabeth.

+

+"It may, perhaps, strike you as very odd," he said,

+"that I should attach myself to this reconciliation

+deputation, with which I have no concern; but I have an idea

+that on such occasions people are rather inclined to

+overlook all slight transgressions, and so,—there can be no

+more favourable moment for the smuggling in of a

+stranger.

+

+"My name is Ernst Reinhard; I am the secretary and

+travelling companion of Herr von Walde, and I have

+had no more earnest desire for a week past than to

+become acquainted with the interesting family at Castle

+Gnadeck."

+

+Elizabeth kindly extended her hand.  "These old walls

+have witnessed so many of the misdeeds of the robber

+knights of old, that we have no right to condemn

+smuggling; you will be cordially welcomed by my parents."

+

+She led the way, and opened the huge oaken door

+leading into the garden.

+

+Her parents and uncle, who, with little Ernst, were

+sitting under the lindens, arose as the strangers entered,

+and came towards them.  Elizabeth introduced them all

+round, and then, at a sign from her mother, returned

+to the house to order some refreshments for the guests.

+When she came back again, Bella had already laid aside

+her sack and parasol, and with a joyous face was

+sitting in a swing, which had been hung between two trees.

+Ernst was swinging her, and seemed not a little proud

+of his new playmate.

+

+"Indeed," said Reinhard, pointing to Bella as she flew

+up in the swing, shouting with delight, "no one who

+had seen that child this morning and her sullen bearing,

+as she went into Herr von Walde's apartment to ask

+forgiveness for yesterday's misconduct, or her defiant and

+angry expression, when he told her that he could not

+receive her again until she had personally begged

+pardon of Fräulein Ferber,"—here Elizabeth reddened, and

+became absorbed in the preparation of some bread and

+honey for the two children,—"would recognize her for the

+same being, whose face is now beaming with the innocent

+joy of childhood."

+

+The hour passed very pleasantly.  Miss Mertens

+was both refined and cultivated, and Reinhard told many

+delightful stories of his travels and researches.

+

+"Probably we should not have thought of returning

+home for some time," he said in concluding an interesting

+account of adventures in Spain, "had we not received

+unfavourable accounts from Thuringia, which, following fast

+upon each other, induced Herr von Walde to give up new

+plans for travel.  The ambition of power often makes its

+possessor blind.  The incautious request from a feminine

+pen that Herr von Walde would pension off the good old

+village pastor at Lindhof, because he had grown prosy

+and was incapable of training the souls under his care,

+capped the climax of our unwelcome hews, and we set

+out for home immediately.

+

+"When, late in the evening, as we approached Lindhof,

+we left the highroad and our carriage, that we might go

+the rest of the way on foot, we met with a most

+charming adventure.   How odd! look, Reinhard, what do

+you suppose is the meaning of that light in the ruins

+of Castle Gnadeck?' asked Herr von Walde.  'It means

+that there is a lamp there,' was my reply.  'We must

+investigate this,' said he, and we ascended the hill.

+The light grew brighter, and at last, to our

+astonishment, we saw that it streamed from two high

+illuminated windows.  And then, light steps were heard

+behind us, something white fluttered among the bushes,

+and suddenly, what I took for a being of ethereal mould

+hovered before us upon the moonlit sward.  I took

+heart and approached, expecting every moment that the

+airy form would vanish before the breath of my lips; but

+alas! its own lips opened, and told of two well-trained

+goats and a canary bird."

+

+All laughed at this account.

+

+"While we were descending the mountain," Reinhard

+continued, "my master said not a word; but from certain

+signs I judged that he was quite as ready to laugh at me

+as you were; it would have been a fine thing if you could

+have accompanied us as a good fairy, for we left all the

+moonlight and beauty behind us upon the mountain, and

+had to walk on through the dim valley, where the mists

+were rising, and where there was nothing, not even a

+wandering zephyr to bid us welcome home.  At Castle

+Lindhof numberless lights were flitting to and fro like

+will-o'-the-wisps.  The carriage, with our luggage, had

+already arrived, and seemed to have produced the same

+effect by the sound of its rolling wheels, as that ascribed

+to the thunder at the day of judgment, for there was such

+hurry, confusion, and disorder reigning there when we

+arrived, that, for my part, I should have been thankful to

+retrace my steps, and lay my weary head upon the first

+quiet, mossy spot that I could find in the forest.  The

+only person who, in the midst of the universal agitation,

+presented an appearance of placid self possession was the

+chaplain, Möhring.  He had put on a white cravat with

+great despatch, and welcomed the master of the house at

+the foot of the grand staircase in a speech full of unction."

+

+"The reign of that stern gentleman is at an end now,

+is it not?" asked the forester.

+

+"Yes, indeed, thank God!" replied Miss Mertens.

+"He will leave Lindhof in a short time.  Baroness

+Lessen's influence has procured him a good parish.  He could

+not endure to sink back into insignificance where he had

+so lately held sway.  I can readily understand it, for he

+had ruled with all the persecuting zeal of a tyrant who

+seeks to tread every one beneath his feet.  He would

+not allow a thought in his kingdom without his

+permission, and even the baroness, his mistress, upon whom

+he smiled so servilely, felt his iron rule.  Every one in

+the household, without exception, was obliged to write

+down, in the evening, the thoughts and sentiments that

+had occurred to them during the avocations of the day.

+I can see before me now the poor housemaids, to whom

+even a short letter to their friends at home is a greater

+task than a long ironing-day, sitting in that cold room

+on the winter evenings, holding the pen in their tired

+clumsy fingers, and beating their poor brains for

+something to say.

+

+"'Yes, if the chaplain had worked as hard as I have

+done the whole day,' one would whisper softly but

+angrily to another, 'he would not relish writing much.'"

+

+"Indeed, I think so," cried the forester.  "What a

+shameful system of torture and oppression has been

+carried on there under the cloak of service to the Lord!"

+

+"The worst of it all is," said Ferber, "that unless a

+man is possessed of great culture, or of a special fund of

+good humour, he ends by detesting not only his tormentors

+but the whole subject of religion that causes him such

+suffering.  Thus, he is led more and more astray from all

+faith, while his outward observance of forms must be

+stricter than ever, his subsistence depending upon his

+wearing the mask well.  All this gives the death-blow to

+true religion among the people."

+

+"Well, we are fortunate in at least having one among

+us who has force of character enough and sufficient

+strength of will, to say, 'Thus far shalt thou go and no

+farther!'  Zounds! it came upon us like a second deluge!"

+said the forester.

+

+"True, Herr von Walde is possessed of an energy and

+force of character such as falls to the lot of but few,"

+replied Miss Mertens, quickly.  "His mouth is closed, but

+his eyes are wide open, and servility, malice, and

+hypocrisy quail before them and drop their masks."

+

+In the mean while Reinhard had been attentively

+examining the walls of the ruinous wing of the old castle

+which bounded the garden on the south.  Three large,

+pointed, arched windows, faultless in shape, extended

+upward to the height of the second story from about

+six feet from the ground.  Close beside them a curious

+jutty projected far into the garden, forming a deep

+corner, where grew a giant oak, which stretched some of its

+boughs through the two nearest sashless windows far

+into the airy, cool apartment within, which must once

+have been the chapel of the castle, intended to

+accommodate a large number of worshippers, for it extended

+through the entire depth of the wing.  Opposite these

+windows were three others of like dimensions; they had

+been less exposed to wind and weather, and had

+preserved some fragments of coloured glass in their

+delicately carved stone rosettes.  Through them could be

+seen the dark court-yard, with its crumbling, ghostly

+walls like a picture painted in gray.  The garden side of

+this wing looked gay and odd enough.  The most

+extravagant caprice had here heaped together all styles of

+windows and decorations; judging by the exterior, the old

+building must have been a perfect labyrinth of rooms,

+passages, and staircases.  The jutty alone seemed to

+be in a most dangerous state of decay.  It inclined

+perceptibly to one side, and appeared to be awaiting the

+moment when it should bury the blooming life of the oak

+beneath its masses of stone.  It had thrown a green

+mantle coquettishly over its falling form,—an impenetrable

+garment of ivy wreathed it all over from the ground to

+the ruinous roof, and effectually concealed every crack and

+aperture in the masonry.  Some sprays of the ivy had

+crept across the oak and climbed up to the sculptured

+arms on the principal front of the chapel, which looked

+forth grimly enough from beneath its intrusive decoration.

+

+"I attempted," said Ferber, "to explore this wing as

+far as I could, shortly after my arrival here, for its

+peculiar style of architecture interests me greatly; but I

+could not get farther than the chapel, where, indeed, it

+seemed dangerous to stay long.  You see the whole upper

+story has fallen in, and the weight of the ruins has caused

+the ceiling of the chapel to sink considerably, so that it

+seems ready to tumble at the slightest breath of wind.

+The jutty has only lately looked so threatening in

+consequence of several severe storms.  It must be taken

+away, for it makes a part of the garden inaccessible to us.

+If I could have engaged any workmen, it should have

+been pulled down before now."

+

+After this explanation, Reinhard had no further relish,

+as he expressed it, for wandering about in the old ruins.

+But he was all the more interested in the connecting

+building, and Ferber arose to show his guests his dwelling.

+And first, they ascended the rampart behind them.

+Ferber was very capable and skilful, and employed every

+moment of his leisure in improving his new possession.

+With his own hands he had mended the steps which led

+to the top of the rampart, and they arose now smooth

+and white from the close-shaven turf which clothed its

+sloping side.  On top, the tolerably wide plateau was

+strewn with fresh gravel, and in the centre of it,

+embowered in the linden boughs which overshadowed the basin

+below, stood a group of home-made garden chairs and a

+table.  While they leaned against the breastwork and

+enjoyed the confined but lovely view from the steep

+mountain over the valley beneath, Elizabeth told the story of

+Sabina's ancestress, for doubtless this rampart had been

+the scene of her narrative.

+

+"Br-rr!" said Reinhard, shuddering.  "What a leap it

+would have been!  The wall is high, and when I

+imagine below there, instead of that mossy carpet, the

+sluggish, slimy waters of a castle-ditch full of frogs and

+lizards, I cannot possibly understand the resolution

+required to throw one's self over."

+

+"But," said Miss Mertens, "despair has led many a

+one to seek a death even more horrible."

+

+At this moment Elizabeth saw with her mind's eye

+the glowing, passionate expression with which Hollfeld

+had hastened towards her on the preceding evening.  She

+remembered the disgust that she had experienced at

+his touch, and she thought to herself that it was not

+very difficult to imagine the position of the persecuted

+girl.

+

+"Come in, child," said her uncle, rousing her from her

+reverie.  "Are you listening to hear the grass grow that

+you stand there so silent?"

+

+Beneath his clear gaze, and at the sound of his strong,

+honest voice, the terrible vision vanished in an instant.

+"No, uncle," she replied, laughing, "that I shall not

+attempt, even though I do boast that I have wonderfully

+keen eyes and ears for the processes of nature."

+

+He took her hand, and led her after the others, who

+were just entering the house.  At the top of the steps,

+Bella came running to Miss Mertens.  She had several

+picture-books in one hand, and with the other she drew

+her governess into Elizabeth's room.

+

+"Only think, Miss Mertens, you can see our castle from

+here!" she cried.  That they were the owners of Lindhof

+she seemed firmly to believe, and no wonder.  The way

+in which the baroness had, until now, wielded her sceptre,

+had left no doubt in the child's mind that her mother was

+the indisputable mistress of Lindhof.  "Look," she

+continued gaily, "do you see the path down there?  Uncle

+Rudolph has just ridden past.  He saw me, and waved

+his hand to me.  Mamma will be glad that he is kind to

+me again."

+

+Miss Mertens admonished her to be a good little girl,

+and get her hat and sack, for it was time to go.

+

+Elizabeth and Ernst accompanied them out into the park.

+

+"We have stayed too long," said Miss Mertens anxiously,

+as she took leave of the Ferbers and stepped out

+into the forest-clearing.  "I must be prepared for a

+tempest this evening."

+

+"You think the baroness will be vexed at your

+remaining here so long?"

+

+"Without doubt."

+

+"Never mind,—you must not repent it.  We have spent

+such a delightful afternoon," said Reinhard.

+

+The children had wandered on before them, hand in

+hand, and disappeared now and then among the trees on

+either side of the path, plucking flowers.  Hector, who

+had forsaken his master to accompany them, leaped

+joyously hither and thither, never forgetting to return now

+and then to be stroked and patted by the gentle hand of

+Elizabeth, the lady of his love, as her uncle said.

+

+Suddenly he stopped, and stood still in the centre of

+the path.  They had nearly reached the borders of the

+park.  Through the forest they could see the vivid green

+of the lawn, and the plashing of the nearest fountain

+was audible.  Hector had discovered a female figure hastily

+approaching.  Elizabeth recognized her instantly as silent

+Bertha, although her whole appearance seemed strangely

+altered.

+

+She could have had no idea that any one was near,

+for, as she walked, she gesticulated violently with her

+arms.  Her cheeks were crimson, her eyebrows contracted

+as though in the greatest agony of mind, and her lips

+moved as though she were talking to herself.  Her white

+hat, which she had decked with flowers, had slipped from

+her dark braids, and was hanging upon her neck by its

+loose red strings, which, as her motions grew still more

+earnest, became wholly untied, and the hat fell on the

+ground without the knowledge of its owner.

+

+She came rapidly forward, and did not raise her eyes

+until just as she stood close to Elizabeth.  Then she

+started as though stung by an adder.  In a moment the

+expression of anguish upon her countenance was changed

+to one of the bitterest anger.  Hate flashed from her eyes,

+her hands clenched convulsively, and while something

+like a low hiss escaped her lips, she seemed as if about

+to spring, raging, upon the young girl.  Reinhard

+instantly placed himself by Elizabeth's side, and drew her

+slightly back.  When Bertha saw him, she uttered a low

+cry, and rushed madly into the thicket, through which

+she forced a path, although her clothes were torn by the

+thorns, and she struck her forehead against the drooping

+boughs.  In a few moments she was lost to sight.

+

+"That was Bertha, from the Lodge!" cried Miss Mertens,

+with surprise.  "What can have happened to her?"

+

+"Yes,—what can have happened?" repeated

+Reinhard.  "The young creature was in a state of terrible

+excitement, and seemed to grow actually furious at sight

+of you," turning to Elizabeth.  "Is she related to you?"

+

+"No indeed," she replied.  "She is only distantly

+connected with my uncle, and I do not even know her.

+She has avoided me from the beginning most resolutely,

+although I wished much to be on friendly terms with

+her.  It is clear that she hates me, but I cannot tell

+why.  Of course it troubles me, but her character is not

+sufficiently pleasing to induce me to attach much

+importance to her dislike."

+

+"Good Heavens, my child, there is no question of

+dislike here!  The little fury would have gladly torn you to

+pieces with her teeth."

+

+"I am not afraid of her," replied Elizabeth, smiling.

+

+"But I would advise you to be careful," said Miss

+Mertens.  "There was something actually demoniac in her

+looks.  Where could she have been?"

+

+"Probably at the castle," remarked Elizabeth, as she

+picked up Bertha's hat, and brushed the moss and dried

+leaves from it.

+

+"I think not," rejoined Miss Mertens.  "Since she has

+been dumb she has, very strangely, ceased visiting

+Lindhof.  Before then she came every day, attended the Bible

+Class, and was a great protegée of the baroness, but

+suddenly it all came to an end, to the surprise of all.  Only

+now and then, in my solitary rambles in the park, I have

+seen her gliding through the bushes like a snake,—indeed

+she seems to me to bear an affinity to that reptile."

+

+They had already reached one of the gravelled paths

+leading through the park, and it was time to take leave of

+each other.  They separated with mutual cordiality.

+

+"Now, Elsie," said Ernst, as the other three vanished

+behind a group of trees, "we'll see which of us will reach

+the corner first."  The corner was the entrance to a narrow

+forest-path which led directly to the foot of the mountain.

+

+"Agreed, my darling," laughed Elizabeth, and began to

+run.  At first she kept even step with the little boy who

+was beside her; but just before the goal was reached, she

+flew forward lightly as a feather, and stood in the entrance

+of the path, and, to her terror, close to the head of a horse

+which snorted violently.  Hector, who was by her side,

+barked loudly.  The horse leaped aside and stood erect

+upon his hind legs.

+

+"Back!" cried a powerful voice.  Elizabeth snatched op

+the little boy and sprang with him out of the way, while

+the horse rushed out of the forest, and, scarcely touching

+the ground with his hoofs, galloped madly across the

+meadow.  Herr von Walde was seated upon the frightened

+animal, which did its best to throw its rider.  He,

+however, sat firm as a rock; only once he leaned from

+his saddle and struck with his riding-whip at Hector, who

+was leaping and barking about the horse, greatly

+increasing its fright.  For awhile it bounded wildly over

+the meadow, then suddenly turned away and disappeared

+into the forest.

+

+Elizabeth's teeth fairly chattered with fright at the

+horrible accident which she had no doubt would shortly occur.

+She took Ernst by the hand and was about to run to the

+castle for assistance, when, before she had gone many steps,

+she saw the horseman returning.  The animal was much

+more quiet, his bit was covered with foam, and his legs

+trembled.  Herr von Walde patted his neck caressingly,

+sprang off, tied him to a tree, and then approached Elizabeth.

+

+"Pray forgive me," she said in a trembling voice, as

+soon as he stood beside her.

+

+"What for, my child?" he rejoined gently.  "You have

+done nothing.  Come, sit down upon this bank, you are

+deadly pale."

+

+He moved as if to take her hand and lead her to the

+spot which he had designated, but his arm dropped

+instantly by his side.  Elizabeth mechanically obeyed

+him, and without another word he seated himself beside

+her.  Little Ernst leaned against his sister and fixed his

+large beautiful full eyes upon Herr von Walde's face.  The

+boy had been frightened for one moment when the horse

+had first appeared, but the gallop around the meadow had

+amused him, for he had no suspicion of danger.

+

+"What did you intend to do when you came running

+so hastily into the forest?" Herr von Walde asked

+Elizabeth after a short silence.

+

+An arch smile played about the still pale lips of the

+young girl.  "I was pursued," she replied.

+

+"By whom?"

+

+"By this boy," pointing to Ernst, "We were running a race."

+

+"Is the little one your brother?"

+

+"Yes;" she looked lovingly in the boy's face and passed

+her hand over his dark curls.

+

+"And she is my only sister," said the little fellow with

+great emphasis.

+

+"Indeed!  Well, you seem quite fond of this only

+sister," said Herr von Walde.

+

+"Oh yes; I love her dearly.  She plays with me just like

+a boy."

+

+"Is it possible?"

+

+"Oh yes; if I want to play soldiers she puts on just

+the same kind of paper hat that she makes for me, and

+marches, drumming up and down the garden, just as long

+as I choose.  And before I go to bed she tells me lovely

+stories while I am eating my supper."

+

+A bright smile broke over Herr von Walde's face.

+Elizabeth had never seen it before, and she found that it

+gave an indescribable charm to features which she had

+thought immovably stern; it seemed to her like a clear

+sunbeam breaking through a thick, cloudy sky.

+

+"You are quite right, my boy," he said, drawing the

+child towards him; "those are most valuable talents to

+possess; but is she never angry?" he asked, pointing to

+Elizabeth, who was enjoying like a child, Ernst's

+revelations, which seemed comical enough to her.

+

+"No, never angry," replied the boy, "only serious

+sometimes, and then she always plays on the piano."

+

+"But, Ernst——"

+

+"Oh yes, Elsie," he interrupted her eagerly; "don't

+you remember when we were so poor in B——?"

+

+"Ah, there you are right," she replied with

+composure; "but it was only when papa and mamma had to

+work so hard that we might have bread to eat; it was

+much better afterwards."

+

+"But you still play on the piano?"

+

+"Yes," answered Elizabeth laughing, "but no longer

+for the reason which Ernst gives.  My father and mother

+are now provided for."

+

+"And you?" Herr von Walde persisted.

+

+"Oh, I?  I am quite brave enough to fight life's battle

+and win my own independence in the struggle?"

+

+"How do you propose to do it?"

+

+"Next year I shall go somewhere as a governess."

+

+"Does not Miss Mertens' example deter you?"

+

+"Not at all.  I am not so weak as to wish for a

+luxurious life while so many others in my circumstances

+take upon themselves so bravely the yoke of service."

+

+"But here there is question not only of service but

+of endurance.  You are proud.  It is not only your look

+at this moment which tells me so, but every sentiment

+which you uttered yesterday."

+

+"Indeed, it may, perhaps, be pride that induces

+me to rank real dignity of character far above any

+mere exterior advantages which egotism has invented

+and maintains, and for that very reason I believe that

+one human being can humble another only by setting

+before him an example of moral and intellectual greatness

+which it is impossible for him to imitate,—never by

+insulting treatment."

+

+"And you think that these views will steel you against

+all the mortifications great and little which a heartless,

+capricious mistress might heap upon you?"

+

+"Oh no, but I need never bow before her."

+

+A short pause ensued, during which Ernst approached

+the horse, examining him attentively.

+

+"From what you said yesterday, I gathered that you

+are attached to your present home," Herr von Walde

+began again.

+

+"Yes, more than I can tell."

+

+"Ah!  I can understand that, for this is the loveliest

+spot in Thuringia.  How then can you so easily endure

+the thought of leaving it again?"

+

+"On the contrary, I shall not find it at all easy; but

+my father has taught me that our pleasures must yield to

+our necessities, and I understand perfectly that it must

+be so.  I confess that I cannot easily comprehend how one

+can give up what is so pleasant except at the command of

+necessity."

+

+"Ah! that was aimed at me.  You cannot conceive

+how a man can voluntarily hide himself in the pyramids

+when he might breathe the cool, sunny air of Thuringia."

+

+Elizabeth felt a burning blush suffuse her cheeks.  Herr

+von Walde had humourously alluded here to the jesting

+conversation that she had had with her uncle, to which

+he had been an involuntary listener.

+

+"If I should attempt to explain this to you I should

+fail, for you seem to me to find all that you look for in

+your home circle," he said after a moment's silence.

+He had leaned forward and was mechanically drawing

+figures with his riding-whip upon the ground at his feet.

+He spoke in those deep tones which always appealed

+powerfully to Elizabeth's mind.  "But there is a time for

+some of us," he continued, "when we rush out into the

+world, to forget in its whirl and novelty that we cannot

+find happiness at home.  If a man cannot fill up a

+painful void in his existence, he can at least ignore it by

+devoting himself to science."

+

+This, then, was the sore spot in his heart.  He had

+not found the affection in his own home that he longed

+for, and that he had a right to claim and expect from a

+sister for whom he manifested always the purest and

+most self-sacrificing tenderness.

+

+Elizabeth had comprehended this pain, even before she

+had seen Herr von Walde, and, at this moment, when he

+alluded to it so openly, she longed most fervently to

+console him.  Words of sympathy hovered upon her lips, but

+she was possessed suddenly by an unconquerable shyness

+which prevented her from speaking; and as she glanced

+up at him and marked the firm lines of his profile and his

+brow which was so proud and commanding, while his

+voice sounded so gentle and melancholy, the embarrassing

+suspicion flashed upon her that he had forgotten for a

+moment who was sitting beside him; his aristocratic ideas

+would cause him bitterly to repent the moment when, under

+the influence of a sudden self-forgetfulness, he had revealed

+a glimpse of his sternly guarded consciousness to an

+insignificant girl.  This thought dyed her cheeks again; she

+arose quickly and called Ernst.  Herr von Walde turned

+in surprise, and for an instant his eyes rested searchingly

+upon her face; then he also arose, and, as if to confirm

+her suspicion, stood at once proudly calm and composed

+before her,—but she noticed for the first time that sad,

+gloomy expression between the eyebrows, which her

+father had spoken of, and which impressed her just as his

+voice had done.

+

+"You are usually very quick to think,"—he said,

+evidently trying to give the conversation a gayer turn, and

+slowly walking along by Elizabeth's side,—she was going

+for Ernst who had not heard her call.  "Before one has

+quite finished a sentence the answer is plainly ready on

+your lips.  Your silence, therefore, at this moment, tells

+me that I was quite right when I said that you would not

+understand me, because you have found all the happiness

+that you look for."

+

+"The idea of happiness is so different with different

+people, that indeed I hardly know."

+

+"We all have the same idea," he interrupted her; "it

+may still slumber in you."

+

+"Oh, no!" she cried, forgetting her reserve and with

+enthusiasm,—"I love my friends with my whole heart,

+and am most happily conscious that I am loved in

+return!"

+

+"Ah, then you did not quite misunderstand me!  Well,—and

+your friends,—there must be a large circle to whom

+you open your heart?"

+

+"No," she cried, laughing,—"their tale is soon told!

+My parents, my uncle, and this little fellow here," and she

+took Ernst by the hand as he came running to her, "who

+grows larger and makes more demands upon me every

+year.  But now we must go, my darling," she said to the

+child, "or mamma will be anxious."

+

+She bowed courteously to Herr von Walde,—it seemed

+to her that the shade upon his brow had disappeared.

+He raised his hat to her and shook hands with

+Ernst,—then he walked slowly towards the horse that was

+pawing impatiently, untied it, and led it away by the

+bridle.

+

+"Do you know, Elsie," said Ernst, as they were ascending

+the mountain, "whom Herr von Walde looks like?"

+

+"Whom?"

+

+"The brave knight of St. George, just when he has

+killed the dragon."

+

+"Aha!" she laughed.  "But you have never seen any

+picture of the brave knight."

+

+"I know that.  Still I think he looks like him."

+

+And she too had thought of the resemblance when she

+had seen him controlling his unruly steed.  At this moment

+she remembered the pang she had suffered at the thought

+of a probable accident, and her unspeakable delight at

+seeing him return from the thicket unharmed.  She stood

+still, and with a smile of wonder laid her hand upon her

+throbbing heart.

+

+"Now see," said Ernst, "you have been running too

+quickly up the mountain.  I could not keep up with you.

+What would uncle say if he knew it?"

+

+She walked slowly on, like one in a dream.  She

+scarcely heard the child's reproof.  What then was this

+strange half-consciousness which had yesterday mingled

+itself with her melodies, causing them to mourn and to

+rejoice at the same moment?  Again she felt it take

+possession of her soul more mightily and intoxicatingly than

+before, but it was just as mysterious and incomprehensible.

+

+"But, Elsie," cried Ernst, impatiently, "what is the

+matter with you?  You are walking so slowly that it will

+be dark before we reach home."

+

+He took hold of her dress, and tried to pull her on.

+This call from the outer world was too energetic to be

+any longer withstood,—Elizabeth roused herself and

+walked on quickly, to the child's entire content.

+

+When they reached the castle Elizabeth laid Bertha's

+hat, which was still hanging upon her arm, upon the table.

+She was unwilling to mention her meeting with the girl

+to her parents, for she rightly judged that it would make

+them anxious, and that they would relate the occurrence

+to her uncle, who had been so angry and bitter of late

+whenever Bertha was alluded to, that Elizabeth feared

+that if he heard of the meeting in the wood he would put

+a stop to the annoyance by immediately dismissing the

+cause of it from the Lodge.  Ernst had noticed neither the

+hat nor her desire to conceal it, so there was no danger

+that he would betray her.

+

+After supper Elizabeth walked down to the Lodge.  She

+met Sabina in the garden, and heard to her satisfaction

+that her uncle had gone to Lindhof.  She gave the hat

+to the old housekeeper, and told her of Bertha's

+extraordinary behaviour, asking in conclusion whether she were

+at home yet.  Sabina was indignant.

+

+"Indeed I think, child, that if you had been alone she

+would have scratched your eyes out.  I don't know what

+will become of her.  These last few days she has been

+worse than ever.  She does not sleep at nights, but walks

+up and down in her room, talking again—but only to

+herself.  If I had but the courage to open her door just when

+she is at the worst,—but I could not do it though you

+would give me heaps of gold.  You will laugh at me, I

+know; but she's not right.  Look at her eyes—they

+sparkle and glow as though all the fire of the Blocksberg were

+burning in them.  No, I shall hold my tongue; the Herr

+Forester sleeps soundly, and so do the rest,—but I wake

+at the slightest noise, and I know perfectly well that

+Bertha is up and away many a night, and when she goes the

+great watch-dog is gone too from his kennel.  He is the

+only one in the house that loves her; and, fierce as he is,

+he never touches her."

+

+"Does my uncle know this?" asked Elizabeth with surprise.

+

+"Not for the world!  I wouldn't for my life tell him,

+for who knows what mischief would come of it?"

+

+"But, Sabina, only think.  You may do great harm to

+my uncle by remaining silent.  The house is so lonely if

+there is no dog in the yard——"

+

+"But I stand at the window of my room and watch

+until she comes from the mountain and chains up the dog

+again."

+

+"What a tremendous sacrifice to make to your superstition!

+Why not tell Bertha——"

+

+"Hush! not so loud, there she sits!"  Sabina pointed

+through the fence to the pear tree in the court-yard.  Upon

+the stone bench under the tree Bertha was sitting,

+apparently quite composed, trimming carrots.  The crimson of

+excitement had passed away from cheek and brow, and

+given place to a livid pallor.  Elizabeth could see now

+that the girl had lately grown much thinner.  Her delicate

+nose looked pinched, and her cheeks had lost their lovely

+oval.  There were dark ridges around her eyes, and

+between her eyebrows there were two deep wrinkles in

+the delicate skin which gave a sullen expression to

+the face, but, in connection with certain lines around

+the mouth, lent an air of deep melancholy to her look.

+The sight cut Elizabeth to the heart.  Some misery was

+burdening the soul of that lonely creature, misery all the

+harder to endure because it was borne in silence.  She

+forgot all the dislike of her which Bertha had always

+shown, and took several quick steps towards her, that

+she might lay that weary head upon her breast and

+say, "Rest here, poor child!  Tell me of the grief that

+you are struggling with in such loneliness, and I promise

+to aid you to endure——" but Sabina seized her arm and

+detained her.

+

+"You must not go," she whispered in terror; "I will

+not let you.  She is just in a condition to stick that knife

+into you."

+

+"But she is so terribly unhappy.  Perhaps I can

+convince her that only the kindliest sympathy moves me."

+

+"No, no!  I'll soon show you whether anything can

+be done with her."

+

+Sabina descended the steps into the court-yard.  Bertha

+let her approach without raising her eyes.

+

+"Fräulein, Elizabeth found it," said Sabina, holding

+the hat towards her; then she laid her hand upon the

+girl's shoulder, and continued kindly: "She would like

+to say a few words to you."

+

+Bertha started up as if she had received a deadly

+insult.  She angrily shook off Sabina's hand, and darted

+a furious glance towards the spot where Elizabeth was

+standing,—a proof that she had known before that she

+was there.  She threw her knife upon the table, and by

+a hasty gesture overset the basket at her feet, so that

+the carrots were scattered around upon the pavement.

+She ran into the house.  They heard her through the

+open window shut the door of her own room and bolt

+it behind her.

+

+Elizabeth was stupefied with surprise mingled with

+much pain.  She would have so liked to console the

+wretched girl, but she now perceived that it was not to

+be thought of.

+

+For a week past she had been daily to the castle.

+Fräulein von Walde had been steadily improving in

+health since the afternoon when, as the baroness tenderly

+expressed it, she had found a cure in the coffee which she

+herself had prepared, and in Herr von Hollfeld's arrival.

+She was diligently practising several duets, and at last

+confided to Elizabeth that she wished to celebrate her

+brother's birthday fête the last of August.  It was to be

+a very splendid celebration, for she intended to make it

+also a welcome home to the long absent traveller.  On

+that day he should first hear her play again after so many

+years, and she knew what a pleasant surprise it would

+be to him.

+

+Elizabeth always looked forward with a mixture of

+pleasure and dread to these practisings.  She did not

+know why herself; but the castle and park had

+suddenly become dear and attractive to her; she even had a

+kind of tender regard for the bank where she had sat

+with Herr von Walde, as if it were an old friend; she

+made a little circuit in order to pass by it.  Herr von

+Hollfeld's behaviour inspired her, on the contrary, with

+very different feelings.  After she had several times

+foiled his attempts to meet her by a hasty avoidance

+of him, he came to Fräulein von Walde's room, one

+day, and begged permission to remain there during

+the lesson.  To Elizabeth's terror, Helene, with delight

+beaming in her eyes, assured him that he was doubly

+welcome as a convert who had hitherto had no taste

+whatever for music.  He now made his appearance

+regularly, silently laying some fresh flowers upon the piano

+before Helene as he entered, in consequence of which

+she invariably struck several false chords.  Then he retired

+to a deep window-seat whence he could look the players

+directly in the face.  As long as the practising continued

+he covered his eyes with his hand, as if he wished to shut

+out the world that he might resign himself entirely to the

+charms of music.  But, to Elizabeth's vexation, she soon

+observed that he only covered his face so as to conceal

+it from Helene; from behind his hand he stared the whole

+time fixedly at Elizabeth, following her every motion.  She

+shuddered beneath those eyes which, usually so dull and

+expressionless, always burned with a peculiar fire when he

+looked at her.  Under this hateful ordeal she often had to

+exercise great self-control in order to play correctly.

+

+Helene apparently had no suspicion of the cunning

+which Hollfeld had employed to attain his end.  She

+often stopped playing for awhile and conversed with him,

+that is, she talked herself, and, usually, very well.  She

+listened to his monosyllabic replies,—which were empty

+and foolish enough,—as if they were the words of an

+oracle wherein more meaning than met the ear was to

+be found.

+

+He always departed a few minutes before the end of

+the lesson.  The first time that he did so, Elizabeth

+discovered him from one of the hall windows that

+commanded an extensive view of the park, standing waiting

+at the entrance of the forest-path, by which she must pass.

+She defeated his intention, not without secret self-gratulation,

+by paying a visit of an hour to Miss Mertens, who

+received her with open arms; and she grew so fond

+of the governess that she never passed the door of her

+room without entering for an hour's quiet talk.

+

+Miss Mertens was almost always depressed and sad.

+She saw that her stay at Lindhof was becoming impossible.

+The baroness, suddenly deprived of her sovereign

+authority and its consequent manifold occupations, was

+often bored nearly to death.  She was obliged to wear

+her mask of gentleness and content while she was with

+her relatives, which was hard enough, and therefore all

+her ill humour had to be pent up within the locked doors

+of her own apartment.  But she never vented it upon

+Bella, for, looking upon her child more as a born baroness

+than as a daughter, she restrained herself; nor upon her

+old waiting-maid, for whom she had, no one knew why,

+what the old steward Lorenz called "an ungodly sort of

+respect."  Nor could she scold the lower servants without

+offending the master of the house, and therefore all her

+malice was wreaked upon the unfortunate and defenceless

+governess.

+

+In order to torment her victim most thoroughly, the

+lady ordered the lessons to be daily conducted beneath

+her own most illustrious eyes.  In presence of the pupil,

+the methods of the teacher were perpetually analyzed

+and criticised.  It was no wonder that Bella did not improve

+under such instructions, and her nerves, too, were sure to

+be ruined, for Miss Mertens had the most disagreeable

+voice in teaching in the world,—how, too, could the child

+be expected to be graceful while she had constantly before

+her eyes the angular, clumsy manner in which her

+governess held her book and turned over the leaves, etc.?

+In history, Miss Mertens' reflections were quite too

+sentimental, or too plebeian, and, besides, she was so

+outrageously impertinent "as to have opinions of her own."  In

+some cases the lesson was deliberately interrupted; the

+baroness placed herself in the teacher's chair, and the

+governess was obliged to listen reverentially to a lecture

+full of supercilious scorn and aristocratic arrogance.

+If the lady needed support, the chaplain, Herr Möhring,

+was sent for.  And then, the nettle-stings of her

+discourse vanished into insignificance by the side of the

+cruelty with which the unappreciated martyr invoked upon

+the head of the wretched governess all the gall of his

+suppressed sermons.  The baroness must have known

+that the chaplain's French was execrable,—but she

+requested him to be present during the French hour that he

+might correct Miss Mertens' accent.  Bella's improvement

+was forgotten in the overflow of her mother's petty malice.

+

+Sometimes Miss Mertens would declare, with tears,

+that only love for her mother, who looked to her for

+support, induced her to submit to this martyrdom.  The old

+lady was almost entirely dependent upon the exertions

+of her daughter, and therefore any change of situation

+was very undesirable in view of the pecuniary loss

+which must attend it But however depressed her

+spirits might be, her gentle face brightened whenever

+Elizabeth knocked at the door, and asked, in her sweet,

+fresh accents, if she might come in.  At sight of the

+young girl all her care and anxiety took flight, and as

+they sat together on the little sofa by the window they

+had many a happy hour, and the poor governess seemed

+to live over again her own youthful days, and Elizabeth

+gained not a little from the fund of knowledge and riper

+experience of her more mature friend.

+

+These brief afternoon visits had also a secret charm

+for Elizabeth, which she would not for the world have

+confessed, and which, nevertheless, caused her heart to

+throb quickly, and an undefined sensation of mingled joy

+and anxiety to possess her as she knocked at the door.

+

+The windows of Miss Mertens' room looked out upon

+a large court-yard, which Elizabeth used to call the

+convent garden,—it lay so retired and quiet, encircled by its

+four high walls.  Some spreading lindens cast their green

+shade upon the rich grassy soil, only intersected here and

+there by narrow paved paths.  In the centre of the space

+was a fountain, which supplied the house with delicious

+water, and upon the edge of the large basin several

+marble figures were reposing their white limbs, bathed in the

+green light that broke through the overhanging trees.

+When the sun poured his fierce rays, like melted lead,

+upon the open parts of the park and garden, this spot

+was always refreshingly cool.  A door upon the ground-floor,

+leading from the court-yard directly into Herr von

+Walde's library, almost always stood open.  Now and

+then he himself would issue from it, and pace to and

+fro with folded arms.  What thoughts lay hidden behind

+that fine white forehead, when, after walking thus for

+awhile, with his head sunk upon his breast, he suddenly

+raised it, as if roused from some delightful dream!  Miss

+Mertens often remarked that he seemed to have returned

+from his travels much altered.

+

+Before his departure, she said, Herr von Walde's face

+had seemed to her like that of a statue, so serious and

+immovable; and although she had always known him

+to be a man of genuine nobility of character, she had

+been oppressed when near him by the icy coldness of his

+manner.  Now it seemed to her as if some revivifying

+hand had passed over his nature; even his step was

+lighter and more elastic, and she would maintain that, in

+his pacings to and fro in the court yard, a smile frequently

+broke over his face, as if he saw, in imagination, some

+vision that delighted him.  While she talked thus, Miss

+Mertens would smile and declare mysteriously that he

+must certainly have brought home some very agreeable

+memories with him, and that she could not refrain from

+suspecting that matters at Lindhof would soon wear a

+different aspect.  She never noticed the involuntary start

+of her young friend when she arrived at this conclusion,

+and Elizabeth was equally unaware of it, for the pang

+that she felt at such an idea, made her utterly incapable

+of controlling her external behaviour.

+

+The quiet pacing to and fro beneath the lindens was,

+however, often interrupted, not only by Herr von Walde's

+workmen and men upon business, but by the needy and

+unfortunate, who would come timidly down the steps, ushered

+by a servant, and stand with bowed heads before the

+commanding figure that confronted them, until they were

+encouraged by the gentle tones of his voice to speak, as

+he kindly bent down to catch their whispered words.

+They always left him greatly cheered, for those who

+were not worthy of his assistance did not dare to present

+themselves before him.

+

+One day Elizabeth set out for Castle Lindhof a half hour

+earlier than usual.  The fact was that her father, in

+returning at noon from the Lodge, had met Miss Mertens in

+the forest.  She had evidently been weeping, and was

+unable to speak at the moment; she had merely bowed

+and passed hurriedly on.  This intelligence made

+Elizabeth very anxious.  She would not for the world have

+postponed her visit to the governess until the end of her

+lesson,—the lonely woman was certainly in need of love

+and friendly sympathy.

+

+Just across the large meadow which bordered upon the

+forest was a charming pavilion.  A dark grove

+surrounded the graceful structure upon three sides, so that

+its white front stood out in shining contrast with the green

+shade.  It had hitherto been kept closed, although the

+outside shutters to the windows were thrown back and

+Elizabeth had seen that the room within was furnished

+most luxuriously.  But to-day, as she issued from the

+forest, she saw that the doors of the pavilion were

+wide open.  A servant, with a waiter in his hand, stepped

+out and requested her to enter.  As she approached she

+could see that Fräulein von Walde, the baroness, and

+Hollfeld were drinking coffee in the pretty room which

+constituted the whole interior of the building.

+

+"You are a little too early to-day, my child," said

+Helene, as her young friend appeared upon the threshold.

+Elizabeth replied that she wished to pay a visit to Miss

+Mertens before the practising.

+

+"Ah! pray let that go to-day," said Helene, quickly,

+but evidently confused, while the baroness looked up from

+her crotchet-work with a malicious smile.  "Do you know

+that a large package of new music has just come from

+Leipzig?" continued Fräulein von Walde; "I have looked

+over it slightly, the pieces are beautiful.  Perhaps we can

+find among them just the thing that we want for our

+concert.  Sit down, we will go to the castle together."

+

+She offered Elizabeth a basket of cake, and put a

+magnificent pear upon her plate.

+

+At this moment, Herr von Walde's dog came bounding

+into the room; instantly both ladies were on the alert and

+expectant; Helene looked towards the door with a manifest

+effort to seem quiet and unconstrained, but the baroness

+threw her work into a basket, examined the coffee-pot to

+see whether the coffee was still hot, placed a cup near

+the sugar basin, and drew a chair up to the table.  The

+malicious smile was replaced by an air of grave reserve,

+and she was apparently resolved to make as dignified and

+imposing an appearance as possible.  At sight of the dog,

+Hollfeld hastened into the garden, and came back in a few

+moments with Herr von Walde, who had evidently just

+returned from a drive, for he wore a gray dust coat and

+a round felt hat.

+

+"We were afraid, dear Rudolph," Helene cried out to

+him as soon as he appeared, while she half arose and

+held out her hand,—"that we should not see you at all

+to day."

+

+"I found more business awaiting me at L—— than I

+had anticipated," he replied, seating himself, not upon the

+chair which had been placed for him, but upon the sofa

+by the side of his sister, so that when Elizabeth raised

+her eyes she looked him full in the face, for he sat directly

+opposite to her.  "Besides," he continued, "I have been

+at home full half an hour, but Reinhard wished to speak

+with me upon private business which required immediate

+action, and so I nearly lost the pleasure of taking coffee

+with you, my dear Helene."

+

+"That miserable Reinhard!" and Fräulein von Walde

+pouted a little; "he might have waited awhile,—the

+world would still have turned around."

+

+"Ah! dear child," sighed the baroness, "we cannot

+alter these things.  We are condemned all our lives long

+to be the slaves of our inferiors."

+

+Herr von Walde quietly turned towards her, and his

+glance measured her slowly from head to foot.

+

+"Well, why do you look at me so, my dear Rudolph?"

+she asked, not without a tinge of uneasiness in her tone.

+

+"I looked to see whether you really seemed fitted to

+play one of those sad parts in Uncle Tom's Cabin."

+

+"Always ridicule when I look for sympathy," rejoined

+the lady, endeavouring to lend a gentle, melancholy tone

+to her harsh voice.  "I might have known it, but——"  She

+sighed again.  "We do not all possess your enviable

+equanimity, which is never affected by the petty annoyances

+and necessary evils of this life.  We poor women have our

+miserable nerves, which make us doubly sensitive to

+everything that jars upon our minds.  If you had seen me this

+morning, in what a wretched condition I was——"

+

+"Indeed!"

+

+"I have been tried inconceivably.  Well, Miss Mertens

+must answer for it."

+

+"Has she injured you?"

+

+"What an expression!  My dear Rudolph, how could

+a person in her situation injure me?  She has vexed me,—made

+me exceedingly angry!"

+

+"I am greatly pleased to see that you do not bend

+without a struggle to the yoke of bondage."

+

+"I have lately had to endure more than I can tell with

+that stupid creature," the baroness continued, without

+heeding her cousin's comment.  "My maternal duties are sacred

+in my eyes, and therefore I have been obliged to superintend

+my child's instruction.  It is, of course, a matter of

+great moment to me that her youthful mind should be

+rightly trained.  Unfortunately, I have become more and

+more convinced that Miss Mertens' knowledge is very

+limited and her views and principles not those which I

+should wish adopted by a young girl of Bella's rank in

+life.  This morning I heard the silly woman telling the

+child that nobility of soul was far superior to nobility of

+birth—as though the one could be separated from the

+other,—and that she ranked a beggar with a clear conscience

+above a crowned head whose conscience was not pure;

+and a quantity more of the same stuff.  When I tell you

+that Bella, the Lord willing, will live at court,—I have

+all but secured the post of maid of honour at the court of

+B—— for her,—you will readily conclude that I

+interrupted such teaching upon the spot.  You must admit,

+my dear Rudolph, that, with such views, Bella would

+play a poor part at court—nay, even her stay there would

+be quite impossible."

+

+"Certainly, there is no doubt of that."

+

+"Thank Heaven!" cried the baroness, breathing freely.

+"I was really in a little doubt as to how you would

+receive Miss Mertens' dismissal.  You know you always

+valued her far above her deserts.  She was so impertinent

+when I interfered with her lessons that there was nothing

+for me to do but to send her away."

+

+"I have no right to lay down laws to you with regard

+to your people," replied Herr von Walde, coldly.

+

+"But I always try to please you as far as I can,

+my good Rudolph.  I cannot tell you how rejoiced I

+am that I shall see no more of that repulsive English

+face."

+

+"I am sorry that you will not be able entirely to avoid

+it, since she will still remain under the same roof,—my

+secretary Reinhard was betrothed to her about half an

+hour ago."

+

+The work dropped from the baroness' fingers.  This

+time not only her cheek but also her brow was suffused

+with crimson.

+

+"Has the man lost his senses?" she cried at last,

+recovering from her stupefaction.

+

+"I think not, since he has just given such proof of being

+in full possession of them," said Herr von Walde, with

+composure.

+

+"Well, I must say that he plays his part of antiquary

+well.  Such a lovely, blooming, young bride!" cried the

+lady contemptuously, endeavouring to laugh heartily.

+Hollfeld joined in her laughter, thus giving the first sign

+of his having heard the conversation.  Helene cast a

+troubled glance at him; but this mirth cut Elizabeth to

+the soul,—she felt the greatest indignation stirring within

+her.

+

+"I hope," the baroness began again, "that you will not

+take it ill of me——"

+

+"What now?"

+

+"That I cannot consent to associate with that person

+any longer."

+

+"I cannot force you to anything, Amalie, any more than

+I can forbid my secretary to marry."

+

+"But you can dismiss him if he chooses a wife who

+makes his residence beneath your roof disagreeable to

+your nearest relatives."

+

+"That I cannot do either; he has been engaged by

+me for life, and I have just secured to his future wife a

+pension in case of his death.  Besides, you make a slight

+mistake, my good cousin, if you suppose that anything

+in the world could induce me to allow a man to leave

+me whom I have always found faithful.  I am much

+pleased with Reinhard's choice, and have allotted him

+the use of the apartments upon the ground-floor of the

+north wing during his life.  His mother-in-law will reside

+with him."

+

+"Well, I congratulate him upon that valuable

+acquisition," replied the baroness, and her sharp voice

+trembled with anger.  "I will, however, make one

+remark: as I cannot bring myself to endure the presence

+of that person in my apartments for a day longer, she

+must provide herself with some place where she can stay

+until her marriage.  Probably even you will see, my

+dear Rudolph, that there is a manifest impropriety in the

+interesting pair's still living, under present circumstances,

+beneath the same roof."

+

+"Permit me," said Elizabeth, here turning to Helene,

+"I am very sure that my parents would extend a warm

+welcome to Miss Mertens,—we have quite room enough."

+

+"Ah, thank you!—matters could not be better arranged,"

+answered Fräulein von Walde,—extending her hand to her

+young friend.  The baroness shot an angry glance at

+Elizabeth.

+

+"The affair will thus be settled very satisfactorily,"

+she said, preserving her composure with difficulty.  "I

+will contain myself, and hope in all humility that the

+future Frau Reinhard will vouchsafe me a spot where I

+shall be relieved from the sight of her disagreeable

+countenance.  Apropos, Fräulein Ferber," she continued after

+awhile, in a careless tone, "I have just remembered

+that the money for your lessons has been for several days

+in the hands of my maid; just knock at her door as you

+go by, and she will give it to you with a receipt, which

+you will please sign."

+

+"But, Amalie!" exclaimed Helene.

+

+"I will do as you desire, madame," replied Elizabeth,

+quietly.  She had noticed that while the baroness was

+speaking a lightning flash of rage shot from Herr von

+Walde's eyes, a thunder-cloud seemed to pass over his

+countenance, but in a moment these witnesses to his

+agitation gave place to a look of withering sarcasm.

+

+"If I might offer a little advice, Fräulein," he said,

+turning to Elizabeth,—"I should counsel you not to

+venture rashly into the baroness' apartments,—they are

+uncanny.  Evil spirits are seen there in broad daylight, and

+they have often worked mischief.  Do not give yourself

+the slightest trouble in the matter,—my steward shall

+attend to it; he is thoroughly trustworthy, and manages

+such affairs with so much delicacy that he would really

+shame even a lady."

+

+The baroness hastily folded her work together and arose.

+

+"It would be better for me to pass the rest of the day

+in my solitary room," and she turned to Helene, and her

+lips quivered; "there are times when our most harmless

+words and actions are misunderstood and resented.  I

+pray you, therefore, to excuse me from appearing at tea."

+

+She made a ceremonious courtesy to the brother and

+sister, took the arm of her son, who looked much confused,

+and rustled out of the room.

+

+Helene arose with tears in her eyes, and was about to

+follow her, but her brother took her hand with kindly

+gravity, and drew her down again upon the Sofia beside

+him.

+

+"Will you not give me the pleasure of your company

+while I drink my coffee?" he said gently, and as quietly

+as if nothing had occurred.

+

+"Oh, yes, if you wish it," she replied hesitatingly and

+without looking at him; "but I am sorry to tell you that

+you must hurry a little, for Fräulein Ferber has come to

+practise with me, and she has already been kept waiting

+an unconscionable time."

+

+"Well, let us go to the piano immediately,—but upon

+one condition, Helene."

+

+"And that is?"

+

+"That you allow me to listen."

+

+"No, no, that I cannot permit,—I am not far enough

+advanced,—your ears could not endure my bungling.

+

+"Poor Emil!  He does not dream that he owes the

+delight of listening to you to his uncultivated ear!"

+

+Helene blushed.  She had hitherto never mentioned

+Hollfeld's visits to her brother for reasons that may

+easily be imagined.  Besides, she supposed that they

+would have been a matter of entire indifference to him,

+and now it appeared that he really attached importance

+to them.  She seemed to herself to be a detected deceiver,

+and for a few moments she could not speak.  Elizabeth

+suspected what her sensations were; she too grew

+confused, and felt her face flush painfully.  Just at this

+moment Herr von Walde turned towards her, his keen,

+searching glance scanned her countenance, and the

+gloomy wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows.

+

+"Does Fräulein Ferber improvise during these hours

+for practice as they are called?" he asked his sister,

+speaking more quickly than was his wont.

+

+"Oh no," she answered, glad to recover her composure,—"had

+she done so I should not have spoken of bungling.

+I admitted Emil because I think that where there

+is a budding taste for music, it should be encouraged."

+

+Herr von Walde smiled slightly, but it was not the smile

+which had lately possessed such a peculiar charm for

+Elizabeth.  The dark lines in his brow did not disappear,

+and his look was gloomy as he still observed Elizabeth

+keenly.

+

+"You are right, Helene," he said at last, not without

+a tinge of irony.  "But what magnetism there must

+be in these musical practisings that they have worked

+such miracles!  A very short time ago Emil would much

+rather have listened to his Diana's baying, than to

+Beethoven's sonatas."

+

+Helene was silent, and cast down her eyes.

+

+"But we have forgotten Miss Mertens," said her

+brother suddenly, in a different tone.  "Would it not be

+advisable for Fräulein Ferber to settle that matter as

+soon as possible?"

+

+"Yes, indeed," replied Helene, quickly, seizing upon

+any pretext to divert the conversation from its present

+painful direction.  "We had better omit the lesson for

+to-day,—while you, dear child," and she turned to Elizabeth,

+"take the necessary steps,—pray go now, then, to your

+parents, and ask them in my name to offer an asylum to

+the poor lady."

+

+Elizabeth arose, and Helene also stood up.  When her

+brother saw that she wished to leave the pavilion, he put

+his arm about her little form, raised her from the ground

+like a feather, and carried her to the wheeled chair that

+stood outside the door.  After he had arranged the cushions

+at her back, and covered her little feet carefully with

+a shawl, he raised his hat to Elizabeth, who saw that the

+wrinkle between his eyebrows was not yet gone, and

+pushed the chair along the nearest path leading to the

+castle.

+

+"She quite fills his heart," thought Elizabeth, as she

+ascended the mountain, "and Miss Mertens must be

+wrong if she imagines that he will ever give to another a

+higher, or even a like place in his affections.  He is

+jealous of his cousin, and rightly so.  How can it be—"

+and here she stood still for a minute as two masculine

+figures arose to her mind's eye,—"that such a man as

+Hollfeld can have any charms for Helene by the side of

+Herr von Walde?  The one retreats behind an appearance

+of wise silence because he has nothing to say, while

+the other, through whose noble external repose breaks

+such fire, possesses a world of power trained and

+restrained by force of character.  Hence his seeming great

+reserve, which commonplace people cannot possibly

+understand."

+

+She suddenly remembered the look that Herr von

+Walde had fixed upon her.  Did he think her an

+accomplice,—his sister's confidante,—and was he vexed with

+her when, in fact, she had, at this present moment, no

+more earnest desire than that Herr von Hollfeld's

+passion for music might subside as quickly as it had been

+aroused?  Of course, she could not say so to any one,—least

+of all to Herr von Walde,—and, therefore, she must

+silently pay the penalty for those painful blushes that

+had suffused her cheeks just at the wrong moment, and

+when there was no earthly reason for them.

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER XII.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER XII.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+Her father and mother instantly acceded to Elizabeth's

+request; and she hastened back to the castle to carry to

+Miss Mertens their cordial invitation.  The governess,

+when Elizabeth entered her room, was leaning with folded

+hands against the wall.  At her feet stood a trunk half

+packed, closets and wardrobes were wide open, and the

+chairs were heaped with books, dresses, and linen.  The

+young girl hastened to her friend, threw her arms around

+her, and looked into her face, which, while it bore traces

+of tears, was beaming with happiness.

+

+"I am so astounded by the sudden change in my lot,"

+said Miss Mertens, after Elizabeth had offered her

+congratulations, "that I am obliged to close my eyes how and

+then and collect my senses.  Only this morning everything

+seemed so dark before me,—I actually could not

+tell where to go,—the ground seemed slipping from under

+my feet.  And just in the midst of my anxiety a home is

+suddenly provided for me.  A man whom I esteem

+thoroughly, but whose regard for the poor governess I had

+never suspected, will be forever faithful to me, and I can

+fulfill the warmest desire of my heart and have my dear

+good mother to live with me!  What will she say when

+she receives the news,—she, who has suffered so much in

+thinking that I must battle with the storms of life alone,

+and that she could not recall me to her loving heart!"

+

+She told Elizabeth that in a few weeks Reinhard would

+go to England for her mother.  His employer had

+himself proposed the journey, and insisted upon defraying

+all the expenses.  Whenever Miss Mertens mentioned

+Herr von Walde the tears filled her eyes,—she declared

+that all the wrong done her by the baroness was

+more than overbalanced by his kindness and generosity;

+he could not endure to have any one beneath his roof

+suffer injustice.  Elizabeth completed the measure of her

+happiness by the invitation which she brought.  Miss

+Mertens had intended to go to the little village inn until

+she could find lodgings.

+

+"But now we will go to your house together as soon

+as possible," she said, her face beaming with joy.  "The

+baroness, a short time ago, sent me my salary, requesting

+that I would not again enter her presence, and Bella

+passed through my room without even looking at me,—that

+grieves me, grieves me very deeply, for I have

+cherished her like the apple of my eye.  Her health

+used to be very delicate, and while her mother has been

+absent, attending the court balls, I have sat by her

+bedside and watched her feverish slumbers night after night.

+Now it is all forgotten,—but I only meant to let you

+know that I need not take leave of either of them."

+

+While Miss Mertens went to bid good-by to Fräulein

+von Walde and a few others in the house who were fond

+of her, Elizabeth packed up a travelling bag for her.

+The new inmate of Gnadeck only took a few necessary

+articles with her; the rest of her possessions were sent to

+the future apartments of the betrothed pair.

+

+It was an amusement for Elizabeth to arrange Miss

+Mertens' books in a bookcase in one of these apartments.  Herr

+von Walde had allowed all the furniture in the rooms

+to remain for the use of their new inhabitants.  Many of

+these books were most interesting; she not only glanced

+at their title pages, but, as she stood there, ran over

+several pages.  Miss Mertens and her affairs were all

+forgotten for the moment as if they had never existed.  While

+she was buried in Goethe's appearance in the crowd at

+the coronation of Joseph II., a fresh rose fell over her

+shoulder upon the pages of the book Elizabeth started,

+but instantly smiled, shook off the rose, and went on

+reading.  Miss Mertens, who was doubtless standing

+behind her, should not exult in any effect of her teasing.

+But she suddenly uttered a low cry,—a white,

+well-formed man's hand appeared and was gently laid upon

+hers.  She turned round,—not Miss Mertens, but Hollfeld,

+was standing behind her and spreading out his arms

+with a smile, as if to seize the startled girl.

+

+Instantly her alarm was converted into indignation;

+but before she could breathe a word, a harsh commanding

+voice cried out: "Emil, everybody is looking for

+you.  Your superintendent from Odenberg is here to see

+you upon business of importance.  Pray go to him instantly!"

+

+Beside Elizabeth was an open window.  Outside of it

+stood Herr von Walde, with his arms leaning upon the

+broad sill looking in.  It was his voice which banished

+Hollfeld on the instant in great embarrassment.  What an

+angry expression there was upon the uncovered forehead,

+in the compressed lips, and in the eyes that flashed upon

+Hollfeld's retreating figure as it vanished through the

+opposite door!

+

+At last his glance returned to Elizabeth, who had

+hitherto stood still, but who now, recovering from her

+two-fold fright, was about to retreat into the recesses of the

+apartment.

+

+"What are you doing here?" he asked, brusquely; his

+voice had not lost its former harsh tone.  Elizabeth,

+deeply wounded by the manner and style of his address,

+was about to return a defiant answer, when she suddenly

+recollected that she was in his house, and therefore she

+simply answered:

+

+"I am arranging Miss Mertens' books."

+

+"There was another answer upon your lips,—I saw it,

+and I wish to know what it was."

+

+"Well, then,—I was about to say that I do not reply

+to questions asked in such a manner."

+

+"And why did you suppress this reproof?"

+

+"Because it occurred to me that you have the right to

+command here."

+

+"I am glad,—it is well that you think thus,—for I

+should like just at this moment to exercise this obvious

+right of mine: tread upon that rose which lies languishing

+there at your feet."

+

+"That I shall not do,—it has done no wrong."  She

+picked up the rose, a beautiful half-open centifolia, and

+laid it upon the window-sill.  Herr von Walde took the

+flower, and without more ado tossed it away over the lawn.

+

+"There let it die a poetic death," he said with a sneer,

+"let the grasses bend above it, and the evening dews shed

+sympathetic tears over the poor victim."

+

+The rigid expression had passed away from his features,

+but there was still the same inquisitorial look

+in his eyes, and his voice was not much gentler, as he

+asked:

+

+"What were you reading when it was my misfortune

+to interrupt you?"

+

+"Goethe's 'Wahrheit und Dichtung.'"

+

+"Do you know the book?"

+

+"Only selections from it."

+

+"Well, how do you like the touching story of Gretchen?"

+

+"I do not know it."

+

+"You have it open in your hands."

+

+"No, I was reading the coronation of Joseph II., at

+Frankfort."

+

+"Let me see it."

+

+She handed him the open book.

+

+"It is even so!  But look how ugly that is!  Just

+where Goethe describes the emperor ascending the throne,

+there is an ugly green spot.  Doubtless you pressed

+the green rose leaves too tenderly upon the leaf of the

+book; the Emperor, Goethe, and Miss Mertens will hardly

+forgive you for it."

+

+"That spot is old—I did not touch the rose."

+

+"But you smiled at sight of it."

+

+"Because I thought it came from Miss Mertens."

+

+"Ah, there is something touching in this friendship!

+It must have been a great disappointment when, instead

+of your friend, you saw my cousin's handsome face

+behind you."

+

+"Yes."

+

+"'Yes.'  How that sounds!  I like laconic brevity,

+but it must not be ambiguous.  What does that 'yes'

+mean?  It sounds neither sweet nor bitter; and then

+your face!—why is that defiant frown there between

+your eyebrows?"

+

+"Because I think that there are limits to every right."

+

+"I did not know that I was making use of my right

+just at present."

+

+"But you will know it if you will ask yourself whether

+you would address me thus harshly in my father's

+house."

+

+Herr von Walde grew pale.  He compressed his lips,

+and retreated a few paces.  Elizabeth took the book which

+he had laid upon the window-sill, and went to the

+bookcase to close it.

+

+"Under the same circumstances, I should have spoken

+exactly so in your father's house," he said, after awhile,

+somewhat more gently, as he again approached the

+window.  "You make me impatient.  Why do you answer so

+ambiguously?  How could I tell from that simple syllable

+whether the disappointment of which you spoke were a

+disagreeable or a pleasant one?  Well?"

+

+He leaned far across the window-sill, and looked full into

+her face, as though to read the answer upon her lips; but

+she turned away with irritation.  Hateful thought!  How

+could any one suppose that Hollfeld could ever be

+agreeable to her?  Did not her face, her whole bearing

+towards the man, show how thoroughly disagreeable she

+thought him?

+

+At this moment Miss Mertens entered the room to seek

+Elizabeth.  She had completed all her preparations, and

+was quite ready to leave the house.  With a sigh of

+relief, Elizabeth hastened to her, while Herr von Walde

+left the window and paced to and fro several times on

+the lawn.  When he again approached, Miss Mertens

+went towards him, and courtesied profoundly.  She told

+him that she had in vain endeavoured to obtain access to

+him several times that day, and that she rejoiced to have

+an opportunity to thank him for his kindness and

+thoughtfulness.

+

+He made a deprecating gesture, and offered his

+congratulations upon her betrothal.  He spoke very calmly.

+Again his whole presence breathed an atmosphere of

+dignity and reserve, so that Elizabeth could not

+understand how she had ever found the courage to remind

+this man of the laws of common politeness.  The eyes

+that had flashed so passionately now looked serenely

+into Miss Mertens' face.  The deep, gentle tones of his

+voice obliterated all remembrance of the cutting irony

+that had rendered it so sharp a few moments before, when

+it had given to his words such an accent of irritation,

+and had sounded as if designed only to wound and avenge.

+

+That Herr von Walde was filled with bitterness towards

+his cousin, Elizabeth had already noticed once before that

+day.  But why should she be made to suffer whenever

+he encountered him?  Was not Hollfeld's continual

+intrusiveness sufficient annoyance to her?  Why should she

+be made the victim of an irritation for which Helene alone

+was to blame?  A sharp pang shot through her as she

+remembered how tenderly and forgivingly Herr von Walde

+had taken his sister in his arms, never casting a single

+look of reproach upon her when Hollfeld's visits had

+been alluded to.  She, the poor piano-player, who was of

+necessity forced to endure Hollfeld's presence, must be

+the scapegoat.  Or had he perhaps seen how Hollfeld

+had thrown the rose upon her book, and was his

+aristocratic pride wounded that his cousin should pay such

+homage to an untitled maiden?  This thought flashed

+upon Elizabeth as an explanation of everything.  Yes,

+thus only could his conduct be explained.  She was to

+crush the poor flower, that all proof might be destroyed

+that Herr von Hollfeld had for one moment forgotten his

+aristocratic descent.  That was the reason why he had

+suddenly spoken in such a harsh tone of command,—a

+tone which only those heard from him who had

+committed some fault, and why she was called upon to

+explain the impression which Hollfeld's sudden

+appearance had made upon her.  At this moment she would

+have liked to confront him, and tell him frankly how

+odious his high-born cousin was to her,—that so far

+from feeling honoured by his attentions, she looked upon

+them as nothing less than insults.  But it was too late.

+Herr von Walde was discussing Reinhard's journey to

+England with Miss Mertens so calmly and kindly that it

+would have been ridiculous, in the midst of such a

+discussion, suddenly to resume the thread of the previous

+stormy conversation.  Besides, he did not once look at

+her again, although she stood tolerably near to Miss

+Mertens.

+

+"I am really half persuaded to go with him," he

+said in conclusion to the governess.  "Reinhard shall

+return with your mother, for I intend to give him the

+entire charge of Lindhof here, and I will pass the winter

+in London, and go to Scotland in the spring."

+

+"And not return for years?" Miss Mertens interrupted

+him, anxiously.  "Has Thuringia, then, no attraction

+for you?"

+

+"Oh, yes; but I suffer here, and you know that prompt

+and active treatment will often cure where cautious,

+cowardly delay might bring danger.  I hope much from the

+air of Scotland."

+

+The last words were spoken in a tone meant to be gay,

+but the lines between his brows were stronger than ever,

+and caused Elizabeth to doubt much whether his

+cheerfulness were genuine.

+

+He shook hands with Miss Mertens, and walked slowly

+away, soon disappearing behind a clump of trees.

+

+"There it is," said the governess, sadly; "instead of

+bringing a lovely young wife home to Lindhof, as I hoped

+he would, he is going away again, and perhaps will not

+return for years.  He is restless, and no wonder, when

+one thinks of the comfortless home that he has.

+Baroness Lessen he cannot endure, and yet he is forced

+to see her daily at his fireside, for his sister, whom he

+loves so tenderly, has declared to him, that in the society

+of this woman she is able to forget the bitter trials of her

+life.  And his cousin, too, is an unbidden guest.  Herr

+von Walde's nature is too frank and open to allow him

+to conceal his dislikes; but these people are made of iron

+and steel,—the indifference of the master of the house

+never affects them in the least; they have neither eyes

+nor ears when he hints at their leaving.  And as for

+Herr von Hollfeld, he seems to me a very insignificant

+creature, and very repulsive.  I cannot conceive how he

+could have won Fräulein von Walde's heart."

+

+"Do you know that too?" asked Elizabeth.

+

+"Ah, child, that has been a secret known to everybody

+for a long time.  She loves him as truly and deeply as

+only a woman can love.  But this unfortunate

+attachment, on which she now lives and breathes as in

+sunlight, will one of these days cast the darkest shadow that

+has yet fallen upon her sorrowful existence.  All this

+Herr von Walde comprehends; but he cannot open the

+eyes of his sister without inflicting a mortal wound,

+and so he sacrifices everything to his fraternal

+tenderness, and leaves the home where he is made so unhappy."

+

+During this conversation, Miss Mertens and Elizabeth

+had left the castle, and were now ascending the

+mountain path.  Reinhard, who had been to the village, soon

+joined them.  Miss Mertens told him of her interview

+with Herr von Walde, and all that he had said about

+going to England.

+

+"He has not yet mentioned it to me," said Reinhard;

+"but he often looks as if he longed to leave Lindhof.

+Such a household!  The master of the house is considered

+by his relatives in the light of a fifth wheel to a

+coach,—he maintains them, and they show their gratitude

+by estranging his sister's heart from him.  Good

+Heavens! if I could only take his place for two days, I

+would soon exorcise the evil spirit and not a trace of

+it should ever appear again.  However, I hope that Herr

+von Hollfeld will at least soon return to Odenberg for

+a few days.  His superintendent has just arrived with

+the intelligence that the housekeeper has left,—no one

+stays there long—my gentleman is too stingy.  And

+several other matters are in disorder there."

+

+When they reached Castle Gnadeck, the guest was

+most cordially welcomed by the Ferbers.  How

+comfortable and homelike did Miss Mertens' room seem to its

+new inmate!  It shone with neatness; the counterpane

+and table-covers were spotless, a beautiful Schwarzwald

+clock was ticking softly just above the prettily arrayed

+writing-table, and a vase of roses and mignonette upon

+the window-sill filled the air with fragrance.  Through

+the open door could be seen the dwelling-room of the

+family.  There the table was already laid, and Elizabeth

+lighted the spirit-lamp beneath the tea-kettle, while

+Miss Mertens was arranging in drawers and wardrobe the

+few articles that she had brought with her.

+

+In the mean while the forester, with his long pipe and

+Hector, had arrived, and Reinhard also stayed, so that a

+merry circle was soon assembled.  The forester was in a

+particularly happy humour.  Elizabeth sat beside him, and

+did her best to join in his gaiety; but it had never

+seemed so difficult to her before, and he, who had an

+acute perception of the most delicate modulations of her

+voice, soon perceived it.

+

+"Holla, Gold Elsie, what is the matter with you?"

+he cried, suddenly.  "All is not right here."  He took

+her by the chin and looked into her eyes.  "I see,—there

+is a veil over your eyes, and over your heart, too!

+Zounds! what a sudden change!  And what does this

+sad nun's face mean?"

+

+Elizabeth blushed deeply beneath his scrutinizing gaze.

+She did all that she could to parry his questions by

+jest and laughter, but she did not succeed very well,

+and at last there was nothing for her but to seat

+herself at the piano, where he never teased nor laughed

+at her.

+

+How much good it did her heavy heart to give it voice

+in full rolling chords, as the sound floated sadly out into

+the gathering twilight,—telling of the gloom that had

+fallen upon her at the thought of Herr von Walde's again

+leaving Thuringia!  Where now were all her dreamings

+and all her endeavours to read the meaning of that

+mysterious warning that had of late breathed through her

+melodies?  It rung out clearly now in mighty tones, at the

+sound of which all the former gentle breathings of her

+inward emotions died away in an inaudible whisper.  A fairy

+land, full of golden promise, was revealed before her;

+her enchanted eyes gazed rapturously upon the fair

+landscape,—but never, never might she tread that magic

+ground, for nothing could bridge the abyss at her feet.

+The veil beneath which her heart had hitherto lain in

+blissful self-ignorance was rent, and with joy and pain

+unspeakable she knew—that she loved.

+

+She did not know how long she had been playing.

+But she was suddenly aroused from her utter forgetfulness

+of the world without by a bright gleam of light

+falling directly on the pale bust of Beethoven.  Her

+mother had just lighted the large lamp, and Elizabeth

+saw her uncle sitting near her on the broad window-seat.

+He must have entered noiselessly.  As her hands

+dropped from the keys, he gently smoothed her hair with

+his hand.

+

+"Do you know, child," he said, after the last faint

+sound had died away, and his voice trembled with

+emotion, "if I had not already seen that something was the

+matter, I should soon have learned it from your playing,—it

+was tears, nothing but tears!"

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER XIII.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER XIII.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+Miss Mertens' presence lent an additional charm to

+the circle at Gnadeck.  For the first time for long, dreary

+years the governess found herself an object of interest

+and affection, and at home.  Her gentle nature, so

+long chilled and repressed, now showed itself, and,

+combined with her varied culture, made her a most attractive

+addition to the household.  She longed to be of use

+whenever she could, and took great pains with little

+Ernst, who had a lesson every day in French and

+English; while Elizabeth, too, gathered all the advantage

+that she could from her visitor, and studied diligently,

+knowing that it was the best resource to ward off sad

+reveries.

+

+In the mean while, the practisings at Castle Lindhof

+went on as before.  Hollfeld, who had only been absent

+at Odenberg for one day, was still an enthusiastic auditor,

+trying by every means in his power to obtain a private

+interview with Elizabeth.  Once or twice he had

+cunningly contrived that, in the intervals of rest, Helene

+should leave the room to find something that he wanted,

+but he gained nothing by these manoeuvres, for Elizabeth

+always left the room at the same time to procure a

+glass of water.  His attempts to meet her upon her

+return to her home she frustrated also, for Miss Mertens

+and little Ernst were always awaiting her at the

+borders of the park.  This perpetual frustration of his

+endeavours at last made him impatient and less

+cautious.  He no longer held his hand before his face.  His

+looks were entirely unguarded, and it was only owing

+to her near-sightedness that Helene was spared a most

+painful discovery.  Thus Elizabeth's visits to the castle

+grew more and more annoying, and she was thankful

+that the fête day was at last close at hand, since with

+that celebration the daily practisings would, at all events,

+be discontinued.

+

+The day before Herr von Walde's birthday, Reinhard

+announced at Gnadeck that a guest had already arrived

+at Castle Lindhof.

+

+"That scatter-brain completes our misery," he said,

+with vexation.

+

+"Who is she?" said Miss Mertens and Frau Ferber,

+laughing at the same moment.

+

+"Oh, she is said to be a friend of Fräulein von Walde,—a

+lady from court at L——.  She is to assist in the

+ordering of the fête.  Heaven help us all, for she turns

+everything upside down."

+

+"Ah, it must be Fräulein von Quittelsdorf," cried

+Miss Mertens, still laughing.  "Yes, indeed, there is

+quicksilver in her veins.  She is terribly frivolous, but

+she is not really bad at heart."

+

+Later in the afternoon Reinhard accompanied

+Elizabeth to Lindhof.  As she approached the castle, Herr

+von Walde's horse was led up to the great entrance on the

+southern front of it.  He himself immediately issued

+from the glass door, riding-whip in hand, and

+descended the steps.  Elizabeth had not seen him since the

+afternoon when he had treated her with such harsh want

+of consideration.  She thought he looked very pale and

+stern.

+

+Just as he was mounting, a young lady, dressed in white,

+came out upon the steps.  She was extremely pretty,

+and with much grace she hastened down to pat the horse

+upon the neck and give him a lump of sugar.

+

+Fräulein von Walde, who also appeared leaning upon

+Hollfeld's arm, stood at the top of the steps, and kissed

+her hand in token of farewell to her brother.

+

+"Is not that young lady Fräulein von Quittelsdorf?"

+asked Elizabeth.

+

+Reinhard assented, with a wry face.

+

+"She is certainly very pretty," said the young girl.

+"Herr von Walde seems much interested," she added,

+in a lower tone, as the rider leaned from his saddle, and

+appeared to be listening intently to what the young lady

+was saying.

+

+"Oh, he does not wish to be rude, and therefore gives

+her a moment's attention.  She would talk the moon out

+of the sky, and, I verily believe, would seize and hang

+upon the horse's bridle if she saw any danger of his

+leaving before she had finished what she had to say."

+

+In the mean time they had reached the vestibule.  Here

+Elizabeth took leave of Reinhard, and betook herself to

+the music-room, where she found Fräulein von Walde and

+Hollfeld.  The former retired for a moment to her

+dressing-room, to arrange her curls, that were somewhat out of

+order, and Hollfeld took advantage of this moment to

+approach Elizabeth, who had retired to the recess of a

+window, and was turning over the leaves of a music-book.

+

+"We were provokingly disturbed the other day," he

+whispered.

+

+"We?" she asked, with emphasis, retreating a step or

+two.  "I, indeed, had reason to complain of being

+disturbed.  I was much provoked, I assure you, by the

+interruption of my reading."

+

+"Oh, every inch a queen!" he cried jestingly, but in a

+low tone of voice.  "I certainly did not intend to

+offend you,—on the contrary, do you not know what that

+rose meant?"

+

+"It would most certainly say that it would a thousand

+times rather be left to perish upon its stalk than be

+plucked for such idle purposes."

+

+"Cruel girl!  You are hard as marble.  Can you not

+guess, then, what lures me hither daily?"

+

+"Admiration, doubtless, for our great composers."

+

+"You are wrong."

+

+"Then the hope of improving your musical taste."

+

+"Oh, no!  That would not bring me a step hither.

+For me, music is only a bridge——"

+

+"From which you might easily fall into cold water."

+

+"And would you allow me to drown?"

+

+"Most certainly—yes.  I am not ambitious of a medal

+from the Humane Society," replied Elizabeth, dryly.

+

+Fräulein von Walde returned.  She seemed surprised

+to find the pair conversing, for until this moment there

+had never been a word exchanged between them.  She

+looked keenly at Hollfeld, who could not control his

+feeling of annoyance, and then seating herself at the

+piano, began to prelude, while Elizabeth arranged the

+notes.  Hollfeld took his usual place, and leaned his head

+upon his hand with a melancholy air.  But never had his

+gaze rested upon Elizabeth with such glowing and

+passionate intentness.  She repented having entered into

+conversation with him.  Her endeavour to repulse him by

+coldness and severity appeared to have had quite a

+contrary effect.  Repugnance and fear overcame her at sight

+of him, and, notwithstanding the thought of her uncle's

+probable smile of triumph, the determination rather to

+resign the practisings entirely than to subject herself

+any longer to these insolent glances, gained ground in

+her mind.

+

+The hour was nearly ended, when Fräulein von Quittelsdorf

+entered in haste.  In her arms she carried a

+little creature in a long, white, infant's cloak, pressing its

+head down upon her shoulder with one hand.

+

+"Frau Oberhofmeisterin von Falkenberg sends her compliments,"

+she said with formality,—"regrets excessively

+that a cold will prevent her presence to-morrow, but she

+takes the liberty of sending her lovely, blooming

+grandchild——"

+

+Here the creature in her arms made desperate

+exertions, and, with a loud howl, jumped down upon the

+ground, and ran under a chair, dragging the long robe

+after it.

+

+"Ah, Cornelie, you are too childish," cried Fräulein

+von Walde, with a laugh of amusement and vexation, as

+Ali's distressed face, surrounded by a baby's cap, peeped

+out from beneath the chair.  "If our good Falkenberg

+could hear of this, you would play no more tricks at the

+court of L——."

+

+Bella, who had also just entered, shrieked with laughter,

+only endeavouring to control herself when her mother,

+amazed at the noise, appeared and represented to her how

+unbecoming such loud merriment was.  The baroness,

+smiling, shook a threatening forefinger at Fräulein von

+Quittelsdorf when Helene told her what had happened,

+and then approached Elizabeth.

+

+"Perhaps Fräulein von Walde has not told you," she

+said rather graciously, "that all invited to the fête

+to-morrow will assemble at four o'clock in the large

+saloon.  Pray be punctual.  The concert will not be over

+until near six.  I tell you this that your parents may not

+expect you at home before that time."

+

+At these words, Helene looked down upon the keys of

+the piano in great confusion, while Fräulein von Quittelsdorf

+took her stand beside the baroness, and stared Elizabeth

+impertinently in the face.  Beautiful as were the

+black eyes that were fastened upon her, Elizabeth was

+annoyed by their steady stare.  She bowed to the

+baroness, assuring her that she would be punctual, and then

+looked full and gravely at the fair impertinent.  The

+effect was instantaneous.  Fräulein von Quittelsdorf looked

+away, and, in some confusion, turned upon her heel like

+a spoiled child.  Just then she discovered Herr von

+Hollfeld in the recess of the window.

+

+"How, Hollfeld," she cried, "are you here, or is it your

+spirit?  What are you doing here?"

+

+"I am listening, as you see."

+

+"You are listening?  Ha, ha, ha!  And of coarse

+enjoying such indigestible food as Mozart and Beethoven!

+Don't you remember telling me, four weeks ago, at the

+last court concert, that you always suffered from dyspepsia

+after listening to classical music?"

+

+She laughed boisterously.

+

+"Ah, pray let nonsense go now, dearest Cornelie," said

+the baroness, "and aid me in this programme for the

+fête with your inventive genius.  And you, dear Emil,

+would do me a great favour if you would come too.  You

+know that I am obliged now to enforce my authority by

+the presence of a masculine supporter."

+

+Hollfeld arose with visible reluctance.

+

+"Oh, take me too, pray!  Would you be so cruel

+as to leave me here alone until tea-time?" cried Helene,

+reproachfully, as she stood up.  She looked displeased,

+and it seemed to Elizabeth that she noticed, for the

+first time, an envious expression in the lovely blue eyes

+as they looked at the tripping feet of Cornelie, who,

+without another word, had taken Hollfeld's arm, and was

+leaving the room.  Elizabeth closed the piano, and took

+a hasty leave.

+

+In all the passages of the castle through which she

+went there was hurry and bustle.  The servants were

+carrying baskets of china, glass, and silver to the rooms

+adjoining the grand saloon.  From the subterranean regions

+of the kitchens there streamed a fragrant odour, and

+through the open door of one of the servants' rooms

+were seen heaps of green garlands and wreaths.

+

+And he in whose honour all were exerting themselves

+to-day was riding alone in the forest, gloomily devising

+ways and means for fleeing from the joyless, unquiet life

+in his home.

+

+Elizabeth went down to the village to execute a

+commission for her father.  A few days before, a violent

+storm in the night had so shaken the ruinous jutty in

+the corner of the garden that there was danger that the

+slightest jar might send it toppling down upon the

+garden, burying beneath its fragments the beds and paths

+which had just been so laboriously arranged.  Two

+Lindhof masons had promised to take down the ruin the

+following Monday, but as the forester had declared that he

+knew from experience that small reliance was to be placed

+upon their promises, Elizabeth was to remind them of

+their engagement, and impress upon them the urgent

+necessity for keeping it.

+

+The result of her expedition was favourable.  One of

+the workmen swore by all that was Holy that he would

+be upon the spot, and she was now wandering through

+the quiet, lonely path towards her home.  About midway

+upon the path leading from the village to the forest Lodge,

+a much narrower path branched off, and ascended the

+mountain to Castle Gnadeck.  It was seldom used, and

+might have escaped stranger eyes, for in some places it

+was overgrown with low bushes, and fallen leaves lay so

+thick among the gnarled roots of the trees that it seemed

+never to have been trodden by the foot of man.  Elizabeth

+loved the path, and now chose it for her return home.

+

+She had never encountered a human being here, but

+to-day she had not penetrated far into the green twilight

+before she observed, about twenty paces in front of her,

+towards the right, just by the trunk of an enormous

+beech tree, something like an arm slowly projected and

+then dropped.  She could distinctly perceive this

+movement, as just at that spot the trees separated, and

+encircled a light spot of grass which shone like an oasis

+in the dark forest.  Elizabeth advanced noiselessly and

+slowly, but as she arrived opposite to the beech tree she

+suddenly stood still in terror.

+

+A man was leaning against the tree.  His back was

+turned towards her; his head was uncovered save by

+masses of coarse, uncombed hair.  For one moment he

+stood motionless, apparently listening, then advanced a

+step, raised his right arm, and pointed the barrel of a

+pistol towards the light spot in the forest, after awhile

+letting his arm fall again by his side.

+

+"He is practising at a mark," thought Elizabeth, but

+she only thought so to compose herself, for an indescribable

+terror had at once taken possession of her; she did

+not know whether to run backward or forward in order

+to escape observation, and so she stood still, rooted to

+the spot.

+

+Suddenly the noise of a horse's hoofs struck upon her

+ear.  The man started and stood erect as though

+electrified.  A few moments afterwards a horseman appeared

+where the forest was more open.  The horse walked slowly

+over the soft turf; its rider, lost in thought, had dropped

+the bridle upon its neck.  The man with the pistol

+rapidly advanced a couple of paces; raised his arm in

+the direction of the horseman, and at the same moment

+turned his head so that Elizabeth instantly recognized the

+former superintendent, Linke, his features deadly pale and

+distorted with rage and hate, while the horseman, who

+was slowly coming within range of the deadly weapon,

+was Herr von Walde.  An instantaneous transformation

+took place in Elizabeth.  The girlish terror that had

+caused her to tremble at sight of the villain, gave place to

+a wondrous courage and an incomprehensible calmness

+and self-control at the thought that she was destined to

+come to the rescue here.  She glided noiselessly through

+the trees and stood suddenly, as if she had risen from the

+earth, beside Linke, who, his eyes riveted upon his

+victim, had no suspicion of her approach.  With all the

+strength of which she was mistress she seized his arm

+and threw it up.  The pistol was discharged with a loud

+report, and the ball whistled through the air and lodged

+in the trunk of a tree; as the startled wretch fell upon

+the ground, a woman's loud scream for help rang through

+the forest.  The assassin tottered to his feet and plunged

+into the thicket.  In the mean time the horse had reared

+and plunged with fright, but, speedily controlled by its

+rider, came galloping across the clearing to the spot

+where Elizabeth was leaning against a beech tree, pale

+as death.  The danger was past, and her feminine

+nature was reasserting itself.  She trembled in every limb,

+but a happy smile illuminated her countenance when

+she saw Herr von Walde coming towards her safe and

+unharmed.

+

+At sight of her he leaped from his horse; but she, who

+had just manifested such extraordinary self-possession,

+screamed with fright and turned suddenly as she felt two

+hands laid upon her shoulders from behind,—Miss

+Mertens' agitated face was close to her own.

+

+"Good God!  Elizabeth," cried the governess, breathlessly,

+"what have you done! he might have killed you!"

+

+Herr von Walde pushed through the underbrush that

+separated them from him.

+

+"Are you wounded?" he asked Elizabeth, hurriedly and

+earnestly.

+

+She shook her head.  Without another word he raised

+her from the ground and carried her to the fallen trunk of

+a tree, where he gently placed her.  Miss Mertens sat

+down beside her and leaned the girl's head upon her

+shoulder.

+

+"Now pray tell me what has happened," said Herr

+von Walde to the governess.

+

+"No, no," cried Elizabeth in terror; "not here, let us

+go,—the murderer has escaped,—perhaps he is lurking

+among the bushes, and may yet accomplish his design."

+

+"Linke was about to murder you, Herr von Walde,"

+said Miss Mertens, in a trembling voice.

+

+"Miserable wretch! that shot then was for me," he

+calmly observed.  He turned and went into the thicket

+where Linke had disappeared.  Elizabeth almost lost her

+self control, and was on the point of following him when

+he returned.

+

+"Reassure yourself," he said to her; "there are no

+traces of him to be seen; he will not shoot again to-day.

+Come, I beg you, Miss Mertens, tell me all about it."

+

+It appeared that knowing that Elizabeth was going to

+the village, the governess had gone to meet her in the

+narrow forest path.  As she was slowly descending the

+mountain she saw all that Elizabeth had seen.  The

+villain's intentions were plain, but she had been so paralyzed

+by fright that she had not been able to move nor cry out.

+She stood fastened to the spot with deadly terror, when

+suddenly Elizabeth, whom she had not seen, stood

+behind the assassin.  In her horror at her friend's danger,

+the cry for help escaped her which had been heard

+simultaneously with the report of the pistol.  She related all

+this hurriedly, and in conclusion added: "Where did you

+get the courage, Elizabeth, to seize the man?  I shudder

+at the mere thought of touching him, and should have

+screamed loudly instead."

+

+"If I had screamed," replied Elizabeth, simply, "Linke

+might have accomplished his purpose, in his involuntary

+start of alarm."

+

+Herr von Walde listened quietly but intently to Miss

+Mertens' account.  Only when she described how

+Elizabeth had seized the murderer's arm, did his face lose

+colour for an instant, as he riveted a keen, anxious glance

+upon the girl, to assure himself that she had actually

+escaped the danger unhurt.  He leaned over her, took

+her right hand and pressed it to his lips, and Elizabeth

+plainly perceived that his hand trembled.

+

+Miss Mertens, who observed how this expression of

+gratitude confused Elizabeth and called up a burning

+blush in her cheeks, left her seat, and picking up the

+pistol Linke had thrown from him in his flight, handed

+it to Herr von Walde.

+

+"Horrible!" he murmured.  "The wretch would have

+murdered me with one of my own weapons."

+

+Elizabeth now arose, and assured Miss Mertens that

+all traces of her fright had vanished, and that she was

+quite able to resume her walk towards Gnadeck.  They

+would both have taken leave of Herr von Walde, but he

+tied his horse to the terrible beech tree, and said, lightly:

+

+"We know well that Linke's nature is most revengeful;

+he may perhaps hate her to whom I owe my life even

+more than he hates me.  I cannot permit you to proceed

+without a protector."

+

+They ascended the mountain.  Miss Mertens hastened

+on, that she might incite Herr von Walde to greater

+speed, in order to take steps for the apprehension of the

+criminal as quickly as possible; but her exertions were

+all in vain.  He walked slowly by the side of Elizabeth,

+who, after a few moments of conflict with herself, begged

+him, in a gentle, timid tone, not to go back alone to his

+horse, but to send for him from Castle Lindhof.

+

+He smiled.  "Belisarius is wild and obstinate; you

+know him already," he said.  "He obeys no one but

+myself, and would never allow any one but his

+master to take him home.  Besides, I assure you, that

+cowardly wretch will attempt nothing further to-day.  And

+if he should, I bear a charmed life.  Has not my happy

+star risen to-day in my heavens?"

+

+He stood still.  "What do you think," he asked, suddenly,

+in a low tone, and his eyes flashed as he looked at

+her, "shall I listen to the delicious hope that it may shine

+upon me for the rest of my life?"

+

+"If it is to tempt you to run repeated risks, it were

+certainly better not to place such unconditional faith in

+your star."

+

+"And yet I run the greatest risk of all in trusting

+such a hope," he murmured, half to himself, as his face

+darkened.

+

+"I do not understand you," said Elizabeth, surprised.

+

+"It is quite natural that you should not," he replied,

+bitterly.  "Your wishes and hopes lie in quite another

+direction.  Notwithstanding all our stern self-discipline,

+we are sometimes overmastered by a beautiful dream.

+No, no, say nothing more!  I am punished already, for I

+am awaking."

+

+He quickened his pace, and walked by Miss Mertens'

+side, while Elizabeth followed more slowly, lost in wonder

+at the harsh tone which he had suddenly assumed, and

+which so wounded her.  He spoke not another word; and

+when at last the walls of the old castle appeared through

+the trees, he took his leave, coldly and shortly, and

+descended the mountain.

+

+Miss Mertens looked after him in surprise.  "Incomprehensible

+man!" she said at last, and shook her head.

+"Even though he attaches but little value to his life, as

+would seem to be the case, surely a word or two of

+gratitude at parting from you would not be superfluous,

+when he knows that you have risked your life for his sake."

+

+"I see no necessity for anything of the kind," rejoined

+Elizabeth.  "You attach altogether too much importance

+to what I have done.  I simply fulfilled my duty to my

+neighbour; and would," she added, with a strange

+defiance in her tone and manner, "have done the same if

+the case had been reversed, and Linke's had been the

+threatened life.  I hope sincerely that Herr von Walde

+understands this, for to his haughty nature the feeling of

+obligation to another must be intensely painful, and I

+would not for the world be that other."

+

+At this moment anxiety and anger were striving

+within her for the mastery.  In thought she followed

+Herr von Walde, and shuddered with horror as she

+remembered that perhaps he was just passing some spot

+where the assassin was lying in wait for him; then she

+reminded herself, as she quickened her steps, of what utter

+folly it was to waste so much thought and feeling upon a

+man who persistently turned the roughest side of his

+nature towards her.  Even in intercourse with the

+baroness, who was so utterly distasteful to him, he

+preserved his repose of manner, never for one moment

+forgetting the laws of common courtesy, although he

+invariably maintained his convictions with the greatest

+decision.  He had never been seen by those about him

+except when surrounded by an atmosphere of the serenest

+dignity.  It was only when talking with her that he did

+not appear to consider it worth his while to control

+himself.  How violent and bitter he could be then!  How

+his eyes flashed as he waited impatiently for her replies,

+when they were not prompt and decided!  And he

+required besides that she should understand him almost

+before he spoke, and yet was often utterly

+incomprehensible even when he did speak.  Perhaps every one

+else was cleverer than she, and could more easily

+comprehend his manner of speaking, which was such a riddle

+to her.  Was it unwise to determine to avoid all

+intercourse with him for the future?  Certainly not.  Well,

+fortunately, his departure was at hand.  Fortunately?

+The structure of self-deception, which her pride and

+defiance had erected, crumbled to ruins at this thought;

+yes, it so utterly vanished, that, to Miss Mertens'

+surprise, she turned and walked quickly down the path that

+led to Castle Lindhof.  She must satisfy herself that he

+reached his home in safety.  Miss Mertens followed her

+to a grove whence they could see the door where he

+usually dismounted, and they were greatly relieved when

+he shortly emerged from the forest.

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER XIV.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER XIV.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+In the evening the Ferber family were sitting in the

+shade of the lindens at the spring.  Frau Ferber and

+Miss Mertens were busied in making a rug which was to

+lie upon the floor under the piano in winter time.

+

+Frau Ferber had lost for awhile that dignified composure

+that so well became her still beautiful face.  She

+could not forget the afternoon's occurrence; for, although

+she saw her child before her safe and sound, she had been

+very much agitated by Miss Mertens' account.  She looked

+frequently at Elizabeth, fearing, as she remarked her

+slightest change of colour, that some illness would ensue

+from the excitement that she had passed through.  The

+father's views were different.  "That's my brave

+daughter!" he said with sparkling eyes, "determine coolly and

+execute quickly,—thus I would have you do."

+

+To Frau Ferber, her husband had always seemed the

+ideal of what a man should be.  Even now, after so many

+years of married life, she followed blindly where he led;

+and in her estimation his opinions admitted of no

+question.  But to-day, as she listened to his paternal praises,

+a sigh escaped her as she remarked that a mother loved

+her children infinitely more than a father possibly could.

+

+"Certainly not more, only differently," was Ferber's

+quiet rejoinder.  "It is because I love them that I

+educate them to be full-grown, responsible beings, capable of

+thinking and acting courageously and independently, that

+they may never belong to the miserable class whom want

+of all force of character condemns to constant suffering."

+

+Elizabeth had also brought her work-basket into the

+garden, but little Ernst looked greatly disappointed as he

+saw her take out her sewing.

+

+"Very well, then, Elsie," he said petulantly.  "Herr

+von Walde may ask me a dozen times if I love you,—I

+shall not say yes again.  You never play with me any

+more; and, I suppose, you think you are as big a girl as

+Miss Mertens!  But you needn't think that,—you won't

+be for a long while yet."

+

+They all laughed at this odd confounding of age with

+size.  But Elizabeth rose immediately to amuse the little

+boy, tucked up her long dress, and drew lots which should

+chase and which run from the other; and then they were

+both off like a flash, up and down the rampart, hither and

+thither through the garden.

+

+In the mean time there was a ring at the gate in the

+wall.  Herr Ferber opened it, and Dr. Fels, Reinhard, and

+the forester appeared upon the threshold.  Elizabeth was

+just running along the principal walk, and did not

+immediately see the visitors.

+

+"Well, I must say," laughed Dr. Fels, standing still,

+"this is a wonderful transformation.  In the afternoon

+Valkyria, and in the evening a butterfly!"

+

+But the forester advanced, threw his arm around his

+niece, and then held her off at arm's length, that he might

+scan her delicate figure.  "My fine darling!" he cried

+with sparkling eyes, "she looks as fragile and delicate as

+though she were made of ivory, and yet she has the force

+of a man in her heart and hands; 'tis an immense pity

+you are not a boy.  I would clap you into a green

+hunting-coat in spite of all that your father could say."

+

+In the mean while Dr. Fels also drew near, and held out

+his hand to Elizabeth.  "Herr von Walde rode to town

+to-night," he said, "and requested me to come hither.  He

+is very anxious to know that your fright and terror have

+produced no evil consequences."

+

+"None whatever," she replied, blushing deeply.  "As

+you see," she added, laughing, "I am perfectly well able

+to perform my sisterly duties, and Ernst has just assured

+me that I am very hard to catch."

+

+"Well, I will carry Herr von Walde this message, word

+for word," said the doctor with an arch smile.  "Let

+him decide whether it is a comforting one, or the contrary."

+

+Ferber now invited the gentlemen to join the circle

+beneath the lindens.  The doctor lighted a cigar and

+seemed most content.  They discussed Linke's attempt

+very fully.  After his dismissal from Lindhof, many

+of the underhand dealings by which he had taken

+advantage of his master's absence, had come to light.

+Although Herr von Walde had taken no steps to bring

+the offender to justice, the knowledge of his dishonesty

+spread abroad, and was the means of preventing the

+superintendent from procuring another situation.  Undoubtedly

+this had filled the measure of his desire for revenge, and

+had excited him to to-day's deed.  Every means had been

+tried for the apprehension of the assassin; the forester

+with his men had searched the forest, but their

+exertions had been followed by no result.  Reinhard said

+that every one at Castle Lindhof had been forbidden to

+mention the matter to Fräulein von Walde, lest the fright

+should injure her.  And the baroness, Hollfeld, and the

+old waiting-maid were to know nothing of it.

+

+"Herr von Walde has also requested," he continued,

+"that the matter should be kept as secret as possible in

+L——, for he knows that half the town is invited for

+to-morrow's fête."

+

+"That is, everything that creeps or flies upon a golden,

+silver, or coloured field," interrupted the doctor

+sarcastically; "every coat of arms that can be found, and all

+the court-councillors, and officials.  Oh, the selection has

+been made upon the strictest principles of court etiquette,

+I assure you.  So I have enjoined it upon my wife to

+conduct herself with becoming humility, like a crow among

+soaring falcons.  To our surprise the baroness,—for she

+manages the whole affair,—has sent us an invitation."

+

+"Apropos, my dear doctor!" cried Reinhard laughing,

+"they told me in L—— to-day that the old Princess

+Catharine wished to install you as her physician, but you

+declined the honour,—is that true?  All L—— is actually

+standing on its head with surprise."

+

+"Ah, that is nothing new; the dear little town passes

+half its time in that posture, and the consequence is that

+the light of intelligence shines upon the tough soles of its

+feet.  But you have heard correctly.  I was sufficiently

+bold to decline that honour."

+

+"But why?"

+

+"First, because I have no time to be coddling the

+hysterical whims of her aristocratic head every day; and

+then my sacred respect for court etiquette is too great."

+

+"Yes, yes," cried the forester, laughing, "that is the

+reason why I always cross myself three times when I

+leave the royal castle behind me.  The prince and

+princess,—our good princess especially troubles no

+one,—they shut their eyes when mere matters of ceremony are

+not according to stiff, prescribed rules; but that court

+mob, that lisps and crawls and wags its tail about

+them,—heaven help us! it absolutely shrieks murder if a man

+walks boldly and uprightly, and goes into fits at the sound

+of a voice that comes clear and full from the chest just

+as God meant it should."

+

+It had grown very dark.  The family and Miss

+Mertens accompanied the visitors to the gate in the wall; and,

+as they all stepped forth upon the open sward, they heard

+sweet sounds floating up from the valley through the

+forest, which lay steeped in the silence of night, and where

+the birds had ceased to flit among the boughs, and even

+the breeze had fallen asleep in the tree-tops in the midst

+of the strange tales from distant lands that it whispered

+to them every evening.  The band from the town was

+serenading Herr von Walde.

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER XV.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER XV.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+The next morning at five o'clock the inmates of Gnadeck

+were awakened by a discharge of artillery.  "Aha!"

+said Ferber to his wife, "the celebration is beginning."  But

+Elizabeth was startled from a fearful dream, in which

+the misfortune which she had yesterday averted seemed

+actually to take place.  She had just seen Herr von Walde

+fall dying to the ground, when the cannon in the valley

+awoke her.  It was some time before she could collect

+herself.  For one moment she suffered fearfully.  It

+seemed as if heaven and earth were vanishing from her

+as that noble figure fell; and even now, when she saw

+the golden light of morning falling upon the familiar

+objects in her room and not upon the blood-stained sward,

+her agitated nerves still quivered; she had never, not

+even the day before, when she had so fearlessly risked her

+life for his, felt so deeply that his death would be hers

+also.

+

+Again and again the cannon thundered up from the

+valley.  The window-panes shook slightly, and the little

+canary fluttered in terror from side to side in his cage.

+At each report Elizabeth shuddered; and when her

+anxious mother, who could not quite allay her fears for the

+result of the previous day's occurrence, although her child

+had seemed unharmed and well, came to her bedside to

+ask how she had slept, the girl threw her arms around

+her neck and burst into an uncontrollable fit of tears.

+

+"Good heavens, my child!" cried Frau Ferber, much

+frightened, "you are ill.  I knew that you would suffer

+from yesterday's shock, and there is that terrible shooting

+going on in the valley."

+

+Elizabeth had some trouble in convincing her mother

+that she felt perfectly well, and that she could not be

+induced to lie in bed, but was resolved to take her breakfast

+with the family.  And to put a stop to all further

+remonstrance, she immediately arose, bathed and dressed, and

+assisted her mother in preparing the simple breakfast.

+

+The sound of the cannon suddenly ceased, and before

+long all traces of tears vanished from Elizabeth's eyes.

+The world looked brighter to her; for, although a life of

+renunciation lay before her, he still lived; this thought

+had, in consequence of her fearful dream, a soothing

+effect upon her restless heart.  Even if he went away to

+distant lands, and she was forced to live years without

+seeing him, a time must come when he would return.

+And she could still love and think of him, for he belonged

+to no one else.

+

+Later in the day she went with her family and Miss

+Mertens to the Lodge, where they had been invited to

+dine.  There was a dark cloud upon the forester's brow

+as he came to meet them.  Elizabeth soon discovered

+that he was troubled about Bertha.

+

+"I cannot and will not bear it any longer!" he cried

+angrily.  "Must I turn spy in my old age, and constantly

+be upon the watch to prevent a wayward, foolish child,

+who has no possible claim upon me, from making a

+perpetual fool of herself?"

+

+"But remember, uncle, she is unhappy," said Elizabeth,

+somewhat alarmed.

+

+"Unhappy?—she is a deceitful fool!—I am no ogre, and

+when I thought her really unhappy, that is, when she lost

+both her parents, I did all that I could to protect and

+guide her.  But that is not what is the matter with her,

+for scarcely two months after her loss she went singing

+about and chattering like a magpie, so that I was really

+grieved to see such heartlessness and frivolity.  What is

+she unhappy about, eh?  But I don't want to know her

+state secret if she has no confidence in me;—let it alone.

+For all I care she may wear that die-away look upon her

+face for the next year; but to pretend to be dumb, to run

+about in the forest at night like a maniac, and perhaps

+one of these fine days burn down my house about my

+ears, it is more than I can bear, and I must have a word

+or two to say about the matter."

+

+"Did you not heed the warning that I gave you?"

+asked Ferber.

+

+"Certainly I did; I put her into another room; she

+sleeps now just above me, so that I can hear her lightest

+step.  At night both the house doors are not only bolted,

+as they have always been at night, but locked too, and I

+take the key into my room.  And oh! the cunning of

+women,—but that's an old story.  At any rate my

+precautions ensured us some rest.  But last night I could

+not get to sleep; the affair with Linke was running through

+my brain, and I heard steps above me, cautious steps, soft

+as a cat's.  Aha! I thought, she is at her nightly

+promenades again, and I rose, but when I went up-stairs the

+nest was already empty.  On a table at the open window

+a light was burning, and as I opened the door the curtain

+flew into the flame.  Zounds! if I had not been quick as

+a flash we should have had a blaze that would have been

+well fed by those old balconies.  And how did she get

+out?  Through the kitchen window.  I would rather take

+care of a swarm of ants than of such a sly, deceitful

+creature."

+

+"I am convinced that some love affair is at the bottom

+of the girl's conduct," said Frau Ferber.

+

+"Yes, you told me so once before, sister-in-law,"

+replied the forester with irritation, "and if you would be

+kind enough to tell me with whom, I should be infinitely

+obliged to you.  Look around us and see if there is any

+one here to turn a girl's brain.  My assistants,—they are

+not half good enough for her; she never would have a

+word to say to them; it cannot be the rogue Linke, with

+his crooked legs and carroty wig, and there is no one

+else here."

+

+"You have forgotten one," said Frau Ferber significantly,

+with a glance towards Elizabeth, who had lingered

+behind to cut a whip for Ernst.

+

+"Well?" asked the forester.

+

+"Herr von Hollfeld."

+

+The forester remained silent for awhile.  "Hm!" he

+muttered at last, "I should never in the world have thought

+of him.  No, no," he continued quickly, "I do not believe

+it, for in the first place the girl cannot possibly be such a

+fool as to believe that he would make her my lady von

+Odenberg, and——"

+

+"Perhaps she hoped that he would, and finds herself

+mistaken," interrupted Frau Ferber.

+

+"She is vain and arrogant enough for it, but he,—he

+cares nothing for women,—he is a cold, heartless egotist,"

+said the forester.

+

+"An egotist, I grant you," said Frau Ferber, "and that

+explains Bertha's conduct and manner."

+

+"That would be a fine affair," cried the forester angrily,

+"to think that I should have been hoodwinked like any

+old fool in a comedy!  I will sift the matter now to the

+bottom, and woe to the girl if she has really dared to bring

+disgrace upon herself and me!"

+

+The dinner was a very quiet one.  The forester was

+out of sorts, and would have extorted a confession from

+Bertha upon the spot had not Frau Ferber prayed him to

+wait for a few days.  After coffee the guests left the

+Lodge; the forester threw his rifle across his shoulder, and

+plunged into the forest, which, as he said, always soothed

+and brought him to reason.

+

+Elizabeth dressed herself for the concert, that is, she

+put on a simple, white muslin dress, whose only decoration

+was a bouquet of fresh wild flowers.  Her mother tied

+around her neck a little locket attached to a very narrow

+black velvet ribbon, and this was her toilet, which would

+certainly have seemed most embarrassingly simple to most

+young girls going for the first time among a large

+assemblage of brilliantly-dressed people; but Elizabeth, if she

+thought of it at all, congratulated herself upon the

+delicate neatness of her muslin, and would rather not have

+worn her mother's little ornament on this occasion, as she

+considered that she was to appear only as a musician and

+not as one of the guests, and that her fingers were all that

+she need be anxious about.  She was rather annoyed

+that the arms above these same fingers were bare, and

+that her dress was low-necked.  She had hitherto never

+worn a dress that did not cover her neck to her chin, and

+could not see why the fashionable world had decided that

+women should be *decolleté* in large assemblies.  She

+thought as little of the exquisite form and dazzling

+whiteness of her shoulders and arms as of the beauty and grace

+of her head, which, with its heavy braids of golden hair,

+was set so exquisitely upon her finely-moulded neck.  Her

+mother herself had arranged her hair to-day, and it

+clustered in short shining curls above her forehead, contrasting

+wondrously with the delicately pencilled but decided arch

+of the dark eyebrows.  And Frau Ferber could not but

+agree with Miss Mertens, who, as she watched Elizabeth

+disappear upon the forest path, declared with enthusiasm

+that she was supernaturally lovely.  The mother had just

+acknowledged to herself that her child's beauty had

+unfolded in a most striking degree.

+

+When Elizabeth entered the vestibule of Castle

+Lindhof she encountered Dr. Fels, who, with his wife upon

+his arm, was just turning down one of the corridors.  She

+hastened towards him, and accosted him gaily, for her

+heart had been beating anxiously as she approached the

+castle, at the thought that she should be obliged to enter

+entirely alone the spacious saloon, where the greater part

+of the company were doubtless already assembled.  The

+doctor received her most cordially, and presented her to

+his wife, in an undertone, as "yesterday's heroine."  Both

+gladly took her under their protection.  The large

+folding-doors were flung open, and Elizabeth was grateful for the

+lucky star that had allowed her to take shelter behind the

+tall, commanding figure of the doctor's wife, for she was

+at first rather overcome at sight of the large, richly-decorated

+apartment, over whose highly-polished floor glided

+the costly dresses of the ladies and the polished boots of

+the gentlemen.  In the centre of the saloon stood the

+Baroness Lessen, arrayed in magnificent dark-blue

+moire-antique, and receiving the guests.  She returned the

+salutations of the doctor and his wife very politely, but very

+coolly, and replied to the doctor's question, "Where is

+Herr von Walde?" by pointing to a knot of men

+standing near a window, whence issued a murmur like the

+Babylonish confusion of tongues.

+

+While Fels and his wife walked towards the spot,

+Elizabeth gladly and gratefully obeyed a gesture from Helene,

+who, sitting at another window, hurriedly and agitatedly

+informed her that she had suddenly had an attack of what

+is called "stage fright;" that she was in overwhelming

+terror at playing before so many people, and would rather

+creep into a mouse-hole.  And then she begged Elizabeth,

+instead of the four-handed composition with which the

+concert was to open, to play a sonata of Beethoven's, a

+wish with which Elizabeth immediately complied.  Her

+embarrassment vanished.  She stepped up to the table

+where the music was lying, and selected the sonata which

+she was to play.  Meanwhile, carriage after carriage

+rolled into the court-yard.  The folding-doors opened and

+closed incessantly upon such quantities of tulle and

+velvet and lace, which were crowded into the saloon, that

+Elizabeth smiled pityingly at the thought of her simple

+white muslin, so soon to loose its unwrinkled smoothness

+in such a crush of crinoline.

+

+She could very easily decide, from the manner of the

+baroness, upon the social rank of the guests.  One

+gracious wave of the feather-crowned head of the great lady

+answered every social requirement whenever she received

+untitled guests, and these untitled guests did their part

+well in acknowledging and respecting this aristocratic

+reserve.  All, in obedience to a gesture from the baroness, first

+made their way towards the window where stood Herr von

+Walde,—who, however, remained entirely invisible to

+Elizabeth,—and then scattered into single groups, either

+awaiting the opening of the concert, or engaged in

+conversation among themselves.

+

+Suddenly the doors flew open again, and a corpulent

+old lady hobbled in upon the arm of an equally aged

+gentleman, whose coat glittered with orders,—and with them

+came Fräulein von Quittelsdorf.  The baroness hastened

+toward these guests, and Fräulein von Walde also arose

+with difficulty, and, taking Hollfeld's arm, went to meet

+the aged pair, while all the ladies standing around her

+followed like the tail of a comet.  The crowd of men

+at the window divided suddenly as by magic, and Herr

+von Walde's lofty figure appeared.

+

+"We must come to you, if we wish to see you, naughty

+man!" cried the old lady, shaking her forefinger at him,

+as she hobbled towards him.  "You see, in spite of my

+poor feet, and although you have neglected me shamefully,

+I am here to-day to offer you my congratulations."

+

+He bowed, and said a few words to her, to which she

+replied by laughingly tapping him upon the shoulder with

+her fan.  Then he conducted her to an arm-chair, where

+she seated herself with much majesty.

+

+"The Countess of Falkenberg, chief lady in waiting at

+the court of L——," was the reply of the doctor's wife

+when Elizabeth asked who the old lady was.  Fräulein

+von Quittelsdorf looked exquisitely beautiful to-day in her

+white crape dress, with a wreath of scarlet euphorbia in

+her dark hair, as she busied herself about the noble lady,

+while she did not forget to cast a roguish glance now

+and then at Fräulein von Walde.

+

+The arrival of the guests from the court was the signal

+for the beginning of the concert.  Elizabeth could almost

+hear her own heart beat.  She was standing behind the

+doctor's wife, and was hidden from all the eyes which

+would in one moment be directed towards her, following

+every one of her movements.  Suddenly she was overcome

+with timidity, and she repented bitterly having

+consented to play first alone.  She trembled when Fräulein

+von Walde motioned to her to begin, but there was no

+time to withdraw.  She took a long breath, and walked

+slowly, with downcast eyes, to the piano, where she

+courtesied timidly.

+

+At first there was a breathless silence; then a whisper

+ran from mouth to mouth, which was instantly hushed

+when the young girl struck the keys.  Elizabeth's fear

+and embarrassment all vanished at the sound of the first

+chords.  She was no longer alone.  He with whom she

+had so often wandered along meadow paths in brilliant

+sunshine, and past gloomy abysses in storm and rain, was

+with her,—the one who had so often aroused within her

+joyous presentiments, and who had expressed in immortal

+harmonies all the loftiest and most sacred aspirations

+of her nature,—who was as dear and familiar to her

+as her mother's face, although her gaze fell dazzled by the

+fiery glories which wreathed his majestic head.  The

+flower-crowned heads ranged against the walls, the

+lorgnettes and spectacles which, glittering in the sunlight,

+shot their lightning directly upon the lonely performer in

+the midst of the saloon, all vanished.  She was alone

+with the great master, following with rapture every

+manifestation of his creative spirit.

+

+An actual storm of applause startled her when she had

+finished.  She courtesied, and then almost flew to her

+protectress, Frau Fels, who, speechless with emotion, held

+out both hands to her.  The concert did not last very

+long.  Four young gentlemen from L—— sang a delightful

+quartette, and then there was a performance by

+a famous violin player.  Fräulein von Quittelsdorf sang

+two songs in a charming voice, but without any ear, so

+that at every high note the guests either moved involuntarily

+and nervously upon their chairs, or cast their eyes

+down in confusion.  And then came one of the

+well-practised duets.  Fräulein von Walde had recovered her

+composure, and played excellently well with Elizabeth.

+

+When the concert was over, Elizabeth went towards

+the door of an anteroom, where she had left her shawl.

+She was closely followed by an elderly gentleman, who

+had been sitting opposite her, and had regarded her

+attentively.  At his request, Frau Fels presented him to

+the young girl as the Military Inspector-general Busch.

+He said many flattering things about Elizabeth's

+performance, and added that he was much pleased to

+become acquainted with the heroic preserver of the life of

+the lord of the castle; he had accepted to-day's invitation

+with all the greater pleasure, since within the last few

+hours he had been deprived of all hope of claiming her

+assistance in the investigation of the murderous attempt.

+

+He laughed heartily at Elizabeth's sudden alarm.

+

+"No, no, I pray you not to look so horror-stricken,

+Fräulein," he said at last.  "As I have just told you, we

+shall have no occasion to subject you to a cross-examination.

+Linke has himself put a stop to our proceedings

+by a single blow.  His dead body was taken from the

+lake in the park this afternoon," he added, in a low

+tone.  "They informed me of it at the inn, where I

+alighted.  I proceeded, accompanied by the Waldheim

+physician, who happened to be at the inn, to the scene of

+the suicide, and convinced myself that that hand will

+never again be raised against the life of another.  The

+condition of the body shows that Linke must have sought

+death immediately after the failure of his murderous

+purpose."

+

+Elizabeth shuddered.  "Does Herr von Walde know

+of his fearful end?" she asked in a trembling voice.

+

+"No; I have had no opportunity to speak with him alone."

+

+"None of the company present appear to have any

+suspicion of yesterday's occurrence," said Frau Fels.

+

+"Fortunately they have not, thanks to our foresight

+and reserve," replied the inspector-general, ironically.

+"As it is, poor Herr von Walde has been quite

+overwhelmed with congratulations upon being born into the

+world.  What would his friends have done to him had

+they known how fortunately his life has been preserved?"

+

+The butler, Lorenz, at this moment approached Elizabeth

+and held out to her a little silver waiter, upon which

+lay several folded slips of paper.  She looked up in

+questioning surprise, and he said respectfully:

+

+"Will you have the kindness to take one of the papers?"

+

+Elizabeth hesitated.

+

+"This is probably part of our entertainment," said

+Frau Fels.  "Take it quickly, that the butler may not be

+detained."

+

+Almost mechanically she took up one of the slips of

+paper, but started in alarm as the Baroness Lessen

+suddenly appeared at the door, and looked searchingly around

+the room.

+

+"Come, Lorenz," she said hastily, stepping towards

+the servant, "what are you doing here?"

+

+"I have just handed Fräulein Ferber the salver,

+gracious lady," replied the old man.

+

+The baroness gave him an angry look, and then

+measured Elizabeth from head to foot.  "How, Fräulein

+Ferber," she said sharply, "are you still here?  I thought

+you were at home long ago, resting upon your laurels."

+

+Without waiting for a reply, she turned to leave the

+room; but just upon the threshold she looked back at the

+old butler with a frown and shrugged her shoulders.

+

+"What can you be thinking of, Lorenz?  You grow

+very thoughtless.  This infirmity has grown upon you

+of late."

+

+With these words, she bustled out, and the old man

+quietly followed.  He replied not one word to her harsh

+reproof,—only contracted his bushy, gray eyebrows, so

+that his honest eyes almost disappeared.

+

+The others remained looking at each other in astonishment,

+when the doctor entered.  He made a profound,

+comical obeisance to his wife, and said solemnly:

+

+"In consideration of the fact that Fräulein von

+Quittelsdorf has just had the clemency to unite us again as

+closely as by the priestly blessing fifteen years ago, I am

+content still further to endure the conjugal yoke, and

+particularly on this day to enjoy by your side, and, cherished

+by your tender care, O true and faithful spouse, all the

+delights prepared for us!"

+

+"My dear husband, what do you mean?" cried his

+wife, laughing.

+

+"Pardon me,—I mean nothing at all.  Ah, I see you

+have not heard Fräulein von Quittelsdorf's directions.

+What a pity!  I am then compelled to inform you that

+every married couple here present, whether now upon a

+war footing or otherwise, must repair, within the next

+quarter of an hour, to the convent tower in the forest, where

+a rural festival will be held.  There it will be your duty

+to provide me with as much to eat and drink as my soul

+may desire, and in every way to attend upon my wishes,

+after the pattern of the famous Penelope.  But that the

+unmarried men who are present in large numbers may

+have no reason to complain,—that their mouths also may

+be filled,—a sort of lottery has been ingeniously devised.

+Every unmarried lady is provided with a slip of paper,

+upon which stands written the name of some unmarried

+man, and it is left to Cupid and Fate either to unite or to

+separate faithful hearts."

+

+At these words Elizabeth was seized with actual

+terror.  She had never thought of other entertainments

+following upon the concert; but now she clearly

+understood why the baroness, on the previous day, had so

+distinctly alluded to her return home after the conclusion of

+the music.  Her cheeks glowed with shame, for she had

+exposed herself to the charge of being very assuming by

+taking from the butler's salver the little slip of paper,

+which now burned like fire in her hand.  Always quick

+to decide, she went into the saloon where the opening

+of the mysterious papers was going on amid the laughter

+of the ladies and their assigned partners.

+

+"What a senseless idea this, of Fräulein von Quittelsdorf's,"

+a young sprig of nobility was just exclaiming peevishly

+to his neighbour as Elizabeth passed them.  "Here

+I have that stout, pious Fräulein Lehr upon my hands.

+*Fi donc!*"

+

+Elizabeth had not long to look for the baroness.  She

+was standing apart, near a window, in lively, but, as it

+seemed, not entirely agreeable conversation with Fräulein

+von Quittelsdorf, the chief lady in waiting, and Helene.

+The countess seemed to be remonstrating with Fräulein

+von Quittelsdorf, who did nothing but shrug her pretty

+shoulders helplessly from time to time.  Intense vexation

+was expressed in the baroness' countenance,—there was

+no need of the round, red spot on either cheek to show

+that she was angry.  Not far from the group Herr von

+Walde was leaning with folded arms against a pillar.

+He seemed to be only half listening to the words of the

+be-ribboned old courtier who was standing beside

+him,—his eyes were fixed upon the gesticulating ladies.

+

+Elizabeth hurriedly approached the baroness.  It did

+not escape her that, at sight of her, Fräulein von

+Quittelsdorf gently nudged the countess, whereupon the latter

+turned and regarded her with a malevolent air.  She saw

+that she was the subject of their discussion, and she

+quickened her pace, that she might avert from herself as soon

+as possible any unworthy suspicion.

+

+"Most gracious lady," she said, with a slight

+courtesy, "in consequence of a misunderstanding, I have

+become possessed of this slip of paper, and have just

+learned that it entails upon me duties which I cannot

+possibly undertake, for my parents are expecting me at

+home."

+

+She handed the little slip to the baroness, who took it

+immediately, while a ray of actual sunshine broke over

+her features.

+

+"I think you are in error, Fräulein Ferber," Herr von

+Walde suddenly interposed, in a clear, melodious voice.

+"It is incumbent upon you to excuse yourself to the

+gentleman whose name the paper contains; it rests with

+him whether he will release you or not."  He scanned, with

+a peculiar smile, the company, who were dividing into

+couples and making ready for departure; even the old

+gentleman beside him approached the countess, and

+offered her his arm.  Herr von Walde continued, as he

+slowly approached: "As master of the house, I cannot

+permit any want of consideration of one of my guests,

+wherefore I must beg you, Fräulein Ferber, to open

+the paper."

+

+Elizabeth obeyed, and then handed him the open slip,

+with a crimson blush.  He glanced at it.

+

+"Ah!" he cried, "I have, as I see, defended my own

+rights.  You must admit that I am fully justified in either

+accepting or refusing to accept your excuses.  I prefer the

+latter course, and must entreat you strictly to comply

+with the injunctions laid upon you by that paper."

+

+The baroness approached him, and laid her hand upon

+his arm.  It looked as if she were almost struggling to

+suppress her tears.

+

+"Forgive me, dear Rudolph," she said, "it is really

+not my fault."

+

+"I do not know to what fault you allude, Amalie," he

+replied, with icy coldness; "but you certainly choose the

+right time in which to ask forgiveness,—-just at this

+moment I could easily forgive an injury."

+

+He took his hat which a servant handed to him, and

+made the signal for departure.

+

+"But my parents!" stammered Elizabeth.

+

+"Are they ill, or about to leave Gnadeck immediately?"

+he asked, standing still.

+

+"Neither."

+

+"Well, pray then let me see to it that they receive

+intelligence of the cause of your delay."

+

+He called a servant, and despatched a message to

+Gnadeck.

+

+While the saloon was gradually emptied, the group of

+ladies which had been joined by the aged cavalier and

+Hollfeld, who looked much chagrined, remained standing

+near the window.

+

+"It serves you quite right, Cornelie," said the

+countess.  "You have set the crown upon your folly to-day.

+What a silly idea this lottery is!  How often have I

+endeavoured to put a stop to your nonsense, to which,

+unfortunately, our gracious princess lends only too willing

+an ear?  How should the butler know any better, when

+you gave him no instructions?  You consider yourself to

+belong naturally to the court, and yet do not know that

+that sort of person has not an idea of his own.  I should

+not for an instant grudge you this lesson, if only poor von

+Walde were not the victim of your frivolity.  There he

+goes with that little white goose upon his arm; he who,

+with his haughty, aristocratic self-consciousness, has many

+a time been regardless of the wishes of some high-born

+lady, who would have been charmed to take his arm.

+What must he suffer to be tied for several hours to that

+little piano-player, the daughter of a—forester's clerk?"

+

+"Why does he sacrifice himself so very readily?" rejoined

+Fräulein von Quittelsdorf.  "It was quite unnecessary

+for him to meddle at all in the matter.  The girl had

+made up her mind to go, when suddenly he steps forth

+like a knight without fear or fault, and takes up the

+burden voluntarily."

+

+"At all events the burden is dazzlingly beautiful," said

+the old cavalier with a conceited smile.

+

+"What are you thinking of, count?" cried the

+countess.  "That is just like you, who rave about every

+round-faced peasant girl that you meet.  I do not

+deny that the girl is pretty; but was not poor Rosa

+von Bergen an actual angel of beauty?  Hundreds were

+languishing at her feet; but von Walde, whom she

+really preferred, was like a glacier to her.  No, he has

+not the smallest sensibility to feminine beauty and

+loveliness.  I long ago erased his name from my list of

+eligibles for my young protegées.  He has just declared, most

+distinctly, his reason for sacrificing himself to-day.  He is

+evidently much pleased and delighted with the attentions

+that we have lavished upon him, and wishes to see

+every one happy and contented about him,—even the

+little thing who played the piano.  I advise my dearest

+Lessen for the future not to trust implicitly to the tact

+and ingenuity of our charming Quittelsdorf."

+

+The maid of honour bit her lips, and dragged her lace

+shawl over her lovely shoulders.  The carriage now drew

+up in which the countess and Helene, accompanied by

+the baroness and the count, were to be driven to the place

+of rendezvous.

+

+"The old cat!" cried Fräulein von Quittelsdorf, after

+she had assisted the countess into the carriage.  "She is

+furious because she was not asked to assist in the

+arrangements for to-day.  Did not you see, Hollfeld, how very

+nearly that false front of hers slipped down upon her nose

+when she was waggling her head in such agitation?  I

+should have laughed for two weeks without intermission

+if her bald head had suddenly made its appearance

+underneath that flower garden on top!"

+

+She was convulsed with laughter at the idea.  Her

+companion walked, without a word, and with accelerated pace,

+by her side, as though he heard nothing of her chatter.

+His whole bearing manifested hurry and disquiet.  He

+seemed most desirous to overtake the rest of the

+assemblage as quickly as possible.  He cast searching glances

+through the bushes on either side of the way, and,

+whenever he caught a glimpse of a white dress, stopped for a

+moment, as though to identify the wearer.

+

+"Indeed, you are too tiresome, Hollfeld; you weary

+me to death!" cried the lady peevishly.  "To be sure it

+is your privilege to be as mute as a fish and yet enjoy

+the reputation of a clever man.  Where your wits are

+now I am sure I cannot imagine.  What, in Heaven's

+name, are you running so fast for?  Allow me to entreat

+you to have some regard for my crape dress, which will

+be torn to rags by these bushes through which you are

+hurrying me, with such speed."

+

+The convent tower,—the only uninjured remnant of

+a former nunnery,—was situated in the depths of a grove

+of oaks and beeches in a part of the forest domain

+appertaining to the Lindhof estate, which here extended far

+towards the east.

+

+A certain lady of Gnadewitz, a sister of the ancestor

+of the wheel, had built the nunnery, whither she, with

+twelve other young maidens, retired to pray for the soul

+of her brother, cut off so ignominiously in the flower of

+his days.  Year after year the giant boughs of the oaks

+had tapped at the windows of the cells and leaned above

+the high wall over the small garden of the convent.  They

+had seen many a fresh young creature pass hurriedly

+along the dim narrow forest path to ring the bell at the

+convent portal with feverish impatience, as though unable

+to wait one instant longer for the promised peace abiding

+within those walls.  They had seen how, behind those

+irrevocable bolts and bars, the mute lips of the nun grew

+white,—how convulsively her waxen hands clutched the

+crucifix, while her agonized looks would seek the ground;

+for the sight of the clear, blue heavens, arching above

+the gay children of the outer world, awakened joyous

+memories within her, and breathed a keen desire for

+pleasure and life into the soul and heart muffled forever

+in the folds of the sackcloth of her order.

+

+The Reformation, which overthrew the convents like

+card houses, had stridden through this still forest also,

+and had passed its mighty hand over the walls of this

+gloomy pile, which had, in expiation of the misery and

+crime that had cursed its origin, been the perpetual abode

+of unhappiness.  And even the hollow mockery of existence

+within its walls had vanished to the four winds.  One

+stone after another had tumbled to the feet of the lofty oaks,

+whose branches had brushed against it while it formed

+part of some carved arch or window-frame, and which

+now strewed leaves upon it till it sank away far more

+softly bedded than the poor bodies of the nuns, which

+were, so said the legend, all sleeping together in a

+subterranean dungeon.

+

+The tower was square, clumsy, and ugly.  On the flat

+roof above, that was surrounded by a stone balustrade,

+the stairs were capped by a very small, square apartment,

+from which egress upon the roof was obtained through

+a massive oaken door.  Here there was a magnificent

+prospect and distant view of L——.  For the sake of

+this prospect the tower had been rebuilt and kept in

+constant repair.  Immense iron clamps bound the walls

+together at the corners, and numberless lines of fresh

+mortar meandered across its blackened surface, so that

+the old building looked at a distance like a gigantic piece

+of agate.

+

+But to-day the old pile was decked out like some old

+fellow dressed for a wooing.  Fresh flowers,—that is to

+say, four gigantic fir trees—were sticking in his hat; and

+from their tops gay banners were floating, like large

+birds above the green waves beneath.  The old fellow,

+who, until to-day, had only whispered nightly and daily

+confidences to his comrades the oaks but had never made

+an advance towards them from his dignified position, was

+now clutching them with green wide-spread arms; huge

+garlands were draped from his topmost walls, and were

+lost among the boughs of the surrounding forest; while

+from one side a white sail-cloth was extended and

+attached to the trunks of two tall hemlocks.  Beneath the

+shade of this tent were several refreshing-looking casks,

+a whole battery of dusty red-sealed flasks and countless

+silver-capped bottles in ice-buckets,—all presided over by

+a very pretty girl in the dress of a vivandiere.

+

+Elizabeth had silently and passively left the large hall

+upon Herr von Walde's arm.  In spite of her determination

+to go home, she had not had the courage to gainsay

+him, or to tell him of her desire,—he had spoken in a tone

+of such authority; and, what had influenced her still more,

+had entered the lists, as it were, for her, and sought to

+help her out of her embarrassment.  Any opposition on

+her part would have seemed like obstinate defiance of

+him, and would have served only to increase her painful

+apprehension of drawing to herself general attention.

+

+The silken garments of the ladies rustled along the

+walls of the corridor behind her.  Laughing and chattering,

+the gay crowd followed Herr von Walde in a long

+train until it issued from the chief entrance door, and

+then it scattered hither and thither, taking the various

+forest paths which led to the convent tower.  Those

+whose elaborate toilets required special care took the

+broad, well-kept path.  Herr von Walde certainly never

+dreamed that his companion's simple, snowy muslin

+could be as precious in her eyes as were the rich dresses

+of the other ladies in theirs, or he certainly would not

+have selected the narrow, lonely pathway into which he

+suddenly turned.

+

+"It is usually very damp here," Elizabeth broke silence

+timidly,—hitherto no words had passed between them.

+Her feet trembled as though they would far rather retreat

+than advance, and yet it is possible that her thoughts were

+not of her dress nor her thin shoes, but rather of the long,

+narrow, leafy way before them, through which she must

+pass alone by his side, and of the voice that would

+suddenly sound in her ears with that harsh, authoritative

+tone almost always adopted by him when alone with her.

+

+"It has not rained for a long time,—see how dry the

+ground is," he quietly replied, as he walked slowly on and

+broke off a twig which threatened to brush Elizabeth's

+cheek.  "This path is the shortest, and we can for a

+quarter of an hour at least escape from the buzz and

+clatter with which my friends and relatives are celebrating

+the completion of my thirty-seventh year.  But perhaps

+you are afraid of meeting Linke in this sequestered

+spot?"

+

+A shudder passed through the young girl's frame.  She

+thought upon the criminal's desperate end, but she could

+not control herself sufficiently to impart her knowledge

+to Herr von Walde.

+

+"I do not fear him any longer," she said gravely.

+

+"He has probably left the country, and if not, he would

+hardly be so discourteous as to intrude upon the pleasures

+of people who are seeking to indemnify themselves for the

+pains they have taken with their formal congratulations.

+By-the-way, you cannot have failed to observe that every

+member of the company to-day has honoured me with a

+few moments of special attention, even the youngest slip

+of a girl in white muslin has made me her courtesy and

+uttered her studied desire for my health and happiness.

+You, perhaps, do not think me old enough yet to need the

+wishes of others for a prolongation of my life?"

+

+"I should suppose that such wishes were as

+appropriate to youth or the prime of life as to advanced age;

+the one possesses as little as the other a monopoly of

+existence."

+

+"Well, then, why did you not come to me?  Yesterday

+you saved my life, and to-day you care so little about

+it that you do not even take the trouble to open your lips

+and say 'God protect it for the future.'"

+

+"You have just said yourself 'every one of the

+company.'  I did not belong to the company, and therefore

+could not intrude myself among those who offered their

+congratulations."  She spoke quickly, for there was

+discontent in his tone, and the arm upon which her hand

+rested moved impatiently.

+

+"But you were invited——"

+

+"To entertain your guests."

+

+"Was that modest view of the case the only reason

+why you did not wish to come with me?"

+

+"Yes; most certainly my refusal could not have had

+anything to do with the gentleman who had fallen to my

+lot, whose name I could not possibly know."

+

+"You can hardly persuade me of that; you must have

+seen at the first glance that all the gentlemen present,

+with the exception of myself, were already appropriated;

+you must have known that my sister, without drawing a

+paper, had requested Hollfeld to accompany her, as she

+can walk more easily leaning upon his arm than upon any

+other.  Confess——"

+

+"I knew and saw nothing.  I was far too much

+troubled when I entered the ball-room to return the

+paper, for the hour at which I was expected to return

+home had been particularly mentioned to me yesterday.

+I had no idea that any special festivity was to follow the

+concert, and in taking the folded slip of paper I

+committed an indiscretion, for which I cannot forgive

+myself."

+

+He suddenly stood still.

+

+"I pray you look at me," he said, in a tone of command.

+

+She raised her eyes, and although she felt her cheeks

+glow, she sustained unflinchingly the gaze which at first

+rested sternly upon her and then became indescribably

+gentle.

+

+"No, no," he muttered softly, as if to himself, "it were

+a crime to suspect deceit here.  Yes, double-dyed," he

+continued in an altered, sarcastic tone; it sounded as though

+he wished to sneer away some momentary weakness,—"was

+I not the involuntary auditor of your declaration:

+'It needs more courage to tell a lie boldly than to confess

+a fault?'"

+

+"That is my conviction, I repeat it."

+

+"Ah, what a splendid thing strength of character is!

+But I should suppose that if one were too upright to

+soil the lips with deceit, a strict watch should be kept

+upon the eyes also, lest they lie.  I know one moment in

+your life when you appeared what you were not."

+

+Elizabeth, wounded, attempted to withdraw her hand

+from his arm.

+

+"Oh, no—you do not escape me so easily!" he cried,

+retaining it.  "You must either deny or acknowledge it.

+You looked indifferent lately, when I threw away my

+cousin's tender token, the rose."

+

+"Should I have flown after it?"

+

+"Certainly, if you had been true."

+

+Elizabeth knew now why he had entered this lonely

+path with her,—she was to confess her feelings towards

+Hollfeld.  She was confirmed in her former suspicions,—Herr

+von Walde was evidently most anxious lest she

+should prize his cousin's homage too highly and perhaps

+imagine that he could forget her social position.  The

+moment had come when she could declare her sentiments.

+By a hasty movement she released her hand from his

+arm, and stepped a little aside.

+

+"I grant you," she said, "that if my face that day

+expressed indifference, it was not in harmony with my

+thoughts."

+

+"I thought so!" he cried, but there was no triumph in

+the exclamation.

+

+"I was in fact indignant."

+

+"At my interference?"

+

+"At the unauthorized levity of Herr von Hollfeld."

+

+"He startled you greatly; but——"

+

+"No, he insulted me!  How dared he intrude upon

+me?  I abhor him!"

+

+She must have been right in her solution of his

+manner; but she had never dreamed that her declaration

+would be so highly prized by him.  A weight seemed to

+fall from his heart.  A ray of purest joy broke from the

+eyes which had gazed at her with a mixture of mistrust,

+contempt, and sarcasm.  He drew a deep breath, and

+half extended his arms.  Elizabeth involuntarily looked

+round to discover what it was that caused his eyes to

+flash and glow so.  She saw nothing, but she felt his

+hand tremble as he laid hers once more upon his arm.

+They walked on a few paces without a word.  Suddenly

+he stood still again.

+

+"Now we are entirely alone," he said, in the gentlest

+possible tone.  "See, only one small eye of heavenly

+blue looks down upon us,—no prying faces are near to

+come between us,—I cannot,—I will not be deprived of

+a birthday greeting from you.  Give it to me now, when

+no one can hear it but myself alone."

+

+She was silent and confused.

+

+"Well, do you not know how it is done?" he asked.

+

+"Oh, yes," she replied, and an arch smile hovered

+upon her lips.  "I am well practised in such things.  My

+parents, my uncle, Ernst——"

+

+"All have birthdays," he interrupted her, smiling.

+"But you cannot wonder that I want a birthday greeting

+all to myself,—that I desire that it may sound quite

+different from any that you have hitherto uttered,—for I am

+neither your father, nor your bluff forester uncle, and

+certainly I cannot lay claim to the rights of the brother with

+whom you play.  Come, speak!"

+

+Still she said nothing.  What should she say?  Her

+eyes were cast down, for she could no longer endure that

+searching glance, that seemed to penetrate her very soul

+with its troubled expression of entreaty.

+

+"Then come," he cried abruptly, drawing her forward,

+after waiting in vain for some moments for one word

+from her lips.  "It was a foolish wish of mine.  I know

+that your tongue, which is always ready to say what is

+kind and gentle to others, is dumb for me, or only ready

+with some rebuke."

+

+At these words she grew pale, and involuntarily stood

+still.

+

+"You will, then?" he asked more gently, "and cannot

+find the words?" he continued, shaking his head, as

+she was silent but looked up at him beseechingly.  "Well,

+then, I have a plan.  Let me say what I should like to

+hear from your lips, and you will repeat it after me word

+for word."

+

+Again the smile played around Elizabeth's mouth, and

+she murmured assent.

+

+"In the first place, you give your friend your hand,"

+he began, and took her hand in his,—she trembled, but

+did not withdraw it,—"and then you say, 'You have

+hitherto been a wretched wanderer upon the face of the

+earth,—it is high time that the clouds above you should

+break, and be penetrated by the pure ray of light which

+has transformed your whole existence.  It is my true

+and earnest wish that this light may never forsake you.

+Here is my hand, as the pledge of a happiness so

+inconceivable——"

+

+So far she had repeated this strangely-worded greeting

+after him, but at the last words she hesitated.  He

+seized her other hand also, and urged passionately, "Go

+on, go on!"

+

+"Here is my——" she began at last.

+

+"Oh, Herr von Walde," suddenly cried Cornelie's voice

+from the thicket, "what a delightful meeting!  Now I

+shall enjoy in company with you the triumph of being

+received with a flourish of trumpets!"

+

+Never in her life had Elizabeth seen such a sudden

+change take place in a human countenance as now

+transformed Herr von Walde's features.  One strong blue vein

+stood out upon his pale forehead, his eyes flashed, and

+he involuntarily stamped his foot.  It really seemed

+as if he would have liked to hurl back into the thicket

+the unwelcome intruder, who, holding up her crape skirt,

+came hurrying through the bushes towards them.  He

+could not command his emotion as quickly as usual;

+perhaps he did not wish to do so, for he frowned angrily as

+Hollfeld made his appearance behind the lady.  As he

+came in sight, Herr von Walde drew Elizabeth's hand

+through his arm with gentle violence, as if he feared lest

+she should be snatched from him.

+

+"Why, how you look, Herr von Walde," cried Fräulein

+von Quittelsdorf, stepping into the middle of the path;

+"actually as if we were bandits, with designs upon your

+life; or, at all events, upon your property!"

+

+Without replying a word to this attack, he turned to

+his cousin and asked, "Where is my sister?"

+

+"She was afraid of the long rough path," the latter

+replied, "and preferred to drive."

+

+"Well, I suppose you will hardly leave Helene to be

+lifted out of the carriage by the old Count Wildenau;

+I cannot understand how, as her faithful knight, you

+could leave the principal path.  A few, quick steps will

+enable you to rejoin her.  I will not prevent you from

+doing so," said Herr von Walde sharply, while a

+sarcastic smile quivered around the corners of his mouth.

+He stepped aside with Elizabeth to allow the pair to pass.

+

+"And pray, if one may ask, why did you leave the

+principal path yourself?" asked Fräulein von Quittelsdorf

+flippantly, much more like a pert chamber-maid than

+a maid of honour.

+

+"That you can easily learn; simply because I hoped,

+by coming along this lonely path, to escape the eloquent

+tongues of certain ladies," replied Herr von Walde drily.

+

+"Ah, how cross you are!  Heaven shield us from such

+an irritable birthday hero!" cried the lady, shuddering,

+and retreating a few paces with a comical assumption of

+terror.  "It was a mistake that we did not come to you

+to-day with funereal faces, and muffled to the eyes in black

+crape!"

+

+She pouted, and, taking Hollfeld's arm, would have

+dragged him forward; but he, strangely enough, seemed

+inclined, for the first time in his life, to set his cousin's

+wishes at defiance.  He walked on slowly, and as if

+weary of existence, peering right and left into the bushes,

+apparently intensely interested in every stone in the

+pathway, every squirrel that ran swiftly past.  Then he began

+a conversation with his companion, whose answers

+absorbed his attention so entirely that he paused and stood

+still to listen to them.

+

+Herr von Walde muttered something between his teeth;

+Elizabeth could not understand it; but the hostile glance

+that he cast after his cousin showed how the behaviour

+of the latter incensed him.  He said not another word to

+her.  He turned slowly towards her, and she felt that he

+continued to regard her steadfastly, but she was unable

+to lift her eyes to his.  Had she done so he must have

+discovered on the spot how greatly she was moved by

+the strange words that he had just whispered to her

+with so much emotion in his voice.  One look would

+have betrayed the conflict within her, and then,—she

+could not pursue the thought,—he would doubtless have

+repented the simple wish that he had expressed.  Thus

+deeply agitated, it was natural enough that the young

+girl's eyelids fell low over her eyes, and that she failed

+to observe the inaudible sigh that escaped her companion,

+or mark how all signs of irritation vanished from his

+features to give place to the shade of melancholy that was

+so wont to rest upon his brow.

+

+A faint and dying trumpet note, which was doubtless

+the result of the impatience of the musicians who were

+waiting upon the roof of the tower, betrayed the close

+vicinity of the scene of festivity.  And soon a buzz and

+noise, as of some neighbouring gypsy encampment, broke

+upon their ears; the path grew broader, gay throngs were

+seen fluttering through the bushes, and suddenly a loud

+flourish of bugles and trumpets sounded over their heads.

+Elizabeth availed herself of the opportunity to slip her

+hand from the arm of her conductor and to lose herself

+in the crowd that gathered around the lord of the feast;

+while a young girl, habited as a Dryad, and accompanied

+by four other wood-nymphs, approached, and, in limping

+hexameters, welcomed him to the forest.

+

+"Well, von Walde has gotten rid of his Dulcinea at the

+right moment.  I don't see the girl at all, now," the

+Countess Falkenberg whispered smilingly to Count

+Wildenau, who was sitting beside her upon a kind of raised

+dais, beneath the shade of a group of oaks.  "He will never

+forgive the baroness and our flippant Cornelia for so

+stupidly forcing him into playing the knight, even for

+a few moments, to such a creature.  My child," and

+she turned to Helene; seated at her right, who was

+anxiously searching the crowd with troubled eyes, "when

+those people release him we must take him in here among

+us, and do everything in our power to make him forget

+the provoking beginning of the festival."

+

+Helene nodded mechanically.  Apparently she had only

+heard half of what the lady had whispered in her ear.

+Her poor little figure, enveloped in a heavy, light-blue

+silk, leaned helplessly and wearily back in her huge

+armchair, and her cheeks were whiter than the lily-wreath

+that crowned her brow.'

+

+Meanwhile Elizabeth had encountered in the throng

+Dr. Fels and his wife.  The latter immediately took the

+young girl under her care, that they might not be

+separated again.

+

+"Only stay until the dancing begins," she replied to

+Elizabeth's remark that the moment seemed to have

+arrived when she could slip away unnoticed, and go home.

+"I do not wonder that you wish to leave as soon as

+possible," she added, with a smile.  "We, too, shall not stay

+long.  I am anxious about my children at home.  I made

+a great sacrifice to my husband's position in coming at

+all.  Herr von Walde, to whom you are assigned for the

+day by lot, does not dance.  So never fear, you will be

+released."

+

+Suddenly the crowd separated.  From the top of the

+tower sounded a grand march, and while the gentlemen

+sought the shade of the trees, the ladies, according to

+the rules of the feast, hastened to provide them with

+refreshments from the tent.

+

+Herr von Walde walked slowly across the sward, his

+hands clasped behind him, talking with the

+military-inspector Busch, by his side.

+

+"My dear Herr von Walde, now pray come to us!"

+the Countess Falkenberg cried out to him, extending

+her hand with an air almost caressing.  "I have kept

+such a charming place here for you.  Come, rest upon

+your well-earned laurels.  'Tis true, all the young ladies

+present are disposed of by lot, but here are our fair

+and lovely wood-nymphs all ready to wreathe your

+goblet, and furnish you from the tent with all that your

+heart can desire."

+

+"I am deeply touched by your kindness and care for

+me, gracious lady," the gentleman replied, "but I cannot

+think that Fräulein Ferber will leave me to appeal to the

+general sympathy."

+

+He spoke loudly, and turned to Elizabeth, who was

+standing quite near.  She had heard every word, and

+instantly walked quietly towards him, placing herself at his

+side, as though she were by no means inclined to delegate

+to others one jot of her duty.  As he saw her approach

+him thus, something of a joyful surprise lit up his

+countenance.  He cast an answering glance at the face that,

+unembarrassed now by those around, looked smilingly

+up at him.  Strangely enough, he seemed entirely to forget

+the charming place that the countess had reserved for

+him, for, after a slight obeisance to her stately ladyship

+and her court of young ladies, he offered his arm to

+Elizabeth, and conducted her to the shade of a giant oak,

+where Doctor Fels had just provided comfortable places

+for his wife and himself.

+

+"Now, that is carrying his revenge a little too far,"

+said the great lady, with irritation, turning for sympathy

+to Count Wildenau and the five disconcerted Dryads.

+"He really throws scorn upon the entire fête by taking

+so much notice of that young person.  I begin to be

+really vexed with him.  No one is more ready than I to

+grant that he is entirely right to be angry, but I really

+think that he should not allow himself to be so carried

+away by his indignation as to forget those of his guests

+who have had no share in the absurdities of the baroness

+or of von Quittelsdorf.  I'll wager that that little fool

+there attributes his attentions to the influence of her

+beautiful eyes."

+

+The small band of amiable Dryads shot annihilating

+looks at Elizabeth, who was quietly proceeding to the

+refreshment tent, whence she presently issued with a flask

+of champagne and four glasses, which she placed upon

+the table beneath the oak, where Herr von Walde was

+sitting with the doctor and his wife.

+

+"Our young ladies to-day are wearing perfect flower

+gardens upon their heads," said Frau Fels, as the young

+girl approached the table.  "Fräulein Ferber alone is

+as destitute of ornament as Cinderella.  I cannot have

+it so."

+

+She took two roses from the large bouquet which she

+held in her hand, and stood up to place them in

+Elizabeth's hair.

+

+"Stop, I pray you," cried Herr von Walde, detaining

+her hand, "nothing should adorn that hair but orange

+blossoms."

+

+"But they are only worn by brides," said the doctor's

+wife naively.

+

+"I know that well," he replied quietly; and as if he

+had said the most natural thing in the world, he filled

+the glasses, and turned to Dr. Fels.  "Clink glasses with

+me, doctor," he said; "I drink to the welfare of the

+saviour of my life—of Gold Elsie of Castle Gnadeck!"

+

+The doctor smiled, and the glasses clinked with a loud

+ring.  At this signal, a group of gentlemen approached,

+glasses in hand.

+

+"You come at the right moment, gentlemen," the lord

+of the feast cried out to them.  "Drink with me to the

+fulfilment of my dearest wish!"

+

+A loud "vivat" resounded through the air, and the

+glasses clinked merrily.

+

+"Scandalous!" cried the old court lady, and dropped

+her fork, with its choice morsel, upon her plate; "really,

+they are conducting themselves over there like students

+at a carouse!  I am positively shocked!  What an

+unseemly noise!  Actually the mob in the street is better

+behaved when they shout 'vivats' to our gracious Prince.

+Apropos, my love," she continued, turning to Helene, "I

+observe that your brother seems quite intimate with

+Doctor Fels."

+

+"He esteems him highly as a thoroughly upright man

+of great scientific attainments," replied Helene.

+

+"That is all very well,—but he certainly cannot be

+aware that the man just now is in very bad odour at

+court.  Only imagine, he has had the inconceivable

+insolence to refuse our beloved Princess Catharine——"

+

+"Yes; I know that story," said Fräulein von Walde,

+interrupting the irritated lady; "my brother related the

+circumstance to me himself a few days ago."

+

+"How!—is it possible that the facts are known to him,

+and that he has so little regard for the sentiments of the

+court,—which has always distinguished him so highly!

+Incredible!  I assure you, dear child, my conscience

+pricks me sorely; I shall scarcely be able to lift my eyes

+in the presence of their Serene Highnesses, when they

+arrive in L——, at the thought of having been in the

+society here of that impertinent creature."

+

+Helene shrugged her shoulders, and left the lady to her

+qualms of conscience and a brimming glass of champagne,

+with which she probably intended to fortify herself in

+anticipation of the dreaded arrival.

+

+In the society of this lady Fräulein von Walde suffered

+all the galling annoyance that conventionalities

+inflict;—she was obliged to listen, with an amiable and interested

+smile, to a thousand wretched trifles, while her heart

+was tortured with pain; indeed, only just such a person

+as the Countess Falkenberg, who sought and found her

+highest earthly happiness in a gracious glance from a

+Princely eye, a person whose whole intellectual capacity

+was exercised in standing sentinel before the domain of

+etiquette and in guarding religiously the hardly-won

+prestige of her social position,—only such a one could have

+been blind to the signs of the deepest suffering in the

+countenance of the younger lady.

+

+Hollfeld had not only been so inattentive as to leave

+Helene, upon her arrival at this spot, to the care of Count

+Wildenau, he had even, upon his tardy appearance,

+omitted all explanation or apology for his delay, and had finally

+seated himself beside her in a sullen and abstracted mood.

+She thought him strangely altered, and she racked her

+restless heart and brain with vain surmises.  At first her

+suspicions rested upon Cornelie, who, true to her

+mercurial temperament, fluttered hither and thither like a

+will-o'-the-wisp, talking and laughing incessantly.  But she

+was soon reassured upon this point, for she could not

+catch a single glance of Hollfeld's directed towards the

+coquettish and graceful court beauty.  The anxious

+inquiries that she made of him were answered in

+monosyllables.  She beckoned to one of the servants who was

+bearing past a tray of delicacies, and herself placed them

+before Hollfeld,—but he did not eat a morsel, and only

+swallowed in quick succession several glasses of fiery wine

+which he procured for himself at the refreshment tent.

+This careless conduct, which she now observed for the

+first time, caused her unspeakable pain.  At last she was

+silent, and closed her eyes as though fatigued; no one

+noticed the crystal drops trembling on their lashes.

+

+Suddenly a shadow was cast upon the universal merriment,

+which had been all the more unrestrained from the

+fact that the lord of the feast, usually so grave and serious,

+had joined in it so cordially,—at least Elizabeth felt

+convinced that the face of the butler, Lorenz, who now

+appeared in the distance, boded no good.  The old man took

+the greatest pains to attract his master's attention without

+being seen by the other guests.  At last he succeeded.

+Herr von Walde arose, and stepped aside with him into

+the thicket, while the group of gentlemen around him

+dispersed.  He soon returned, with marks of dismay in

+his countenance.

+

+"I have just received sad news, which will compel me

+to leave you immediately," he said, in a low voice, to

+the doctor.  "Herr von Hartwig, in Thalleben, one of

+my oldest friends, has met with a terrible accident; the

+injury is fatal; they write me that he cannot live a day

+longer.  He summons me to him that he may entrust his

+young children to my care.  I pray you inform the

+Baroness Lessen of my departure, and its cause; she will

+see that the festivities are not interrupted.  Let my sister

+and my guests suppose that I am called away for a few

+minutes by some trifling matter of business, and will

+return hither shortly.  I shall not be missed after the

+dancing begins."

+

+The doctor went instantly to find the baroness.  His

+wife had strayed away from the spot a few moments

+before, so Elizabeth was left alone with Herr von Walde.

+He turned to her quickly:

+

+"I thought we should not part from each other to-day

+without the conclusion of my birthday greeting," he said,

+while striving to meet her eyes, which shyly avoided his,

+"but I seem to be one of those unfortunate ones whose

+unlucky stars snatch from them the prize when it seems

+almost within their grasp."  He endeavoured to give an

+air of humour to his words, but they only sounded the

+more bitter.  "However, I submit," he continued, in a

+determined tone; "I must go.  It cannot be helped, but

+my duty may be made easier and sweeter for me by a

+promise from you.  Do you remember the words which

+you lately repeated after me?"

+

+"I do not forget so quickly."

+

+"Ah, that encourages me greatly!  There is a fairy

+tale which tells of a realm of inexhaustible riches and

+endless delights, revealed by a single word.  Such a word

+the conclusion of your greeting can be to me.  Will you

+aid me in having it uttered?"

+

+"How can I help you to the attainment of riches and

+delights?"

+

+"That is my affair.  I do most earnestly entreat you

+at this moment to make no further attempt at evasion,

+for time presses.  Let me ask you,—will you endeavour to

+retain in your memory, during my absence, the beginning

+of that birthday greeting?"

+

+"Yes."

+

+"And will you be ready, when I return, to hear the

+conclusion?"

+

+"Yes."

+

+"Good; in the midst of the sorrow and gloom to

+which I am summoned there will be a glimpse of clear

+blue sky above me, and for you——may my good angel

+whisper in your ear the word that will unlock that fairy

+realm for me.  Farewell!"

+

+He gave her his hand, and disappeared upon the path

+leading directly to the castle.

+

+Elizabeth stood still for a few moments in a state of

+delicious stupefaction, from which she was roused by the

+surprise of the doctor's wife at finding the gentlemen

+gone.  Elizabeth told her what had happened, and the

+doctor shortly returned and related that the baroness had

+been greatly piqued that her cousin had not considered

+it worth his while to inform her in person of the cause

+of his departure.  The unlucky doctor had been obliged

+to bear the brunt of the lady's ill humour, which had

+vented itself in several biting remarks, but he had been

+so discourteous as to allow them to pass him by

+without in the least disturbing his serenity.  He seated

+himself at the table and began to eat with an excellent

+appetite.

+

+Meanwhile Elizabeth went to take leave of Fräulein

+von Walde.  There was nothing now to detain her any

+longer.  She longed to be alone with her thoughts, to

+recall undisturbed every word that he had spoken, and

+to ponder upon its meaning.

+

+"Are you going?" asked Helene, as Elizabeth stood

+behind her chair and bade her farewell.  "What does my

+brother say to that?"

+

+"Rudolph has been summoned to the castle upon some

+business matter," the baroness, who just now appeared,

+answered in Elizabeth's stead.  "Fräulein Ferber is

+released from all necessity of remaining any longer."

+

+Helene cast a glance of displeasure at the speaker.

+"I cannot see why," she said.  "His business cannot

+detain him long, he will certainly return."

+

+"Probably," rejoined the baroness; "but he may be

+delayed quite late.  Fräulein Ferber, meanwhile, will be

+very much fatigued in a circle where she is such an utter

+stranger."

+

+"Has my brother released you?"  Helene turned to

+Elizabeth, hardly allowing the baroness to complete her

+sentence.

+

+"Yes," answered she, "and I pray you to allow me to

+take my departure."

+

+During this short dialogue the Countess Falkenberg

+leaned back and measured Elizabeth from head to foot

+with her cold, piercing eyes; but Hollfeld arose and

+departed without saying a word.  Fräulein von Walde

+looked after him with an air of anxious discontent, and

+at first did not reply to Elizabeth's request; but at last,

+with evident absence of mind, she held out her hand and

+said, "Well, then, go, dear child, and a thousand thanks

+for your kind assistance to-day."

+

+Elizabeth took a hasty leave of Doctor Fels and his

+wife, and then entered the forest with a light heart.

+

+She breathed more freely as the throng was left behind

+her, and as a few sounding chords concluded the waltz

+whose bewildering notes had for a short distance

+accompanied her.  She could now yield herself up undisturbed

+to the magic that had laid so sweet a spell upon her

+entire mind and being, and forced her to listen still to the

+tones of that voice which had died upon her ear, ensnaring

+her heart with its thrilling melody, and at the sound of

+which all the suggestions of maidenly reserve, all the

+arguments of her understanding, vanished.  She called to

+mind how passively she had followed him, although her

+deeply offended pride had prompted her instantly to

+leave the circle where she seemed to be so unwelcome a

+guest; she still experienced the delight with which she

+had hastened to his side when he had so emphatically

+declared, before all present, that he belonged to her for

+the day, and would accept of no substitute in her place.

+He might have conducted her to the end of the world,—she

+would have followed him blindly with unhesitating

+reliance and the most entire abandonment of herself to

+his guidance.  And her parents?  She understood now

+how a daughter could forsake father and mother to follow

+a man whose path in life had been widely separated from

+her own, leading, perhaps, in directly an opposite

+direction,—a man who had known nothing of the inclinations,

+influences, occurrences great and small, by which every

+fibre of her life had been previously intertwined with the

+life of her family.  Two months before, all this would

+have been an inexplicable riddle to her.

+

+She turned into a path which she had often trodden

+with Miss Mertens.  It led, by many a narrow winding,

+through the thicket, out upon the broad path which

+traversed the forest, and for some distance formed the

+boundary line between the Prince's domain and the estate

+of Herr von Walde.  On the other side of this broad path

+opened the wide road which led through the forest to her

+uncle's Lodge.

+

+Lost in her day-dreams, Elizabeth did not hear the sound

+of hasty footsteps approaching; she therefore started in

+alarm when she heard her name pronounced, close to her,

+by a man's voice.  Hollfeld stood just behind her.  She

+suspected why he had followed her, and she felt her heart

+beat quickly, but she collected herself, and, standing aside,

+made room for him to pass her in the narrow pathway.

+

+"No, that was not what I wished, Fräulein Ferber,"

+he said smiling, and in a tone of such familiarity as deeply

+offended her.  "I wished to have the pleasure of

+accompanying you."

+

+"I thank you," she coldly replied, "it would be giving

+you needless trouble; I always greatly prefer walking

+alone in the forest."

+

+"And have you no fear?" he asked, stepping so close

+to her that she felt his hot breath upon her cheek.

+

+"Only of unwelcome companionship," she replied,

+retaining her self-possession by an effort.

+

+"Ah! here is the same dignified reserve again in which

+you always entrench yourself with me; and wherefore?

+I shall soon put an end to it, however.  To-day, at least,

+I shall not respect it as I have hitherto been forced to

+do,—I must speak to you."

+

+"Is what you have to say of such consequence as to

+require you to absent yourself from your friends and the

+fête?"

+

+"Yes; it is a wish upon which my life depends; it

+pursues me day and night; I have been ill and wretched at

+the idea that it may never be gratified—I——"

+

+In the mean time Elizabeth had accelerated her pace.

+It was hateful to her,—the presence of this man, in whose

+eyes glowed all the passion which he had hitherto partly

+repressed and which had already inspired her with such

+deep aversion and disgust; but she was perfectly

+conscious that absolute self-possession was her only weapon,

+and therefore she interrupted him, while her lips quivered

+with the sickly semblance of a smile.

+

+"Ah!" she said, "our practisings, then, have had most

+desirable results; you wish my assistance in music, if I

+understand you rightly?"

+

+"You misunderstand me intentionally," he exclaimed.

+

+"Accept the misunderstanding as an act of forbearance

+on my part," said Elizabeth seriously; "I should else be

+obliged to say much to you which it might please you

+still less to hear."

+

+"Go on, I pray.  I know your sex sufficiently well to

+be quite aware that they delight in wearing the mask of

+coldness and reserve for awhile,—their favours are all

+the more welcome.  I do not grudge you the pleasure of

+this innocent coquetry, but then——"

+

+Elizabeth stood for one moment dumb and stupefied at

+his insolence; such hateful words had never before

+shocked her ears.  Shame and indignation drove the

+blood to her face, and she sought in vain for terms in

+which to punish such unexampled temerity.  He

+interpreted her silence otherwise.

+

+"I knew it," he cried triumphantly.  "I see through

+you; the blush of detection becomes you incomparably!

+You are beautiful as an angel!  Never have I seen so

+perfect a form as yours!  Ah! you know well enough that

+you made me your slave the first time I saw you; since

+then, I have languished at your feet.  What shoulders

+and what arms!  Why have you hitherto veiled them so

+enviously?"

+

+An indignant exclamation broke from Elizabeth's lips:

+

+"How dare you," she cried loudly and violently,

+"offer me these insults!  If you have not understood me

+hitherto, let me tell you now, clearly and distinctly, that

+your society, which you force upon me thus, is hateful to

+me, and that I wish to be alone."

+

+"Bravo! that authoritative tone becomes you

+excellently well," he said, with a sneer; "the noble blood

+that you inherit from your mother shows itself now.

+What have I done to make you suddenly play this

+indignant part?  I have told you that you are beautiful,

+but your mirror must tell you the same thing fifty times

+a day, and I do not believe that you break it for the

+telling."

+

+Elizabeth turned her back upon him contemptuously,

+and walked quickly onward.  He kept pace with her,

+and seemed quite sure of a final victory.  She had just

+reached the broad forest-road when a carriage dashed

+past.  A man's head appeared at the window, but at

+sight of her was drawn back quickly, as though surprised.

+He looked out once more, as if to convince himself that

+he had seen correctly, and then the carriage vanished

+around a sharp turn in the road.

+

+Elizabeth involuntarily extended her arms after the

+retreating carriage.  Its inmate well knew how she

+detested Hollfeld; after the declaration that she had made

+to him a few hours before, how could he doubt that she

+was most unwillingly in the society of this man?  Could

+he not delay his journey for one moment, to free her from

+such odious importunity?

+

+Hollfeld observed her action.

+

+"Aha!" he cried, with a malicious laugh, "that looked

+almost tender.  If it were not for my cousin's seven and

+thirty years, I might actually be jealous!  Perhaps you

+supposed that he would immediately descend from his

+vehicle and gallantly offer you his arm to escort you to

+your home!  You see he is too conscientious; he denies

+himself that indulgence, and prefers to fulfil a sacred

+duty.  He is an iceberg, for whom no woman possesses

+a single charm.  You owe his behaviour to you to-day,

+which was so very courteous, not to your enchanting eyes,

+O bewitching Gold Elsie, but to his desire to provoke my

+honoured mamma."

+

+"And does nothing deter you from ascribing such

+mean motives to the man whose hospitality you enjoy so

+freely?" cried Elizabeth, provoked.  She had determined

+not to reply to him again by a single syllable, in hopes

+that she might thus weary out his pertinacity; but the

+manner in which he spoke of Herr von Walde overcame

+her self-control.

+

+"Mean?" he repeated.  "You express yourself strongly.

+I only call it a little revenge which he was fully justified

+in taking.  And as for his hospitality,—I am only using

+now what will be all my own at some future period; I

+cannot see that it should alter my opinion of my cousin.

+Besides, I am the one to sacrifice myself, I deserve all the

+gratitude.  Is my devotion and attention to Fräulein von

+Walde to go for nothing?"

+

+"It must be a hard task to pluck a few flowers and

+carry them to a poor invalid!" said Elizabeth ironically.

+

+"Aha! you are, as I am happy to observe, jealous

+of these little attentions of mine," he cried triumphantly.

+"Did you seriously suppose for one moment that

+I could really be in love with her, while my sense of

+beauty was so perpetually outraged?  I esteem my cousin,

+but I never forget for one instant that she is a year older

+than I, that she limps, is crooked, and——"

+

+"Detestable!"  Elizabeth interrupted him, beside herself

+with the abhorrence he inspired; she hastily crossed

+the broad forest-road.  He followed her.

+

+"Detestable, say I, too," he continued, endeavouring to

+keep pace with her; "especially when I see your

+Hebeform by her side.  And now I beg you, do not run so

+fast; let there be the peace between us of which I dream

+day and night."

+

+He suddenly passed his arm around her waist and

+forced her to stand still, while his glowing face, with eyes

+sparkling with unholy fire, approached her own.  At first

+she gazed at him speechless and stupefied, then a

+shudder convulsed her frame, and with a gesture of utter

+aversion she pushed him from her.

+

+"Don't dare to touch me again!" she cried in a clear

+ringing voice,—and at the same moment she heard the

+loud barking of a dog near her.  She turned her head in

+joyful surprise towards the spot whence the noise proceeded.

+

+"Hector!  Hector! here, good dog!" she called; and

+the forester's huge hound burst through the thicket and

+fawned upon her.

+

+"My uncle is not far off," she turned coldly and quietly

+to her discomfited companion; "he will be here in a

+moment.  As you can hardly desire that I should request

+him to rid me of your society, I advise you to return

+immediately to the castle."

+

+And, in fact, he stood still like a coward, while she,

+accompanied by the dog, proceeded towards her home.

+Hollfeld stamped his feet in his rage, and cursed the

+blind passion that had robbed him of all prudence.  He

+did not for one instant imagine that he could really be

+disagreeable to Elizabeth,—he, the pet of society, whose

+slightest word, were it only an invitation to dance, made

+such a sensation in the little world of L——, and was

+so often an occasion of envy and discord among the ladies!

+The idea was absurd.  It was far more likely that the

+daughter of the forester's clerk was a coquette, who

+intended to make conquest as difficult as possible for him.

+He had no faith in the existence of that virgin purity

+of soul which made Elizabeth thus insensible, and the

+magic of which affected even him most powerfully,

+although he did not understand its influence.  He had no

+faith in the sacred reserve of a young girl's inner life, and

+therefore could not possibly conceive of the instinctive

+aversion which his selfish, unprincipled nature inspired.

+He reproached himself angrily for having been too

+sudden and violent, thus defeating his own ends, and

+deferring indefinitely the accomplishment of his hopes.  He

+wandered about in the forest for an hour before he could

+master his emotions; for the guests, who were still dancing

+on the green before the convent tower whence the gay

+music reached his ears, must not suspect the volcano

+seething beneath that cold and interesting exterior.

+

+Elizabeth had apparently walked away with a firm,

+decided step, but she took care to look neither to the

+right nor the left, lest she should suddenly see his hated

+face beside her.  At last she ventured to stand still and

+look around her.  He had disappeared.  With a sigh of

+relief, she leaned against the trunk of a tree to collect

+her thoughts, while Hector stood beside her sagely

+wagging his tail, seeming thoroughly to understand that he

+was playing the part of her protector.  Doubtless he had

+been taking a forest walk for his own amusement, for

+there were no signs of his master.  Elizabeth felt her

+knees tremble beneath her.  Her terror, when Hollfeld

+had clasped her waist, had been extreme.  In her

+innocence she had never imagined such rudeness, and hence

+his sudden touch had made her for one moment rigid with

+horror.  She shed bitter tears of shame as she recalled

+Herr von Walde's image, not clothed in the gentleness of

+the last few hours, but stern and reserved.  She thought

+she should scarcely dare ever to look up at him again

+since that wretch had touched her.  All her happy

+visions lay shattered at her feet.  This unhappy

+encounter with Hollfeld had ruthlessly brought her back

+to reality.  What he had said of Herr von Walde, coarse

+and slanderous as it was, had revived much in her mind

+which she had once believed, and considered as a bar

+to her growing interest in him.  She thought of his

+invincible pride of descent, of his self-renouncing love for

+his sister, and of the universal opinion that his heart was

+cold as ice where women were concerned.  All the gay

+brilliant dreams which had hovered around her path

+through the forest now folded their wings and vanished

+beneath the searching gaze of her awakened consciousness.

+She could hardly tell what it was that formerly

+made her so happy.  Was it not most likely that only a

+strong sense of justice had induced him to show her such

+gentle kindness and consideration to-day,—to protect her

+from the insolent annoyance of his relatives?  Had he not

+in like manner protected Miss Mertens, and endeavoured to

+indemnify her for the injustice that she had encountered

+beneath his roof?  And the birthday greeting!  Ah, she

+must not think of that, or its unfinished conclusion, for

+then all her dead visions would instantly celebrate a

+blissful resurrection!

+

+As she entered the Lodge Sabina came towards her, pale

+as ashes, in great distress.  She pointed mutely to the

+door of the dwelling-room.  Within the apartment her

+uncle was speaking loudly, while he was pacing heavily to

+and fro.

+

+"Oh dear! oh dear!" whispered Sabina, "everything is

+going wrong in there.  Bertha has kept out of your

+uncle's way most carefully for the last few weeks, but a

+little while ago she was standing at the great door and

+did not see that he was coming into the yard.  He gave

+her no time to run off, but took her by the hand and led her

+instantly into the room there.  She was as white as the

+wall, in her fear of him,—but that didn't help her,—go she

+must.  Ah, Lord have mercy upon me!  I should not like

+to have the Herr Forester for a father confessor——"

+

+A loud burst of sobbing, that sounded almost like a

+stifled shriek, interrupted Sabina's whispering.

+

+"Better so!" they now heard the forester say in a far

+gentler tone of voice; "at least that is a sign that you are not

+quite hardened.  And now speak out!  Remember that I

+stand here in place of your good parents.  If you have a

+sorrow confide it to me; be sure that if it has befallen you

+without fault on your part, I will faithfully assist you to

+bear it."

+

+Only stifled sobs ensued.

+

+"You cannot speak?" asked the forester after a short

+pause.  "I know of a certainty that there is no physical

+obstacle in the way of your speaking, for you talk to

+yourself continually when you believe yourself

+unobserved; you must be putting some force upon

+yourself,—have you made a vow against the use of your

+tongue?"

+

+Probably an assenting nod must have confirmed him in

+this supposition, for he continued, with great irritation,

+"What an insane idea!  Do you suppose that you can

+do your Heavenly Father good service by renouncing one

+of his best gifts, the power of speech?  And are you

+going to be silent all your life long?  No!  You will

+speak, then, if that which you hope to effect by means of

+your vow fails to come to pass?  Very well, I cannot

+force you to speak,—then endure alone what depresses

+you and makes you so unhappy, for that you are unhappy

+any one can read in your face.  But let me tell you that

+you will find an inexorable judge in me, if it should ever

+appear that you have done anything that shuns the light

+and should not be told to honest men; for in your

+boundless arrogance you have hitherto rejected every

+well-meant piece of advice, every attempt to guide and direct

+you, making it impossible for me to care for you as it is

+my duty and desire, standing as I do in the place of your

+parents.  I will bear with you a little longer; but should

+I find you once leaving the house after nightfall, this is

+your home no longer,—you must go.  And let me tell you

+also, to-morrow I shall send for the doctor to tell me

+whether you are really ailing; you have looked wretchedly

+for the last few weeks.  Now go!"

+

+The door opened, and Bertha staggered out.  She did

+not notice Sabina and Elizabeth, and when she heard the

+door close behind her, she suddenly wrung her hands

+above her head in the speechless agony of despair, and

+rushed up the stairs as though hunted by the furies.

+

+"That girl has something on her conscience, whatever

+it may be," said Sabina, shaking her head.  Elizabeth

+went in to her uncle.  He was leaning against the

+window, and drumming upon one of the panes with his

+fingers, a common habit with him when irritated.  He

+looked very gloomy, but his features lighted up as

+Elizabeth entered.

+

+"I'm glad you are come, Gold Elsie!" he exclaimed;

+"I need to see some true, pure face beside me; I

+shudder at the black eyes of that girl who has just gone out.

+Never mind, I have taken up my domestic cross again,

+and shall bear it on for awhile; I cannot see the child

+cry, even though I were sure that the effect of every tear

+was exactly calculated."

+

+Elizabeth was heartily glad that the dreaded encounter

+between Bertha and her uncle was well over.  She hastened

+to divert his thoughts entirely from the unfortunate

+girl by describing to him the festivities she had just

+witnessed, telling him cursorily of Herr von Walde's sudden

+departure.  She informed him also of Linke's dreadful

+end, at which, however, he was not greatly surprised, as

+he had expected some such termination to the affair.

+

+He accompanied Elizabeth to the garden gate.

+

+"Be very careful not to ring too loudly at the gate in

+the wall," he warned her as she left him.  "Your mother

+had an attack of headache to-day, and has gone to bed.

+I was up there a little while ago."

+

+Elizabeth ran up the mountain in some anxiety, but

+Miss Mertens, leading little Ernst by the hand, came to meet

+her on the sward before the castle, and soothed her fears.

+The attack was over, and her mother was enjoying a

+refreshing sleep when Elizabeth softly went to her bedside.

+

+It was already twilight; the most profound quiet

+reigned throughout the house,—the striking clocks had

+been stopped,—the window shutters were closed that the

+rustling of the leaves without might not be heard,—not

+even a fly buzzed,—for Ferber had tenderly taken care

+that nothing should disturb the stillness that surrounded

+the sleeper.

+

+If her mother had been sitting in her arm-chair in the

+window recess of the dwelling-room behind the protecting

+curtains, looking upon the green domain without,

+above which stretched the calm evening skies,—the dear

+familiar corner would have become a confessional, where

+Elizabeth, kneeling upon the cushion at her mother's

+feet, would have poured out her overcharged mind and

+heart.  But now she thrust back her precious secret

+into the inmost recesses of her soul: and who knows

+whether she will ever find courage to reveal what must

+fill her mother's heart with the keenest anxiety?

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER XVI.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER XVI.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+The ruins of Gnadeck might well listen in amazement

+to the strange noise which had resounded through their

+crumbling walls from the first peep of dawn.  It was

+not the familiar sound of destruction caused by furious

+storms, or the melting of the snow when spring appeared.

+Then the water softly excavated little gutters between

+the stones, and lifted from its niche, without any other

+warning, one block of granite after another, that, the

+instant before its final downfall, looked proudly and

+threateningly down upon the world; for its overthrow had been

+planned more secretly than that of a royal favourite or

+an unpopular ministry.  And then a violent storm would

+arise some midnight,—a mighty crash would come, and

+the rays of the rising sun would wander for the first

+time over walls and floors that they had never touched

+before.  There would be a huge pile of masonry heaped

+upon the pavement, and all through the day, with every

+gentle breeze, broken bits of mortar and little rills of sand

+would trickle down from the wound; but before long,

+tender grass would sprout from the jagged edges, and

+years, long years, would again ensue before the

+mischievous water beneath the green garment would prepare a

+new victim for the tempest.  It was a slow, scarcely

+perceptible decline.  The ruins might be as easy as the invalid

+whose disease, though incurable, may permit him to rival

+the Old Testament patriarchs in length of days.

+

+It was human hands to-day that were effecting the work

+of destruction.  With incredible speed and activity they

+dislodged stone after stone.  The old jutty, which had

+advanced so boldly for years, like a valiant sentinel

+keeping watch before this wing of the castle, presented a

+most deplorable appearance.  It had already been shorn

+of much of its height; its ivy mantle was torn, and dark

+window niches and mossy masonry came to light, which,

+perhaps, once were rich in stone carving.  The

+workmen were very diligent.  It interested them greatly,

+hazardous as was their task, to obtain a glimpse down

+into the dark nooks and corners of the old pile, that

+popular superstition had peopled with countless ghastly

+apparitions.

+

+In the afternoon, Frau Ferber was sitting upon the

+shady rampart with Miss Mertens and Elizabeth, when

+Reinhard, who, always made his appearance at a

+certain hour of the day, interrupted their reading.  He

+announced that Linke's body had been committed to the

+earth as privately as possible that morning, and that

+Fräulein von Walde had learned, through the carelessness of

+a servant, of the attempt upon her brother's life.  But

+he remarked, with some bitterness, that Herr von Walde's

+anxiety, lest his sister's fright upon hearing of the assault

+should have disastrous consequences, had been wholly

+unnecessary, since the lady had heard of it with entire

+composure, and even the terrible accident that had befallen

+Herr von Hartwig, whose wife was one of her friends,

+had apparently produced very little impression upon her.

+"But if the life of her fair-haired favourite had been in

+danger," he declared angrily, "she would most certainly

+have torn her chestnut curls.  That Herr von Hollfeld is

+utterly odious to me!  He has been walking about the

+house to-day, looking as if he would like to poison us

+all.  I'll wager that this charming mood of his is the

+cause of Fräulein von Walde's red and swollen eyes,

+which she tried to conceal from me when I met her in

+the garden just now."

+

+At the mention of the hated name, Elizabeth bent low

+over her work.  The blood rushed to her face at the

+thought of Hollfeld's insolence the day before, of which

+she had not yet told her mother, for fear that it might

+cause a return of her headache; and perhaps there were

+other reasons for her silence; but she would not

+acknowledge to herself how much she dreaded lest her parents,

+upon learning of Hollfeld's rudeness, should prohibit her

+from going to Lindhof again, in which case all chance of

+seeing Herr von Walde would be at an end.

+

+In the mean time, the destruction of the jutty was

+going on uninterruptedly.  After awhile Ferber entered

+the garden.  He had been to the Lodge, and had brought

+the forester home with him to take coffee.  Ernst came

+running to them in a great state of excitement.  The

+child had obediently forborne to transgress the bounds

+which his father had set for him, that he might not be

+exposed to danger; but he had been looking on from

+his post of observation, following the progress of the

+workmen with the greatest interest.

+

+"Papa! papa!" he cried, "the mason wants to speak

+to you,—come right away; he says he has found something!"

+

+And in fact one of the workmen made signs to the

+brothers to come nearer.

+

+"We have come to what seems to be a small chamber,"

+the man called down to them, "and, as well as I can see,

+there is a coffin in it.  Will you not examine into the

+matter, Herr Ferber, before we proceed?  You can come

+up here with entire safety; we have firm foothold."

+

+Reinhard had heard the call and came hastily down

+the terrace steps.  A concealed apartment, containing a

+coffin!—the words were music to his antiquarian ears.

+

+The three men cautiously ascended the ladder.

+

+The workmen were standing just where the huge

+jutty sprang forth from the main building, and they

+pointed down to a tolerably large opening at their feet.

+Until now they had come upon no room that had been

+closed; the roof of the main building was partly gone,

+and standing upon this spot, you could look in all

+directions through a labyrinth of open rooms, half ruinous

+passages, and through great gaps in the floors down into

+the castle chapel.  The old ruins did not seem half so

+desolate from within as from without; the blue heavens

+peeped in everywhere, and the fresh breeze swept through

+as often as it would.  But now a space suddenly appeared

+at their feet surrounded by firm walls, and covered by a

+tolerably well-preserved ceiling.  As well as they could

+judge from where they stood, the room lay like a wedge

+between the chapel and the space behind.  At all events,

+there must be a window somewhere at the extreme

+corner formed by the wall of the jutty and that of the

+main building, for from that direction a weak reflection

+streamed in through coloured glass, and flickered upon

+the object which was dimly visible, and which the masons

+took for a coffin.

+

+Immediately a ladder of greater length was procured,

+as the room was quite a high one, and one by one all

+went down in a state of highly-wrought expectation.

+In descending, there was within reach a wainscoted wall

+almost black with age.  The profusion of strange, rich

+carving that adorned it startled the eye.  Close to the

+ceiling a plain strip of wood, of much more modern date,

+had been nailed, upon which were still hanging some rags

+of black cloth; while the rest of what had once been the

+mourning drapery of the apartment lay in mouldering,

+shapeless heaps upon the floor.

+

+Doubtless concealment had been the purpose of the

+room from the beginning, for there had been no heed

+paid to symmetry of form in its construction.  It

+represented an irregular triangle, and in one somewhat

+rounded corner was the very small window whose

+existence they had suspected.  It lay so close to the

+chapel that Reinhard's supposition that in old Catholic

+times the church treasures had been secreted here

+seemed most probable; all the more so as on one side

+five or six worn stone steps led down to a door in the

+chapel wall, which had been walled up from within.

+The window was just behind the evergreen oak, which

+pressed its thick branches against it, and the ivy had

+twined a tender lattice-work across the panes; but

+nevertheless the sun stole through the coloured glass in the

+graceful, delicate stone rosette, which was in a state of

+perfect preservation.

+

+It was in fact a coffin,—a small, narrow, leaden

+coffin,—standing out in strong contrast with the black velvet

+covering of its pedestal, which was thus found lonely and

+forgotten within these three walls.  At its head was a

+huge candelabrum, in the branches of which were still to

+be seen the remains of wax candles; but at its foot was

+a footstool, upon which lay a mandolin, its strings all

+broken.  It had been an old instrument in the hands of

+its last possessor, for the black colour of its neck was

+worn away in spots, and the sounding-board was slightly

+hollowed where the player had pressed her little fingers.

+At the approach of the intruders the last fragments of the

+withered heap of flowers fluttered down from the coffin,

+upon whose lid in gilt letters was inscribed the name "Lila."

+

+Set in the thick wall of the most extensive side of the

+apartment was a kind of press, of dark oak, which

+Reinhard at first supposed had been appropriated to the

+safe-keeping of the priestly robes and ornaments.  He opened

+the doors, which stood ajar; as they shook in opening

+there was a rustle within, and little clouds of dust flew

+forth from a quantity of female garments hanging

+inside.  They formed a strange, fantastic wardrobe,—gay,

+and most coquettish in fashion, they contrasted

+oddly enough with the grave solemnity of their surroundings.

+

+She who had worn these garments must have been a

+wonderfully small and delicate creature, for the silk

+skirts,—most of them bordered with embroidery in gold

+thread,—were as short as though made for a child; and

+the shape of the black and violet velvet bodices, with

+their silken ribbons and tinsel trimmings, must have

+fitted an exquisite, pliant, maiden waist.  Many, many

+years must have elapsed since a human being had breathed

+within these walls,—since any hand warm with life had

+touched these hidden objects.  The hooks in the press

+had, in some cases, pierced the mouldering stuffs; and

+the threads, which had once confined the pearls and

+spangles of the trimming, hung loose and broken.

+

+Against one wall was placed a little table with a stone

+top.  Its legs, grown weak with age, appeared scarcely

+able to sustain it, and it leaned forward, endangering

+the safety of a casket that stood upon it.  This casket

+was a master-piece of workmanship in ivory and gold.

+The cover did not seem to be locked; it looked rather

+as if it had been lightly closed, in order to preserve a

+broad parchment which projected from the box and had

+obviously been arranged with the view of attracting

+attention.  It was yellow with age and covered deep,—as was

+all else,—with dust; but the large, stiff, black characters

+upon it were distinctly visible, and the name, "Jost von

+Gnadewitz," was perfectly legible.

+

+"Good Heavens! what have we here?" cried the

+forester, whose speech almost failed him with

+amazement "Jost von Gnadewitz!—the hero of Sabina's

+tale of her great-grandmother!"

+

+Ferber approached the table, and carefully raised the

+cover of the casket.  Within, upon a dark velvet

+cushion, lay ornaments of antique workmanship, bracelets,

+brooches, a necklace of gold coins, and several strings

+of costly pearls.

+

+The parchment had fallen to the ground.  Reinhard

+picked it up, and offered to read the contents aloud.  It

+was, even for the time when it had been composed,—about

+two hundred years before,—very clumsily written, and

+very badly spelled.  The writer had evidently understood

+how to wield the hunting-spear better than the

+pen,—nevertheless an air of poesy breathed through the lines.

+They ran thus:

+

+"Whoever you may be who are the first to enter this

+room, by all that is sacred to you, by everything that

+you love or that has a home in your heart, do not

+disturb her repose.  She lies there sleeping like a child.

+The sweet face beneath the dark curls smiles again now

+that death has touched it.  Once more, whoever you are,

+whether noble or beggar, descendant of hers or not, let

+my eyes be the last to rest upon her!

+

+"I could not lay her in the dark, cold ground.  Here

+the golden light will play around her, and birds will

+alight upon the branches of the tree outside with the

+breath of the forest ruffling their feathers, while the songs

+that hushed her in her cradle gush from their throats.

+

+"The golden sunlight was quivering in the forest, and

+the birds were singing in the trees, when the graceful

+roe parted the bushes, and gazed with shy, startled eyes

+at the young huntsman who was lying in the shade.

+His heart beat quickly and wildly at sight of her; he

+threw his weapons from him, and pursued the maiden-form

+that fled before him.  She, the child of the forest,

+a daughter of that people which the curse of God

+pursues making them wanderers upon the face of the earth,

+with no home for their weary feet, not a foot of land that

+they can call their own whereon to lay their dying

+heads,—she had vanquished the heart of the proud,

+fierce huntsman.  Suing for her love, he haunted the

+camp of her tribe, day and night; he followed her

+footsteps like a dog, and entreated her passionately until she

+was touched, to leave her people and fly with him in

+secret.  In the silence of night he bore her away to his

+castle, and, alas! became her murderer.  He did not heed

+her prayers, when she was suddenly seized by the uncontrollable

+longing for her forest liberty.  As the prisoned

+bird flutters wildly about its cage, beating its delicate wings

+against the confining wires, so she wandered in despair

+through the halls which had once resounded to her

+intoxicating song and the delicious music of her lute, but

+which now only echoed to her sighs and complaints.  He

+saw her cheeks grow pale, saw her eyes averted from him

+in hate; his heart died a thousand deaths when she thrust

+him from her, and shuddered at his touch; despair

+possessed him, but he doubly bolted every door, and guarded

+them in deadly terror, for he knew that she was lost to him

+forever if once again her foot should press the woodland

+turf.  And then there came a time when she grew less

+restless,—'tis true she glided past him as though he were

+a shadow, a nothing,—she never lifted her eyes when he

+approached her and addressed her in the tenderest tones

+of entreaty,—it was long since she had spoken to him,

+and still no words passed her lips; but she no longer

+beat her tiny hands against the window-bars, tearing her

+hair, and calling with shrill shrieks upon those who passed

+through the forest without, enjoying all the sweets of

+liberty.  She no longer fled madly, like some hunted

+thing, through halls and corridors, nor mounted the castle

+wall to throw her fair body into the gloomy waters of

+the moat.  She sat beneath the evergreen oak with a sad,

+patient look upon her lily-white face; she knew of the

+life within her own,—she was about to become a mother.

+And when night came, and the huntsman bore her up the

+broad stairway in his arms,—she did not resist, but she

+turned her face from him, that his breath might not touch

+her cheek, that no glance of his loving eyes might fall

+upon her.

+

+"And one day the pastor of Lindhof came to the

+castle.  The people declared that Jost, a lamb of his flock,

+had dealings with the devil, and he came to rescue the

+lost soul.  He was admitted, and saw the creature for

+whose sake the wild huntsman had renounced his merry

+life in the forest, and heaven itself.  Her beauty and

+purity touched him.  He spoke to her in gentle tones, and

+her heart, paralyzed with suffering, melted at his addresses.

+For the sake of the child that was to come, she was

+baptized, and the unholy tie that had bound her to her lover

+was hallowed by the sanction of the church.  And when

+her dark hour of pain had passed, she pressed her cold lips

+upon the brow of her child, and, with that kiss, her spirit

+burst its bonds,—she was free, free!  The triumph of that

+moment transfigured the earthly tenement from which the

+soul had departed.  The wretched man saw those

+glorious eyes darken in death; he writhed at her feet in an

+agony of remorse and despair, and implored her in vain

+for only one last glance of love.

+

+"The boy was christened, and received his father's

+name,—my baptismal name.  I gazed with a shudder into his

+eyes,—they are my eyes.  Together we have murdered her.

+My old servant, Simon, has taken the boy away.  I cannot

+live for him.  Simon says, and the pastor also, that no

+woman can be found willing to nourish my child at her

+breast, for, in the eyes of the people I am lost,—doomed

+eternally to hell-torments.  The wife of my forester,

+Ferber, has adopted the child without knowing whence it

+comes——"

+

+Here the reader paused, and looked up over the parchment

+at the brothers.  The forester, who, until now, had

+been leaning against the opposite wall listening with

+the greatest attention, suddenly stood by his side, and

+clutched his arm convulsively.  The colour left his

+sun-burnt cheeks for one moment.  It seemed as if his heart

+ceased to beat, so great was his agitation.  And Ferber

+also drew near, testifying in his face and gestures

+extreme surprise.

+

+"Go on, go on!" cried the forester at last, in stifled accents.

+

+"Simon laid him upon the threshold of the forest

+lodge," Reinhard read further, "and to-day he saw

+Ferber's wife kissing and tending him like her own little

+girl.  By the laws of my family, he has no claim upon

+the Gnadewitz estate, but my maternal inheritance will

+preserve him from want.  My directions I have confided,

+in a sealed packet, deposited in the town-house at L——,

+to the public authorities.  They will substantiate his claim

+to be my son and heir.  May he, as Hans Jost von Gnadewitz,

+found a new race.  The Almighty will provide kind

+hearts to protect his youth,—I cannot.

+

+"Everything which adorned that lovely form in happier

+days shall surround it in death, and yield to the same

+decay.  Her child has a claim upon her jewels, but my

+heart revolts at the thought that what has rested upon

+her dazzling brow, her pure neck, may perhaps be torn

+asunder and desecrated by faithless hands.  Better to

+leave all here to fade and fall to ruin.

+

+"Once more I implore you, whom chance may lead to

+this sanctuary, after the lapse of centuries

+perhaps,—honour the dead, and pray for me,

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+"JOST VON GNADEWITZ."

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+The two brothers clasped each other's hands, and,

+without a word, approached the coffin.  In their veins

+flowed the blood of that strange being who had once

+kindled to a flame the heart of the fierce, proud lord of

+the castle,—of that woman whose ardent soul, thirsting

+for freedom, exultingly fled from the idolized body which

+had crumbled to a little heap of ashes here in its narrow

+leaden tomb.  Two tall figures stood there, descendants

+of him who, with his dying mother's consecrating kiss

+upon his brow, was borne out into the forest, and laid

+upon the low threshold of a servant, while his nobly-born

+father, despair in his heart, rushed madly to death.

+

+"She was the mother of our race," Ferber said at last,

+with much emotion, to Reinhard.  "We are the descendants

+of the foundling whose parentage has been a mystery

+until this hour, for the papers which would have

+established him in his rights were destroyed when the

+townhouse at L—— was burned down.  We must suspend

+work here for a few days," he said, turning to one of the

+masons, who, prompted by a pardonable curiosity, had

+descended the ladder half way, and, from this post of

+observation, had listened in speechless amazement to the

+unfolding of a tale which would afford a subject for

+winter evenings in the large, peasant spinning-rooms, for a

+long time to come.

+

+"Instead, you must prepare a grave to-morrow in the

+church-yard at Lindhof," the forester called up to him;

+"I will speak to the pastor about it afterwards."

+

+He went again to the press, and looked at the

+garments that had once enveloped the delicate limbs of the

+gypsy maiden, and had evidently been adjusted with

+great care, that they might recall the times when they

+had been seen upon the beautiful Lila by the enraptured

+eyes of her lover.  Upon the floor of the press were

+ranged shoes.  The forester took up a pair of them;

+they were scarcely longer than the width of his broad

+hand,—only Cinderella's feet could ever have worn them.

+

+"I will take these to Elsie," he said, smiling, holding

+them carefully between his forefinger and thumb, "she will

+be surprised to find what a Liliputian her ancestress was."

+

+Meanwhile Ferber, after brushing the dust from the

+mandolin, took it carefully under his arm, while Reinhard

+closed the jewel-box and lifted it from the table by the

+exquisitely wrought handle on the lid.  Thus the three

+men ascended the ladder again.  Arrived at the top, all

+the boards that they could procure were placed over the

+opening, so as to afford a temporary protection from

+wind and rain, and then they descended from their

+perilous position upon the summit of the ruin.

+

+Below, the ladies had been awaiting them for some

+time, in a state of great expectation, and were not a

+little surprised at the strange procession that descended

+the ladder.  But not one word did they learn of what

+had been seen or heard, until the whole party were once

+more seated beneath the linden.  Then Reinhard placed

+the casket upon the table, described minutely the hidden

+apartment and its contents, and, at last producing the

+parchment, read again what we have already learned;

+of course with far greater fluency than before.

+

+In breathless silence the ladies listened to these

+outpourings of a passionate, burning heart.  Elizabeth sat

+pale and still; but when Reinhard came to the words

+that suddenly threw such a glare of light upon the dim

+past of her family, she started up, and her eyes rested in

+speechless surprise upon the smiling face of her uncle,

+who was observing her narrowly.  Even Frau Ferber sat

+for awhile after the reader had finished, fairly dumb with

+amazement.  To her clear, calm mind, accustomed to

+reason carefully, this romantic solution of family

+questions, which had been unanswered for centuries, was

+almost incomprehensible.  But Miss Mertens, to whom

+the whole bearing of the discovery was explained by

+Ferber, as she did not even know the story of the

+foundling, clapped her hands above her head at such a

+revelation.

+

+"And does not this parchment give you a claim to your

+inheritance?" she asked quickly and eagerly.

+

+"Undoubtedly," replied Ferber, "but how can we tell

+in what that maternal inheritance consisted?  The family

+has died out, the very name of Gnadewitz is extinct.

+Everything has passed into strange hands; who can tell

+to what we may lay claim?"

+

+"No, let all that rest," said the forester with decision;

+"such matters cost money, and in the end we might come

+into possession of only a few thalers.  Oh no! let it go!

+We have not starved yet."

+

+Elizabeth musingly took up the shoes which her uncle

+had placed before her.  The faded silk of which they were

+made was torn here and there, and showed perfectly the

+shape of the foot.  They had been much worn, but not

+apparently upon the soil of the forest; the soles showed

+no traces of such contact; probably they had covered the

+restless feet at the time of her imprisonment, "when she

+fled madly through halls and corridors like some hunted

+thing."

+

+"Aha!  Elsie, now we know where you got your slender

+waist and those feet that trip over the sward, scarcely

+bending the blades of grass," said her uncle.  "You are

+just such a forest-butterfly as your ancestress, and would

+flutter just so against the bars of your cage if you were

+shut up within locked doors; there is gypsy blood in your

+veins were you ten times Gold Elsie and though your

+skin is like a snowdrift.  There, put on those things, you

+will find that you can dance in them easily."

+

+"Oh no, uncle," cried Elizabeth deprecatingly, "they

+seem to me like sacred relics; I could not put them on

+without fearing that Jost's fiery black eyes might

+suddenly glare out at me."

+

+Frau Ferber and Miss Mertens agreed with her, and the

+former declared that in her opinion the press, with all that

+it contained, ought to be carefully removed to some quiet,

+dry place, where it might be preserved untouched as a

+family relic until it fulfilled its destiny, which was to

+decay with all else that is mortal.

+

+"Well, with regard to the press, let it be as you say,"

+Reinhard here interposed; "but it seems to me that a

+different fate should await these articles."

+

+He opened the casket.  The sunlight penetrating, its

+interior came flashing back in a thousand sparkling

+rays, dazzling the eyes that looked on.  Reinhard took

+out a necklace,—it was very broad, and of admirable

+design.

+

+"These are brilliants of the purest water," he explained

+to the rest,—the necklace was set thick with precious

+stones,—"and these rubies here must have gleamed

+magnificently from the dark curls of the beautiful gypsy

+girl," he continued, as he took two pins from their velvet

+cushion with heads formed like lily-cups of red stones,

+from which chains, set thick with rubies, fell like a

+glittering little shower.

+

+Elizabeth, smiling, held a costly agraffe above her forehead.

+

+"And so you think, Herr Reinhard," she said, "that

+we should let all reverence for the past go, and

+recklessly adorn ourselves with these jewels?  What would

+my white muslin dress say if I should some day introduce

+it into such distinguished society?"

+

+"The brilliants are exquisitely becoming to you,"

+replied Reinhard, smiling; "but to my mind a nosegay of

+fresh flowers would be far more suitable with the white

+muslin; and therefore I should advise that these precious

+stones be transformed at the jeweller's into shining coin."

+

+Ferber nodded assentingly.

+

+"What!  Reinhard," cried Miss Mertens, "do you think

+these family jewels should be sold?"

+

+"Certainly," he replied; "it would be both foolish and

+sinful to let such capital lie idle.  The stones alone must

+be worth full seven thousand thalers, and then there are

+these very fine pearls, and this wrought gold, which will

+bring a very clever little sum besides."

+

+"Zounds!" exclaimed the forester; "let them go then

+on the spot,——See, Adolph," he continued more gently,

+and rested his arm upon his brother's shoulder, "Heaven

+has been kind to you here.  Did I not tell you that

+all would go smoothly with you in Thuringia, although

+I never dreamed that eight thousand thalers were

+waiting for you?"

+

+"For me?" cried Ferber with surprise.  "Does it not

+all belong to you as the elder?"

+

+"None of that!  What, in Heaven's name, should I do

+with the trash?  Am I to begin to invest capital in my

+old days?  I think I see myself at such work!  I have

+neither chick nor child in the world, hold an excellent

+office,—and when my old bones fail me, there is a pension

+for me, which, try as I may, I shall never be able to

+spend.  Therefore I resign my birthright in favour of the

+girl with the golden hair and Ernst, the rogue, who shall

+perpetuate our stock; I will not even have a mess of

+lentil pottage in exchange, for Sabina says it is not good

+with venison.  Don't touch me!" he cried, with a comic

+gesture of refusal, clasping his hands behind him, as Frau

+Ferber, with tears in her eyes, came to him with

+outstretched arms, and his brother would have remonstrated

+with him.  "It would be much better for you, sister-in-law,

+to go and see about our coffee.  It is really past

+hearing! four o'clock and not a drop of the usual

+refreshments, for the sake of which I dragged myself up here."

+

+He accomplished his aim in diverting from himself all

+grateful acknowledgments.  Frau Ferber hastened into

+the house, accompanied by Elizabeth, and the others

+laughed.  The whole party were soon seated upon the

+terrace, busy with the brown, fragrant beverage.

+

+"Yes, yes," said the forester, leaning comfortably back

+in his chair; "I never thought, when I awoke this

+morning, that I should lie down at night a Herr von

+Gnadewitz.  I shall gain a step in my profession, of

+course, instantly; that yellow parchment, with its crooked

+letters, has done for me in an instant what thirty years

+of hard service have failed to accomplish.  As soon as

+his Highness arrives in L—— I shall make my best

+bow, and introduce myself by my new name.  Zounds! how

+those people will stare!"

+

+A peculiar side glance was directed, as these words

+were spoken, towards Elizabeth, and at the same moment

+the speaker puffed away at his pipe so vigorously that

+his face was quite concealed by a thick cloud of smoke.

+

+"Uncle," cried his niece, "say what you will, I know

+that you can never intend to patch up again the shattered

+crest of the Gnadewitzes."

+

+"I can't see why not, 'tis a beautiful coat of arms, with

+chevrons, stars——"

+

+"And a wheel covered with blood," interrupted

+Elizabeth.  "God forbid that we should swell the number

+of those who revive the sins of their ancestors to prove

+the antiquity of their race, and thus make nobility

+ignoble,—nothing in the world seems to me more detestable.  I

+should think that all those who have been tortured and

+hunted down in life by that pitiless, haughty race, would

+arise, like accusing ghosts, from their graves, if the

+name should ever be revived, beneath whose shelter such

+oppression and tyranny existed for centuries.  When I

+compare the two fathers,—one seeking death like a coward,

+never considering for an instant that his poor child had

+the most sacred claims upon him; the other, a poor

+servant, taking the outcast compassionately to his heart,

+and bestowing upon it his own honest name,—then I know

+well which was the noble, which name deserves to be

+perpetuated.  And think what sorrow that haughty race

+has caused my poor, dear mother."

+

+"True enough, true enough," Frau Ferber declared

+with a sigh—"in the first place, I owe to it a stormy,

+unhappy childhood, for my mother was a beautiful,

+amiable girl, whom my father married against the will of

+his relatives, who could not forgive her ignoble

+extraction.  This misalliance was a source of endless

+suffering and annoyance to my poor mother, for my father had

+not sufficient strength of character to break with the chief

+of the Gnadewitz family, and live only for his wife.  This

+weakness on his part was the cause of constant strife

+between my parents, which I could not but be cognizant

+of.  And we"—here she held out her hand across the table

+to her husband—"we can never forget all we had to

+contend with before we could belong to each other.  I would

+not for the world return to the class who so often

+ruthlessly stifle every warm, humane sentiment, that outward

+rank and show may be preserved."

+

+"And you never shall return, Marie," said her husband,

+with a smile, as he pressed her hand.  He glanced

+mischievously at his brother, who was still puffing forth

+immense clouds of smoke, while he was doing his best,

+most unsuccessfully, to keep up the frown upon his

+brow.

+

+"Ah! my fine plans," he sighed at last, with a comical

+look of disappointment.  "Elsie, you are a cruel, foolish

+creature.  You forget what a fine life we should lead, if I

+had a position at court, and you were a fine lady.  There,

+does not that tempt you?"

+

+Elizabeth shook her head, smilingly, but most decidedly

+

+"And who knows," added Miss Mertens, "but that,

+before we could turn round, some noble knight, of

+stainless lineage, would bear away from old Gnadeck our

+high-born Elsie as his wife!"

+

+"Do you think I would go with him?" cried Elizabeth,

+indignantly, her cheeks aglow.

+

+"And why not?—if you loved him."

+

+"No, never," replied the girl in a suppressed voice,

+"not even if I loved him,—for I should then be all the more

+wretched in the consciousness that the prestige of my

+name had weighed heavier in the balance than my heart,

+that in the eyes of that man all aspiration after spiritual

+elevation and moral excellence was worthless in

+comparison with a phantom, which the miserable prejudices

+of men had tricked out with tinsel."

+

+Frau Ferber gazed with surprise at her daughter,

+whose face showed evident signs of deep emotion.  The

+forester, on the other hand, held his pipe firmly between

+his teeth, and clapped his hands loudly.

+

+"Elsie, child of gold!" he cried at last, "give me your

+hand! that's my brave girl! true metal, through and

+through!  Yes, I say, too, God keep me from swelling

+the number of those who give up an honest name for the

+sake of their own personal advantage.  No, Adolph, we

+will not cast scorn upon the parish register of the little

+Silesian village where we were christened; we will go

+on writing our names as they are written there."

+

+"And as they have faithfully clung to us in joy and

+sorrow for half a century," added Ferber with his quiet

+smile, "I will keep this document for this fellow," and

+he laid his hand upon little Ernst's curly head, "until

+his judgment is clear and ripe.  I cannot and must not

+decide for him, but I trust I shall train him so that he will

+prefer to carve out a path for himself by his own energy,

+rather than to lie idly in the hot-bed of old traditions

+and wrongs enjoying privileges which should be the

+reward only of lofty endeavour.  The Gnadewitzes in

+their long career added nothing to the world, but took

+much from it; let them moulder in their graves, and their

+high-sounding, undeserved titles with them!"

+

+"Selah!" cried the forester, knocking the ashes from his

+pipe.  "And now let us go," he said to his brother, "and

+advise with the Lindhof pastor.  A spot beneath the

+beautiful lindens in our village church-yard seems to me

+infinitely preferable to those three gloomy walls, within

+which the mother of our line has lain for so long; and that

+the 'dark, cold ground' may not touch her coffin, let us

+have a grave built in the earth and closed with a tombstone."

+

+He departed, accompanied by Ferber and Reinhard,

+and, whilst her mother and Miss Mertens were putting

+the jewel-box away in a place of security, Elizabeth

+climbed the ladder placed against the ruined jutty,

+pushed aside the boards, and descended into the secret

+chamber.  A slender ray of the setting sun touched a ruby

+pane in the little window and threw a bloody stain upon

+the name "Lila," on the lid of the coffin.  Elizabeth, with

+head bowed and hands clasped, stood for a long while

+beside the lonely bier, whereon that burning heart had

+slept undisturbed since the moment when death had

+stilled its wild beating and ended its sorrow.

+Centuries had flown by, effacing, as if they had never

+existed, all the transporting charm of that short life,—all

+the stormy emotion which had worked its ruin,—and yet

+the young heart that was throbbing restlessly in that

+chamber of death beside that bier, fancied that the

+emotions causing it to throb so wildly could never die.

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER XVII.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER XVII.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+The news of the occurrence at Gnadeck had reached

+Lindhof Castle even before Reinhard returned thither.

+The masons on their way home to the village had related

+the wonderful story to a servant whom they met in the

+park, and the tale had flashed like lightning from mouth

+to mouth until it reached the boudoir of the ladies of the

+castle, where it produced the effect almost of a bombshell.

+

+One of the favourite themes of the baroness had always

+been her own infallibility with regard to blue blood.  She

+maintained that by means of a very delicate and sensitive

+organization she could recognize the existence of this

+life-giving stream even in people whose names she did not

+know.  It was thus only natural that she should be

+able to detect immediately every noble drop happening

+to flow in plebeian veins.  She always had admitted

+that "the little Ferber" had something distinguished in

+her appearance in right of the noble descent of her mother.

+But with regard to the forester, that delicate perception of

+hers had been so much at fault that she had never dreamed

+of acknowledging his bow except by an almost imperceptible

+inclination of the head, which was all she deigned

+to bestow upon people of so low a rank in life.  Why, in

+her noble rage at the rude blasphemer, who could forbid

+his ward, Bertha, to attend the Bible-class at the castle,

+she had often gone so far as to declare that she could

+detect his low origin a hundred paces off.  And this

+was the man to bring to nought her reputation for

+this keen perception of aristocracy!  He was the

+descendant of a lofty line,—the possessor of a name which,

+centuries back, had glowed in all the light of feudal splendour!

+

+To be sure, there was great consolation for her in the

+thought that two centuries of ignoble marriages had

+rendered the noble blood very difficult to recognize.  She

+declared as much very earnestly to Fräulein von Walde,

+who, reclining upon her lounge, was observing the

+baroness' agitation with a slight, rather contemptuous,

+smile.  Personal interest in Fräulein Ferber, or the more

+unprejudiced mind of the younger lady, may have prompted

+some little reproof to her cousin; at all events she lifted her

+head and said quickly, not without a slight appearance of

+irritation: "Pardon me, Amalie, but that is a mistake.

+I know for a certainty that the wife of the forester's clerk

+is not the only nobly-born person who has married into

+the Ferber family.  They have always been a fine,

+remarkably intellectual race, whose personal advantages

+have often conquered the prejudices of birth.  I really do

+not believe that there have been more plebeian marriages

+in their family than can be found in the pedigree of the

+Lessens, and you would hardly maintain that there is not

+a drop of genuine noble blood in Bella's veins."

+

+A delicate colour flickered over the elder lady's faded

+cheek, and the glance which she directed towards her

+companion from beneath her half-closed eyelids, was

+anything but gentle or amiable.  A sickly smile still hovered

+upon her lips.  Since the previous day she had, to her

+horror, frequently felt the ground tremble beneath her

+feet.  It was actually terrifying suddenly to meet with

+contradiction in a quarter where for years she had found

+only complete adherence and blind submission.

+

+She was, however, quite right in attributing the change

+in Helene's demeanour not only to the "unhappy"

+influence exercised upon her by her brother, but far more to

+her own son, who had conducted himself so strangely

+during the last few days.  Helene's was, in reality, a

+noble nature, capable of appreciating all that was lofty and

+honourable, and animated by the purest desire for the good

+and true; but she had been accustomed from childhood to

+consider herself as the centre of the loving care and

+attention of all around her.  Notwithstanding her physical

+infirmity, she had never known the bitterness of being

+slighted.  That she might forget her weakness, every

+one around her made her the object of marked attention.

+While she knew that she could never occupy a wife's

+position, her heart, overflowing with tenderness, had

+joyously welcomed a first love; and although, when

+alone, she might bewail with tears the neglect of nature,

+which had denied her the crowning joys of life, still she

+possessed the blissful conviction that her love was

+returned.  Hollfeld's constant attentions, his frequent

+sojourn at Lindhof, his continual expressions of tenderness,

+were well calculated to plant this conviction ineradicably

+in her mind.

+

+Suddenly he had appeared altered and constrained in

+her presence, and neglected her in the most unaccountable

+manner.  She suffered greatly; her inner self revolted;

+insulted feminine dignity, an irritation hitherto unknown,

+and devoted affection, were all at war within her; she

+was yet far from that height to which, early or late, every

+noble nature attains: resignation and forgiveness.  She

+grew bitter and violent, and she manifested this change

+less towards him who had caused her suffering than, by

+way of indemnifying herself, towards those whose tyranny

+she had endured for the sake of her love.

+

+Hollfeld had been reading aloud to the ladies, when

+the old waiting-maid of the baroness entered the room

+upon some errand, and, before leaving, glibly narrated

+the remarkable discovery at Gnadeck.  If Helene's

+eyes had not been riveted upon the lips of the speaker,

+the change in her cousin's features could not have

+escaped her.  He listened breathlessly, with an expression

+of the intensest delight.  In passing from mouth to

+mouth, the discovered jewels had come to be of "priceless

+value," and the beautiful Lila's coffin was now pure

+silver.

+

+The baroness also had not observed the striking change

+in her son's sullen aspect; and in consequence of Helene's

+reproof, very naturally darted at him an angry glance,

+which was not seen by Fräulein von Walde.  She was

+greatly amazed to see him suddenly approach his

+cousin.  He smoothed the embroidered cushion beneath

+her head, and pushed the bouquet of flowers in the vase

+nearer to her, that she might more easily inhale their

+fragrance.

+

+"Helene is quite right, mother," he said with a kindly

+glance at his cousin, who replied by a happy smile.  "You

+should be the last to bring in question the nobility of that

+family."

+

+Although the baroness was tortured by the thought

+that those who had been so far beneath her, might now

+be her equals,—nay, even rank considerably above her in

+wealth; still she wisely suppressed the bitter retort that

+rose to her lips, and contented herself with observing

+that the whole story at present had altogether too much

+the air of a legend or fable to be implicitly believed.  For

+her part, she should require the testimony of more

+competent eye-witnesses than the two masons, before she

+could consider it worthy of credit.

+

+A competent eye-witness was just passing beneath

+the windows.  It was Reinhard, who was returning from

+the mountain.  He smiled as his attendance upon

+Fräulein von Walde was immediately required; for, from the

+curious looks of the servant, he guessed that the story of

+the discovery at Gnadeck had reached the castle, and

+that information from him upon the subject was what the

+ladies desired.

+

+At his entrance he was immediately assailed by Helene

+with questions.  He answered them in his usual calm

+manner, and took a malicious pleasure in detecting the

+keenest curiosity and the greatest irritation behind the

+apparently careless and indifferent remarks and questions

+of the baroness.

+

+"And will the Ferbers venture to lay claim to the old

+name on the strength of that scrap of parchment?" she

+asked; taking a large dahlia from the vase of flowers,

+and smelling it.

+

+"I should like to know who could dispute their claim,"

+replied Reinhard.  "It only remains to be proved that

+they are the descendants of Jost von Gnadewitz, and

+that can be done at any moment."

+

+The lady leaned back in her large arm-chair, and

+dropped her eyelids, as if she were weary or bored.

+

+"Indeed! and those treasures of Golconda, are they

+really as priceless as Dame Rumour reports them to

+be?"  The tone of voice was meant to be contemptuous, but

+Reinhard's practised ear detected with great satisfaction

+that it betrayed great eagerness, and something like

+secret anxiety.

+

+He smiled.

+

+"Priceless?" he repeated.  "Well, in such cases so much

+depends upon the estimation in which such things are

+held by their possessors, that I can hardly judge."

+

+He might, we know, have told their value, but he

+thought, rather ungallantly, that a little uncertainty would

+prove a healthy excitement for the lady.

+

+The examination would probably not have concluded

+here, if Bella had not suddenly burst into the room with

+her usual violence.

+

+"Mamma, the new governess has come," she cried, out

+of breath, shaking back, with a toss of her head, the sandy

+locks that had fallen over her forehead; "why, she is

+uglier than Miss Mertens!" she went on, without taking

+the least notice of Reinhard's presence.  "She has a

+bright red ribbon on her bonnet, and her mantilla is even

+more old-fashioned than Frau von Lehr's.  I won't go to

+walk with her, you need not tell me to, mamma!"

+

+The baroness put both hands to her ears.

+

+"My child, I pray you, for Heaven's sake, do not speak

+so loud," she gasped; "your voice goes through and

+through me; and what nonsense you talk! you will have

+to walk out with Mademoiselle Jamin whenever I bid you."

+

+This reproof, uttered with considerable emphasis, causing

+Bella to pout angrily while she secretly tore a piece

+of the fringe from one of her mother's cushions, was

+the result of what might have been called the period of

+martyrdom that had followed Miss Mertens' departure.

+The baroness had been forced to take upon herself the care

+of Bella, and it was, as she declared, death to her nerves.

+To Fräulein von Walde she always maintained that all

+her trouble was in consequence of the defects of Miss

+Mertens' educational system; but in the depths of her

+soul she acknowledged, that her daughter strikingly

+resembled in disposition the deceased Lessen,—among

+whose characteristics an indomitable obstinacy and a

+determined proclivity to a perpetual *dolce far niente*,

+were the most prominent.  She was, however, far from

+admitting that any injustice had been done to Miss

+Mertens; that person had been paid to educate her daughter,

+and consequently should have known, without ever

+acting in opposition to the mother's views, or reproving the

+child, how to correct all her faults.  Therefore, the glimpse

+that she had just had perforce of Bella's character, was of

+no advantage for the new governess; the unfortunate

+French woman, with the gay ribbons on her bonnet, had

+no presentiment of the joyless days that awaited her.

+Just now, her arrival removed a weight from the mind

+of the baroness, to whom nothing could have been less

+desirable than a dispute at present between teacher

+and pupil, and hence her rebuke of Bella's impertinent

+remarks.

+

+The baroness arose and went to her apartments, accompanied

+by her sullen daughter, to receive the stranger.

+At the same time, Reinhard departed.

+

+"Do you wish me to go on reading, Helene?" asked

+Hollfeld, after the three had left the room.  As he took

+up the newspaper his manner was almost caressing.

+

+"By and by," she replied with hesitation, looking at

+him searchingly, with a kind of timid anxiety in her eyes.

+"I should like to ask you, now that we are once more

+alone together, to tell me what has changed you so during

+these last few days.  You know, Emil, that it pains me

+deeply when you refuse to let me share in what delights

+or troubles you.  You know that it is not idle curiosity

+which leads me to pry into your affairs, but a sincere and

+heartfelt interest in your weal or woe.  You see how I

+suffer from your reserve.  Tell me frankly if I have done

+anything to make you think me unworthy of your confidence."

+

+She stretched out her hands towards him as if in

+entreaty.  The gentle melancholy in the tones of her voice

+would have melted a stone.

+

+Hollfeld crushed and twisted the rustling newspaper

+uneasily in his hands.  He held down his head, and

+avoided meeting the pure, frank gaze of the poor girl.

+Any one with any knowledge of the world could not

+have failed to perceive in his attitude, and in the restless

+eyes that sought the ground, the crafty plotter endeavouring

+to hit upon some device by which to deceive.  To

+Helene's innocent, loving eyes, the lofty figure, slightly

+leaning forward, the face beneath the thick, light curls,

+rather suggested a thoughtful Apollo.

+

+"You will always have my confidence, Helene," he

+broke silence at last.  "You are indeed the only being

+in the world in whom I can confide,"—Helene's eyes

+sparkled at these words, the poor child was so proud of

+the distinction,—"but there are obligations in life whose

+existence we can hardly acknowledge to ourselves, far less

+have the courage to confess to others."

+

+Fräulein von Walde sat upright, in eager expectation.

+

+"I am forced," Hollfeld continued, with a stammer,

+"to adopt a certain resolution, and it has been weighing

+heavily upon me for days."

+

+He looked up to see what impression his words had made.

+

+Helene seemed to have no suspicion of what he was

+about to say, for she never changed her attitude, and

+looked as if she would have read the words upon his lips.

+He was therefore compelled to proceed without any

+assistance from her.

+

+"You know, Helene," he slowly continued, "that for

+the last year I have had constant trouble with my

+housekeepers.  They are continually leaving me, often without

+warning even, and I have no way of ordering my domestic

+affairs.  The day before yesterday, the last one, who

+only entered my house two weeks ago, declared she would

+not stay.  I cannot tell what to do about it; my house

+is nothing but an annoyance to me under these

+circumstances—"

+

+"Ah, you want to sell Odenberg?" Helene interrupted

+him eagerly.

+

+"No, that would be folly, for it is one of the finest

+estates in Thuringia; but I am forced to find some other

+way out of my troubles, and nothing is left for me

+but—to marry."

+

+If some unseen and mysterious agency had suddenly

+opened a yawning abyss at Helene's feet, her face

+certainly could not have expressed more horror and

+amazement than at this moment.  She opened her white,

+quivering lips, but no sound issued from them, and, entirely

+incapable of concealing her pain, she covered her face

+with her hands, and sank back among the cushions with

+a low cry.

+

+Hollfeld hastened to her side, and took both her hands

+in his.

+

+"Helene," he whispered, in a low, tender tone,—his

+manner was perfect,—"will you let me speak and show

+you how sore my heart is?  You know only too well that

+I love, and that this love will be my first and only one as

+long as I live."

+

+His tongue did not stammer over this odious lie; on

+the contrary, it aided his plans with such insinuating

+tones that the poor girl's heart was torn by a wild conflict

+of emotions.  If some good angel would only have

+whispered to her to lift her eyes for one moment, she could

+not but have been undeceived, for the look that

+accompanied his protestations was utterly contemptuous as it

+glanced at her crippled figure; and perhaps, in the first

+moments of her indignation, she might have found strength

+enough to have extricated herself from the snares of the

+wily egotist.  But her eyes were closed as if she would

+shut out all the world, and revel only in the sound of

+the voice which for the first time spoke of love to her.

+

+"Would to Heaven," he continued, "that I might follow

+the dictates of my heart, and live for this love only,

+for I desire nothing beyond the pleasure of constant

+intercourse with you, Helene.  But you know I am the last of

+the Hollfelds and must marry.  My sacrifice can be

+lessened only in one way,—I must choose a wife who knows

+you, and——"

+

+"O tell me quickly!" cried Helene, giving way to her

+grief, while the tears burst from her eyes.  "Your choice

+is already made!  I know it,—it is Cornelie!"

+

+"The Quittelsdorf?" he cried, with a laugh.  "That

+will-o'-the-wisp?  No, I would far rather leave the

+administration of my domestic affairs to the most repulsive

+of housekeepers!  What should I do without an enormous

+income with such an extravagant, frivolous wife!  Besides,

+let me tell you most emphatically, my sweet Helene, my

+choice is not yet made,—hear me, and do not weep so

+violently, you break my heart; I must have a wife who

+knows and loves you; a simple-hearted woman, of

+genuine understanding, to whom I can say: my heart belongs

+to another who never can be mine, be my friend and here."

+

+"And do you imagine that any one could understand you?"

+

+"Most certainly, if she loved me."

+

+"No, I could not,—never, never!"  She buried her face

+in the cushions, sobbing convulsively.

+

+And now an ugly frown appeared on Hollfeld's smooth

+forehead.  His lips were compressed, and for an instant

+the colour left his cheeks.  He was evidently very angry.

+An expression of hatred lighted up the eyes that rested

+upon the young creature who was unexpectedly rendering

+his part so difficult to play.  But he controlled himself,

+and lifted her face with a light, caressing touch.  The

+poor thing trembled beneath his hypocritical contact, and

+let her delicate head rest passively upon his hand.

+

+"And would you then forsake me, Helene," he asked

+sadly, "if I were compelled to fulfil so hard a duty?

+Would you turn away and leave me lonely, with a wife

+whom I did not love?"

+

+She raised her swollen eyelids, and from beneath them

+broke a ray of inexpressible love.  He had played his

+part admirably, and that glance told him that the game

+was in his own hands.

+

+"You are now fighting the same battle," he continued,

+"which I have struggled through during the last few days,

+before I could arrive at any fixed determination.  At first

+the thought that any third person may interfere with our

+relations to each other may well appall you, but I give

+you my word that shall not be.  Think, Helene, how

+much more I can do for you; how much more truly I

+can live for you then than now.  You can come to me

+at Odenberg.  I will guard your every footstep, and

+cherish you as the apple of my eye."

+

+Hollfeld possessed very little intellect, but he had a

+vast amount of cunning, which, as we see, served his turn

+better than intellect could have done.  His poor victim

+flew into the net, her heart torn and bleeding, her force

+of will utterly annihilated.

+

+"I will try to endure the thought," Helene at last

+whispered almost inaudibly.  "But what a being that woman

+must be who could bear with me, and whom I might at

+last learn to love like a sister!  Do you know any such

+lofty-minded, self-sacrificing creature?"

+

+"I have an idea,—it occurred to me just now quite

+suddenly,—at present it is vague and unformed.  After due

+consideration I shall certainly unfold it to you.  But you

+must first be more composed, dear Helene.  Think for a

+moment.  I place the choice of my future wife solely and

+entirely in your hands.  It depends upon you to approve

+or condemn what I propose."

+

+"And are you strong enough to pass your life with a

+woman to whom you cannot give your love?"

+

+He suppressed a contemptuous smile, for Helene's eyes

+were riveted upon his lips.

+

+"I can do all that I resolve to do," he answered; "and

+to have you near me will give me strength.—But let

+me entreat one favour of you,—say nothing as yet to my

+mother of this important matter, as you know she wishes

+to control everything and everybody, and I could not

+now endure her interference.  She will learn all soon

+enough when I present my future wife to her."

+

+At any other time, this heartless, unfilial speech would

+have disgusted Helene; but, at this moment, she scarcely

+heard it, for every thought and feeling had been thrown

+into the wildest uproar by the words, "future wife,"

+which suggested, in spite of the multitude of unhappy

+wives, the idea of supreme contentment and bliss.

+

+"Oh, my God!" she cried, wringing in an agony of grief

+the little hands that lay in her lap.  "I always hoped

+to die before this; I was not, indeed I was not so selfish

+as to think you could lead a lonely life for my sake; but

+I hoped that the necessarily short period of my life might

+induce you to let this cup pass from me,—to wait until

+my eyes should be closed upon my misery."

+

+"But, Helene, what do you mean?" cried Hollfeld, still

+controlling his temper with difficulty.  "At your age,

+who would think of dying?  We will live—live, and in

+time be, as I confidently hope, happy indeed.  Think of

+the matter, and you will see it all as I do."

+

+He pressed her hand affectionately to his lips, imprinted

+a kiss upon her brow, for the first time,—took his hat, and

+left the room.

+

+Outside, as the door closed upon the suffering girl,

+he gave full play to the expression of contempt that he

+had so long suppressed, and which gave place only to a

+look of self-satisfaction still more detestable.  One hour

+before, his heart had been filled with rage.  His passion

+for Elizabeth, fanned into a flame by her rejection of

+his advances, had been a consuming fire, and had robbed

+him of all his boasted self-control.  But the idea of

+marriage with the daughter of the forester's clerk had never

+occurred to him,—such a thought would have seemed to

+him insane.  He had exhausted his ingenuity in

+contriving plans to procure a return of affection from the

+object of his passion.  The late occurrence at Gnadeck

+had given his thoughts another direction.  Elizabeth was

+now a most desirable match, noble and wealthy.  No

+wonder, then, that he exulted at the news, and

+immediately formed the magnanimous resolution of honouring

+the fair flower of Castle Gnadeck with an offer of

+marriage.  There was, of course, no doubt that she would

+accept the offer, for although coquetry had led her to

+reject his advances hitherto, she could not possibly pursue

+such a line of conduct, in view of the brilliant prospect of

+becoming the envied wife of Herr von Hollfeld.  He was

+so secure upon this point that not a cloud of distrust

+darkened the horizon of his future.  It was not only his

+intense desire to possess Elizabeth that urged him on to

+act as quickly as possible,—the thought, that as soon as

+the discovery in the ruins became known, other suitors

+would present themselves for the hand of Gold Elsie,

+already so famous for her beauty,—this thought made his

+blood boil in his veins.

+

+Only one obstacle stood between him and the fulfilment

+of his determination, and that was Helene.  It was

+not that he hesitated, through sympathy, at the thought

+of how the fondly-loving girl would suffer,—he knew no

+pity with regard to her,—but he was in dread lest too

+hasty a marriage might cost him the inheritance which

+he looked for from her.  It was a case for prudence and

+forethought.  We have seen how, in cold blood, he made

+use of the unhappy girl's deep and blind affection, and,

+while pretending to submit to her decision the weightiest

+questions concerning his future life, riveted the chain that

+bound her to him.

+

+As soon as he had left the room Helene tottered to the

+door, and bolted it after him.  And then she resigned

+herself to utter despair.

+

+They who have never known the hours of torture that

+ensue upon the sudden hearing of some unexpected

+misfortune,—hours when we would fain shriek out our

+misery into the ears of the universe, and when, needing the

+sympathy and support of others as never before, we are

+driven, as by some evil spirit, to darkness and loneliness,

+as though light and sound were deadly poison to our

+wound,—they, we say, who have never known the

+pangs that threaten to efface all the landmarks of a

+previously harmonious inner life, will scarcely be able

+to conceive that Helene sank down upon the floor, with

+her little hands plucking wildly at her fair curls, and her

+frail, diminutive form shivering as from a fever fit.  She

+had lived and breathed only in her absorbing affection for

+this man.  If a few gloomy looks, some slight neglect of

+his, had sufficed to plunge her into the deepest melancholy,

+and make her utterly careless of an event that would

+once have wrung her sisterly affection to the very soul,

+how much greater must her agony now be in the conviction

+that she was about to lose him forever!

+

+In the wild chaos of thought filling her brain, she

+was entirely incapable of one clear, decided conclusion.

+The humiliating consciousness of her physical infirmities,

+which caused her to be thrust out of an earthly

+paradise; Hollfeld's confession of love to which she had

+just listened, and which brought such infinite joy and

+woe; a frantic jealousy of the woman, whoever she might

+be, who was to stand beside him as a wife,—all these

+emotions were seething in her mind, threatening to sever

+the frail thread that bound together soul and body.

+

+It was late, and night had already fallen, when she

+admitted her anxious maid, and yielded to her entreaties

+to retire to rest.  She emphatically refused to see the

+physician, sent word to the baroness, who asked to come

+in to say good-night, that she could not be disturbed,

+her need of rest was so great,—and then passed the

+most wretched night of her life.

+

+She grew a little more quiet, that is, the fearful tension

+of her nerves relaxed somewhat, when the first beam of

+morning light pierced the curtains of her room.  The

+thin golden ray seemed to glide into her darkened soul,

+and illumine thoughts which had hitherto been hidden in

+the wild tumult of her mind.  She began to believe that

+Hollfeld's course was one of the purest self-sacrifice.

+She had never been able to disguise or thrust from her

+the haunting conviction that his marriage might one day

+become an imperative necessity, and she could not fail to

+be conscious that her idea of his waiting until she should

+be no more had never occurred to him.  Was not his

+sacrifice great?  Loving her, and her only, he must belong

+to another; ought she to make the performance of a

+sacred duty difficult for him by her grief?  He had asked

+her to tread a thorny path with him.  Should she draw

+back like a coward when he set her such an example of

+strength and endurance?  And if another woman could

+be found content with friendship instead of love, should

+she allow herself to be outdone in self-renunciation?

+

+In feverish haste she rang the bell by her bedside, and

+summoned her maid.  Yes, she would be strong; but

+she was conscious that only entire certainty could give

+her courage and the power of endurance; she must

+know, as soon as possible, the name of the woman whom

+Hollfeld thought capable of undertaking so hard a part

+in life.  She had passed before her, in review, every

+unmarried woman of her acquaintance, but had rejected

+on the instant each and all.

+

+The hour had not yet arrived at which she was accustomed

+to take breakfast with the baroness and Hollfeld;

+her brother always avoided this early meeting of his

+household, but she could not remain in her lonely room,

+and, as she was greatly exhausted, was pushed in her

+wheeled chair into the dining-room.  To her surprise,

+she heard from one of the servants that the baroness had

+gone to walk half an hour previously,—a very strange

+piece of news, but one that she was most glad to learn,

+for just as she was wheeled into a recess of one of the

+windows she discovered Hollfeld pacing to and fro upon

+the lawn without.  He seemed to have no suspicion that

+he was observed.  His fine, manly figure moved with

+elastic grace.  Now and then he put a cigar to his lips

+with evident enjoyment, and the delicate aroma floating

+through the air reached Helene at her window.  At first

+the little lady was painfully impressed by his unusually

+gay and cheerful expression; she could not but confess to

+herself that youthful exuberance of spirits, love of life,

+and an unwonted exhilaration of mind were manifest in

+his every look and motion, even in the half-unconscious

+smile that now and then parted his lips, discovering his

+wonderfully white teeth.  There was no trace there of

+those struggles which she had passed through during the

+night; he certainly did not look much like the victim of

+an inexorable combination of circumstances.  But was

+not his self-possession the result of great mental force

+and a strong manly will?  He must have reached a

+height almost too lofty for human nature to attain.

+

+The little lady's brow contracted in a frown.

+

+"Emil!" she cried loudly, almost harshly.

+

+Hollfeld was evidently startled, but in a second he

+stood beneath her window, and waved a "good-morning"

+to her.

+

+"What!" he cried, "are you there already?  May I

+come up?"

+

+"Yes," she replied more gently.

+

+And in a few moments he entered the room.  Helene

+had reason to be better pleased with his present air and

+manner; there was an expression of great gravity upon

+his countenance as he threw his hat upon the table and

+pushed a chair close to her side.  Taking both her hands

+tenderly within his own, he gazed into her face, and really

+seemed struck by her ashy cheeks and the lustreless eyes

+that met his.

+

+"You look ill, Helene," he said pityingly.

+

+"Do you wonder at it?" she asked, with a bitterness

+that she was unable to conceal.  "Unfortunately I am

+denied the gift of such perfect self control as could enable

+me in a few hours after a crushing experience to look

+forward with content and gaiety to the future.  I envy you."

+

+"You are unjust, Helene," he replied quickly, "if you

+judge me from my exterior.  Is it the part of a man to

+whine and cry when he submits to the inevitable?"

+

+"You certainly do not seem inclined to any such course."

+

+He was provoked beyond measure.  The puny, little

+creature at his side, who, with her crippled figure, ought

+to be thankful to God if a man could so far control

+himself as not to treat her with absolute rudeness and

+aversion, and who had previously been so grateful for the

+smallest attention, had suddenly taken upon herself to

+reprove him!  Although he had done all he could to inspire

+her with faith in his ardent love for her, in his soul he

+thought it showed a measureless vanity in the child to

+imagine herself capable of inspiring any man with such

+a passion, and with great irritation he acknowledged to

+himself that in her case he had to contend with most

+determined obstinacy and disgusting sentimentality.  It cost

+him great pains to control himself, but he even

+accomplished a melancholy smile, which became him infinitely.

+

+"When I tell you of the cause of my cheerful looks

+you will repent your reproaches," he said.  "I was just

+picturing to myself the moment when I could go to your

+brother and say, 'Helene has decided to live in my family

+for the future,' and I cannot deny that the thought gave

+me satisfaction, for he has always regarded my love for

+you with an eye of disfavour."

+

+They say Love is blind, but in most cases he closes his

+eyes voluntarily; knowing that perfect vision would kill

+him, he fights desperately against annihilation.

+

+Helene did her best to reconcile what he said with his

+previous appearance, and succeeded excellently.  With a

+deep sigh she held out her hand to him.

+

+"I believe and have faith in you," she said fervently.

+"The loss of this faith would be my death-blow.  Ah,

+Emil, you must never, never deceive me, not even

+although you think it would be for my good.  I would

+rather learn the harshest truth than harbour the faintest

+suspicion that you were not perfectly true to me.  I

+have had a terrible night, but now I am composed, and

+I beg you to tell me more of what you spoke of yesterday.

+I am but too sure that I shall not regain entire self-command

+until I know with certainty who it is that is to

+stand between us.  At present she is a phantom, and in

+her unreality lies the cause of the tormenting anxiety that

+is consuming me.  Tell me the name, Emil, I entreat you."

+

+Hollfeld's eyes sought the ground.  Affairs just then

+did not look very promising.

+

+"Do you know, Helene," he began at last, "that I

+hesitate to discuss this subject with you to-day?  You are

+greatly agitated.  I am afraid that such a conversation

+will make you ill.  And, as I must say that the project

+which I spoke of yesterday seems more and more feasible

+to me the more I ponder it, I fear much lest in your

+agitation you should overlook its great advantages."

+

+"Indeed I will not!" cried Helene, as, sitting upright

+she riveted her unnaturally bright eyes full upon him.

+"I have overcome myself, and am ready to submit to the

+inevitable.  I promise you I will be thoroughly impartial;

+as impartial as if I—did not love."  She blushed as the

+confession escaped her for the first time.

+

+"Well, then," said Hollfeld, with hesitation,—he could

+not quite master his emotion,—"what do you think of the

+young girl of Castle Gnadeck?"

+

+"Elizabeth Ferber?" cried Helene, in the greatest

+astonishment.

+

+"Elizabeth von Gnadewitz," he hastily corrected her.

+"The sudden change in her social position first suggested

+the girl to me.  Hitherto I have scarcely noticed her,

+except that her modest demeanour and the repose of her

+countenance impressed me favourably."

+

+"What! did you see nothing to admire in that lovely,

+wondrously-gifted creature, except repose and a modest

+demeanour?"

+

+"Well, yes," he replied, with an air of indifference, "I

+remember that several times, when you were provoked

+at some mistake that you had made, she never altered a

+muscle, but patiently went over the passage with you

+again and again, until you were perfect in it.  That

+pleased me.  I believe her to possess great equanimity

+of mind, and that is the characteristic that my wife will

+need above all others.  I know, too, that she fairly adores

+you, and that is the chief consideration.  Besides, she has

+been educated in the strictest economy, her requirements

+will be few, and she will readily assume her right

+position with regard to you and me.  I believe that she has

+a certain amount of tact, and she has been notably

+brought up,—a great advantage to——"

+

+Helene had sunk back upon her pillows, and covered

+her eyes with her hand.

+

+"No, no," she cried, sitting up once more, and

+interrupting his eager flow of panegyric,—"not that poor,

+darling child!  Elizabeth deserves to be truly loved."

+

+A loud and sudden howl here caused her to give a

+little cry of fright.  Hollfeld had just stepped upon the

+paw of his pointer, Diana, who had accompanied him

+into the room, and was lying stretched out at her

+master's feet.  The interruption was most welcome to

+him,—for Helene's last words sounded to him so comical, in

+connection with his own vehement desires, that he could

+hardly restrain his laughter.  He opened the door and

+sent the limping brute from the room.  When he

+returned to the young girl he was all grave composure

+again.

+

+"Well, we will both love the girl, Helene," he said

+with apparent indifference, as he resumed his seat.  Helene

+was in a state of too great excitement to notice the

+flippancy of his tone and manner.  "Let her only leave you

+the first place in my affections.  She must do that.  She

+certainly has enough coolness and presence of mind; she

+testified those qualities abundantly the day she saved

+Rudolph's life."

+

+"Oh, how?" cried Helene, opening wide her eyes in

+amazement.

+

+The servant, who had on the previous day involuntarily

+let slip some mention of the occurrence in the forest, had,

+in terror at his oversight, instantly refrained from all

+further particulars relating to it, simply asserting that

+the bullet intended for Herr von Walde had fortunately

+fallen wide of its mark.  Hollfeld had heard the exact

+account of the murderous attempt only an hour before

+from the gardener.  Elizabeth's fearless conduct

+naturally lent her a new charm in his eyes, and goaded afresh

+his desire to win her as soon as possible.  He related

+the story, which he had just heard, to Helene, concluding

+his account by saying: "You now have one more reason

+to love the girl, and her conduct strengthens my

+conviction that she is the only one whom I should select."

+

+This was his last round of ammunition.  He stroked

+back the hair from his brow with his delicate white hand,

+and from beneath it narrowly and eagerly watched the

+little lady, whose head was so sunk amid the pillows that

+only her profile was visible.  The tears were gushing

+from her closed eyelids; she said not a word; perhaps

+she was struggling with herself for the last time.

+

+But why did it never occur to her that Elizabeth might

+fail to accede to Hollfeld's wishes?  Any loving woman

+can answer this question for herself, if she will only

+reflect that the loving heart believes the object of its

+passion irresistible, and learns with difficulty that all the

+world does not share its conviction.

+

+The silence, which began to be painful, was interrupted

+by the return of the baroness from her walk.  Helene

+started, and quickly dried her tears.  With evident

+impatience she submitted to the caresses with which the lady

+overwhelmed her, replying in monosyllables to the tender

+inquiries with regard to her health.

+

+"Ah!" cried the baroness, as she shook the scarf from

+her shoulders and left it in her son's hands, while she

+sank clumsily into an arm-chair.  "How very warm I

+am!  That path up the mountain is terrible!  No power

+upon earth shall take me over it again!"

+

+"Did you go up the mountain, mother?" asked

+Hollfeld incredulously.

+

+"Why, yes; you know the physician prescribed an

+early morning walk for me."

+

+"Oh yes; but that was so many years ago, and I

+thought you always maintained that the trouble with

+your heart made any such exercise impossible."

+

+"Still, everything ought to have a fair trial," replied

+his mother, a little embarrassed, "and as I could not

+sleep last night, I determined to try once more; but it

+will do no good,—I have just had fresh cause for

+vexation.  Only think, Helene, just outside in the gravel walk

+I met Bella with her new governess,—would you believe

+it, the woman had the impertinence to let the child walk

+by her left side!  And she looks, too, like a perfect

+simpleton.  I was really angry, and defined her position to

+her as clearly as I could.  But tell me yourself, is it not

+hard that I cannot even attempt to refresh myself with

+a walk without encountering what makes me miserable

+and ill?"

+

+Just as she leaned her forehead in a melancholy

+manner upon her hand, she discovered that the false curls

+upon her temples had been pushed considerably awry

+by her bonnet.  She arose hastily, and begged for a

+little time before breakfast that she might arrange her

+dress.

+

+"By the way," she said carelessly, turning round to

+her son and cousin as she reached the door, while she set

+her bonnet firmly upon the rebellious front, "that fellow,

+Reinhard, imposed upon us finely yesterday.  I accidentally

+encountered the forester's clerk, Ferber, up there

+near the ruins,—I congratulated him——"

+

+"Ah! now I understand the ascent of the mountain!"  Hollfeld

+interrupted his mother ironically.  "And you

+actually spoke to the man, mother?"

+

+"Oh! now there is no reason why I should not.  The

+jewels principally interested me."

+

+"Did you wish to buy them?" asked her son contemptuously,

+remembering the constant ebb in her finances.

+

+"Hardly," she replied with an angry glance; "but I

+have always had a perfect passion for precious stones;

+and if your father had not died so suddenly, I should

+now have had a charming set of diamonds, which he had

+promised me, and you would have been six thousand

+thalers the poorer.  But to return to the discovered jewels.

+Ferber told me just what they were, and, when I asked

+him, frankly replied that they would bring about eight

+thousand thalers,—that is what that fellow, Reinhard,

+calls inestimable wealth.  Once more adieu for a few

+minutes."

+

+The contemptuous smile disappeared from Hollfeld's

+face, as he listened to his mother's words, and gave

+place to a decided expression of disappointment; he had

+suddenly experienced a sensation like the shock of a

+shower-bath.

+

+Scarcely was the door closed behind the baroness, when

+Helene aroused herself from her apparent apathy, and

+stretched out both hands to Hollfeld.

+

+"Emil," she said quickly, in a low voice, with trembling

+lips, "if you succeed in gaining Elizabeth's love, and

+I cannot doubt that you will, I agree to your plan, but I

+must always live with you at Odenberg."

+

+"Of course," he replied, although with some hesitation;

+his voice had lost its former decision of tone, "but let me

+warn you that you will have to resign many luxuries.

+My income is not large, and as you have just heard,

+Elizabeth has nothing."

+

+"She shall not come to you poor, Emil,—rely upon

+that," the little lady rejoined in a tender voice, and with

+eyes unnaturally bright.  "From the moment she promises

+to be yours I regard her in the light of a sister; I

+will share faithfully with her, and will instantly make

+over to her the rents of my estate of Neuborn, in Saxony;

+I will talk to Rudolph about it as soon as he returns,

+and when death closes my eyes, all that I possess will

+be hers and yours.  Are you content with me?"

+

+"You are an angel, Helene," he cried; "you shall never

+repent your magnanimity,—your generous devotion."

+

+And this time there was no dissimulation in his

+delight, for the rents of Neuborn made Elizabeth a very

+wealthy bride.

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER XVIII.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER XVIII.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+Two days had passed since the morning upon which

+Helene had, as she thought, won such a victory over

+herself, and had been convinced that the conflict within her

+would be quieted by absolute certainty.  But she had

+been far from fathoming the depths of her sentiments;

+she had snatched at a straw in the whirling flood, and it

+had afforded her not one instant's support.  Only two

+days!—but they outweighed in suffering her whole

+previous life.  She constantly repeated to herself that the

+long desired repose that she had dreamed of was close at

+hand, and yet she shuddered at the thought of the time

+that must intervene before death should bring her release,

+with the same horror with which the sceptic looks

+forward to the moment of dissolution.  She became distinctly

+aware that her promise to pass her days at Odenberg

+converted her remaining years into a period of

+superhuman self-sacrifice, and yet, for worlds, she would not

+have retracted one iota of all that she had vowed to

+Hollfeld.  She would be worthy of his love.  No

+sacrifice was too great that was rewarded by his esteem.

+Poor dupe!

+

+Her nerves suffered intensely during this protracted

+mental conflict.  She had constant fever, and could

+scarcely sleep at all.  The subject that occupied her

+whole mind was constantly hovering upon her lips, but

+she refrained from all mention of it in accordance with

+Hollfeld's request.  He had also entreated her to forego

+Elizabeth's society for a few days; he feared that, in her

+agitation, she might stand in the way of his wishes.  He

+himself had already taken the first steps towards a

+continuation of his pursuit of Elizabeth.  He had twice

+presented himself at Gnadeck at the gate in the wall, to

+make inquiries after the health of the "von Gnadewitzes,"

+but although he had nearly pulled off the bell-handle the

+door had not been opened.  The first time no one had

+been in the house, and upon the last occasion Elizabeth

+had observed him coming.  Her parents had gone with

+little Ernst to the Lodge, and Miss Mertens had agreed

+to Elizabeth's idea of not admitting the unwelcome

+visitor.  They sat together in the dwelling-room, laughing,

+while the little bell rang till it was quite hoarse.  Of

+the conspiracy against his admission the visitor of course

+had no suspicion.

+

+It was seven o'clock in the morning; Helene was

+already lying dressed upon her lounge, she had passed

+a restless, sleepless night.  The baroness was still in bed,

+and Hollfeld had not yet made his appearance; but

+the little lady could not be alone, and therefore her maid

+was sitting sewing in the room.  Her replies to Helena's

+remarks were unheard by the poor sufferer, but there was

+something soothing in the mere sound of a human voice

+after her wretched, lonely night.

+

+The noise of an approaching carriage was heard.

+Helene opened the window and leaned out.  Her brother's

+travelling carriage was just driving up the sweep, its

+wheels sinking deep in the smooth gravel; but it was

+empty.

+

+"Where is your master?" Helene cried out to the

+coachman, as the vehicle passed beneath her window.

+

+"My master got out at the entrance of the park road,"

+the old man replied, taking off his hat, "and is coming

+home on foot over the mountain, past Castle Gnadeck."

+

+The little lady shut the window, and shivered as though

+she were cold; the single word "Gnadeck" had acted upon

+her nerves like an electric shock.  Every word that

+brought Elizabeth to her mind produced the same effect

+upon her that one's imagination would experience from

+some sudden apparition.

+

+She arose, and leaning upon the arm of her maid, went

+down to her brother's apartments.  She ordered

+breakfast to be served in the room opening with glass doors

+upon the grand staircase, and seated herself in an

+armchair to await the traveller's return.  She took up one of

+the gorgeously bound books that were lying about, and

+mechanically turned over the leaves; but, although her

+eyes rested upon the engravings that filled its pages,

+she could not have told whether it were portrait or

+landscape that lay open before her.

+

+After she had waited half an hour, her brother's tall

+form appeared behind the glass door.  The book slipped

+from her lap as she held out her hands to welcome him.

+He seemed surprised at this reception; but he was

+evidently much pleased at finding his sister alone and glad

+to see him.  He hurried towards her, but started in alarm

+at a nearer view of her face.

+

+"Do you feel worse, Helene?" he asked with anxious

+tenderness, as he seated himself beside her.  He put

+his arm around her and raised her head a little, that he

+might see her face more closely.  There was so much

+kindness and caressing sympathy in his accent and

+manner that suddenly it was as if the warm air of spring

+breathed over her heart, that had been as it were

+congealed with pain.  Two large tears rolled down her

+cheeks as she leaned her head upon her brother's

+shoulder.

+

+"Has not Fels been to see you while I have been

+away?" he asked anxiously.  The little lady's aspect

+evidently caused him great alarm.

+

+"No.  I gave express orders that he should not be

+sent for.  I am taking the drops that he prescribed for

+my nervous attacks, and he can do nothing more for me.

+Don't be concerned, Rudolph, I shall be better soon.  You

+have had a sad time at Thalleben?"

+

+"Yes," he answered, but his eyes still rested anxiously

+upon his sister's altered features.  "Poor Hartwig died

+before I arrived; he suffered fearfully.  He was buried

+yesterday afternoon.  You would scarcely know his unfortunate

+wife, Helene; this blow has added twenty years to her life!"

+

+He imparted to her some further particulars

+concerning the sad event, and then passed his hand across

+his eyes, as though desirous of banishing from his mind

+all the trouble and sorrow that he had witnessed during

+the last few days.

+

+"Well, and is all going on here as usual?" he asked

+after a short pause.

+

+"Not quite," Helene replied with some hesitation.

+"Möhring left us yesterday."

+

+"Ah, Heaven speed him!  I am glad that I escaped

+a final interview with him.  Well, I have one more

+enemy in the world, but I cannot help it; he belongs to

+a class of men whom I despise."

+

+"And at Gnadeck a piece of good fortune has befallen

+the Ferbers," Helene continued in an unnaturally quiet

+voice, averting her face.

+

+The arm-chair in which she was sitting was suddenly

+pushed aside by the arm upon which her brother had been

+leaning.  She did not look up, and therefore could not

+see the livid pallor that overspread his face for a moment,

+while his quivering lips essayed twice to frame the simple

+monosyllable "Well?"

+

+Helene related the story of the ruins, to which her

+brother listened breathlessly.  Every word that she spoke

+seemed to lift a weight from his heart, but he never

+dreamed how it cut into the very soul of the narrator

+like a two-edged sword, and that all this was only the

+prelude to her announcement of the terrible sacrifice that

+she was about to make.

+

+"This is, indeed, a most wonderful solution of an old

+riddle," he said, when Helene had finished.  "But I

+question whether the family will think it great good

+fortune to belong to the von Gnadewitz race."

+

+"Ah! you think so," Helene interrupted him quickly,

+"because Elizabeth has always spoken so slightingly of

+the name.  I cannot help, however, in such cases, thinking

+of the fable of the fox and the grapes."  She spoke these

+last words with cutting severity.  Her passionate

+excitement and agitation had brought her to the point of

+denying her nobler nature and of attributing mean motives to

+one who had never injured her, and whom, in cooler

+moments, she knew to be all purity and honour.

+

+An expression of intense amazement appeared upon

+Herr von Walde's countenance.  He stooped and looked

+keenly into his sister's averted face, as if to convince

+himself that her lips had actually spoken such harsh words.

+

+Just at this moment Hollfeld's large hound rushed up

+the staircase and into the room, where he made two or

+three playful bounds, and then vanished again at the

+sound of a shrill whistle from the lawn without.  His

+master was passing by, who apparently did not know

+of Herr von Walde's return, or he would certainly have

+appeared to welcome him.  He walked on quickly,

+and turned into the path that led up the mountain to

+Gnadeck.  Helene's gaze followed the retreating form

+until it was lost to sight, and then, clasping her hands

+convulsively, she sank back in her chair.  It seemed as if

+for a moment all strength failed her.

+

+Herr von Waldo poured a little wine into a glass, and

+held it to her lips.  She looked up gratefully, and tried to

+smile.

+

+"I am not yet at the end of all I have to tell," she

+began again, rising from her half-reclining position.  "I

+am like all novelists,—I reserve my most interesting

+facts until the last."  She could not hide her struggle for

+firmness and composure beneath the mask of playfulness

+which she attempted to assume in these words.  Her gaze

+was riveted upon the trees outside the window, as she

+said: "A happy event is about to take place among

+us,—Emil's betrothal."

+

+She had certainly expected some instant expression of

+astonishment from her auditor, for, after a moment's

+silence, she turned around to him in surprise.  His brow

+and eyes were covered by his hand, and the uncovered

+portion of his face was deadly pale.  At Helene's touch

+he dropped his hand, arose hastily, and went to the open

+window, as if for a breath of fresh air.

+

+"Are you ill, Rudolph?" she cried, with anxiety.

+

+"A passing faintness, nothing more," he replied, again

+approaching her.  His face looked strangely altered as he

+walked several times up and down the room, and then

+resumed his seat.

+

+"I told you of Emil's approaching betrothal, Rudolph,"

+Helene began again, emphasizing each word.

+

+"I heard you," he replied mechanically.

+

+"Do you approve this step on his part?"

+

+"It is no affair of mine.  Hollfeld is his own master,

+and can do as he pleases."

+

+"I believe his choice is made.  If I dared, I would

+tell you the young girl's name."

+

+"There is no need to do so.  It will be time enough to

+hear it when the banns are published in church."

+

+His expression was icy; the tone of his voice sounded

+rough and harsh; the blood seemed to have forsaken his

+cheeks.

+

+"Rudolph, I implore you not to be so rough," Helene

+begged, in a tone of entreaty; "I know that you are no

+friend to much speaking, and I am accustomed to your

+laconic replies; but now you are too cold and silent, just,

+too, when I have a request to make of you."

+

+"Tell me what it is; am I to have the honour of

+playing the part of groomsman to Herr von Hollfeld?"

+

+Helene recoiled at the bitter contempt expressed in

+these words.

+

+"You do not like poor Emil, it is more evident to-day

+than ever before," she said reproachfully, after a little

+pause, during which Herr von Walde had arisen and

+traversed the room with hasty steps; "I entreat you

+earnestly, dear Rudolph, listen to me patiently; I must

+talk over this matter with you to-day."

+

+He folded his arms and stood still, leaning against a

+window-frame, whilst he said briefly: "You see I am

+ready to listen."

+

+"The young girl," she began, with a hesitation which

+was the result less of her own internal agitation than of

+her brother's icy demeanour, "the young girl whom Emil

+has selected is poor."

+

+"Very disinterested on his part; proceed."

+

+"Emil's income is not large."

+

+"The poor man has only ten thousand a year; starvation

+in his case seems unavoidable."

+

+She paused, evidently surprised.  Her brother never

+exaggerated; the sum, then, which he had mentioned, must

+be correct to a farthing.

+

+"Well, he may be wealthier than I thought," she went

+on after a short pause; "that is not the question at

+present; his choice is a girl who is very dear to me, very

+dear."  What effort this cost her!  "She has done what

+must forever fill my sisterly heart with gratitude."  Herr

+von Walde unfolded his arms, and drummed with

+such force upon the window-pane with the fingers of

+his left hand, that Helene thought the glass would be

+broken.

+

+"She will be as a sister to me," she continued, "and I

+do not wish that she should come into Hollfeld's house

+without a dowry.  I desire to make over to her the rents

+of Neuborn.  May I?"

+

+"The estate belongs to you,—you are of age.  I have

+no right either to consent or refuse."

+

+"Oh yes, Rudolph, you are my next of kin, and

+should inherit all that I have.  Then I may be sure of

+your consent?"

+

+"Perfectly so, if you really think it necessary——"

+

+"Oh, thank you, thank you!" she interrupted him,

+extending to him her hand.  But he did not seem to notice

+it, although he was looking fixedly at her.  "You are not

+angry with me for this?" she asked, anxiously, after a

+few moments.

+

+"I am never angry when you are striving to make

+others happy.  You must remember how I have always

+encouraged and assisted you in such efforts.  But here I

+do think you are in too great haste.  You seem to me

+very ready to plunge that young creature into misery."

+

+She started up as though a viper had stung her.  "That

+is a cruel accusation!" she cried.  "Your prejudice against

+poor Emil, which is founded, Heaven only knows upon

+what, leads you beyond all bounds.  You know the man

+far too slightly."

+

+"I know him far too well to wish to know him any

+better.  He is a dishonourable villain, a miserable fellow

+of no character, by whose side a woman, let her claims

+for honour and uprightness in a man be ever so small,

+must be wretched.  Woe to the poor creature when she

+finds him out!"  His voice trembled with suppressed

+pain; but Helene heard in it only anger and violence.

+

+"Oh Heavens! how unjust!" she cried, raising her

+tearful eyes to the ceiling.  "Rudolph, you are committing

+a great sin.  What has poor Emil done to you, that

+you should persecute him so unrelentingly?"

+

+"Must a man be personally aggrieved in order to

+estimate correctly another's character?" he asked, angrily.

+"My child, you have been grossly deceived; but your eyes

+are blinded.  The time will come when you will acknowledge

+it with shame.  If I should try to remove this cup

+of suffering from your lips, it would avail nothing; you

+would repulse me, seeing in me only a barbarian treading

+under foot all your holiest affections.  You force me

+to leave you to pursue your path alone, until the

+moment when you will fly to me for consolation and succour.

+My heart will always be open to you; but what will

+become of that other, bound irrevocably to her dreadful

+fate?"

+

+He went into the next room, and locked the door after

+him.  For awhile Helene sat as if paralyzed,—then she

+arose with difficulty, and supporting herself by the walls

+and the furniture, left the apartment.

+

+Her soul was filled with bitterness, almost with hatred,

+towards her brother, who had to-day roughly and

+ruthlessly handled all that she had tenderly encircled with

+the most delicate fibres of her heart.  That heart was

+well nigh broken as she called vividly to mind the

+self-sacrifice which her lover proposed.  She seemed to herself to

+have already wronged him deeply in allowing such terrible

+abuse of him to fall upon her ears.  He should never,

+never learn how her brother's prejudices had carried him

+away.  No sacrifice, not the greatest, would now be

+sufficient to atone for the injustice which he was forced

+unconsciously to endure.  And since her brother had so

+openly declared his opinion of Hollfeld, she would not

+allow that he should longer share the hospitality of

+Lindhof.  She would herself request him to return to

+Odenberg, of course suppressing her reason for such a

+request.  But first his engagement to Elizabeth should

+be concluded.

+

+Occupied with these thoughts, she entered the dining-room,

+and when Hollfeld appeared shortly afterward, she

+received him with a quiet smile, and announced to him

+that her brother, without even hearing the name of the

+future bride, had approved of her resolution with regard

+to her dowry.  She desired to see Elizabeth now as

+soon as possible, and Hollfeld, greatly rejoiced to observe

+her repose of manner, assented.  It was agreed that the

+interview should take place at four o'clock that afternoon,

+in the pavilion.  Hollfeld left the room to despatch a

+servant to Gnadeck with a request, in Helene's name,

+to that effect.  How surprised the little lady would have

+been, could she have heard it expressly enjoined upon the

+servant to name three, as the appointed hour, while the

+butler was ordered to have everything arranged in the

+pavilion at that time!

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER XIX.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER XIX.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+When the servant from Lindhof rang the bell at the

+gate in the wall, Elizabeth was sitting in the hall.  She

+was weaving a long garland of evergreens and ivy, and

+Miss Mertens, sitting beside her, had in her hand a

+half-finished wreath of asters.  The grave had been made

+ready in the Lindhof church-yard, and in the afternoon,

+between five and six o'clock, the leaden coffin containing

+the mortal remains of the beautiful Lila was to be

+consigned to the earth.  If Jost's dreaded eyes could have

+gazed upon his lovely descendant, they would certainly

+have beamed with a mild and tender light to see her

+engaged in preparing an offering of fresh flowers and green

+vines with which to adorn the bier of his idolized love.

+

+After consulting her mother, Elizabeth accepted the

+invitation, all the more willingly as it referred only to "an

+hour's talk."  Soon after the servant's departure,

+Reinhard appeared.  He looked very grave, and told Miss

+Mertens that his master had returned from Thalleben in

+the strangest state of mind.

+

+"He must have been greatly shocked by the misery

+that he witnessed in the desolate home," he remarked,

+"for I really do not recognize my kind master.  I had

+several unavoidable communications to make to him, but

+I saw that I spoke in vain; he did not listen, but sat

+opposite me, looking utterly crushed, evidently lost in the

+most painful reflections.  He started up hastily when I

+began at last to tell him of our discovery up here in the

+ruins, and interrupted me angrily with 'I have heard

+all about that matter already; I pray you leave me

+alone.'"

+

+Miss Mertens plainly perceived that Reinhard was

+really wounded by Herr von Walde's manner towards him.

+

+"Dear friend," she said soothingly, "in moments of

+great mental suffering we either are not aware of the

+external world, or the consciousness of it increases our pain;

+we cannot endure that all around us should pursue its

+customary course while all within has received such a

+shock, a shock that we cannot recover from.  Herr von

+Walde was doubtless warmly attached to his unfortunate

+friend, and—but, good Heavens!  Elizabeth, what are you

+doing?" she interrupted herself, "do you really think that

+looks well?"

+

+She pointed to the garland.  In fact, whilst Reinhard

+had been speaking Elizabeth had, with trembling hands,

+picked up two or three large dahlias and woven them

+into her graceful green wreath.  She now looked down,

+and was aware for the first time of what she had been

+doing.  The poor flowers were instantly torn from the

+soft green pillow where they had laid their heavy heads

+so comfortably, and treated with as much severity as if

+they had insisted on going where they were not wanted.

+

+Three o'clock had long since struck in the Lindhof

+church-tower when Elizabeth hurried down the mountain.

+Her uncle had detained her in conversation; he was

+provoked that she had accepted the invitation.  "For," he

+said, and with some justice, "surely the poor creature

+whom we consign to her resting-place to-day deserves

+that we should consecrate at least one day to her

+memory."  He had no idea of what was passing in the heart

+of his niece.  He did not dream that for the last few days

+his darling had counted the hours which must pass before

+she could think, "He is at home again;" and, to his

+vexation, his usually obedient child slipped from him and

+vanished through the garden gate.

+

+Her feet scarcely touched the ground.  She hoped by

+walking quickly to overtake the time which she had lost,

+and could have cried, when her thin dress caught upon a

+bramble, and could only be extricated by patience and

+skill.  At last, almost out of breath, she reached the

+pavilion.  Both of the folding-doors were open; the room

+was still empty.  Upon the table stood a salver of

+refreshments, and Helene's corner of the sofa was arranged

+for her.

+

+Much relieved, Elizabeth entered, and was leaning

+against one of the opposite windows which looked out

+upon some tall shrubbery, when she heard, a slight noise

+behind her.  Hollfeld had hitherto been concealed by one

+of the open folding-doors, and he now approached her.

+She turned to leave the apartment without even honouring

+the object of her aversion by a look; but he placed

+himself in her path, although his manner was no longer

+insolent,—on the contrary, it was respectful and even

+submissive, as he assured her that the ladies would appear

+directly.  Elizabeth looked up surprised; there was not

+in his voice the faintest trace of that impertinent tone

+that had so irritated and outraged her.

+

+"I give you my word that Fräulein von Walde will be

+here in one moment!" he repeated, as she again attempted

+to reach the door.  "Is my presence, then, so disagreeable

+to you?" he added more gently, with a tinge of sadness.

+

+"Most assuredly it is," Elizabeth replied coldly and

+decidedly; "if you will remember your late conduct

+towards me, you will know that to be left one moment

+alone with you must be odious to me."

+

+"How stern and implacable that sounds!  Must, then,

+my punishment for my thoughtless jest be so severe?"

+

+"I advise you, in future, to be more prudent in your

+choice of those with whom you wish to jest."

+

+"Good Heavens!  I see now that it was a mistake; I

+regret my impetuosity, but how could I dream——"

+

+"That any respect was due to me?" Elizabeth

+interrupted him, with flashing eyes.

+

+"No, no!——, I never doubted that!—Heavens! how

+angry you can be!  But I could not possibly know that

+you possessed the right to claim more, far more, than

+mere respect."

+

+Elizabeth looked at him inquiringly; she evidently did

+not understand him.

+

+"Can I do more than sue on my knees for pardon?"

+he continued.

+

+"It shall be granted upon condition that you leave me

+instantly."

+

+"What cruel obstinacy!  I should be a fool indeed to

+lose this precious moment.  Elizabeth, I have told you

+already that I love you ardently,—that I am dying of

+love for you!"

+

+"And I am quite aware of having distinctly told you

+that it is a matter of utter indifference to me."  She began

+to tremble, but her glance was, nevertheless, firm and

+composed.

+

+"Elizabeth, do not drive me to extremities!" he cried

+in great agitation.

+

+"I would especially request you to remember the common

+rules of politeness, which require us not to address

+strangers by their Christian names."

+

+"You are a very imp of coldness and malice!" he cried,

+now trembling with rage.  "Well, I grant that there is some

+show of reason for your irritation with me," he added,

+controlling himself by an effort; "my conduct towards

+you has not been what it should be, but I will atone for

+it abundantly.  Listen to me quietly for one moment, and

+you will relax your severity.  I offer you my hand.  You

+must know that I can give a brilliant position, as far as

+rank and wealth are concerned, to my future wife."

+

+He looked down at her with a smile of triumph.  It

+was so natural that his lovely opponent should be

+paralyzed with joyful surprise at this unexpected disclosure

+of his intentions; yet, strange to say, the result that he

+anticipated did not ensue.  Elizabeth stood proudly erect,

+and retreated a pace or two.

+

+"I regret this, Herr von Hollfeld," she said with quiet

+dignity.  "You might have spared yourself this humiliating

+moment.  After all that I have hitherto said to you,

+I scarcely comprehend what you have just declared.  Since

+you force me to it, I must tell you most emphatically

+that our paths in life lie in opposite directions; and——"

+

+"What!"

+

+"And that nothing could induce me to connect my lot

+with yours."

+

+He stared at her for a moment vaguely, as though

+perfectly incapable of understanding her words.  His face

+grew livid, and his white teeth were buried in his underlip.

+

+"And would you really carry the farce so far as to give

+me such an answer?" he asked at last in a hoarse voice.

+

+Elizabeth smiled contemptuously, and turned away.

+Her behaviour transported him with rage.

+

+"Your reasons?  I will know your reasons!" he

+ejaculated, stepping between Elizabeth and the door which

+she was trying to reach.  He caught at her dress to

+detain her.  She shrunk from him, and retired a few steps

+farther into the room.

+

+"Leave me!" she cried, gasping for breath.  Terror

+almost choked her utterance; hut, nevertheless, she once

+more took courage, and raised her head proudly, with an

+air of command.  "If there is no spark of honour in you

+to which I can appeal, you force me to use the only

+weapons at my command, by declaring to you that I

+thoroughly despise you; I detest the sight of you; the

+hiss of a poisonous viper could not inspire me with the

+aversion and disgust with which I listen to the words by

+which you would awaken my affection.  I have never

+harboured one sentiment of regard for you; but, if I

+had, it must have been instantly annihilated by your

+despicable conduct towards me.  Let me go now in peace,

+and——"

+

+He did not allow her to finish her sentence.  "That I

+shall certainly not do," he hissed between his teeth; his

+face that had hitherto been so pale, flushed crimson, and

+his eyes flashed as he darted towards her, like some

+raging wild beast.  She fled to the window, as she

+saw it was impossible to reach the door, and tried to lift

+the sash, hoping to be able to leap from the low sill

+to the ground without.  But she stood still, transfixed

+with horror.  A terrible face was looking into the room

+from the shrubbery outside.  The features were deadly

+pale, and distorted by a fiendish grin, while the fire of

+madness gleamed in the eyes that were riveted upon

+Elizabeth's face.  She hardly recognized in the dreadful

+apparition dumb Bertha; shivering with terror, she

+recoiled; Hollfeld's extended arms encircled her

+form,—blinded by passion, he did not perceive the ghastly face

+at the window.  Elizabeth pressed her ice-cold fingers

+upon her closed eyes to shut out the horrible sight; she

+felt her persecutor's hot breath upon her hands; his hair

+brushed her cheek; she shuddered, but her physical force

+failed her; she succumbed beneath the twofold horror,—no

+sound escaped her lips.  At sight of Hollfeld, Bertha

+raised her clenched fists as though to dash them through

+the window panes,—then, suddenly she paused as if listening

+to some noise near, dropped her hands, and with a

+shrill laugh, vanished among the shrubbery.

+

+All this was the work of a few seconds.  The sound of

+the shrill laughter startled Hollfeld, and he looked up.

+For one moment, his gaze sought to penetrate the bushes,

+behind which Bertha had disappeared, and then it returned

+to the form which lay in his arms, and which he clasped

+to his heart.  His cunning foresight, his prudent hypocrisy,

+that had always enabled him to conceal his baseness

+from the eyes of the world, were all forgotten.  He did

+not remember that the time that Helene had appointed

+had arrived,—that through the wide open door the

+gardener, or any of the servants, might enter the room; his

+passion had mastered him, and he never observed that, in

+fact, Fräulein von Walde was standing upon the threshold

+of the door, leaning on her brother's arm, while,

+behind them, the baroness was stretching out her long

+neck, with an unmistakable air of great displeasure.

+

+"Emil!" she cried, her voice vibrating with anger.  He

+started, and looked wildly around; involuntarily he

+opened his arms; Elizabeth's hands dropped from her

+eyes, and she staggered towards the nearest couch.  The

+harsh, rude voice of the baroness sounded like sweet

+music in her ears, for it brought her succour.  There too

+stood the tall, manly form, at sight of which her failing

+pulses throbbed wildly again.  She could have thrown

+herself at his feet, and prayed him,—"Save me from that

+man, whom I detest and flee from, as I would from sin

+itself."  But what a look met hers!  Did that annihilating

+glance really come from the same eyes that a few days

+previously had so tenderly sought her own?  Was this

+man, with the stern, erect head, and the pale, cold brow,

+the same who had bent over her, saying with such

+unutterable gentleness,—"may my good angel whisper in

+your ear the word that will unlock that fairy realm for

+me?"  He stood there now like an evil angel, whose

+mission is to avenge and to crush to the dust some poor,

+quivering, human heart.

+

+Helene, who had stood as though lifeless or rooted to

+the ground during the scene in the interior of the

+apartment, now withdrew her arm from her brother's and

+approached Elizabeth; she did not for one instant doubt

+that Hollfeld had prospered in his wooing, and that the

+matter had been happily concluded.

+

+"A thousand welcomes to you, dearest Elizabeth!"

+she cried in great agitation, and, while tears broke from

+her eyes, she took the young girl's trembling hands

+between her own.  "Emil brings me a dear sister,—love

+me as a sister, and I shall be grateful to you as long as I

+live.  Do not look so stern, Amalie," she turned beseechingly

+to the baroness, who was standing like a pillar of

+stone just outside the pavilion; "Emil's future happiness

+is at stake.  Look at Elizabeth!  Does she not satisfy

+every desire that you can have with regard to the one

+who will occupy such a close relation to you?  Young,

+richly endowed by nature, of an ancient family and

+distinguished name."

+

+She stopped, startled.  At last the life seemed to

+return to Elizabeth's stiffened limbs, and she was capable

+of understanding what was said.  By a hasty movement

+she released her hands from Helene's, and stood erect

+before her.

+

+"You are mistaken, gracious lady," she said in a clear

+ringing voice; "I have no claim to such distinction."

+

+"What! have you not an undeniable claim to the name

+of von Gnadewitz?"

+

+"Doubtless; but that claim will never be asserted."

+

+"Would you really reject such happiness?"

+

+"I cannot see that true happiness has anything to do

+with an empty sound."  Her endeavour to lend firmness

+to her faithless voice was distinctly perceptible.

+

+Meanwhile the baroness had drawn near.  She was

+inwardly furious that her son had made his choice without

+in the faintest degree consulting her, or asking her maternal

+consent; besides, the object of his choice was detestable to

+her.  But she knew well that her interference would

+accomplish nothing,—her son would shrug his shoulders,

+perhaps smile contemptuously, and be confirmed in his

+resolve.  It was most fortunate, too, for her and her

+interests, that Helene had taken up the matter as she had,

+determined, as it seemed, to carry it through with an

+enthusiastic degree of self-sacrifice.  Although she was

+thoroughly in the dark as to the little lady's motives for

+such a line of conduct, she could not fail to perceive that

+she was in earnest, and therefore, however discontented

+at heart, she resolved to put a good face upon the matter,

+and to play the part of a forgiving and blessing parent.

+Elizabeth's replies suddenly closed her lips.  She

+conceived a hope that Elizabeth might put a stop to the

+matter by her own obstinacy; if so, she would pour oil

+on the flames.

+

+"We have to contend here with a plebeian prejudice,

+my love," she said to Helene, who had listened in

+amazement to Elizabeth's answers.  "You may, however, have

+most excellent reasons for shunning the light of loftier

+realms," the lady continued, in a cutting tone, turning to

+Elizabeth.

+

+"I have no reason to shun that light," the young girl

+replied, "even should it suddenly reveal faults hitherto

+unsuspected, as it sheds a brilliant glare on the stains

+upon the crest of the Gnadewitzes.  But we love our

+name because it is true and honest, and we would not

+exchange this stainless inheritance for a title made famous

+by the tears and toil of others!"

+

+"Heavens, what exalted sentiments!" cried the baroness

+with a sneer.

+

+"You cannot be serious, Elizabeth," said Helene.  "Do

+not forget that the earthly happiness of two human beings

+hangs upon your decision."  She cast a meaning glance

+at Elizabeth, which of course was utterly incomprehensible

+to her.  "You must bring a noble name with you

+into the sphere to which you will now belong, and you

+certainly would not destroy your own hopes and those of

+others?"

+

+"I am utterly at a loss to understand you,"' said

+Elizabeth with some irritation.  "It never occurred to

+me to connect the name of von Gnadewitz with any

+hopes whatever; least of all can I conceive how the

+wishes or happiness of others can depend upon the

+resolution of such a poor, insignificant girl as I."

+

+"You are not poor, dear child," rejoined Helene.

+"Come," she continued, with emotion, "let us from

+to-day be sisters indeed!  You too, dear Rudolph," and

+she turned with some embarrassment to her brother;

+"you will welcome Emil's bride into our family, and

+permit me to share everything with her like a sister?"

+

+"Yes," was the reply, spoken sternly, but firmly.

+

+Elizabeth put her hand to her forehead; what she had

+heard sounded so incredible.  "Emil's bride" was what

+Fräulein von Walde had said; was she speaking of

+her?—impossible!  Had these people conspired to terrify her

+thus?  And he,—he who knew how she detested Hollfeld,

+had sided with them; he was standing there with folded

+arms, the perfect image of implacable sternness and

+reserve.  He had been, hitherto, quite silent, and had opened

+his lips only to utter the "yes," which had so crushed

+her.  Had he not, previously, endeavoured almost rudely

+to prevent his cousin's advances?  At thought of that, it

+suddenly flashed upon her that she was now of noble rank,—that

+explained everything.  Hollfeld's nobility could not

+be dishonoured now by an alliance with her; his relatives

+were, therefore, all quite willing to accede to his suit, and

+Helene's surprise at her announcement that she despised

+the name which they thought noble, was perfectly

+natural; still, how they could possibly imagine an

+understanding, upon her part, with the man whom she

+detested, was utterly beyond her comprehension, for her

+brain reeled with the wild uproar of her thoughts.  One

+thing only was quite clear, she must immediately

+convince them of their error.

+

+"I find myself the object of a misunderstanding, the

+origin of which I cannot possibly comprehend," she said

+hastily.  "It is Herr von Hollfeld's duty to make an

+explanation here; but as he prefers to be silent, I am

+forced to declare that he has had no encouragement

+whatever from me."

+

+"But, dear child," said Helene, in great confusion,

+"did we not see with our own eyes as we entered that——"

+she did not proceed.

+

+These words sounded like a thunder clap in Elizabeth's

+ears.  The idea that that moment of helpless terror could

+be misunderstood by any one, had never entered her pure

+and innocent mind.  And now she found, to her unutterable

+pain, that it had placed her in a hatefully false light.

+She turned, for an instant, toward Hollfeld, but one

+glance convinced her that she had no satisfaction,—no

+concern for her honour, to look for from him.  With his

+back turned to the rest, he was standing at the window

+like a detected school-boy.  If the ladies only had been

+present, he would doubtless have extricated himself by

+some bold and cunning lie; but Herr von Walde was

+there, and he was utterly at a loss.  He contented

+himself by preserving an ambiguous silence, which gave

+unlimited scope for conjecture.

+

+"God in heaven, how terrible!" cried the young girl,

+wringing her hands.  "As you entered you saw," she

+continued, averting her face, and drawing a deep breath,

+"a defenceless girl striving vainly to repel the insolence

+of a man lost to all sense of honour.  The reiterated

+declaration on my part that I thoroughly despise and

+utterly detest him was of no avail in freeing me from his

+presence.  I have never concealed these sentiments from

+Herr von Hollfeld,—on the contrary——"

+

+Here she was interrupted by a loud noise.  Helene

+had sunk back upon the couch, and her right hand

+clutched the table near her, shaking it so that the china

+and glass upon it rattled.  The little lady's face was

+ashy-pale,—her despairing glance sought Hollfeld.  In

+vain she endeavoured to conquer her agitation.  The

+light that suddenly revealed such a hateful web of

+intrigue was too lurid,—its glare had the annihilating

+effect upon her hitherto unsuspicious mind of a flash

+of lightning.

+

+Elizabeth, although she was herself much agitated, and

+prepared to give further expression to her indignation,

+felt her heart melt with sympathy at sight of the little

+lady.  In vindicating her own honour she had torn

+the bandage from Helene's eyes, and she was filled

+with sorrow for her, although she knew that she must

+have been undeceived sooner or later.  She hastily

+approached her, and took the icy little hands, which had

+dropped from the table, between her own.

+

+"Forgive me if I have terrified you by my hasty

+words," she said beseechingly, but firmly.  "You can

+readily understand my position.  A few explanatory

+words from Herr von Hollfeld would have sufficed to

+clear me from every degrading suspicion.  I should not

+then have been forced to declare so emphatically what

+I thought of his character and conduct.  I regret what

+has happened, but I cannot retract one word that I have

+said."

+

+She kissed Helene's hand, and silently left the

+pavilion.  She fancied that Herr von Walde extended his

+hand to her as she passed him, but she did not look up.

+

+Outside, she followed the narrow, winding way that

+led through a grove to the pond.  She passed by the

+castle, along the broad gravel-walk, and entered the little

+forest-path leading to the convent tower, without knowing

+whither she was going, or remembering that every step

+took her farther from her home.

+

+She was in a state of fearful excitement.  A wild

+chaos was seething in her brain.  Hollfeld's offer of

+marriage,—his insolent passion,—Bertha's sudden

+appearance at the window of the pavilion,—the inconceivable

+fact that Helene had received her with joy as the bride

+of the man whom she herself loved,—all these things

+passed through her mind, and in the midst of the

+confusion she distinctly heard Herr von Walde's

+"yes."  He too, then, would have welcomed her as Herr von

+Hollfeld's bride!  It would have cost him nothing to see

+her his cousin's wife.  This marriage had doubtless

+been decided upon in family conclave.  Herr von Walde

+had weighed the for and against with his usual cool

+judgment, and had finally agreed with Helene that

+Emil's choice would not prove a blot upon the von

+Hollfeld escutcheon.  She could be graciously received, and

+they would themselves provide the dowry which the

+bride was deficient in.

+

+At these thoughts Elizabeth set her teeth, as if she

+were enduring physical agony.  She was filled with

+unutterable bitterness; her sincere and ardent

+sentiments had been misunderstood and crushed under foot

+by that cold-blooded, calculating aristocrat.  How could

+she ever have imagined that he could sympathize in

+the least with a young, earnest heart, enamoured of

+freedom, and giving no heed to the belittling, often

+ridiculous institutions of the world,—he who found the

+pride and glory of woman only in the ruins and ashes

+of a long ancestral line?

+

+Several times she paused, lost in thought, and then she

+walked on quickly, heedless that she was traversing the

+same path along which she had gone in such confusion

+by his side a few days before.  The overhanging boughs

+and branches brushed her forehead; she forgot how he

+had bent them aside, lest they should annoy her.  The

+underbrush was still trodden down, and the stripped

+leaves were not quite withered upon the spot where

+Fräulein von Quittelsdorf and Hollfeld had broken through the

+bushes to reach the two lonely wanderers.  Here was the

+place where the unfinished birthday greeting had been

+whispered; Elizabeth passed unheeding by, and it was

+well that she did so, for there were no tears in her burning

+eyes; here where she could have wept her very heart out.

+

+At last she looked around her with surprise.  She

+stood before the convent tower.  Hers was perhaps the

+first human foot that had pressed this turf since the

+place had been deserted by the latest guests or the weary

+servants on the night of the fête.

+

+It looked sadly out of order; the grass had been

+trodden down by the dancers, whose tread had not been

+fairy-like.  The two hemlocks, which had sustained the

+refreshment tent, lay prostrate upon the ground in the midst of

+fragments of broken bottles and the remains of the

+fireworks.  Above, the shrivelled garlands were still

+hanging between the tower and the oaks, while a gentle breeze

+swept whispering among the poor flowers, which hung

+crushed together in the air, their short season of triumph

+long since ended.

+

+It was already twilight beneath the oaks, although a

+golden light illumined their topmost boughs, and played

+upon the gray roof of the tower.

+

+It was with a slight shudder that Elizabeth became

+aware of her loneliness in the heart of the dim, silent

+forest; nevertheless she was irresistibly drawn towards

+the spot where Herr von Walde had taken leave of her.

+She stepped across the trampled sward,—then stood for

+an instant as if rooted to the earth,—for the evening

+breeze brought to her ear single broken tones of a

+human voice.  At first she seemed to hear something like

+a distant ejaculatory cry for help; then gradually the

+sounds grew more connected, and rapidly drew near.  It

+was a shrill, piercing, female voice, shouting, rather than

+singing, a hymn.  Elizabeth could hear that the singer,

+whoever she might be, was running quickly as she sang.

+

+All at once the melody ceased, or rather it was

+interrupted by a burst of horrid laughter, and then by a

+shriek, which ran through a perfect scale of scorn,

+triumph, and bitter agony.

+

+A foreboding of evil filled Elizabeth's mind.  She looked

+anxiously in the direction, in the dark wood, whence the

+noise was approaching.  It was hushed for a moment,

+and then the hymn began again, while the singer came

+rushing on like the wind.

+

+Elizabeth stepped within the open door of the tower,

+for she did not wish to encounter the strange singer;

+scarcely had she crossed the threshold, when the laughter

+was repeated close at hand.

+

+On the opposite side of the open sward Bertha rushed

+out of the thicket, and by her side ran Wolf, the forester's

+savage watch-dog.

+

+"Wolf, seize her!" she shrieked, pointing with both

+hands to Elizabeth.  The animal came tearing, barking,

+across the open space.

+

+Elizabeth shut the door behind her, and ran up the

+tower stairs.  She thus gained a moment's advantage;

+but before she had reached the roof of the tower the door

+below was opened.  The growling dog rushed up the

+stairs followed by the maniac cheering him on.

+

+The terrified and hunted girl reached the topmost stair,—she

+heard the growl of the savage brute behind her,—he

+was just at her heels,—with one last effort she stepped

+out upon the roof, closed the oaken door, and leaned her

+whole weight against it.

+

+For a few moments Bertha rattled at the latch upon

+the other side,—it did not yield.  She raved, and threw

+herself against the oaken panels, while Wolf, barking and

+growling, scratched at the threshold.

+

+"Amber witch out there!" she shrieked.  "I'll throttle

+you!  I'll drag you through the thicket by your long,

+yellow hair!  You have stolen his heart from me, with

+your moonshine face,—vile hypocrite that you are!

+Seize her, Wolf, seize her!"

+

+The dog whined, and tore at the door with his paws.

+

+"Tear her in pieces, Wolf; bury your teeth in her

+white fingers that have bewitched him with their devilish

+music! curse her! cursed be the tones that come from

+her fingers! may they turn to poisonous arrows, and

+bury themselves in her own heart and destroy it!"

+

+Again she threw herself against the door; the old

+oaken planks creaked and groaned, but it did not yield to

+the little powerless feet.

+

+Elizabeth meanwhile leaned against the door on the

+other side, with lips tightly closed and a face pale as

+death.  She had seized a piece of wood that lay at her

+feet that she might defend herself, if need should be,

+against the dog.  Her whole frame shuddered at the

+curses which Bertha shrieked out, but she nerved herself

+with new resolution.

+

+Had she only glanced at the latch of the door, she

+would have seen that any effort upon her part to keep it

+closed was wholly needless,—a huge bolt had slipped

+forward, against which the maniac's utmost strength could

+avail nothing.

+

+"Open the door!" Bertha shouted again.  "Transparent,

+brittle creature!  Ha! ha!  Old Bruin, whom I hate,

+calls her Gold Elsie.  The old fellow despises heaven,

+and may go to hell for all I care, for I shall be blessed,

+eternally blessed.  He calls her Gold Elsie because she

+has hair of amber.  Fie! how ugly you are! my hair is

+black as the raven's wing.  I am a thousand times the

+fairer.  Do you hear me, moonlight face?"

+

+She paused exhausted, and Wolf, too, ceased his

+whining and scratching at the threshold.

+

+At the same moment the tolling of a distant bell broke

+the evening silence of the forest.  Elizabeth well knew

+what it signified,—a funeral train was descending the

+mountain from the ruins of old Castle Gnadeck.  Lila's

+mortal remains were leaving the walls which had once

+echoed the sighs and groans of the lovely gypsy girl.

+She was borne through the forest, in longing for which

+her heart had broken two centuries before.

+

+Bertha, too, seemed to listen to the sound of the bell;

+for a moment she did not stir.

+

+"They are ringing," she cried suddenly; "come, Wolf,

+let us go to church; let her stay up here with the clouds

+that will fall upon her in the night,—the tempest will tear

+her hair, and the ravens will come and pick out her eyes,

+for she is accursed, accursed!"

+

+And then she began the hymn again.  Her terrible

+voice echoed eerily against the narrow walls of the

+tower.  She ran down and out of the door below, then

+rushed singing across the open space, and disappeared

+in the thicket whence she had issued at first,—the dog

+following her.  She never once turned round towards

+the tower.  As soon as she turned her back upon it she

+seemed to forget entirely that the object of her hatred was

+standing up there upon the gray stone platform.  Elizabeth

+caught a last glimpse of her scarlet jacket among the

+dark bushes, and then, with her savage companion, she

+was seen no more.  Gradually her song died away, and

+soon the gentle breeze wafted only the tolling of the bell

+to the ears of the lonely girl upon the roof of the tower.

+

+With a deep-drawn breath of relief she relinquished

+her constrained position, which she had until now retained

+mechanically, and tried to lift the latch of the door.  It

+was rusty and resisted her efforts as it had Bertha's.

+She now discovered with alarm that the bolt had sprung,—it

+had, indeed, defended and protected her, but it was

+also her jailer,—for she could not possibly stir it; worn

+out at last with her fruitless attempts to withdraw it, she

+dropped her hands at her sides.

+

+What was to be done?  She thought with distress of

+her parents who had probably been made anxious by her

+prolonged absence,—for they knew that she fully intended

+to be present at the interment of her ancestress.

+

+Around her were grouped the mighty monarchs of the

+forest, their topmost boughs still tipped here and there by

+the fading western light.  Far in the distance gleamed a

+strip of light,—there lay L—— with its lofty castle, whose

+long rows of windows glittered for a few moments, and

+then disappeared in gloom.  And there towered the

+mountain crowned by the ruin of Gnadeck; but the forest hid

+from her her dear home, she could not even see the lofty

+flagstaff.

+

+Elizabeth soon relinquished all hope of being seen by

+passers-by,—and she knew that her feeble cry for help

+must die away unheard, for the tower lay hidden in the

+depths of the forest; no frequented road passed near it;

+and who would be likely to be walking at nightfall in

+the quiet path which led nowhere except to the convent

+tower?

+

+Nevertheless she made one attempt, and uttered a loud

+cry.  But how weak it sounded!  It seemed to her that

+the boughs of the nearest tree absorbed it entirely; it

+only startled some ravens in the vicinity, and they flew

+croaking away overhead; then all was still again,—fearfully

+still.  The Lindhof church bells were silent.

+A faint red yet glimmered in the west, tinging a few

+little floating clouds,—the forest lay in deep shadow.

+

+Utterly at a loss, Elizabeth walked to and fro upon

+the flat roof.  Sometimes she stood still at the corner

+looking toward Castle Lindhof, which was the

+nearest inhabited mansion, and raised her voice in a vain

+cry for help.  At last she ceased all such efforts, and

+seated herself upon the bench which was set into the

+outer wall of the small landing, at the top of the stairs,

+and which was tolerably protected by the projecting roof

+from wind and weather.

+

+She was not afraid of passing the night here, for she

+did not doubt that search would be made for her in the

+forest; but how many anxious hours her friends must

+pass before she could be found!

+

+This thought troubled her greatly and increased her

+nervous agitation.  She had passed through so much

+during the day, and had had no assistance, nothing but

+her own force of character to sustain her.  She was still

+trembling from the terror of the last shock.  What could

+have caused poor Bertha's outbreak of insanity?  She

+had spoken of a heart which Elizabeth had stolen from

+her,—was it possible that Hollfeld had played some part

+in this sad story, as Frau Ferber had lately so often

+insisted?

+

+Such a suspicion revived all the painful sensations that

+had before possessed her.  But now, sitting motionless

+against the old wall, while the darkening heavens seemed

+to draw near her, and nothing spoke of life around save

+the damp night air that swept soothingly across her hot

+cheek,—now her moistened eyes bore witness that the

+stern stoicism with which her crushed heart had armed

+itself, had vanished.  All, all was over; she had broken

+with the inmates of Lindhof forever.  She had shattered

+Helene's ideal, and she had thrown back to Herr von

+Walde the gift of his consent to her marriage which he

+had offered her; doubtless his pride had been mortally

+wounded.  Most probably she should never see him

+again.  He would soon set out upon his travels, glad to

+efface the impression made upon him by the ingratitude

+of the poor music-teacher.

+

+She covered her face with her hands, and the tears

+trickled through the slender white fingers.

+

+In the mean time the night had fallen, still it was

+not quite dark.  The crescent moon was reigning in the

+skies, where all the other shining wanderers appeared and

+went their way, never heeding that their sister planet,

+the earth, careering in space with them, contained millions

+of little worlds, each inclosing in its sphere heights

+and depths, tossing waves with their ebb and flow, mighty

+storms, and only too rarely a sacred repose.

+

+And now life began to stir in the old tower.  There

+was a low murmur and moaning upon the stairs; slight

+blows were struck from within upon the oaken door, and

+wings brushed the inner wall; the owls and bats were

+longing to be abroad, and could not find their accustomed

+place of egress.  And in the forest below there arose a

+rustling and crackling,—the deer broke through the thicket

+and roamed about in entire security.  From the distant

+east, where the forest almost in its primeval luxuriance

+descended into the valley and then again climbed an

+opposing range of mountains, a faint shot was occasionally

+heard.  Every time Elizabeth heard the sound she

+nestled closer against the wall beneath the protecting

+roof, as if in fear lest she should be discerned by some

+unfriendly eye gazing thence;—those hunting there were

+outlaws.

+

+Still no succour came.  Her fear, then, lest her parents

+should be anxious, had been unfounded.  Of course, they

+supposed her to be yet at the castle,—perhaps they were

+displeased at her long absence from home; but they

+would possibly wait until ten o'clock for her return.  It

+might be midnight before she was released.

+

+It grew quite cold.  With a shiver, she drew her thin

+shawl close about her, and tied a handkerchief around

+her throat.  She was obliged to leave her seat, and walk

+to and fro on the roof, to prevent herself from becoming

+chilled.  Occasionally she leaned over the balustrade and

+looked down.

+

+White cloud-like phantoms were hovering hither and

+thither over the open space beneath,—the mists rising

+from the damp ground.  Elizabeth no longer thought

+of the motley spectacle,—the ostentation and vanity

+that had filled this place a few days before.  She forgot

+the countless idle words that had filled the air, causing

+such a confusion of tongues that the old tower, instead

+of standing upon honest Thuringian soil, might have

+challenged the skies upon the banks of the Euphrates.

+Forth from the billows of mist floated the shadowy forms

+of the nuns buried under these walls, their features

+pale and passionless, their desolate hearts stilled within

+their long-flowing robes, and their waxen brows, beneath

+their white bands, haunted no longer by restless doubts

+and longings.  They would fain have trodden the path

+leading from the world to heaven, had they not been so

+often dragged down to earth again.

+

+Elizabeth thought of those dark times, when these

+gloomy walls were erected in expiation of the crime of a

+knightly assassin,—cold stone walls to appease Him from

+whom has come the Word made life,—who is the source

+of Eternal Love.  Could all the prayers, breathed by

+the inmates of that living tomb,—all the masses,—the

+organs rolling thunder, blot out the stain of blood which

+the criminal carried to the foot of the eternal throne?

+No, a thousand times no!  He heeds no incense wafted

+before the shrine of Baal.  His eternal edicts are not

+reversed by the creatures whom He has made.

+

+What a terrible episode in the family history of the

+Gnadewitzes those crumbling ruins commemorated!

+And could it be possible that a being, conscious of a

+fervent desire for moral elevation and spiritual growth,

+should be duly respected only when permitted to bear

+that name?  Must she learn that a spotless life was

+nought, laid in the balance with a human device, which

+was, in fact, a phantom of the brain,—an absolute nothing?

+

+Was the superstition that committed witches to the

+flames darker than this delusion of the privileges of birth,

+by which many a true and richly-gifted human life is as

+ruthlessly destroyed as by the faggot of the executioner,—the

+delusion, that flatly contradicts the Almighty decree,

+which declares all God's children to come alike from His

+creating hand,—alike in outward form, in physical

+structure, in the possession of senses, whereby both king and

+beggar enjoy and suffer, alike in the possession of that

+vital spark that animates these outward shapes?  Where

+is there a soul, even although it has attained the

+summit of human perfection, that is not conscious of some

+weakness, or a human being so depraved, that one good

+quality at least does not glimmer forth from the slough

+of vice into which he has sunk?—And can he be

+influenced by such narrow prejudice,—he, whose brow

+bears the impress of high intelligence, whose glance and

+voice can melt with a tenderness that reveals a soul

+alive to the best and deepest emotions of our nature?

+Could he rank the hollow form above the immortal

+rights of humanity, which accord freedom of thought

+and action to all?  Did not that false system

+continually crush out the highest and holiest sentiment of

+the human heart, love?  If Elizabeth had loved Hollfeld,

+what would her lot have been without the discovery in

+the ruins?  And if,—here a sarcastic smile hovered

+upon her quivering lips,—if one thought of affection for

+her had ever stirred Herr von Walde's heart, and he

+should come now and offer his hand?——Never, never

+would she consent to give herself to him, with the

+consciousness that her unutterable love had only been

+returned when such return was no longer forbidden by the

+old worn-out laws of society.  The pain of renunciation

+lost much of its torture, contrasted with the torment

+that would be the result of such a life.

+

+With looks full of gloom, Elizabeth once more walked

+to the corner of the balustrade looking towards Castle

+Lindhof, and stood gazing in that direction.  One and

+the same star rose above that graceful pile and the poorest

+hut in the neighbouring village, casting its mild light

+impartially upon each,—or was there really a stronger gleam

+upon the spot where the park opened into the forest?  No;

+that light came from below, and penetrating quickly

+farther and farther into the forest, faintly tinged the boughs

+above with its rays.  It was most certainly a torch borne

+along the narrow path by which Elizabeth had reached

+the convent tower.

+

+Once the light was, for an instant, immovable, and a

+faint shout reached her ears.  She felt convinced now

+that help was at hand,—that search was made for her,—and

+she raised her voice in reply, although she knew that

+the faint sound could not reach the bearer of the torch.

+The light hesitated but for a moment, and then quickly

+came nearer and nearer.  She could soon plainly distinguish

+the flame of the torch, and see the shower of sparks

+that fell from it to the ground.

+

+"Elizabeth!" suddenly resounded through the forest.

+

+The voice thrilled through her every nerve,—for it was

+his voice.  Herr von Walde was calling her in tones of

+unutterable anxiety.

+

+"Here," she called down to him; "I am here, upon the

+convent tower."

+

+The torch-bearer plunged through the thickets and

+hurried across the open sward.  In a few moments he stood

+upon the landing without, shaking the door with a

+powerful hand.  Several stout blows followed, and the old

+planks were burst open.

+

+Herr von Walde stepped out upon the roof.  In his

+left hand he held the torch, while with his right he drew

+Elizabeth within the circle of its light.  His head was

+uncovered, his dark hair lay in dishevelled locks upon his

+forehead, and his face was very pale.  He hastily scanned

+her figure, as if to convince himself that she was unhurt.

+He was evidently in a state of great agitation, the hand

+which grasped her arm trembled violently, and for a

+moment he could not speak.

+

+"Elizabeth, poor child!" he ejaculated at last, with a

+gasping sigh, "did the insult that you received in my

+house to-day drive you hither to this dreary ruin, and the

+gloomy night?"

+

+Elizabeth explained to him that her stay here had not

+been voluntary on her part, as the bolted door testified,

+and related in a few words, as she descended the stairs,

+all that had occurred.  He went before and offered her his

+hand to support her, but she took hold of the rope which

+served for a hand-rail, and turned away her eyes that she

+might ignore his proffered aid.

+

+At this moment a strong draught of air extinguished

+the torch, which had burnt only dimly, and all was

+enveloped in darkness.

+

+"Now give me your hand!" he said, in the tone of

+command which she knew so well.

+

+"I can take hold of the rope, I need no other support,"

+she replied.

+

+The last word had scarcely left her lips when she felt

+herself lifted from the ground like a feather by two strong

+arms and carried down the steps.

+

+"Foolish child!" he said, as he set her down upon the

+grass outside.  "I will not have you dashed to pieces

+upon the stone pavement of that dreary tower."

+

+She entered the path which led directly to Castle

+Lindhof,—it was the shortest.  Herr von Walde walked silently

+by her side.

+

+"Do you intend to leave me to-night without saying

+one kind word to me?" he suddenly asked, standing

+still.  Pain and suppressed auger strove in his voice

+for the mastery.  "Have I had the misfortune to offend you?"

+

+"Yes, you have wounded me grievously."

+

+"Because I did not instantly chastise my cousin?"

+

+"You could not,—his suit had your entire approbation.

+You, as well as the others, would have forced me to

+accept Herr von Hollfeld."

+

+"I force you?  Oh, child, how little you understand a

+man's heart?  I was the victim of a terrible error when

+I uttered that 'yes.'  I longed to try if it were a delusion,

+and to free myself from it.  Now you shall learn that I

+will banish everything that can remind you of to-day's

+terror.  You like Lindhof?"

+

+"Yes."

+

+"The Baroness Lessen is about to leave the castle.

+Let me entreat you to be my sister's stay and support

+when I leave her again, when I begin my wanderings

+anew.  Will you consent?"

+

+"I cannot promise to do so."

+

+"And why not?"

+

+"Fräulein von Walde will not desire my society, and

+even if——.  I have already declared once to-day that I

+shall not bear the new name."

+

+"What a strange reply!  What has that to do with

+the matter?  Ah, now I understand.  At last I begin to

+see clearly.  Then you think that I agreed to Hollfeld's

+suit because you suddenly had a right to an ancient name?

+Speak, is not this the fact?"

+

+"Yes, I believe this to be the fact."

+

+"And you suppose further, that the same reason leads

+me to desire your companionship for my sister.  You are

+convinced that aristocratic pride prompts all my thoughts

+and actions?"

+

+"Yes, yes."

+

+"Pray let me inquire of you what name you bore when

+I asked you for a birthday greeting, when we last walked

+together here in this path?"

+

+"Then we did not know of the secret hidden in the

+ruins," said Elizabeth, in an almost inaudible tone.

+

+"Have you forgotten the words which I dictated to

+you that afternoon?"

+

+"No,—I remember every syllable of them with the

+greatest distinctness," she replied quickly.

+

+"And do you think it possible that such words can end

+with, 'I hope the coming year will prove a happy one,'

+or the like?"

+

+The girl did not speak, but looked up at him with a

+crimson blush.

+

+"Listen to me quietly for one moment, Elizabeth," he

+continued, but he himself was so far from quiet that his

+voice sounded faint and faltering, as though half stifled

+by the throbbing of his heart, "a man who might have

+been regarded as fortune's favourite, so richly did she

+endow him in his cradle with rank and wealth, mistrusted

+these advantages when he arrived at years of discretion.

+He feared that they would stand in the way of what he

+considered the true happiness of his life.  He had created

+for himself an ideal of her by whose side alone he could

+find real peace,—not that he required extraordinary

+physical beauty or intellectual power,—he sought a pure,

+true heart, that should be influenced by no consideration

+of worldly advantages, but should give herself to him

+for his own sake alone.  He gradually arrived at the

+conviction that his ideal must remain an ideal, for in his

+search for its realization, he came to be thirty-seven

+years old.  When hope has folded her wings, and night

+is falling around us, there is something overpowering

+in the sudden flushing of a morning light, at the

+eleventh hour.  The mind is unhinged, the long, weary

+waiting has rendered it almost incapable of believing

+in great, unexpected happiness.  At last, Elizabeth, he

+found the heart he had sought,—a heart accompanied

+by a clear, well-balanced intellect that was infinitely

+superior to all narrow, sordid considerations,—but this

+heart throbbed in a youthful form adorned with every

+imaginable grace.  Was it to be wondered at that the

+man of riper years, possessing, as he knew, no personal

+advantages, regarded with mistrust another who could

+lay in the balance youth and a fine person?  Was it to be

+wondered at that he allowed himself to be carried away

+one moment, inspired by the boldest hopes, by some word,

+some act on the young girl's part, only to be cast down

+utterly the next, when he saw that other in her society?

+Was it not natural that he should fear that youth only

+could attract youth?  Never did heart of man long

+more wildly than his for the accomplishment of his

+desire,—never was there a man more possessed, in

+moments of despair, by a cowardly doubt as to its

+fulfilment.  And when they told him that his little idolized

+darling belonged to that other, he emptied the bitter cup

+to the dregs, and said 'yes' because he imagined that she

+had already said it.  Elizabeth, I stood on the threshold

+of the pavilion to-day in a state of utter despair.  You

+do not know what it is, when a merchant heaps all his

+treasure, every jewel that he possesses, in a single ship,

+and sees it sink before his eyes.  Shall I try to tell you

+what I felt when you so decidedly rejected the rank which

+you might have claimed, and so made an alliance with

+Hollfeld impossible?  Shall I tell you that my sister's

+condition, and consideration for you yourself, alone

+prevented me from chastising that scoundrel upon the spot?

+He has already left Lindhof, and will never cross your

+path again.  Will you forget the insult that you received

+in my house to-day?"

+

+He had taken her hands in his, and held them pressed

+close to his breast.  Without withdrawing them she

+assented to his question with trembling lips.

+

+"And shall we not forget everything, my darling little

+Gold Elsie, that has occurred between the beginning and

+the conclusion of the birthday wish?  My golden darling,

+the delight of my eyes, my own Elizabeth Ferber stands

+again before me, and will repeat after me what I say,

+will she not?  The last sentence which was so cruelly

+interrupted—tell me what it was."

+

+"Here is my hand as the pledge of an unutterable bliss,"

+faltered Elizabeth.

+

+"In life, in death, and for all eternity, I will be your own."

+

+But she opened her lips in vain to repeat after him the

+words which he uttered so solemnly, with the most

+profound emotion.  She burst into tears and threw her

+arms around the neck of her lover, who clasped her to

+his heart.

+

+"This divine dream must not fade," he said with a

+sigh, as Elizabeth gently extricated herself from his

+embrace.  "Leave me your hand at least, Elizabeth, I must

+learn to believe in my bliss.  If you leave me now, I

+shall be crushed by doubt again to-night.  You are

+thoroughly conscious that you are irrevocably mine?  Do

+you know that you must leave father and mother, and the

+dear home upon the mountain, for my sake?"

+

+"I know it, and will do so gladly, Rudolph," she said

+smiling, but firm.

+

+"God bless you, my darling, for those words!  But you

+must know the depths of my doubt.  Is it not pity for

+my boundless love that induces you to yield your consent

+to my suit?"

+

+"No, Rudolph, it is love,—a love which first awoke

+in my heart,—does not this sound strangely,—when I saw

+in your angry eyes, and heard in the tones of your voice,

+how you detested cruelty and injustice!  And since that

+moment it has never left me; on the contrary, it has

+increased and grown stronger, in spite of all my efforts to

+destroy it, notwithstanding all the harsh words that have

+so often wounded it sorely."

+

+"Who spoke such words?"

+

+"You, yourself; you were harsh and unkind to me."

+

+"Oh, child, those were the outbreaks of insane

+jealousy!  I have struggled for and exercised self-control

+all my life long, but I could not conceal how I was

+tortured then.  And would you, on that account, have

+closed upon me the heaven that is opening before me?"

+

+"Not on that account,—for one kind look from you made

+me happy again; but another obstinate opponent entered

+the lists,—my reason.  It had grown well aware of

+everything that report declared concerning your incredible

+aristocratic arrogance, and, at every wild throb of my

+heart, dinned into my ears your reasons for refusing the

+alliance which the prince proposed to you."

+

+"Ah! those sixteen quarterings!" cried Herr von

+Walde, smiling, "But see, my little Gold Elsie, what a

+Nemesis that was!" he continued more gravely.  "To

+avoid annoyance, I seized upon the first means at hand,

+and, as I now know, it almost cost me the happiness of my

+life.  I like the Prince of L——, but any residence at his

+court was rendered, for a time, utterly odious to me, by the

+matrimonial alliances proposed for me, principally by the

+Princess Catharine.  She had taken it into her head that

+I must marry one of the ladies of her court.  No one

+could believe that the girl was entirely indifferent to me,

+for she passed for a brilliant beauty, and had broken many

+a heart.  All that I could say was of no avail; they

+continued to plot and intrigue, and so one day I cut the

+whole matter short by declaring to her Highness that

+her plan for me would cost me one of my estates, since,

+as is true, by my uncle's will it was devised to the State

+if I should marry a wife who could not show sixteen

+quarterings in her escutcheon.  This declaration put an

+end to my torment; no such person was to be found in

+the length and breadth of the little kingdom, and all

+thought it natural that I should wish to retain my estate."

+

+"And will you suffer this loss for my sake?" cried

+Elizabeth, in surprise.

+

+"It is no loss, Elizabeth; it is an exchange,—an

+exchange by which I gain a priceless treasure,—the

+happiness of an entire existence."

+

+A torch glimmered through the thicket.

+

+"Halt! this way!" cried Herr von Walde.

+

+In a few moments one of the servants appeared,

+and was ordered to hasten as quickly as possible to

+Gnadeck and announce Fräulein Ferber's safety.

+

+The servant hurried away.

+

+"I have been very selfish, Elizabeth," said Herr von

+Walde, putting her hand within his arm, and no longer

+loitering.  "I knew that your family was most anxious

+about you; that your father and uncle were ranging the

+forest in search of you, while my people, and many of the

+Lindhof peasants, were traversing the country in all

+directions upon the same errand, and yet I forgot

+everything when I found you."

+

+"My poor father and mother!" sighed Elizabeth, not

+without a slight twinge of conscience; the whole world

+had ceased to exist for her when he appeared.

+

+"Friedrich runs quickly," von Walde said, soothingly;

+"he will reach the summit of the mountain long before

+us, and tell them you are safe."

+

+They entered the park and passed by the castle.  It

+lay in darkness and silence.  Only from Helena's

+chamber window gleamed a faint light.

+

+"There is a life-and-death struggle going on there,"

+murmured Herr von Walde, looking up.  "She loved

+that wretch devotedly; how fearful her awakening must be!"

+

+"Go and comfort her," begged Elizabeth.

+

+"Comfort her?  At such a moment?  My child, who

+could have come to me with comfort when I thought I

+had lost you?  Helene shut herself in her room when I

+ordered Herr von Hollfeld's horse to be brought to the

+door; her maid is near her.  A long time must elapse

+before she wishes to see me; when we have been grossly

+deceived we do not immediately turn to those who warned

+us of the deceit.  Besides, I will not enter my house

+again until I am sure that your parents will not snatch

+you from me."

+

+The path branched aside to the well-known bank in

+the forest.

+

+"Do you remember?" asked Elizabeth, smiling, as she

+pointed to it.

+

+"Yes, yes.  There you told me so bravely of your

+determination to go out into the world as a governess, and

+I took the liberty of declaring to myself that I never

+would permit it.  I had to exert all my self-control to

+prevent myself from then and there clasping my little bird

+in my arms and pressing its golden head, filled with such

+bold resolve, to my breast.  And there I drew from you

+the unconscious naive confession that your parents still

+held the first place in your heart.  But you adopted a

+cold, repellant demeanour, as soon as I attempted to be

+confidential."

+

+"It was shyness,—and I am not yet quite sure that

+to-morrow, when I see your stern face by daylight, I

+shall not fall into the same embarrassment."

+

+"It will never be stern again, my child; joy has

+touched it with its gentle finger."

+

+Soon afterwards, the old beeches which look in at the

+windows of the Ferber's dwelling-room saw a strange

+sight.  A man of fine presence, his face pale with

+profound emotion, conducted the daughter to her parents,

+and then asked them to give her back to him as his

+future wife,—his other self.  The old beeches saw him

+take his young love in his arms, and receive the blessing

+of her agitated parents.  They saw the mother's face,

+smiling through tears, raised gratefully to Heaven, and

+little Ernst shaking the canary's cage, that he might

+awaken that sleepy songster and announce to him, with

+great solemnity, that Elsie was betrothed.

+

+

+

+

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. _`CHAPTER XX.`:

+

+.. class:: center large

+

+   CHAPTER XX.

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+While happiness was reigning in the home upon old

+Gnadeck, a sad event occurred in the valley.

+

+Two peasants from Lindhof, who, provided with

+torches, had been looking for Elizabeth, heard, as they

+were proceeding from their village to the forest, a loud

+growling at a little distance,—it sounded like an angry

+dog.  Not far from them lay stretched across the road

+a human form, while a large dog lying beside it, as

+if to defend it, had placed both his forepaws upon its

+breast.  The animal became infuriated at the approach of

+the men, and, gnashing its teeth, threatened to fly at

+them.  They were afraid, and ran back to the village,

+where they met a party bearing torches, and among them

+the forester, who had just heard from Herr von Walde's

+servant of Elizabeth's safety.

+

+Instantly all hastened to the spot which the frightened

+peasants described.  This time the dog did not growl.

+He whined, and crept to the forester's feet; it was Wolf,

+his watch-dog, and there lay Bertha, apparently lifeless.

+She was bleeding profusely from a wound in her head,

+and her face was as pale as death.

+

+The forester did not speak, he shunned the sympathetic

+glances of the by-standers; anger and pain strove for the

+mastery in his features.  He raised Bertha from the

+ground, and carried her into the first house in the village;

+it was the poor weaver's.  Then he sent a messenger for

+Sabina.  Fortunately, the Waldheim physician was with

+one of his patients in the village.  He was sent for, and

+soon brought the poor girl to herself.  She recognized

+him, and asked for water.  Her wound was not

+dangerous, but the physician shook his head and looked

+meaningly at the forester, who was anxiously watching him.

+

+The doctor was a blunt man, with rather rude manners.

+He suddenly approached the forester, and said a few

+words to him in a slight undertone.  The old man

+staggered back as though from a mortal blow, stared

+absently at the doctor without replying a word,—and then

+left the house without looking at the sick girl.

+

+"Uncle, uncle, forgive me!" she cried after him in

+heart-breaking tones, but he had already vanished into

+the dark night.

+

+And now Sabina made her appearance in the doorway.

+A maid followed her, bearing a huge bundle of linen upon

+her head, and a basket upon her arm, containing bandages,

+provisions, and all manner of necessary articles.

+

+"Gracious Powers! what have you been doing with

+yourself, Bertha?" cried the old woman with tears in her

+eyes, as she saw the pale face, and the bandaged head

+lying upon the pillow.  "And to-day, too, when I thought

+you went out looking so much better,—you had such

+beautiful red cheeks!"

+

+The girl buried her face in the bedclothes, and began

+to sob convulsively.

+

+The physician told Sabina what was to be done, and

+strictly forbade the invalid to converse or even to speak.

+

+"Must I be silent?" cried Bertha, raising herself in

+bed.  "Ah! silence may be easy for such an old man,

+whose blood runs cool and calm in his veins.  But I must

+speak, Sabina, and if it kills me,—so much the better!"

+

+She drew the old housekeeper towards her upon the

+bed, and, weeping bitterly, confessed all to her.

+

+She had had a love affair with Hollfeld, who had

+promised to marry her, and had induced her to swear

+solemnly that she would keep silent concerning their

+relations to each other, and not claim her rights until he

+should authorize her to do so; for, as he told her, he

+must first influence his mother and his relatives at

+Lindhof to accede to his wishes.  The unthinking girl

+promised all that he asked,—and in addition vowed solemnly

+that no human being should hear one word from her lips

+until she could proclaim her proud secret to the world.

+The meetings of the pair usually took place in the

+convent-tower or in the pavilion in the park.  No one

+discovered them.  The baroness' suspicions were aroused

+by some slight circumstance,—she fell into a violent rage,

+and forbade Bertha ever to show her face at Lindhof

+Castle.

+

+Still Bertha's lofty hopes were unshaken, for Hollfeld

+consoled her, and referred to the future.  But then came

+Elizabeth Ferber, and he was an altered man from that

+moment.  He avoided Bertha, and when she compelled

+him by threats to an interview, he treated her with a

+coldness and contempt that excited the girl's passionate

+nature to frenzy.

+

+When at last she became convinced that she had to do

+with a man utterly devoid of honour, the whole horror

+of her situation was laid bare before her.  She fell into

+a state of the wildest despair, and then began her nightly

+escapades.  Sleep scarcely visited her eyes, and she grew

+more composed only when she could shriek out her agony

+and woe in the lonely forest.

+

+At last came the end to the tragedy,—the same end that

+has befallen such tragedies hundreds of times before, and

+that will continue to befall them,—for the warning example

+convinces the understanding but never touches an

+unsuspecting, loving heart.  Hollfeld offered the poor girl

+a sum of money if she would relinquish her claims and

+leave that part of the country.  He pretended that his

+mother and his Lindhof relatives forced him to marry the

+newly-made Fräulein von Gnadewitz.  Bertha denounced

+him as an unprincipled liar, and rushed from his presence.

+In a frenzy of rage she presented herself before

+his mother and told her all.

+

+Thus far Bertha continued her sad tale connectedly,

+only interrupted by her violent gestures, sobs, and tears.

+She paused for a moment, and an expression of

+inextinguishable hatred distorted her countenance.

+

+"That horrible woman," she cried at last, gasping

+for breath, "has the Bible always upon her lips.  She

+knits and sews night and day for missionaries, who are

+to carry the word of God to the heathen, that they may

+be converted; but they cannot in their ignorance be

+more inhuman and cruel than this Christian in her pride.

+She wishes to root out idol-worship, and sets up herself

+for an idol, surrounding herself by a crowd of fawning,

+flattering hypocrites, who declare that she is one of the

+elect,—not as other people are.  Woe to the upright,

+honest man who refuses to consider her as such,—his

+crime is blasphemy!  She thrust me from her doors, and

+threatened to have the dogs hunt me from the park, if I

+ever showed my face there again.  From that time I

+do not know what became of me," she said, sinking back

+exhausted among the pillows, and pressing her hands

+upon her aching forehead.  "I only know that I awaked

+and saw the doctor's face bending over me.  He told my

+uncle of my disgrace,—I heard him.  What will become

+of me!"

+

+Sabina had listened to this confession with horror and

+grief.  She had always advocated the strictest purity

+and decorum, and had been, as Bertha well knew, a

+stern and inflexible judge in such unhappy cases as that

+of the wretched girl.  But her heart was full of love and

+pity.  She looked down upon the crushed sinner before

+her with tears of compassion, and soothed the weary

+head upon her kind old breast.  She was rewarded by

+seeing the poor girl fall asleep in her arms, like a child

+worn out with weeping.

+

+Soon nothing was heard in the little room but the quiet

+breathing of the sick girl and the ticking of the clock.

+Sabina put on her spectacles, drew an old worn copy of

+the New Testament from her basket, and watched faithfully

+by the bedside until the bright dawn looked in at

+the windows.

+

+Bertha did not die, as she had hoped to do in

+consequence of her agitating confession.  On the contrary,

+she recovered very quickly, nursed and tended by

+Sabina and Frau Ferber.  There was no return of her

+insanity.  The wound in her head, which had been caused

+by a fall upon a sharp stone, had produced a most beneficial

+result in the copious loss of blood which had ensued.

+

+The forester was beside himself at the disgrace which

+Bertha had brought beneath his honest roof.  For some

+days he would not even listen to his brother's calm, soothing

+words.  After Sabina had communicated to him Bertha's

+confession, he rode to Odenberg to call "the worthless

+scoundrel to account;" but the servants there informed

+him, shrugging their shoulders, that their master had

+started upon a journey; they could not tell whither, or

+when he would return.  Herr von Walde's search for

+him was also without result.

+

+Bertha herself declared that she would never again

+hear of her betrayer, whom she now regarded with a hate

+as fervent as had been her love.  A few weeks after her

+recovery she left the weaver's hut,—she never again

+entered the Lodge,—to go to America.  But she did not go

+alone.  One of her uncle's assistants, a fine young fellow,

+begged for his dismissal, because he had always loved

+Bertha in silence, and could not find it in his heart to let

+her go alone into the wide world.  She had promised

+to be his.  They were to be married in Bremen, and

+sail thence for the New World, where he would lead a

+farmer's life.  Herr von Walde provided the pair with a

+considerable sum of money; and, at Frau Ferber's and

+Elizabeth's request, the forester silently consented that

+Sabina should rob the overflowing store of linen that his

+deceased wife had accumulated, to furnish the household

+of the emigrants.

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: center white-space-pre-line

+

+   \*      \*      \*      \*      \*

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+Upon a gloomy autumn day a well-packed travelling

+carriage left Castle Lindhof and slowly rolled towards

+L——.  Her haughty arrogance all vanished, the

+baroness sat huddled together in one corner of it.  Her

+brilliant part at Lindhof was played; she was

+reluctantly returning to her small rooms and reduced

+circumstances.

+

+"Mamma," said Bella, in her shrill, childish accents,

+as she opened and shut the carriage window and drummed

+against the seat with her feet, "does the castle belong

+now to Elizabeth Ferber?  Will she drive in our beautiful

+carriage with the white damask cushions?  Can she go

+into your room whenever she pleases and sit in the

+embroidered arm-chairs?  Old Lorenz says that she will be

+the mistress there now, and that all her orders must be

+obeyed."

+

+"Child, do not torment me so with your chatter,"

+groaned the baroness, burying her face in her

+pocket-handkerchief.

+

+"It is very unkind of Uncle Rudolph to send us away,"

+the child continued, without heeding what her mother

+said.  "You know we have no silver dishes to eat from

+in B——, have we, mamma?  Shall we dine at a

+restaurant, mamma? and will you dress your own hair while

+Caroline washes and irons?  Why——"

+

+"Silence!" her mother interrupted the flood of speech

+that so tormented her.

+

+Bella cowered terrified in a corner, and did not look up

+until the carriage was rolling over the stone pavement of

+L——.  The baroness cast a hasty glance at the Princely

+castle, then drew her veil over her face and burst into

+tears.

+

+In consequence of Bertha's confession there had been

+a stormy interview between Herr von Walde and the

+baroness, which had ended in the departure of the latter.

+Helene repulsed her with aversion when she appealed to

+her, and she was forced to enter the travelling carriage,

+which appeared punctually before the castle at the hour

+appointed by its master.  There was one consoling drop

+in her cup of misfortune,—Herr von Walde had provided

+the means for Bella's education, upon condition that it

+should be more sensibly conducted than heretofore.

+

+Almost at the same hour in which the Baroness Lessen

+was leaving Lindhof forever, the Countess von Falkenberg

+presented herself in the boudoir of the princess, who

+had returned with her husband a few days before from

+the baths.

+

+The countess made as profound an obeisance as her

+uncertain limbs would permit, but showed a degree of

+haste that she would have stigmatized in another as

+contrary to all rules of etiquette.  She held an open letter

+in her hand, which had been somewhat crushed by her

+trembling fingers.

+

+"I am most unhappy," she began in an unnatural tone

+of voice, "to be obliged to impart to your highnesses a

+most scandalous piece of news.  Oh, mon Dieu, who would

+have thought it!  Well, if even in our own sphere all

+sense of shame, all dignified self-consciousness, is at an

+end,—if every one is to heed the dictates of low and

+vulgar impulses,—no wonder that the halo surrounding

+us is dimmed, and the mob ventures to attack the throne

+itself!"

+

+"Calm yourself, my dear Falkenberg," said the prince,

+who was present, with evident amusement.  "Your preface

+is somewhat after the magnificent style of a Cassandra.

+But as yet I see no signs of earthquake; and to my great

+satisfaction I observe,"—and he glanced out of the

+window at the quiet market-square with a smile,—"that my

+faithful subjects are quite composed.  What have you to

+tell us?"

+

+She looked up surprised,—his sarcastic tone made her

+falter.

+

+"Oh, if your highness only knew!" she cried at last.

+"That man, upon whose pride of birth I so relied, Herr

+von Walde, informs me that he is betrothed.  And to

+whom? to whom?"

+

+"To Fräulein Ferber, the niece of my brave, old forester,"

+the prince, smiling, replied.  "Yes, yes, I have heard

+something of this; Walde knows what he is about, I see.

+The little girl is a miracle of beauty and loveliness they

+say.  Well, I hope he will not keep us waiting long to

+make her acquaintance, but will present her to us soon."

+

+"Your highness," cried the paralyzed countess, "she is

+the daughter of your highness' forester's clerk!"

+

+"Yes, yes, my good Falkenberg," chimed in the

+princess, "we know that.  But be calm; she is I assure you

+of noble rank."

+

+"Will your highness graciously permit me," rejoined

+the old lady, her face crimson, as she pointed to the

+crumpled letter, "here it stands in black and white,—his

+betrothal with a person of low birth,—here is the name,

+Ferber, and no other, and just so it will be written upon

+von Walde's genealogical tree forever.  It actually seems

+as if the man paraded it with a sort of ostentation.  The

+inconceivable indifference of these people in refusing to

+assume the name of von Gnadewitz shows plainly enough

+that they have nothing in common with that aristocratic

+family.  Their noble blood has utterly degenerated in the

+course of years, and, according to my notions of nobility,

+the girl is and always will be of low birth.  I sincerely pity

+poor Hollfeld, who is, as your highness knows, of stainless

+descent; by this misalliance he will lose at least half a

+million,—and the poor Lessen, too, from whom I have just

+had a few sad lines,—she leaves Lindhof to-day, of course

+to escape from such scandalous proceedings."

+

+"Those are matters affecting your own personal

+feeling, and of course I say nothing with regard to them,"

+rejoined the prince, not without severity.  "But I herewith

+request you to announce to the princess and myself the

+fact, as soon as Herr von Walde wishes to present his

+bride to us."

+

+In the next room, the door of which was open, Cornelie

+was merrily turning upon her heels and snapping her

+fingers.

+

+"Aha! and that was why Sir Bruin wished to escape

+the tongues of certain eloquent ladies!" she cried, with a

+stifled laugh.  "Cornelie, where was your usual penetration

+with regard to the masculine heart?  Oh, the thing

+delights me for old Falkenberg's sake," she said, in a

+whisper, to another young lady who sat at the window

+embroidering.  "Now for at least two weeks we shall have

+the pleasure of seeing how the loyal creature will look

+daggers at their highnesses whenever their backs are

+turned, while all the honey of the promised land will

+overflow her withered lips as soon as the sun of their

+royal smile shines upon her.  I could wish that every

+man whom we know would follow Herr von Walde's silly

+example!"

+

+"Good Heavens!  Cornelie, are you insane?" cried her

+companion at the window, dropping her needle from her

+fingers.

+

+At the same time that every drop of blood in the

+Falkenberg's aristocratic veins was so outraged, Doctor

+Fels returned to his home, and went to the nursery, where

+his wife was bathing her baby and superintending the

+knitting fingers of her two little daughters.

+

+"Rejoice with me, dear love!" he cried, with sparkling

+eyes, as he stood upon the threshold of the door.

+"Lindhof will have a mistress, and such a mistress!  Gold

+Elsie, our beautiful Gold Elsie!  Do you hear, my

+darling?  Now the sun will shine brightly there.  The

+healthy atmosphere has conquered, and the evil spirit

+that actually dropped mildew upon poor human souls has

+fled.  I have just seen it drive past in Herr von Walde's

+travelling carriage.  The announcement of the betrothal

+has fallen upon our worthy town like a bomb-shell.  I

+tell you it is wonderful to see the long, incredulous faces!

+But the news has not surprised me at all.  I have known

+what must happen ever since Linke's murderous

+attempt.  Since I drove that evening to Lindhof by Herr

+von Walde's side, to see whether the excitement had

+produced no ill effects upon the brave child, I have known

+well that his hour had struck, that he had a heart indeed,

+a heart full of fervent, passionate love."

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: center white-space-pre-line

+

+   \*      \*      \*      \*      \*

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+Let us pass over a space of two years, and once more

+enter the old Gnadeck ruins.  We shall ascend the mountain

+by a broad well-kept road, leading to the castle gate,

+which has exchanged its rusty bolts and bars for more

+convenient fastenings.

+

+We remember with a shiver the cold, damp court-yard

+behind this gate, shut in by gloomy colonnades on three

+sides, while the crumbling buildings threatened to bury

+us beneath their ruins.  We remember the lonely basin in

+the centre, that, surrounded by the lions of stone, has

+waited in vain during so many years for the silver stream

+that should fill it.

+

+Remembering all this, we ring the bell.  At its clear

+sound, a fresh, trim maiden opens the massive gate, and

+invites us to enter.  But we start back almost dazzled,

+for from the open gate what a flood of light and colour

+greets us!  The ruins have vanished, the high wall that

+surrounded them alone remains, and we are for the first

+time aware how extensive is the space which it encloses.

+

+We do not tread upon the echoing pavement of a

+courtyard, a smooth gravel-walk is beneath our feet; before

+us stretches a level, well-kept lawn.  In its centre stands

+the granite basin, and from the threatening jaws of the

+lions are pouring four powerful streams of water.  The

+chestnuts still remain the faithful guardians of the

+fountain, but since their boughs have been bathed in heaven's

+air and light they have grown strong and young again,

+and are now covered with a wealth of fan-like blossoms.

+We wind among the gravel paths that intersect the lawn,

+delight our eyes with the groups of shrubbery, still

+very young, that are so tastefully scattered here and

+there, and with the gay beds of carefully tended flowers.

+

+Before us lies the home.  Its four walls are free now

+to the air and light, and have put on a fresh bright

+garment; but its front is far more stately than it used to be.

+New windows are seen on every side.  Ferber has had

+four rooms added to it; for when the forester retires to

+private life, he and Sabina are to live there also.  In the

+family dwelling-room,—from whose two high windows

+can now be seen the same view formerly seen only from

+Elizabeth's room above,—Herr von Walde has had the

+trees thinned so that her parents might always have the

+home of their darling before their eyes,—stands the young

+Frau von Walde.  She has been kept in the house for

+several weeks, and her first expedition has been to carry

+her first-born to her parents' home.  There he lies in her

+arms.  Miss Mertens, or rather the happily married Frau

+Reinhard, has just removed the veil from the little thing.

+The minute, plump, red face shows, in the eyes of the

+mother, an unmistakable resemblance to Herr von Walde.

+Ernst is laughing loudly at the vague movements of the

+fat little fists, which are stretching out in all directions.

+But the forester stands with his own powerful hands

+behind him, and an expression of great anxiety, as if he

+feared that if he moved he might do the frail atom

+an injury.  He is no less delighted with his

+grand-nephew than are Elizabeth's parents with their

+grandchild.  He has outlived his distress concerning Bertha,

+and basks in Elizabeth's happiness, which was a great

+surprise to him at first, and which he maintained he was

+obliged to become accustomed to anew every morning.

+Not, indeed, that he thought such good fortune one whit

+too great for his darling,—he would have thought the

+richest of earthly crowns well placed upon Elizabeth's

+head; but it was so strange to him to see his sunny Gold

+Elsie by the side of her grave, thoughtful husband.

+

+Elizabeth is happy in the fullest sense of the word.

+Her husband adores her, and his words have proved

+true,—the expression of stern melancholy has faded forever

+from his brow.

+

+Just now the young wife is looking tenderly at the

+little creature in her arms, and then down into the valley,

+whence Herr von Walde will soon appear to conduct her

+to her home.  Her glance grows sad for a moment, and

+tears fill her eyes, as they rest upon a lofty gilded cross,

+glimmering among the trees upon the shore of the

+lake,—beneath those rustling boughs Helene has slept for a

+year.  She died in Elizabeth's arms, praying God to bless

+the dear sister who had so helped her to bear her burden

+of woe until her spirit could soar away from its frail

+mortal tenement.

+

+Hollfeld has sold Odenberg, and no one knows in what

+corner of the earth he hides his discontent at the

+overthrow of all his plots.

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. class:: center medium

+

+   THE END.

+

+.. vspace:: 4

+

+.. class:: center white-space-pre-line

+

+   \*      \*      \*      \*      \*      \*      \*      \*

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+   ENTERTAINING NEW BOOKS

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+.. vspace:: 2

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+.. class:: center medium

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+   Published by J. B. LIPPINCOTT & Co., Philadelphia.

+

+.. class:: center small

+

+   *Will be sent by Mail, post-paid, on receipt of price.*

+

+.. vspace:: 2

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   THE WHITE ROSE.

+

+A Novel.  By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE, author of "Cerise,"

+"Digby Grand," "The Gladiators," etc.  12mo.  Cloth.  $1.60.

+

+"The book abounds in beautiful sentiments, beautifully

+expressed, and its moral tone is undeniably good.  We take pleasure

+in commending it to the public."—*Phila. Ev. Bulletin*.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.

+

+A Novel.  After the German of E. Marlitt.  By

+MRS. A. L. WISTER.  12mo.  Fine cloth.  $1.75.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   THE VOICE IN SINGING.

+

+Translated from the German of EMMA SEILER by a Member of

+the American Philosophical Society.  One vol.  12mo.  Tinted

+paper.  Fine cloth, beveled boards.  $1.50.

+

+"We would earnestly advise all interested in any way in the

+vocal organs to read and thoroughly digest this remarkable

+work."—*Boston Musical Times*.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

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+

+   ABRAHAM PAGE, ESQ.

+

+A Novel.  "Pity the sorrows of a poor old man."  12mo.  Tinted

+paper.  Cloth.  $1.50.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   WALDEMAR KRONE.

+

+The Story of Waldemar Krone's Youth.  By H. F. EWALD,

+author of "The Nordby Family," "Johannes Falk," etc.

+Translated from the Danish.  One vol.  12mo.  Neat cloth.  $1.75.

+

+"Since reading 'Quits' and the 'Initials,' we have met with few

+more interesting books....  It claims unwearied attention

+from beginning to end, and shows no ordinary

+power."—*Phila. Ev. Bulletin*.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   FIGHTING THE FLAMES.

+

+A Tale of the Fire Brigade.  By R. M. BALLANTYNE, author of

+"The Wild Man of the West," "The Coral Islands," "The

+Red Eric," etc.  With Illustrations.  12mo.  Cloth.  $1.50.

+

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+known as a popular writer for youth, and his present work does

+not detract from his reputation."—*Phila. Ev. Telegraph*.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   OLD DECCAN DAYS;

+

+Or, Hindoo Fairy Legends current in Southern India.  Collected

+from Oral Tradition By M. FREER.  With an Introduction

+and Notes by SIR BARTLE FREER.  12mo.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   SILVER LAKE;

+

+Or, Lost in the Snow.  By R. M. BALLANTYNE, author of "Fighting

+the Flames," "The Coral Islands," etc.  Illustrated.  12mo.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   THE AMERICAN BEAVER, and his WORKS.

+

+By LEWIS H. MORGAN, author of "The League of the Iroquois."

+Handsomely illustrated with 23 full-page lithographs and

+numerous wood-cuts.  One vol.  8vo.  Tinted paper.  Cloth

+extra.  $5.00.

+

+"We have read Mr. Morgan's elaborate but most lucidly written

+volume with intense delight and full

+satisfaction."—*Boston Ev. Transcript*.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   DIXON'S SPIRITUAL WIVES.

+

+By W. HEPWORTH DIXON, author of "New America," "William

+Penn," "The Holy Land," etc.  SECOND EDITION.  Complete

+in one crown 8vo volume.  With Portrait of Author from

+Steel.  Tinted paper.  Extra cloth.  $2.50.

+

+"The subject of 'Spiritual Wives' is at once sensational, appalling,

+and full of deep interest.  If we look at it simply as a system,

+it is replete with scenes which cannot be surpassed even in

+fiction."—*London Morning Post*.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

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+

+   \U. \S. CHRISTIAN COMMISSION.

+

+Annals of the United States Christian Commission.  By

+REV. LEMUEL MOSS, Home Secretary to the Commission.  In one

+vol.  8vo of 752 pages.  Handsomely illustrated.  Tinted

+paper.  Cloth extra.  $4.50.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   LETTERS FROM THE FRONTIERS.

+

+Written during a period of Thirty Years' Service in the

+U. S. Army.  By MAJ.-GEN. GEORGE A. McCALL, late Commander

+of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps.  One vol. crown 8vo.

+Toned paper.  Fine cloth.  $2.50.

+

+"His letters in the volume before us include a period of over

+thirty years of active service in Florida, the West, the Mexican

+War, and New Mexico.  They are admirably written—easy,

+familiar, graphic, anecdotal, descriptive, and full of information.

+It seems as if the gallant writer was as much master of the pen as

+of the sword."—*Phila. Press*.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   BAKER'S ABYSSINIA.

+

+The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia, and the Sword Hunters of the

+Hamran Arabs.  By SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER, author of

+"The Albert Nyanza."  With Maps and numerous Illustrations,

+drawn by E. Griset from Original Sketches by the Author.

+Superfine paper.  One vol. royal 8vo.  Extra cloth.  $6.00.

+

+... "We have rarely met with a descriptive work so well

+conceived and so attractively written as Baker's Abyssinia, and we

+cordially recommend it to public patronage....  It is beautifully

+illustrated, and contains several well executed maps of

+great value."—*N. O. Times*.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   A TUTOR'S COUNSEL TO HIS PUPILS.

+

+En Avant, Messieurs!  Letters and Essays.  By the

+REV. G. H. D. MATHIAS, M.A.  Second Edition.  Small 12mo.  Extra Cloth.

+Price $1.50.

+

+This truly admirable little volume is made up of scattered

+fragments of instruction, furnished by the author in his capacity of

+tutor, to a pupil.  It comprises a series of brief essays on such

+topics as these: On the Study of Language; Where had I best

+Travel; On Style; On English Composition; On Novels; How to

+give money away; A little Learning is not a dangerous thing, etc.

+They are written in a lively, easy style, and abound with practical

+suggestions and information of the highest value.  The writer's

+power of illustrating and enforcing his precepts by the adduction

+of pertinent facts, is remarkable, and such as tutors are rarely

+blessed with.  The essays on Style and English Composition are

+particularly worthy of perusal; and every page of the book

+contains matter that will profit not only the young but the

+old.—*Boston Commercial Bulletin*.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   GLOBE EDITION OF SCOTT'S POETICAL WORKS.

+

+The Poetical Works of SIR WALTER SCOTT, Baronet, with a

+Biographical and Critical Memoir by Francis Turner Palgrave,

+late Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.  Square 12mo.  Price,

+Cloth, $2.00; Cloth, extra gilt top, $2.25; Half Turkey, gilt

+top, $3.50; Half Calf, gilt extra, $4.00; Full Roxburgh

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+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   POEMS,

+

+By MRS. FRANCES DANA GAGE.  Printed on fine tinted paper.

+12mo.  Cloth, beveled boards.  Price $1.75.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   ELSIE MAGOON; or, The Old Still-House,

+

+A Temperance Tale.  Founded upon the actual experience of

+everyday life.  By MRS. FRANCES D. GAGE.  One vol.  12mo.

+Cloth.  Price $1.50.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   LAST DAYS OF A KING,

+

+An Historical Romance.  Translated from the German of Moritz

+Hartmann by MARY E. NILES.  12mo.  Cloth.  Price $1.50.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   ROBERT SEVERNE: His Friends and his Enemies,

+

+A Novel.  By WILLIAM A. HAMMOND.  12mo.  Extra Cloth.

+Price $1.75.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 3

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+.. class:: center large bold

+

+   WORKS BY "OUIDA."

+

+.. vspace:: 1

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+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   GRANVILLE DE VIGNE, or Held in Bondage.

+

+By "OUIDA," author of "Strathmore, or Wrought by his own

+Hand," "Chandos," etc.  One vol.  12mo.  Cloth, $2.00.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   STRATHMORE, or Wrought by his own Hand.

+

+By "OUIDA," author of "Chandos," "Granville de Vigne, or

+Held in Bondage," etc.  One vol.  12mo.  Cloth, $2.00.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   CHANDOS.

+

+A Novel.  By "OUIDA," author of "Strathmore," "Granville de

+Vigne," etc.  One vol.  12mo.  Cloth, $2 00.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   IDALIA,

+

+A Novel.  By "OUIDA," author of "Chandos," "Strathmore,"

+"Granville de Vigne," etc.  12mo.  Cloth, $2.00.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   CECIL CASTLEMAINE'S GAGE, and other Stories.

+

+First Series of Novelettes.  By "OUIDA," author of "Idalia,"

+"Strathmore," "Chandos," "Granville de Vigne," etc.

+Revised for publication by the author.  12mo.  Cloth, $1.75.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   RANDOLPH GORDON, and other Stories.

+

+Second Series of Novelettes.  By "OUIDA," author of "Idalia,"

+"Strathmore," "Cecil Castlemaine's Gage," etc.  12mo.  Cloth,

+$1.75.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   UNDER TWO FLAGS.

+

+A Novel.  By "OUIDA," author of "Idalia," "Chandos,"

+"Granville de Vigne," etc.  12mo.  Cloth.  $2.00.

+

+

+.. vspace:: 1

+

+.. class:: noindent bold

+

+   BEATRICE BOVILLE, and other Stories.

+

+Third Series of Novelettes.  By "OUIDA," author of "Cecil

+Castlemaine's Gage," "Idalia," "Strathmore," etc.  12mo.

+Cloth.  $1.75.

+

+.. vspace:: 6

+

+.. pgfooter::

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+                               GOLD ELSIE
+
+
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost
+no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
+under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
+eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+
+
+Title: Gold Elsie
+Author: E. Marlitt
+Release Date: March 28, 2013 [EBook #42426]
+Language: English
+Character set encoding: US-ASCII
+
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOLD ELSIE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines.
+
+
+                               GOLD ELSIE
+
+
+                            FROM THE GERMAN
+                                   OF
+
+
+                               E. MARLITT
+
+                AUTHOR OF "THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET."
+
+
+
+                                   BY
+                           MRS. A. L. WISTER.
+
+
+
+                             PHILADELPHIA:
+                         J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
+                                 1868.
+
+
+
+
+    Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
+                        J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
+
+In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and
+               for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
+
+
+
+
+                               GOLD ELSIE
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER I.
+
+
+It had been snowing all day long,--so steadily that the roofs and
+window-sills were covered deep with spotless white cushions.  And now
+the early twilight fell, bringing with it a wild gust of wind that raged
+among the falling snow-flakes like some bird of prey among a flock of
+peaceful doves.
+
+Although the weather was such that the comfort-loving inhabitants of any
+small town would hardly have sent their dogs out of doors, not to
+mention venturing their own worthy persons, yet there was little
+difference to be seen in the size of the crowd that usually frequents
+the streets of the large Capital, B----, between the hours of six and
+seven in the evening.  The gas lamps were an excellent substitute for
+those heavenly lights which would not make their appearance.  Carriages
+were whirling around corners in such tempestuous haste that many a
+pedestrian rescued life and limb only by a sudden leap aside, while
+curses both loud and deep were hurled after the coachmen enveloped in
+their comfortable furs, and the elegant coaches which contained behind
+their glass doors charmingly dressed women, whose lovely flower-crowned
+heads, as they peeped from among masses of muslin and tulle, certainly
+had no suspicion of the fire and brimstone called down upon them.  In
+the warm atmosphere, behind the huge shop windows, elaborately curled
+and frizzed wax heads, surrounded by blond and black scalps, stared out
+upon the passers-by.  Smiling shopmen displayed their fascinating
+merchandise, and withered old flower-sellers stood among their
+fresh-blooming bouquets, which exhaled beauty and fragrance beneath the
+light of the lamps that shed a brilliant glare upon the slippery
+pavement and upon the flood of human life streaming by, revealing the
+pinched, blue features and the desperately uncomfortable movements of
+all, old and young.
+
+But stay,--not of all!  A female figure has just entered one of the
+principal streets from a narrow by-way.  A small threadbare cloak
+closely envelopes her slender form, and a worn old muff is pressed
+against her breast, confining the ends of a black lace veil, behind
+which two girlish eyes are glowing with the sunlight of early youth.
+They look out joyously into the whistling snow-storm, rest lovingly upon
+the half-open rosebuds and dark purple violets behind the glass panes of
+the shop windows, and only veil their light beneath their long dark
+lashes when sharp hail-stones mingle with the driving snow-flakes.
+
+Whoever has listened while childish fingers, or sometimes fingers no
+longer childish, confidently begin upon the piano a well-known melody,
+which goes bravely on for a few bars, then is arrested by a frightful
+discord followed by a wild grasping after every key on the instrument
+except the correct ones, while the patient teacher sits by, ceasing to
+attempt to evoke order out of chaos by the usual steady marking of the
+time, wearily waiting until the panting melody is seized again and
+carried on with lightning rapidity through several easy bars as over
+some level plain,--whoever has thus had his ears stretched upon the
+rack, can understand the delight with which this young girl, who has
+just given two music lessons in a large school, offers her hot cheek to
+the wind as to an energetic comrade, whose mighty roar can breathe
+wondrous melodies through the pipes of an organ or over the strings of
+an AEolian harp.
+
+Thus she passes lightly and swiftly through the storm and crowd; and I
+do not for an instant doubt that if I should present her now upon this
+slippery pavement to the gentle reader as Fraeulein Elizabeth Ferber,
+she would with a lovely smile make him as graceful a courtesy as though
+they both stood in a ball-room.  But this introduction cannot take
+place,--and we really do not need it, for I forthwith intend to relate
+to the reader my heroine's antecedents.
+
+Baron Wolf von Gnadewitz was the last scion of a famous house whose
+remote ancestry could be traced back into the dubious twilight which
+even preceded that golden age when the travelling merchant, journeying
+through some sequestered pass, was forced to surrender his costly stuffs
+and wares to a knightly banner and shining steel-clad troup of retainers
+as often as to the buff-coated highway adventurer.  From those
+illustrious times there had been handed down, in the crest of the
+Gnadewitzes a wheel, upon which one of these same noble ancestors had
+breathed out his knightly soul in consequence of having spilt rather too
+much ignoble trading-blood in one of the above-mentioned assaults upon
+his merchant prey.
+
+Baron von Gnadewitz, the last of his race, was chamberlain in the
+service of the Prince Royal of X----, and possessor of various orders
+and large estates, as well as of those peculiarities of character and
+disposition which were, in his estimation, befitting the high-born, and
+which he was accustomed to designate as "distinguished," because all
+common men, bound by work-a-day moral considerations, and compelled by
+the stern necessities of life, lose all taste for the inimitable grace
+and elegance of vice.
+
+Baron Wolf von Gnadewitz was as fond of pomp and show as his
+grandfather, who had forsaken the old castle Gnadeck upon a mountain in
+Thuringia, the cradle of his line, and had built him in the valley below
+a perfect fairy palace in the Italian style.  The grandson allowed the
+old castle to fall into decay, while he enlarged and improved the modern
+mansion considerably.  Yes, it seemed as though he entertained not the
+smallest doubt but that his latest descendant would be found occupying
+this favourite palace at the day of judgment, for the old castle was
+quite dismantled in order that the vast chambers of the new abode might
+be thoroughly furnished.  But he reckoned without his host.  Wolf von
+Gnadewitz had a son, 'tis true,--a son who, at twenty years of age, was
+so complete and thorough a Gnadewitz that the illustrious image of his
+ancestor who had perished upon the wheel paled before him.  This
+promising youth one day, upon the occasion of the great autumn hunt in
+the forest, struck one of his whippers-in a fearful blow upon the head
+with the loaded handle of his hunting-whip--a fearful blow, but a
+perfectly just punishment, as every one of the guests invited to the
+hunt declared, for the man had stepped upon the paw of a favourite hound
+so clumsily as to render the animal entirely useless for a whole day.
+And thus it happened that, a short time afterward, Hans von Gnadewitz
+was to be found not only upon the boughs of the genealogical tree in the
+hall of the new castle, but suspended by a rope around his neck to a
+bough of one of the actual trees in the forest.  The beaten whipper-in
+expiated the deed upon the scaffold, but that could not bring the last
+of the Gnadewitzes to life again, for he was dead,--irrevocably dead,
+the physicians said; and the long tale of robber-knights, wild excesses,
+hunting orgies, and horse-racing came to an end.
+
+After this terrible catastrophe, Wolf von Gnadewitz left the castle in
+the valley, and indeed that part of the country, and dwelt upon one of
+his many estates in Silesia.  He took into his house to nurse him a
+young female relative, the last survivor of one of the collateral
+branches of his house. This young relative proved to be a girl of
+angelic beauty, at sight of whom the old baron entirely forgot the
+object for which he had invited her beneath his roof, and at last
+determined to clothe his sixty years in a wedding-garment.  To his
+exceeding indignation, however, he now learned that there might come a
+time, even to a Gnadewitz, when he could no longer be regarded as a
+desirable _parti_, and he fell into a violent rage when his young
+relative confessed that, in utter forgetfulness of her lofty lineage,
+she had given her heart to a bourgeois officer, the son of one of his
+foresters.
+
+The young man possessed no worldly gear, only his sword and a remarkably
+fine manly person; but he was rich in mind, accomplished, amiable in
+disposition, and of stainless character.  When Wolf von Gnadewitz, in
+consequence of Marie's confession, turned her from his doors, young
+Ferber carried her home with delight as his wife, and for the first ten
+years of their married life would not have exchanged his lot with that
+of any king on earth.  Still less would he have made such an exchange in
+the eleventh year, for that was the eventful 1848; but with it came
+fierce struggles for him, and an entire alteration in his circumstances.
+He was obliged to decide between two duties.  One had been inculcated
+while he was in his cradle by his father, and ran thus: "Love your
+neighbour, and especially your German brother, as yourself;" the other,
+which he had in later years imposed upon himself, commanded him to draw
+the sword in his master's interest.  In this strife the teachings of his
+childhood conquered entirely.  Ferber refused to draw the sword upon his
+brethren; but his refusal cost him his commission, and with it all
+assured means of subsistence.  He retired from the army, and soon
+afterward, in consequence of a severe cold, was stretched upon a
+sick-bed, which he left only after years of disheartening weakness.  He
+then moved with his family to B----, where he obtained quite a lucrative
+situation as bookkeeper in an extensive mercantile establishment.  It
+was high time, for his wife's small property had been lost shortly
+before by the failure of a bank, and the remittances of money which came
+to the distressed family from time to time from Ferber's elder and only
+brother, a forester in Thuringia, were all that kept them from extreme
+poverty.
+
+Unluckily this good fortune was of short duration. Ferber's chief was a
+pietist of the most severe description, and spared no one in his zeal
+for proselytism.  His efforts to convert Ferber to his own narrow dogmas
+were met by such quiet but decided resistance, that the pious spirit of
+the saintly Herr Hagen was seized with holy horror.  Remorse at the
+thought of affording protection and subsistence to such an avowed
+free-thinker, gave him no peace by night or by day, until he had freed
+himself from such a burden of guilt, by a note of dismissal, which
+banished the tainted sheep from his fold.
+
+About the same time Wolf von Gnadewitz went home to his ancestors, and
+as during his earthly career he had strictly conformed to the Gnadewitz
+custom of leaving no insult, fancied or otherwise: unavenged, no
+worthier conclusion to his life could be found than the will which he
+drew up with his own hands shortly before he descended into the narrow
+chamber of lead which was to contain for all futurity his noble bones.
+
+This manly document, which constituted sole heir to his large estates a
+distant relative of his wife's, concluded with the following codicil:
+
+"In consideration of the undeniable claim which she has upon my
+property, I bequeath to Anna Marie Ferber, born von Gnadewitz, the
+castle of Gnadeck in the mountains in Thuringia.  Anna Marie Ferber will
+understand my benevolent intention in her behalf in leaving to her a
+mansion crowded with memories of the noble race to which she once
+belonged.  In full remembrance and consideration of the good fortune and
+many blessings which have always hovered above this ancient pile, I hold
+it entirely superfluous to increase my legacy further. But if Anna Marie
+Ferber, blind to the value of my gift, should wish to sell or exchange
+it in any way, her right to it must be abdicated in favour of the orphan
+asylum of L----."
+
+And thus, with the utterance of a biting satire, Wolf von Gnadewitz
+betook himself to his funeral bed of state. Ferber and his wife had
+indeed never seen the old castle, but it was notoriously a crumbling
+heap of ruins, which the hand of improvement had not touched for fifty
+years, and which, when the modern abode in the valley was completed, had
+been stripped of furniture, tapestries, and, in the case of the main
+building, even of the metallic roofing.
+
+Since that time the ponderous oaken door of the principal entrance had
+remained closed, and the dusty, rusty bolts and bars had never once been
+withdrawn.  The huge forest trees which were growing before it spread
+abroad their mighty branches, and drooped them among the thick brushwood
+at their feet, so that the deserted castle lay behind the green
+impenetrable wall like a coffined mummy.
+
+The lucky heir, who was greatly annoyed by seeing so large a part of his
+woodland possessions in stranger hands, would gladly have purchased the
+old castle at a high price, but the cunning clause at the conclusion of
+the codicil forbade any such transaction.
+
+Frau Ferber laid the copy of the will which had been sent her, and upon
+which there dropped from her eyes a few tears of regret, upon her
+husband's desk, and then took up her work,--some delicate
+embroidery,--with redoubled, almost feverish industry.  In spite of his
+exertions Ferber had been unable to procure another situation, and was
+now doing his best to maintain his family by translating, a labour but
+poorly paid, and even by copying law papers, while his wife eked out
+their scanty means by the proceeds of her needle, which she plied night
+and day.
+
+But dark as were the heavens above the struggling pair, one star rose
+quietly among the black clouds and seemed not unlikely to indemnify them
+by its radiance for all the storms with which fickle fortune had
+overwhelmed them.  A presentiment of this gentle light which was to beam
+upon his gloomy path possessed Ferber when he stood for the first time
+beside the cradle of his first-born, a daughter, and gazed into the
+lovely eyes which smiled upon him from the baby face.  All Frau Ferber's
+friends had been unanimously of opinion that the little girl was a
+charming creature, a wonderfully gifted child; indeed, they had declared
+it did not look in the least like an ordinary baby, did not appear to
+belong to the class of miserable little wretches, who, red as lobsters,
+seem determined to scream their way through the world; but,--here they
+had broken off; and it was intimated that were it not for fear of the
+sneers of their liege lords, and the utterly prosaic tendencies of the
+nineteenth century, they should certainly suspect that some benevolent
+fairy had been at work in this case.
+
+They contended as to who should be so far favoured as to hold the little
+creature at the baptismal font, and should show the deepest tenderness
+for the little god-daughter, declaring that the day of her baptism could
+never be effaced from their remembrance; but this demand upon their
+memories was altogether too great, for when Ferber fell into
+difficulties, selfishness passed its finger over the recorded day, and
+no trace of it remained in their minds.
+
+This change, which little Elizabeth experienced in the ninth year of her
+existence, disturbed her not at all.  Her probable fairy protectress
+had, in addition to other rich gifts, endowed her in her cradle with an
+invincible joyousness of temperament and great force of will; so she
+took from her mother's hand her scanty evening meal as gratefully and
+gaily as she had once received the inexhaustible delicacies presented to
+her by admiring god-parents; and when on Christmas-eve the room was
+adorned only by a poor little Christmas-tree hung with a few apples and
+gilded nuts, the child did not seem to remember the time when friends
+had crowded around to deck its boughs with all imaginable toys.
+
+Ferber educated his daughter himself.  She never attended a school of
+any kind, an omission in her training which cannot, unfortunately, in
+the present age, be regarded as anything but an advantage, when we see
+how many young girls leave school with far more knowledge upon some
+subjects than is at all desirable or pleasing to the anxious mother, who
+strives at home to preserve unsoiled her child's purity of mind and
+heart, and often does not dream how her tender care is made of no avail
+by the taint which one impure nature in the school will communicate, and
+which may perhaps colour an entire after-life.
+
+Elizabeth's pliant mind was finely developed beneath the control of her
+gifted parents.  Thoroughly to understand the study which occupied her,
+and to appropriate its results in such a manner as to make them
+inalienably her own were duties which she most conscientiously
+fulfilled.  But she gave herself to the study of music with an ardor
+that inspires a human being only when engaged in a pursuit felt to be
+especially his own.  She soon far outstripped her mother, who was her
+instructress, and as when a child she would often leave her playthings
+if she saw a cloud upon her father's brow, to sit on his knee and divert
+him with some tale of wonder, thus, as a girl, she would charm away the
+demon of gloom from her father's mind by strange and delicious melodies
+which lay like pearls in the depths of her soul, until she brought them
+to light for the first time for his relief and enjoyment.  And this was
+not the only blessing springing from her rare talent for music.  The
+exquisite touch upon the piano, in the garret in which the family lived,
+attracted the attention of several of the more aristocratic inhabitants
+of the house, and Elizabeth soon had two or three pupils in music, and
+had lately been employed in a large school as teacher of the piano, thus
+sensibly increasing the means of subsistence of the family.
+
+Here let us resume the thread of our story, and we shall not shrink, I
+hope, from the trouble that we must take in following our heroine
+through the wet streets upon this stormy evening to her home and her
+parents.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Even during the long walk through the streets, alternately straight and
+crooked, gloomy and bright, Elizabeth enjoyed in imagination the
+delicious sensation of comfort that the sight of the cosey room at home
+always caused her.  There sat her father at his writing-table with its
+little study-lamp, ready to raise his pale face with a smile when
+Elizabeth entered.  He would take his pen, which had been travelling so
+busily over the paper for hours, in his left hand, and with his right
+draw his daughter down beside him to kiss her forehead.  Her mother,
+who, with her work-basket at her feet, usually sat close beside her
+husband that she might share the light of his study-lamp, would welcome
+her with tender loving eyes, and point to Elizabeth's slippers, which
+her care had placed by the stove to warm.  Upon the stove apples would
+be roasting with a cheering hiss, and in the warm corner beside it was
+the sofa-table, where the tea-kettle would be singing merrily above its
+spirit-lamp, whose weak, blue light illumined the regiment of tin
+soldiers, which her only brother, Ernst, a child six years of age, was
+busily drilling.
+
+Elizabeth mounted to the fourth story before she reached the dark,
+narrow passage which led to her father's rooms.  Here she hastily took
+off her bonnet and placed upon her lovely fair hair a boy's cap, trimmed
+with fur, which she drew from under her cloak.  Then she entered the
+room, where little Ernst ran toward her with a shout of joy.
+
+But this evening the light shone from the sofa-table in the usually dark
+corner by the stove, while the writing-table was left neglected in the
+gloom.  Her father sat upon the sofa, with his arm around her mother's
+waist; there was a joyous light upon the countenances of both, and,
+although her mother had evidently been weeping, Elizabeth instantly
+perceived that her tears had been tears of joy.  She stood still upon
+the threshold of the door in great astonishment, and must have presented
+a most comical appearance with the child's cap surmounting her amazed
+countenance, for both father and mother laughed aloud.  Elizabeth gaily
+joined in their laughter, and placed the fur cap upon her little
+brother's dark curls.
+
+"There, my darling," she said, tenderly taking his rosy face between her
+hands and kissing it, "that is yours; and there is still something left
+to help on your housekeeping, mother dear," she continued, with a happy
+smile, as she handed her mother four shining thalers.  "They gave me my
+first five thalers of salary at school to-day."
+
+"But, Elsbeth," said her mother, with the tears in her eyes, as she drew
+her down to kiss her, "Ernst's last year's cap is still quite
+respectable, and you needed a pair of warm winter gloves much more."
+
+"I, mother? just feel my hands; although I have been in the street for
+an hour almost, they are as warm as if I had been holding them before
+the fire.  No; new gloves would be a most superfluous luxury.  Our boy
+is growing taller and stouter, and his cap has not kept pace with him;
+so I consider the cap a necessary expense."
+
+"Ah, you good sister!" cried the child with delight; "even the little
+baron on the first story has not such a charming cap as this.  How fine
+it will look when I go hunting, hey, papa?"
+
+"Hunting!" laughed Elizabeth; "are you going to shoot the unfortunate
+sparrows in the Thiergarten?"
+
+"Oh, what a miserable guesser you are, Madam Elsie!" the boy rejoined,
+gleefully.  "In the Thiergarten, indeed!" he added, more seriously;
+"that would be pretty sport. No, in the forest,--the real forest,--where
+the deer and hares are so thick that you don't even have to take aim
+when you want to shoot them."
+
+"I should like to hear what your uncle would say to this view of the
+noble chase," said his father with a smile, taking up a letter from the
+table and handing it to Elizabeth.
+
+"Read this, my child," said he; "it is from your 'forester uncle,' as
+you call him, in Thuringia."
+
+Elizabeth glanced over the first few lines, and then read aloud:
+
+"The prince, who sometimes prefers a dish of bacon and sauerkraut at my
+table to the best efforts of his French cook in the castle of L----,
+passed several hours with me at my lodge yesterday.  He was very
+condescending, and informed me that he purposed employing an assistant
+forester, or rather forester's clerk, for he saw that my duties were too
+onerous.  I seized upon my opportunity,--the game was within shot, and
+if I missed I had nothing to lose but a couple of charges fired into the
+air; now was my time.
+
+"So I told him how the jade, fortune, had played the very devil with you
+for this many a year, and how, in spite of your fine talents and
+acquirements, poverty had knocked at your door.  My old master knew well
+what I was driving at, for I spoke, as I always do, in good German. Thus
+far in my life every one has understood what I had to say.  It is only
+the fops and fools of his court who fawn around him, who would persuade
+him that good, honest German is too coarse for royal ears, and that he
+must always be addressed in French.  Well, my old master said that he
+would like to offer you this situation as forester's clerk, because he
+thought that with regard to myself,--and here he said a couple of things
+that you need not hear, but which delighted me,--old fellow as I
+am,--quite as much as when in old times, upon examination-day, the
+schoolmaster used to say, 'Carl, you have done yourself credit to-day.'
+Well, his highness has commissioned me to write to you, and he will
+arrange matters. Three hundred and fifty thalers salary, and your fuel.
+Now think it over; it is not so poor an offer, and the green forest is a
+thousand times pleasanter than your confounded attics, where the
+neighbours' cats are forever squalling, and where your eyes are blinded
+by the smoke of a million chimneys.
+
+"You must not think that I am one of those wheedling, parasitical
+fellows who use their master's favour to benefit all their own kith and
+kin.  No; I can tell you that if you were not what you are, that is, if
+you were not really talented and well educated, I would bite my tongue
+out before I would recommend you to my master; and, on the other side, I
+should always try to secure in his service such an honest, capable
+fellow as yourself. No offence; you know I always like a plain statement
+of a plain case.
+
+"But there is another matter to be considered.  You ought to live with
+me, and it could be very easily arranged if you were a bachelor, whom
+four walls would content, with a chest for his solitary wardrobe.  But,
+unfortunately, there is no possible room in my lonely old rat's-hole of
+a forest-lodge for an entire family.  It is in rather a tumble-down
+condition, and has needed a doctor for some time, but I suppose the
+authorities will do nothing for it until the old balconies come
+crumbling about my ears.  The nearest village is half a league, and the
+nearest town a league from the lodge; you cannot possibly walk these
+distances every day, in the miserable weather that we have here
+sometimes.
+
+"Now old Sabina, my housekeeper, who was born in the nearest village,
+has made a wild suggestion which I herewith impart to you.  Old castle
+Gnadeck, the deceased Baron Gnadewitz's brilliant legacy to you, is, as
+I have told you, situated at about a rifle's shot distance from the
+lodge.  Well, Sabina says that when she was a strong hearty
+girl,--which, by the way, must have been something beyond a quarter of a
+century ago,--she was a chambermaid in the Gnadewitz household.  Then
+the new castle was not entirely furnished, and did not suffice to
+contain the crowd of guests yearly invited to the great hunt.  And so
+part of the building connecting the two principal wings of the old
+castle was somewhat repaired and furnished.  Sabina had to make and air
+the beds and attend to the rooms, to her great terror, and no
+wonder,--her old brain is perfectly crammed with all sorts of witch and
+ghost stories,--for the rest she is a most respectable person, and rules
+my household with a steady rein.
+
+"She maintains most firmly that this part of the castle cannot be in a
+crumbling condition, for it was then in an excellent state of
+preservation, and would, she is sure, afford a capital shelter for you
+and yours.  May be she is right; but are your children bold enough to
+brave the ghostly inhabitants that are said to haunt those old walls?
+
+"You know how vexed I was about your worthless legacy, and that I have
+never once been able, since the death of the sainted Wolf von Gnadewitz,
+to induce myself to visit the old ruin.  But after hearing Sabina's tale
+yesterday afternoon, I made one of my men climb a tree which stood upon
+the only spot which could give you a glimpse into the robber's nest, and
+he declared that everything had fallen into decay there.  And this
+morning I have been to the authorities in the town, but they would not
+give me the keys of the castle without special permission from your
+wife, and made, besides, as much fuss about it as if the treasures of
+Golconda lay hid in the mouldy old rooms.  None of those who placed the
+seals upon the doors could tell me what sort of a place it was, for they
+never entered it, under the impression that the ceiling might fall and
+dash out their prudent brains, but contented themselves with placing a
+dozen official seals as large as your hand upon the principal entrance
+door. I should very much like to investigate matters with you, so pray
+decide quickly and start with your family as soon as possible."
+
+Here Elizabeth dropped the letter and looked with sparkling eyes at her
+father.
+
+"Well, how have you decided, father dear?" she asked hastily.
+
+"Ah," he replied gravely, "it is quite a hard task to tell you our
+resolution, for I see by your face that you would not for the world
+exchange this gay populous city for the loneliness and quiet of the
+Thuringian forest. Still, you must know that my application to the
+Prince of L---- for the place in question lies sealed in that envelope.
+However, it is only reasonable that your wishes should be consulted in
+some degree, and we can be induced to leave you here in case----"
+
+"Ah, no; if Elizabeth will not go I would rather stay here, too,"
+interrupted the little boy, clinging anxiously to his sister.
+
+"Never fear, my darling," she said to him with a laugh; "I shall find a
+place in the carriage, and if I could not, you know I am as bold as a
+soldier, and can run like a hare. My longing for the greenwood, which
+has been the fairy-land of my imagination ever since I was a very little
+child, shall be my compass, and I shall get along bravely.  What will
+papa do when, some evening, a weary way-worn traveller, with ragged
+shoes and empty pockets, prays for admission at the gate of the old
+castle?"
+
+"Ah, then, indeed, we must admit you," said her father, smiling, "if we
+would not draw down upon our crumbling roof the hostility of all good
+spirits who protect courage and innocence.  But you will have to pass by
+the old castle if you wish to find us, and knock at some modest peasant
+hut in the valley, for the ruined old pile will scarcely afford us an
+asylum."
+
+"I am afraid not, indeed," said his wife.  "We shall work our way
+laboriously through wild hedges and thick underbrush, like the
+unfortunate suitors of the Sleeping Beauty, to find at last----"
+
+"Poetry itself!" cried Elizabeth.  "Why, the first delicious bloom will
+be brushed from our woodland life if we cannot live in the old castle!
+Certainly there must be four sound walls and a whole roof in some one of
+its old towers, and with heads to plan and strong willing hands to
+execute, the rest can be very easily arranged. We will stop up cracks
+with moss, nail boards over doorways that have lost their doors, and
+paper our four walls ourselves; we can cover the worm-eaten floors with
+homemade straw mats; declare war to the death upon the gray-coated,
+four-footed little thieves who would invade our larder, and soon banish
+all cobwebs by a good broom skilfully wielded."
+
+With glowing looks, quite carried away by her dreams of the future home
+in the fresh green forest, she went to the piano and opened it.  It was
+an old, worn-out instrument, whose hoarse, weak tones harmonized
+perfectly with its shabby exterior; but, nevertheless, beneath
+Elizabeth's fingers Mendelssohn's song, "Through the dark green Forest,"
+rang deliciously through the little room.
+
+Her parents sat quietly listening.  Little Ernst dropped asleep.
+Without, the howling of the storm was lulled, but the snow was driving
+noiselessly past the uncurtained window in huge flakes.  The opposite
+chimneys, no longer smoking, had put on thick white night-caps, and
+looked stiffly and coldly, like peevish old age, into the little attic
+room, which enclosed, in the midst of the snow-storm, a perfect spring
+of joy and gaiety within its four walls.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Whitsuntide!  A word that will thrill with its magic the human soul as
+long as trees burst into leaf, larks soar trilling aloft, and clear
+spring skies laugh above us.  A word which can awaken an echo of spring
+in hearts encrusted with selfishness and greed of gain, chilled by the
+snows of age, or deadened by grief and care.
+
+Whitsuntide is at hand.  A gentle breeze flutters over the Thuringian
+mountains, and brushes from their brows the last remains of the snow
+which whirls mistily into the air and leaves its old abiding-place in
+the guise of luminous spring clouds.  Freed from their wintry garments,
+the mountains deck their rugged brows with wreaths of young strawberry
+vines and bilberries.  In the valley below, the rippling trout-stream is
+flowing forth from the dark forest directly across the flower-strewn
+meadow.
+
+The lonely saw-mill is clacking merrily, while its low thatched roof
+shines white with the fallen blossoms of the sheltering fruit trees.
+
+Before the windows of the scattered huts of the wood-cutters and of the
+villagers many an accomplished bullfinch was singing in his little cage
+the airs which were the fruits of a course of instruction in high art,
+daring the winter in the hot, close room of his master.  And his
+brothers in the forest were trilling wilder but far sweeter lays, for
+their little throats inhaled the clear air of freedom.
+
+Where, a few weeks before, the melted snow had foamed down from the
+mountain tops in a bed created by its own torrent, beautiful moss was
+now weaving a soft carpet, that would soon quite conceal the scarred
+breast of the mountain, while here and there, through the thick green
+the silver thread of some little stream glittered in the sunlight.
+
+Upon the highway running through a charming valley of the Thuringian
+forest the Ferbers were travelling, in a well-packed carriage, toward
+their new home.  It was very early in the morning; the bell from a
+distant church-tower had just tolled the hour of three, wherefore only
+the shabby old sign-post by the roadside and a herd of stately stags
+were permitted the sight of a happy face that looked upon this lovely
+forest for the first time.
+
+Elizabeth leaned far out of the window of the dark carriage, and inhaled
+deep draughts of the invigorating air, which she maintained had already
+cleared away from her eyes and lungs all the dust of the city.  Ferber
+sat opposite, sunk in thought.  He too was refreshed by the beauty and
+tender grace of the forest; but he was more deeply moved by the delight
+in the eyes of his child, who was so susceptible to the charms of nature
+and so unspeakably grateful for the change in their circumstances. How
+busy her hands had been since the Royal answer to Ferber's application
+for the new office had been received! There had been much to do.  She
+had shared faithfully in all the cares which their departure from the
+city brought upon her parents.  It is true the prince had sent his new
+official a considerable sum of money for travelling expenses, and the
+forester uncle, too, had shown his usual generosity; but with the
+greatest economy it did not suffice, and therefore Elizabeth had
+employed every hour which she usually had for recreation in sewing for a
+large ready-made linen establishment,--occupying herself thus with her
+needle for many a night, after her unsuspecting parents were sleeping
+soundly.
+
+There had been one bitter experience amid all the busy hurry, which had
+cost the young girl many tears.  She had seen her dear piano borne off
+upon the shoulders of two strong men to its new possessor.  It had to be
+sold for a few thalers, because it was old and frail,--too frail to be
+transported to the new home.  Ah, it had been so true a friend to the
+family!  Its thin, quavering voice had sounded in Elizabeth's ears
+tender and dear as the voice of her mother.  And now, probably,
+unfeeling children would thrum upon its venerable keys, and tease the
+old instrument to speak more strongly, until it should be mute forever.
+But this sorrow was past, and lay behind her, with much beside which she
+had sacrificed and endured silently; and as she sat looking out into the
+morning twilight, with eyes sparkling with delight,--eyes that seemed to
+read behind the misty veil of the dawn all kinds of brilliant prophecies
+for the future,--who could have discerned in that figure, glowing with
+the elasticity of youth, one trace of the fatigue of the last busy
+weeks?
+
+For another half hour the travellers drove along the smooth, level
+highway, and then turned aside into the thick forest by a well-kept
+carriage-road.  The sun was just rising in the eastern sky, and shot his
+rays upon the earth in splendid amazement at the diamonds with which she
+had adorned herself during his absence.  In the night a heavy shower had
+come up, much rain had fallen, and the large drops were still hanging
+upon twig and leaf, falling pattering upon the roof of the carriage
+whenever the postillion touched one of the overarching boughs with his
+whip.  What a glorious forest!  From the thick underbrush at their feet
+the trees reared their colossal trunks, and above, their boughs
+intertwined in a fraternal embrace as though determined to defend their
+peaceful, quiet home from light and air as from two deadly enemies. Only
+here and there a slender, green-tinted sunbeam would slip from bough to
+bough down upon the feathery grass and the little strawberry-blossoms,
+sprinkled everywhere like snow-flakes, even laying their little white
+heads impertinently upon the road.
+
+After a short drive the wood grew less dense, and soon the retired Lodge
+appeared in the midst of a meadow in the heart of the forest.  The
+postillion sounded his horn. A tremendous barking of dogs was heard; and
+with a loud whirr a large flock of doves soared, terrified, into the air
+from the pointed gable of the house.
+
+A man in a hunting uniform was standing at the open door,--a gigantic
+figure, with a huge beard that almost covered his breast.  He shaded his
+eyes with his hands as he looked keenly at the approaching carriage, but
+suddenly running down the steps, he tore open the door, and threw his
+arms around Ferber, as the latter sprang out. For one instant the
+brothers stood in a close embrace; then the forester gently released the
+slender figure of the younger, and, holding him by the shoulder at arm's
+length, gazed searchingly into his pale worn countenance.
+
+"Poor Adolph!" he said at last, and his deep voice trembled with
+emotion.  "Has fate brought you to this? But wait awhile, we will have
+you sound and well again; it is not too late.  A thousand welcomes to
+you!  And now let us stick together until the last great trumpet call,
+when we shall not be asked whether we will stay together or not."
+
+He tried to master his emotion, and helped his sister-in-law and little
+Ernst, whom he embraced and kissed, to descend from the carriage.
+
+"Well," said he, "you must have been knocked up at an early hour, I must
+say, and that's hardly the thing for women."
+
+"What can you be thinking of, uncle?" cried Elizabeth. "We are no
+slug-a-beds, and know exactly how the sun looks when he says good
+morning to the world."
+
+"Halloa!" cried the forester with a laugh of surprise. "Who is that
+quarrelling with me in the corner of the carriage?  Come out instantly,
+little one."
+
+"I, little?  Well, sir, you will be finely surprised when I do get out
+and you see what a tall, stately maiden I am!"
+
+With these words Elizabeth sprang down from the high carriage and stood
+on tiptoe, drawing herself up to her full height beside him.  But
+although her slender, graceful figure was something above middle size,
+she seemed at this moment like a pretty king-bird measuring itself with
+an eagle.
+
+"Look," she said, in a rather disappointed tone, "I am nearly up to your
+shoulder, and that is more than tall enough for a respectable girl."
+
+Her uncle, holding himself as erect as possible, looked down upon her
+with a roguish smile of great self-satisfaction for a moment, then
+suddenly picked her up in his arms as though she had been a feather, and
+amid the laughter of the others carried her into the house, calling in a
+voice of thunder--
+
+"Sabina, Sabina, come here, and I will show you how the wrens look in
+B----."
+
+He put his terrified burden down in the hall as gently and carefully as
+though he were handling some brittle plaything, took her head tenderly
+between his large hands, kissed her forehead again and again, and said,
+"That such a queen of Liliput, such a moonshine elf, should dream of
+being as large as her tall uncle!  But, forest fairy as you are, you
+know all about the sun, for your head is covered with its beams."
+
+As she was carried into the house upon her uncle's arm the girl's hat
+had fallen from her head, revealing a mass of fair hair, the golden
+colour of which was all the more remarkable as her delicately pencilled
+eyebrows and long lashes were coal black.
+
+In the mean while an old woman entered from a side door, and at the head
+of the first flight of stairs several boyish faces appeared, which,
+however, vanished as soon as they found themselves perceived by the
+forester.  "Oh, you need not run away," he cried, laughing.  "I have
+seen you peeping.  They are my assistants," he turned to his brother;
+"the fellows are as curious as sparrows, and to-day I really cannot
+blame them," and he glanced archly at Elizabeth, who, standing aside,
+was binding her loosened braids around her head.  Then he took the old
+woman by the hand and presented her, with an air of comical solemnity:
+"Fraeulein Sabina Holzin, Minister of the Interior to the Forest Lodge,
+High Constable in all stable and farm affairs, and to every one therein
+concerned, and, lastly, absolute monarch in the kitchen department.
+While she is putting the dinner on the table do just as she tells you,
+and all will go well with you; but, if she begins with her stock of old
+proverbs and ghost stories, get out of her way as quickly as possible,
+for there is no end to them.  And now,"--he turned to the smiling old
+woman, who was a miracle of ugliness, and who yet prepossessed all in
+her favour by her honest eyes, by an expression of roguery and fun that
+lighted up her face, and especially by the spotless cleanliness of her
+attire,--"now bring us as quickly as you can whatever pantry and cellar
+will afford: I know you baked our Whitsuntide cakes earlier than usual,
+that our travellers might have something to refresh them after their
+fatigue."
+
+With these words he opened the door opposite to the one from the kitchen
+through which the old woman disappeared, and showed his guests into a
+large apartment with bow-windows.  But Elizabeth lingered behind,
+looking through the door which led into the court-yard, for, between the
+white picket fences which shut in the feathered tribes on each side of
+the enclosure, she saw gay beds of flowers, while three or four
+late-blossoming apple trees stretched their rosy bloom-laden branches
+over one corner of the space.  The garden was large, climbing a short
+distance up the mountain side by terraces, and even enclosing within its
+realm a beautiful group of old beeches, outlying members of the forest.
+While Elizabeth, entranced, stood thus in the hall, the door of a side
+wing of the house opened and a young girl stepped out into the
+court-yard.  She was strikingly beautiful, although her figure was
+rather diminutive, a defect for which nature had seemed to wish to
+indemnify her by gifting her with a pair of large eyes that glowed like
+dazzling black suns.  Her abundant dark hair was arranged evidently with
+an eye to coquettish effect, and several charmingly curled locks had
+escaped just above the pale forehead.  Her dress, too, although of
+simple material, betrayed in its arrangement the greatest care, and the
+observer could not but suspect that the skirt was so artistically looped
+not merely that the hem might be kept from the dust, but also with an
+eye to the neat little boot which it revealed, and which certainly was
+not made to be hidden beneath the heavy woollen stuff of the dress.
+
+She had in her hand a bowl full of grain, and threw a handful upon the
+stones at her feet.  A great noise ensued; the doves fluttered down from
+the roof, the fowls left their roosts and nests with loud cacklings, and
+the watch-dog felt it his duty to assist in the universal clamour by
+barking loudly.
+
+Elizabeth was astonished.  It is true, her uncle had been married, but
+he never had any children, as she knew; who then was this young girl, of
+whom no mention had been made in his letter?  She descended the steps
+that led to the court-yard, and approached the stranger: "Do you live at
+the Lodge?" she asked, kindly.
+
+The black eyes were riveted searchingly upon her for one moment, with a
+look of unmistakable surprise, then an expression of annoyance flitted
+across her delicate lips, which closed more tightly than before; the
+eyelids fell over the glittering eyes, and she turned silently away, as
+though entirely unconscious of the presence or address of any one, and
+continued feeding the fowls with the grain.
+
+Just then Sabina passed through the hall with the coffee-tray.  She
+beckoned confidentially to Elizabeth, who stood amazed, and, when she
+drew near, bade her follow her into the house, saying: "Come, child, you
+can do nothing with her."
+
+In the sitting-room, Elizabeth found all as comfortable and happy as if
+they had lived together for years.  Her mother was sitting in a large
+arm-chair, which the forester had pushed near a window that commanded a
+lovely view down one of the vistas of the forest.  A large striped cat
+had sprung confidingly into her lap, where it was purring with
+satisfaction beneath the small hand that was gently stroking it.  And
+for little Ernst, the four walls of the room were a perfect museum of
+all imaginable curiosities.  He had climbed into one chair after
+another, and was then standing in speechless admiration before a glass
+case containing a gorgeous collection of butterflies.  The two men were
+seated, side by side, upon the lounge, in deep consultation concerning
+the future abode of the family, and, as Elizabeth entered, she heard her
+uncle say, "Well, if the old ruin on the mountain cannot afford you
+shelter, you must stay here with me.  I can move my writing-table and
+all my other matters out of your way for awhile, and then I will besiege
+the authorities in the town until they consent to add another story to
+the right wing of my old house."
+
+Elizabeth took off her travelling cloak, and assisted old Sabina to set
+the table.  The first shadow had fallen upon the enjoyment that had
+filled her soul.  Never before had any advance of hers been met with
+unkindness.  That she owed this exemption from the ill humour of others
+to her beauty, the charm of her manner, and the childlike purity of her
+nature, which exercised an unconscious influence upon all around her,
+had never occurred to her. She had taken it for granted that she should
+experience only kindness from all, since she was conscious of meaning
+well by all the world.  Her disappointment at the repulse was all the
+greater, because the sight of a young girl of about her own age had
+caused her such surprise and joy; and the beautiful face of the stranger
+had interested her deeply.  The studied arrangement of the girl's dress
+had not struck her, as she herself had never yet known the desire of
+heightening her attractions by the aids of the toilet.  Her father and
+mother had always assured her that no time spent in the cultivation of
+mind and heart was lost, and that if they were what they should be, her
+exterior could never be unattractive, whatever might be the form with
+which nature had endowed her.
+
+The thoughtful expression of Elizabeth's face did not escape her
+mother's notice.  She called her to her, and her daughter began an
+account of the meeting; but at the first words the forester turned
+towards her.  A deep wrinkle appeared between his bushy eyebrows, and
+made his face dark and gloomy.
+
+"Indeed," he said, "have you seen her already?  Well, then, let me tell
+you who and what she is.  I took her into my house some years ago, that
+she might assist Sabina in her housekeeping.  She is a distant relative
+of my deceased wife, and has no parents, brothers nor sisters. I wished
+to do good, but I have provided myself with a perpetual
+scourge,--although I do not deserve it. She had not been here a month
+before I discovered that she had not a single healthy thought in her
+entire composition; she is a mass of exaggerated ideas and inconceivable
+arrogance.  I had half a mind to send her back to the place she came
+from, but Sabina, who has still less cause than I to love her, entreated
+me not to do it. Why, I cannot tell, for the girl gave her a great deal
+of trouble, and was insolent.  I did all I could to tame her haughty
+spirit by giving her regular duties to perform, and for awhile matters
+went on pretty well.  But about a year ago a certain Baroness Lessen
+came to live over at Lindhof,--that is the name of the former Gnadewitz
+property, which the heir-at-law sold to a Herr von Walde. The possessor
+himself, who has neither wife nor child, is a kind of antiquary, travels
+a great deal, and leaves his only sister under the charge of the
+aforesaid baroness, more's the pity, for she turns everything upside
+down.  Years ago, when I used to hear great piety spoken of, all my
+veneration was excited, and I wished at least to take my cap off; but
+now, when I hear of such things, I clench my fist and pull my hat down
+over my eyes, for the world has greatly changed.  The Baroness Lessen
+belongs to those pious souls who grow cruel, hard, and narrow-minded out
+of what they call pure fear of the Lord; who persecute a fellow-creature
+who does not cast his eyes down hypocritically, but lifts them to heaven
+where God dwells, as persistently as a hound hunts down game.  This is
+the herd to which my excellent niece belongs; there could not be a
+better soil for all the weeds that her brain generates, and all sorts of
+annoyances are the consequence.  She made acquaintance with a
+lady's-maid over there, and spent all her leisure time with her. At
+first I was content enough, until all at once she began with her
+plans,--for our conversion, as she calls it. Sabina was a miserable
+sinner, because she would not leave off work, at least ten times a day,
+to pray; the poor old thing, who never misses church every Sunday at
+Lindhof, even through wind and rain, and often with rheumatism racking
+her old bones, and who has lived a faithful, laborious life, infinitely
+more religious than sixty years of idleness spent upon her knees.  And
+then my fine moralist attacked me; but there she found her match, and
+contented herself with a single effort.  Then I forbade all intercourse
+with Lindhof; but my prohibition was of little use, for whenever my back
+is turned she takes occasion to slip over there.  Of course, there can
+be no question of any gratitude towards me; I have no bond of union with
+her as her guardian, and that makes my task of guiding and guarding her
+doubly difficult.  God only knows what insane idea has taken possession
+of her now, but for two months she has been perfectly dumb, not only
+here at home, but everywhere.  For that space of time not a single word
+has passed her lips.  Neither sternness nor gentle entreaty produces the
+slightest effect upon her.  She attends to her duties just as she used
+to do, eats and drinks like every one else, and is not one whit less
+vain or wise in her own conceit.  But because she grew pale, and did not
+look very well, I consulted a physician, who had formerly known her,
+with regard to her health.  He assured me that her physical health was
+excellent, and advised that she should be treated with gentle firmness,
+as the minds of several of her family had previously been somewhat
+affected.  He said, too, that she would grow tired of her entire
+silence, and would begin talking some fine day like a magpie.  I am
+content to wait; but in the mean time it is a sore trial to me. All my
+life I have longed to have happy faces around me, and would rather eat
+bread and salt with cheerful people than the costliest dainties with
+morose companions.  Come, my Fair one with the golden locks," he
+concluded, stroking Elizabeth's head with his huge hand, "push your
+mother's arm-chair up to the table, tie a napkin round the neck of that
+little rogue who is staring his eyes out at my case of rifles, and let
+us breakfast together, for you all need repose, and must rest your weary
+limbs after your long journey.  After dinner we must begin to think of
+Castle Gnadeck; but first strengthen your eyes with a little sleep, lest
+they should be dazzled by the splendour which will flash upon them up
+there."
+
+After breakfast, while her father and mother were asleep and little
+Ernst was dreaming in a large bed of the wonders of the forest-lodge,
+Elizabeth unpacked in the upper room, which her uncle had resigned to
+her, all that was necessary for the coming night.  She would not for the
+world have gone to sleep.  She went repeatedly to the window and looked
+across to the wooded mountain which arose behind the lodge.  There,
+above the tops of the trees, she could see a black streak, which stood
+out distinctly against the clear blue sky.  That was, as old Sabina
+said, an ancient iron flag-staff upon the roof of Castle Gnadeck, from
+which in times long gone by the proud banner of the Gnadewitzes had
+flouted the air. Was there behind those trees the asylum for which she
+longed, where her parents might rest their feet, weary with long
+wandering upon foreign soil?
+
+And then her eyes sought the court-yard below, but the dumb girl did not
+appear again.  She had not come to breakfast, and seemed to wish to
+avoid all intercourse with the guests at the lodge.  For this Elizabeth
+was very sorry.  Although her uncle's account had not been promising, a
+youthful spirit is not quick to resign its illusions, and would rather
+be undeceived by the bursting of its gay bubble than admonished by the
+experience of age.  The beautiful girl, who could so determinedly
+conceal her secret behind closed lips, became doubly interesting to her,
+and she exhausted herself in conjectures as to the cause of this
+silence.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+After a most cheerful dinner, Sabina brought from the cupboard a pipe,
+which she filled and handed with a match to the forester.
+
+"What are you thinking of, Sabina?" he said, rejecting it with a comical
+air of displeased surprise.  "Do you think I could find it in my heart
+to sit here and smoke a quiet pipe while Elsie's little feet are dancing
+with impatience to run up the mountain, and she is longing to poke her
+little nose into the magic castle?  No, I think we had better start at
+once upon our voyage of discovery."
+
+All were soon ready.  The forester gave his arm to his sister-in-law,
+and they started off through the court and garden.  After they had gone
+a little way, they were joined by a mason from the neighbouring village,
+whom the forester had sent for that he might be at hand if necessary.
+
+They walked up the mountain by a tolerably steep and narrow path through
+the thick forest, but this path gradually broadened, and at last led to
+a small open space, on one side of which arose what seemed like a tall
+gray rock.
+
+"Here I have the pleasure," said the forester to his brother, with a
+sarcastic smile, "of revealing to you the estate of the lamented Baron
+von Gnadewitz in all its grandeur."
+
+They were standing before a lofty wall, which looked like one solid
+block of granite.  They could see nothing of any buildings that might be
+behind it, because the surrounding forest was too thick and close to
+allow of a sufficiently distant point of observation.  The forester led
+the way along the wall, at the base of which thick underbrush was
+growing, until he reached a large oaken door with an iron grating in the
+upper half of it.  Here he had had the matted growth of underbrush
+cleared away, and he now produced a bunch of large keys which had been
+handed over to Frau Ferber as she had passed through L---- the day
+before.
+
+The utmost exertions of the three men were necessary before the rusty
+locks and bars would move, but at last the door creaked, or rather
+crashed upon its hinges, and a thick cloud of dust floated up into the
+air.  The explorers entered and found themselves in a court-yard bounded
+on three sides by buildings.  Opposite them was the imposing front of
+the castle, with a flight of broad stone steps, and a clumsy iron
+balustrade, leading to the entrance door upon the first story.  Running
+from each side of the main building were gloomy colonnades, whose
+granite pillars and arches seemed to defy the tooth of time.  In the
+centre of the court-yard a group of old chestnut trees stretched their
+aged boughs above a huge basin, in the midst of which couched four stone
+lions with wide open jaws.  Formerly four powerful streams of water must
+have poured through them from the bowels of the earth, filling the
+entire basin; but now there was only a small stream trickling through
+the threatening teeth of one of the monsters, sufficing to sprinkle with
+moisture the grass and weeds growing in the cracks of the stone basin,
+and, by its low, mournful ripple, giving a faint suggestion of life in
+this wilderness.  The outer walls of the structure and the colonnades
+were all that could be regarded without terror in this space.  The
+window frames, from which every pane of glass had been broken, showed
+the sad desolation within.  In some rooms the ceilings had already
+fallen in; in others, the joists were bent as though the lightest touch
+might send them crashing down.  Even the stone steps seemed half hanging
+in the air,--some mossy fragments had already become detached from them,
+and had rolled into the centre of the court-yard.
+
+"We can do nothing here," said Ferber.  "Let us go on."
+
+Through a deep, dark portal they entered another court-yard, which,
+although much larger than the first, by its striking irregularity
+produced an impression of far greater desolation.  Here, a dreary,
+crumbling pile of masonry projected far out, and formed a dark corner
+never visited by a sunbeam; there, a clumsy tower shot into the air,
+throwing a deep shadow upon the wing at its back.  An old elder bush,
+leading a straggling existence in one corner, with its leaves covered
+with fallen crumbs of mortar, and some dry grasses between the stones of
+the pavement, made the scene yet more desolate.  No noise disturbed the
+deathlike silence reigning here.  Even the jackdaws soaring in the air
+above ceased their chatter, and the echoes of the footsteps upon the
+stone pavement had a ghostly sound.
+
+"Yes, those old knights," said Ferber, almost appalled at the sight of
+the desolation around him, "have heaped up these piles of granite, and
+thought that this cradle of their race would proclaim the splendour of
+their name through all coming centuries.  Each has altered and arranged
+his inheritance after his own taste and convenience, as we see from
+these different kinds of architecture, and lived as if there were no end
+to it all."
+
+"And yet each lodged here but for a little space," interrupted the
+forester, "and paid his landlord, the earth, for his lodging with his
+own crumbling bones,--now turned to dust.  But let us go on.
+Brr--rr!--it makes me shiver.  Death everywhere,--nothing but death!"
+
+"Do you call that death, uncle?" suddenly exclaimed Elizabeth, who had
+hitherto been awed and silent, pointing, as she spoke, through a door
+which was half concealed by an interposing column.  There, behind a
+grating, fresh sunny green was shining, and young climbing roses leaned
+their blossoms against the iron bars.
+
+Elizabeth ran towards the door, and, exerting all her strength, pushed
+it open.  The space upon which she entered had probably been the former
+flower-garden, but such a name could scarcely be applied to the tangled
+wilderness of green, where not even the narrowest vestige of a path
+could be discerned, and where here and there only the mutilated remains
+of a statue appeared among the mass of shrubs, bushes, and parasitical
+plants.  A wild grape-vine had climbed to the upper story of the
+building, and taken firm hold there of the window-sills,--its green
+branches and wreaths falling thence like a shower upon the wild roses
+and lilac bushes beneath.  And in this secluded, blooming spot of
+ground, a buzzing and humming were heard, as if Spring had assembled
+here her entire host of winged insects.  Countless butterflies fluttered
+over the flowers, and golden beetles were running glittering across the
+broad fern leaves at Elizabeth's feet. And above this little world of
+bloom and busy life several fruit trees and magnificent lindens waved
+their leafy crests, while upon a slight elevation were seen the remains
+of what had once been a pavilion.
+
+The garden was surrounded upon three sides by buildings; the square was
+completed by a high, green wall, which had been constructed of earth,
+like a dam, and above which the trees of the forest waved a greeting to
+their neighbours within.  Here were also the same signs of
+decay,--tolerably well preserved outer walls,--complete ruin within.
+Only one building of two stories, connecting two high wings, attracted
+attention from its closed appearance.  The light did not shine through
+it, as through its doorless and windowless companions; its flat roof,
+finished in front and at the back by a heavy stone balustrade, must have
+bidden defiance to time and tempest, as had also the gray window-panes
+which peeped out here and there from the tangled growth of vines that
+covered everything.  The forester measured it with a keen glance, and
+declared that this must be Sabina's famous building,--possibly the
+interior might not be in as crumbling a condition as the rest of the
+castle,--only he could not understand how they were to get into the old
+swallow's nest.  Certainly, the rank growth around the base of the walls
+would have obscured all trace of steps or door, even were there any such
+entrance.  They determined, therefore, to venture up into one of the
+large side wings by a worn but tolerably secure flight of stone steps,
+and thus attempt to arrive at the interior of the connecting building.
+They succeeded in gaining ingress to the tall wing, although they could
+keep their footing only by clinging to the uneven walls.  They first
+entered a large saloon which had the blue sky for a ceiling, and whose
+only decoration was a few green bushes growing through its walls.
+Remnants of galleries, worm-eaten joists, and various fragments of
+frescoed ceiling were heaped up in piles, over which the explorers had
+to scramble as best they might.  Then followed a long suite of rooms in
+the same utterly desolate condition.  Upon some of the walls fragments
+of family portraits were still hanging, upon which, strangely and
+comically enough, only an eye, or, perhaps, a pair of delicate folded
+hands, or a mail-clad, theatrically-posed leg, was yet distinctly to be
+traced. At length they reached the last apartment, and stood before a
+high-arched doorway which had evidently been bricked up.
+
+"Aha!" said Ferber, "here they intended to cut off this building from
+the universal desolation.  I think that before we venture any further
+upon this break-neck expedition it would be well to knock out these
+stones."
+
+His proposal was at once favourably received, and the mason began his
+task; he soon penetrated into a recess in the wall, which he assured
+them was double at this spot.  The other two men lent their assistance,
+and a thick oaken door was revealed behind the masonry that they cleared
+away.  This door was not locked, and yielded readily to the mason's
+strong arm.  They entered an entirely dark, close room.  One slender
+sunbeam, straying through a crack showed them where to find a window;
+the bolt of the shutter, rusty from long disuse, resisted for some time
+the strength of the forester, and the trees upon the outside opposed an
+additional obstacle to their exertions.  At last the shutter yielded
+with a crash; the golden-green sunlight streamed in through a high
+bow-window and disclosed an apartment not broad, but very deep, the
+walls of which were hung with Gobelin tapestry.  Upon each of the four
+corners of the ceiling were painted the arms of the Gnadewitzes.  To the
+surprise of all, this room was entirely furnished as a sleeping
+apartment.  Two canopied beds, with hangings dingy with age, that
+occupied the two long walls of the room, were all made up; the pillows
+were covered with fine linen cases, and the silken coverlid still
+preserved its colour and texture.  Everything that could conduce to the
+comfort of an aristocratic occupant was here, buried, indeed, beneath a
+mass of dust, but in a state of excellent preservation.  Beyond this
+apartment, and opening into it, was another much larger, with two
+windows; it was also completely furnished, although in antique style,
+and evidently with furniture hunted up from various other rooms for the
+purpose.  An antique writing-table, its top most artistically inlaid and
+resting upon strangely carved claw feet, harmonized but poorly with the
+more modern form of the crimson sofa; and the gilt frames, in which hung
+several well-painted hunting pictures, did not accord with the silver
+mountings of the huge mirror. Nevertheless, nothing was wanting that
+could complete the solid comfort of the room.  A thick, though somewhat
+faded carpet was laid upon the floor, and a large antique timepiece
+stood beneath the mirror.  A small boudoir, also furnished, and from
+which a door led to a vestibule and a flight of steps, opened from the
+larger apartment.  Behind these rooms were three others of a similar
+size, with windows looking upon the garden; one of these, containing two
+beds and pine furniture, was evidently intended for the servants.
+
+"Well done!" cried the forester with a smile of satisfaction; "here is
+an establishment that exceeds the wildest flights of our modest fancy.
+If the sainted Gnadewitz could see us now he would turn in his leaden
+coffin. All this we owe, I suppose, to the neglect of a housekeeper or
+to the forgetfulness of some childish, old steward."
+
+"But do you think we ought to keep these things?" asked, in a breath,
+Frau Ferber and Elizabeth, who had been silent hitherto from wonder.
+
+"Most certainly, my love," said Ferber; "your uncle left you the castle
+with everything which it contained."
+
+"And little enough it was," growled the forester.
+
+"But in comparison with our expectations a perfect mine of wealth," said
+Frau Ferber, as she opened a beautiful glass cabinet containing
+different kinds of china; "and if my uncle had actually endowed me with
+an estate in my young days, when I was full of hope and enthusiasm, I
+doubt whether it would have made as much impression upon me as does this
+unexpected discovery, which relieves us all of so much anxiety."
+
+In the mean time Elizabeth had gone to the window of the first room
+which they had entered, and was trying to part the boughs and vines
+which grew so thick and strong all along this side of the building that
+they formed a barrier through which only a greenish twilight penetrated.
+"It is a pity," she said, as she found that her efforts were vain; "I
+should have liked some glimpse of the forest outside."
+
+"Why, do you think," said her uncle, "that I shall allow you to live
+behind this green screen, which shuts out air as well as light?  Rely
+upon me to take that matter in charge, my little Elsie."
+
+They next descended the stairs.  These, too, were in perfect
+preservation, and led to a large hall with a huge oaken table in the
+centre, surrounded by spindled-legged, straight-backed chairs.  The
+floor was of red tiles, and the panels on walls and ceiling were covered
+with beautiful carving.  This large apartment was provided with four
+windows and two doors opposite to each other; one of these led into the
+garden, and the other, which was opened with difficulty, into a narrow
+open court-yard lying between the building-and the outer wall.  Here the
+syringas and hazel bushes were growing everywhere, making an absolute
+thicket, through which, however, the three men penetrated, and reached a
+little gate in the outside wall which communicated with the forest
+without.
+
+"Now," said Ferber, delighted, "every obstacle to our living here is
+removed.  This entrance is most valuable. We shall never have to pass
+through the older court-yards, which are really dangerous places,
+surrounded as they are by crumbling ruins."
+
+They made one more tour through their newly found home with an eye to
+its future arrangement, and the mason was ordered to be upon the spot
+the next day that he might convert one of the back rooms into a kitchen.
+Then, after the oaken door leading into the large, ruinous wing had been
+well bolted and secured, they took their way through the gate in the
+wall, an undertaking difficult indeed, on account of the thick bushes
+which opposed their progress, but infinitely preferable to the perilous
+path by which they had entered.
+
+As the returning party entered the garden of the forest lodge, Sabina
+came towards them, in great anxiety to learn the results of their
+expedition, accompanied by little Ernst, who had been entrusted to her
+care while his mother and sister were away.  She had prepared the table
+with its snowy cloth and shining coffee-service upon a shady knoll under
+the beech trees, and now clapped her hands with delight upon hearing of
+all they had found.
+
+"Ah! gracious Powers," she cried, "I hope the Herr Forester understands
+now that I knew what I was talking about.  Yes, yes, all those things
+were left there and forgotten, and no wonder.  As soon as the young lord
+was buried, old Gnadewitz packed off as quick as he could, and took
+every servant with him except the old house-steward Silber, and he was
+childish with age, and besides had enough to do to take care of all that
+was left in the new castle; it was crowded with furniture and plate, and
+he had a hard time to keep it all right; so everything was left in the
+old rooms, and no one knew anything about them.  Ah, I've dusted and
+cleaned everything there often enough, and frightened indeed I was
+whenever I came to that old clock, for it plays such mournful music when
+it strikes, it used to sound like something unearthly, when I was all
+alone at work in the old place.  Ah, how time flies, I was young then!"
+
+Then came an hour of rest and comfortable discussion, while they drank
+their coffee.  As Elizabeth had decided that nothing could be more
+charming than to awaken in their own rooms upon Whit-Sunday
+morning,--when the ringing of the church-bells in the surrounding
+villages would come softly echoing through the forest glades,--a view of
+the matter in which her mother sympathized, they determined to undertake
+all the necessary repairs and cleaning immediately, that they might
+occupy the rooms upon the eve of Whit-Sunday, and the forester placed
+all his men at their disposal.
+
+Sabina had taken up her position upon a grassy bank at a short distance
+from the table, that she might be at hand if wanted; and that she might
+not be idle, she had pulled up a couple of handfuls of carrots from the
+garden and was busily scraping and trimming them.  Elizabeth sat down
+beside her.  The old woman gave a sly glance at the delicate white
+fingers, that contrasted so with her own brown, horny hands, as they
+picked some carrots up from her lap.
+
+"Don't touch," she said, "that is no work for you,--you will make your
+fingers yellow."
+
+"What matter for that?" laughed Elizabeth.  "I will help you a little,
+and you shall tell me a story.  You were born here, and must know many a
+tale about the old castle."
+
+"You may be sure of that," replied the old housekeeper. "The village of
+Lindhof, where I was born, belonged to the Lords von Gnadewitz time out
+of mind, and you see in such a little place as that every one talks and
+thinks of the great people who rule over it.  Nothing happens of any
+account in the castle that is not described and handed down from father
+to son in the village, and, long after the lords and ladies are dust,
+their stories are told by the village girls and boys.
+
+"Now there was my great-grandmother, whom I remember perfectly, she knew
+many a thing that would make your hair stand on end; but she had a
+monstrous respect for every one at Gnadeck, and used to bob down my head
+with her trembling hands whenever a Gnadewitz drove by our cottage,--for
+I was but a little thing then, and did not know how to make a
+respectable courtesy. She knew about all the lords who had lived at the
+old castle for hundreds of years; yes, many a thing that had happened
+there, that must have outraged God and man.
+
+"Afterwards, when I lived at the new castle, and had to sweep the long
+gallery where their pictures were all hanging upon the wall,--pictures
+of people whose very bones had mouldered away,--I often used to stand
+still before them and wonder to see them looking so like everybody else,
+when they used to make such a fuss about themselves, as if God Almighty
+had brought them down to the earth with his own hands.  There were not
+many beauties among the women.  I often thought, in my stupid way, that
+if pretty Lieschen, the most beautiful girl in the village, could only
+have been painted and hung in such a rich gold frame, with a silken
+scarf and such quantities of jewels upon her neck and in her hair, and
+the blackamoor with his silver waiter standing just behind her lovely
+face and neck, she would have looked a thousand times prettier than the
+lady who was so ugly, and frowned so with pride and arrogance that two
+great wrinkles went up to the very roots of her hair.  And yet she was
+the very one that the family was proudest of.  She had been a very
+wealthy countess, but hard and unfeeling as a stone.
+
+"Among the men, there was only one whom I liked to look at.  He had a
+frank, kind, honest face, and a pair of eyes black as sloes; but he had
+shown how true it is that the good always get the worst of it in this
+world.  All the others had a fine time of it as long as they lived. Many
+of them had done harm enough in their time, and yet their death-beds
+were as calm and peaceful as if they had always been just and true; but
+poor Jost von Gnadewitz had a sad fate.  My great-grandmother's
+grandmother had known him when she was a very little girl. Then they
+always called him the wild huntsman, because he never left the forest,
+but would hunt there from morning until night.  In the picture he had on
+a green coat and a long white feather in his cap, that was most
+beautiful to see dangling among his coal-black curls.  He was
+kind-hearted, and never harmed a child.  While he lived all the
+villagers prospered, and they wished he might live forever.
+
+"But all of a sudden he left this part of the country, and no one knew,
+for some time, where he had gone, until one night in a dreadful storm he
+came back as quietly as he had gone away.  But always after that he was
+a changed man.  The people of Lindhof prospered as before, but they saw
+no more of their master.  He dismissed all his servants, and lived alone
+in his old castle with only one favourite attendant.
+
+"And at last it began to be whispered that he was busy with magic and
+the black art up there, and no one dared to go near the castle even at
+high noon, let alone the dark night.  But my old great-grandmother was a
+bold, saucy girl, and used sometimes to pasture her goats right under
+the walls of the castle court-yard.  Well,--once as she was leaning
+against a tree there, gazing at the high walls, and lost in thoughts
+concerning all that might be going on behind them, suddenly an arm
+appeared above them white as snow, and then a face fairer than sun,
+moon, and stars, my grandmother said, and at last with a sudden spring a
+young maiden stood upon the top of the broad wall, and, stretching her
+arms up into the air, cried out something in a strange tongue that my
+grandmother could not understand, and was just about to leap down into
+the deep ditch full of water that then entirely surrounded the castle,
+when Jost appeared behind her, and, putting his arms around her, begged
+and implored her so that a stone would have melted at such entreaties
+wrung from a heart full of terror and anguish.  And finally he took her
+up in his arms like a child, and they both disappeared from the wall.
+But the veil became loosened from the maiden's head and floated away
+across the ditch to where my grandmother was standing.  It was
+exquisitely fine, and she carried it home in great glee to her father;
+but he declared it was woven by the devil, and threw it into the fire,
+forbidding my grandmother ever to go up the mountain near the castle
+again.
+
+"Some time after,--certainly a whole year after Jost first shut himself
+up so closely at Gnadeck,--he came down the mountain very early one
+morning on horseback; but you would hardly have known him, his face was
+so haggard and pale, all the paler for the full suit of black that he
+wore.  He rode very slowly, and nodded sadly to every one whom he met;
+he never came back to this place again; he was slain in battle, and his
+old servant with him--'twas at the time of the thirty years' war."
+
+"And the beautiful girl?" asked Elizabeth.
+
+"Ah, no one ever heard tale or tidings of her again. Jost left a large
+sealed packet in the town-house at L----, and said that it was his last
+will, and must be opened whenever news of his death should be received.
+But a short time after his departure, there was a terrible fire in
+L----; a great many houses, and even the church and the town-house, were
+burned to the ground with everything which they contained, and of course
+the packet was destroyed.
+
+"Before Jost left, the pastor from Lindhof went to see him several
+times; but the reverend gentleman kept as quiet as a mouse, and, as he
+was already very old, he soon departed this life, and everything that he
+knew was buried with him.  So no living being knows anything about the
+strange maiden, nor ever will know till the day of judgment."
+
+"Oh, never trouble yourself to keep the matter quiet, Sabina," called
+the forester to her from the table, as he shook the ashes out of his
+pipe.  "Elsie had better get used as soon as possible to the terrible
+conclusions to your stories.  Tell her at once--for you know all about
+it--how the beautiful maiden one fine day flew up the chimney and away
+upon a broomstick."
+
+"No, I don't believe that, sir, although I know----"
+
+"That the whole country is swarming with such creatures, all ripe for
+the gallows," interrupted her master. "Yes, yes," he continued, turning
+to the others, "Sabina is one of the old Thuringian stock.  She has
+sense enough, and her heart is in the right place; but when there is any
+question about witchcraft she loses one and forgets the other, and is
+nearly ready to turn any poor old woman away from the door, just because
+she has red eyes, without giving her a morsel of food."
+
+"No, indeed, sir, I'm not quite so bad as that," the old woman declared
+with some irritation.  "I give her something to eat; but I always stick
+my thumbs in the palms of my hands, and never answer one of her
+questions,--there's no harm in that!"
+
+Every one laughed at this charm against witches and witchcraft, which
+the old servant told with the utmost gravity as she arose and emptied
+the carrot-tops from her apron, that she might prepare the afternoon
+meal, which was to be eaten earlier than usual, as there was much to do
+in the old castle before nightfall.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V.
+
+
+As Elizabeth opened her eyes the next morning, the tall clock in the
+room below was striking eight, and she started up with the provoking
+consciousness that she had overslept herself; and it was all owing to a
+vivid and terrible dream.  The golden atmosphere of poetry, which had
+yesterday hovered around Sabina's narrative, had become a gloomy cloud
+in the night, the shadow of which embittered and burdened the first
+moments of her awakening.  She had been flying in deadly terror through
+the spacious, dreary halls of the old castle, always pursued by Jost.
+Thick curls were waving wildly above his pale forehead, beneath which
+his black eyes gleamed upon her, and she had just stretched out her arms
+in greater terror than she had ever experienced in her life before, to
+defend herself from him, when she awoke.  Her heart was still beating
+violently, and she thought with a shudder of the wretched girl upon the
+castle wall, who, pursued, perhaps, as she had been, had sought relief
+in death, when she was again captured by her tormentor.
+
+She sprang up and bathed her face in cold water; then she opened her
+window and looked out into the courtyard. There sat Sabina under a pear
+tree, busy with her churn.  All the feathered crowd of the place stood
+around, looking impatiently for the crumbs that she threw to them from
+time to time from a bowl upon the table by her side, while she improved
+the occasion to rebuke the arrogant and greedy, and to console the
+oppressed and down-trodden.
+
+When she saw the young girl, she nodded kindly, and called up to her to
+say that every one in the lodge had been busy up there in the old castle
+since six o'clock. When Elizabeth reproached her for letting her sleep
+so long, she assured her that she had done so by the express desire of
+her mother, who thought that her daughter had overtasked her strength in
+the last few weeks of excitement and exertion.
+
+Sabina's kind, placid face, and the fresh air of the morning soothed
+Elizabeth's nerves at once, and brought back her thoughts to the world
+of reality which was just now opening so brightly before her.  She took
+herself seriously to task that, despite her uncle's fatherly admonition,
+she had leaned out of the open window until midnight upon the previous
+night, gazing across the moonlit meadow into the silent forest.  But
+common sense often plays a poor part when opposed to excited fancy.
+Where it should conduct a rigid examination and discriminate wisely, it
+suddenly finds itself deserted in the judgment-seat, and must retire in
+confusion, while the varied and motley spectacle which fancy conjures up
+proceeds without interruption.  Thus Elizabeth's self-reproaches soon
+vanished before the picture which presented itself to her memory, and
+still threw around her all the magic of a moonlit night in the forest.
+
+As soon as she had dressed, and drank a tumbler of fresh milk, she
+hastened up to the castle.  The sky was overcast, but only with those
+light, thin clouds which foretell a fresh although not a sunny, spring
+day. Therefore the birds' morning concert was of longer duration than
+usual, and the dew-drops lay as large and full in the cups of the
+flowers as if their existence for the day were not threatened.
+
+As Elizabeth entered the large gate of the castle, which stood wide
+open, a huge green mound, piled up by the fountain, met her eye.  It was
+formed of thistle stalks, ferns, and bramble bushes, which had been torn
+from their home in the garden, and were here bidding farewell to their
+long, merry life.  The path through the arched gateway of the second
+court-yard to the grating was strewn with green boughs and leaves, as
+though a joyous marriage train had been passing through the old ruins;
+and even on the sill of a high window, that showed the remains of
+coloured glass in the lacework of the stone rosette of its pointed arch,
+some boughs had been caught as they were carried past, and the trailing
+end of a wild vine was coiling its living green lovingly around the
+stone trefoil of the Holy Trinity, which betrayed unmistakably that the
+dark, dreary hall within had once been the chapel of the castle.
+
+The garden, where it had yesterday been impossible to take two steps,
+seemed to Elizabeth entirely changed. A considerable part of it had been
+cleared, and showed distinct traces of having been tastefully laid out.
+She could easily proceed along a partially cleared path, across which
+timid hares and squirrels ran fleetly now and then, until she reached
+the green rampart which had only been seen from a distance yesterday.
+At each end of the long, grassy embankment, broad, worn, stone steps led
+up to a low breastwork, over which one could look out into the forest,
+and there, where the trees were somewhat thin, through a green vista
+down into the valley, where the forest lodge, with the white doves
+dotting its blue-slated roof, was nestling cosily.  At the foot of the
+embankment, just where the broad path terminated, was a little stone
+basin, into which a strong stream of crystal water flowed through the
+mouth of a mossy little marble gnome.  Two lindens arched their boughs
+above this gurgling brook, and threw their grateful shade upon the
+tender forget-me-nots, which grew here in masses in the damp earth and
+wreathed the little basin with their heavenly blue.
+
+Directly opposite the embankment lay her future habitation, which, with
+its window-shutters thrown back and the large door on the ground-floor
+wide open, looked so bright and hospitable to-day that Elizabeth
+welcomed with joy the thought that she was looking upon her home. Her
+gaze wandered over the garden, and she thought upon those moments of her
+childhood when, her little heart full of unconquerable longing, she had
+lingered behind her parents during some pleasant walk, and, with her
+face pressed close against the iron grating, had gazed into some strange
+garden.  There she had seen happy children playing carelessly upon the
+greensward; they could bend down the lovely roses that hung in such
+clusters, and inhale their fragrance as long as they liked. And what a
+pleasure it must be to creep under the flower-laden boughs and sit there
+in the green, just like grown-up people in an arbour!  But there was
+nothing for her then but the look and the longing.  No one had ever
+opened the barred door to the child with the wistful eyes, who would
+have been only too happy if they would have thrust a few flowers through
+the grating into her little hands.
+
+While Elizabeth was standing upon the embankment, the forester appeared
+at one of the upper windows of the dwelling.  When he saw her graceful
+figure leaning against the low breastwork, as, with her beautiful head
+half turned towards the garden, she seemed sunk in a reverie, his
+features were illumined by an expression of pleasure and quiet delight.
+
+And Elsie soon found him out, and nodding to him gaily, bounded down the
+steps towards the house.  Little Ernst ran to her in the hall, and she
+took him up in her arms.
+
+The assistance which the little boy had afforded had been, according to
+his own enthusiastic account, invaluable indeed.  He had carried bricks
+for the mason who had been mending the hearth, had helped his mother to
+shake out the beds, and declared with pride that the lords and ladies
+upon the woollen hangings looked far handsomer since he had brushed off
+their dusty faces.  He threw his arms around his sister's neck as she
+carried him up-stairs, assuring her all the way that he liked it a
+thousand times better here than in B----.
+
+The forester received Elizabeth in the antechamber above.  He scarcely
+gave her time to say good morning to her parents, but conducted her
+instantly into the gobelin-hung apartment.  Ah, what a transformation!
+The green lattice-work that had obscured the window had vanished.
+Without, beyond the outer wall, the forest retreated like side-scenes on
+either side, opening a full view of a distant valley that was to
+Elizabeth a perfect paradise.
+
+"There is Lindhof," said the forester, pointing to a large building in
+the Italian style, which lay tolerably near to the foot of the mountain
+upon which Gnadeck stood.  "I have brought you something that will show
+you every tree upon the mountains over there, and every blade of grass
+in the meadows of the valley," he continued, as he held an excellent
+spy-glass before her eyes.
+
+And then the grand, solemn mountain domes seemed to approach, their
+granite peaks, sometimes crowned by a solitary fir, breaking through the
+forest here and there. Behind these nearest summits towered countless
+ranges in the blue misty light, and from a distant, dim valley which
+separated two giant mountains, arose two slender, shadowy gothic towers.
+A little river, a highway bordered by poplars, and several gay villages
+enlivened the background of the valley.  In front lay Castle Lindhof,
+surrounded by a park laid out in princely style. Beneath the windows of
+the castle extended a closely shaven lawn, beset with small,
+quaintly-shaped beds glowing with all the colours of the rainbow.
+Thence Elizabeth's eyes soon wandered, and rested delightedly upon the
+mysterious gloom of an avenue of magnificent lindens, their heavy
+foliage interlacing above their brown trunks, while here and there
+drooping boughs swept the ground beneath with their broad leaves.  They
+bordered a little crystal lake, which just now looked melancholy enough
+amid all its flowery surroundings, for its depths mirrored a cloudy sky.
+Now and then a swan stretched its white neck curiously among the
+low-hanging linden boughs, and sent a shower of feathery spray from its
+wings to sprinkle their old trunks.
+
+Hitherto Elizabeth had allowed the glass to range restlessly hither and
+thither, but now she attempted to hold it steadily, for she had made a
+discovery which excited her interest most powerfully.
+
+Under the last trees of the avenue stood a couch.  A young lady lay upon
+it, her charming head thrown back so that a part of her chestnut curls
+fell down across the pillow.  Beneath the hem of her long white muslin
+dress, which enveloped her form to the throat, peeped out two tiny feet
+encased in gold-embroidered satin slippers.  She held in her delicate
+almost transparent hands some auriculas, which she was thoughtlessly
+twisting and waving to and fro.  Her lips alone showed any colouring;
+the rest of her face was lily-pale; one would almost have doubted its
+being informed with life had not the blue eyes gleamed so wondrously.
+But these eyes with their depth of expression were riveted upon the
+countenance of a man who, sitting opposite, appeared to be reading aloud
+to her.  Elizabeth could not see his face, for his back was turned
+toward her.  He seemed young, tall, and well made, and had a profusion
+of light-brown hair.
+
+"Is that lovely lady over there the Baroness Lessen?" asked Elizabeth,
+eagerly.
+
+The forester took the spy-glass.  "No," said he, "that is Fraeulein von
+Walde, the sister of the proprietor of Lindhof.  You call her charming,
+and certainly her head is lovely, but she is a cripple; she walks upon
+crutches."
+
+At this moment Frau Ferber joined them.  She too looked through the
+glass, and thought the countenance of the young lady most beautiful.
+She was particularly struck with the expression of gentle kindness
+which, as she said, "transfigured the features."
+
+"Yes," said the forester, "she is kind and benevolent. When I first came
+here the whole country around was full of her praises.  But matters are
+changed indeed, since the Baroness Lessen has had the control of affairs
+over there.  No more alms are distributed among the poor, unless they
+are earned by hypocrisy.  Woe to the wretch who asks any assistance
+there!  He will be turned away without a penny, if he ventures to hint
+that he would rather listen to the pastor in the village church on
+Sundays than go to the castle chapel, where the chaplain of the baroness
+every week calls down fire and brimstone, and every imaginable pain of
+hell, upon the heads of the ungodly."
+
+"Certainly such violent measures are poorly fitted to win souls to
+heaven and inspire people with Christian love," said Frau Ferber.
+
+"They destroy all good, and foster hypocrisy, I tell you!" cried the
+forester, angrily.  "Do they not set an example of it themselves?  They
+are always reading in the Bible of Christian humility, yet every day
+they grow haughtier and more supercilious.  Why, they would actually
+persuade us that their high-born bodies are moulded of a different clay
+from those of their poor brothers in Christ. It stands written, 'When
+thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand
+doeth;' but no hen ever makes more to-do over her newly-laid egg than
+these people over their charities.  There are perpetual collections,
+fairs, and lotteries for the poor, and the whole neighbourhood is
+black-mailed, but when it comes to taking the money from, where it is
+plentiest, their own purses,--oh, that's carrying the joke too far, as
+the saying goes.  I know people who have been for twenty years
+collecting subscriptions from others to found a poor-house.  These very
+people have a yearly income of six thousand thalers, but of course it
+never occurs to them to add one penny from their own store in aid of
+their charitable project.  They must purchase a reputation for
+benevolence and Christian self-sacrifice more cheaply than that. Zounds!
+how it enrages me to see people wearing their piety so pinned upon their
+sleeves!  Over there in the castle a bell is set ringing just so many
+times a day, that every one in the country around may say, when they
+hear it, 'They are having prayers at the castle.'  The closet, where God
+has commanded us to shut to the door and kneel in prayer, is altogether
+too small to suit their taste. And it is not only this trumpet-blowing
+that outrages me. I hold it to be actually wicked to make such a mere
+everyday form of the worship of the Holiest.  Do you suppose that the
+maid-servant, with a hot smoothing-iron in her hand, or the cook, who is
+just putting her roast to the fire, can rejoice in the sound of that
+bell?"
+
+"It is most certainly a dubious kind of piety," said Frau Ferber,
+smiling.
+
+"Or even the gracious ladies themselves, who are busy with the last
+novel or a piquante bit of court scandal--for an interest in all such
+things is quite consistent with the loftiest piety--do you suppose they
+are able to divert their thoughts in one instant from worldly affairs
+and turn them all heavenwards?  But these people run in and out of the
+kingdom of heaven without any thought or preparation, and congratulate
+themselves upon the honour that they are doing to the Creator."
+
+"And does Herr von Walde sympathize with these reforms of the baroness?"
+asked Frau Ferber.
+
+"From everything that I can gather from the villagers, I should judge
+not; but how does that mend the matter? He is probably at this moment
+prying into the pyramids that he may throw light upon antiquity; how
+should he know that his cousin here is zealously doing her best to blow
+out the advancing light of the present?  Besides, I dare say he has a
+crack in his own brain.  The prince of L----, who knows him well, wished
+some years ago to make a match between him and a young person of quality
+at court, but, as I hear, my gentleman refused the alliance because the
+fair one's pedigree was not sufficiently long."
+
+"Why, perhaps then he may install as mistress of Lindhof some fair
+daughter of a fellah, whose ancestors lie among the mummies at Memphis,"
+said Elizabeth, laughing.
+
+"I don't believe he will marry at all," rejoined the forester.  "He is
+no longer young, is too fond of a wandering life, and has never shown
+any love for women's society.  I'll wager my little finger that that
+fellow there with the book in his hand thinks just as I do, and already
+in his inmost soul regards Lindhof and all the other charming estates in
+Saxony, and God only knows where else, as his own."
+
+"Has he any claims to them?" asked Frau Ferber.
+
+"Most certainly.  He is the son of the Baroness Lessen, whose family is
+the only one in the world related to the brother and sister von Walde.
+The baroness was first married to a certain Herr von Hollfeld; that
+young man is the fruit of that marriage, and by the death of his father
+he came into possession of Odenberg, a large estate on the other side of
+L----.  The fair widow was fully conscious that her freedom must be made
+available to assist her up at least one step in the ladder of human
+happiness and perfection, and naturally this could only be attained by a
+marriage with high rank, wherefore Frau von Hollfeld one day became
+Baroness Lessen.  'Tis true the baron's name had been made somewhat
+notorious by several acts on his part which people of common, low-born
+ideas might call dishonourable; but what matter for that? Was he not a
+lord chamberlain, and did not the keys of his office unlock many a door
+for him where St. Peter's would have availed nothing, in spite of the
+power given to them?  However, the baron died after two years of
+marriage, leaving his widow a little daughter and an enormous amount of
+debts.  I have no doubt she is glad enough to queen it at Lindhof, for I
+hear that she has no part or parcel in her son's property."
+
+Here a maid from the lodge interrupted them with bucket and broom,
+giving unmistakable signs that she was about to begin the duties of her
+office in this apartment.  The spy-glass was hastily closed, and while
+the forester went into the garden to renew his labours there in clearing
+away the luxuriant green from the lower window-sills, Frau Ferber and
+Elizabeth busied themselves with dust-cloths and brushes in restoring
+the furniture of the room to something of its original appearance.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Whitsuntide was over.  The brazen bells had retired into private life,
+and looked black and silent through the loopholes in the bell-towers,
+that seemed like the coffins of the melodious life which had so lately
+streamed forth from them during the holidays.  But the bright
+flower-bells in the forest, hanging loosely on their stalks, could not
+forget the festival.  They had joined in bravely when the air had
+quivered with the brazen clang, and still rang gently with every breeze
+that swept through the underbrush.  What did they care that the
+wood-cutter, his holiday clothes and face all laid aside, tramped past
+them in his heavy boots, whistling some rude melody!  The forest heeded
+not, but kept up the same mysterious murmur amid its branches like a
+thousand-voiced whisper of prayer, and the little birds sang as before
+their matin and vesper hymns in God's praise.
+
+Up in old Castle Gnadeck, as in the forest, the festal spirit of the
+holidays still reigned, although Ferber had already entered upon the
+duties of his office, often making unavoidable visits to L----, while
+Frau Ferber and Elizabeth had, through Sabina, received several large
+orders from a ready-made linen establishment in L----, and were besides
+busy every day for some hours in the garden which even in this first
+year gave promise of abundant fruit and flowers.  Notwithstanding this
+constant industry, there was a holiday air pervading the whole place,
+arising from the consciousness in the minds of each one of the family
+that there had come a happy turn in their affairs; they were continually
+comparing their present with their former situation, and the new and
+unaccustomed life of the forest had an almost intoxicating effect upon
+their spirits.
+
+Her parents had given Elizabeth the gobelin room, because there was the
+finest prospect from its windows, and because the girl when she had
+first entered it had declared that she liked it best of all.  The gloomy
+door which led into the huge old wing Had been walled up and gave no
+sign that such a dreary waste lay beyond it.  The further end of the
+room was filled by one of the renovated canopied bedsteads, and by the
+window stood the antique writing-table, with its quaint inkstand and
+writing utensils of porcelain, and two vases filled with lovely flowers;
+while just outside the window, embowered in the topmost branches of a
+syringa bush, was the canary's cage; its occupant vying with the forest
+songsters in its shrill trilling with all the envy of some spoiled
+bravura singer.
+
+While they were arranging the room, and Frau Ferber was every moment
+bringing in some new piece of furniture to add to it a greater air of
+comfort and luxury, her husband went to the longest wall, and,
+stretching his arms across it, banished to the anteroom the lounge that
+had just been placed there.
+
+"Stay,--this space I appropriate," he said with a smile.  Then he
+brought a large bracket of dark wood and nailed it upon the wall, which
+was wainscoted neatly to the ceiling on this side.  "Here," he
+continued, as he placed upon the bracket a bust of Beethoven, "this
+mightiest mortal shall be enthroned alone."
+
+"But that looks so blank and bare," said Frau Ferber.
+
+"Only wait until to-morrow or the day after, and you will, I am sure,
+admit that my arrangements are not to be despised, and that Elizabeth
+will have both pleasure and profit from them."
+
+And on the next day, which had been Whitsun-eve, he went to town with
+the forester.  They returned toward evening, but did not enter through
+the gate in the garden wall.  The great gate was flung wide open, and
+four strong men bore in a large and shining object through the ruins.
+Elizabeth was standing near the kitchen window, engaged, for the first
+time in her new home, in preparing the evening meal, when the men
+entered the garden with their burden.
+
+She cried out, for it was a piano--a large, square piano, which was
+immediately borne up stairs and placed in the gobelin room under
+Beethoven's bust.  Elizabeth laughed and wept at the same moment, as she
+rapturously embraced her father, who had expended his little capital,
+the proceeds of the sale of their furniture in B----, that he might
+provide her again with what had been the delight of her life.  And then
+she opened the instrument and a flood of rich melody filled the rooms
+where the silence of death had reigned for so many years.
+
+The forester had come with her father to enjoy Elizabeth's surprise and
+delight.  He now leaned silently against the wall, as the wondrous
+sounds flowed forth from beneath the girl's touch.  For the first time
+he heard the true speech of the glowing life that animated the delicate
+young frame.  How thoughtful and inspired was the air of the
+finely-shaped head which crowned her graceful form, so suggestive of
+earnest maidenhood!  Hitherto only jests and merry repartee had been
+exchanged between uncle and niece.  He often called her his butterfly,
+because of the airy grace of her motions and her quickness of mind,
+which never left her at a loss for a reply to his merry attacks; but his
+favourite name for her was "Gold Elsie," for he maintained that her hair
+was such perfect gold that he could see it shining and shimmering in the
+darkest parts of the forest as she approached, and that it heralded her
+coming to him as the jewel in the giant's shield had once announced his
+approach to Childe Roland.
+
+When Elizabeth had finished she spread her arms above the instrument as
+if to embrace it, and, leaning her head upon it, smiled the happiest
+smile; but her uncle approached her softly, gave her a silent kiss upon
+the forehead, and departed without a word.
+
+From this time he came up every evening to the old castle.  As soon as
+the last rays of the setting sun had faded from the tree-tops, Elizabeth
+sat down at the piano. The little family took their places in the large
+low window-seat, and lost themselves in the fairy world, which was
+opened to them by the great master whose image looked down from the wall
+upon the inspired young performer.  And then Ferber would think of how
+Elizabeth had portrayed the free life in the forest when the letter from
+her uncle had first arrived in B----.  'Tis true no elves or gnomes
+appeared, but the spirits which the mightiest of the masters of music
+had imprisoned in sound floated forth from their prison-house on a flood
+of melody, breathing into the solemn silence around a mysterious life--a
+life of whose joys and sorrows every sympathetic human soul is
+conscious, although to genius alone is granted power to embody and
+reveal them.
+
+One afternoon they were all sitting together at their coffee.  The
+forester had brought his pipe and newspaper, and begged of Elizabeth a
+cup of the refreshing beverage. He was just about to read aloud an
+interesting article in his paper, when the bell at the garden gate
+sounded.  To the astonishment of every one, when little Ernst ran to
+open it, a servant in livery entered and handed Elizabeth a note.  It
+was from the Baroness Lessen.  She began by saying much that was
+flattering with regard to the young girl's masterly performance upon the
+piano, to which she had listened for the two or three previous evenings
+while walking in the forest, and concluded by preferring a request that
+Elizabeth would consent, of course for a stipulated consideration, to
+come to Castle Lindhof every week and play duets with Fraeulein von
+Walde.
+
+The style of the letter was extremely courteous; nevertheless the
+forester, after a second perusal of it, threw it angrily upon the table,
+and said, looking steadily at Elizabeth,--
+
+"I hope you will not consent?"
+
+"And why not, my dear Carl?" asked Ferber in her stead.
+
+"Because Elizabeth is, and always will be, far too good for those people
+down there!" cried the forester, with some irritation.  "But if you
+choose to see what you have carefully planted, choked up and ruined by
+poisonous weeds and mildew--why, do it."
+
+"It is certainly true," replied Ferber quietly, "that my child has known
+until now none other than a parent's care. We have endeavoured most
+conscientiously, as was our duty, to cherish every germ of good, to
+foster every plant of tender growth.  But we have had no idea of
+producing a mere hot house flower, and alas for us and for her, if all
+that we have unweariedly tended and nourished for eighteen years is so
+loosely planted in the soil that it can be torn thence by the first
+blast of life!  I have educated my daughter to live in the world; she
+must battle her way among its storms, as we all must.  If I should be
+taken from her to-day, she must herself guide the helm which I have
+hitherto held for her.  If the people in the castle below are not fit
+associates for her, matters will soon arrange themselves.  Either both
+parties will feel their unsuitability to each other and all intercourse
+will cease, or everything that offends Elizabeth's principles will pass
+by her like idle wind, leaving no impression. Why, you yourself never
+avoid a danger, but rather prove your strength by meeting it bravely."
+
+"But, zounds!  I am a man, and can take care of myself!"
+
+"And how do you know that Elizabeth hereafter will possess any support
+except what she finds in herself, or have any sharer in the
+responsibility of her actions?"
+
+The forester cast a keen glance at his niece, whose earnest eyes were
+riveted upon her father's face.  He who was to her the embodiment of
+wisdom and tenderness was echoing her own ideas, and the expression of
+her beautiful face showed what she felt.
+
+"Father," she said, "you shall see that you have not been mistaken--that
+I am not weak.  I never could endure the trite image of the ivy and the
+oak, and shall most certainly not illustrate it in my own person.  Be
+comforted, uncle dear, and let me go down to the castle," she said,
+smiling archly at the forester, whose forehead showed a deep frown of
+decided irritation.  "If the people there are heartless, don't suppose
+for one moment that they will make a cannibal of me, and that I shall
+eat my own heart up.  If they try to crush me with supercilious
+arrogance, my own inner standard of action shall be so high that I can
+look down in pity upon the harmless arrows of their scorn; and if they
+are hypocrites, I shall turn with all the more delight to gaze into the
+sunny face of truth, and be more deeply convinced of the ugliness of
+their black masks."
+
+"Fairly spoken, oh incomparable Elsie, and incontestably true,--if only
+these same people would kindly hand you their masks to examine.  But you
+will awake some day to find that what you have believed to be gold is
+only the merest tinsel."
+
+"No indeed, dear uncle; I will not foolishly allow myself to be imposed
+upon.  Remember, we have had many trials since my childhood; they have
+not been borne without teaching me some good lessons.  Certainly we must
+all trust somewhat in our own strength, and I shall not despair for a
+long time, even if upon my first experience of the world I plunge into
+an abyss of Egyptian darkness, full of frightful monsters.  But look,
+uncle dear, to what your zeal for my soul's welfare has brought
+you,--your coffee looks as though it could be skated upon, and your
+meerschaum is at its last gasp."
+
+The forester laughed, although the laugh was not from his heart.  And
+while Elizabeth refilled his cup for him and handed him a lighted match,
+he said to her: "You must not suppose that my ammunition is exhausted
+because I say to you, 'Well, well, go and try it.'  I look forward to
+the satisfaction of seeing the courageous chicken come flying back again
+some day, only too thankful to creep under the sheltering wing of home."
+
+"Aha!" laughed Frau Ferber, "you have no idea of the stern determination
+in that little head.  But let us decide.  I advise Elizabeth to pay her
+respects to the ladies to-morrow."
+
+The next afternoon at about five o'clock Elizabeth descended the
+mountain.  A broad, well-kept path led through the forest, which melted
+imperceptibly into the park.  No gateway separated its carefully-tended
+grounds, with their clumps of trees and feathery grass, from the wild
+woods beyond.
+
+Elizabeth had put on a fresh light muslin dress, and a small, white,
+round straw hat.  Her father walked with her as far as the first meadow,
+and then she went bravely on alone.  No human being crossed her path
+during her long walk; it even seemed as though the trees rustled more
+softly here in the leafy avenues and arcades than in the forest beyond,
+and as if the birds modulated their notes more gently.  She started at
+the noise of the crunching gravel beneath her tread as she approached
+the castle, and wondered to find how timid the intense quiet had made
+her.
+
+At last she reached the principal entrance, and caught sight of a human
+face.  It was a servant, who was busy in an imposing vestibule, but who
+moved as noiselessly as possible.  Upon her request that he would
+announce her to the baroness, he slipped up the broad staircase fronting
+the hall door, at the foot of which stood two lofty statues, their white
+limbs half concealed by the orange trees placed at their bases.  He soon
+returned, and assuring her that she was expected, led the way quickly up
+the stairs, scarcely touching the steps with the tips of his toes.
+
+Elizabeth followed him with a beating heart.  It was not the grandeur
+around her that oppressed her, it was the sensation of standing all
+alone in this new untried sphere.  The servant conducted her through a
+long corridor, past the open doors of several apartments, which,
+furnished with extraordinary splendour, were heaped with such a
+profusion of elegant trifles that a simple child, unused to such luxury,
+would have supposed herself in a fancy-shop.
+
+Her guide at last carefully opened a folding-door, and the young girl
+entered.
+
+Near the windows, opposite Elizabeth, upon a couch lay a lady in
+apparently great suffering.  Her head was resting upon a white pillow,
+and warm coverings were spread over her entire figure, which, in spite
+of its wrappings, betrayed decided embonpoint.  In her hand was a
+vinaigrette.
+
+She raised her head slightly, so that Elizabeth could see her face
+distinctly; it was round and pale, and at first sight by no means
+unprepossessing.  Upon a closer view, the large blue eyes, that
+glittered beneath light eyelashes and elevated eyebrows as light, looked
+cold as ice, an expression in nowise softened by the supercilious lines
+about her mouth and nostrils, and by a broad, rather projecting chin.
+
+"Oh, Fraeulein, it is very kind of you to come!" cried the baroness in a
+weak voice, which nevertheless sounded harsh and cold, as she pointed to
+a lounge near her, and motioned to Elizabeth, who courtesied politely,
+to sit down.  "I have begged my cousin," she continued, "to arrange
+matters with you in my room, as I am really too ill to take you to
+hers."
+
+This reception was certainly courteous, although there was a
+considerable amount of condescension in the lady's tone and manner.
+
+Elizabeth sat down, and was just about to reply to the question how she
+liked Thuringia, when the door was suddenly flung open, and a little
+girl of about eight years of age ran in, holding in her arms a pretty
+little dog, struggling and whining piteously.
+
+"Ali is so naughty, mamma, he will not stay with me!" cried the child,
+breathlessly, as she threw the dog upon the carpet.
+
+"You have probably been teasing the little thing again, my child," said
+her mother.  "But I cannot have you here, Bella; you make so much noise,
+and I have a headache.  Go away to your room."
+
+"Oh, it's so stupid there!  Miss Mertens has forbidden me to play with
+Ali, and gives me those tiresome old fables to learn; I cannot bear
+them."
+
+"Well, then, stay here; but be perfectly quiet."
+
+The child passed close to Elizabeth with a stare and an examination of
+her dress from top to toe, and mounted upon an embroidered footstool
+before the mirror in order the easier to reach a vase of fresh flowers.
+In a moment the tastefully arranged bouquet was thrown into the wildest
+disorder by the little fingers, which busied themselves with sticking
+single flowers into the delicately embroidered eyelet-holes of the
+muslin curtain.  During this operation large drops of the water, in
+which the flowers had been placed, dropped from the stems upon
+Elizabeth's dress, and she was obliged to move her chair, as there
+seemed no likelihood that any stop would be put to the proceeding,
+either by the little Vandal herself or by her mother's prohibition.
+
+Elizabeth had only had time to move, and to reply to the reiterated
+question of the baroness, that she already felt very happy and, quite at
+home in Thuringia, when the lady hastily arose from her reclining
+posture, and, with an amiable smile upon her lips, nodded towards a
+large portiere, which was drawn noiselessly aside and on the threshold
+of the door appeared the two young people whom Elizabeth had lately seen
+through the spy-glass; but how strangely ill-assorted they now seemed to
+be, as she saw them thus standing together.  Herr von Hollfeld, a
+slender figure of great height, was obliged to bend very much on one
+side to afford any support to the little hand that rested upon his arm.
+The sylph-like little figure, which had lain upon the couch in the park,
+was no taller than a child's.  The exquisitely lovely head was sunk
+between the shoulders, and the crutch in her left hand showed how
+helpless was her crippled condition.
+
+"Forgive me, dearest Helene," cried the baroness, as the pair entered,
+"for troubling you to come to me; but, as you see, I am again the poor
+wretched creature upon whom you are so ready to bestow your angelic pity
+and kindness.  Fraeulein Ferber," here she motioned towards Elizabeth,
+as if presenting her, and the young girl rose, blushing, "has had the
+kindness to come, in compliance with my note of yesterday."
+
+"And, indeed, I am very grateful to you fordoing so!" said the little
+lady, turning towards Elizabeth with a smile of great sweetness, and
+holding out her hand.  Her glance measured the blushing girl before her
+with an expression of surprise, and then rested upon the heavy golden
+braids that appeared below the hat.  "Oh, yes," she said, "I have
+already seen your lovely golden hair; yesterday as I was walking in the
+forest you were leaning over a wall up there at the old castle."
+
+Elizabeth blushed yet more deeply.
+
+"But because you were there," continued the little lady, "I lost the
+pleasure for which I had clambered up the height, the pleasure of
+hearing you play, which I had enjoyed on the previous evening.  So young
+and child-like, and yet with such a thorough appreciation of classic
+music! it seems impossible!  You will make me very happy if you will
+play often with me."
+
+Something like a shade of displeasure flitted across the features of the
+baroness, and a close observer might have noticed a scornful contraction
+of her lips, but it was lost upon Elizabeth, whose attention was
+entirely absorbed by interest in the unfortunate little lady whose
+delicate silvery voice seemed to come fresh from the depths of her
+heart.
+
+In the mean time, Herr von Hollfeld pushed a chair for Fraeulein von
+Walde close to the lounge, and left the room without uttering a word.
+But as he went out by the door directly opposite to Elizabeth, she could
+not help noticing that he directed a last long look at her before slowly
+closing it after him.  It disturbed her, for his expression was of so
+strange a kind that she hurriedly glanced over her dress to see if
+anything there could have struck him as odd or unsuitable.
+
+For the last few moments Bella had been sitting upon the carpet, playing
+with the dog.  It would have been a charming picture, if the whinings
+and uneasy movements of the little animal had not betrayed that the
+child was teasing it.  At each loud cry from the dog, Fraeulein von
+Walde started nervously, and the baroness said, mechanically, "Don't
+tease him so, Bella!"  At last, however, when the animal uttered a most
+piteous howl, the mother raised her forefinger threateningly, and said,
+"I must call Miss Mertens."
+
+"Oh," replied the child contemptuously, "I don't care for her!  She
+doesn't dare to punish me, for you told her she mustn't."
+
+At this moment, the portiere was gently drawn aside, and a pale, faded
+gentlewoman appeared.  She courtesied to the ladies, and said, timidly:
+"The chaplain is waiting for Bella."
+
+"But I won't have a lesson to-day!" the little girl cried, taking a ball
+of worsted from the table and throwing it at the speaker.
+
+"Yes, my child, you must," said the baroness.  "Go with Miss Mertens,
+and be a good little girl, Bella."
+
+Bella, as though the matter affected her no more than it did Ali, who
+had retreated behind the sofa, threw herself into an arm-chair and drew
+her feet up under her. The governess was about to approach her, but at
+an angry look from the baroness she retired to the door again.
+
+This disgraceful scene would probably have lasted much longer if the
+baroness had not brought up a _corps de reserve_ to her assistance in
+the shape of a box of bonbons. The child, after she had crammed her
+mouth and pockets full, left her seat, and, pushing aside the hand which
+her governess held out to her, ran out of the room.
+
+Elizabeth sat petrified with astonishment.  The delicate features of
+Fraeulein von Walde also showed evident disapproval; but she said
+nothing.
+
+The baroness sank back among her pillows.  "These governesses will be my
+death," she sighed.  "If Miss Mertens could only learn how to treat,
+judiciously, a child of Bella's sensitive, nervous temperament!  She
+never takes into account social position, temperament, and physical
+constitution.  She would model all after the same pattern--the daughter
+of a grocer or a peer; a finely-strung, sensitive nature, or a robust,
+rude, day-labourer physique--'tis all the same thing to her.  Miss
+Mertens is a disagreeable, pedantic schoolmistress; her English, too, is
+detestable.  Heaven only knows in what mean little English county she
+learned her native tongue!"
+
+"But really, dear Amalie," said Fraeulein von Walde, "I do not find her
+English impure," and her voice sounded exquisitely kind and soothing.
+
+"There you come with your never-failing angelic amiability; but,
+although I do not understand English, I can always hear, in one instant,
+how much more high-bred your accent is, my dear, when you are talking
+with her."
+
+Elizabeth inwardly doubted the value of this estimate, and Fraeulein von
+Walde blushed with a deprecating gesture.
+
+But the baroness continued: "And Bella hears it, too; she will not open
+her lips when her governess speaks English to her, and I cannot blame
+her in the least; it provokes me excessively when this person blames the
+child for obstinacy."
+
+Under the influence of her irritation the voice of the baroness, which
+had at first been very weak and suffering, had grown perceptibly
+stronger.  She suddenly seemed to become aware of this herself, and
+closed her eyes with an expression of great weariness.  "Oh heavens!"
+she sighed, "my unfortunate nerves are too much for me.  I grow excited
+instead of being kept quiet; these vexations are poison both to my mind
+and body."
+
+"I would advise you, Amalie, when you are as nervous and weak as you are
+to-day, to leave Bella without a fear to Miss Mertens' care.  I am
+convinced that nothing can be better for her.  While I fully understand
+your touching anxiety on the child's account, I can confidently assure
+you that Miss Mertens is far too gentle and cultivated a person to do
+anything that would not conduce to her welfare.  You look quite worn
+out," she continued, sympathizingly.  "We had better leave you alone;
+Fraeulein Ferber will certainly have the kindness to accompany me to my
+room."
+
+So saying she arose, and leaning over the baroness imprinted a gentle
+kiss upon her cheek.  Then she laid her hand upon the arm of Elizabeth,
+whom the baroness dismissed with a gracious nod, and left the apartment.
+
+As they slowly walked through the various corridors, she told Elizabeth
+that it would be a special delight to her brother, who was so far from
+her, if she should resume her music.  He used to sit alone with her
+listening to her playing for hours, until a nervous malady that had
+attacked her had forced her to give up her beloved music for a long
+time.  Now she felt much stronger, and her physician had also given his
+consent; she would be very diligent, that she might surprise her brother
+upon his return home.  Elizabeth then took leave.
+
+She hastened with winged speed through the park, and along the path
+which ascended the mountain.  In the forest glade just before the open
+garden gate her parents were awaiting her return, and little Ernst ran
+lovingly to meet her.  What an air of home breathed all around her here!
+The greeting that she received showed how she had been missed; the
+canary was singing merrily in his green embowered cage, the garden
+laughed in beauty, and in the background, under the group of lindens
+above the cool spring, the snowy table was spread for supper.
+
+The Italian castle with all its splendour, its aristocratic air, and its
+oppressive silence, only broken by the clamour of a spoiled child, faded
+behind her like a dream of the night; and when she had imparted her
+impressions of all that she had seen and heard to her parents, she
+concluded with the words: "You have taught me, father dear, never to
+form any settled judgment of others upon a slight acquaintance with
+them, for such judgment runs a fair chance of being unjust, but what can
+I do with my unruly fancy?  Whenever I think of the two ladies, I see in
+imagination a lovely young weeping willow, whose elastic graceful
+branches are the constant sport of a furious tempest."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+From this time Elizabeth went regularly to Lindhof twice a week.  The
+day following her first visit Baroness Lessen had arranged the hours for
+the lessons in a very courteous note, and had insisted upon a most
+generous compensation for Elizabeth's time.  These lessons soon proved a
+source of much enjoyment.  Helene von Walde, owing to the absence of all
+practice for many years, was very deficient in technical knowledge and
+capacity, and could not be compared at all with Elizabeth; but she
+played with much feeling, her taste was refined and cultivated, and she
+was entirely free from the wretched habit, common to most dilettanti, of
+depreciating whatever lay beyond her reach.  Baroness Lessen was never
+present during the music lessons, and therefore the moments of rest
+gradually became especially delightful to Elizabeth.  At such times a
+servant usually brought in some light refreshments.  Helene leaned back
+in her armchair, and Elizabeth seated herself upon a cushion at her
+feet, and listened enchanted to the flute-like silvery voice of the
+unfortunate lady as she recounted many an experience of the past.  The
+image of the absent brother here played a principal part.  She was never
+weary of telling of his care and thoughtfulness for her, of how,
+although he was many years her senior, he was continually studying how
+to gratify and humour her childish whims and peculiarities.  She related
+how he had purchased Lindhof only because, upon a visit which she had
+formerly made in Thuringia, she had experienced great benefits from the
+pure Thuringian air; everything showed how dearly he loved her.
+
+One afternoon, when they had been practising unusually long, a servant
+entering announced a visitor.
+
+"Stay and drink tea with me this afternoon," said Fraeulein von Walde to
+Elizabeth.  "My physician is here from L----, and several ladies from
+the neighbourhood have just arrived; I will send some one up to the
+castle that your mother may not be anxious about you.  My tete-a-tete
+with the doctor will not last long, and I shall soon be with you again."
+
+And so saying she left the room.  Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed
+before the door opened and Fraeulein von Walde entered, leaning upon the
+arm of a gentleman whom she presented to Elizabeth as Doctor Fels, from
+L----. He was tall, with an intellectual countenance, and as soon as he
+heard Elizabeth's name he entered into a lively conversation with her,
+comically assuring her that his own surprise and horror, as well as that
+of the entire respectable population of L----, had really known no
+bounds when it was reported that old Castle Gnadeck had received within
+its crumbling walls inhabitants of flesh and blood.
+
+Suddenly there was a rustling in the antechamber, and upon the threshold
+of the door appeared two figures of rather singular exterior.  Their
+great resemblance of feature plainly revealed their relationship as
+mother and daughter.  Both wore dark dresses, which, contrary to the
+prevailing mode, fell limp and close around them, large scarfs of black
+woollen stuff, and brown, round straw hats, tied, in the case of the
+mother, with black ribbon, while the daughter had a lilac bow beneath
+her chin.
+
+Helene von Walde received the ladies courteously, presenting them as
+Frau and Fraeulein Lehr, and Elizabeth afterwards learned that, residing
+in L----, they spent their summers in lodgings in the village of
+Lindhof.
+
+Immediately after their entrance the Baroness Lessen appeared, leaning
+upon her son's arm, and accompanied by a gentleman who was addressed by
+those present as Herr Moehring, the chaplain.
+
+The baroness was dressed in dark silk, but with the greatest elegance,
+and made a most imposing appearance. She paused for an instant upon the
+threshold of the door, and seemed to be disagreeably surprised at
+Elizabeth's presence.  She measured her with a haughty look of inquiry,
+and replied to her courtesy by a scarcely perceptible inclination of the
+head.
+
+Helene noticed the look, and approaching her said in a soothing whisper,
+"I kept my little favourite with me to-day--I had already detained her
+so long."
+
+This excuse did not escape Elizabeth's ear.  It offended her, and she
+would willingly have flown away through the window near which she was
+standing, had not pride induced her to stay and brave the arrogance of
+the baroness.  The great lady seemed entirely pacified by the
+explanation of what had occurred without her consent. She put her arm
+around Helene, stroked her curls tenderly, and said a hundred caressing
+things to her.  Then she requested those present to follow her to the
+adjoining room, where tea was prepared.  She did the honours of the
+tea-table, and discovered a talent, by no means to be despised, for
+leading and carrying on the conversation. With admirable tact, she
+contrived always to make Helene the centre of attention without in the
+least wounding the self-love of the others.
+
+Elizabeth sat silent between the doctor and Fraeulein Lehr.  The
+conversation possessed little interest for her, inasmuch as it related
+to people and circumstances entirely strange to her.  Frau von Lehr had
+much to say, and seemed perfectly instructed in every matter, private or
+public, that had taken place during the last few weeks among the people
+living around Lindhof.  She spoke in a peculiarly mournful, suppressed
+tone of voice, and at the conclusion of the rehearsal of each exciting
+piece of news cast down her eyes and inclined her head with great
+apparent humility and resignation, as though she were a lamb suffering
+for the sins of the world.  Now and then she drew forth from a huge
+reticule which she carried a small bottle of rose-water, with which she
+moistened her eyes, as they seemed weak with perpetual casting towards
+heaven.
+
+What a contrast between her and Helene's madonna face, as it leaned
+against the dark plush of the lounge, reminding Elizabeth more than ever
+of the water-lily lying dreamily with its snow-white leaves upon the
+dark surface of the lake!  To-day there was a strange glow upon the
+delicate features.  It was not that all traces of suffering had
+vanished, but there was a peaceful light of content in her eyes, and a
+happy smile wreathed the pale lips as often as she took up from her lap
+the bouquet of rosebuds which Herr von Hollfeld had presented to her
+when he entered.  He sat beside her, and sometimes joined in the
+conversation.  As soon as he opened his lips the ladies were silent,
+listening with the greatest attention, although his talk was anything
+but fluent, and, as Elizabeth soon discovered, betrayed not the
+slightest originality of mind.
+
+He was a very handsome man, of about four and twenty.  There was great
+repose in the finely-cut features, which at first seemed to indicate
+manliness and strength of character; but any such impression which their
+regularity might have produced was effaced by a searching glance into
+his eyes.  Those eyes, although they were large and faultless in shape,
+had no depth whatever, and never lighted up with that meteoric flash
+which so often reveals the man of intellect, even when he does not
+speak.  Its want can be atoned for by that mild glow which speaks of
+deep sensibility, and which, although it does not instantly impress us,
+gradually attracts and enchains us.  But there was nothing of this to be
+discovered in Herr von Hollfeld's fine blue orbs.
+
+This sentence, however, would have been echoed by but few, for it was
+the present fashion, especially at the court of L----, to regard Herr
+von Hollfeld as a prodigy, whose silence gave warrant of unfathomable
+depths of intellect and sensibility,--in which opinion the ladies in and
+around Lindhof most cordially joined, as was illustrated by the conduct
+of Frau von Lehr's very stout daughter, who leaned forward, directly
+across the modestly shrinking Elizabeth, and listened, as if to the
+enunciation of a new gospel, whenever Herr von Hollfeld opened his lips.
+And she, too, appeared quite willing to allow her light to shine.
+
+"Were you not charmed with the lovely sermons with which Herr Moehring
+edified us during the holidays?" she asked, turning to Elizabeth.
+
+"I regret not having heard them," she answered.
+
+"Then you did not attend divine service?"
+
+"Oh, yes!  I went with my parents to the village church at Lindhof."
+
+"Indeed!" said the Baroness Lessen, turning for the first time toward
+Elizabeth, and smiling sarcastically. "And were you greatly edified at
+the village church at Lindhof?"
+
+"Most truly was I, gracious lady," Elizabeth quietly replied, looking
+calmly into the contemptuous eyes that were turned upon her.  "I was
+deeply affected by the simple, earnest words of the preacher.  His
+discourse was not delivered in the church, but under the trees outside.
+When the service was about to begin it was evident that the little
+church could not contain the crowd of worshippers, and an altar was
+constructed under God's free sky. Such altars might often be erected."
+
+"Unfortunately, they often are," said Herr Moehring, who until then had
+spoken little, contenting himself with confirming all Frau von Lehr's
+remarks by an amiable smile or an assenting nod.  Now, however, his
+broad, shiny face grew purple, and, turning to the baroness, he
+continued, contemptuously: "Yes, most gracious lady, it is only too
+true; the old idols are being replaced in the sacred groves, and we
+shall have druids sacrificing to them beneath the oaken shades."
+
+"Really, that never occurred to me.  With the aid of my wildest
+imagination I should never have dreamed at the time that I was assisting
+at a heathen sacrifice," rejoined Elizabeth.  She smiled, but continued
+with serious warmth: "It seemed to me, on that glorious spring morning,
+as the tones of the organ streamed forth from the open doors and windows
+of the church, and that reverend old man spoke in such devout tones, as
+it did when I entered the temple of God for the first time in my life."
+
+"You seem to have an excellent memory, Fraeulein," Frau von Lehr here
+remarked: "How old were you at that time, if I may ask?"
+
+"Eleven years old."
+
+"Eleven years old!  Oh, heavens! how can such a thing be possible?"
+cried the lady in holy horror.  "How possible with Christian parents!
+Why, my children were familiar with the house of God from their earliest
+years, as you can testify, my dear doctor."
+
+"Yes indeed, madame," he replied with great gravity. "I remember that
+you ascribed the attack of croup, by which you lost your little son at
+two years of age, to a couple of hours in the cold church."
+
+Elizabeth looked up quite terrified at her neighbour. The doctor had
+joined in the conversation hitherto only by throwing in a sarcastic word
+here and there very drily, which amused Elizabeth greatly, inasmuch as
+he was always met by a reproving glance from the baroness. When the
+young girl began to speak she had not noticed him any more than had the
+others, whose entire attention had been occupied with the wretched
+heathen child, so that no one had observed how he was bursting with
+inward laughter at the daring replies of the young stranger, and their
+effect upon those present.  His answer appeared thoughtless and cruel to
+Elizabeth; but he must have known his companions well, for Frau von Lehr
+was not at all offended, but replied with great unction: "Yes, the Lord
+took the pious little angel to himself; he was too good for this world;"
+then, turning to Elizabeth, she said: "And so you were shut out from the
+Lord's kingdom for the first eleven years of your life?"
+
+"Only from His temple, gracious lady.  As a little child I was
+instructed in the history of Christianity, and with my first thoughts
+were blended ideas of God's wisdom and love.  I cannot remember the time
+when I did not hear of them from my father; but it is a firm principle
+of his never to allow very young children to go to church; he says they
+are entirely incapable of appreciating the importance and meaning of
+what they see and hear there; the sermon, which must be entirely beyond
+their comprehension, wearies them, and they conceive a dislike to the
+place.  My little brother Ernst is seven years old, and has never yet
+been to church."
+
+"Oh, happy father, who has the courage to frame and execute such plans
+for his children's culture!" exclaimed Doctor Fels.
+
+"Well, what hinders you from letting your children grow up without care,
+like mushrooms?" asked the baroness with malice.
+
+"That I can readily tell you in a very few words, most gracious lady.  I
+have six children, and cannot afford to have masters for them at home.
+My profession prevents me from teaching them myself, and, therefore, I
+am obliged to send them to the public school and subject them to its
+laws, which require them to attend church regularly.  Just as little can
+I carry out my views with regard to another subject,--the putting of the
+Bible into the hands of young children.  The Sacred Book, which contains
+the holy principles that should regulate all our thoughts and actions,
+and, as such, should be regarded with veneration by the young,--does not
+belong in their hands at a time when childhood, with rare exceptions,
+seeks amusement instead of instruction, and is always curious to
+investigate whatever is forbidden and mysterious. And, therefore, I
+know,--and any observant teacher will admit,--that children who devote
+themselves constantly to the perusal of the Bible, for which they are
+commended by thoughtless parents, do not always search for the text of
+the last sermon,--but read much else beside,--often meeting with words
+and expressions which a careful mother would guard them from hearing at
+home, but whose significance is often made only too clear by their
+intercourse with other children not so carefully educated, left to the
+charge of ignorant and vulgar servants. And suppose, even, that they
+seek explanation of certain words and phrases from their mothers only;
+an intelligent mother will always know, 'tis true, how to reply to their
+queries, but she must, most certainly, forbid them the use of many
+expressions which they find in the Bible,--let us recall to mind the
+Song of Solomon,--and so the first seeds of doubt and unbelief are sown
+in the childish mind, which is wanting in the strength that only moral
+culture and riper understanding can give."
+
+Here the Baroness Lessen arose with a gesture of impatience.  Upon her
+full cheeks, usually so pale, two round, crimson spots had appeared, a
+sign to all who knew her, of great irritation.  Fraeulein von Walde, who
+had been a passive listener to the conversation, also arose, took her
+cousin's arm, and, leading her to the window, asked whether she would
+not like to hear a little music from Elizabeth and herself.
+
+This propitiatory proposal was received with a gracious inclination of
+the head,--the more especially as the baroness did not feel herself
+quite equal to the doctor in a war of words; and, as everyone must have
+seen her indignation, she was quite willing to have it supposed that the
+beautiful, soothing music was the cause of her refraining from
+annihilating the impious defamer of her holy zeal, for she was
+perpetually presenting Bibles to poor children.
+
+She took her seat in a windowed recess, and looked out upon the
+landscape, upon which the first shadows of approaching evening were
+falling.  Her look was cold and cruel,--an expression often seen in a
+certain kind of light-blue eye, shaded by white eyelashes.  The corners
+of her mouth were drawn down, a sign of great displeasure, which did not
+vanish even when Schubert's Erlking, arranged for four hands, was
+performed in a masterly manner by Helene and Elizabeth.  The waves of
+melody broke against that breast unfelt, as the waves of the ocean upon
+a rocky shore.
+
+When the last chord died away, the ladies arose from the instrument, and
+the doctor, who had stood immovably, listening, hastened towards them.
+His eyes sparkled as he thanked them for a treat which, as he assured
+them, was richer than any he had enjoyed for years.  Here Fraeulein von
+Lehr's face grew scarlet, and her mother cast a malicious glance at the
+unlucky enthusiast.  Had not her daughter the preceding winter played
+several times in public in L----, for the benefit of some charitable
+association, and had he not attended every concert?  However, the doctor
+did not appear to notice the storms that he was calling down upon his
+head.  He discussed Schubert's compositions in a manner that manifested
+refined perception and a thorough knowledge of his subject.
+
+Suddenly there was a harsh clash of chords upon the piano; it seemed as
+though fingers of bone were belabouring the keys.  They looked round
+with a start.  The chaplain was seated at the instrument, with head
+thrown back and inflated nostrils.  He raised his hands for a second
+attack, and began a beautiful choral, which his horrible playing
+converted into torture for sensitive ears. Still it might have been
+endured, when, to Elizabeth's horror, he began to sing in a nasal,
+snuffling tone;--that was too much.  The doctor seized his hat, and
+bowed to Helene and the baroness, the latter only vouchsafing him a
+slight wave of the hand in token of dismissal, without turning her face
+from the window.
+
+An incomparable expression of humour hovered upon the doctor's features.
+He pressed Elizabeth's hand cordially as he departed, and took leave of
+the rest with a courteous bow.
+
+As soon as the door closed behind him, the baroness arose with
+excitement and approached Helene, who was sitting in a corner of the
+sofa.
+
+"It is intolerable!" she cried, and her sharp voice sounded muffled, as
+if suppressed anger were choking her, while her searching gaze rested
+full upon the little lady, who looked up to her almost timidly.  "How
+can you, Helene, here in your own house, hear our rank, our dignity as
+women,--yes, even our holy of holies, which we are bound so faithfully
+to defend,--assailed so grossly without one word of reply?"
+
+"But, dear Amalie, I cannot see."
+
+"You will not see, child, in your inexhaustible patience and
+long-suffering, that this doctor insults me whenever he can.  Well, I
+must submit to that, for this is not my house, and besides, as a
+Christian, I would rather endure wrong than resort to retaliation.  But
+this submission must cease when the sacred claims of the Lord are
+assailed.  Here we should strive and struggle, and not grow weary.  Is
+it not actually blasphemous for this man to seize his hat, and, _sans
+facon_, take his departure from the room while our hearts are being
+stirred and elevated by the lofty thoughts which the truest form of
+music, the choral, can alone express?"
+
+She had spoken louder and louder, until she did not perceive that her
+voice was entirely destroying the effect of a touching phrase, just
+delivered by the unwearied chaplain, whose efforts had not been
+intermitted for an instant.
+
+"Ah, you must not blame the doctor for that," said Fraeulein von Walde.
+"His time is precious; most likely he has a patient to see in L----; he
+was about to leave just before we began to play."
+
+"While that heathenish Erlking was going on, the worthy man entirely
+forgot his patients," the baroness interrupted contemptuously.  "Well, I
+must submit. Unfortunately, in our degenerate days, the scoffers of our
+faith have gained the upper hand."
+
+"But, for heaven's sake, Amalie, what do you want me to do?  You know
+only too well that Fels is indispensable to me.  He is the only
+physician who knows how to relieve me when I am in great suffering,"
+cried Helene, and her eyes filled with tears, while her cheeks were
+suffused with a blush of irritation.
+
+"I thought, Fraeulein Helene,"--began Frau von Lehr, who had hitherto
+sat in her corner silently, and on the watch, like a spider in its
+web,--"I thought that the welfare of our souls should be our first
+consideration; care for our poor bodies should, in my estimation, rank
+second in our view.  There are many other skilful physicians in L----,
+with as great a reputation for learning as Dr. Fels enjoys.  Believe me,
+my dear, it often gives great pain to our Christian friends in L---- to
+know that a scoffer, an infidel, is admitted to your confidence as your
+friend and adviser."
+
+"Even if I consented to sacrifice myself so far," replied Helene, "as to
+employ another physician, I dare not take such a step without first
+obtaining my brother's consent; and I know that I should meet with
+determined opposition there, for Rudolph is warmly attached to the
+doctor, and puts entire confidence in him."
+
+"Yes, more's the pity!" cried the baroness.  "I have never been able to
+comprehend that weakness in Rudolph's character.  Doctor Fels imposes
+upon him utterly with his seeming frankness, which might better be
+called insolence.  Well, I wash my hands of the affair, only for the
+future I must decline any visits from the doctor, and entreat you, my
+dear Helene, to excuse me when he is with you."
+
+Fraeulein von Walde made no reply.  She arose and looked sadly around
+the room for an instant, as if missing something.  It seemed to
+Elizabeth that her eyes sought Herr von Hollfeld, who had left the room
+unperceived a short time before.
+
+The baroness took up her lace shawl, and Frau von Lehr and her daughter
+prepared for departure.  Both paid several compliments to the chaplain,
+who had finished his performance, and was standing at the piano rubbing
+his hands with embarrassment; and then all took leave of Helene, who
+replied to their good-nights in a tone of great exhaustion.
+
+As Elizabeth descended the stairs she saw Herr von Hollfeld standing in
+a retired, dimly-lighted corridor. During his mother's outbreak of anger
+he had sat quietly turning over the leaves of a book, never joining in
+the conversation by word or look.  His conduct had disgusted Elizabeth,
+who had hoped that he would have stood by Helene and silenced his mother
+by a few serious words.  She was still more displeased when she noticed
+that he was steadily regarding herself while he was apparently occupied
+with his book.  He might easily have seen her displeasure in her face,
+but he continued to stare most insultingly.  She felt herself at last
+blush deeply beneath his gaze, and she was the more provoked at feeling
+this, as the same thing had occurred against her will several times
+before.  It was remarkable that she never went home from Castle Lindhof
+without chancing to meet Herr von Hollfeld either in the hall, upon the
+stairs, or stepping suddenly from behind a tree in the park.  Why these
+meetings at last became painfully embarrassing to her she could not have
+explained to herself.  She thought no more about it, and usually forgot
+him entirely before she reached her home.
+
+He was standing now in the dark passage.  A black slouched hat was
+pulled down over his face, and his summer coat had been exchanged for a
+light cloak.  He seemed to be waiting for some one, and as soon as
+Elizabeth had reached the last stair approached her hastily, as though
+about to address her.
+
+At the same moment Frau von Lehr and her daughter appeared on the
+landing above.
+
+"Aha, Herr von Hollfeld," cried the elder lady, "are you going to walk?"
+
+The young man's features, which had seemed to Elizabeth strikingly
+animated, instantly assumed a quiet expression of entire indifference.
+
+"I have just come in from the garden," he said negligently, "where I
+have been refreshing myself in the soft night air.  Attend Fraeulein
+Ferber home," he said authoritatively to a servant who issued from the
+servants' room with a lantern, and then with an obeisance to the ladies,
+he retired.
+
+"How glad I am," said Elizabeth, as an hour later she was sitting at her
+mother's bedside relating the events of the afternoon, "that to-morrow
+will be Sunday.  In our dear little simple village church I shall forget
+all the disagreeable impressions which the last few hours have left upon
+my mind.  I never could have believed that I could have listened to a
+choral without being moved to aspiration and devotion.  But to-day I was
+really angry, when, amid the clatter of the teacups, and after an hour
+passed in talk certainly not inspired by love of our neighbour, I
+suddenly heard those tones which have always been sacred to hours of
+meditation and serious thought. Behind all this religious zeal there
+lies hidden boundless arrogance,--that I saw clearly to-day; but if
+others feel as I do, these people will scarcely make many proselytes.
+Acknowledge, mother dear, that I am not naturally antagonistic, and yet
+to-day I felt for the first time in my life an irresistible desire to
+defy and contradict."
+
+And then she spoke of Herr von Hollfeld and his strange behaviour in the
+hall, adding that she could not understand what he could possibly have
+wished to say to her.
+
+"Never mind, we will not puzzle ourselves about that," said Frau Ferber.
+"If he should ever propose to accompany you on your way home, do not
+fail to reject such an offer peremptorily.  Do you hear, Elizabeth?"
+
+"But, dearest mother, what are you thinking of?" cried the girl with a
+laugh.  "The skies will fall before such a thing happens.  If he could
+allow Frau Lehr and her daughter, who consider themselves persons of
+distinction, to go home without an escort, he will hardly condescend to
+notice my insignificant self."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+About a week after the arrival of his relatives the forester had
+published an edict in his domicile, which, as he said, had been hailed
+with joy by his prime minister, and in accordance with which the duty of
+taking their mid-day meal every Sunday at the Lodge was imposed upon the
+Ferber family.  Those were joyous days for Elizabeth.
+
+Long before the first sound of the church bell they usually set out for
+church.  In her fluttering white dress, her soul filled with the
+consciousness of youth and happiness, convinced that such a clear,
+lovely day, must bring joy with it, Elizabeth walked beside her parents,
+and looked eagerly for the moment when the round gilt ball upon the
+village church tower at Lindhof emerged from the waves of green in the
+valley below them; then from the dark and silent forest paths to the
+right and left, groups of church-goers from the different hamlets around
+would appear and join them with kindly greetings, until, while the bells
+were ringing, the whole assembly arrived in the meadow just before the
+church, where the forester was usually awaiting them.  He welcomed them
+from a distance with sparkling eyes and a flourish of his hat in the
+air.  In every movement of his tall figure, in his whole bearing, might
+be read that inflexible integrity which never bowed to the mighty ones
+of the earth, that expression of manly power and force of character from
+which we expect to see quick resolve and bold action result, but which
+never suggests the tender emotions of a sensitive nature.  Elizabeth
+declared that it was always a touching surprise when a single gentle
+star beamed forth at night from a sky covered with clouds, and that the
+sudden look of melting tenderness that occasionally illumined her
+uncle's frank, determined countenance, affected her in like manner.  And
+she had many an opportunity of observing this change of expression, for
+she had grown to be the apple of his eye.  He had never had any
+children, and now poured forth all the paternal affection of which his
+large, warm heart was capable, upon his brother's lovely child, who, he
+felt with pride, resembled himself in many points of character, although
+in her they were transfigured by the charm of feminine delicacy and
+refinement.
+
+And she repaid his affection with the clinging love and filial care of a
+daughter.  She soon discovered how to make many an addition to his
+domestic comfort, and where Sabina's penetration or capacity were at
+fault, she effected many an improvement, with so much tact that the old
+servant was never offended, whilst a new life opened upon her uncle,
+surrounded by Elizabeth's tender care.
+
+On the return from church, her uncle led Elizabeth by the hand, "just
+like a little school-girl," as she said, and, indeed, it looked like it.
+The excellent sermon which they had just heard, furnished matter for
+abundant conversation and exchange of newly-developed thoughts and
+sentiments; while the birds twittered and sang as though determined to
+vindicate their right to speak here, and the golden-green sunshine came
+quivering through the tops of the trees, flecking their heads as they
+passed with its transfiguring light.
+
+At the farthest end of the long dim forest aisle, for it was a very
+narrow path which led from the Lodge to the village of Lindhof, a little
+point of light indicated the meadow, in the middle of which stood the
+old house. With every step the picture grew more distinct, until at last
+they could distinguish Sabina waiting for them at the door, shading her
+eyes with the corner of her white apron, and retreating into the house
+when she saw them, that she might take her stand behind the soup tureen,
+which was smoking upon the table beneath the beeches, where she
+fulfilled her duty with the air of a general upon a rampart.
+
+But to-day Sabina had prepared a particularly delicious repast, for in
+the centre of the table was piled a huge crimson pyramid, the first
+wood-strawberries of the year, hailed with delight by little Ernst, and
+by full-grown Elizabeth too.  The forester laughed at the enthusiasm of
+the big and little child, and declared that he had a surprise to offer
+as well as Sabina,--he would have the horse harnessed and take Elizabeth
+to L----, where he had a little business to attend to,--a long-promised
+pleasure. The young girl accepted his proposal with delight.
+
+At table Elizabeth related the occurrences of the previous evening.  Her
+uncle shook with laughter.
+
+"The doctor's a bold fellow," he said, still laughing; "but 'tis of no
+use, he has drunk his last cup of tea at Lindhof."
+
+"Impossible, uncle,--it would be outrageous!" cried Elizabeth,
+earnestly.  "Fraeulein von Walde would never permit such a thing, she
+will resist with all her might."
+
+"Well," he said, "I wish we could question the little lady to-day with
+regard to her sentiments towards the doctor, and you would see.  How can
+a strong will inhabit such a frail dwelling?  That imperious woman will
+soon influence her, and there is none to resist, for 'Heaven is high,
+and the Czar afar,' as the Russians say.  We know, Sabina, that many a
+strange thing has happened since the rule of the baroness began, eh?"
+
+"Ah, yes indeed, Herr Forester!" replied the old woman, who was just
+putting a dish upon the table.  "When I think of poor Schneider,--she is
+the widow of a day-labourer in the village," she said, turning to the
+others; "she always worked hard to make both ends meet, and no one could
+say a word against her, but she had four children to feed, and lived
+from hand to mouth.  And matters went badly with her last harvest, and
+she had nothing to give her children to eat, so she was driven to do
+what was wrong, and took an apron full of potatoes from a splendid field
+belonging to the castle.  But the overseer, Linke, who happened to be
+standing behind a tree not far off, saw her, sprang out upon her
+instantly, and knocked her down.  Even if he had stopped there 'twould
+not have been so bad, but he kicked her brutally as she lay upon the
+ground.  I had been to Lindhof, and as I was passing beneath the cherry
+trees near the village, on my way home, I saw some one lying upon the
+ground,--it was the poor woman, bleeding profusely, and with not a soul
+near her.  She could not move, so I called some people, who helped me to
+carry her home.  The Herr Forester was absent, but I was sure of his
+permission, and so I nursed and tended her as well as I could.  The
+people in the village were furious at the overseer,--but what could they
+do?  There was some talk of arresting him, but it all came to nothing.
+Linke is one of the saints, he is the baroness' right-hand man, turns up
+his eyes, and does everything in the name of the Lord.  It must never
+get abroad that such a pious man could behave so inhumanly, and so the
+baroness drove to town every day, and was wonderfully condescending,
+and, in short, the story was hushed up, and the poor woman, who has
+never entirely recovered, had to get along as best she might, for
+neither she nor her children ever had a bite or a drop from the castle
+all the while that she was sick.  Ah! yes, the overseer and the
+baroness' old waiting-maid make a hard time of it for the poor people,
+they keep a close watch to see who misses prayers or chapel over there,
+and they have been the means of depriving many an honest man of work at
+the castle."
+
+"Don't say any more about it," said the forester.  "I cannot relish my
+food when I think of these things, and our pleasant Sunday, to which I
+look forward all the week, must have no other shadows upon it than those
+cast by the white, fleecy clouds up there."
+
+As soon as the meal was concluded the forester's modest little equipage
+made its appearance.  He handed in Elizabeth, and seated himself by her
+side.  As she nodded a farewell to the others, she glanced up at the
+house, and started with actual terror at the eyes which were gazing down
+upon her from a window in the upper story.  'Tis true, the head
+disappeared instantly, but Elizabeth had time to recognize the mute
+Bertha, and to convince herself that she was the object of that look of
+rage and hate, although she could not divine its cause.  Until now
+Bertha had withdrawn herself entirely from all intercourse with the
+Ferber family.  She never appeared when Elizabeth was at the Lodge.  She
+took her Sunday dinner alone in her own room, and the forester allowed
+her to please herself in the matter.  He had no desire to establish any
+relation between the two girls.
+
+Frau Ferber had once made an attempt to address the unfortunate girl.
+Her gentle feminine nature could not believe that mere wilfulness was
+the spring of Bertha's extraordinary behaviour.  She suspected the
+existence of some deeper cause, perhaps of some secret grief, which made
+her indifferent to her surroundings, or rendered her so irritable that
+she chose to remain silent rather than be engaged in perpetual strife.
+A gentle word from her, a kindly advance on her side, would, she hoped,
+unseal Bertha's lips; but she succeeded no better than Elizabeth had
+done.  She was even so outraged by the girl's manner that she strictly
+forbade all further attempt at intercourse with her upon Elizabeth's
+part.
+
+After a charming drive, Elizabeth and her uncle reached their
+destination.
+
+L---- was certainly a small town, and bore the unmistakable impress of a
+small town, although the court resided there from the appearance of the
+first primrose to the fall of the last autumn leaf, and its inhabitants
+took the greatest pains to adapt themselves, in their social life, to
+the manners and customs of a large Capital.  But the loud, uneasy
+creaking of the machinery of a most complicated domestic economy could
+not be drowned by the rustle of the most flowing and elegant crinoline.
+The honest townsfolk, who left their dwellings, with doors wide open, in
+perfect safety, to earn their daily bread in the little uneven streets,
+or in the strips of meadow land between their houses, fell as far short
+of being peacocks as did the ducks, that daily delighted to swim in the
+little brook running directly through the town, of becoming stately
+swans.
+
+The situation of the place was undeniably delightful. In the centre of a
+not very spacious valley, nestled at the foot of an eminence whose
+summit was crowned by the royal castle and domain, it lay buried in the
+dark, rich green of avenues of lindens, and surrounded in spring by the
+lovely blossoms of countless orchards.
+
+The forester took Elizabeth to the house of an assessor, one of his
+friends.  She was to wait for him there until he had concluded his
+business.  Although made cordially welcome by the lady of the house, she
+would gladly have turned round and followed her retreating uncle,--for
+she found herself, to her vexation, in the midst of a large assemblage
+of ladies.  Her hostess informed her that, in honour of her husband's
+birthday, she had gotten up a set of tableaux from mythology, to
+rehearse which was the cause of the present gathering.  At the
+coffee-table, in a pleasantly-furnished apartment, eight or ten ladies
+were seated, already dressed in mythological costume, and upon the
+arrival of the stranger, they measured her with glances that seemed to
+penetrate every plait and fold of her simple attire.
+
+All the goddesses, without exception, had submitted themselves, in their
+costume, to the sceptre of the royal fair of France, and wore their
+white robes over abundant crinoline, which was then the fashion, "For,"
+said Ceres, a trig little blonde, upon whose flushed brow a whole
+harvest was waving, "one looks so forlorn without crinoline;" and how
+else could her dress have supported the huge bunches of wheat ears and
+red poppies with which it was adorned?  How Dame Ceres had managed this
+difficulty in her days of splendour was a problem which no one took the
+pains to solve.
+
+Perhaps the artificial light of the evening would be favourable to the
+remarkable arrangement of some of the toilets, but now the bright
+sunlight illuminated and revealed with cruel sincerity every pasted bit
+of gold-paper, every paper-muslin scarf that should have represented
+satin, and every basting stitch in the improvised tunics. Several
+old-fashioned paste shoe-buckles glittered in the girdle of Venus; and
+the silver crescent upon the forehead of Diana showed the blotting-paper
+behind it at every movement of the head which it adorned.
+
+The hostess went from one to the other of her guests, exerting herself
+for the entertainment of all.
+
+"What a shame!" she said, entering the room after a short absence, "Frau
+Raethin Wolf has sent to say that her Adolph cannot come to-night; he is
+in bed with a fever.  As soon as the note came, I ran across myself to
+Doctor Fels; but there is no doing anything with that man upon the
+subject of his children's education.  He repeated his former refusal,
+and so ungraciously, that I am quite outraged.  He says that he
+considers any part in such entertainments with grown-up people entirely
+unfit for half-grown boys like his Moritz, who get their heads filled
+with a sense of their own importance, their minds distracted from their
+lessons,--and Heaven knows what besides.  He told me, most insolently,
+that he thinks I should have done better this evening to have provided
+my suffering husband--suffering, indeed, he is as lively as a fish in
+the sea, except for a touch of rheumatism--with a supper that he liked,
+than to have worried him with such buffoonery, which will only deprive
+him of his usual comfort and night's rest, and do no living creature any
+earthly good."
+
+"How coarse! how rude!  He is always pretending to be a connoisseur of
+art, and doesn't understand it one whit better than my little finger,"
+was heard from one and the other of the ladies.
+
+"Let my experience console you, dear Adele," said Ceres.  "Were it not
+that my husband cannot dispense with his services as a physician, Fels
+should never darken my doors again.  When I had that children's
+fancy-ball last winter, which was acknowledged to be a great success, he
+refused my invitation to his children; and what do you think he said to
+me, when I begged him to allow his little girls to come,--'Does it
+really give you pleasure to see such monkey-tricks?'  I never will
+forgive him!"
+
+Elizabeth suddenly seemed to see the doctor's intellectual face, with
+its searching glance, sarcastic smile, and the slightly contemptuous
+play of its finely-formed lips.  She laughed inwardly at his rude
+replies; but she was struck at the same time by the depressing thought,
+how hard it is for a man to live up to his convictions.
+
+"But what would you have, Frau Director?" broke in Flora, a delicate,
+languishing figure with a pretty but very pale face, who had hitherto
+been entirely occupied in smiling upon her flower-decked reflection in
+an opposite glass.  "He has treated us no better.  Two years ago he told
+my father and mother to their faces, that it was not only folly but want
+of principle--just think of such a thing!--to allow me to go into
+society so young, with my constitution.  Papa and mamma were
+furious,--as if they did not know best about their own children!  It was
+well that we all knew what prompted such tender care on his part.  His
+youngest sister was then still unmarried, and, naturally enough, she was
+by no means pleased to see young girls usurping her place in society.
+Papa would have dismissed the doctor upon the spot, but mamma depends
+upon his prescriptions.  Well, they paid no attention to his advice,
+and, as you see, I still live."
+
+The silence of the assemblage confirmed Elizabeth's conviction that the
+triumph which Flora spoke of was a very doubtful one, and that this
+delicate creature, with her narrow chest and pallid face, would still
+have to atone severely for the physician's neglected counsel.
+
+Suddenly a barouche slowly passing down the street attracted the ladies
+to the window.  Where she was sitting Elizabeth could plainly see the
+object of the universal curiosity.  In the elegant vehicle sat the
+Baroness Lessen and Fraeulein von Walde.  The latter had her face turned
+towards the assessor's house, and she looked as if she were diligently
+counting the windows of the lower stories.  Her cheeks were slightly
+flushed, always a sign in her of inward agitation.  The baroness, on the
+contrary, was leaning back negligently among the cushions, and appeared
+to be entirely unconscious of everything around.
+
+"The Lindhof ladies," said Ceres.  "But, Heavens! what is the meaning of
+that?  They are entirely ignoring Doctor Fels' windows.  There stands
+the doctor's wife.  Ha, ha! what a long face; she tried to bow, but the
+ladies have no eyes in the backs of their heads."
+
+Elizabeth looked across at the opposite house.  A very beautiful woman,
+with a lovely fair-haired child in her arms, was standing at the window.
+There certainly was a puzzled look in her pleasant blue eyes, but the
+delicate oval of her face was not in the least lengthened. Attracted by
+the movements of the child, who stretched out his little arms towards
+the fantastic heads at the windows of the assessor's house, she looked
+across, and, archly smiling, nodded to the ladies, who kissed their
+hands, and replied to her salutation by all sorts of tender pantomime.
+
+"Strange!" said the hostess; "what could the ladies mean by passing by
+her house without nodding to her? They never went by without stopping
+before to-day. Frau Fels would stand on the carriage-step for ever so
+long, and Fraeulein von Walde seemed to like her so much--the baroness,
+'tis true, often made a wry face.  It certainly is very strange; but we
+must wait and see what the future will bring forth."
+
+"Herr von Hollfeld must have stayed at Odenberg. He was with the ladies
+this morning when the carriage passed," said Diana.
+
+"How will Fraeulein von Walde endure the separation?" asked Flora, with
+a sneer.
+
+"Why, is there anything in that quarter?" asked the hostess.
+
+"Don't you know that, child?" cried Ceres.  "We can't tell yet what his
+sentiments are, but beyond all doubt she loves him passionately.  In
+fact, it is almost certain that the love is all on one side; for how can
+such an unfortunate cripple inspire affection,--and in such a cold
+nature as Hollfeld's, which has been unmoved by the greatest beauties?"
+
+"Yes, true enough," said Venus, with a glance at the mirror, which
+Flora, in spite of her emaciation, had entirely monopolized.  "But
+Fraeulein von Walde is enormously rich!"
+
+"Oh, he can have the wealth at a cheaper rate," said Flora.  "He is said
+to be heir to the sister and brother too."
+
+"Oh, the brother!" rejoined Venus.  "He had better not rely upon his
+chances there.  Herr von Walde is a man in the prime of life, and may
+marry at any time."
+
+"Nonsense!" cried Ceres, excitedly.  "The woman is yet to be born, or
+rather sent down from heaven, who can touch him.  He is haughtiness
+itself, and has less heart than his cousin.  How provoked I used to be
+at the court-balls, to see him standing in the doorway with his arms
+crossed as if they were glued together, and looking down so arrogantly
+upon the crowd.  Only when the princess, or one of the royal family,
+requested him to dance did he stir from the spot, and then he was at no
+pains to conceal that he cared not a bit for the honour. Well, we know
+well enough what his requisitions are for the woman at whose feet he
+will lay the proud name of von Walde--Ancestors! ancestors she must
+have, and her pedigree must date from Noah's ark."
+
+All laughed, except Elizabeth, who remained very grave.  Fraeulein von
+Walde's behaviour had made a deep impression upon her.  She was annoyed,
+and felt that her views of human nature had been lowered.  Was such a
+change possible in the course of a few short hours?  The fact just
+stated by the ladies, that Helene von Walde loved the son of the
+Baroness Lessen, would have fully explained the influence exercised by
+the latter to any one of a practical, matter-of-fact nature,--but not to
+Elizabeth.
+
+The elevating sentiment, described by the poets of all ages and all
+climes as the truest and most ennobling of which human nature is
+capable, could not possibly be an incentive to unworthy conduct; and it
+was equally hard to imagine how Herr von Hollfeld could inspire that
+sentiment.  Here she judged from the one-sided, personal point of view
+from which we are prone to pass sentence on others; but whether from the
+instinct of her true womanly nature, or whether she really possessed the
+clear insight that sees in the lines of the face the clear indications
+of the soul within and traces them to their source, we cannot
+say,--certainly, in this case, her judgment of a man with whom she had
+had scarcely any intercourse was entirely correct.
+
+Herr von Hollfeld was certainly not calculated to personate the ideal of
+a refined feminine nature.  He neither possessed intelligence nor wit,
+was inordinately vain, and by no means content with the interest excited
+by his fine person.  He was fully aware that most women will forgive
+defects of person sooner than defects of mind; and therefore he adopted
+the mask of silence and reserve, behind which the world is so ready to
+see great intelligence, originality, and strength of character.  There
+was no man living who could boast of being upon intimate terms with Herr
+von Hollfeld; he was cunning enough to elude every attempt to test the
+quality of his mind, and avoided all earnest conversation with men,
+while women, as soon as they perceived the rough shell of his repellant
+behaviour, were only too ready to cry, "the sweeter the kernel."  Herr
+von Hollfeld understood his part,--he was moved by secret desires and
+hopes, which were strengthened by the difficulty attending their
+attainment.  Animated by no lofty aspirations, he was the slave of
+avarice and sensuality. To make his position a brilliant one from a
+worldly point of view, he disdained no petty intrigue, and his office as
+chamberlain at the court of L---- opened the way to many such.  He
+deceived and lied, and was all the more dangerous on account of the
+frank honest seeming behind which men never suspected the low schemer,
+or women the vulgar sensualist.
+
+Elizabeth was glad when she saw her uncle turn the corner and approach
+the house.  With a sigh of relief she took her place in the carriage at
+his side.  She took off her hat, and bathed her hot forehead in the
+fresh, delicious evening breeze that swept gently by.  The last rays of
+the sun were just gilding the trembling leaves of the poplars by the
+roadside, and there was a rosy light upon the fields of blooming grain;
+but the forest that enclosed in its bosom Elizabeth's home lay dark and
+gloomy beyond, as if it had already forgotten the sunny life which had
+penetrated its inmost recesses so short a time before.
+
+The forester glanced several times at the silent young girl at his side.
+Suddenly he transferred both reins and whip to one hand, took hold of
+Elizabeth's chin, and turned her face up to him.
+
+"Come, let me see, Elsie!" he said.  "What! why, zounds! you have got
+two wrinkles there in your forehead as deep as old Sabina's furrows.
+What has happened?  Come, out with it!  Something has vexed you, hey?"
+
+"No, uncle, I am not vexed, but pained that you were so right in your
+estimate of Fraeulein von Walde," replied Elizabeth, while a deep blush
+of emotion covered her face.
+
+"Pained because I was right, or because Fraeulein von Walde has acted
+unworthily?"
+
+"Well, because what you prophesied was evil, and----"
+
+"And therefore it follows that you should be angry with me.  He is
+always the criminal who tells the truth in such a matter.  And pray,
+which of the utterances of my worldly wisdom has been justified by
+time?"
+
+She told him of Helene's conduct, and of what the ladies had said.  The
+forester smiled meaningly.
+
+"Oh women, women, and those women in especial! They prophesy an
+immediate marriage if two people only say good morning to each other.
+But perhaps they are right in this case,--it clears up much to my mind
+that has hitherto seemed inexplicable to me."
+
+"But, uncle, you cannot believe that any one would sacrifice the best
+feelings of our nature to such a preference?"
+
+"Many other things have happened, my child, for the sake of such a
+preference, and although I do not for one moment defend Fraeulein von
+Walde's weakness and submission; still, I shall henceforth judge her
+more leniently. She succumbs to the power which leads us to forget
+father and mother for another's sake."
+
+"Ah! that is just what I cannot understand," said Elizabeth, earnestly.
+"How can any one love a stranger better than father or mother?"
+
+"Hm!" rejoined the forester, touching the horses lightly with his whip,
+to accelerate their speed.  This "hm" was followed by a clearing of his
+throat, and he changed the subject, for he justly thought, "If that be
+so, she will never understand my definition of love, although I should
+speak with the tongues of angels."  And he himself?--Far, far in the
+past lay the time when he had carved the dear name upon the trees, and
+trained his deep voice to sing love songs; when he had walked miles for
+a single smile, and had hated as his bitterest enemy the man who dared
+to regard with favour the object of his adoration.  He looked back and
+rejoiced in that wonderful time, but to paint it with its tempests of
+excited feeling,--its tears and laughter, its hopes and fears,--was more
+than he could do.
+
+"Do you see that perpendicular black streak just above the forest
+there?" he asked, after a long silence, pointing with his whip to the
+mountain which they were approaching.
+
+"Yes, indeed, it is the flag-staff upon Castle Gnadeck. I saw it a few
+moments ago, and am now rejoicing unspeakably in the thought that there
+lies a spot of earth that we may call our own,--a place from which no
+one has the right to drive us.  Thank God, we have a home!"
+
+"And such a home!" said the forester, as his beaming eyes looked around
+the horizon.  "When I was quite a little child, how I longed for the
+Thuringian forest!  It was all because of my grandfather's stories.  In
+his youth he had lived in Thuringia, and had the tales and legends of
+his home at his tongue's end; and when I had reached man's estate, I
+came hither.  Then all the forest which we see before us belonged to the
+Gnadewitzes, but I would not enter their service,--my father had told me
+too much about them.  I was the first Ferber from time immemorial who
+had renounced their service.  I applied to the Prince of L----.  The
+last of the Gnadewitzes divided his forests because the Prince of L----
+was willing to pay an immense sum of money that he might enlarge his own
+woodland possessions.  And thus it happened that the most ardent desire
+of my youth was gratified, for I live now in the house that may be
+called the cradle of the Ferbers. You know that we came at first from
+Thuringia?"
+
+"Oh yes, I have known that from my childhood."
+
+"And do you know the story of our origin?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Well, it was long ago, and perhaps I am the only one who now knows
+anything about it, but it shall not be lost, for remembrance is all the
+gratitude that posterity can show for a brave action,--so now you shall
+hear the story, and then you can tell it again.
+
+"About two hundred years ago,--you see we can trace back a considerable
+pedigree,--the only pity is that we have no idea who the mother of our
+race was,--if you should ever be asked any questions concerning her by
+the Baroness Lessen, or others, you can answer with confidence that we
+suspect her to have been either Augusta von Blasewitz,--for the story
+dates from the thirty years' war,--or a vivandiere: perhaps she was a
+good, honest woman, who clung to her husband through all the hardships
+of the war, although I cannot forgive her for forsaking her
+child,--well, then, about two hundred years ago, as the wife of the
+huntsman Ferber opened her door in the morning--the very door that now
+shuts upon my home--she saw a little child lying upon the threshold. She
+clapped the door to again in a great hurry, for the forest was then
+swarming with gypsies, and she thought it would prove to be one of their
+dirty brats.  But her husband was more of a Christian, and took the
+child in. It was scarcely a day old.  A paper was pinned upon its
+breast, stating that the child was born in holy wedlock, that he had
+been baptized by the name of Hans, and that whoever would take care of
+him should receive further revelations concerning him at some future
+day.  Hidden in the child's dress was found a purse containing some
+money.  The huntsman's wife was a good woman, and when she heard the
+child was born of Christian parents, and was probably the son of some
+honest soldier who had left it here that it might not be exposed to the
+dangers of the war, she took it to her heart and brought it up with her
+own little girl as if they had been brother and sister.  It was well for
+him that she did so, for no one ever heard another word about his
+relatives.  His foster-father afterwards adopted him, and, to make his
+happiness complete, he married his foster-sister.  He, as well as his
+son and grandson, lived where I live now, as foresters to the
+Gnadewitzes, and they all died there.  My grandfather was the first who
+left this place with his master for one of the estates in Silesia.  As a
+boy, I was much disappointed that some countess mother did not turn up
+in the end who should recognize the foundling as her son, stolen from
+her by the malice of an enemy, and bear him home in triumph to her
+castle.  Later in life I learned to endure the want of this romantic
+termination to the story with a good grace, as I considered that in such
+case my own appearance here would have been very dubious, and my honest
+name pleased me too much to wish it changed for any other; but imagine
+my sensations when I stood for the first time upon the threshold where
+the little foundling had passed the most helpless moment of his life,
+when, deserted by his natural parents, sympathy had not yet supplied
+their place.  The worn stone is undoubtedly the same upon which the
+child lay, and as long as I live here or have anything to do with the
+place, it shall never be removed."
+
+Suddenly the forester leaned forward and pointed through the boughs, for
+they had entered the wood.
+
+"Do you see that white spot?" he asked.
+
+The white spot was the cap of Sabina, who was sitting at the door of the
+Lodge waiting for them.  When she saw the carriage, she rose quickly,
+shook the contents of her apron, which proved to be a quantity of
+forget-me-nots, into a basket, and came to assist Elizabeth to alight.
+
+The horse trotted, neighing, behind the house, where he was awaited and
+received with a caressing pat.  Hector laid himself down upon the
+ground, wagging his tail contentedly, and the doves and sparrows, which
+the noise of the arrival had frightened away, returned and hopped
+fearlessly about upon the green painted bench and table under the
+linden, where, as the little rogues well knew, the forester was in the
+habit of taking his morning and evening meals.  He went into the house
+for a moment that he might exchange his uniform for the more comfortable
+garment worn at home, and soon returned, pipe and newspaper in hand, to
+the linden, where Sabina soon began to lay the table.
+
+"'Tis a fact, it's a silly piece of Sunday work for such an old woman as
+I am," said the housekeeper, laughing, as she passed Elizabeth, who,
+sitting upon the stone step which now possessed such an interest for
+her, continued the weaving of the wreath which Sabina had begun.  "But I
+have been used to such work from my youth.  I have two little black
+pictures up in my room, likenesses of my blessed father and mother; they
+certainly deserve that I should honour them and hold them in loving
+remembrance, so I hang fresh flowers around them every Sunday, as long
+as there is a blossom to be had. A couple of children from Lindhof bring
+me fresh ones every Sunday, and to-day they brought me so many that
+there is enough for a wreath for Gold Elsie; if she puts it in a dish of
+water it will keep fresh all through the week."
+
+Elizabeth sat a long time this evening with her uncle. A flood of
+memories came rushing over his mind, called forth by his narration of
+the old story of two hundred years before.  He recalled many a wish,
+plan, and aspiration of his youth, which now provoked only a smiling
+sigh of sympathetic pity,--they had all vanished before the actual, like
+dust before the wind.  He talked them over now, as one who, standing
+upon the land, hears the dash of the breakers afar that cannot reach
+him.  Sometimes he would make some witty attack, in the midst of his
+recollections, upon Elizabeth, who would parry his thrusts and retort
+merrily.
+
+Meanwhile a light arose behind the trees, which had blended
+undistinguishably with the dark heavens, but which now stood out in
+strong relief against the bright background.  Single rays shot like
+silver arrows between interlacing boughs, and lay motionless like oases
+of light upon the dim meadow, until at last the moon arose, large and
+victorious, above the tops of the trees, and its full lustre flooded the
+landscape.  The gentle breeze of evening had long since folded its
+wings,--you could have counted the shadows of the linden leaves upon the
+moonlit earth, so distinct and motionless they lay.  All the clearer was
+heard the gurgle of the little fountain in the court-yard of the Lodge,
+and the low, indefinite murmur from the woods, which Elizabeth called
+"the sleepy rain" of the forest.
+
+"There," said Sabina, crowning Elizabeth's head lightly with the
+forget-me-not wreath, which she had just completed.  "Carry it home so,
+and you'll not crush it."
+
+"Then it may stay there," said she, laughing, as she arose.  "Many
+thanks for my ride!  Good-night, uncle, good-night, Sabina!"
+
+And then she hastened through the house and garden, and was soon outside
+the gate, which she closed behind her, and flew along up the narrow
+moonlit forest path. In the dwelling-room above, the lamp was burning;
+in spite of the bright moonlight, its beams were distinctly visible, for
+the front of her home lay in deep shade.
+
+As she reached the little clearing, a remarkable shadow fell across her
+path.  It was neither a tree nor a post, but the figure of a man, a
+stranger, who had been standing upon one side of the path, and now, to
+her terror, approached her.  The apparition courteously removed its hat,
+and Elizabeth's terror vanished on the instant, for she saw before her
+the smiling, good-humoured countenance of a well dressed, rather elderly
+man.
+
+"I pray your pardon, Fraeulein, if I have frightened you," he said, as
+he looked kindly over the large, shining glasses of his spectacles into
+her face.  "I assure you, I have no designs either upon your life or
+your purse, and am simply a peaceful traveller, returning to his home,
+who greatly desires to know what the light in the ruins yonder may
+betoken; and yet this moment convinces me that my question is quite
+superfluous.  Fairies and elves are holding their revels there, while
+the fairest among them keeps guard in the forest around, that none may
+invade their charmed circle with impunity."
+
+This gallant comparison, trite as it may appear, was not ill applied at
+this moment, for the slight girlish figure in white robes, with the blue
+wreath crowning her angelic countenance, and bathed in moonlight, might
+well have been mistaken for a fairy vision, as it glided so lightly
+among the trees of the wood.
+
+She herself laughed inwardly at the quaint compliment, but with a little
+pique at the thought of resembling such a mercurial elfish being, and
+she replied to the old gentleman with maidenly dignity.
+
+"I am really sorry," she said, "to be forced to lead you back to
+realities, but I fail to see anything in the light yonder, except a
+commonplace lamp in the dwelling-room of a forester's clerk in the
+service of the Prince of L----."
+
+"Ah!" laughed the gentleman, "and does the man live all alone in those
+uncanny old walls?"
+
+"He might do so with a quiet mind, for over those whose consciences are
+pure nothing uncanny can have any power.  Nevertheless some loving
+creatures bear him company, among the rest, two well-fed goats and a
+canary bird, not to mention the owls, who have retired into private life
+in great indignation, since the frivolous conduct of human beings does
+not assort at all well with the solemn views of life entertained by
+their grave worships."
+
+"Or perhaps because they shun the light and cannot endure----"
+
+"That the new arrival should adore the truth?"
+
+"Perhaps that, too; but I was about to suggest that they fly from the
+two suns that have suddenly arisen in the old ruins."
+
+"Two suns at once?  That would be a terrible experience for their poor
+owls' eyes, and might even prove too much for a fire-worshipper,"
+replied Elizabeth, laughing, as she passed him with a slight
+inclination, for her parents had just emerged from the gate in the wall,
+and were advancing towards her.  They had come out with some anxiety
+when they heard Elizabeth's voice and that of a stranger, and they
+gently reproved her, after she had related her little adventure, for
+entering so thoughtlessly into conversation with strangers.
+
+"Your badinage might have had unpleasant consequences for you, my
+child," said her mother.  "Fortunately, they were gentlemen."
+
+"Gentlemen?" interrupted her daughter, with surprise. "There was only
+one."
+
+"Look around," said her father; "you can see for yourself."
+
+And certainly just where the path began to descend into the valley, two
+hats were plainly to be seen.
+
+"So you see, mother dear," said Elizabeth, "what an entirely harmless
+encounter it was.  One never stepped out from behind the bushes, and
+there was certainly not an atom of the brigand to be seen in the kind
+old face of the other."
+
+When she went to her room she carefully took the wreath from her head,
+laid it in fresh water, and placed it before the bust of Beethoven, then
+she kissed the forehead of the sleeping Ernst, and said good-night to
+her father and mother.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+"Hallo, Elsie, do not run so!" shouted the forester, the next day at
+three o'clock in the afternoon, as he came out of the forest with his
+rifle on his shoulder and crossed the meadow towards the Lodge.
+
+Elizabeth was running down the mountain, her round hat hanging upon her
+arm instead of resting upon the braids that glanced in the sunlight, and
+as she reached the house she flew laughing into her uncle's arms, which
+he extended to receive her.
+
+She put her hand into her pocket, and stepped back a few paces.  "Guess
+what I have in my pocket, uncle," she said, smiling.
+
+"Well, what can it be?  No need to puzzle one's brains long about it.
+Probably a little sentimental hay,--a few dried flowers, kept for the
+sake of the melancholy associations that they recall,--or some printed
+sighs over the woes of the world, bound in gilt pasteboard?"
+
+"Wrong, indeed; twice wrong, Herr Forester, for, in the first place,
+your wit glances harmlessly aside from me, and in the next--look here!"
+
+She drew a little box from her pocket, and lifted the cover.  There,
+upon green leaves, was comfortably lying a large lemon-coloured
+caterpillar, with black spots, broad bluish-green stripes upon its back,
+and a crooked horn upon its tail.
+
+"By all that is wonderful, Sphinx Atropos!" cried the delighted
+forester.  "Ah, my sunbeam, where did you find that exquisite specimen?"
+
+"Over at Lindhof, in a potato-field.  Isn't it beautiful? There, let us
+shut the box carefully, and put it back in my pocket."
+
+"What! am I not to have it?"
+
+"Oh yes; you can have it,--that is if you are inclined to pay for it."
+
+"Zounds!  What a girl you have become!  Come, give it to me,--here are
+four groschen."
+
+"Not for the world.  You can't have it for one farthing less than
+twelve.  When many a ragged, yellow old bit of parchment,--that one can
+hardly bear to touch,--is paid for with its weight in gold, certainly
+such a perfect piece of Nature's workmanship is worth twelve groschen."
+
+"Yellow old parchment! never breathe such a word into scientific ears,
+if you value your reputation."
+
+"Ah, there are none such to be breathed into here in the forest."
+
+"Take care; Herr von Walde----"
+
+"Is hiding in the Pyramids."
+
+"But he might suddenly return and take a certain self-conceited young
+person to strict account.  He is cock-of-the-walk among learned men."
+
+"Well, for aught I care, they may raise monuments in his honour, and
+strew laurels in his path, as much as they choose.  I cannot forgive him
+for forgetting, in the midst of all that dead lumber, the claims that
+the living have upon him.  While he is engaged in an enthusiastic
+search, perhaps, for some wonderfully preserved receipt by Lucullus, or
+lost in investigations as to whether the Romans did actually feed their
+fish upon the flesh of slaves, the poor employed upon his estate starve
+under the baroness' rule--actually crushed beneath the yoke of modern
+slavery."
+
+"Hallo! how his left ear must burn!  What a pity that he cannot hear
+this confession of faith!  Here are your twelve groschen, if you must
+have them.  You want to buy some trinket or other, a feather, or ribbons
+for your hat, hey?" he said, smiling.
+
+She held her hat out at arm's length before her, and contemplated with
+admiration the two fresh roses which she had stuck into the simple band
+of black velvet that encircled it.  "Does not that look lovely?" she
+asked. "Do you think I would voluntarily hide my head beneath nodding
+plumes when I can have roses, fresh roses?  And there is your
+caterpillar, and now you shall know why I want to black-mail you.  This
+morning the poor widow of a weaver in Lindhof came to my mother, begging
+a little assistance.  Her husband had had a fall, which injured his arm
+and his foot, so that he has not been able to earn anything for weeks.
+My mother gave her some old linen and a large loaf of bread.  She could
+do nothing more, as you know.  See, here I have fifteen groschen,--from
+my money-box,--there is not another farthing in it just now, and three
+from little Ernst, who would gladly have sold his tin soldiers to help
+the poor woman, and with the price for the caterpillar I shall have a
+whole thaler, which I shall carry to the poor thing immediately."
+
+"Let me see.  Here is another thaler; and, Sabina," he called into the
+house, "bring out a piece of meat from your pickling-tub, and wrap it up
+in green leaves.  You shall take that too," he said, turning again to
+Elizabeth.
+
+"Oh, you dearest of splendid uncles!" cried the girl, taking his large
+hand between her slender palms and pressing it tenderly.
+
+"But take care," he continued, "that the piece of good salt meat does
+not turn into roses.  It would be a sad change for the poor weaver's
+wife.  You seem to be following in the steps of your saintly namesake."
+
+"Yes; but fortunately I have here no cruel Landgrave to fear.  And if I
+had, I would tell the truth in spite of him."
+
+"Gracious gods, what a heroic soul it is!"
+
+"But I think the courage to tell a lie would be far greater, even though
+it were a pious one."
+
+"True, true, my daughter.  I think I could hardly have done it either.
+Ah, here comes Sabina!"
+
+The old housekeeper issued from the door, and whilst she wrapped up the
+meat for Elizabeth, in accordance with the forester's directions, she
+whispered to him that Herr von Walde, who had yesterday arrived from
+abroad, had been waiting for him for some time.
+
+"Where?" he asked.
+
+"Here in the dwelling-room."
+
+Now they had been standing directly beneath the open windows of this
+room.  Elizabeth turned quickly round, blushing scarlet, but could see
+no one.  Her uncle, without turning, shrugged his shoulders with an
+infinitely comical gesture, stroked his long moustache, and whispered,
+with a suppressed laugh: "Here's a nice state of things!  You have
+settled matters finely,--he has heard every word.7"
+
+"So much the better," replied his niece, throwing her head back with an
+air of defiance.  "He does not hear the truth very often, perhaps."
+Then bidding farewell to her uncle and Sabina, she walked slowly away
+through the forest in the direction of Lindhof.
+
+At first she was annoyed at the thought that Herr von Walde had been
+obliged, entirely against his will, to listen to the judgment which had
+been passed upon him.  Then she was sure that she should have told him
+just the same truth to his face.  And as it was scarcely to be supposed
+that he would ever trouble himself about her estimate of him, it
+certainly could do him no harm that he had been involuntarily the
+auditor of a frank, impartial sentence passed upon him, even although
+such sentence came from the lips of a young girl.  But how had it
+happened that he had returned so suddenly and unexpectedly?  Fraeulein
+von Walde had always spoken of her brother's absence as likely to
+continue for several years, and the day before she had had not the
+slightest expectation of his return. And then her encounter of the
+previous evening flashed into her mind.  The old gentleman had said that
+he was a traveller returning home; but it was impossible that he, with
+his smiling, good-humoured face, could be the grave, haughty proprietor
+of Lindhof, who, perhaps, was the person that had remained concealed
+beneath the trees while his companion was getting an answer to his
+inquiries. But what could Herr von Walde want with her uncle, who, as
+she knew, had never stood in any relation to him whatever?
+
+These and similar thoughts occupied her mind upon her way to the
+weaver's.  Husband and wife were delighted by the unhoped-for
+assistance, and heaped Elizabeth with profuse professions of gratitude
+as she left the house.
+
+She passed through the village, and directed her steps to Lindhof, where
+she had promised to practice as usual. The lesson had not been
+postponed, notwithstanding the return of Herr von Walde.  The
+proprietor's return had worked a great change in the whole look of the
+castle. All the windows of the lower story on the south side, which had
+so long been dark and closed behind their white shutters, now reflected
+the sunlight in a long, shining row.  The apartments within were
+undergoing a thorough airing and dusting.  A glass door stood wide open,
+revealing the interior of a large saloon.  Upon one of the steps which
+led down to the garden at the back lay a snow-white greyhound, with his
+slender body stretched out upon the hot stone and his head resting upon
+his forepaws; he blinked at Elizabeth as though she had been an old
+acquaintance.  At an open window the gardener was arranging a stand of
+flowers, and the old steward Lorenz was walking through the rooms,
+superintending everything.
+
+It was remarkable that all the people whom the young girl met had, as if
+by magic, entirely altered their whole expression.  Had a tempest swept
+through the sultry atmosphere and a fresh breeze filled all the rooms,
+so that voices sounded clearer, and bent forms grew straight and
+elastic?  Even old Lorenz, whose face had always worn so grim and
+depressed a look, as though there were a weight of lead upon his
+shoulders, shot real sunshine from his eyes, although he was scolding
+one of the maids; Elizabeth looked on in surprise.  She had only seen
+him before gliding about upon the tips of his toes, and in low,
+suppressed tones announcing guests to the ladies in the drawing-room.
+
+In amazement at this sudden bursting into bloom of new life and
+activity, Elizabeth turned towards the wing appropriated to the ladies.
+Here the deepest silence still reigned.  In the apartments of the
+baroness the curtains were closely drawn.  No noise penetrated through
+the doors by which Elizabeth passed.  The air of the passages was heavy
+with the odour of valerian, and when at the lower end of one of the
+halls, Elizabeth saw through an open door one human face, what a change
+met her eye!  It was the baroness' old waiting-maid who looked out,
+probably to see who was so bold as to invade the solemn repose of the
+corridor.  Her cap was set upon her false curls all awry, and the curls
+themselves were but loosely put on.  Her countenance wore a troubled
+expression, and a round, red spot on each cheek, betokened either high
+fever or some violent, mental agitation.  She returned Elizabeth's
+salute shortly and sullenly, and disappeared into the room, closing the
+door noiselessly behind her.
+
+When Elizabeth reached Fraeulein von Walde's apartment, she thought that
+she had arrived at the last act in the mysterious drama which had begun
+in the baroness' rooms, for no "come in" answered her repeated knock.
+Not only were the curtains here drawn, but the shutters also were closed
+as she saw when she gently opened the door.  The profound quiet and the
+darkness deterred her from entering, and she was about to shut the door
+again when Helene, in a weak voice, called to her to enter.  The little
+lady lay on a couch at the farther end of the room, her head resting on
+a white pillow, and Elizabeth could hear that her teeth were chattering
+as if with cold.
+
+"Ah, dear child," she said, and laid her cold, damp hand upon her young
+friend's arm, "I have had a nervous attack.  None of my people have
+observed that I am lying here so ill, and it has been terribly lonely in
+this dark room.  Pray open the windows wide,--I need air, the warm air
+of heaven."
+
+Elizabeth immediately did as she desired, and when the daylight streamed
+in upon the pale face of the invalid, it revealed traces of violent
+weeping.
+
+The sunshine aroused more life and motion in the room than Elizabeth had
+anticipated; she was startled by a loud scream which proceeded from one
+corner.  There she discovered a cockatoo, with snow-white plumage and a
+brilliant yellow crest, swinging to and fro upon a ring.
+
+"Heavens! what a fearful noise!" sighed Helene, pressing her little
+hands upon her ears.  "That terrible bird will tear my nerves to
+pieces!"
+
+Elizabeth's glance rested amazed upon the little stranger, and then
+explored the rest of the apartment, which looked like a bazaar.  Upon
+tables and chairs were lying costly stuffs, shawls, richly-bound books,
+and all kinds of toilet articles.  Fraeulein von Walde noticed
+Elizabeth's look, and said briefly, with averted face: "All presents
+from my brother, who returned home quite unexpectedly yesterday."
+
+How cold her voice was as she said it!  And there was not the slightest
+hint of pleasure to be discovered in her features, swollen with weeping;
+the large eyes, usually so soft and gentle, expressed only vexation and
+annoyance.
+
+Elizabeth stooped silently and picked up a gorgeous bouquet of
+camellias, that was lying half faded upon the floor.
+
+"Oh yes," said Helene, sitting up, while a slight flush appeared on her
+cheeks, "that is my brother's good-morning to me; it fell down from the
+table, and I forgot it. Pray put it in that vase there."
+
+"Poor flowers," said Elizabeth, half aloud, as she looked at the brown
+edges of the white petals, "they never dreamed when they opened their
+tender buds, that they were to bloom in such a cold atmosphere!"
+
+Helene looked up into her friend's face with a searching, troubled
+glance, and for an instant her eyes expressed regret.  "Put the flowers
+on the sill of the open window," she whispered quickly, "the air there
+will do them good.  Oh, heavens!" she cried, sinking back among her
+cushions.  "He is certainly a most excellent man, but his sudden return
+has destroyed the harmony of our delightful home life."
+
+Elizabeth looked almost incredulously at the little lady who lay there,
+her clasped hands raised, and her eyes lifted to heaven, as if fate had
+decreed her a most bitter trial.  If she had failed yesterday to find
+the key to Helene's conduct, she was certainly more puzzled than ever
+to-day by this incomprehensible character.  What had become of all those
+sentiments of fervent gratitude that had breathed from every word
+whenever Helene had spoken of her absent brother?  Had all the sisterly
+tenderness which had seemed to fill her heart vanished in a single
+moment, so that she now lamented what, according to her own words, she
+had so lately regarded as the most delightful thing that could happen?
+Even supposing that the returned brother did not sympathize with the
+circle in which alone she felt happy, if he should oppose her dearest
+wishes, was it possible that coldness and anger could exist between two
+beings whom fate had bound together by so close a tie, a tie which must
+bring them all the nearer to each other, since one was so helpless, and
+the other so alone in the world?  Elizabeth suddenly felt profound pity
+for the man who had sailed on distant seas and wandered through strange
+lands so long, only to be greeted as a disturbing element when he once
+more appeared at his own fireside.  Apparently there was one tender spot
+in his proud heart, love for his sister; how deeply wounded he must be
+that she had no loving welcome for him, and that her heart was cold and
+hard towards him!
+
+Occupied with these thoughts, Elizabeth arranged the flowers in the
+vase.  She returned not a syllable to Helene's outbreak, which had so
+maligned her brother to stranger ears.  And Helene herself, shamed
+probably by Elizabeth's silence, seemed to be conscious that she had
+lost her self-control, for she suddenly, in an altered voice, begged her
+to take a chair and stay with her for awhile.
+
+At this moment the door was violently flung open, and a female figure
+appeared upon the threshold.  Elizabeth was at some trouble to recognize
+in this apparition in its neglected, careless dress, betraying every
+sign of great agitation, the Baroness Lessen.  Her scanty locks, usually
+so carefully arranged, were streaming from under a morning-cap across
+her forehead, no longer white and smooth as ivory, but flushing scarlet.
+The stereotyped self-satisfaction had vanished from her eyes, and she
+presented a most insignificant appearance as she looked shyly into the
+room!
+
+"Ah, Helene!" she cried anxiously, without noticing Elizabeth, and her
+corpulent figure advanced with unwonted rapidity.  "Rudolph has just
+sent for the unfortunate Linke to come to his room, and he abused the
+poor man so violently and loudly that I heard him in my bed-room on the
+other side of the court--Heavens! how wretched I am!  The morning has
+agitated me so that I can scarcely stand, but I could not listen to such
+injustice any longer, and sought refuge here.  And those servile
+wretches, the other servants, who, while Rudolph was away, scarcely
+dared to wink their eyes,--there they stand now boldly beneath the
+windows, taking a malicious pleasure in the misfortunes that are
+befalling a faithful servant.  Everything is destroyed that I had
+arranged so carefully and with such pains for the salvation of this
+household.  And Emil is at Odenberg!  How miserable and forlorn we are,
+dearest Helene!"
+
+She threw her arms around the neck of the little lady, who started up
+pale as ashes.  Elizabeth took advantage of this moment to slip out of
+the room.
+
+As she passed along the corridor leading to the vestibule she heard some
+one speaking loudly.  It was a deep, sonorous, manly voice, which grew
+louder now and then under the influence of excitement, but there was no
+sharpness in its tones even when they were loudest.  Although she could
+not distinguish a word, the tone thrilled through her,--there was
+something inexorable in the intonation of the emphasized sentences.
+
+The echo in the long corridor was deceptive.  Elizabeth did not know
+whence the voice proceeded, and she therefore ran forwards quickly that
+she might the sooner reach the open air.  But after a few steps she
+heard, as though the speaker were directly beside her, the words,
+"To-morrow evening you will leave Lindhof."
+
+"But, most gracious Herr!"--was the answer.
+
+"I have nothing else to say to you! now go!" was uttered in a commanding
+tone; and just then Elizabeth, to her terror, found herself opposite a
+wide-open folding door.  The tall figure of a man stood in the middle of
+the room, his left hand behind him, and his right pointing to the door.
+A pair of flashing, dark eyes met her own as she passed hastily through
+the vestibule and into the garden.  It seemed as if that look, in which
+there glowed an indignant soul, pursued her and drove her onward.
+
+As the Ferber family were sitting at supper, her father told with
+expressions of pleasure how he had made the acquaintance of Herr von
+Walde that day at the Lodge.
+
+"Well, and how does he please you?" asked his wife.
+
+"That is a question, dear child, that I might be able to answer if I
+should happen to have daily intercourse with him for a year or so,
+although even then I cannot tell whether I should be able to give a
+satisfactory reply.  The man is very interesting to me--as one is
+continually tempted to try to discover whether he really is what he
+appears,--a perfectly cold, passionless nature. He came to my brother to
+learn the particulars concerning the affair between his superintendent
+and the poor labourer's widow, because he had been informed that Sabina
+had been an eye-witness of the ill treatment she had received.  Sabina
+was obliged to tell how she discovered the poor woman.  He asked about
+everything, even the smallest circumstance, but in a very short, decided
+manner.  What impression Sabina's account made upon him no one could
+tell; his looks were utterly impenetrable, not the smallest change of
+countenance betrayed his thoughts.  He comes directly from Spain.  From
+the few remarks that he let fall, I judge that his sudden return to
+Thuringia is owing to a letter from some one of his friends here,
+telling him of the mismanagement of affairs upon his estate and the
+unhappiness among his tenantry."
+
+"And his exterior?" asked Frau Ferber.
+
+"Is pleasing, although I have never seen so much reserve and
+inaccessibility expressed in a man's bearing I entirely understand how
+he has the reputation of boundless haughtiness; and yet I cannot, on the
+other hand, convince myself that such exceeding folly can lurk behind
+such remarkably intellectual features.  His face always wears the look
+of cold repose of which I have spoken; but, between the eyebrows, there
+is what I might call an involuntary, unguarded expression of what a
+superficial observer might think sternness; to me it seems settled
+melancholy."
+
+Elizabeth listened thoughtfully to this description. She had already
+learned how that cold repose could be entirely laid aside for a time,
+and she told her father of the scene which she had witnessed.
+
+"Then sentence has been passed sooner than I anticipated," said Ferber.
+"Possibly your uncle may have done his part towards this end by his
+strong language,--he does not hesitate when asked for an opinion.  He
+was so frank with Herr von Walde, that he felt quite relieved and
+retained not an iota in his heart of all that had been vexing him in the
+course of the past year."
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Scarcely a week had passed since the evening mentioned in the last
+chapter, but these few days had brought about great changes in the
+household at the castle of Lindhof.  The dismissed superintendent had
+already been replaced by a new man, whose power, however, was very
+limited, as Herr von Walde had undertaken the chief oversight of affairs
+himself.  Several day-labourers who had been summarily dismissed, either
+because they were warm adherents of the village pastor, and had, on
+account of their work, been frequently absent from prayers at the
+castle, or because they did not care to listen to the chaplain's
+sermons, were again working on the estate.
+
+The day before, Sunday, Herr von Walde, accompanied by the Baroness
+Lessen and little Bella, had attended service in the village church at
+Lindhof.  To the surprise of all, the chaplain, Herr Moehring, had
+appeared in the organ-loft as one of the audience, and at noon the
+worthy pastor had taken dinner with the family at Castle Lindhof. Doctor
+Fels paid daily visits there, for Fraeulein von Walde was sick.  That
+was the reason why Elizabeth had not been requested to give her another
+lesson, and also, as the forester said, why the Baroness Lessen "had not
+been banished to Siberia, for," said he, "Herr von Walde would not be
+such a savage as to make his ailing sister still more ailing, by
+depriving her of the society which was dearest to her.  He knew that if
+his mother left, Herr von Hollfeld's visits would also cease."  It was
+malicious to say so, but, as he added, "incontrovertibly just."
+
+In the village it was well known that it had required several terrible
+tempests to clear the air at Castle Lindhof.  For the first three days
+after his arrival Herr von Walde had taken his meals alone in his
+private apartments, and the letters which the baroness' waiting-maid had
+delivered to him, at all times of the day, from her mistress, were
+returned unopened, until at last the violent illness of his sister had
+brought about a meeting between her brother and her cousin by her
+bedside. Since that day intercourse had again been apparently
+established between the two, although the servants declared that they
+exchanged scarcely a word at table. Herr von Hollfeld had been over once
+to greet the returned traveller, but it was observed that he rode away
+with a perceptibly lengthened face, after a very short stay.
+
+On a melancholy, rainy day in August, Elizabeth was again requested by
+Fraeulein von Walde to spend half an hour with her at the castle.  The
+lady was not alone when she entered the room.  Herr von Walde sat in the
+recess by the window.  His tall figure was leaning back on a couch, his
+head nearly touching the light-coloured wall behind him, so that his
+dark-brown hair stood out in strong relief against it.  His right hand,
+which carelessly held a cigar, was resting upon the window-sill, while
+his left was raised as if he had just been speaking.  His neighbour, the
+Baroness Lessen, was bending towards him, and, with a most winning smile
+upon her face, seemed to be listening intently to his words, although,
+as it appeared, they were not addressed to her, but to Helene.  She was
+sitting tolerably near him, and had some crochet work in her hand.
+Fraeulein von Walde was lying upon a lounge.  A full dressing-gown
+entirely enveloped her small figure, and her beautiful brown curls
+escaped from beneath a morning-cap, trimmed with pink ribbons, which
+heightened, by force of contrast, the pallor of her countenance.  The
+cockatoo was perched upon her hand, and from time to time she held him
+caressingly to her cheek.  "The terrible bird" was now called "darling,"
+and might scream as loud as it liked,--it was only soothed by a tender
+"What's the matter with my pet?"  Here, then, all was peace and
+reconciliation.
+
+Upon Elizabeth's entrance Helene beckoned to her kindly, but it did not
+escape her that there was a slight embarrassment in the little lady's
+manner.
+
+"Dear Rudolph," she said, as she took Elizabeth's hand, "let me present
+you to the delightful artiste to whom I owe so many pleasant
+hours,--Fraeulein Ferber, called by her uncle, and in all the country
+around, Gold Elsie.  She plays so deliciously that I entreat her to make
+us forget the gray and gloomy skies above us this afternoon.  You see,
+dear child," she continued, turning to Elizabeth, "that I am still too
+weak to assist you at the piano; will you have the great kindness to
+play something alone for us?"
+
+"With all my heart," replied Elizabeth.  "But I shall play timidly, for
+there are two formidable powers to oppose me,--the gloomy heavens, and
+the favourable expectations that you have awakened of my performance."
+
+"Pray allow me to excuse myself for an hour," said the baroness, as she
+collected her working materials and arose; "I should like to drive out
+with Bella,--it is so long since the poor child has taken the air."
+
+"Really, I should suppose that she could easily take it here at any
+time, by simply putting her head out of the window," said Herr von Walde
+dryly, knocking the ashes from his cigar as he spoke.
+
+"Heavens! are you unwilling, Rudolph, that I should take a drive?  I
+will instantly remain at home, if----"
+
+"I can conceive of no reason why I should be unwilling. Drive as often
+and as much as you like," was the indifferent reply.
+
+The baroness compressed her lips, and turned to Helene: "We have
+decided, then, to take coffee in my room.  I shall not stay out long, on
+account of the mist. I shall be back punctually in an hour, and shall
+depend upon the pleasure of conducting you to my room myself, dearest
+Helene."
+
+"That pleasure you must resign," said Herr von Walde.  "It has been my
+office for many years, and I hope my sister does not think me grown too
+awkward during my absence to discharge it."
+
+"Most certainly not, dear Rudolph; I shall be greatly obliged, if you
+will be so kind," cried Helene, quickly, looking anxiously from one to
+the other.
+
+The baroness conquered her vexation bravely.  She held out her hand to
+Herr von Walde, with a smile of great sweetness, kissed Helene upon the
+cheek, and rustled out of the room with an "au revoir."
+
+During this conversation, Elizabeth observed more closely the features
+of the man, whose glance and voice had impressed her so profoundly.  It
+is true, her terror, for really the emotion caused by her first meeting
+with him was nothing less, had been renewed for a moment, as on entering
+she caught sight of Herr von Walde. How quiet the eyes were now, which
+had seemed before to flash fire; his look, as it rested upon the
+baroness, was icy cold.  With this expression in his eyes, the upper
+part of his face, which bore the stamp of great sternness, grew to iron.
+A carefully arranged chestnut-brown moustache covered his upper lip, and
+his beard; which was unusually fine and silky, fell in soft waves upon
+his chest.  Herr von Walde did not look young, and although his
+well-knit figure had preserved all its elasticity, there was that
+indescribable composure and self-possession in his whole manner and
+heaping peculiar to the man of riper age, and which inspires involuntary
+respect.
+
+When the baroness had left the room, Elizabeth opened the piano.
+
+"No, no! no notes!" Helene cried to her, as she saw her turning over the
+music-sheets.  "We want to hear your own fancies; pray extemporize."
+
+Elizabeth seated herself immediately, and soon the outer world was all
+forgotten by her.  A wealth of melody welled up in her soul, which
+carried it far aloft. At such moments she knew that she was gifted
+beyond thousands of her fellow-mortals, for she had the power of giving
+expression to the most hidden emotions of her heart.  The purity of her
+whole inner world was mirrored in sound; she had never been obliged to
+seek for a melody which should embody her feeling, it lay ready in her
+soul,--ready as the feeling itself.  But to-day there was something
+blended with the tones that she could not herself comprehend; she could
+not possibly pursue and analyze it, for it breathed almost imperceptibly
+across the waves of sound.  It seemed as though joy and woe no longer
+moved side by side, but melted together into one. As she was herself
+impressed by this strange presence, she penetrated still deeper into her
+world of feeling,--gradually the clear depths of her pure, maidenly soul
+were revealed to the listeners; they stood, as it were, by some
+transparent, magic fountain, and saw within its quiet waters the lovely
+form of the young girl reflected, with twofold distinctness, for there
+was a perfect harmony between her exterior and her interior being.
+
+The last faint chord died away.  Large tear-drops hung from Helene's
+lashes, and her pallor was almost supernatural.  She glanced towards her
+brother, but he had turned his face away, and was gazing out into the
+garden.  When at last he looked towards her, his features were as calm
+as ever, only a slight flush coloured his brow; the cigar had dropped
+from his fingers and lay upon the ground.  He said not one word
+concerning her playing to Elizabeth, as she rose from the piano.
+Helene, whom this silence distressed, exhausted herself in flattering
+expressions, that she might induce her young friend to forget, or, at
+least, not to notice the coldness and indifference which her brother
+displayed.
+
+"Was it not delicious?" she cried.  "The people in B---- could have had
+no idea of the golden fountain of music bubbling up in Elsie's heart, or
+they would never have allowed her to wander into the Thuringian forest."
+
+"Have you lived until now in B----?" asked Herr von Walde, fixing his
+eyes upon Elizabeth.  She met his gaze for an instant; the ice had all
+melted, and was replaced by a wondrous radiance.
+
+"Yes," she answered, simply.
+
+"It was a sad experience to come suddenly from a large beautiful city,
+which offers every imaginable diversion and enjoyment, to the silent
+forest, and live upon a lonely mountain.  You were, of coarse,
+inconsolable at the exchange?"
+
+"I regarded it as a piece of undeserved good fortune," was the
+unembarrassed reply.
+
+"Indeed?  Most strange!  It seems to me that one would hardly choose the
+thistle when the rose might be had."
+
+"Of course, I cannot presume to pass judgment upon your opinions."
+
+"True, because you do not know me; but my idea is almost universal."
+
+"Yet surely it is very one-sided."
+
+"Well, then, I will not combat further your peculiar taste, with which
+you would scarcely find any one to sympathize among companions of your
+own age.  I will rather believe, for your credit, that it was not so
+easy to leave your friends."
+
+"But it was very easy, for I had none."
+
+"Is that possible?" cried Fraeulein von Walde.  "Did you have no
+intercourse with any one?"
+
+"Oh, yes, with the people who paid me."
+
+"You gave lessons?" asked Herr von Walde.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But did you never feel the want of a female friend?" cried Helene
+quickly.
+
+"Never, for I have a mother," replied Elizabeth in a tone of deep
+feeling.
+
+"Happy child!" she murmured, and drooped her head.
+
+Elizabeth felt that she had unwittingly touched a sore place in Helene's
+heart.  She was sorry, and longed to efface the impression.  Herr von
+Walde seemed to read her thoughts in her face, for, without noticing
+Helene's emotion, he asked: "And did you desire to live in the
+Thuringian forest especially?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And why?"
+
+"Because I had been told from my earliest childhood that my family had
+its origin in the Thuringian forest."
+
+"Ah, yes, you belong to the Gnadewitzes."
+
+"My mother's name was Gnadewitz.  I am a Ferber," answered Elizabeth,
+with decision.
+
+"You say that as if you were thankful that you did not bear the name of
+Gnadewitz."
+
+"I am thankful for it."
+
+"Hm!--in its time it has made a fine noise in the world."
+
+"None pleasant to hear."
+
+"Why, what would you have?  At every court it was pure gold, for it was
+very old, and the last of those who bore it were heaped with dignities
+and honours, on account of the antiquity of their name."
+
+"Pardon me, but I cannot possibly understand how--" she blushed, and was
+silent.
+
+"Go on; you have begun the sentence, and I depend upon hearing the end."
+
+"Well, then, how sin can be honoured, because it is old," she rejoined,
+with hesitation.
+
+"Softly! they say that several of the Gnadewitz lineage were brave and
+true."
+
+"That may be; but is there not great injustice in the idea of rewarding
+their merit, centuries after, by honouring those who are neither good
+nor true?"
+
+"Should not noble deeds live forever?"
+
+"Most certainly; but, if we refuse to emulate them, we certainly are not
+worthy to share in their rewards," was Elizabeth's prompt answer.
+
+A carriage rolled up the avenue.  Herr von Walde frowned, and passed his
+hand across his eyes as if he had been rudely awakened from a dream.  In
+a moment the door opened, and the baroness entered.  She, as well as
+Bella, who was walking by her mother's side to-day with quite an air of
+grown-up dignity, had not yet laid aside her bonnet and mantle.
+
+"I am glad to be at home again," she cried.  "The air to-day is
+horrible.  I repented a hundred times having left the house, and shall
+probably atone for my maternal solicitude by a heavy cold.  Bella was so
+anxious to see for herself how you are, dear Helene, that I allowed her
+to come in with me."
+
+The child went directly up to the lounge.  She did not appear to notice
+Elizabeth, who was sitting close by, and brushed past her so rudely, as
+she bent to kiss Helene's hand, that a button upon her sack caught in
+the delicate trimming of Elizabeth's dress and tore it.  Bella lifted
+her head and glanced at the mischief she had done; then she turned and
+went across to Herr von Walde to give him her hand.
+
+"Well," said he, withholding his hand, "have you no apology to make for
+your awkwardness?"
+
+She made no reply, and retired to the side of her mother, upon whose
+cheeks the ominous red spots appeared.  The look which she cast upon
+Elizabeth showed that her daughter was not the cause of her irritation.
+
+"Well, child, can't you speak?" asked Herr von Walde, rising.
+
+"Fraeulein Ferber sat so close," said the baroness in a tone of excuse,
+as Bella continued obstinately silent.
+
+"Indeed, I should have moved aside.  There is no great harm done," said
+Elizabeth, and she held out her hand to Bella with an enchanting smile.
+But the child took no notice of it, and hid both her hands in her dress.
+
+Without a word, Herr von Walde approached her, took her by the arm, and
+led her directly to the door, which he opened.  "Go instantly to your
+room," he said, "and do not come where I am again unless I particularly
+desire you to do so."
+
+The baroness was raging inwardly.  Her countenance worked for a moment,
+but what could she do?  She was powerless to contend with the violence
+and barbarism of this man, who was master here, and who now took his
+seat again with a composure that betrayed an utter unconsciousness of
+the cruelty of his behaviour.  Her prudence obtained the upper hand.
+
+"I hope, dear Rudolph," said she, and her voice trembled a little, "that
+you will not reckon this slight misdemeanour against Bella.  Pray, make
+some allowance,--it is all the fault of her governess."
+
+"Miss Mertens?  Indeed, it must have cost her, with her innate
+gentleness and refinement, infinite pains to train Bella to conduct
+herself as she has just done."
+
+The baroness blushed scarlet; but she controlled herself.  "Heavens!"
+she cried, determined to change the subject; "this stupid circumstance
+has made me forget to tell you that Emil has ridden over from Odenberg.
+He got wet through on horseback, and is just changing his dress.  May he
+pay his respects?"
+
+Helene's cheeks glowed, and a ray of happiness shot from her eyes; but
+she said not a word, only drooping her face so as to conceal every sign
+of her inward agitation.
+
+"Certainly," replied Herr von Walde.  "Does he intend to make some stay
+here?"
+
+"He will be here for a few days, with your permission."
+
+"By all means.  Then we shall see him in your room when we come to take
+coffee."
+
+"He will be most happy.  Will you not come immediately? My maid tells me
+that all is in readiness there to receive you."
+
+Elizabeth arose, and prepared to take her leave.  Herr von Walde, as
+soon as he saw this, looked inquiringly at the baroness.  Doubtless he
+expected that she would extend an invitation to the young girl, but just
+at this moment the lady discovered that the gardener's arrangement of
+the flower-stand in the window was "too charming," and in enraptured
+contemplation of a bunch of azaleas she turned her back upon Elizabeth.
+
+Fraeulein Ferber courtesied profoundly and left the room, after Helene
+had repeated, in a trembling voice, her expressions of gratitude.
+Without, in the corridor, she met Herr von Hollfeld.  At sight of her he
+quickened his pace, casting a lightning glance around to assure himself
+that no listener was near.  Before she was aware of it, he had seized
+Elizabeth's hand, imprinted a glowing kiss upon it, and whispered: "How
+rejoiced I am to see you once more!"
+
+Her astonishment was so great that she could not at first find a word to
+say.  She drew back her hand as though she had been stung, and he
+accepted her repulse, because at that very moment the door of Helene's
+room opened, and Herr von Walde appeared.  Hollfeld raised his hat to
+Elizabeth as if he had just seen her, and his features subsided
+instantly into an expression of utter indifference as he walked towards
+his relative.
+
+Elizabeth was disgusted with his farce,--first, at the insulting
+familiarity, which made her blood boil with indignation, and then, at
+the denial of any acquaintance before a third person.  Her maidenly
+pride was deeply wounded. She reproached herself that she had not
+rebuked his impertinence boldly upon the spot.  A crimson flush glowed
+in her cheeks with shame that she should have been treated so by any
+man; it seemed as if the spot upon her hand, where his hot lips had
+rested, still burned, and she hastily held it beneath the stream of a
+fountain in the park, that the imaginary stain might be washed away.
+
+Much agitated, she reached her home, and complained with tears to her
+mother of the insult that she had received.  Frau Ferber was a sensible
+woman, possessed of clear, calm insight.  She was convinced by
+Elizabeth's resentment that her child's heart was not in the least
+danger, and her fears were laid to rest.  It was easy to defend her from
+attacks from without; but who could guard her from the grief that a
+misplaced attachment would entail upon her?
+
+"You know now what manner of man Herr von Hollfeld is," she said.  "It
+will not be difficult strictly to avoid all future contact with him, and
+if he should presume in spite of your efforts, he must be sternly
+repulsed. His conduct seems to be the result of aristocratic conceit and
+cowardice, two qualities which will probably deter him from any further
+advances, when he discovers how disagreeable they are to you.  But at
+all events, familiarize yourself with the thought that your behaviour
+towards him must of necessity create an enemy who will, at some future
+day, put a stop to your intercourse with Fraeulein von Walde.  Of course
+such a consideration cannot for one instant lead you to hesitate as to
+your line of conduct.  Go on your way then, my child, quietly and with
+self-possession.  I should certainly not advise you to give up your
+visits to Castle Lindhof."
+
+"Assuredly not! no, that I will not do!" cried Elizabeth, quickly.
+"What would my uncle say if the chicken should actually come flying back
+to creep beneath the shelter of home?" she added, smiling through her
+tears.  "It would be wretched indeed, if with all the strength of which
+I have boasted, I am not strong enough to repulse an impertinent man so
+effectually that he shall desist from all future advances."
+
+She recalled her conversation with Herr von Walde, and found, to her
+great satisfaction, that she must certainly be exceedingly brave, for
+assuredly it had required no small exercise of courage, while
+confronting that stern countenance, to declare her own convictions,
+which attacked so decidedly the proud edifice of his ancestral pride.
+She had expected every moment to see his glance sheathe itself in ice
+again, as it had done in conversation with the baroness; but the
+singular glow and expression which had so struck her when first he
+addressed her, had not faded from his eyes,--she could almost, in fact,
+believe that she detected beneath his moustache a smile lurking around
+the corners of his mouth.  Perhaps he had determined to-day to enact the
+part of the lion towards the mouse.  He had magnanimously permitted a
+little girl to pour out her naive ideas at his feet, where they might
+remain lying, since to bend his aristocratic back to pick them up and
+examine them was not to be thought of,--they probably amused him as
+exemplifying the saying of the dog "baying the moon."  She repeated all
+this continually to herself, that she might stamp afresh upon her
+treacherous memory his general reputation for boundless arrogance.
+
+She could not tell how she became conscious of it, but she was now
+perfectly aware that she should suffer unspeakably if Herr von Walde's
+arrogance was ever exercised towards her; so she must be doubly on her
+guard and not allow herself to be misled by his observance of the usual
+forms of common politeness, of his high regard for which the next day
+brought her a most convincing proof.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+She had just gotten ready, the next afternoon, to go into the garden
+with her work-basket, when the bell rang at the gate in the wall.  In
+consideration of the scene of the day before, her surprise was certainly
+justifiable, when, as the gate was opened, she saw Bella standing before
+her.  Behind the child stood Miss Mertens and the elderly gentleman with
+whom Elizabeth had lately had an evening encounter. As she entered Bella
+extended her hand, but looked shy and confused and said not a word.
+Elizabeth, much amazed, at once guessed the reason of her coming, and
+tried to help her in her embarrassment by saying how glad she was to
+have a visit from a little girl, and by asking her to come into the
+garden.  But Miss Mertens stepped forward.
+
+"Do not make it all so pleasant for Bella, Fraeulein Ferber," said she,
+"she has been expressly ordered to make an apology to you for her
+misconduct yesterday.  I must insist upon her speaking."
+
+These words, spoken with much firmness, and still more, perhaps, the
+sheltering darkness of the hall through which Elizabeth was leading her
+by the hand, at last loosened Bella's tongue, and she softly begged
+pardon for her fault, and promised never to be so naughty again.
+
+"And now that is happily settled," cried the gentleman, as he advanced
+to Miss Mertens' side, and with an arch smile made a low bow to
+Elizabeth.
+
+"It may, perhaps, strike you as very odd," he said, "that I should
+attach myself to this reconciliation deputation, with which I have no
+concern; but I have an idea that on such occasions people are rather
+inclined to overlook all slight transgressions, and so,--there can be no
+more favourable moment for the smuggling in of a stranger.
+
+"My name is Ernst Reinhard; I am the secretary and travelling companion
+of Herr von Walde, and I have had no more earnest desire for a week past
+than to become acquainted with the interesting family at Castle
+Gnadeck."
+
+Elizabeth kindly extended her hand.  "These old walls have witnessed so
+many of the misdeeds of the robber knights of old, that we have no right
+to condemn smuggling; you will be cordially welcomed by my parents."
+
+She led the way, and opened the huge oaken door leading into the garden.
+
+Her parents and uncle, who, with little Ernst, were sitting under the
+lindens, arose as the strangers entered, and came towards them.
+Elizabeth introduced them all round, and then, at a sign from her
+mother, returned to the house to order some refreshments for the guests.
+When she came back again, Bella had already laid aside her sack and
+parasol, and with a joyous face was sitting in a swing, which had been
+hung between two trees. Ernst was swinging her, and seemed not a little
+proud of his new playmate.
+
+"Indeed," said Reinhard, pointing to Bella as she flew up in the swing,
+shouting with delight, "no one who had seen that child this morning and
+her sullen bearing, as she went into Herr von Walde's apartment to ask
+forgiveness for yesterday's misconduct, or her defiant and angry
+expression, when he told her that he could not receive her again until
+she had personally begged pardon of Fraeulein Ferber,"--here Elizabeth
+reddened, and became absorbed in the preparation of some bread and honey
+for the two children,--"would recognize her for the same being, whose
+face is now beaming with the innocent joy of childhood."
+
+The hour passed very pleasantly.  Miss Mertens was both refined and
+cultivated, and Reinhard told many delightful stories of his travels and
+researches.
+
+"Probably we should not have thought of returning home for some time,"
+he said in concluding an interesting account of adventures in Spain,
+"had we not received unfavourable accounts from Thuringia, which,
+following fast upon each other, induced Herr von Walde to give up new
+plans for travel.  The ambition of power often makes its possessor
+blind.  The incautious request from a feminine pen that Herr von Walde
+would pension off the good old village pastor at Lindhof, because he had
+grown prosy and was incapable of training the souls under his care,
+capped the climax of our unwelcome hews, and we set out for home
+immediately.
+
+"When, late in the evening, as we approached Lindhof, we left the
+highroad and our carriage, that we might go the rest of the way on foot,
+we met with a most charming adventure.   How odd! look, Reinhard, what
+do you suppose is the meaning of that light in the ruins of Castle
+Gnadeck?' asked Herr von Walde.  'It means that there is a lamp there,'
+was my reply.  'We must investigate this,' said he, and we ascended the
+hill. The light grew brighter, and at last, to our astonishment, we saw
+that it streamed from two high illuminated windows.  And then, light
+steps were heard behind us, something white fluttered among the bushes,
+and suddenly, what I took for a being of ethereal mould hovered before
+us upon the moonlit sward.  I took heart and approached, expecting every
+moment that the airy form would vanish before the breath of my lips; but
+alas! its own lips opened, and told of two well-trained goats and a
+canary bird."
+
+All laughed at this account.
+
+"While we were descending the mountain," Reinhard continued, "my master
+said not a word; but from certain signs I judged that he was quite as
+ready to laugh at me as you were; it would have been a fine thing if you
+could have accompanied us as a good fairy, for we left all the moonlight
+and beauty behind us upon the mountain, and had to walk on through the
+dim valley, where the mists were rising, and where there was nothing,
+not even a wandering zephyr to bid us welcome home.  At Castle Lindhof
+numberless lights were flitting to and fro like will-o'-the-wisps.  The
+carriage, with our luggage, had already arrived, and seemed to have
+produced the same effect by the sound of its rolling wheels, as that
+ascribed to the thunder at the day of judgment, for there was such
+hurry, confusion, and disorder reigning there when we arrived, that, for
+my part, I should have been thankful to retrace my steps, and lay my
+weary head upon the first quiet, mossy spot that I could find in the
+forest.  The only person who, in the midst of the universal agitation,
+presented an appearance of placid self possession was the chaplain,
+Moehring.  He had put on a white cravat with great despatch, and
+welcomed the master of the house at the foot of the grand staircase in a
+speech full of unction."
+
+"The reign of that stern gentleman is at an end now, is it not?" asked
+the forester.
+
+"Yes, indeed, thank God!" replied Miss Mertens. "He will leave Lindhof
+in a short time.  Baroness Lessen's influence has procured him a good
+parish.  He could not endure to sink back into insignificance where he
+had so lately held sway.  I can readily understand it, for he had ruled
+with all the persecuting zeal of a tyrant who seeks to tread every one
+beneath his feet.  He would not allow a thought in his kingdom without
+his permission, and even the baroness, his mistress, upon whom he smiled
+so servilely, felt his iron rule.  Every one in the household, without
+exception, was obliged to write down, in the evening, the thoughts and
+sentiments that had occurred to them during the avocations of the day. I
+can see before me now the poor housemaids, to whom even a short letter
+to their friends at home is a greater task than a long ironing-day,
+sitting in that cold room on the winter evenings, holding the pen in
+their tired clumsy fingers, and beating their poor brains for something
+to say.
+
+"'Yes, if the chaplain had worked as hard as I have done the whole day,'
+one would whisper softly but angrily to another, 'he would not relish
+writing much.'"
+
+"Indeed, I think so," cried the forester.  "What a shameful system of
+torture and oppression has been carried on there under the cloak of
+service to the Lord!"
+
+"The worst of it all is," said Ferber, "that unless a man is possessed
+of great culture, or of a special fund of good humour, he ends by
+detesting not only his tormentors but the whole subject of religion that
+causes him such suffering.  Thus, he is led more and more astray from
+all faith, while his outward observance of forms must be stricter than
+ever, his subsistence depending upon his wearing the mask well.  All
+this gives the death-blow to true religion among the people."
+
+"Well, we are fortunate in at least having one among us who has force of
+character enough and sufficient strength of will, to say, 'Thus far
+shalt thou go and no farther!'  Zounds! it came upon us like a second
+deluge!" said the forester.
+
+"True, Herr von Walde is possessed of an energy and force of character
+such as falls to the lot of but few," replied Miss Mertens, quickly.
+"His mouth is closed, but his eyes are wide open, and servility, malice,
+and hypocrisy quail before them and drop their masks."
+
+In the mean while Reinhard had been attentively examining the walls of
+the ruinous wing of the old castle which bounded the garden on the
+south.  Three large, pointed, arched windows, faultless in shape,
+extended upward to the height of the second story from about six feet
+from the ground.  Close beside them a curious jutty projected far into
+the garden, forming a deep corner, where grew a giant oak, which
+stretched some of its boughs through the two nearest sashless windows
+far into the airy, cool apartment within, which must once have been the
+chapel of the castle, intended to accommodate a large number of
+worshippers, for it extended through the entire depth of the wing.
+Opposite these windows were three others of like dimensions; they had
+been less exposed to wind and weather, and had preserved some fragments
+of coloured glass in their delicately carved stone rosettes.  Through
+them could be seen the dark court-yard, with its crumbling, ghostly
+walls like a picture painted in gray.  The garden side of this wing
+looked gay and odd enough.  The most extravagant caprice had here heaped
+together all styles of windows and decorations; judging by the exterior,
+the old building must have been a perfect labyrinth of rooms, passages,
+and staircases.  The jutty alone seemed to be in a most dangerous state
+of decay.  It inclined perceptibly to one side, and appeared to be
+awaiting the moment when it should bury the blooming life of the oak
+beneath its masses of stone.  It had thrown a green mantle coquettishly
+over its falling form,--an impenetrable garment of ivy wreathed it all
+over from the ground to the ruinous roof, and effectually concealed
+every crack and aperture in the masonry.  Some sprays of the ivy had
+crept across the oak and climbed up to the sculptured arms on the
+principal front of the chapel, which looked forth grimly enough from
+beneath its intrusive decoration.
+
+"I attempted," said Ferber, "to explore this wing as far as I could,
+shortly after my arrival here, for its peculiar style of architecture
+interests me greatly; but I could not get farther than the chapel,
+where, indeed, it seemed dangerous to stay long.  You see the whole
+upper story has fallen in, and the weight of the ruins has caused the
+ceiling of the chapel to sink considerably, so that it seems ready to
+tumble at the slightest breath of wind. The jutty has only lately looked
+so threatening in consequence of several severe storms.  It must be
+taken away, for it makes a part of the garden inaccessible to us. If I
+could have engaged any workmen, it should have been pulled down before
+now."
+
+After this explanation, Reinhard had no further relish, as he expressed
+it, for wandering about in the old ruins. But he was all the more
+interested in the connecting building, and Ferber arose to show his
+guests his dwelling. And first, they ascended the rampart behind them.
+Ferber was very capable and skilful, and employed every moment of his
+leisure in improving his new possession. With his own hands he had
+mended the steps which led to the top of the rampart, and they arose now
+smooth and white from the close-shaven turf which clothed its sloping
+side.  On top, the tolerably wide plateau was strewn with fresh gravel,
+and in the centre of it, embowered in the linden boughs which
+overshadowed the basin below, stood a group of home-made garden chairs
+and a table.  While they leaned against the breastwork and enjoyed the
+confined but lovely view from the steep mountain over the valley
+beneath, Elizabeth told the story of Sabina's ancestress, for doubtless
+this rampart had been the scene of her narrative.
+
+"Br-rr!" said Reinhard, shuddering.  "What a leap it would have been!
+The wall is high, and when I imagine below there, instead of that mossy
+carpet, the sluggish, slimy waters of a castle-ditch full of frogs and
+lizards, I cannot possibly understand the resolution required to throw
+one's self over."
+
+"But," said Miss Mertens, "despair has led many a one to seek a death
+even more horrible."
+
+At this moment Elizabeth saw with her mind's eye the glowing, passionate
+expression with which Hollfeld had hastened towards her on the preceding
+evening.  She remembered the disgust that she had experienced at his
+touch, and she thought to herself that it was not very difficult to
+imagine the position of the persecuted girl.
+
+"Come in, child," said her uncle, rousing her from her reverie.  "Are
+you listening to hear the grass grow that you stand there so silent?"
+
+Beneath his clear gaze, and at the sound of his strong, honest voice,
+the terrible vision vanished in an instant. "No, uncle," she replied,
+laughing, "that I shall not attempt, even though I do boast that I have
+wonderfully keen eyes and ears for the processes of nature."
+
+He took her hand, and led her after the others, who were just entering
+the house.  At the top of the steps, Bella came running to Miss Mertens.
+She had several picture-books in one hand, and with the other she drew
+her governess into Elizabeth's room.
+
+"Only think, Miss Mertens, you can see our castle from here!" she cried.
+That they were the owners of Lindhof she seemed firmly to believe, and
+no wonder.  The way in which the baroness had, until now, wielded her
+sceptre, had left no doubt in the child's mind that her mother was the
+indisputable mistress of Lindhof.  "Look," she continued gaily, "do you
+see the path down there?  Uncle Rudolph has just ridden past.  He saw
+me, and waved his hand to me.  Mamma will be glad that he is kind to me
+again."
+
+Miss Mertens admonished her to be a good little girl, and get her hat
+and sack, for it was time to go.
+
+Elizabeth and Ernst accompanied them out into the park.
+
+"We have stayed too long," said Miss Mertens anxiously, as she took
+leave of the Ferbers and stepped out into the forest-clearing.  "I must
+be prepared for a tempest this evening."
+
+"You think the baroness will be vexed at your remaining here so long?"
+
+"Without doubt."
+
+"Never mind,--you must not repent it.  We have spent such a delightful
+afternoon," said Reinhard.
+
+The children had wandered on before them, hand in hand, and disappeared
+now and then among the trees on either side of the path, plucking
+flowers.  Hector, who had forsaken his master to accompany them, leaped
+joyously hither and thither, never forgetting to return now and then to
+be stroked and patted by the gentle hand of Elizabeth, the lady of his
+love, as her uncle said.
+
+Suddenly he stopped, and stood still in the centre of the path.  They
+had nearly reached the borders of the park.  Through the forest they
+could see the vivid green of the lawn, and the plashing of the nearest
+fountain was audible.  Hector had discovered a female figure hastily
+approaching.  Elizabeth recognized her instantly as silent Bertha,
+although her whole appearance seemed strangely altered.
+
+She could have had no idea that any one was near, for, as she walked,
+she gesticulated violently with her arms.  Her cheeks were crimson, her
+eyebrows contracted as though in the greatest agony of mind, and her
+lips moved as though she were talking to herself.  Her white hat, which
+she had decked with flowers, had slipped from her dark braids, and was
+hanging upon her neck by its loose red strings, which, as her motions
+grew still more earnest, became wholly untied, and the hat fell on the
+ground without the knowledge of its owner.
+
+She came rapidly forward, and did not raise her eyes until just as she
+stood close to Elizabeth.  Then she started as though stung by an adder.
+In a moment the expression of anguish upon her countenance was changed
+to one of the bitterest anger.  Hate flashed from her eyes, her hands
+clenched convulsively, and while something like a low hiss escaped her
+lips, she seemed as if about to spring, raging, upon the young girl.
+Reinhard instantly placed himself by Elizabeth's side, and drew her
+slightly back.  When Bertha saw him, she uttered a low cry, and rushed
+madly into the thicket, through which she forced a path, although her
+clothes were torn by the thorns, and she struck her forehead against the
+drooping boughs.  In a few moments she was lost to sight.
+
+"That was Bertha, from the Lodge!" cried Miss Mertens, with surprise.
+"What can have happened to her?"
+
+"Yes,--what can have happened?" repeated Reinhard.  "The young creature
+was in a state of terrible excitement, and seemed to grow actually
+furious at sight of you," turning to Elizabeth.  "Is she related to
+you?"
+
+"No indeed," she replied.  "She is only distantly connected with my
+uncle, and I do not even know her. She has avoided me from the beginning
+most resolutely, although I wished much to be on friendly terms with
+her.  It is clear that she hates me, but I cannot tell why.  Of course
+it troubles me, but her character is not sufficiently pleasing to induce
+me to attach much importance to her dislike."
+
+"Good Heavens, my child, there is no question of dislike here!  The
+little fury would have gladly torn you to pieces with her teeth."
+
+"I am not afraid of her," replied Elizabeth, smiling.
+
+"But I would advise you to be careful," said Miss Mertens.  "There was
+something actually demoniac in her looks.  Where could she have been?"
+
+"Probably at the castle," remarked Elizabeth, as she picked up Bertha's
+hat, and brushed the moss and dried leaves from it.
+
+"I think not," rejoined Miss Mertens.  "Since she has been dumb she has,
+very strangely, ceased visiting Lindhof.  Before then she came every
+day, attended the Bible Class, and was a great protegee of the baroness,
+but suddenly it all came to an end, to the surprise of all.  Only now
+and then, in my solitary rambles in the park, I have seen her gliding
+through the bushes like a snake,--indeed she seems to me to bear an
+affinity to that reptile."
+
+They had already reached one of the gravelled paths leading through the
+park, and it was time to take leave of each other.  They separated with
+mutual cordiality.
+
+"Now, Elsie," said Ernst, as the other three vanished behind a group of
+trees, "we'll see which of us will reach the corner first."  The corner
+was the entrance to a narrow forest-path which led directly to the foot
+of the mountain.
+
+"Agreed, my darling," laughed Elizabeth, and began to run.  At first she
+kept even step with the little boy who was beside her; but just before
+the goal was reached, she flew forward lightly as a feather, and stood
+in the entrance of the path, and, to her terror, close to the head of a
+horse which snorted violently.  Hector, who was by her side, barked
+loudly.  The horse leaped aside and stood erect upon his hind legs.
+
+"Back!" cried a powerful voice.  Elizabeth snatched op the little boy
+and sprang with him out of the way, while the horse rushed out of the
+forest, and, scarcely touching the ground with his hoofs, galloped madly
+across the meadow.  Herr von Walde was seated upon the frightened
+animal, which did its best to throw its rider.  He, however, sat firm as
+a rock; only once he leaned from his saddle and struck with his
+riding-whip at Hector, who was leaping and barking about the horse,
+greatly increasing its fright.  For awhile it bounded wildly over the
+meadow, then suddenly turned away and disappeared into the forest.
+
+Elizabeth's teeth fairly chattered with fright at the horrible accident
+which she had no doubt would shortly occur. She took Ernst by the hand
+and was about to run to the castle for assistance, when, before she had
+gone many steps, she saw the horseman returning.  The animal was much
+more quiet, his bit was covered with foam, and his legs trembled.  Herr
+von Walde patted his neck caressingly, sprang off, tied him to a tree,
+and then approached Elizabeth.
+
+"Pray forgive me," she said in a trembling voice, as soon as he stood
+beside her.
+
+"What for, my child?" he rejoined gently.  "You have done nothing.
+Come, sit down upon this bank, you are deadly pale."
+
+He moved as if to take her hand and lead her to the spot which he had
+designated, but his arm dropped instantly by his side.  Elizabeth
+mechanically obeyed him, and without another word he seated himself
+beside her.  Little Ernst leaned against his sister and fixed his large
+beautiful full eyes upon Herr von Walde's face.  The boy had been
+frightened for one moment when the horse had first appeared, but the
+gallop around the meadow had amused him, for he had no suspicion of
+danger.
+
+"What did you intend to do when you came running so hastily into the
+forest?" Herr von Walde asked Elizabeth after a short silence.
+
+An arch smile played about the still pale lips of the young girl.  "I
+was pursued," she replied.
+
+"By whom?"
+
+"By this boy," pointing to Ernst, "We were running a race."
+
+"Is the little one your brother?"
+
+"Yes;" she looked lovingly in the boy's face and passed her hand over
+his dark curls.
+
+"And she is my only sister," said the little fellow with great emphasis.
+
+"Indeed!  Well, you seem quite fond of this only sister," said Herr von
+Walde.
+
+"Oh yes; I love her dearly.  She plays with me just like a boy."
+
+"Is it possible?"
+
+"Oh yes; if I want to play soldiers she puts on just the same kind of
+paper hat that she makes for me, and marches, drumming up and down the
+garden, just as long as I choose.  And before I go to bed she tells me
+lovely stories while I am eating my supper."
+
+A bright smile broke over Herr von Walde's face. Elizabeth had never
+seen it before, and she found that it gave an indescribable charm to
+features which she had thought immovably stern; it seemed to her like a
+clear sunbeam breaking through a thick, cloudy sky.
+
+"You are quite right, my boy," he said, drawing the child towards him;
+"those are most valuable talents to possess; but is she never angry?" he
+asked, pointing to Elizabeth, who was enjoying like a child, Ernst's
+revelations, which seemed comical enough to her.
+
+"No, never angry," replied the boy, "only serious sometimes, and then
+she always plays on the piano."
+
+"But, Ernst----"
+
+"Oh yes, Elsie," he interrupted her eagerly; "don't you remember when we
+were so poor in B----?"
+
+"Ah, there you are right," she replied with composure; "but it was only
+when papa and mamma had to work so hard that we might have bread to eat;
+it was much better afterwards."
+
+"But you still play on the piano?"
+
+"Yes," answered Elizabeth laughing, "but no longer for the reason which
+Ernst gives.  My father and mother are now provided for."
+
+"And you?" Herr von Walde persisted.
+
+"Oh, I?  I am quite brave enough to fight life's battle and win my own
+independence in the struggle?"
+
+"How do you propose to do it?"
+
+"Next year I shall go somewhere as a governess."
+
+"Does not Miss Mertens' example deter you?"
+
+"Not at all.  I am not so weak as to wish for a luxurious life while so
+many others in my circumstances take upon themselves so bravely the yoke
+of service."
+
+"But here there is question not only of service but of endurance.  You
+are proud.  It is not only your look at this moment which tells me so,
+but every sentiment which you uttered yesterday."
+
+"Indeed, it may, perhaps, be pride that induces me to rank real dignity
+of character far above any mere exterior advantages which egotism has
+invented and maintains, and for that very reason I believe that one
+human being can humble another only by setting before him an example of
+moral and intellectual greatness which it is impossible for him to
+imitate,--never by insulting treatment."
+
+"And you think that these views will steel you against all the
+mortifications great and little which a heartless, capricious mistress
+might heap upon you?"
+
+"Oh no, but I need never bow before her."
+
+A short pause ensued, during which Ernst approached the horse, examining
+him attentively.
+
+"From what you said yesterday, I gathered that you are attached to your
+present home," Herr von Walde began again.
+
+"Yes, more than I can tell."
+
+"Ah!  I can understand that, for this is the loveliest spot in
+Thuringia.  How then can you so easily endure the thought of leaving it
+again?"
+
+"On the contrary, I shall not find it at all easy; but my father has
+taught me that our pleasures must yield to our necessities, and I
+understand perfectly that it must be so.  I confess that I cannot easily
+comprehend how one can give up what is so pleasant except at the command
+of necessity."
+
+"Ah! that was aimed at me.  You cannot conceive how a man can
+voluntarily hide himself in the pyramids when he might breathe the cool,
+sunny air of Thuringia."
+
+Elizabeth felt a burning blush suffuse her cheeks.  Herr von Walde had
+humourously alluded here to the jesting conversation that she had had
+with her uncle, to which he had been an involuntary listener.
+
+"If I should attempt to explain this to you I should fail, for you seem
+to me to find all that you look for in your home circle," he said after
+a moment's silence. He had leaned forward and was mechanically drawing
+figures with his riding-whip upon the ground at his feet. He spoke in
+those deep tones which always appealed powerfully to Elizabeth's mind.
+"But there is a time for some of us," he continued, "when we rush out
+into the world, to forget in its whirl and novelty that we cannot find
+happiness at home.  If a man cannot fill up a painful void in his
+existence, he can at least ignore it by devoting himself to science."
+
+This, then, was the sore spot in his heart.  He had not found the
+affection in his own home that he longed for, and that he had a right to
+claim and expect from a sister for whom he manifested always the purest
+and most self-sacrificing tenderness.
+
+Elizabeth had comprehended this pain, even before she had seen Herr von
+Walde, and, at this moment, when he alluded to it so openly, she longed
+most fervently to console him.  Words of sympathy hovered upon her lips,
+but she was possessed suddenly by an unconquerable shyness which
+prevented her from speaking; and as she glanced up at him and marked the
+firm lines of his profile and his brow which was so proud and
+commanding, while his voice sounded so gentle and melancholy, the
+embarrassing suspicion flashed upon her that he had forgotten for a
+moment who was sitting beside him; his aristocratic ideas would cause
+him bitterly to repent the moment when, under the influence of a sudden
+self-forgetfulness, he had revealed a glimpse of his sternly guarded
+consciousness to an insignificant girl.  This thought dyed her cheeks
+again; she arose quickly and called Ernst.  Herr von Walde turned in
+surprise, and for an instant his eyes rested searchingly upon her face;
+then he also arose, and, as if to confirm her suspicion, stood at once
+proudly calm and composed before her,--but she noticed for the first
+time that sad, gloomy expression between the eyebrows, which her father
+had spoken of, and which impressed her just as his voice had done.
+
+"You are usually very quick to think,"--he said, evidently trying to
+give the conversation a gayer turn, and slowly walking along by
+Elizabeth's side,--she was going for Ernst who had not heard her call.
+"Before one has quite finished a sentence the answer is plainly ready on
+your lips.  Your silence, therefore, at this moment, tells me that I was
+quite right when I said that you would not understand me, because you
+have found all the happiness that you look for."
+
+"The idea of happiness is so different with different people, that
+indeed I hardly know."
+
+"We all have the same idea," he interrupted her; "it may still slumber
+in you."
+
+"Oh, no!" she cried, forgetting her reserve and with enthusiasm,--"I
+love my friends with my whole heart, and am most happily conscious that
+I am loved in return!"
+
+"Ah, then you did not quite misunderstand me!  Well,--and your
+friends,--there must be a large circle to whom you open your heart?"
+
+"No," she cried, laughing,--"their tale is soon told! My parents, my
+uncle, and this little fellow here," and she took Ernst by the hand as
+he came running to her, "who grows larger and makes more demands upon me
+every year.  But now we must go, my darling," she said to the child, "or
+mamma will be anxious."
+
+She bowed courteously to Herr von Walde,--it seemed to her that the
+shade upon his brow had disappeared. He raised his hat to her and shook
+hands with Ernst,--then he walked slowly towards the horse that was
+pawing impatiently, untied it, and led it away by the bridle.
+
+"Do you know, Elsie," said Ernst, as they were ascending the mountain,
+"whom Herr von Walde looks like?"
+
+"Whom?"
+
+"The brave knight of St. George, just when he has killed the dragon."
+
+"Aha!" she laughed.  "But you have never seen any picture of the brave
+knight."
+
+"I know that.  Still I think he looks like him."
+
+And she too had thought of the resemblance when she had seen him
+controlling his unruly steed.  At this moment she remembered the pang
+she had suffered at the thought of a probable accident, and her
+unspeakable delight at seeing him return from the thicket unharmed.  She
+stood still, and with a smile of wonder laid her hand upon her throbbing
+heart.
+
+"Now see," said Ernst, "you have been running too quickly up the
+mountain.  I could not keep up with you. What would uncle say if he knew
+it?"
+
+She walked slowly on, like one in a dream.  She scarcely heard the
+child's reproof.  What then was this strange half-consciousness which
+had yesterday mingled itself with her melodies, causing them to mourn
+and to rejoice at the same moment?  Again she felt it take possession of
+her soul more mightily and intoxicatingly than before, but it was just
+as mysterious and incomprehensible.
+
+"But, Elsie," cried Ernst, impatiently, "what is the matter with you?
+You are walking so slowly that it will be dark before we reach home."
+
+He took hold of her dress, and tried to pull her on. This call from the
+outer world was too energetic to be any longer withstood,--Elizabeth
+roused herself and walked on quickly, to the child's entire content.
+
+When they reached the castle Elizabeth laid Bertha's hat, which was
+still hanging upon her arm, upon the table. She was unwilling to mention
+her meeting with the girl to her parents, for she rightly judged that it
+would make them anxious, and that they would relate the occurrence to
+her uncle, who had been so angry and bitter of late whenever Bertha was
+alluded to, that Elizabeth feared that if he heard of the meeting in the
+wood he would put a stop to the annoyance by immediately dismissing the
+cause of it from the Lodge.  Ernst had noticed neither the hat nor her
+desire to conceal it, so there was no danger that he would betray her.
+
+After supper Elizabeth walked down to the Lodge.  She met Sabina in the
+garden, and heard to her satisfaction that her uncle had gone to
+Lindhof.  She gave the hat to the old housekeeper, and told her of
+Bertha's extraordinary behaviour, asking in conclusion whether she were
+at home yet.  Sabina was indignant.
+
+"Indeed I think, child, that if you had been alone she would have
+scratched your eyes out.  I don't know what will become of her.  These
+last few days she has been worse than ever.  She does not sleep at
+nights, but walks up and down in her room, talking again--but only to
+herself.  If I had but the courage to open her door just when she is at
+the worst,--but I could not do it though you would give me heaps of
+gold.  You will laugh at me, I know; but she's not right.  Look at her
+eyes--they sparkle and glow as though all the fire of the Blocksberg
+were burning in them.  No, I shall hold my tongue; the Herr Forester
+sleeps soundly, and so do the rest,--but I wake at the slightest noise,
+and I know perfectly well that Bertha is up and away many a night, and
+when she goes the great watch-dog is gone too from his kennel.  He is
+the only one in the house that loves her; and, fierce as he is, he never
+touches her."
+
+"Does my uncle know this?" asked Elizabeth with surprise.
+
+"Not for the world!  I wouldn't for my life tell him, for who knows what
+mischief would come of it?"
+
+"But, Sabina, only think.  You may do great harm to my uncle by
+remaining silent.  The house is so lonely if there is no dog in the
+yard----"
+
+"But I stand at the window of my room and watch until she comes from the
+mountain and chains up the dog again."
+
+"What a tremendous sacrifice to make to your superstition! Why not tell
+Bertha----"
+
+"Hush! not so loud, there she sits!"  Sabina pointed through the fence
+to the pear tree in the court-yard.  Upon the stone bench under the tree
+Bertha was sitting, apparently quite composed, trimming carrots.  The
+crimson of excitement had passed away from cheek and brow, and given
+place to a livid pallor.  Elizabeth could see now that the girl had
+lately grown much thinner.  Her delicate nose looked pinched, and her
+cheeks had lost their lovely oval.  There were dark ridges around her
+eyes, and between her eyebrows there were two deep wrinkles in the
+delicate skin which gave a sullen expression to the face, but, in
+connection with certain lines around the mouth, lent an air of deep
+melancholy to her look. The sight cut Elizabeth to the heart.  Some
+misery was burdening the soul of that lonely creature, misery all the
+harder to endure because it was borne in silence.  She forgot all the
+dislike of her which Bertha had always shown, and took several quick
+steps towards her, that she might lay that weary head upon her breast
+and say, "Rest here, poor child!  Tell me of the grief that you are
+struggling with in such loneliness, and I promise to aid you to
+endure----" but Sabina seized her arm and detained her.
+
+"You must not go," she whispered in terror; "I will not let you.  She is
+just in a condition to stick that knife into you."
+
+"But she is so terribly unhappy.  Perhaps I can convince her that only
+the kindliest sympathy moves me."
+
+"No, no!  I'll soon show you whether anything can be done with her."
+
+Sabina descended the steps into the court-yard.  Bertha let her approach
+without raising her eyes.
+
+"Fraeulein, Elizabeth found it," said Sabina, holding the hat towards
+her; then she laid her hand upon the girl's shoulder, and continued
+kindly: "She would like to say a few words to you."
+
+Bertha started up as if she had received a deadly insult.  She angrily
+shook off Sabina's hand, and darted a furious glance towards the spot
+where Elizabeth was standing,--a proof that she had known before that
+she was there.  She threw her knife upon the table, and by a hasty
+gesture overset the basket at her feet, so that the carrots were
+scattered around upon the pavement. She ran into the house.  They heard
+her through the open window shut the door of her own room and bolt it
+behind her.
+
+Elizabeth was stupefied with surprise mingled with much pain.  She would
+have so liked to console the wretched girl, but she now perceived that
+it was not to be thought of.
+
+For a week past she had been daily to the castle. Fraeulein von Walde
+had been steadily improving in health since the afternoon when, as the
+baroness tenderly expressed it, she had found a cure in the coffee which
+she herself had prepared, and in Herr von Hollfeld's arrival. She was
+diligently practising several duets, and at last confided to Elizabeth
+that she wished to celebrate her brother's birthday fete the last of
+August.  It was to be a very splendid celebration, for she intended to
+make it also a welcome home to the long absent traveller.  On that day
+he should first hear her play again after so many years, and she knew
+what a pleasant surprise it would be to him.
+
+Elizabeth always looked forward with a mixture of pleasure and dread to
+these practisings.  She did not know why herself; but the castle and
+park had suddenly become dear and attractive to her; she even had a kind
+of tender regard for the bank where she had sat with Herr von Walde, as
+if it were an old friend; she made a little circuit in order to pass by
+it.  Herr von Hollfeld's behaviour inspired her, on the contrary, with
+very different feelings.  After she had several times foiled his
+attempts to meet her by a hasty avoidance of him, he came to Fraeulein
+von Walde's room, one day, and begged permission to remain there during
+the lesson.  To Elizabeth's terror, Helene, with delight beaming in her
+eyes, assured him that he was doubly welcome as a convert who had
+hitherto had no taste whatever for music.  He now made his appearance
+regularly, silently laying some fresh flowers upon the piano before
+Helene as he entered, in consequence of which she invariably struck
+several false chords.  Then he retired to a deep window-seat whence he
+could look the players directly in the face.  As long as the practising
+continued he covered his eyes with his hand, as if he wished to shut out
+the world that he might resign himself entirely to the charms of music.
+But, to Elizabeth's vexation, she soon observed that he only covered his
+face so as to conceal it from Helene; from behind his hand he stared the
+whole time fixedly at Elizabeth, following her every motion.  She
+shuddered beneath those eyes which, usually so dull and expressionless,
+always burned with a peculiar fire when he looked at her.  Under this
+hateful ordeal she often had to exercise great self-control in order to
+play correctly.
+
+Helene apparently had no suspicion of the cunning which Hollfeld had
+employed to attain his end.  She often stopped playing for awhile and
+conversed with him, that is, she talked herself, and, usually, very
+well.  She listened to his monosyllabic replies,--which were empty and
+foolish enough,--as if they were the words of an oracle wherein more
+meaning than met the ear was to be found.
+
+He always departed a few minutes before the end of the lesson.  The
+first time that he did so, Elizabeth discovered him from one of the hall
+windows that commanded an extensive view of the park, standing waiting
+at the entrance of the forest-path, by which she must pass. She defeated
+his intention, not without secret self-gratulation, by paying a visit of
+an hour to Miss Mertens, who received her with open arms; and she grew
+so fond of the governess that she never passed the door of her room
+without entering for an hour's quiet talk.
+
+Miss Mertens was almost always depressed and sad. She saw that her stay
+at Lindhof was becoming impossible. The baroness, suddenly deprived of
+her sovereign authority and its consequent manifold occupations, was
+often bored nearly to death.  She was obliged to wear her mask of
+gentleness and content while she was with her relatives, which was hard
+enough, and therefore all her ill humour had to be pent up within the
+locked doors of her own apartment.  But she never vented it upon Bella,
+for, looking upon her child more as a born baroness than as a daughter,
+she restrained herself; nor upon her old waiting-maid, for whom she had,
+no one knew why, what the old steward Lorenz called "an ungodly sort of
+respect."  Nor could she scold the lower servants without offending the
+master of the house, and therefore all her malice was wreaked upon the
+unfortunate and defenceless governess.
+
+In order to torment her victim most thoroughly, the lady ordered the
+lessons to be daily conducted beneath her own most illustrious eyes.  In
+presence of the pupil, the methods of the teacher were perpetually
+analyzed and criticised.  It was no wonder that Bella did not improve
+under such instructions, and her nerves, too, were sure to be ruined,
+for Miss Mertens had the most disagreeable voice in teaching in the
+world,--how, too, could the child be expected to be graceful while she
+had constantly before her eyes the angular, clumsy manner in which her
+governess held her book and turned over the leaves, etc.? In history,
+Miss Mertens' reflections were quite too sentimental, or too plebeian,
+and, besides, she was so outrageously impertinent "as to have opinions
+of her own."  In some cases the lesson was deliberately interrupted; the
+baroness placed herself in the teacher's chair, and the governess was
+obliged to listen reverentially to a lecture full of supercilious scorn
+and aristocratic arrogance. If the lady needed support, the chaplain,
+Herr Moehring, was sent for.  And then, the nettle-stings of her
+discourse vanished into insignificance by the side of the cruelty with
+which the unappreciated martyr invoked upon the head of the wretched
+governess all the gall of his suppressed sermons.  The baroness must
+have known that the chaplain's French was execrable,--but she requested
+him to be present during the French hour that he might correct Miss
+Mertens' accent.  Bella's improvement was forgotten in the overflow of
+her mother's petty malice.
+
+Sometimes Miss Mertens would declare, with tears, that only love for her
+mother, who looked to her for support, induced her to submit to this
+martyrdom.  The old lady was almost entirely dependent upon the
+exertions of her daughter, and therefore any change of situation was
+very undesirable in view of the pecuniary loss which must attend it But
+however depressed her spirits might be, her gentle face brightened
+whenever Elizabeth knocked at the door, and asked, in her sweet, fresh
+accents, if she might come in.  At sight of the young girl all her care
+and anxiety took flight, and as they sat together on the little sofa by
+the window they had many a happy hour, and the poor governess seemed to
+live over again her own youthful days, and Elizabeth gained not a little
+from the fund of knowledge and riper experience of her more mature
+friend.
+
+These brief afternoon visits had also a secret charm for Elizabeth,
+which she would not for the world have confessed, and which,
+nevertheless, caused her heart to throb quickly, and an undefined
+sensation of mingled joy and anxiety to possess her as she knocked at
+the door.
+
+The windows of Miss Mertens' room looked out upon a large court-yard,
+which Elizabeth used to call the convent garden,--it lay so retired and
+quiet, encircled by its four high walls.  Some spreading lindens cast
+their green shade upon the rich grassy soil, only intersected here and
+there by narrow paved paths.  In the centre of the space was a fountain,
+which supplied the house with delicious water, and upon the edge of the
+large basin several marble figures were reposing their white limbs,
+bathed in the green light that broke through the overhanging trees. When
+the sun poured his fierce rays, like melted lead, upon the open parts of
+the park and garden, this spot was always refreshingly cool.  A door
+upon the ground-floor, leading from the court-yard directly into Herr
+von Walde's library, almost always stood open.  Now and then he himself
+would issue from it, and pace to and fro with folded arms.  What
+thoughts lay hidden behind that fine white forehead, when, after walking
+thus for awhile, with his head sunk upon his breast, he suddenly raised
+it, as if roused from some delightful dream!  Miss Mertens often
+remarked that he seemed to have returned from his travels much altered.
+
+Before his departure, she said, Herr von Walde's face had seemed to her
+like that of a statue, so serious and immovable; and although she had
+always known him to be a man of genuine nobility of character, she had
+been oppressed when near him by the icy coldness of his manner.  Now it
+seemed to her as if some revivifying hand had passed over his nature;
+even his step was lighter and more elastic, and she would maintain that,
+in his pacings to and fro in the court yard, a smile frequently broke
+over his face, as if he saw, in imagination, some vision that delighted
+him.  While she talked thus, Miss Mertens would smile and declare
+mysteriously that he must certainly have brought home some very
+agreeable memories with him, and that she could not refrain from
+suspecting that matters at Lindhof would soon wear a different aspect.
+She never noticed the involuntary start of her young friend when she
+arrived at this conclusion, and Elizabeth was equally unaware of it, for
+the pang that she felt at such an idea, made her utterly incapable of
+controlling her external behaviour.
+
+The quiet pacing to and fro beneath the lindens was, however, often
+interrupted, not only by Herr von Walde's workmen and men upon business,
+but by the needy and unfortunate, who would come timidly down the steps,
+ushered by a servant, and stand with bowed heads before the commanding
+figure that confronted them, until they were encouraged by the gentle
+tones of his voice to speak, as he kindly bent down to catch their
+whispered words. They always left him greatly cheered, for those who
+were not worthy of his assistance did not dare to present themselves
+before him.
+
+One day Elizabeth set out for Castle Lindhof a half hour earlier than
+usual.  The fact was that her father, in returning at noon from the
+Lodge, had met Miss Mertens in the forest.  She had evidently been
+weeping, and was unable to speak at the moment; she had merely bowed and
+passed hurriedly on.  This intelligence made Elizabeth very anxious.
+She would not for the world have postponed her visit to the governess
+until the end of her lesson,--the lonely woman was certainly in need of
+love and friendly sympathy.
+
+Just across the large meadow which bordered upon the forest was a
+charming pavilion.  A dark grove surrounded the graceful structure upon
+three sides, so that its white front stood out in shining contrast with
+the green shade.  It had hitherto been kept closed, although the outside
+shutters to the windows were thrown back and Elizabeth had seen that the
+room within was furnished most luxuriously.  But to-day, as she issued
+from the forest, she saw that the doors of the pavilion were wide open.
+A servant, with a waiter in his hand, stepped out and requested her to
+enter.  As she approached she could see that Fraeulein von Walde, the
+baroness, and Hollfeld were drinking coffee in the pretty room which
+constituted the whole interior of the building.
+
+"You are a little too early to-day, my child," said Helene, as her young
+friend appeared upon the threshold. Elizabeth replied that she wished to
+pay a visit to Miss Mertens before the practising.
+
+"Ah! pray let that go to-day," said Helene, quickly, but evidently
+confused, while the baroness looked up from her crotchet-work with a
+malicious smile.  "Do you know that a large package of new music has
+just come from Leipzig?" continued Fraeulein von Walde; "I have looked
+over it slightly, the pieces are beautiful.  Perhaps we can find among
+them just the thing that we want for our concert.  Sit down, we will go
+to the castle together."
+
+She offered Elizabeth a basket of cake, and put a magnificent pear upon
+her plate.
+
+At this moment, Herr von Walde's dog came bounding into the room;
+instantly both ladies were on the alert and expectant; Helene looked
+towards the door with a manifest effort to seem quiet and unconstrained,
+but the baroness threw her work into a basket, examined the coffee-pot
+to see whether the coffee was still hot, placed a cup near the sugar
+basin, and drew a chair up to the table.  The malicious smile was
+replaced by an air of grave reserve, and she was apparently resolved to
+make as dignified and imposing an appearance as possible.  At sight of
+the dog, Hollfeld hastened into the garden, and came back in a few
+moments with Herr von Walde, who had evidently just returned from a
+drive, for he wore a gray dust coat and a round felt hat.
+
+"We were afraid, dear Rudolph," Helene cried out to him as soon as he
+appeared, while she half arose and held out her hand,--"that we should
+not see you at all to day."
+
+"I found more business awaiting me at L---- than I had anticipated," he
+replied, seating himself, not upon the chair which had been placed for
+him, but upon the sofa by the side of his sister, so that when Elizabeth
+raised her eyes she looked him full in the face, for he sat directly
+opposite to her.  "Besides," he continued, "I have been at home full
+half an hour, but Reinhard wished to speak with me upon private business
+which required immediate action, and so I nearly lost the pleasure of
+taking coffee with you, my dear Helene."
+
+"That miserable Reinhard!" and Fraeulein von Walde pouted a little; "he
+might have waited awhile,--the world would still have turned around."
+
+"Ah! dear child," sighed the baroness, "we cannot alter these things.
+We are condemned all our lives long to be the slaves of our inferiors."
+
+Herr von Walde quietly turned towards her, and his glance measured her
+slowly from head to foot.
+
+"Well, why do you look at me so, my dear Rudolph?" she asked, not
+without a tinge of uneasiness in her tone.
+
+"I looked to see whether you really seemed fitted to play one of those
+sad parts in Uncle Tom's Cabin."
+
+"Always ridicule when I look for sympathy," rejoined the lady,
+endeavouring to lend a gentle, melancholy tone to her harsh voice.  "I
+might have known it, but----"  She sighed again.  "We do not all possess
+your enviable equanimity, which is never affected by the petty
+annoyances and necessary evils of this life.  We poor women have our
+miserable nerves, which make us doubly sensitive to everything that jars
+upon our minds.  If you had seen me this morning, in what a wretched
+condition I was----"
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+"I have been tried inconceivably.  Well, Miss Mertens must answer for
+it."
+
+"Has she injured you?"
+
+"What an expression!  My dear Rudolph, how could a person in her
+situation injure me?  She has vexed me,--made me exceedingly angry!"
+
+"I am greatly pleased to see that you do not bend without a struggle to
+the yoke of bondage."
+
+"I have lately had to endure more than I can tell with that stupid
+creature," the baroness continued, without heeding her cousin's comment.
+"My maternal duties are sacred in my eyes, and therefore I have been
+obliged to superintend my child's instruction.  It is, of course, a
+matter of great moment to me that her youthful mind should be rightly
+trained.  Unfortunately, I have become more and more convinced that Miss
+Mertens' knowledge is very limited and her views and principles not
+those which I should wish adopted by a young girl of Bella's rank in
+life.  This morning I heard the silly woman telling the child that
+nobility of soul was far superior to nobility of birth--as though the
+one could be separated from the other,--and that she ranked a beggar
+with a clear conscience above a crowned head whose conscience was not
+pure; and a quantity more of the same stuff.  When I tell you that
+Bella, the Lord willing, will live at court,--I have all but secured the
+post of maid of honour at the court of B---- for her,--you will readily
+conclude that I interrupted such teaching upon the spot.  You must
+admit, my dear Rudolph, that, with such views, Bella would play a poor
+part at court--nay, even her stay there would be quite impossible."
+
+"Certainly, there is no doubt of that."
+
+"Thank Heaven!" cried the baroness, breathing freely. "I was really in a
+little doubt as to how you would receive Miss Mertens' dismissal.  You
+know you always valued her far above her deserts.  She was so
+impertinent when I interfered with her lessons that there was nothing
+for me to do but to send her away."
+
+"I have no right to lay down laws to you with regard to your people,"
+replied Herr von Walde, coldly.
+
+"But I always try to please you as far as I can, my good Rudolph.  I
+cannot tell you how rejoiced I am that I shall see no more of that
+repulsive English face."
+
+"I am sorry that you will not be able entirely to avoid it, since she
+will still remain under the same roof,--my secretary Reinhard was
+betrothed to her about half an hour ago."
+
+The work dropped from the baroness' fingers.  This time not only her
+cheek but also her brow was suffused with crimson.
+
+"Has the man lost his senses?" she cried at last, recovering from her
+stupefaction.
+
+"I think not, since he has just given such proof of being in full
+possession of them," said Herr von Walde, with composure.
+
+"Well, I must say that he plays his part of antiquary well.  Such a
+lovely, blooming, young bride!" cried the lady contemptuously,
+endeavouring to laugh heartily. Hollfeld joined in her laughter, thus
+giving the first sign of his having heard the conversation.  Helene cast
+a troubled glance at him; but this mirth cut Elizabeth to the soul,--she
+felt the greatest indignation stirring within her.
+
+"I hope," the baroness began again, "that you will not take it ill of
+me----"
+
+"What now?"
+
+"That I cannot consent to associate with that person any longer."
+
+"I cannot force you to anything, Amalie, any more than I can forbid my
+secretary to marry."
+
+"But you can dismiss him if he chooses a wife who makes his residence
+beneath your roof disagreeable to your nearest relatives."
+
+"That I cannot do either; he has been engaged by me for life, and I have
+just secured to his future wife a pension in case of his death.
+Besides, you make a slight mistake, my good cousin, if you suppose that
+anything in the world could induce me to allow a man to leave me whom I
+have always found faithful.  I am much pleased with Reinhard's choice,
+and have allotted him the use of the apartments upon the ground-floor of
+the north wing during his life.  His mother-in-law will reside with
+him."
+
+"Well, I congratulate him upon that valuable acquisition," replied the
+baroness, and her sharp voice trembled with anger.  "I will, however,
+make one remark: as I cannot bring myself to endure the presence of that
+person in my apartments for a day longer, she must provide herself with
+some place where she can stay until her marriage.  Probably even you
+will see, my dear Rudolph, that there is a manifest impropriety in the
+interesting pair's still living, under present circumstances, beneath
+the same roof."
+
+"Permit me," said Elizabeth, here turning to Helene, "I am very sure
+that my parents would extend a warm welcome to Miss Mertens,--we have
+quite room enough."
+
+"Ah, thank you!--matters could not be better arranged," answered
+Fraeulein von Walde,--extending her hand to her young friend.  The
+baroness shot an angry glance at Elizabeth.
+
+"The affair will thus be settled very satisfactorily," she said,
+preserving her composure with difficulty.  "I will contain myself, and
+hope in all humility that the future Frau Reinhard will vouchsafe me a
+spot where I shall be relieved from the sight of her disagreeable
+countenance.  Apropos, Fraeulein Ferber," she continued after awhile, in
+a careless tone, "I have just remembered that the money for your lessons
+has been for several days in the hands of my maid; just knock at her
+door as you go by, and she will give it to you with a receipt, which you
+will please sign."
+
+"But, Amalie!" exclaimed Helene.
+
+"I will do as you desire, madame," replied Elizabeth, quietly.  She had
+noticed that while the baroness was speaking a lightning flash of rage
+shot from Herr von Walde's eyes, a thunder-cloud seemed to pass over his
+countenance, but in a moment these witnesses to his agitation gave place
+to a look of withering sarcasm.
+
+"If I might offer a little advice, Fraeulein," he said, turning to
+Elizabeth,--"I should counsel you not to venture rashly into the
+baroness' apartments,--they are uncanny.  Evil spirits are seen there in
+broad daylight, and they have often worked mischief.  Do not give
+yourself the slightest trouble in the matter,--my steward shall attend
+to it; he is thoroughly trustworthy, and manages such affairs with so
+much delicacy that he would really shame even a lady."
+
+The baroness hastily folded her work together and arose.
+
+"It would be better for me to pass the rest of the day in my solitary
+room," and she turned to Helene, and her lips quivered; "there are times
+when our most harmless words and actions are misunderstood and resented.
+I pray you, therefore, to excuse me from appearing at tea."
+
+She made a ceremonious courtesy to the brother and sister, took the arm
+of her son, who looked much confused, and rustled out of the room.
+
+Helene arose with tears in her eyes, and was about to follow her, but
+her brother took her hand with kindly gravity, and drew her down again
+upon the Sofia beside him.
+
+"Will you not give me the pleasure of your company while I drink my
+coffee?" he said gently, and as quietly as if nothing had occurred.
+
+"Oh, yes, if you wish it," she replied hesitatingly and without looking
+at him; "but I am sorry to tell you that you must hurry a little, for
+Fraeulein Ferber has come to practise with me, and she has already been
+kept waiting an unconscionable time."
+
+"Well, let us go to the piano immediately,--but upon one condition,
+Helene."
+
+"And that is?"
+
+"That you allow me to listen."
+
+"No, no, that I cannot permit,--I am not far enough advanced,--your ears
+could not endure my bungling.
+
+"Poor Emil!  He does not dream that he owes the delight of listening to
+you to his uncultivated ear!"
+
+Helene blushed.  She had hitherto never mentioned Hollfeld's visits to
+her brother for reasons that may easily be imagined.  Besides, she
+supposed that they would have been a matter of entire indifference to
+him, and now it appeared that he really attached importance to them.
+She seemed to herself to be a detected deceiver, and for a few moments
+she could not speak.  Elizabeth suspected what her sensations were; she
+too grew confused, and felt her face flush painfully.  Just at this
+moment Herr von Walde turned towards her, his keen, searching glance
+scanned her countenance, and the gloomy wrinkle appeared between his
+eyebrows.
+
+"Does Fraeulein Ferber improvise during these hours for practice as they
+are called?" he asked his sister, speaking more quickly than was his
+wont.
+
+"Oh no," she answered, glad to recover her composure,--"had she done so
+I should not have spoken of bungling. I admitted Emil because I think
+that where there is a budding taste for music, it should be encouraged."
+
+Herr von Walde smiled slightly, but it was not the smile which had
+lately possessed such a peculiar charm for Elizabeth.  The dark lines in
+his brow did not disappear, and his look was gloomy as he still observed
+Elizabeth keenly.
+
+"You are right, Helene," he said at last, not without a tinge of irony.
+"But what magnetism there must be in these musical practisings that they
+have worked such miracles!  A very short time ago Emil would much rather
+have listened to his Diana's baying, than to Beethoven's sonatas."
+
+Helene was silent, and cast down her eyes.
+
+"But we have forgotten Miss Mertens," said her brother suddenly, in a
+different tone.  "Would it not be advisable for Fraeulein Ferber to
+settle that matter as soon as possible?"
+
+"Yes, indeed," replied Helene, quickly, seizing upon any pretext to
+divert the conversation from its present painful direction.  "We had
+better omit the lesson for to-day,--while you, dear child," and she
+turned to Elizabeth, "take the necessary steps,--pray go now, then, to
+your parents, and ask them in my name to offer an asylum to the poor
+lady."
+
+Elizabeth arose, and Helene also stood up.  When her brother saw that
+she wished to leave the pavilion, he put his arm about her little form,
+raised her from the ground like a feather, and carried her to the
+wheeled chair that stood outside the door.  After he had arranged the
+cushions at her back, and covered her little feet carefully with a
+shawl, he raised his hat to Elizabeth, who saw that the wrinkle between
+his eyebrows was not yet gone, and pushed the chair along the nearest
+path leading to the castle.
+
+"She quite fills his heart," thought Elizabeth, as she ascended the
+mountain, "and Miss Mertens must be wrong if she imagines that he will
+ever give to another a higher, or even a like place in his affections.
+He is jealous of his cousin, and rightly so.  How can it be--" and here
+she stood still for a minute as two masculine figures arose to her
+mind's eye,--"that such a man as Hollfeld can have any charms for Helene
+by the side of Herr von Walde?  The one retreats behind an appearance of
+wise silence because he has nothing to say, while the other, through
+whose noble external repose breaks such fire, possesses a world of power
+trained and restrained by force of character.  Hence his seeming great
+reserve, which commonplace people cannot possibly understand."
+
+She suddenly remembered the look that Herr von Walde had fixed upon her.
+Did he think her an accomplice,--his sister's confidante,--and was he
+vexed with her when, in fact, she had, at this present moment, no more
+earnest desire than that Herr von Hollfeld's passion for music might
+subside as quickly as it had been aroused?  Of course, she could not say
+so to any one,--least of all to Herr von Walde,--and, therefore, she
+must silently pay the penalty for those painful blushes that had
+suffused her cheeks just at the wrong moment, and when there was no
+earthly reason for them.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+Her father and mother instantly acceded to Elizabeth's request; and she
+hastened back to the castle to carry to Miss Mertens their cordial
+invitation.  The governess, when Elizabeth entered her room, was leaning
+with folded hands against the wall.  At her feet stood a trunk half
+packed, closets and wardrobes were wide open, and the chairs were heaped
+with books, dresses, and linen.  The young girl hastened to her friend,
+threw her arms around her, and looked into her face, which, while it
+bore traces of tears, was beaming with happiness.
+
+"I am so astounded by the sudden change in my lot," said Miss Mertens,
+after Elizabeth had offered her congratulations, "that I am obliged to
+close my eyes how and then and collect my senses.  Only this morning
+everything seemed so dark before me,--I actually could not tell where to
+go,--the ground seemed slipping from under my feet.  And just in the
+midst of my anxiety a home is suddenly provided for me.  A man whom I
+esteem thoroughly, but whose regard for the poor governess I had never
+suspected, will be forever faithful to me, and I can fulfill the warmest
+desire of my heart and have my dear good mother to live with me!  What
+will she say when she receives the news,--she, who has suffered so much
+in thinking that I must battle with the storms of life alone, and that
+she could not recall me to her loving heart!"
+
+She told Elizabeth that in a few weeks Reinhard would go to England for
+her mother.  His employer had himself proposed the journey, and insisted
+upon defraying all the expenses.  Whenever Miss Mertens mentioned Herr
+von Walde the tears filled her eyes,--she declared that all the wrong
+done her by the baroness was more than overbalanced by his kindness and
+generosity; he could not endure to have any one beneath his roof suffer
+injustice.  Elizabeth completed the measure of her happiness by the
+invitation which she brought.  Miss Mertens had intended to go to the
+little village inn until she could find lodgings.
+
+"But now we will go to your house together as soon as possible," she
+said, her face beaming with joy.  "The baroness, a short time ago, sent
+me my salary, requesting that I would not again enter her presence, and
+Bella passed through my room without even looking at me,--that grieves
+me, grieves me very deeply, for I have cherished her like the apple of
+my eye.  Her health used to be very delicate, and while her mother has
+been absent, attending the court balls, I have sat by her bedside and
+watched her feverish slumbers night after night. Now it is all
+forgotten,--but I only meant to let you know that I need not take leave
+of either of them."
+
+While Miss Mertens went to bid good-by to Fraeulein von Walde and a few
+others in the house who were fond of her, Elizabeth packed up a
+travelling bag for her. The new inmate of Gnadeck only took a few
+necessary articles with her; the rest of her possessions were sent to
+the future apartments of the betrothed pair.
+
+It was an amusement for Elizabeth to arrange Miss Mertens' books in a
+bookcase in one of these apartments.  Herr von Walde had allowed all the
+furniture in the rooms to remain for the use of their new inhabitants.
+Many of these books were most interesting; she not only glanced at their
+title pages, but, as she stood there, ran over several pages.  Miss
+Mertens and her affairs were all forgotten for the moment as if they had
+never existed.  While she was buried in Goethe's appearance in the crowd
+at the coronation of Joseph II., a fresh rose fell over her shoulder
+upon the pages of the book Elizabeth started, but instantly smiled,
+shook off the rose, and went on reading.  Miss Mertens, who was
+doubtless standing behind her, should not exult in any effect of her
+teasing. But she suddenly uttered a low cry,--a white, well-formed man's
+hand appeared and was gently laid upon hers.  She turned round,--not
+Miss Mertens, but Hollfeld, was standing behind her and spreading out
+his arms with a smile, as if to seize the startled girl.
+
+Instantly her alarm was converted into indignation; but before she could
+breathe a word, a harsh commanding voice cried out: "Emil, everybody is
+looking for you.  Your superintendent from Odenberg is here to see you
+upon business of importance.  Pray go to him instantly!"
+
+Beside Elizabeth was an open window.  Outside of it stood Herr von
+Walde, with his arms leaning upon the broad sill looking in.  It was his
+voice which banished Hollfeld on the instant in great embarrassment.
+What an angry expression there was upon the uncovered forehead, in the
+compressed lips, and in the eyes that flashed upon Hollfeld's retreating
+figure as it vanished through the opposite door!
+
+At last his glance returned to Elizabeth, who had hitherto stood still,
+but who now, recovering from her two-fold fright, was about to retreat
+into the recesses of the apartment.
+
+"What are you doing here?" he asked, brusquely; his voice had not lost
+its former harsh tone.  Elizabeth, deeply wounded by the manner and
+style of his address, was about to return a defiant answer, when she
+suddenly recollected that she was in his house, and therefore she simply
+answered:
+
+"I am arranging Miss Mertens' books."
+
+"There was another answer upon your lips,--I saw it, and I wish to know
+what it was."
+
+"Well, then,--I was about to say that I do not reply to questions asked
+in such a manner."
+
+"And why did you suppress this reproof?"
+
+"Because it occurred to me that you have the right to command here."
+
+"I am glad,--it is well that you think thus,--for I should like just at
+this moment to exercise this obvious right of mine: tread upon that rose
+which lies languishing there at your feet."
+
+"That I shall not do,--it has done no wrong."  She picked up the rose, a
+beautiful half-open centifolia, and laid it upon the window-sill.  Herr
+von Walde took the flower, and without more ado tossed it away over the
+lawn.
+
+"There let it die a poetic death," he said with a sneer, "let the
+grasses bend above it, and the evening dews shed sympathetic tears over
+the poor victim."
+
+The rigid expression had passed away from his features, but there was
+still the same inquisitorial look in his eyes, and his voice was not
+much gentler, as he asked:
+
+"What were you reading when it was my misfortune to interrupt you?"
+
+"Goethe's 'Wahrheit und Dichtung.'"
+
+"Do you know the book?"
+
+"Only selections from it."
+
+"Well, how do you like the touching story of Gretchen?"
+
+"I do not know it."
+
+"You have it open in your hands."
+
+"No, I was reading the coronation of Joseph II., at Frankfort."
+
+"Let me see it."
+
+She handed him the open book.
+
+"It is even so!  But look how ugly that is!  Just where Goethe describes
+the emperor ascending the throne, there is an ugly green spot.
+Doubtless you pressed the green rose leaves too tenderly upon the leaf
+of the book; the Emperor, Goethe, and Miss Mertens will hardly forgive
+you for it."
+
+"That spot is old--I did not touch the rose."
+
+"But you smiled at sight of it."
+
+"Because I thought it came from Miss Mertens."
+
+"Ah, there is something touching in this friendship! It must have been a
+great disappointment when, instead of your friend, you saw my cousin's
+handsome face behind you."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"'Yes.'  How that sounds!  I like laconic brevity, but it must not be
+ambiguous.  What does that 'yes' mean?  It sounds neither sweet nor
+bitter; and then your face!--why is that defiant frown there between
+your eyebrows?"
+
+"Because I think that there are limits to every right."
+
+"I did not know that I was making use of my right just at present."
+
+"But you will know it if you will ask yourself whether you would address
+me thus harshly in my father's house."
+
+Herr von Walde grew pale.  He compressed his lips, and retreated a few
+paces.  Elizabeth took the book which he had laid upon the window-sill,
+and went to the bookcase to close it.
+
+"Under the same circumstances, I should have spoken exactly so in your
+father's house," he said, after awhile, somewhat more gently, as he
+again approached the window.  "You make me impatient.  Why do you answer
+so ambiguously?  How could I tell from that simple syllable whether the
+disappointment of which you spoke were a disagreeable or a pleasant one?
+Well?"
+
+He leaned far across the window-sill, and looked full into her face, as
+though to read the answer upon her lips; but she turned away with
+irritation.  Hateful thought!  How could any one suppose that Hollfeld
+could ever be agreeable to her?  Did not her face, her whole bearing
+towards the man, show how thoroughly disagreeable she thought him?
+
+At this moment Miss Mertens entered the room to seek Elizabeth.  She had
+completed all her preparations, and was quite ready to leave the house.
+With a sigh of relief, Elizabeth hastened to her, while Herr von Walde
+left the window and paced to and fro several times on the lawn.  When he
+again approached, Miss Mertens went towards him, and courtesied
+profoundly.  She told him that she had in vain endeavoured to obtain
+access to him several times that day, and that she rejoiced to have an
+opportunity to thank him for his kindness and thoughtfulness.
+
+He made a deprecating gesture, and offered his congratulations upon her
+betrothal.  He spoke very calmly. Again his whole presence breathed an
+atmosphere of dignity and reserve, so that Elizabeth could not
+understand how she had ever found the courage to remind this man of the
+laws of common politeness.  The eyes that had flashed so passionately
+now looked serenely into Miss Mertens' face.  The deep, gentle tones of
+his voice obliterated all remembrance of the cutting irony that had
+rendered it so sharp a few moments before, when it had given to his
+words such an accent of irritation, and had sounded as if designed only
+to wound and avenge.
+
+That Herr von Walde was filled with bitterness towards his cousin,
+Elizabeth had already noticed once before that day.  But why should she
+be made to suffer whenever he encountered him?  Was not Hollfeld's
+continual intrusiveness sufficient annoyance to her?  Why should she be
+made the victim of an irritation for which Helene alone was to blame?  A
+sharp pang shot through her as she remembered how tenderly and
+forgivingly Herr von Walde had taken his sister in his arms, never
+casting a single look of reproach upon her when Hollfeld's visits had
+been alluded to.  She, the poor piano-player, who was of necessity
+forced to endure Hollfeld's presence, must be the scapegoat.  Or had he
+perhaps seen how Hollfeld had thrown the rose upon her book, and was his
+aristocratic pride wounded that his cousin should pay such homage to an
+untitled maiden?  This thought flashed upon Elizabeth as an explanation
+of everything.  Yes, thus only could his conduct be explained.  She was
+to crush the poor flower, that all proof might be destroyed that Herr
+von Hollfeld had for one moment forgotten his aristocratic descent.
+That was the reason why he had suddenly spoken in such a harsh tone of
+command,--a tone which only those heard from him who had committed some
+fault, and why she was called upon to explain the impression which
+Hollfeld's sudden appearance had made upon her.  At this moment she
+would have liked to confront him, and tell him frankly how odious his
+high-born cousin was to her,--that so far from feeling honoured by his
+attentions, she looked upon them as nothing less than insults.  But it
+was too late. Herr von Walde was discussing Reinhard's journey to
+England with Miss Mertens so calmly and kindly that it would have been
+ridiculous, in the midst of such a discussion, suddenly to resume the
+thread of the previous stormy conversation.  Besides, he did not once
+look at her again, although she stood tolerably near to Miss Mertens.
+
+"I am really half persuaded to go with him," he said in conclusion to
+the governess.  "Reinhard shall return with your mother, for I intend to
+give him the entire charge of Lindhof here, and I will pass the winter
+in London, and go to Scotland in the spring."
+
+"And not return for years?" Miss Mertens interrupted him, anxiously.
+"Has Thuringia, then, no attraction for you?"
+
+"Oh, yes; but I suffer here, and you know that prompt and active
+treatment will often cure where cautious, cowardly delay might bring
+danger.  I hope much from the air of Scotland."
+
+The last words were spoken in a tone meant to be gay, but the lines
+between his brows were stronger than ever, and caused Elizabeth to doubt
+much whether his cheerfulness were genuine.
+
+He shook hands with Miss Mertens, and walked slowly away, soon
+disappearing behind a clump of trees.
+
+"There it is," said the governess, sadly; "instead of bringing a lovely
+young wife home to Lindhof, as I hoped he would, he is going away again,
+and perhaps will not return for years.  He is restless, and no wonder,
+when one thinks of the comfortless home that he has. Baroness Lessen he
+cannot endure, and yet he is forced to see her daily at his fireside,
+for his sister, whom he loves so tenderly, has declared to him, that in
+the society of this woman she is able to forget the bitter trials of her
+life.  And his cousin, too, is an unbidden guest.  Herr von Walde's
+nature is too frank and open to allow him to conceal his dislikes; but
+these people are made of iron and steel,--the indifference of the master
+of the house never affects them in the least; they have neither eyes nor
+ears when he hints at their leaving.  And as for Herr von Hollfeld, he
+seems to me a very insignificant creature, and very repulsive.  I cannot
+conceive how he could have won Fraeulein von Walde's heart."
+
+"Do you know that too?" asked Elizabeth.
+
+"Ah, child, that has been a secret known to everybody for a long time.
+She loves him as truly and deeply as only a woman can love.  But this
+unfortunate attachment, on which she now lives and breathes as in
+sunlight, will one of these days cast the darkest shadow that has yet
+fallen upon her sorrowful existence.  All this Herr von Walde
+comprehends; but he cannot open the eyes of his sister without
+inflicting a mortal wound, and so he sacrifices everything to his
+fraternal tenderness, and leaves the home where he is made so unhappy."
+
+During this conversation, Miss Mertens and Elizabeth had left the
+castle, and were now ascending the mountain path.  Reinhard, who had
+been to the village, soon joined them.  Miss Mertens told him of her
+interview with Herr von Walde, and all that he had said about going to
+England.
+
+"He has not yet mentioned it to me," said Reinhard; "but he often looks
+as if he longed to leave Lindhof. Such a household!  The master of the
+house is considered by his relatives in the light of a fifth wheel to a
+coach,--he maintains them, and they show their gratitude by estranging
+his sister's heart from him.  Good Heavens! if I could only take his
+place for two days, I would soon exorcise the evil spirit and not a
+trace of it should ever appear again.  However, I hope that Herr von
+Hollfeld will at least soon return to Odenberg for a few days.  His
+superintendent has just arrived with the intelligence that the
+housekeeper has left,--no one stays there long--my gentleman is too
+stingy.  And several other matters are in disorder there."
+
+When they reached Castle Gnadeck, the guest was most cordially welcomed
+by the Ferbers.  How comfortable and homelike did Miss Mertens' room
+seem to its new inmate!  It shone with neatness; the counterpane and
+table-covers were spotless, a beautiful Schwarzwald clock was ticking
+softly just above the prettily arrayed writing-table, and a vase of
+roses and mignonette upon the window-sill filled the air with fragrance.
+Through the open door could be seen the dwelling-room of the family.
+There the table was already laid, and Elizabeth lighted the spirit-lamp
+beneath the tea-kettle, while Miss Mertens was arranging in drawers and
+wardrobe the few articles that she had brought with her.
+
+In the mean while the forester, with his long pipe and Hector, had
+arrived, and Reinhard also stayed, so that a merry circle was soon
+assembled.  The forester was in a particularly happy humour.  Elizabeth
+sat beside him, and did her best to join in his gaiety; but it had never
+seemed so difficult to her before, and he, who had an acute perception
+of the most delicate modulations of her voice, soon perceived it.
+
+"Holla, Gold Elsie, what is the matter with you?" he cried, suddenly.
+"All is not right here."  He took her by the chin and looked into her
+eyes.  "I see,--there is a veil over your eyes, and over your heart,
+too! Zounds! what a sudden change!  And what does this sad nun's face
+mean?"
+
+Elizabeth blushed deeply beneath his scrutinizing gaze. She did all that
+she could to parry his questions by jest and laughter, but she did not
+succeed very well, and at last there was nothing for her but to seat
+herself at the piano, where he never teased nor laughed at her.
+
+How much good it did her heavy heart to give it voice in full rolling
+chords, as the sound floated sadly out into the gathering
+twilight,--telling of the gloom that had fallen upon her at the thought
+of Herr von Walde's again leaving Thuringia!  Where now were all her
+dreamings and all her endeavours to read the meaning of that mysterious
+warning that had of late breathed through her melodies?  It rung out
+clearly now in mighty tones, at the sound of which all the former gentle
+breathings of her inward emotions died away in an inaudible whisper.  A
+fairy land, full of golden promise, was revealed before her; her
+enchanted eyes gazed rapturously upon the fair landscape,--but never,
+never might she tread that magic ground, for nothing could bridge the
+abyss at her feet. The veil beneath which her heart had hitherto lain in
+blissful self-ignorance was rent, and with joy and pain unspeakable she
+knew--that she loved.
+
+She did not know how long she had been playing. But she was suddenly
+aroused from her utter forgetfulness of the world without by a bright
+gleam of light falling directly on the pale bust of Beethoven.  Her
+mother had just lighted the large lamp, and Elizabeth saw her uncle
+sitting near her on the broad window-seat. He must have entered
+noiselessly.  As her hands dropped from the keys, he gently smoothed her
+hair with his hand.
+
+"Do you know, child," he said, after the last faint sound had died away,
+and his voice trembled with emotion, "if I had not already seen that
+something was the matter, I should soon have learned it from your
+playing,--it was tears, nothing but tears!"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+Miss Mertens' presence lent an additional charm to the circle at
+Gnadeck.  For the first time for long, dreary years the governess found
+herself an object of interest and affection, and at home.  Her gentle
+nature, so long chilled and repressed, now showed itself, and, combined
+with her varied culture, made her a most attractive addition to the
+household.  She longed to be of use whenever she could, and took great
+pains with little Ernst, who had a lesson every day in French and
+English; while Elizabeth, too, gathered all the advantage that she could
+from her visitor, and studied diligently, knowing that it was the best
+resource to ward off sad reveries.
+
+In the mean while, the practisings at Castle Lindhof went on as before.
+Hollfeld, who had only been absent at Odenberg for one day, was still an
+enthusiastic auditor, trying by every means in his power to obtain a
+private interview with Elizabeth.  Once or twice he had cunningly
+contrived that, in the intervals of rest, Helene should leave the room
+to find something that he wanted, but he gained nothing by these
+manoeuvres, for Elizabeth always left the room at the same time to
+procure a glass of water.  His attempts to meet her upon her return to
+her home she frustrated also, for Miss Mertens and little Ernst were
+always awaiting her at the borders of the park.  This perpetual
+frustration of his endeavours at last made him impatient and less
+cautious.  He no longer held his hand before his face.  His looks were
+entirely unguarded, and it was only owing to her near-sightedness that
+Helene was spared a most painful discovery.  Thus Elizabeth's visits to
+the castle grew more and more annoying, and she was thankful that the
+fete day was at last close at hand, since with that celebration the
+daily practisings would, at all events, be discontinued.
+
+The day before Herr von Walde's birthday, Reinhard announced at Gnadeck
+that a guest had already arrived at Castle Lindhof.
+
+"That scatter-brain completes our misery," he said, with vexation.
+
+"Who is she?" said Miss Mertens and Frau Ferber, laughing at the same
+moment.
+
+"Oh, she is said to be a friend of Fraeulein von Walde,--a lady from
+court at L----.  She is to assist in the ordering of the fete.  Heaven
+help us all, for she turns everything upside down."
+
+"Ah, it must be Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf," cried Miss Mertens, still
+laughing.  "Yes, indeed, there is quicksilver in her veins.  She is
+terribly frivolous, but she is not really bad at heart."
+
+Later in the afternoon Reinhard accompanied Elizabeth to Lindhof.  As
+she approached the castle, Herr von Walde's horse was led up to the
+great entrance on the southern front of it.  He himself immediately
+issued from the glass door, riding-whip in hand, and descended the
+steps.  Elizabeth had not seen him since the afternoon when he had
+treated her with such harsh want of consideration.  She thought he
+looked very pale and stern.
+
+Just as he was mounting, a young lady, dressed in white, came out upon
+the steps.  She was extremely pretty, and with much grace she hastened
+down to pat the horse upon the neck and give him a lump of sugar.
+
+Fraeulein von Walde, who also appeared leaning upon Hollfeld's arm,
+stood at the top of the steps, and kissed her hand in token of farewell
+to her brother.
+
+"Is not that young lady Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf?" asked Elizabeth.
+
+Reinhard assented, with a wry face.
+
+"She is certainly very pretty," said the young girl. "Herr von Walde
+seems much interested," she added, in a lower tone, as the rider leaned
+from his saddle, and appeared to be listening intently to what the young
+lady was saying.
+
+"Oh, he does not wish to be rude, and therefore gives her a moment's
+attention.  She would talk the moon out of the sky, and, I verily
+believe, would seize and hang upon the horse's bridle if she saw any
+danger of his leaving before she had finished what she had to say."
+
+In the mean time they had reached the vestibule.  Here Elizabeth took
+leave of Reinhard, and betook herself to the music-room, where she found
+Fraeulein von Walde and Hollfeld.  The former retired for a moment to
+her dressing-room, to arrange her curls, that were somewhat out of
+order, and Hollfeld took advantage of this moment to approach Elizabeth,
+who had retired to the recess of a window, and was turning over the
+leaves of a music-book.
+
+"We were provokingly disturbed the other day," he whispered.
+
+"We?" she asked, with emphasis, retreating a step or two.  "I, indeed,
+had reason to complain of being disturbed.  I was much provoked, I
+assure you, by the interruption of my reading."
+
+"Oh, every inch a queen!" he cried jestingly, but in a low tone of
+voice.  "I certainly did not intend to offend you,--on the contrary, do
+you not know what that rose meant?"
+
+"It would most certainly say that it would a thousand times rather be
+left to perish upon its stalk than be plucked for such idle purposes."
+
+"Cruel girl!  You are hard as marble.  Can you not guess, then, what
+lures me hither daily?"
+
+"Admiration, doubtless, for our great composers."
+
+"You are wrong."
+
+"Then the hope of improving your musical taste."
+
+"Oh, no!  That would not bring me a step hither. For me, music is only a
+bridge----"
+
+"From which you might easily fall into cold water."
+
+"And would you allow me to drown?"
+
+"Most certainly--yes.  I am not ambitious of a medal from the Humane
+Society," replied Elizabeth, dryly.
+
+Fraeulein von Walde returned.  She seemed surprised to find the pair
+conversing, for until this moment there had never been a word exchanged
+between them.  She looked keenly at Hollfeld, who could not control his
+feeling of annoyance, and then seating herself at the piano, began to
+prelude, while Elizabeth arranged the notes.  Hollfeld took his usual
+place, and leaned his head upon his hand with a melancholy air.  But
+never had his gaze rested upon Elizabeth with such glowing and
+passionate intentness.  She repented having entered into conversation
+with him.  Her endeavour to repulse him by coldness and severity
+appeared to have had quite a contrary effect.  Repugnance and fear
+overcame her at sight of him, and, notwithstanding the thought of her
+uncle's probable smile of triumph, the determination rather to resign
+the practisings entirely than to subject herself any longer to these
+insolent glances, gained ground in her mind.
+
+The hour was nearly ended, when Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf entered in
+haste.  In her arms she carried a little creature in a long, white,
+infant's cloak, pressing its head down upon her shoulder with one hand.
+
+"Frau Oberhofmeisterin von Falkenberg sends her compliments," she said
+with formality,--"regrets excessively that a cold will prevent her
+presence to-morrow, but she takes the liberty of sending her lovely,
+blooming grandchild----"
+
+Here the creature in her arms made desperate exertions, and, with a loud
+howl, jumped down upon the ground, and ran under a chair, dragging the
+long robe after it.
+
+"Ah, Cornelie, you are too childish," cried Fraeulein von Walde, with a
+laugh of amusement and vexation, as Ali's distressed face, surrounded by
+a baby's cap, peeped out from beneath the chair.  "If our good
+Falkenberg could hear of this, you would play no more tricks at the
+court of L----."
+
+Bella, who had also just entered, shrieked with laughter, only
+endeavouring to control herself when her mother, amazed at the noise,
+appeared and represented to her how unbecoming such loud merriment was.
+The baroness, smiling, shook a threatening forefinger at Fraeulein von
+Quittelsdorf when Helene told her what had happened, and then approached
+Elizabeth.
+
+"Perhaps Fraeulein von Walde has not told you," she said rather
+graciously, "that all invited to the fete to-morrow will assemble at
+four o'clock in the large saloon.  Pray be punctual.  The concert will
+not be over until near six.  I tell you this that your parents may not
+expect you at home before that time."
+
+At these words, Helene looked down upon the keys of the piano in great
+confusion, while Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf took her stand beside the
+baroness, and stared Elizabeth impertinently in the face.  Beautiful as
+were the black eyes that were fastened upon her, Elizabeth was annoyed
+by their steady stare.  She bowed to the baroness, assuring her that she
+would be punctual, and then looked full and gravely at the fair
+impertinent.  The effect was instantaneous.  Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf
+looked away, and, in some confusion, turned upon her heel like a spoiled
+child.  Just then she discovered Herr von Hollfeld in the recess of the
+window.
+
+"How, Hollfeld," she cried, "are you here, or is it your spirit?  What
+are you doing here?"
+
+"I am listening, as you see."
+
+"You are listening?  Ha, ha, ha!  And of coarse enjoying such
+indigestible food as Mozart and Beethoven! Don't you remember telling
+me, four weeks ago, at the last court concert, that you always suffered
+from dyspepsia after listening to classical music?"
+
+She laughed boisterously.
+
+"Ah, pray let nonsense go now, dearest Cornelie," said the baroness,
+"and aid me in this programme for the fete with your inventive genius.
+And you, dear Emil, would do me a great favour if you would come too.
+You know that I am obliged now to enforce my authority by the presence
+of a masculine supporter."
+
+Hollfeld arose with visible reluctance.
+
+"Oh, take me too, pray!  Would you be so cruel as to leave me here alone
+until tea-time?" cried Helene, reproachfully, as she stood up.  She
+looked displeased, and it seemed to Elizabeth that she noticed, for the
+first time, an envious expression in the lovely blue eyes as they looked
+at the tripping feet of Cornelie, who, without another word, had taken
+Hollfeld's arm, and was leaving the room.  Elizabeth closed the piano,
+and took a hasty leave.
+
+In all the passages of the castle through which she went there was hurry
+and bustle.  The servants were carrying baskets of china, glass, and
+silver to the rooms adjoining the grand saloon.  From the subterranean
+regions of the kitchens there streamed a fragrant odour, and through the
+open door of one of the servants' rooms were seen heaps of green
+garlands and wreaths.
+
+And he in whose honour all were exerting themselves to-day was riding
+alone in the forest, gloomily devising ways and means for fleeing from
+the joyless, unquiet life in his home.
+
+Elizabeth went down to the village to execute a commission for her
+father.  A few days before, a violent storm in the night had so shaken
+the ruinous jutty in the corner of the garden that there was danger that
+the slightest jar might send it toppling down upon the garden, burying
+beneath its fragments the beds and paths which had just been so
+laboriously arranged.  Two Lindhof masons had promised to take down the
+ruin the following Monday, but as the forester had declared that he knew
+from experience that small reliance was to be placed upon their
+promises, Elizabeth was to remind them of their engagement, and impress
+upon them the urgent necessity for keeping it.
+
+The result of her expedition was favourable.  One of the workmen swore
+by all that was Holy that he would be upon the spot, and she was now
+wandering through the quiet, lonely path towards her home.  About midway
+upon the path leading from the village to the forest Lodge, a much
+narrower path branched off, and ascended the mountain to Castle Gnadeck.
+It was seldom used, and might have escaped stranger eyes, for in some
+places it was overgrown with low bushes, and fallen leaves lay so thick
+among the gnarled roots of the trees that it seemed never to have been
+trodden by the foot of man.  Elizabeth loved the path, and now chose it
+for her return home.
+
+She had never encountered a human being here, but to-day she had not
+penetrated far into the green twilight before she observed, about twenty
+paces in front of her, towards the right, just by the trunk of an
+enormous beech tree, something like an arm slowly projected and then
+dropped.  She could distinctly perceive this movement, as just at that
+spot the trees separated, and encircled a light spot of grass which
+shone like an oasis in the dark forest.  Elizabeth advanced noiselessly
+and slowly, but as she arrived opposite to the beech tree she suddenly
+stood still in terror.
+
+A man was leaning against the tree.  His back was turned towards her;
+his head was uncovered save by masses of coarse, uncombed hair.  For one
+moment he stood motionless, apparently listening, then advanced a step,
+raised his right arm, and pointed the barrel of a pistol towards the
+light spot in the forest, after awhile letting his arm fall again by his
+side.
+
+"He is practising at a mark," thought Elizabeth, but she only thought so
+to compose herself, for an indescribable terror had at once taken
+possession of her; she did not know whether to run backward or forward
+in order to escape observation, and so she stood still, rooted to the
+spot.
+
+Suddenly the noise of a horse's hoofs struck upon her ear.  The man
+started and stood erect as though electrified.  A few moments afterwards
+a horseman appeared where the forest was more open.  The horse walked
+slowly over the soft turf; its rider, lost in thought, had dropped the
+bridle upon its neck.  The man with the pistol rapidly advanced a couple
+of paces; raised his arm in the direction of the horseman, and at the
+same moment turned his head so that Elizabeth instantly recognized the
+former superintendent, Linke, his features deadly pale and distorted
+with rage and hate, while the horseman, who was slowly coming within
+range of the deadly weapon, was Herr von Walde.  An instantaneous
+transformation took place in Elizabeth.  The girlish terror that had
+caused her to tremble at sight of the villain, gave place to a wondrous
+courage and an incomprehensible calmness and self-control at the thought
+that she was destined to come to the rescue here.  She glided
+noiselessly through the trees and stood suddenly, as if she had risen
+from the earth, beside Linke, who, his eyes riveted upon his victim, had
+no suspicion of her approach.  With all the strength of which she was
+mistress she seized his arm and threw it up.  The pistol was discharged
+with a loud report, and the ball whistled through the air and lodged in
+the trunk of a tree; as the startled wretch fell upon the ground, a
+woman's loud scream for help rang through the forest.  The assassin
+tottered to his feet and plunged into the thicket.  In the mean time the
+horse had reared and plunged with fright, but, speedily controlled by
+its rider, came galloping across the clearing to the spot where
+Elizabeth was leaning against a beech tree, pale as death.  The danger
+was past, and her feminine nature was reasserting itself.  She trembled
+in every limb, but a happy smile illuminated her countenance when she
+saw Herr von Walde coming towards her safe and unharmed.
+
+At sight of her he leaped from his horse; but she, who had just
+manifested such extraordinary self-possession, screamed with fright and
+turned suddenly as she felt two hands laid upon her shoulders from
+behind,--Miss Mertens' agitated face was close to her own.
+
+"Good God!  Elizabeth," cried the governess, breathlessly, "what have
+you done! he might have killed you!"
+
+Herr von Walde pushed through the underbrush that separated them from
+him.
+
+"Are you wounded?" he asked Elizabeth, hurriedly and earnestly.
+
+She shook her head.  Without another word he raised her from the ground
+and carried her to the fallen trunk of a tree, where he gently placed
+her.  Miss Mertens sat down beside her and leaned the girl's head upon
+her shoulder.
+
+"Now pray tell me what has happened," said Herr von Walde to the
+governess.
+
+"No, no," cried Elizabeth in terror; "not here, let us go,--the murderer
+has escaped,--perhaps he is lurking among the bushes, and may yet
+accomplish his design."
+
+"Linke was about to murder you, Herr von Walde," said Miss Mertens, in a
+trembling voice.
+
+"Miserable wretch! that shot then was for me," he calmly observed.  He
+turned and went into the thicket where Linke had disappeared.  Elizabeth
+almost lost her self control, and was on the point of following him when
+he returned.
+
+"Reassure yourself," he said to her; "there are no traces of him to be
+seen; he will not shoot again to-day. Come, I beg you, Miss Mertens,
+tell me all about it."
+
+It appeared that knowing that Elizabeth was going to the village, the
+governess had gone to meet her in the narrow forest path.  As she was
+slowly descending the mountain she saw all that Elizabeth had seen.  The
+villain's intentions were plain, but she had been so paralyzed by fright
+that she had not been able to move nor cry out. She stood fastened to
+the spot with deadly terror, when suddenly Elizabeth, whom she had not
+seen, stood behind the assassin.  In her horror at her friend's danger,
+the cry for help escaped her which had been heard simultaneously with
+the report of the pistol.  She related all this hurriedly, and in
+conclusion added: "Where did you get the courage, Elizabeth, to seize
+the man?  I shudder at the mere thought of touching him, and should have
+screamed loudly instead."
+
+"If I had screamed," replied Elizabeth, simply, "Linke might have
+accomplished his purpose, in his involuntary start of alarm."
+
+Herr von Walde listened quietly but intently to Miss Mertens' account.
+Only when she described how Elizabeth had seized the murderer's arm, did
+his face lose colour for an instant, as he riveted a keen, anxious
+glance upon the girl, to assure himself that she had actually escaped
+the danger unhurt.  He leaned over her, took her right hand and pressed
+it to his lips, and Elizabeth plainly perceived that his hand trembled.
+
+Miss Mertens, who observed how this expression of gratitude confused
+Elizabeth and called up a burning blush in her cheeks, left her seat,
+and picking up the pistol Linke had thrown from him in his flight,
+handed it to Herr von Walde.
+
+"Horrible!" he murmured.  "The wretch would have murdered me with one of
+my own weapons."
+
+Elizabeth now arose, and assured Miss Mertens that all traces of her
+fright had vanished, and that she was quite able to resume her walk
+towards Gnadeck.  They would both have taken leave of Herr von Walde,
+but he tied his horse to the terrible beech tree, and said, lightly:
+
+"We know well that Linke's nature is most revengeful; he may perhaps
+hate her to whom I owe my life even more than he hates me.  I cannot
+permit you to proceed without a protector."
+
+They ascended the mountain.  Miss Mertens hastened on, that she might
+incite Herr von Walde to greater speed, in order to take steps for the
+apprehension of the criminal as quickly as possible; but her exertions
+were all in vain.  He walked slowly by the side of Elizabeth, who, after
+a few moments of conflict with herself, begged him, in a gentle, timid
+tone, not to go back alone to his horse, but to send for him from Castle
+Lindhof.
+
+He smiled.  "Belisarius is wild and obstinate; you know him already," he
+said.  "He obeys no one but myself, and would never allow any one but
+his master to take him home.  Besides, I assure you, that cowardly
+wretch will attempt nothing further to-day.  And if he should, I bear a
+charmed life.  Has not my happy star risen to-day in my heavens?"
+
+He stood still.  "What do you think," he asked, suddenly, in a low tone,
+and his eyes flashed as he looked at her, "shall I listen to the
+delicious hope that it may shine upon me for the rest of my life?"
+
+"If it is to tempt you to run repeated risks, it were certainly better
+not to place such unconditional faith in your star."
+
+"And yet I run the greatest risk of all in trusting such a hope," he
+murmured, half to himself, as his face darkened.
+
+"I do not understand you," said Elizabeth, surprised.
+
+"It is quite natural that you should not," he replied, bitterly.  "Your
+wishes and hopes lie in quite another direction.  Notwithstanding all
+our stern self-discipline, we are sometimes overmastered by a beautiful
+dream. No, no, say nothing more!  I am punished already, for I am
+awaking."
+
+He quickened his pace, and walked by Miss Mertens' side, while Elizabeth
+followed more slowly, lost in wonder at the harsh tone which he had
+suddenly assumed, and which so wounded her.  He spoke not another word;
+and when at last the walls of the old castle appeared through the trees,
+he took his leave, coldly and shortly, and descended the mountain.
+
+Miss Mertens looked after him in surprise.  "Incomprehensible man!" she
+said at last, and shook her head. "Even though he attaches but little
+value to his life, as would seem to be the case, surely a word or two of
+gratitude at parting from you would not be superfluous, when he knows
+that you have risked your life for his sake."
+
+"I see no necessity for anything of the kind," rejoined Elizabeth.  "You
+attach altogether too much importance to what I have done.  I simply
+fulfilled my duty to my neighbour; and would," she added, with a strange
+defiance in her tone and manner, "have done the same if the case had
+been reversed, and Linke's had been the threatened life.  I hope
+sincerely that Herr von Walde understands this, for to his haughty
+nature the feeling of obligation to another must be intensely painful,
+and I would not for the world be that other."
+
+At this moment anxiety and anger were striving within her for the
+mastery.  In thought she followed Herr von Walde, and shuddered with
+horror as she remembered that perhaps he was just passing some spot
+where the assassin was lying in wait for him; then she reminded herself,
+as she quickened her steps, of what utter folly it was to waste so much
+thought and feeling upon a man who persistently turned the roughest side
+of his nature towards her.  Even in intercourse with the baroness, who
+was so utterly distasteful to him, he preserved his repose of manner,
+never for one moment forgetting the laws of common courtesy, although he
+invariably maintained his convictions with the greatest decision.  He
+had never been seen by those about him except when surrounded by an
+atmosphere of the serenest dignity.  It was only when talking with her
+that he did not appear to consider it worth his while to control
+himself.  How violent and bitter he could be then!  How his eyes flashed
+as he waited impatiently for her replies, when they were not prompt and
+decided!  And he required besides that she should understand him almost
+before he spoke, and yet was often utterly incomprehensible even when he
+did speak.  Perhaps every one else was cleverer than she, and could more
+easily comprehend his manner of speaking, which was such a riddle to
+her.  Was it unwise to determine to avoid all intercourse with him for
+the future?  Certainly not.  Well, fortunately, his departure was at
+hand.  Fortunately? The structure of self-deception, which her pride and
+defiance had erected, crumbled to ruins at this thought; yes, it so
+utterly vanished, that, to Miss Mertens' surprise, she turned and walked
+quickly down the path that led to Castle Lindhof.  She must satisfy
+herself that he reached his home in safety.  Miss Mertens followed her
+to a grove whence they could see the door where he usually dismounted,
+and they were greatly relieved when he shortly emerged from the forest.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+In the evening the Ferber family were sitting in the shade of the
+lindens at the spring.  Frau Ferber and Miss Mertens were busied in
+making a rug which was to lie upon the floor under the piano in winter
+time.
+
+Frau Ferber had lost for awhile that dignified composure that so well
+became her still beautiful face.  She could not forget the afternoon's
+occurrence; for, although she saw her child before her safe and sound,
+she had been very much agitated by Miss Mertens' account.  She looked
+frequently at Elizabeth, fearing, as she remarked her slightest change
+of colour, that some illness would ensue from the excitement that she
+had passed through.  The father's views were different.  "That's my
+brave daughter!" he said with sparkling eyes, "determine coolly and
+execute quickly,--thus I would have you do."
+
+To Frau Ferber, her husband had always seemed the ideal of what a man
+should be.  Even now, after so many years of married life, she followed
+blindly where he led; and in her estimation his opinions admitted of no
+question.  But to-day, as she listened to his paternal praises, a sigh
+escaped her as she remarked that a mother loved her children infinitely
+more than a father possibly could.
+
+"Certainly not more, only differently," was Ferber's quiet rejoinder.
+"It is because I love them that I educate them to be full-grown,
+responsible beings, capable of thinking and acting courageously and
+independently, that they may never belong to the miserable class whom
+want of all force of character condemns to constant suffering."
+
+Elizabeth had also brought her work-basket into the garden, but little
+Ernst looked greatly disappointed as he saw her take out her sewing.
+
+"Very well, then, Elsie," he said petulantly.  "Herr von Walde may ask
+me a dozen times if I love you,--I shall not say yes again.  You never
+play with me any more; and, I suppose, you think you are as big a girl
+as Miss Mertens!  But you needn't think that,--you won't be for a long
+while yet."
+
+They all laughed at this odd confounding of age with size.  But
+Elizabeth rose immediately to amuse the little boy, tucked up her long
+dress, and drew lots which should chase and which run from the other;
+and then they were both off like a flash, up and down the rampart,
+hither and thither through the garden.
+
+In the mean time there was a ring at the gate in the wall.  Herr Ferber
+opened it, and Dr. Fels, Reinhard, and the forester appeared upon the
+threshold.  Elizabeth was just running along the principal walk, and did
+not immediately see the visitors.
+
+"Well, I must say," laughed Dr. Fels, standing still, "this is a
+wonderful transformation.  In the afternoon Valkyria, and in the evening
+a butterfly!"
+
+But the forester advanced, threw his arm around his niece, and then held
+her off at arm's length, that he might scan her delicate figure.  "My
+fine darling!" he cried with sparkling eyes, "she looks as fragile and
+delicate as though she were made of ivory, and yet she has the force of
+a man in her heart and hands; 'tis an immense pity you are not a boy.  I
+would clap you into a green hunting-coat in spite of all that your
+father could say."
+
+In the mean while Dr. Fels also drew near, and held out his hand to
+Elizabeth.  "Herr von Walde rode to town to-night," he said, "and
+requested me to come hither.  He is very anxious to know that your
+fright and terror have produced no evil consequences."
+
+"None whatever," she replied, blushing deeply.  "As you see," she added,
+laughing, "I am perfectly well able to perform my sisterly duties, and
+Ernst has just assured me that I am very hard to catch."
+
+"Well, I will carry Herr von Walde this message, word for word," said
+the doctor with an arch smile.  "Let him decide whether it is a
+comforting one, or the contrary."
+
+Ferber now invited the gentlemen to join the circle beneath the lindens.
+The doctor lighted a cigar and seemed most content.  They discussed
+Linke's attempt very fully.  After his dismissal from Lindhof, many of
+the underhand dealings by which he had taken advantage of his master's
+absence, had come to light. Although Herr von Walde had taken no steps
+to bring the offender to justice, the knowledge of his dishonesty spread
+abroad, and was the means of preventing the superintendent from
+procuring another situation.  Undoubtedly this had filled the measure of
+his desire for revenge, and had excited him to to-day's deed.  Every
+means had been tried for the apprehension of the assassin; the forester
+with his men had searched the forest, but their exertions had been
+followed by no result.  Reinhard said that every one at Castle Lindhof
+had been forbidden to mention the matter to Fraeulein von Walde, lest
+the fright should injure her.  And the baroness, Hollfeld, and the old
+waiting-maid were to know nothing of it.
+
+"Herr von Walde has also requested," he continued, "that the matter
+should be kept as secret as possible in L----, for he knows that half
+the town is invited for to-morrow's fete."
+
+"That is, everything that creeps or flies upon a golden, silver, or
+coloured field," interrupted the doctor sarcastically; "every coat of
+arms that can be found, and all the court-councillors, and officials.
+Oh, the selection has been made upon the strictest principles of court
+etiquette, I assure you.  So I have enjoined it upon my wife to conduct
+herself with becoming humility, like a crow among soaring falcons.  To
+our surprise the baroness,--for she manages the whole affair,--has sent
+us an invitation."
+
+"Apropos, my dear doctor!" cried Reinhard laughing, "they told me in
+L---- to-day that the old Princess Catharine wished to install you as
+her physician, but you declined the honour,--is that true?  All L---- is
+actually standing on its head with surprise."
+
+"Ah, that is nothing new; the dear little town passes half its time in
+that posture, and the consequence is that the light of intelligence
+shines upon the tough soles of its feet.  But you have heard correctly.
+I was sufficiently bold to decline that honour."
+
+"But why?"
+
+"First, because I have no time to be coddling the hysterical whims of
+her aristocratic head every day; and then my sacred respect for court
+etiquette is too great."
+
+"Yes, yes," cried the forester, laughing, "that is the reason why I
+always cross myself three times when I leave the royal castle behind me.
+The prince and princess,--our good princess especially troubles no
+one,--they shut their eyes when mere matters of ceremony are not
+according to stiff, prescribed rules; but that court mob, that lisps and
+crawls and wags its tail about them,--heaven help us! it absolutely
+shrieks murder if a man walks boldly and uprightly, and goes into fits
+at the sound of a voice that comes clear and full from the chest just as
+God meant it should."
+
+It had grown very dark.  The family and Miss Mertens accompanied the
+visitors to the gate in the wall; and, as they all stepped forth upon
+the open sward, they heard sweet sounds floating up from the valley
+through the forest, which lay steeped in the silence of night, and where
+the birds had ceased to flit among the boughs, and even the breeze had
+fallen asleep in the tree-tops in the midst of the strange tales from
+distant lands that it whispered to them every evening.  The band from
+the town was serenading Herr von Walde.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+The next morning at five o'clock the inmates of Gnadeck were awakened by
+a discharge of artillery.  "Aha!" said Ferber to his wife, "the
+celebration is beginning."  But Elizabeth was startled from a fearful
+dream, in which the misfortune which she had yesterday averted seemed
+actually to take place.  She had just seen Herr von Walde fall dying to
+the ground, when the cannon in the valley awoke her.  It was some time
+before she could collect herself.  For one moment she suffered
+fearfully.  It seemed as if heaven and earth were vanishing from her as
+that noble figure fell; and even now, when she saw the golden light of
+morning falling upon the familiar objects in her room and not upon the
+blood-stained sward, her agitated nerves still quivered; she had never,
+not even the day before, when she had so fearlessly risked her life for
+his, felt so deeply that his death would be hers also.
+
+Again and again the cannon thundered up from the valley.  The
+window-panes shook slightly, and the little canary fluttered in terror
+from side to side in his cage. At each report Elizabeth shuddered; and
+when her anxious mother, who could not quite allay her fears for the
+result of the previous day's occurrence, although her child had seemed
+unharmed and well, came to her bedside to ask how she had slept, the
+girl threw her arms around her neck and burst into an uncontrollable fit
+of tears.
+
+"Good heavens, my child!" cried Frau Ferber, much frightened, "you are
+ill.  I knew that you would suffer from yesterday's shock, and there is
+that terrible shooting going on in the valley."
+
+Elizabeth had some trouble in convincing her mother that she felt
+perfectly well, and that she could not be induced to lie in bed, but was
+resolved to take her breakfast with the family.  And to put a stop to
+all further remonstrance, she immediately arose, bathed and dressed, and
+assisted her mother in preparing the simple breakfast.
+
+The sound of the cannon suddenly ceased, and before long all traces of
+tears vanished from Elizabeth's eyes. The world looked brighter to her;
+for, although a life of renunciation lay before her, he still lived;
+this thought had, in consequence of her fearful dream, a soothing effect
+upon her restless heart.  Even if he went away to distant lands, and she
+was forced to live years without seeing him, a time must come when he
+would return. And she could still love and think of him, for he belonged
+to no one else.
+
+Later in the day she went with her family and Miss Mertens to the Lodge,
+where they had been invited to dine.  There was a dark cloud upon the
+forester's brow as he came to meet them.  Elizabeth soon discovered that
+he was troubled about Bertha.
+
+"I cannot and will not bear it any longer!" he cried angrily.  "Must I
+turn spy in my old age, and constantly be upon the watch to prevent a
+wayward, foolish child, who has no possible claim upon me, from making a
+perpetual fool of herself?"
+
+"But remember, uncle, she is unhappy," said Elizabeth, somewhat alarmed.
+
+"Unhappy?--she is a deceitful fool!--I am no ogre, and when I thought
+her really unhappy, that is, when she lost both her parents, I did all
+that I could to protect and guide her.  But that is not what is the
+matter with her, for scarcely two months after her loss she went singing
+about and chattering like a magpie, so that I was really grieved to see
+such heartlessness and frivolity.  What is she unhappy about, eh?  But I
+don't want to know her state secret if she has no confidence in me;--let
+it alone. For all I care she may wear that die-away look upon her face
+for the next year; but to pretend to be dumb, to run about in the forest
+at night like a maniac, and perhaps one of these fine days burn down my
+house about my ears, it is more than I can bear, and I must have a word
+or two to say about the matter."
+
+"Did you not heed the warning that I gave you?" asked Ferber.
+
+"Certainly I did; I put her into another room; she sleeps now just above
+me, so that I can hear her lightest step.  At night both the house doors
+are not only bolted, as they have always been at night, but locked too,
+and I take the key into my room.  And oh! the cunning of women,--but
+that's an old story.  At any rate my precautions ensured us some rest.
+But last night I could not get to sleep; the affair with Linke was
+running through my brain, and I heard steps above me, cautious steps,
+soft as a cat's.  Aha! I thought, she is at her nightly promenades
+again, and I rose, but when I went up-stairs the nest was already empty.
+On a table at the open window a light was burning, and as I opened the
+door the curtain flew into the flame.  Zounds! if I had not been quick
+as a flash we should have had a blaze that would have been well fed by
+those old balconies.  And how did she get out?  Through the kitchen
+window.  I would rather take care of a swarm of ants than of such a sly,
+deceitful creature."
+
+"I am convinced that some love affair is at the bottom of the girl's
+conduct," said Frau Ferber.
+
+"Yes, you told me so once before, sister-in-law," replied the forester
+with irritation, "and if you would be kind enough to tell me with whom,
+I should be infinitely obliged to you.  Look around us and see if there
+is any one here to turn a girl's brain.  My assistants,--they are not
+half good enough for her; she never would have a word to say to them; it
+cannot be the rogue Linke, with his crooked legs and carroty wig, and
+there is no one else here."
+
+"You have forgotten one," said Frau Ferber significantly, with a glance
+towards Elizabeth, who had lingered behind to cut a whip for Ernst.
+
+"Well?" asked the forester.
+
+"Herr von Hollfeld."
+
+The forester remained silent for awhile.  "Hm!" he muttered at last, "I
+should never in the world have thought of him.  No, no," he continued
+quickly, "I do not believe it, for in the first place the girl cannot
+possibly be such a fool as to believe that he would make her my lady von
+Odenberg, and----"
+
+"Perhaps she hoped that he would, and finds herself mistaken,"
+interrupted Frau Ferber.
+
+"She is vain and arrogant enough for it, but he,--he cares nothing for
+women,--he is a cold, heartless egotist," said the forester.
+
+"An egotist, I grant you," said Frau Ferber, "and that explains Bertha's
+conduct and manner."
+
+"That would be a fine affair," cried the forester angrily, "to think
+that I should have been hoodwinked like any old fool in a comedy!  I
+will sift the matter now to the bottom, and woe to the girl if she has
+really dared to bring disgrace upon herself and me!"
+
+The dinner was a very quiet one.  The forester was out of sorts, and
+would have extorted a confession from Bertha upon the spot had not Frau
+Ferber prayed him to wait for a few days.  After coffee the guests left
+the Lodge; the forester threw his rifle across his shoulder, and plunged
+into the forest, which, as he said, always soothed and brought him to
+reason.
+
+Elizabeth dressed herself for the concert, that is, she put on a simple,
+white muslin dress, whose only decoration was a bouquet of fresh wild
+flowers.  Her mother tied around her neck a little locket attached to a
+very narrow black velvet ribbon, and this was her toilet, which would
+certainly have seemed most embarrassingly simple to most young girls
+going for the first time among a large assemblage of brilliantly-dressed
+people; but Elizabeth, if she thought of it at all, congratulated
+herself upon the delicate neatness of her muslin, and would rather not
+have worn her mother's little ornament on this occasion, as she
+considered that she was to appear only as a musician and not as one of
+the guests, and that her fingers were all that she need be anxious
+about.  She was rather annoyed that the arms above these same fingers
+were bare, and that her dress was low-necked.  She had hitherto never
+worn a dress that did not cover her neck to her chin, and could not see
+why the fashionable world had decided that women should be _decollete_
+in large assemblies.  She thought as little of the exquisite form and
+dazzling whiteness of her shoulders and arms as of the beauty and grace
+of her head, which, with its heavy braids of golden hair, was set so
+exquisitely upon her finely-moulded neck.  Her mother herself had
+arranged her hair to-day, and it clustered in short shining curls above
+her forehead, contrasting wondrously with the delicately pencilled but
+decided arch of the dark eyebrows.  And Frau Ferber could not but agree
+with Miss Mertens, who, as she watched Elizabeth disappear upon the
+forest path, declared with enthusiasm that she was supernaturally
+lovely.  The mother had just acknowledged to herself that her child's
+beauty had unfolded in a most striking degree.
+
+When Elizabeth entered the vestibule of Castle Lindhof she encountered
+Dr. Fels, who, with his wife upon his arm, was just turning down one of
+the corridors.  She hastened towards him, and accosted him gaily, for
+her heart had been beating anxiously as she approached the castle, at
+the thought that she should be obliged to enter entirely alone the
+spacious saloon, where the greater part of the company were doubtless
+already assembled.  The doctor received her most cordially, and
+presented her to his wife, in an undertone, as "yesterday's heroine."
+Both gladly took her under their protection.  The large folding-doors
+were flung open, and Elizabeth was grateful for the lucky star that had
+allowed her to take shelter behind the tall, commanding figure of the
+doctor's wife, for she was at first rather overcome at sight of the
+large, richly-decorated apartment, over whose highly-polished floor
+glided the costly dresses of the ladies and the polished boots of the
+gentlemen.  In the centre of the saloon stood the Baroness Lessen,
+arrayed in magnificent dark-blue moire-antique, and receiving the
+guests.  She returned the salutations of the doctor and his wife very
+politely, but very coolly, and replied to the doctor's question, "Where
+is Herr von Walde?" by pointing to a knot of men standing near a window,
+whence issued a murmur like the Babylonish confusion of tongues.
+
+While Fels and his wife walked towards the spot, Elizabeth gladly and
+gratefully obeyed a gesture from Helene, who, sitting at another window,
+hurriedly and agitatedly informed her that she had suddenly had an
+attack of what is called "stage fright;" that she was in overwhelming
+terror at playing before so many people, and would rather creep into a
+mouse-hole.  And then she begged Elizabeth, instead of the four-handed
+composition with which the concert was to open, to play a sonata of
+Beethoven's, a wish with which Elizabeth immediately complied.  Her
+embarrassment vanished.  She stepped up to the table where the music was
+lying, and selected the sonata which she was to play.  Meanwhile,
+carriage after carriage rolled into the court-yard.  The folding-doors
+opened and closed incessantly upon such quantities of tulle and velvet
+and lace, which were crowded into the saloon, that Elizabeth smiled
+pityingly at the thought of her simple white muslin, so soon to loose
+its unwrinkled smoothness in such a crush of crinoline.
+
+She could very easily decide, from the manner of the baroness, upon the
+social rank of the guests.  One gracious wave of the feather-crowned
+head of the great lady answered every social requirement whenever she
+received untitled guests, and these untitled guests did their part well
+in acknowledging and respecting this aristocratic reserve.  All, in
+obedience to a gesture from the baroness, first made their way towards
+the window where stood Herr von Walde,--who, however, remained entirely
+invisible to Elizabeth,--and then scattered into single groups, either
+awaiting the opening of the concert, or engaged in conversation among
+themselves.
+
+Suddenly the doors flew open again, and a corpulent old lady hobbled in
+upon the arm of an equally aged gentleman, whose coat glittered with
+orders,--and with them came Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf.  The baroness
+hastened toward these guests, and Fraeulein von Walde also arose with
+difficulty, and, taking Hollfeld's arm, went to meet the aged pair,
+while all the ladies standing around her followed like the tail of a
+comet.  The crowd of men at the window divided suddenly as by magic, and
+Herr von Walde's lofty figure appeared.
+
+"We must come to you, if we wish to see you, naughty man!" cried the old
+lady, shaking her forefinger at him, as she hobbled towards him.  "You
+see, in spite of my poor feet, and although you have neglected me
+shamefully, I am here to-day to offer you my congratulations."
+
+He bowed, and said a few words to her, to which she replied by
+laughingly tapping him upon the shoulder with her fan.  Then he
+conducted her to an arm-chair, where she seated herself with much
+majesty.
+
+"The Countess of Falkenberg, chief lady in waiting at the court of
+L----," was the reply of the doctor's wife when Elizabeth asked who the
+old lady was.  Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf looked exquisitely beautiful
+to-day in her white crape dress, with a wreath of scarlet euphorbia in
+her dark hair, as she busied herself about the noble lady, while she did
+not forget to cast a roguish glance now and then at Fraeulein von Walde.
+
+The arrival of the guests from the court was the signal for the
+beginning of the concert.  Elizabeth could almost hear her own heart
+beat.  She was standing behind the doctor's wife, and was hidden from
+all the eyes which would in one moment be directed towards her,
+following every one of her movements.  Suddenly she was overcome with
+timidity, and she repented bitterly having consented to play first
+alone.  She trembled when Fraeulein von Walde motioned to her to begin,
+but there was no time to withdraw.  She took a long breath, and walked
+slowly, with downcast eyes, to the piano, where she courtesied timidly.
+
+At first there was a breathless silence; then a whisper ran from mouth
+to mouth, which was instantly hushed when the young girl struck the
+keys.  Elizabeth's fear and embarrassment all vanished at the sound of
+the first chords.  She was no longer alone.  He with whom she had so
+often wandered along meadow paths in brilliant sunshine, and past gloomy
+abysses in storm and rain, was with her,--the one who had so often
+aroused within her joyous presentiments, and who had expressed in
+immortal harmonies all the loftiest and most sacred aspirations of her
+nature,--who was as dear and familiar to her as her mother's face,
+although her gaze fell dazzled by the fiery glories which wreathed his
+majestic head.  The flower-crowned heads ranged against the walls, the
+lorgnettes and spectacles which, glittering in the sunlight, shot their
+lightning directly upon the lonely performer in the midst of the saloon,
+all vanished.  She was alone with the great master, following with
+rapture every manifestation of his creative spirit.
+
+An actual storm of applause startled her when she had finished.  She
+courtesied, and then almost flew to her protectress, Frau Fels, who,
+speechless with emotion, held out both hands to her.  The concert did
+not last very long.  Four young gentlemen from L---- sang a delightful
+quartette, and then there was a performance by a famous violin player.
+Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf sang two songs in a charming voice, but
+without any ear, so that at every high note the guests either moved
+involuntarily and nervously upon their chairs, or cast their eyes down
+in confusion.  And then came one of the well-practised duets.  Fraeulein
+von Walde had recovered her composure, and played excellently well with
+Elizabeth.
+
+When the concert was over, Elizabeth went towards the door of an
+anteroom, where she had left her shawl. She was closely followed by an
+elderly gentleman, who had been sitting opposite her, and had regarded
+her attentively.  At his request, Frau Fels presented him to the young
+girl as the Military Inspector-general Busch. He said many flattering
+things about Elizabeth's performance, and added that he was much pleased
+to become acquainted with the heroic preserver of the life of the lord
+of the castle; he had accepted to-day's invitation with all the greater
+pleasure, since within the last few hours he had been deprived of all
+hope of claiming her assistance in the investigation of the murderous
+attempt.
+
+He laughed heartily at Elizabeth's sudden alarm.
+
+"No, no, I pray you not to look so horror-stricken, Fraeulein," he said
+at last.  "As I have just told you, we shall have no occasion to subject
+you to a cross-examination. Linke has himself put a stop to our
+proceedings by a single blow.  His dead body was taken from the lake in
+the park this afternoon," he added, in a low tone.  "They informed me of
+it at the inn, where I alighted.  I proceeded, accompanied by the
+Waldheim physician, who happened to be at the inn, to the scene of the
+suicide, and convinced myself that that hand will never again be raised
+against the life of another.  The condition of the body shows that Linke
+must have sought death immediately after the failure of his murderous
+purpose."
+
+Elizabeth shuddered.  "Does Herr von Walde know of his fearful end?" she
+asked in a trembling voice.
+
+"No; I have had no opportunity to speak with him alone."
+
+"None of the company present appear to have any suspicion of yesterday's
+occurrence," said Frau Fels.
+
+"Fortunately they have not, thanks to our foresight and reserve,"
+replied the inspector-general, ironically. "As it is, poor Herr von
+Walde has been quite overwhelmed with congratulations upon being born
+into the world.  What would his friends have done to him had they known
+how fortunately his life has been preserved?"
+
+The butler, Lorenz, at this moment approached Elizabeth and held out to
+her a little silver waiter, upon which lay several folded slips of
+paper.  She looked up in questioning surprise, and he said respectfully:
+
+"Will you have the kindness to take one of the papers?"
+
+Elizabeth hesitated.
+
+"This is probably part of our entertainment," said Frau Fels.  "Take it
+quickly, that the butler may not be detained."
+
+Almost mechanically she took up one of the slips of paper, but started
+in alarm as the Baroness Lessen suddenly appeared at the door, and
+looked searchingly around the room.
+
+"Come, Lorenz," she said hastily, stepping towards the servant, "what
+are you doing here?"
+
+"I have just handed Fraeulein Ferber the salver, gracious lady," replied
+the old man.
+
+The baroness gave him an angry look, and then measured Elizabeth from
+head to foot.  "How, Fraeulein Ferber," she said sharply, "are you still
+here?  I thought you were at home long ago, resting upon your laurels."
+
+Without waiting for a reply, she turned to leave the room; but just upon
+the threshold she looked back at the old butler with a frown and
+shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"What can you be thinking of, Lorenz?  You grow very thoughtless.  This
+infirmity has grown upon you of late."
+
+With these words, she bustled out, and the old man quietly followed.  He
+replied not one word to her harsh reproof,--only contracted his bushy,
+gray eyebrows, so that his honest eyes almost disappeared.
+
+The others remained looking at each other in astonishment, when the
+doctor entered.  He made a profound, comical obeisance to his wife, and
+said solemnly:
+
+"In consideration of the fact that Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf has just
+had the clemency to unite us again as closely as by the priestly
+blessing fifteen years ago, I am content still further to endure the
+conjugal yoke, and particularly on this day to enjoy by your side, and,
+cherished by your tender care, O true and faithful spouse, all the
+delights prepared for us!"
+
+"My dear husband, what do you mean?" cried his wife, laughing.
+
+"Pardon me,--I mean nothing at all.  Ah, I see you have not heard
+Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf's directions. What a pity!  I am then
+compelled to inform you that every married couple here present, whether
+now upon a war footing or otherwise, must repair, within the next
+quarter of an hour, to the convent tower in the forest, where a rural
+festival will be held.  There it will be your duty to provide me with as
+much to eat and drink as my soul may desire, and in every way to attend
+upon my wishes, after the pattern of the famous Penelope.  But that the
+unmarried men who are present in large numbers may have no reason to
+complain,--that their mouths also may be filled,--a sort of lottery has
+been ingeniously devised. Every unmarried lady is provided with a slip
+of paper, upon which stands written the name of some unmarried man, and
+it is left to Cupid and Fate either to unite or to separate faithful
+hearts."
+
+At these words Elizabeth was seized with actual terror.  She had never
+thought of other entertainments following upon the concert; but now she
+clearly understood why the baroness, on the previous day, had so
+distinctly alluded to her return home after the conclusion of the music.
+Her cheeks glowed with shame, for she had exposed herself to the charge
+of being very assuming by taking from the butler's salver the little
+slip of paper, which now burned like fire in her hand.  Always quick to
+decide, she went into the saloon where the opening of the mysterious
+papers was going on amid the laughter of the ladies and their assigned
+partners.
+
+"What a senseless idea this, of Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf's," a young
+sprig of nobility was just exclaiming peevishly to his neighbour as
+Elizabeth passed them.  "Here I have that stout, pious Fraeulein Lehr
+upon my hands. _Fi donc!_"
+
+Elizabeth had not long to look for the baroness.  She was standing
+apart, near a window, in lively, but, as it seemed, not entirely
+agreeable conversation with Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf, the chief lady
+in waiting, and Helene. The countess seemed to be remonstrating with
+Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf, who did nothing but shrug her pretty
+shoulders helplessly from time to time.  Intense vexation was expressed
+in the baroness' countenance,--there was no need of the round, red spot
+on either cheek to show that she was angry.  Not far from the group Herr
+von Walde was leaning with folded arms against a pillar. He seemed to be
+only half listening to the words of the be-ribboned old courtier who was
+standing beside him,--his eyes were fixed upon the gesticulating ladies.
+
+Elizabeth hurriedly approached the baroness.  It did not escape her
+that, at sight of her, Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf gently nudged the
+countess, whereupon the latter turned and regarded her with a malevolent
+air.  She saw that she was the subject of their discussion, and she
+quickened her pace, that she might avert from herself as soon as
+possible any unworthy suspicion.
+
+"Most gracious lady," she said, with a slight courtesy, "in consequence
+of a misunderstanding, I have become possessed of this slip of paper,
+and have just learned that it entails upon me duties which I cannot
+possibly undertake, for my parents are expecting me at home."
+
+She handed the little slip to the baroness, who took it immediately,
+while a ray of actual sunshine broke over her features.
+
+"I think you are in error, Fraeulein Ferber," Herr von Walde suddenly
+interposed, in a clear, melodious voice. "It is incumbent upon you to
+excuse yourself to the gentleman whose name the paper contains; it rests
+with him whether he will release you or not."  He scanned, with a
+peculiar smile, the company, who were dividing into couples and making
+ready for departure; even the old gentleman beside him approached the
+countess, and offered her his arm.  Herr von Walde continued, as he
+slowly approached: "As master of the house, I cannot permit any want of
+consideration of one of my guests, wherefore I must beg you, Fraeulein
+Ferber, to open the paper."
+
+Elizabeth obeyed, and then handed him the open slip, with a crimson
+blush.  He glanced at it.
+
+"Ah!" he cried, "I have, as I see, defended my own rights.  You must
+admit that I am fully justified in either accepting or refusing to
+accept your excuses.  I prefer the latter course, and must entreat you
+strictly to comply with the injunctions laid upon you by that paper."
+
+The baroness approached him, and laid her hand upon his arm.  It looked
+as if she were almost struggling to suppress her tears.
+
+"Forgive me, dear Rudolph," she said, "it is really not my fault."
+
+"I do not know to what fault you allude, Amalie," he replied, with icy
+coldness; "but you certainly choose the right time in which to ask
+forgiveness,---just at this moment I could easily forgive an injury."
+
+He took his hat which a servant handed to him, and made the signal for
+departure.
+
+"But my parents!" stammered Elizabeth.
+
+"Are they ill, or about to leave Gnadeck immediately?" he asked,
+standing still.
+
+"Neither."
+
+"Well, pray then let me see to it that they receive intelligence of the
+cause of your delay."
+
+He called a servant, and despatched a message to Gnadeck.
+
+While the saloon was gradually emptied, the group of ladies which had
+been joined by the aged cavalier and Hollfeld, who looked much
+chagrined, remained standing near the window.
+
+"It serves you quite right, Cornelie," said the countess.  "You have set
+the crown upon your folly to-day. What a silly idea this lottery is!
+How often have I endeavoured to put a stop to your nonsense, to which,
+unfortunately, our gracious princess lends only too willing an ear?  How
+should the butler know any better, when you gave him no instructions?
+You consider yourself to belong naturally to the court, and yet do not
+know that that sort of person has not an idea of his own.  I should not
+for an instant grudge you this lesson, if only poor von Walde were not
+the victim of your frivolity.  There he goes with that little white
+goose upon his arm; he who, with his haughty, aristocratic
+self-consciousness, has many a time been regardless of the wishes of
+some high-born lady, who would have been charmed to take his arm. What
+must he suffer to be tied for several hours to that little piano-player,
+the daughter of a--forester's clerk?"
+
+"Why does he sacrifice himself so very readily?" rejoined Fraeulein von
+Quittelsdorf.  "It was quite unnecessary for him to meddle at all in the
+matter.  The girl had made up her mind to go, when suddenly he steps
+forth like a knight without fear or fault, and takes up the burden
+voluntarily."
+
+"At all events the burden is dazzlingly beautiful," said the old
+cavalier with a conceited smile.
+
+"What are you thinking of, count?" cried the countess.  "That is just
+like you, who rave about every round-faced peasant girl that you meet.
+I do not deny that the girl is pretty; but was not poor Rosa von Bergen
+an actual angel of beauty?  Hundreds were languishing at her feet; but
+von Walde, whom she really preferred, was like a glacier to her.  No, he
+has not the smallest sensibility to feminine beauty and loveliness.  I
+long ago erased his name from my list of eligibles for my young
+protegees.  He has just declared, most distinctly, his reason for
+sacrificing himself to-day.  He is evidently much pleased and delighted
+with the attentions that we have lavished upon him, and wishes to see
+every one happy and contented about him,--even the little thing who
+played the piano.  I advise my dearest Lessen for the future not to
+trust implicitly to the tact and ingenuity of our charming
+Quittelsdorf."
+
+The maid of honour bit her lips, and dragged her lace shawl over her
+lovely shoulders.  The carriage now drew up in which the countess and
+Helene, accompanied by the baroness and the count, were to be driven to
+the place of rendezvous.
+
+"The old cat!" cried Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf, after she had assisted
+the countess into the carriage.  "She is furious because she was not
+asked to assist in the arrangements for to-day.  Did not you see,
+Hollfeld, how very nearly that false front of hers slipped down upon her
+nose when she was waggling her head in such agitation?  I should have
+laughed for two weeks without intermission if her bald head had suddenly
+made its appearance underneath that flower garden on top!"
+
+She was convulsed with laughter at the idea.  Her companion walked,
+without a word, and with accelerated pace, by her side, as though he
+heard nothing of her chatter. His whole bearing manifested hurry and
+disquiet.  He seemed most desirous to overtake the rest of the
+assemblage as quickly as possible.  He cast searching glances through
+the bushes on either side of the way, and, whenever he caught a glimpse
+of a white dress, stopped for a moment, as though to identify the
+wearer.
+
+"Indeed, you are too tiresome, Hollfeld; you weary me to death!" cried
+the lady peevishly.  "To be sure it is your privilege to be as mute as a
+fish and yet enjoy the reputation of a clever man.  Where your wits are
+now I am sure I cannot imagine.  What, in Heaven's name, are you running
+so fast for?  Allow me to entreat you to have some regard for my crape
+dress, which will be torn to rags by these bushes through which you are
+hurrying me, with such speed."
+
+The convent tower,--the only uninjured remnant of a former nunnery,--was
+situated in the depths of a grove of oaks and beeches in a part of the
+forest domain appertaining to the Lindhof estate, which here extended
+far towards the east.
+
+A certain lady of Gnadewitz, a sister of the ancestor of the wheel, had
+built the nunnery, whither she, with twelve other young maidens, retired
+to pray for the soul of her brother, cut off so ignominiously in the
+flower of his days.  Year after year the giant boughs of the oaks had
+tapped at the windows of the cells and leaned above the high wall over
+the small garden of the convent.  They had seen many a fresh young
+creature pass hurriedly along the dim narrow forest path to ring the
+bell at the convent portal with feverish impatience, as though unable to
+wait one instant longer for the promised peace abiding within those
+walls.  They had seen how, behind those irrevocable bolts and bars, the
+mute lips of the nun grew white,--how convulsively her waxen hands
+clutched the crucifix, while her agonized looks would seek the ground;
+for the sight of the clear, blue heavens, arching above the gay children
+of the outer world, awakened joyous memories within her, and breathed a
+keen desire for pleasure and life into the soul and heart muffled
+forever in the folds of the sackcloth of her order.
+
+The Reformation, which overthrew the convents like card houses, had
+stridden through this still forest also, and had passed its mighty hand
+over the walls of this gloomy pile, which had, in expiation of the
+misery and crime that had cursed its origin, been the perpetual abode of
+unhappiness.  And even the hollow mockery of existence within its walls
+had vanished to the four winds.  One stone after another had tumbled to
+the feet of the lofty oaks, whose branches had brushed against it while
+it formed part of some carved arch or window-frame, and which now
+strewed leaves upon it till it sank away far more softly bedded than the
+poor bodies of the nuns, which were, so said the legend, all sleeping
+together in a subterranean dungeon.
+
+The tower was square, clumsy, and ugly.  On the flat roof above, that
+was surrounded by a stone balustrade, the stairs were capped by a very
+small, square apartment, from which egress upon the roof was obtained
+through a massive oaken door.  Here there was a magnificent prospect and
+distant view of L----.  For the sake of this prospect the tower had been
+rebuilt and kept in constant repair.  Immense iron clamps bound the
+walls together at the corners, and numberless lines of fresh mortar
+meandered across its blackened surface, so that the old building looked
+at a distance like a gigantic piece of agate.
+
+But to-day the old pile was decked out like some old fellow dressed for
+a wooing.  Fresh flowers,--that is to say, four gigantic fir trees--were
+sticking in his hat; and from their tops gay banners were floating, like
+large birds above the green waves beneath.  The old fellow, who, until
+to-day, had only whispered nightly and daily confidences to his comrades
+the oaks but had never made an advance towards them from his dignified
+position, was now clutching them with green wide-spread arms; huge
+garlands were draped from his topmost walls, and were lost among the
+boughs of the surrounding forest; while from one side a white sail-cloth
+was extended and attached to the trunks of two tall hemlocks.  Beneath
+the shade of this tent were several refreshing-looking casks, a whole
+battery of dusty red-sealed flasks and countless silver-capped bottles
+in ice-buckets,--all presided over by a very pretty girl in the dress of
+a vivandiere.
+
+Elizabeth had silently and passively left the large hall upon Herr von
+Walde's arm.  In spite of her determination to go home, she had not had
+the courage to gainsay him, or to tell him of her desire,--he had spoken
+in a tone of such authority; and, what had influenced her still more,
+had entered the lists, as it were, for her, and sought to help her out
+of her embarrassment.  Any opposition on her part would have seemed like
+obstinate defiance of him, and would have served only to increase her
+painful apprehension of drawing to herself general attention.
+
+The silken garments of the ladies rustled along the walls of the
+corridor behind her.  Laughing and chattering, the gay crowd followed
+Herr von Walde in a long train until it issued from the chief entrance
+door, and then it scattered hither and thither, taking the various
+forest paths which led to the convent tower.  Those whose elaborate
+toilets required special care took the broad, well-kept path.  Herr von
+Walde certainly never dreamed that his companion's simple, snowy muslin
+could be as precious in her eyes as were the rich dresses of the other
+ladies in theirs, or he certainly would not have selected the narrow,
+lonely pathway into which he suddenly turned.
+
+"It is usually very damp here," Elizabeth broke silence
+timidly,--hitherto no words had passed between them. Her feet trembled
+as though they would far rather retreat than advance, and yet it is
+possible that her thoughts were not of her dress nor her thin shoes, but
+rather of the long, narrow, leafy way before them, through which she
+must pass alone by his side, and of the voice that would suddenly sound
+in her ears with that harsh, authoritative tone almost always adopted by
+him when alone with her.
+
+"It has not rained for a long time,--see how dry the ground is," he
+quietly replied, as he walked slowly on and broke off a twig which
+threatened to brush Elizabeth's cheek.  "This path is the shortest, and
+we can for a quarter of an hour at least escape from the buzz and
+clatter with which my friends and relatives are celebrating the
+completion of my thirty-seventh year.  But perhaps you are afraid of
+meeting Linke in this sequestered spot?"
+
+A shudder passed through the young girl's frame.  She thought upon the
+criminal's desperate end, but she could not control herself sufficiently
+to impart her knowledge to Herr von Walde.
+
+"I do not fear him any longer," she said gravely.
+
+"He has probably left the country, and if not, he would hardly be so
+discourteous as to intrude upon the pleasures of people who are seeking
+to indemnify themselves for the pains they have taken with their formal
+congratulations. By-the-way, you cannot have failed to observe that
+every member of the company to-day has honoured me with a few moments of
+special attention, even the youngest slip of a girl in white muslin has
+made me her courtesy and uttered her studied desire for my health and
+happiness. You, perhaps, do not think me old enough yet to need the
+wishes of others for a prolongation of my life?"
+
+"I should suppose that such wishes were as appropriate to youth or the
+prime of life as to advanced age; the one possesses as little as the
+other a monopoly of existence."
+
+"Well, then, why did you not come to me?  Yesterday you saved my life,
+and to-day you care so little about it that you do not even take the
+trouble to open your lips and say 'God protect it for the future.'"
+
+"You have just said yourself 'every one of the company.'  I did not
+belong to the company, and therefore could not intrude myself among
+those who offered their congratulations."  She spoke quickly, for there
+was discontent in his tone, and the arm upon which her hand rested moved
+impatiently.
+
+"But you were invited----"
+
+"To entertain your guests."
+
+"Was that modest view of the case the only reason why you did not wish
+to come with me?"
+
+"Yes; most certainly my refusal could not have had anything to do with
+the gentleman who had fallen to my lot, whose name I could not possibly
+know."
+
+"You can hardly persuade me of that; you must have seen at the first
+glance that all the gentlemen present, with the exception of myself,
+were already appropriated; you must have known that my sister, without
+drawing a paper, had requested Hollfeld to accompany her, as she can
+walk more easily leaning upon his arm than upon any other.  Confess----"
+
+"I knew and saw nothing.  I was far too much troubled when I entered the
+ball-room to return the paper, for the hour at which I was expected to
+return home had been particularly mentioned to me yesterday. I had no
+idea that any special festivity was to follow the concert, and in taking
+the folded slip of paper I committed an indiscretion, for which I cannot
+forgive myself."
+
+He suddenly stood still.
+
+"I pray you look at me," he said, in a tone of command.
+
+She raised her eyes, and although she felt her cheeks glow, she
+sustained unflinchingly the gaze which at first rested sternly upon her
+and then became indescribably gentle.
+
+"No, no," he muttered softly, as if to himself, "it were a crime to
+suspect deceit here.  Yes, double-dyed," he continued in an altered,
+sarcastic tone; it sounded as though he wished to sneer away some
+momentary weakness,--"was I not the involuntary auditor of your
+declaration: 'It needs more courage to tell a lie boldly than to confess
+a fault?'"
+
+"That is my conviction, I repeat it."
+
+"Ah, what a splendid thing strength of character is! But I should
+suppose that if one were too upright to soil the lips with deceit, a
+strict watch should be kept upon the eyes also, lest they lie.  I know
+one moment in your life when you appeared what you were not."
+
+Elizabeth, wounded, attempted to withdraw her hand from his arm.
+
+"Oh, no--you do not escape me so easily!" he cried, retaining it.  "You
+must either deny or acknowledge it. You looked indifferent lately, when
+I threw away my cousin's tender token, the rose."
+
+"Should I have flown after it?"
+
+"Certainly, if you had been true."
+
+Elizabeth knew now why he had entered this lonely path with her,--she
+was to confess her feelings towards Hollfeld.  She was confirmed in her
+former suspicions,--Herr von Walde was evidently most anxious lest she
+should prize his cousin's homage too highly and perhaps imagine that he
+could forget her social position.  The moment had come when she could
+declare her sentiments. By a hasty movement she released her hand from
+his arm, and stepped a little aside.
+
+"I grant you," she said, "that if my face that day expressed
+indifference, it was not in harmony with my thoughts."
+
+"I thought so!" he cried, but there was no triumph in the exclamation.
+
+"I was in fact indignant."
+
+"At my interference?"
+
+"At the unauthorized levity of Herr von Hollfeld."
+
+"He startled you greatly; but----"
+
+"No, he insulted me!  How dared he intrude upon me?  I abhor him!"
+
+She must have been right in her solution of his manner; but she had
+never dreamed that her declaration would be so highly prized by him.  A
+weight seemed to fall from his heart.  A ray of purest joy broke from
+the eyes which had gazed at her with a mixture of mistrust, contempt,
+and sarcasm.  He drew a deep breath, and half extended his arms.
+Elizabeth involuntarily looked round to discover what it was that caused
+his eyes to flash and glow so.  She saw nothing, but she felt his hand
+tremble as he laid hers once more upon his arm. They walked on a few
+paces without a word.  Suddenly he stood still again.
+
+"Now we are entirely alone," he said, in the gentlest possible tone.
+"See, only one small eye of heavenly blue looks down upon us,--no prying
+faces are near to come between us,--I cannot,--I will not be deprived of
+a birthday greeting from you.  Give it to me now, when no one can hear
+it but myself alone."
+
+She was silent and confused.
+
+"Well, do you not know how it is done?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, yes," she replied, and an arch smile hovered upon her lips.  "I am
+well practised in such things.  My parents, my uncle, Ernst----"
+
+"All have birthdays," he interrupted her, smiling. "But you cannot
+wonder that I want a birthday greeting all to myself,--that I desire
+that it may sound quite different from any that you have hitherto
+uttered,--for I am neither your father, nor your bluff forester uncle,
+and certainly I cannot lay claim to the rights of the brother with whom
+you play.  Come, speak!"
+
+Still she said nothing.  What should she say?  Her eyes were cast down,
+for she could no longer endure that searching glance, that seemed to
+penetrate her very soul with its troubled expression of entreaty.
+
+"Then come," he cried abruptly, drawing her forward, after waiting in
+vain for some moments for one word from her lips.  "It was a foolish
+wish of mine.  I know that your tongue, which is always ready to say
+what is kind and gentle to others, is dumb for me, or only ready with
+some rebuke."
+
+At these words she grew pale, and involuntarily stood still.
+
+"You will, then?" he asked more gently, "and cannot find the words?" he
+continued, shaking his head, as she was silent but looked up at him
+beseechingly.  "Well, then, I have a plan.  Let me say what I should
+like to hear from your lips, and you will repeat it after me word for
+word."
+
+Again the smile played around Elizabeth's mouth, and she murmured
+assent.
+
+"In the first place, you give your friend your hand," he began, and took
+her hand in his,--she trembled, but did not withdraw it,--"and then you
+say, 'You have hitherto been a wretched wanderer upon the face of the
+earth,--it is high time that the clouds above you should break, and be
+penetrated by the pure ray of light which has transformed your whole
+existence.  It is my true and earnest wish that this light may never
+forsake you. Here is my hand, as the pledge of a happiness so
+inconceivable----"
+
+So far she had repeated this strangely-worded greeting after him, but at
+the last words she hesitated.  He seized her other hand also, and urged
+passionately, "Go on, go on!"
+
+"Here is my----" she began at last.
+
+"Oh, Herr von Walde," suddenly cried Cornelie's voice from the thicket,
+"what a delightful meeting!  Now I shall enjoy in company with you the
+triumph of being received with a flourish of trumpets!"
+
+Never in her life had Elizabeth seen such a sudden change take place in
+a human countenance as now transformed Herr von Walde's features.  One
+strong blue vein stood out upon his pale forehead, his eyes flashed, and
+he involuntarily stamped his foot.  It really seemed as if he would have
+liked to hurl back into the thicket the unwelcome intruder, who, holding
+up her crape skirt, came hurrying through the bushes towards them.  He
+could not command his emotion as quickly as usual; perhaps he did not
+wish to do so, for he frowned angrily as Hollfeld made his appearance
+behind the lady.  As he came in sight, Herr von Walde drew Elizabeth's
+hand through his arm with gentle violence, as if he feared lest she
+should be snatched from him.
+
+"Why, how you look, Herr von Walde," cried Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf,
+stepping into the middle of the path; "actually as if we were bandits,
+with designs upon your life; or, at all events, upon your property!"
+
+Without replying a word to this attack, he turned to his cousin and
+asked, "Where is my sister?"
+
+"She was afraid of the long rough path," the latter replied, "and
+preferred to drive."
+
+"Well, I suppose you will hardly leave Helene to be lifted out of the
+carriage by the old Count Wildenau; I cannot understand how, as her
+faithful knight, you could leave the principal path.  A few, quick steps
+will enable you to rejoin her.  I will not prevent you from doing so,"
+said Herr von Walde sharply, while a sarcastic smile quivered around the
+corners of his mouth. He stepped aside with Elizabeth to allow the pair
+to pass.
+
+"And pray, if one may ask, why did you leave the principal path
+yourself?" asked Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf flippantly, much more like a
+pert chamber-maid than a maid of honour.
+
+"That you can easily learn; simply because I hoped, by coming along this
+lonely path, to escape the eloquent tongues of certain ladies," replied
+Herr von Walde drily.
+
+"Ah, how cross you are!  Heaven shield us from such an irritable
+birthday hero!" cried the lady, shuddering, and retreating a few paces
+with a comical assumption of terror.  "It was a mistake that we did not
+come to you to-day with funereal faces, and muffled to the eyes in black
+crape!"
+
+She pouted, and, taking Hollfeld's arm, would have dragged him forward;
+but he, strangely enough, seemed inclined, for the first time in his
+life, to set his cousin's wishes at defiance.  He walked on slowly, and
+as if weary of existence, peering right and left into the bushes,
+apparently intensely interested in every stone in the pathway, every
+squirrel that ran swiftly past.  Then he began a conversation with his
+companion, whose answers absorbed his attention so entirely that he
+paused and stood still to listen to them.
+
+Herr von Walde muttered something between his teeth; Elizabeth could not
+understand it; but the hostile glance that he cast after his cousin
+showed how the behaviour of the latter incensed him.  He said not
+another word to her.  He turned slowly towards her, and she felt that he
+continued to regard her steadfastly, but she was unable to lift her eyes
+to his.  Had she done so he must have discovered on the spot how greatly
+she was moved by the strange words that he had just whispered to her
+with so much emotion in his voice.  One look would have betrayed the
+conflict within her, and then,--she could not pursue the thought,--he
+would doubtless have repented the simple wish that he had expressed.
+Thus deeply agitated, it was natural enough that the young girl's
+eyelids fell low over her eyes, and that she failed to observe the
+inaudible sigh that escaped her companion, or mark how all signs of
+irritation vanished from his features to give place to the shade of
+melancholy that was so wont to rest upon his brow.
+
+A faint and dying trumpet note, which was doubtless the result of the
+impatience of the musicians who were waiting upon the roof of the tower,
+betrayed the close vicinity of the scene of festivity.  And soon a buzz
+and noise, as of some neighbouring gypsy encampment, broke upon their
+ears; the path grew broader, gay throngs were seen fluttering through
+the bushes, and suddenly a loud flourish of bugles and trumpets sounded
+over their heads. Elizabeth availed herself of the opportunity to slip
+her hand from the arm of her conductor and to lose herself in the crowd
+that gathered around the lord of the feast; while a young girl, habited
+as a Dryad, and accompanied by four other wood-nymphs, approached, and,
+in limping hexameters, welcomed him to the forest.
+
+"Well, von Walde has gotten rid of his Dulcinea at the right moment.  I
+don't see the girl at all, now," the Countess Falkenberg whispered
+smilingly to Count Wildenau, who was sitting beside her upon a kind of
+raised dais, beneath the shade of a group of oaks.  "He will never
+forgive the baroness and our flippant Cornelia for so stupidly forcing
+him into playing the knight, even for a few moments, to such a creature.
+My child," and she turned to Helene; seated at her right, who was
+anxiously searching the crowd with troubled eyes, "when those people
+release him we must take him in here among us, and do everything in our
+power to make him forget the provoking beginning of the festival."
+
+Helene nodded mechanically.  Apparently she had only heard half of what
+the lady had whispered in her ear. Her poor little figure, enveloped in
+a heavy, light-blue silk, leaned helplessly and wearily back in her huge
+armchair, and her cheeks were whiter than the lily-wreath that crowned
+her brow.'
+
+Meanwhile Elizabeth had encountered in the throng Dr. Fels and his wife.
+The latter immediately took the young girl under her care, that they
+might not be separated again.
+
+"Only stay until the dancing begins," she replied to Elizabeth's remark
+that the moment seemed to have arrived when she could slip away
+unnoticed, and go home. "I do not wonder that you wish to leave as soon
+as possible," she added, with a smile.  "We, too, shall not stay long.
+I am anxious about my children at home.  I made a great sacrifice to my
+husband's position in coming at all.  Herr von Walde, to whom you are
+assigned for the day by lot, does not dance.  So never fear, you will be
+released."
+
+Suddenly the crowd separated.  From the top of the tower sounded a grand
+march, and while the gentlemen sought the shade of the trees, the
+ladies, according to the rules of the feast, hastened to provide them
+with refreshments from the tent.
+
+Herr von Walde walked slowly across the sward, his hands clasped behind
+him, talking with the military-inspector Busch, by his side.
+
+"My dear Herr von Walde, now pray come to us!" the Countess Falkenberg
+cried out to him, extending her hand with an air almost caressing.  "I
+have kept such a charming place here for you.  Come, rest upon your
+well-earned laurels.  'Tis true, all the young ladies present are
+disposed of by lot, but here are our fair and lovely wood-nymphs all
+ready to wreathe your goblet, and furnish you from the tent with all
+that your heart can desire."
+
+"I am deeply touched by your kindness and care for me, gracious lady,"
+the gentleman replied, "but I cannot think that Fraeulein Ferber will
+leave me to appeal to the general sympathy."
+
+He spoke loudly, and turned to Elizabeth, who was standing quite near.
+She had heard every word, and instantly walked quietly towards him,
+placing herself at his side, as though she were by no means inclined to
+delegate to others one jot of her duty.  As he saw her approach him
+thus, something of a joyful surprise lit up his countenance.  He cast an
+answering glance at the face that, unembarrassed now by those around,
+looked smilingly up at him.  Strangely enough, he seemed entirely to
+forget the charming place that the countess had reserved for him, for,
+after a slight obeisance to her stately ladyship and her court of young
+ladies, he offered his arm to Elizabeth, and conducted her to the shade
+of a giant oak, where Doctor Fels had just provided comfortable places
+for his wife and himself.
+
+"Now, that is carrying his revenge a little too far," said the great
+lady, with irritation, turning for sympathy to Count Wildenau and the
+five disconcerted Dryads. "He really throws scorn upon the entire fete
+by taking so much notice of that young person.  I begin to be really
+vexed with him.  No one is more ready than I to grant that he is
+entirely right to be angry, but I really think that he should not allow
+himself to be so carried away by his indignation as to forget those of
+his guests who have had no share in the absurdities of the baroness or
+of von Quittelsdorf.  I'll wager that that little fool there attributes
+his attentions to the influence of her beautiful eyes."
+
+The small band of amiable Dryads shot annihilating looks at Elizabeth,
+who was quietly proceeding to the refreshment tent, whence she presently
+issued with a flask of champagne and four glasses, which she placed upon
+the table beneath the oak, where Herr von Walde was sitting with the
+doctor and his wife.
+
+"Our young ladies to-day are wearing perfect flower gardens upon their
+heads," said Frau Fels, as the young girl approached the table.
+"Fraeulein Ferber alone is as destitute of ornament as Cinderella.  I
+cannot have it so."
+
+She took two roses from the large bouquet which she held in her hand,
+and stood up to place them in Elizabeth's hair.
+
+"Stop, I pray you," cried Herr von Walde, detaining her hand, "nothing
+should adorn that hair but orange blossoms."
+
+"But they are only worn by brides," said the doctor's wife naively.
+
+"I know that well," he replied quietly; and as if he had said the most
+natural thing in the world, he filled the glasses, and turned to Dr.
+Fels.  "Clink glasses with me, doctor," he said; "I drink to the welfare
+of the saviour of my life--of Gold Elsie of Castle Gnadeck!"
+
+The doctor smiled, and the glasses clinked with a loud ring.  At this
+signal, a group of gentlemen approached, glasses in hand.
+
+"You come at the right moment, gentlemen," the lord of the feast cried
+out to them.  "Drink with me to the fulfilment of my dearest wish!"
+
+A loud "vivat" resounded through the air, and the glasses clinked
+merrily.
+
+"Scandalous!" cried the old court lady, and dropped her fork, with its
+choice morsel, upon her plate; "really, they are conducting themselves
+over there like students at a carouse!  I am positively shocked!  What
+an unseemly noise!  Actually the mob in the street is better behaved
+when they shout 'vivats' to our gracious Prince. Apropos, my love," she
+continued, turning to Helene, "I observe that your brother seems quite
+intimate with Doctor Fels."
+
+"He esteems him highly as a thoroughly upright man of great scientific
+attainments," replied Helene.
+
+"That is all very well,--but he certainly cannot be aware that the man
+just now is in very bad odour at court.  Only imagine, he has had the
+inconceivable insolence to refuse our beloved Princess Catharine----"
+
+"Yes; I know that story," said Fraeulein von Walde, interrupting the
+irritated lady; "my brother related the circumstance to me himself a few
+days ago."
+
+"How!--is it possible that the facts are known to him, and that he has
+so little regard for the sentiments of the court,--which has always
+distinguished him so highly! Incredible!  I assure you, dear child, my
+conscience pricks me sorely; I shall scarcely be able to lift my eyes in
+the presence of their Serene Highnesses, when they arrive in L----, at
+the thought of having been in the society here of that impertinent
+creature."
+
+Helene shrugged her shoulders, and left the lady to her qualms of
+conscience and a brimming glass of champagne, with which she probably
+intended to fortify herself in anticipation of the dreaded arrival.
+
+In the society of this lady Fraeulein von Walde suffered all the galling
+annoyance that conventionalities inflict;--she was obliged to listen,
+with an amiable and interested smile, to a thousand wretched trifles,
+while her heart was tortured with pain; indeed, only just such a person
+as the Countess Falkenberg, who sought and found her highest earthly
+happiness in a gracious glance from a Princely eye, a person whose whole
+intellectual capacity was exercised in standing sentinel before the
+domain of etiquette and in guarding religiously the hardly-won prestige
+of her social position,--only such a one could have been blind to the
+signs of the deepest suffering in the countenance of the younger lady.
+
+Hollfeld had not only been so inattentive as to leave Helene, upon her
+arrival at this spot, to the care of Count Wildenau, he had even, upon
+his tardy appearance, omitted all explanation or apology for his delay,
+and had finally seated himself beside her in a sullen and abstracted
+mood. She thought him strangely altered, and she racked her restless
+heart and brain with vain surmises.  At first her suspicions rested upon
+Cornelie, who, true to her mercurial temperament, fluttered hither and
+thither like a will-o'-the-wisp, talking and laughing incessantly.  But
+she was soon reassured upon this point, for she could not catch a single
+glance of Hollfeld's directed towards the coquettish and graceful court
+beauty.  The anxious inquiries that she made of him were answered in
+monosyllables.  She beckoned to one of the servants who was bearing past
+a tray of delicacies, and herself placed them before Hollfeld,--but he
+did not eat a morsel, and only swallowed in quick succession several
+glasses of fiery wine which he procured for himself at the refreshment
+tent. This careless conduct, which she now observed for the first time,
+caused her unspeakable pain.  At last she was silent, and closed her
+eyes as though fatigued; no one noticed the crystal drops trembling on
+their lashes.
+
+Suddenly a shadow was cast upon the universal merriment, which had been
+all the more unrestrained from the fact that the lord of the feast,
+usually so grave and serious, had joined in it so cordially,--at least
+Elizabeth felt convinced that the face of the butler, Lorenz, who now
+appeared in the distance, boded no good.  The old man took the greatest
+pains to attract his master's attention without being seen by the other
+guests.  At last he succeeded. Herr von Walde arose, and stepped aside
+with him into the thicket, while the group of gentlemen around him
+dispersed.  He soon returned, with marks of dismay in his countenance.
+
+"I have just received sad news, which will compel me to leave you
+immediately," he said, in a low voice, to the doctor.  "Herr von
+Hartwig, in Thalleben, one of my oldest friends, has met with a terrible
+accident; the injury is fatal; they write me that he cannot live a day
+longer.  He summons me to him that he may entrust his young children to
+my care.  I pray you inform the Baroness Lessen of my departure, and its
+cause; she will see that the festivities are not interrupted.  Let my
+sister and my guests suppose that I am called away for a few minutes by
+some trifling matter of business, and will return hither shortly.  I
+shall not be missed after the dancing begins."
+
+The doctor went instantly to find the baroness.  His wife had strayed
+away from the spot a few moments before, so Elizabeth was left alone
+with Herr von Walde. He turned to her quickly:
+
+"I thought we should not part from each other to-day without the
+conclusion of my birthday greeting," he said, while striving to meet her
+eyes, which shyly avoided his, "but I seem to be one of those
+unfortunate ones whose unlucky stars snatch from them the prize when it
+seems almost within their grasp."  He endeavoured to give an air of
+humour to his words, but they only sounded the more bitter.  "However, I
+submit," he continued, in a determined tone; "I must go.  It cannot be
+helped, but my duty may be made easier and sweeter for me by a promise
+from you.  Do you remember the words which you lately repeated after
+me?"
+
+"I do not forget so quickly."
+
+"Ah, that encourages me greatly!  There is a fairy tale which tells of a
+realm of inexhaustible riches and endless delights, revealed by a single
+word.  Such a word the conclusion of your greeting can be to me.  Will
+you aid me in having it uttered?"
+
+"How can I help you to the attainment of riches and delights?"
+
+"That is my affair.  I do most earnestly entreat you at this moment to
+make no further attempt at evasion, for time presses.  Let me ask
+you,--will you endeavour to retain in your memory, during my absence,
+the beginning of that birthday greeting?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And will you be ready, when I return, to hear the conclusion?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Good; in the midst of the sorrow and gloom to which I am summoned there
+will be a glimpse of clear blue sky above me, and for you----may my good
+angel whisper in your ear the word that will unlock that fairy realm for
+me.  Farewell!"
+
+He gave her his hand, and disappeared upon the path leading directly to
+the castle.
+
+Elizabeth stood still for a few moments in a state of delicious
+stupefaction, from which she was roused by the surprise of the doctor's
+wife at finding the gentlemen gone.  Elizabeth told her what had
+happened, and the doctor shortly returned and related that the baroness
+had been greatly piqued that her cousin had not considered it worth his
+while to inform her in person of the cause of his departure.  The
+unlucky doctor had been obliged to bear the brunt of the lady's ill
+humour, which had vented itself in several biting remarks, but he had
+been so discourteous as to allow them to pass him by without in the
+least disturbing his serenity.  He seated himself at the table and began
+to eat with an excellent appetite.
+
+Meanwhile Elizabeth went to take leave of Fraeulein von Walde.  There
+was nothing now to detain her any longer.  She longed to be alone with
+her thoughts, to recall undisturbed every word that he had spoken, and
+to ponder upon its meaning.
+
+"Are you going?" asked Helene, as Elizabeth stood behind her chair and
+bade her farewell.  "What does my brother say to that?"
+
+"Rudolph has been summoned to the castle upon some business matter," the
+baroness, who just now appeared, answered in Elizabeth's stead.
+"Fraeulein Ferber is released from all necessity of remaining any
+longer."
+
+Helene cast a glance of displeasure at the speaker. "I cannot see why,"
+she said.  "His business cannot detain him long, he will certainly
+return."
+
+"Probably," rejoined the baroness; "but he may be delayed quite late.
+Fraeulein Ferber, meanwhile, will be very much fatigued in a circle
+where she is such an utter stranger."
+
+"Has my brother released you?"  Helene turned to Elizabeth, hardly
+allowing the baroness to complete her sentence.
+
+"Yes," answered she, "and I pray you to allow me to take my departure."
+
+During this short dialogue the Countess Falkenberg leaned back and
+measured Elizabeth from head to foot with her cold, piercing eyes; but
+Hollfeld arose and departed without saying a word.  Fraeulein von Walde
+looked after him with an air of anxious discontent, and at first did not
+reply to Elizabeth's request; but at last, with evident absence of mind,
+she held out her hand and said, "Well, then, go, dear child, and a
+thousand thanks for your kind assistance to-day."
+
+Elizabeth took a hasty leave of Doctor Fels and his wife, and then
+entered the forest with a light heart.
+
+She breathed more freely as the throng was left behind her, and as a few
+sounding chords concluded the waltz whose bewildering notes had for a
+short distance accompanied her.  She could now yield herself up
+undisturbed to the magic that had laid so sweet a spell upon her entire
+mind and being, and forced her to listen still to the tones of that
+voice which had died upon her ear, ensnaring her heart with its
+thrilling melody, and at the sound of which all the suggestions of
+maidenly reserve, all the arguments of her understanding, vanished.  She
+called to mind how passively she had followed him, although her deeply
+offended pride had prompted her instantly to leave the circle where she
+seemed to be so unwelcome a guest; she still experienced the delight
+with which she had hastened to his side when he had so emphatically
+declared, before all present, that he belonged to her for the day, and
+would accept of no substitute in her place. He might have conducted her
+to the end of the world,--she would have followed him blindly with
+unhesitating reliance and the most entire abandonment of herself to his
+guidance.  And her parents?  She understood now how a daughter could
+forsake father and mother to follow a man whose path in life had been
+widely separated from her own, leading, perhaps, in directly an opposite
+direction,--a man who had known nothing of the inclinations, influences,
+occurrences great and small, by which every fibre of her life had been
+previously intertwined with the life of her family.  Two months before,
+all this would have been an inexplicable riddle to her.
+
+She turned into a path which she had often trodden with Miss Mertens.
+It led, by many a narrow winding, through the thicket, out upon the
+broad path which traversed the forest, and for some distance formed the
+boundary line between the Prince's domain and the estate of Herr von
+Walde.  On the other side of this broad path opened the wide road which
+led through the forest to her uncle's Lodge.
+
+Lost in her day-dreams, Elizabeth did not hear the sound of hasty
+footsteps approaching; she therefore started in alarm when she heard her
+name pronounced, close to her, by a man's voice.  Hollfeld stood just
+behind her.  She suspected why he had followed her, and she felt her
+heart beat quickly, but she collected herself, and, standing aside, made
+room for him to pass her in the narrow pathway.
+
+"No, that was not what I wished, Fraeulein Ferber," he said smiling, and
+in a tone of such familiarity as deeply offended her.  "I wished to have
+the pleasure of accompanying you."
+
+"I thank you," she coldly replied, "it would be giving you needless
+trouble; I always greatly prefer walking alone in the forest."
+
+"And have you no fear?" he asked, stepping so close to her that she felt
+his hot breath upon her cheek.
+
+"Only of unwelcome companionship," she replied, retaining her
+self-possession by an effort.
+
+"Ah! here is the same dignified reserve again in which you always
+entrench yourself with me; and wherefore? I shall soon put an end to it,
+however.  To-day, at least, I shall not respect it as I have hitherto
+been forced to do,--I must speak to you."
+
+"Is what you have to say of such consequence as to require you to absent
+yourself from your friends and the fete?"
+
+"Yes; it is a wish upon which my life depends; it pursues me day and
+night; I have been ill and wretched at the idea that it may never be
+gratified--I----"
+
+In the mean time Elizabeth had accelerated her pace. It was hateful to
+her,--the presence of this man, in whose eyes glowed all the passion
+which he had hitherto partly repressed and which had already inspired
+her with such deep aversion and disgust; but she was perfectly conscious
+that absolute self-possession was her only weapon, and therefore she
+interrupted him, while her lips quivered with the sickly semblance of a
+smile.
+
+"Ah!" she said, "our practisings, then, have had most desirable results;
+you wish my assistance in music, if I understand you rightly?"
+
+"You misunderstand me intentionally," he exclaimed.
+
+"Accept the misunderstanding as an act of forbearance on my part," said
+Elizabeth seriously; "I should else be obliged to say much to you which
+it might please you still less to hear."
+
+"Go on, I pray.  I know your sex sufficiently well to be quite aware
+that they delight in wearing the mask of coldness and reserve for
+awhile,--their favours are all the more welcome.  I do not grudge you
+the pleasure of this innocent coquetry, but then----"
+
+Elizabeth stood for one moment dumb and stupefied at his insolence; such
+hateful words had never before shocked her ears.  Shame and indignation
+drove the blood to her face, and she sought in vain for terms in which
+to punish such unexampled temerity.  He interpreted her silence
+otherwise.
+
+"I knew it," he cried triumphantly.  "I see through you; the blush of
+detection becomes you incomparably! You are beautiful as an angel!
+Never have I seen so perfect a form as yours!  Ah! you know well enough
+that you made me your slave the first time I saw you; since then, I have
+languished at your feet.  What shoulders and what arms!  Why have you
+hitherto veiled them so enviously?"
+
+An indignant exclamation broke from Elizabeth's lips:
+
+"How dare you," she cried loudly and violently, "offer me these insults!
+If you have not understood me hitherto, let me tell you now, clearly and
+distinctly, that your society, which you force upon me thus, is hateful
+to me, and that I wish to be alone."
+
+"Bravo! that authoritative tone becomes you excellently well," he said,
+with a sneer; "the noble blood that you inherit from your mother shows
+itself now. What have I done to make you suddenly play this indignant
+part?  I have told you that you are beautiful, but your mirror must tell
+you the same thing fifty times a day, and I do not believe that you
+break it for the telling."
+
+Elizabeth turned her back upon him contemptuously, and walked quickly
+onward.  He kept pace with her, and seemed quite sure of a final
+victory.  She had just reached the broad forest-road when a carriage
+dashed past.  A man's head appeared at the window, but at sight of her
+was drawn back quickly, as though surprised. He looked out once more, as
+if to convince himself that he had seen correctly, and then the carriage
+vanished around a sharp turn in the road.
+
+Elizabeth involuntarily extended her arms after the retreating carriage.
+Its inmate well knew how she detested Hollfeld; after the declaration
+that she had made to him a few hours before, how could he doubt that she
+was most unwillingly in the society of this man?  Could he not delay his
+journey for one moment, to free her from such odious importunity?
+
+Hollfeld observed her action.
+
+"Aha!" he cried, with a malicious laugh, "that looked almost tender.  If
+it were not for my cousin's seven and thirty years, I might actually be
+jealous!  Perhaps you supposed that he would immediately descend from
+his vehicle and gallantly offer you his arm to escort you to your home!
+You see he is too conscientious; he denies himself that indulgence, and
+prefers to fulfil a sacred duty.  He is an iceberg, for whom no woman
+possesses a single charm.  You owe his behaviour to you to-day, which
+was so very courteous, not to your enchanting eyes, O bewitching Gold
+Elsie, but to his desire to provoke my honoured mamma."
+
+"And does nothing deter you from ascribing such mean motives to the man
+whose hospitality you enjoy so freely?" cried Elizabeth, provoked.  She
+had determined not to reply to him again by a single syllable, in hopes
+that she might thus weary out his pertinacity; but the manner in which
+he spoke of Herr von Walde overcame her self-control.
+
+"Mean?" he repeated.  "You express yourself strongly. I only call it a
+little revenge which he was fully justified in taking.  And as for his
+hospitality,--I am only using now what will be all my own at some future
+period; I cannot see that it should alter my opinion of my cousin.
+Besides, I am the one to sacrifice myself, I deserve all the gratitude.
+Is my devotion and attention to Fraeulein von Walde to go for nothing?"
+
+"It must be a hard task to pluck a few flowers and carry them to a poor
+invalid!" said Elizabeth ironically.
+
+"Aha! you are, as I am happy to observe, jealous of these little
+attentions of mine," he cried triumphantly. "Did you seriously suppose
+for one moment that I could really be in love with her, while my sense
+of beauty was so perpetually outraged?  I esteem my cousin, but I never
+forget for one instant that she is a year older than I, that she limps,
+is crooked, and----"
+
+"Detestable!"  Elizabeth interrupted him, beside herself with the
+abhorrence he inspired; she hastily crossed the broad forest-road.  He
+followed her.
+
+"Detestable, say I, too," he continued, endeavouring to keep pace with
+her; "especially when I see your Hebeform by her side.  And now I beg
+you, do not run so fast; let there be the peace between us of which I
+dream day and night."
+
+He suddenly passed his arm around her waist and forced her to stand
+still, while his glowing face, with eyes sparkling with unholy fire,
+approached her own.  At first she gazed at him speechless and stupefied,
+then a shudder convulsed her frame, and with a gesture of utter aversion
+she pushed him from her.
+
+"Don't dare to touch me again!" she cried in a clear ringing voice,--and
+at the same moment she heard the loud barking of a dog near her.  She
+turned her head in joyful surprise towards the spot whence the noise
+proceeded.
+
+"Hector!  Hector! here, good dog!" she called; and the forester's huge
+hound burst through the thicket and fawned upon her.
+
+"My uncle is not far off," she turned coldly and quietly to her
+discomfited companion; "he will be here in a moment.  As you can hardly
+desire that I should request him to rid me of your society, I advise you
+to return immediately to the castle."
+
+And, in fact, he stood still like a coward, while she, accompanied by
+the dog, proceeded towards her home. Hollfeld stamped his feet in his
+rage, and cursed the blind passion that had robbed him of all prudence.
+He did not for one instant imagine that he could really be disagreeable
+to Elizabeth,--he, the pet of society, whose slightest word, were it
+only an invitation to dance, made such a sensation in the little world
+of L----, and was so often an occasion of envy and discord among the
+ladies! The idea was absurd.  It was far more likely that the daughter
+of the forester's clerk was a coquette, who intended to make conquest as
+difficult as possible for him. He had no faith in the existence of that
+virgin purity of soul which made Elizabeth thus insensible, and the
+magic of which affected even him most powerfully, although he did not
+understand its influence.  He had no faith in the sacred reserve of a
+young girl's inner life, and therefore could not possibly conceive of
+the instinctive aversion which his selfish, unprincipled nature
+inspired. He reproached himself angrily for having been too sudden and
+violent, thus defeating his own ends, and deferring indefinitely the
+accomplishment of his hopes.  He wandered about in the forest for an
+hour before he could master his emotions; for the guests, who were still
+dancing on the green before the convent tower whence the gay music
+reached his ears, must not suspect the volcano seething beneath that
+cold and interesting exterior.
+
+Elizabeth had apparently walked away with a firm, decided step, but she
+took care to look neither to the right nor the left, lest she should
+suddenly see his hated face beside her.  At last she ventured to stand
+still and look around her.  He had disappeared.  With a sigh of relief,
+she leaned against the trunk of a tree to collect her thoughts, while
+Hector stood beside her sagely wagging his tail, seeming thoroughly to
+understand that he was playing the part of her protector.  Doubtless he
+had been taking a forest walk for his own amusement, for there were no
+signs of his master.  Elizabeth felt her knees tremble beneath her.  Her
+terror, when Hollfeld had clasped her waist, had been extreme.  In her
+innocence she had never imagined such rudeness, and hence his sudden
+touch had made her for one moment rigid with horror.  She shed bitter
+tears of shame as she recalled Herr von Walde's image, not clothed in
+the gentleness of the last few hours, but stern and reserved.  She
+thought she should scarcely dare ever to look up at him again since that
+wretch had touched her.  All her happy visions lay shattered at her
+feet.  This unhappy encounter with Hollfeld had ruthlessly brought her
+back to reality.  What he had said of Herr von Walde, coarse and
+slanderous as it was, had revived much in her mind which she had once
+believed, and considered as a bar to her growing interest in him.  She
+thought of his invincible pride of descent, of his self-renouncing love
+for his sister, and of the universal opinion that his heart was cold as
+ice where women were concerned.  All the gay brilliant dreams which had
+hovered around her path through the forest now folded their wings and
+vanished beneath the searching gaze of her awakened consciousness. She
+could hardly tell what it was that formerly made her so happy.  Was it
+not most likely that only a strong sense of justice had induced him to
+show her such gentle kindness and consideration to-day,--to protect her
+from the insolent annoyance of his relatives?  Had he not in like manner
+protected Miss Mertens, and endeavoured to indemnify her for the
+injustice that she had encountered beneath his roof?  And the birthday
+greeting!  Ah, she must not think of that, or its unfinished conclusion,
+for then all her dead visions would instantly celebrate a blissful
+resurrection!
+
+As she entered the Lodge Sabina came towards her, pale as ashes, in
+great distress.  She pointed mutely to the door of the dwelling-room.
+Within the apartment her uncle was speaking loudly, while he was pacing
+heavily to and fro.
+
+"Oh dear! oh dear!" whispered Sabina, "everything is going wrong in
+there.  Bertha has kept out of your uncle's way most carefully for the
+last few weeks, but a little while ago she was standing at the great
+door and did not see that he was coming into the yard.  He gave her no
+time to run off, but took her by the hand and led her instantly into the
+room there.  She was as white as the wall, in her fear of him,--but that
+didn't help her,--go she must.  Ah, Lord have mercy upon me!  I should
+not like to have the Herr Forester for a father confessor----"
+
+A loud burst of sobbing, that sounded almost like a stifled shriek,
+interrupted Sabina's whispering.
+
+"Better so!" they now heard the forester say in a far gentler tone of
+voice; "at least that is a sign that you are not quite hardened.  And
+now speak out!  Remember that I stand here in place of your good
+parents.  If you have a sorrow confide it to me; be sure that if it has
+befallen you without fault on your part, I will faithfully assist you to
+bear it."
+
+Only stifled sobs ensued.
+
+"You cannot speak?" asked the forester after a short pause.  "I know of
+a certainty that there is no physical obstacle in the way of your
+speaking, for you talk to yourself continually when you believe yourself
+unobserved; you must be putting some force upon yourself,--have you made
+a vow against the use of your tongue?"
+
+Probably an assenting nod must have confirmed him in this supposition,
+for he continued, with great irritation, "What an insane idea!  Do you
+suppose that you can do your Heavenly Father good service by renouncing
+one of his best gifts, the power of speech?  And are you going to be
+silent all your life long?  No!  You will speak, then, if that which you
+hope to effect by means of your vow fails to come to pass?  Very well, I
+cannot force you to speak,--then endure alone what depresses you and
+makes you so unhappy, for that you are unhappy any one can read in your
+face.  But let me tell you that you will find an inexorable judge in me,
+if it should ever appear that you have done anything that shuns the
+light and should not be told to honest men; for in your boundless
+arrogance you have hitherto rejected every well-meant piece of advice,
+every attempt to guide and direct you, making it impossible for me to
+care for you as it is my duty and desire, standing as I do in the place
+of your parents.  I will bear with you a little longer; but should I
+find you once leaving the house after nightfall, this is your home no
+longer,--you must go.  And let me tell you also, to-morrow I shall send
+for the doctor to tell me whether you are really ailing; you have looked
+wretchedly for the last few weeks.  Now go!"
+
+The door opened, and Bertha staggered out.  She did not notice Sabina
+and Elizabeth, and when she heard the door close behind her, she
+suddenly wrung her hands above her head in the speechless agony of
+despair, and rushed up the stairs as though hunted by the furies.
+
+"That girl has something on her conscience, whatever it may be," said
+Sabina, shaking her head.  Elizabeth went in to her uncle.  He was
+leaning against the window, and drumming upon one of the panes with his
+fingers, a common habit with him when irritated.  He looked very gloomy,
+but his features lighted up as Elizabeth entered.
+
+"I'm glad you are come, Gold Elsie!" he exclaimed; "I need to see some
+true, pure face beside me; I shudder at the black eyes of that girl who
+has just gone out. Never mind, I have taken up my domestic cross again,
+and shall bear it on for awhile; I cannot see the child cry, even though
+I were sure that the effect of every tear was exactly calculated."
+
+Elizabeth was heartily glad that the dreaded encounter between Bertha
+and her uncle was well over.  She hastened to divert his thoughts
+entirely from the unfortunate girl by describing to him the festivities
+she had just witnessed, telling him cursorily of Herr von Walde's sudden
+departure.  She informed him also of Linke's dreadful end, at which,
+however, he was not greatly surprised, as he had expected some such
+termination to the affair.
+
+He accompanied Elizabeth to the garden gate.
+
+"Be very careful not to ring too loudly at the gate in the wall," he
+warned her as she left him.  "Your mother had an attack of headache
+to-day, and has gone to bed. I was up there a little while ago."
+
+Elizabeth ran up the mountain in some anxiety, but Miss Mertens, leading
+little Ernst by the hand, came to meet her on the sward before the
+castle, and soothed her fears. The attack was over, and her mother was
+enjoying a refreshing sleep when Elizabeth softly went to her bedside.
+
+It was already twilight; the most profound quiet reigned throughout the
+house,--the striking clocks had been stopped,--the window shutters were
+closed that the rustling of the leaves without might not be heard,--not
+even a fly buzzed,--for Ferber had tenderly taken care that nothing
+should disturb the stillness that surrounded the sleeper.
+
+If her mother had been sitting in her arm-chair in the window recess of
+the dwelling-room behind the protecting curtains, looking upon the green
+domain without, above which stretched the calm evening skies,--the dear
+familiar corner would have become a confessional, where Elizabeth,
+kneeling upon the cushion at her mother's feet, would have poured out
+her overcharged mind and heart.  But now she thrust back her precious
+secret into the inmost recesses of her soul: and who knows whether she
+will ever find courage to reveal what must fill her mother's heart with
+the keenest anxiety?
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+The ruins of Gnadeck might well listen in amazement to the strange noise
+which had resounded through their crumbling walls from the first peep of
+dawn.  It was not the familiar sound of destruction caused by furious
+storms, or the melting of the snow when spring appeared. Then the water
+softly excavated little gutters between the stones, and lifted from its
+niche, without any other warning, one block of granite after another,
+that, the instant before its final downfall, looked proudly and
+threateningly down upon the world; for its overthrow had been planned
+more secretly than that of a royal favourite or an unpopular ministry.
+And then a violent storm would arise some midnight,--a mighty crash
+would come, and the rays of the rising sun would wander for the first
+time over walls and floors that they had never touched before.  There
+would be a huge pile of masonry heaped upon the pavement, and all
+through the day, with every gentle breeze, broken bits of mortar and
+little rills of sand would trickle down from the wound; but before long,
+tender grass would sprout from the jagged edges, and years, long years,
+would again ensue before the mischievous water beneath the green garment
+would prepare a new victim for the tempest.  It was a slow, scarcely
+perceptible decline.  The ruins might be as easy as the invalid whose
+disease, though incurable, may permit him to rival the Old Testament
+patriarchs in length of days.
+
+It was human hands to-day that were effecting the work of destruction.
+With incredible speed and activity they dislodged stone after stone.
+The old jutty, which had advanced so boldly for years, like a valiant
+sentinel keeping watch before this wing of the castle, presented a most
+deplorable appearance.  It had already been shorn of much of its height;
+its ivy mantle was torn, and dark window niches and mossy masonry came
+to light, which, perhaps, once were rich in stone carving.  The workmen
+were very diligent.  It interested them greatly, hazardous as was their
+task, to obtain a glimpse down into the dark nooks and corners of the
+old pile, that popular superstition had peopled with countless ghastly
+apparitions.
+
+In the afternoon, Frau Ferber was sitting upon the shady rampart with
+Miss Mertens and Elizabeth, when Reinhard, who, always made his
+appearance at a certain hour of the day, interrupted their reading.  He
+announced that Linke's body had been committed to the earth as privately
+as possible that morning, and that Fraeulein von Walde had learned,
+through the carelessness of a servant, of the attempt upon her brother's
+life.  But he remarked, with some bitterness, that Herr von Walde's
+anxiety, lest his sister's fright upon hearing of the assault should
+have disastrous consequences, had been wholly unnecessary, since the
+lady had heard of it with entire composure, and even the terrible
+accident that had befallen Herr von Hartwig, whose wife was one of her
+friends, had apparently produced very little impression upon her. "But
+if the life of her fair-haired favourite had been in danger," he
+declared angrily, "she would most certainly have torn her chestnut
+curls.  That Herr von Hollfeld is utterly odious to me!  He has been
+walking about the house to-day, looking as if he would like to poison us
+all.  I'll wager that this charming mood of his is the cause of
+Fraeulein von Walde's red and swollen eyes, which she tried to conceal
+from me when I met her in the garden just now."
+
+At the mention of the hated name, Elizabeth bent low over her work.  The
+blood rushed to her face at the thought of Hollfeld's insolence the day
+before, of which she had not yet told her mother, for fear that it might
+cause a return of her headache; and perhaps there were other reasons for
+her silence; but she would not acknowledge to herself how much she
+dreaded lest her parents, upon learning of Hollfeld's rudeness, should
+prohibit her from going to Lindhof again, in which case all chance of
+seeing Herr von Walde would be at an end.
+
+In the mean time, the destruction of the jutty was going on
+uninterruptedly.  After awhile Ferber entered the garden.  He had been
+to the Lodge, and had brought the forester home with him to take coffee.
+Ernst came running to them in a great state of excitement.  The child
+had obediently forborne to transgress the bounds which his father had
+set for him, that he might not be exposed to danger; but he had been
+looking on from his post of observation, following the progress of the
+workmen with the greatest interest.
+
+"Papa! papa!" he cried, "the mason wants to speak to you,--come right
+away; he says he has found something!"
+
+And in fact one of the workmen made signs to the brothers to come
+nearer.
+
+"We have come to what seems to be a small chamber," the man called down
+to them, "and, as well as I can see, there is a coffin in it.  Will you
+not examine into the matter, Herr Ferber, before we proceed?  You can
+come up here with entire safety; we have firm foothold."
+
+Reinhard had heard the call and came hastily down the terrace steps.  A
+concealed apartment, containing a coffin!--the words were music to his
+antiquarian ears.
+
+The three men cautiously ascended the ladder.
+
+The workmen were standing just where the huge jutty sprang forth from
+the main building, and they pointed down to a tolerably large opening at
+their feet. Until now they had come upon no room that had been closed;
+the roof of the main building was partly gone, and standing upon this
+spot, you could look in all directions through a labyrinth of open
+rooms, half ruinous passages, and through great gaps in the floors down
+into the castle chapel.  The old ruins did not seem half so desolate
+from within as from without; the blue heavens peeped in everywhere, and
+the fresh breeze swept through as often as it would.  But now a space
+suddenly appeared at their feet surrounded by firm walls, and covered by
+a tolerably well-preserved ceiling.  As well as they could judge from
+where they stood, the room lay like a wedge between the chapel and the
+space behind.  At all events, there must be a window somewhere at the
+extreme corner formed by the wall of the jutty and that of the main
+building, for from that direction a weak reflection streamed in through
+coloured glass, and flickered upon the object which was dimly visible,
+and which the masons took for a coffin.
+
+Immediately a ladder of greater length was procured, as the room was
+quite a high one, and one by one all went down in a state of
+highly-wrought expectation. In descending, there was within reach a
+wainscoted wall almost black with age.  The profusion of strange, rich
+carving that adorned it startled the eye.  Close to the ceiling a plain
+strip of wood, of much more modern date, had been nailed, upon which
+were still hanging some rags of black cloth; while the rest of what had
+once been the mourning drapery of the apartment lay in mouldering,
+shapeless heaps upon the floor.
+
+Doubtless concealment had been the purpose of the room from the
+beginning, for there had been no heed paid to symmetry of form in its
+construction.  It represented an irregular triangle, and in one somewhat
+rounded corner was the very small window whose existence they had
+suspected.  It lay so close to the chapel that Reinhard's supposition
+that in old Catholic times the church treasures had been secreted here
+seemed most probable; all the more so as on one side five or six worn
+stone steps led down to a door in the chapel wall, which had been walled
+up from within. The window was just behind the evergreen oak, which
+pressed its thick branches against it, and the ivy had twined a tender
+lattice-work across the panes; but nevertheless the sun stole through
+the coloured glass in the graceful, delicate stone rosette, which was in
+a state of perfect preservation.
+
+It was in fact a coffin,--a small, narrow, leaden coffin,--standing out
+in strong contrast with the black velvet covering of its pedestal, which
+was thus found lonely and forgotten within these three walls.  At its
+head was a huge candelabrum, in the branches of which were still to be
+seen the remains of wax candles; but at its foot was a footstool, upon
+which lay a mandolin, its strings all broken.  It had been an old
+instrument in the hands of its last possessor, for the black colour of
+its neck was worn away in spots, and the sounding-board was slightly
+hollowed where the player had pressed her little fingers. At the
+approach of the intruders the last fragments of the withered heap of
+flowers fluttered down from the coffin, upon whose lid in gilt letters
+was inscribed the name "Lila."
+
+Set in the thick wall of the most extensive side of the apartment was a
+kind of press, of dark oak, which Reinhard at first supposed had been
+appropriated to the safe-keeping of the priestly robes and ornaments.
+He opened the doors, which stood ajar; as they shook in opening there
+was a rustle within, and little clouds of dust flew forth from a
+quantity of female garments hanging inside.  They formed a strange,
+fantastic wardrobe,--gay, and most coquettish in fashion, they
+contrasted oddly enough with the grave solemnity of their surroundings.
+
+She who had worn these garments must have been a wonderfully small and
+delicate creature, for the silk skirts,--most of them bordered with
+embroidery in gold thread,--were as short as though made for a child;
+and the shape of the black and violet velvet bodices, with their silken
+ribbons and tinsel trimmings, must have fitted an exquisite, pliant,
+maiden waist.  Many, many years must have elapsed since a human being
+had breathed within these walls,--since any hand warm with life had
+touched these hidden objects.  The hooks in the press had, in some
+cases, pierced the mouldering stuffs; and the threads, which had once
+confined the pearls and spangles of the trimming, hung loose and broken.
+
+Against one wall was placed a little table with a stone top.  Its legs,
+grown weak with age, appeared scarcely able to sustain it, and it leaned
+forward, endangering the safety of a casket that stood upon it.  This
+casket was a master-piece of workmanship in ivory and gold. The cover
+did not seem to be locked; it looked rather as if it had been lightly
+closed, in order to preserve a broad parchment which projected from the
+box and had obviously been arranged with the view of attracting
+attention.  It was yellow with age and covered deep,--as was all
+else,--with dust; but the large, stiff, black characters upon it were
+distinctly visible, and the name, "Jost von Gnadewitz," was perfectly
+legible.
+
+"Good Heavens! what have we here?" cried the forester, whose speech
+almost failed him with amazement "Jost von Gnadewitz!--the hero of
+Sabina's tale of her great-grandmother!"
+
+Ferber approached the table, and carefully raised the cover of the
+casket.  Within, upon a dark velvet cushion, lay ornaments of antique
+workmanship, bracelets, brooches, a necklace of gold coins, and several
+strings of costly pearls.
+
+The parchment had fallen to the ground.  Reinhard picked it up, and
+offered to read the contents aloud.  It was, even for the time when it
+had been composed,--about two hundred years before,--very clumsily
+written, and very badly spelled.  The writer had evidently understood
+how to wield the hunting-spear better than the pen,--nevertheless an air
+of poesy breathed through the lines. They ran thus:
+
+"Whoever you may be who are the first to enter this room, by all that is
+sacred to you, by everything that you love or that has a home in your
+heart, do not disturb her repose.  She lies there sleeping like a child.
+The sweet face beneath the dark curls smiles again now that death has
+touched it.  Once more, whoever you are, whether noble or beggar,
+descendant of hers or not, let my eyes be the last to rest upon her!
+
+"I could not lay her in the dark, cold ground.  Here the golden light
+will play around her, and birds will alight upon the branches of the
+tree outside with the breath of the forest ruffling their feathers,
+while the songs that hushed her in her cradle gush from their throats.
+
+"The golden sunlight was quivering in the forest, and the birds were
+singing in the trees, when the graceful roe parted the bushes, and gazed
+with shy, startled eyes at the young huntsman who was lying in the
+shade. His heart beat quickly and wildly at sight of her; he threw his
+weapons from him, and pursued the maiden-form that fled before him.
+She, the child of the forest, a daughter of that people which the curse
+of God pursues making them wanderers upon the face of the earth, with no
+home for their weary feet, not a foot of land that they can call their
+own whereon to lay their dying heads,--she had vanquished the heart of
+the proud, fierce huntsman.  Suing for her love, he haunted the camp of
+her tribe, day and night; he followed her footsteps like a dog, and
+entreated her passionately until she was touched, to leave her people
+and fly with him in secret.  In the silence of night he bore her away to
+his castle, and, alas! became her murderer.  He did not heed her
+prayers, when she was suddenly seized by the uncontrollable longing for
+her forest liberty.  As the prisoned bird flutters wildly about its
+cage, beating its delicate wings against the confining wires, so she
+wandered in despair through the halls which had once resounded to her
+intoxicating song and the delicious music of her lute, but which now
+only echoed to her sighs and complaints.  He saw her cheeks grow pale,
+saw her eyes averted from him in hate; his heart died a thousand deaths
+when she thrust him from her, and shuddered at his touch; despair
+possessed him, but he doubly bolted every door, and guarded them in
+deadly terror, for he knew that she was lost to him forever if once
+again her foot should press the woodland turf.  And then there came a
+time when she grew less restless,--'tis true she glided past him as
+though he were a shadow, a nothing,--she never lifted her eyes when he
+approached her and addressed her in the tenderest tones of entreaty,--it
+was long since she had spoken to him, and still no words passed her
+lips; but she no longer beat her tiny hands against the window-bars,
+tearing her hair, and calling with shrill shrieks upon those who passed
+through the forest without, enjoying all the sweets of liberty.  She no
+longer fled madly, like some hunted thing, through halls and corridors,
+nor mounted the castle wall to throw her fair body into the gloomy
+waters of the moat.  She sat beneath the evergreen oak with a sad,
+patient look upon her lily-white face; she knew of the life within her
+own,--she was about to become a mother. And when night came, and the
+huntsman bore her up the broad stairway in his arms,--she did not
+resist, but she turned her face from him, that his breath might not
+touch her cheek, that no glance of his loving eyes might fall upon her.
+
+"And one day the pastor of Lindhof came to the castle.  The people
+declared that Jost, a lamb of his flock, had dealings with the devil,
+and he came to rescue the lost soul.  He was admitted, and saw the
+creature for whose sake the wild huntsman had renounced his merry life
+in the forest, and heaven itself.  Her beauty and purity touched him.
+He spoke to her in gentle tones, and her heart, paralyzed with
+suffering, melted at his addresses. For the sake of the child that was
+to come, she was baptized, and the unholy tie that had bound her to her
+lover was hallowed by the sanction of the church.  And when her dark
+hour of pain had passed, she pressed her cold lips upon the brow of her
+child, and, with that kiss, her spirit burst its bonds,--she was free,
+free!  The triumph of that moment transfigured the earthly tenement from
+which the soul had departed.  The wretched man saw those glorious eyes
+darken in death; he writhed at her feet in an agony of remorse and
+despair, and implored her in vain for only one last glance of love.
+
+"The boy was christened, and received his father's name,--my baptismal
+name.  I gazed with a shudder into his eyes,--they are my eyes.
+Together we have murdered her. My old servant, Simon, has taken the boy
+away.  I cannot live for him.  Simon says, and the pastor also, that no
+woman can be found willing to nourish my child at her breast, for, in
+the eyes of the people I am lost,--doomed eternally to hell-torments.
+The wife of my forester, Ferber, has adopted the child without knowing
+whence it comes----"
+
+Here the reader paused, and looked up over the parchment at the
+brothers.  The forester, who, until now, had been leaning against the
+opposite wall listening with the greatest attention, suddenly stood by
+his side, and clutched his arm convulsively.  The colour left his
+sun-burnt cheeks for one moment.  It seemed as if his heart ceased to
+beat, so great was his agitation.  And Ferber also drew near, testifying
+in his face and gestures extreme surprise.
+
+"Go on, go on!" cried the forester at last, in stifled accents.
+
+"Simon laid him upon the threshold of the forest lodge," Reinhard read
+further, "and to-day he saw Ferber's wife kissing and tending him like
+her own little girl.  By the laws of my family, he has no claim upon the
+Gnadewitz estate, but my maternal inheritance will preserve him from
+want.  My directions I have confided, in a sealed packet, deposited in
+the town-house at L----, to the public authorities.  They will
+substantiate his claim to be my son and heir.  May he, as Hans Jost von
+Gnadewitz, found a new race.  The Almighty will provide kind hearts to
+protect his youth,--I cannot.
+
+"Everything which adorned that lovely form in happier days shall
+surround it in death, and yield to the same decay.  Her child has a
+claim upon her jewels, but my heart revolts at the thought that what has
+rested upon her dazzling brow, her pure neck, may perhaps be torn
+asunder and desecrated by faithless hands.  Better to leave all here to
+fade and fall to ruin.
+
+"Once more I implore you, whom chance may lead to this sanctuary, after
+the lapse of centuries perhaps,--honour the dead, and pray for me,
+
+"JOST VON GNADEWITZ."
+
+
+The two brothers clasped each other's hands, and, without a word,
+approached the coffin.  In their veins flowed the blood of that strange
+being who had once kindled to a flame the heart of the fierce, proud
+lord of the castle,--of that woman whose ardent soul, thirsting for
+freedom, exultingly fled from the idolized body which had crumbled to a
+little heap of ashes here in its narrow leaden tomb.  Two tall figures
+stood there, descendants of him who, with his dying mother's
+consecrating kiss upon his brow, was borne out into the forest, and laid
+upon the low threshold of a servant, while his nobly-born father,
+despair in his heart, rushed madly to death.
+
+"She was the mother of our race," Ferber said at last, with much
+emotion, to Reinhard.  "We are the descendants of the foundling whose
+parentage has been a mystery until this hour, for the papers which would
+have established him in his rights were destroyed when the townhouse at
+L---- was burned down.  We must suspend work here for a few days," he
+said, turning to one of the masons, who, prompted by a pardonable
+curiosity, had descended the ladder half way, and, from this post of
+observation, had listened in speechless amazement to the unfolding of a
+tale which would afford a subject for winter evenings in the large,
+peasant spinning-rooms, for a long time to come.
+
+"Instead, you must prepare a grave to-morrow in the church-yard at
+Lindhof," the forester called up to him; "I will speak to the pastor
+about it afterwards."
+
+He went again to the press, and looked at the garments that had once
+enveloped the delicate limbs of the gypsy maiden, and had evidently been
+adjusted with great care, that they might recall the times when they had
+been seen upon the beautiful Lila by the enraptured eyes of her lover.
+Upon the floor of the press were ranged shoes.  The forester took up a
+pair of them; they were scarcely longer than the width of his broad
+hand,--only Cinderella's feet could ever have worn them.
+
+"I will take these to Elsie," he said, smiling, holding them carefully
+between his forefinger and thumb, "she will be surprised to find what a
+Liliputian her ancestress was."
+
+Meanwhile Ferber, after brushing the dust from the mandolin, took it
+carefully under his arm, while Reinhard closed the jewel-box and lifted
+it from the table by the exquisitely wrought handle on the lid.  Thus
+the three men ascended the ladder again.  Arrived at the top, all the
+boards that they could procure were placed over the opening, so as to
+afford a temporary protection from wind and rain, and then they
+descended from their perilous position upon the summit of the ruin.
+
+Below, the ladies had been awaiting them for some time, in a state of
+great expectation, and were not a little surprised at the strange
+procession that descended the ladder.  But not one word did they learn
+of what had been seen or heard, until the whole party were once more
+seated beneath the linden.  Then Reinhard placed the casket upon the
+table, described minutely the hidden apartment and its contents, and, at
+last producing the parchment, read again what we have already learned;
+of course with far greater fluency than before.
+
+In breathless silence the ladies listened to these outpourings of a
+passionate, burning heart.  Elizabeth sat pale and still; but when
+Reinhard came to the words that suddenly threw such a glare of light
+upon the dim past of her family, she started up, and her eyes rested in
+speechless surprise upon the smiling face of her uncle, who was
+observing her narrowly.  Even Frau Ferber sat for awhile after the
+reader had finished, fairly dumb with amazement.  To her clear, calm
+mind, accustomed to reason carefully, this romantic solution of family
+questions, which had been unanswered for centuries, was almost
+incomprehensible.  But Miss Mertens, to whom the whole bearing of the
+discovery was explained by Ferber, as she did not even know the story of
+the foundling, clapped her hands above her head at such a revelation.
+
+"And does not this parchment give you a claim to your inheritance?" she
+asked quickly and eagerly.
+
+"Undoubtedly," replied Ferber, "but how can we tell in what that
+maternal inheritance consisted?  The family has died out, the very name
+of Gnadewitz is extinct. Everything has passed into strange hands; who
+can tell to what we may lay claim?"
+
+"No, let all that rest," said the forester with decision; "such matters
+cost money, and in the end we might come into possession of only a few
+thalers.  Oh no! let it go! We have not starved yet."
+
+Elizabeth musingly took up the shoes which her uncle had placed before
+her.  The faded silk of which they were made was torn here and there,
+and showed perfectly the shape of the foot.  They had been much worn,
+but not apparently upon the soil of the forest; the soles showed no
+traces of such contact; probably they had covered the restless feet at
+the time of her imprisonment, "when she fled madly through halls and
+corridors like some hunted thing."
+
+"Aha!  Elsie, now we know where you got your slender waist and those
+feet that trip over the sward, scarcely bending the blades of grass,"
+said her uncle.  "You are just such a forest-butterfly as your
+ancestress, and would flutter just so against the bars of your cage if
+you were shut up within locked doors; there is gypsy blood in your veins
+were you ten times Gold Elsie and though your skin is like a snowdrift.
+There, put on those things, you will find that you can dance in them
+easily."
+
+"Oh no, uncle," cried Elizabeth deprecatingly, "they seem to me like
+sacred relics; I could not put them on without fearing that Jost's fiery
+black eyes might suddenly glare out at me."
+
+Frau Ferber and Miss Mertens agreed with her, and the former declared
+that in her opinion the press, with all that it contained, ought to be
+carefully removed to some quiet, dry place, where it might be preserved
+untouched as a family relic until it fulfilled its destiny, which was to
+decay with all else that is mortal.
+
+"Well, with regard to the press, let it be as you say," Reinhard here
+interposed; "but it seems to me that a different fate should await these
+articles."
+
+He opened the casket.  The sunlight penetrating, its interior came
+flashing back in a thousand sparkling rays, dazzling the eyes that
+looked on.  Reinhard took out a necklace,--it was very broad, and of
+admirable design.
+
+"These are brilliants of the purest water," he explained to the
+rest,--the necklace was set thick with precious stones,--"and these
+rubies here must have gleamed magnificently from the dark curls of the
+beautiful gypsy girl," he continued, as he took two pins from their
+velvet cushion with heads formed like lily-cups of red stones, from
+which chains, set thick with rubies, fell like a glittering little
+shower.
+
+Elizabeth, smiling, held a costly agraffe above her forehead.
+
+"And so you think, Herr Reinhard," she said, "that we should let all
+reverence for the past go, and recklessly adorn ourselves with these
+jewels?  What would my white muslin dress say if I should some day
+introduce it into such distinguished society?"
+
+"The brilliants are exquisitely becoming to you," replied Reinhard,
+smiling; "but to my mind a nosegay of fresh flowers would be far more
+suitable with the white muslin; and therefore I should advise that these
+precious stones be transformed at the jeweller's into shining coin."
+
+Ferber nodded assentingly.
+
+"What!  Reinhard," cried Miss Mertens, "do you think these family jewels
+should be sold?"
+
+"Certainly," he replied; "it would be both foolish and sinful to let
+such capital lie idle.  The stones alone must be worth full seven
+thousand thalers, and then there are these very fine pearls, and this
+wrought gold, which will bring a very clever little sum besides."
+
+"Zounds!" exclaimed the forester; "let them go then on the spot,----See,
+Adolph," he continued more gently, and rested his arm upon his brother's
+shoulder, "Heaven has been kind to you here.  Did I not tell you that
+all would go smoothly with you in Thuringia, although I never dreamed
+that eight thousand thalers were waiting for you?"
+
+"For me?" cried Ferber with surprise.  "Does it not all belong to you as
+the elder?"
+
+"None of that!  What, in Heaven's name, should I do with the trash?  Am
+I to begin to invest capital in my old days?  I think I see myself at
+such work!  I have neither chick nor child in the world, hold an
+excellent office,--and when my old bones fail me, there is a pension for
+me, which, try as I may, I shall never be able to spend.  Therefore I
+resign my birthright in favour of the girl with the golden hair and
+Ernst, the rogue, who shall perpetuate our stock; I will not even have a
+mess of lentil pottage in exchange, for Sabina says it is not good with
+venison.  Don't touch me!" he cried, with a comic gesture of refusal,
+clasping his hands behind him, as Frau Ferber, with tears in her eyes,
+came to him with outstretched arms, and his brother would have
+remonstrated with him.  "It would be much better for you, sister-in-law,
+to go and see about our coffee.  It is really past hearing! four o'clock
+and not a drop of the usual refreshments, for the sake of which I
+dragged myself up here."
+
+He accomplished his aim in diverting from himself all grateful
+acknowledgments.  Frau Ferber hastened into the house, accompanied by
+Elizabeth, and the others laughed.  The whole party were soon seated
+upon the terrace, busy with the brown, fragrant beverage.
+
+"Yes, yes," said the forester, leaning comfortably back in his chair; "I
+never thought, when I awoke this morning, that I should lie down at
+night a Herr von Gnadewitz.  I shall gain a step in my profession, of
+course, instantly; that yellow parchment, with its crooked letters, has
+done for me in an instant what thirty years of hard service have failed
+to accomplish.  As soon as his Highness arrives in L---- I shall make my
+best bow, and introduce myself by my new name.  Zounds! how those people
+will stare!"
+
+A peculiar side glance was directed, as these words were spoken, towards
+Elizabeth, and at the same moment the speaker puffed away at his pipe so
+vigorously that his face was quite concealed by a thick cloud of smoke.
+
+"Uncle," cried his niece, "say what you will, I know that you can never
+intend to patch up again the shattered crest of the Gnadewitzes."
+
+"I can't see why not, 'tis a beautiful coat of arms, with chevrons,
+stars----"
+
+"And a wheel covered with blood," interrupted Elizabeth.  "God forbid
+that we should swell the number of those who revive the sins of their
+ancestors to prove the antiquity of their race, and thus make nobility
+ignoble,--nothing in the world seems to me more detestable.  I should
+think that all those who have been tortured and hunted down in life by
+that pitiless, haughty race, would arise, like accusing ghosts, from
+their graves, if the name should ever be revived, beneath whose shelter
+such oppression and tyranny existed for centuries.  When I compare the
+two fathers,--one seeking death like a coward, never considering for an
+instant that his poor child had the most sacred claims upon him; the
+other, a poor servant, taking the outcast compassionately to his heart,
+and bestowing upon it his own honest name,--then I know well which was
+the noble, which name deserves to be perpetuated.  And think what sorrow
+that haughty race has caused my poor, dear mother."
+
+"True enough, true enough," Frau Ferber declared with a sigh--"in the
+first place, I owe to it a stormy, unhappy childhood, for my mother was
+a beautiful, amiable girl, whom my father married against the will of
+his relatives, who could not forgive her ignoble extraction.  This
+misalliance was a source of endless suffering and annoyance to my poor
+mother, for my father had not sufficient strength of character to break
+with the chief of the Gnadewitz family, and live only for his wife.
+This weakness on his part was the cause of constant strife between my
+parents, which I could not but be cognizant of.  And we"--here she held
+out her hand across the table to her husband--"we can never forget all
+we had to contend with before we could belong to each other.  I would
+not for the world return to the class who so often ruthlessly stifle
+every warm, humane sentiment, that outward rank and show may be
+preserved."
+
+"And you never shall return, Marie," said her husband, with a smile, as
+he pressed her hand.  He glanced mischievously at his brother, who was
+still puffing forth immense clouds of smoke, while he was doing his
+best, most unsuccessfully, to keep up the frown upon his brow.
+
+"Ah! my fine plans," he sighed at last, with a comical look of
+disappointment.  "Elsie, you are a cruel, foolish creature.  You forget
+what a fine life we should lead, if I had a position at court, and you
+were a fine lady.  There, does not that tempt you?"
+
+Elizabeth shook her head, smilingly, but most decidedly
+
+"And who knows," added Miss Mertens, "but that, before we could turn
+round, some noble knight, of stainless lineage, would bear away from old
+Gnadeck our high-born Elsie as his wife!"
+
+"Do you think I would go with him?" cried Elizabeth, indignantly, her
+cheeks aglow.
+
+"And why not?--if you loved him."
+
+"No, never," replied the girl in a suppressed voice, "not even if I
+loved him,--for I should then be all the more wretched in the
+consciousness that the prestige of my name had weighed heavier in the
+balance than my heart, that in the eyes of that man all aspiration after
+spiritual elevation and moral excellence was worthless in comparison
+with a phantom, which the miserable prejudices of men had tricked out
+with tinsel."
+
+Frau Ferber gazed with surprise at her daughter, whose face showed
+evident signs of deep emotion.  The forester, on the other hand, held
+his pipe firmly between his teeth, and clapped his hands loudly.
+
+"Elsie, child of gold!" he cried at last, "give me your hand! that's my
+brave girl! true metal, through and through!  Yes, I say, too, God keep
+me from swelling the number of those who give up an honest name for the
+sake of their own personal advantage.  No, Adolph, we will not cast
+scorn upon the parish register of the little Silesian village where we
+were christened; we will go on writing our names as they are written
+there."
+
+"And as they have faithfully clung to us in joy and sorrow for half a
+century," added Ferber with his quiet smile, "I will keep this document
+for this fellow," and he laid his hand upon little Ernst's curly head,
+"until his judgment is clear and ripe.  I cannot and must not decide for
+him, but I trust I shall train him so that he will prefer to carve out a
+path for himself by his own energy, rather than to lie idly in the
+hot-bed of old traditions and wrongs enjoying privileges which should be
+the reward only of lofty endeavour.  The Gnadewitzes in their long
+career added nothing to the world, but took much from it; let them
+moulder in their graves, and their high-sounding, undeserved titles with
+them!"
+
+"Selah!" cried the forester, knocking the ashes from his pipe.  "And now
+let us go," he said to his brother, "and advise with the Lindhof pastor.
+A spot beneath the beautiful lindens in our village church-yard seems to
+me infinitely preferable to those three gloomy walls, within which the
+mother of our line has lain for so long; and that the 'dark, cold
+ground' may not touch her coffin, let us have a grave built in the earth
+and closed with a tombstone."
+
+He departed, accompanied by Ferber and Reinhard, and, whilst her mother
+and Miss Mertens were putting the jewel-box away in a place of security,
+Elizabeth climbed the ladder placed against the ruined jutty, pushed
+aside the boards, and descended into the secret chamber.  A slender ray
+of the setting sun touched a ruby pane in the little window and threw a
+bloody stain upon the name "Lila," on the lid of the coffin.  Elizabeth,
+with head bowed and hands clasped, stood for a long while beside the
+lonely bier, whereon that burning heart had slept undisturbed since the
+moment when death had stilled its wild beating and ended its sorrow.
+Centuries had flown by, effacing, as if they had never existed, all the
+transporting charm of that short life,--all the stormy emotion which had
+worked its ruin,--and yet the young heart that was throbbing restlessly
+in that chamber of death beside that bier, fancied that the emotions
+causing it to throb so wildly could never die.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+The news of the occurrence at Gnadeck had reached Lindhof Castle even
+before Reinhard returned thither. The masons on their way home to the
+village had related the wonderful story to a servant whom they met in
+the park, and the tale had flashed like lightning from mouth to mouth
+until it reached the boudoir of the ladies of the castle, where it
+produced the effect almost of a bombshell.
+
+One of the favourite themes of the baroness had always been her own
+infallibility with regard to blue blood.  She maintained that by means
+of a very delicate and sensitive organization she could recognize the
+existence of this life-giving stream even in people whose names she did
+not know.  It was thus only natural that she should be able to detect
+immediately every noble drop happening to flow in plebeian veins.  She
+always had admitted that "the little Ferber" had something distinguished
+in her appearance in right of the noble descent of her mother. But with
+regard to the forester, that delicate perception of hers had been so
+much at fault that she had never dreamed of acknowledging his bow except
+by an almost imperceptible inclination of the head, which was all she
+deigned to bestow upon people of so low a rank in life.  Why, in her
+noble rage at the rude blasphemer, who could forbid his ward, Bertha, to
+attend the Bible-class at the castle, she had often gone so far as to
+declare that she could detect his low origin a hundred paces off.  And
+this was the man to bring to nought her reputation for this keen
+perception of aristocracy!  He was the descendant of a lofty line,--the
+possessor of a name which, centuries back, had glowed in all the light
+of feudal splendour!
+
+To be sure, there was great consolation for her in the thought that two
+centuries of ignoble marriages had rendered the noble blood very
+difficult to recognize.  She declared as much very earnestly to
+Fraeulein von Walde, who, reclining upon her lounge, was observing the
+baroness' agitation with a slight, rather contemptuous, smile.  Personal
+interest in Fraeulein Ferber, or the more unprejudiced mind of the
+younger lady, may have prompted some little reproof to her cousin; at
+all events she lifted her head and said quickly, not without a slight
+appearance of irritation: "Pardon me, Amalie, but that is a mistake. I
+know for a certainty that the wife of the forester's clerk is not the
+only nobly-born person who has married into the Ferber family.  They
+have always been a fine, remarkably intellectual race, whose personal
+advantages have often conquered the prejudices of birth.  I really do
+not believe that there have been more plebeian marriages in their family
+than can be found in the pedigree of the Lessens, and you would hardly
+maintain that there is not a drop of genuine noble blood in Bella's
+veins."
+
+A delicate colour flickered over the elder lady's faded cheek, and the
+glance which she directed towards her companion from beneath her
+half-closed eyelids, was anything but gentle or amiable.  A sickly smile
+still hovered upon her lips.  Since the previous day she had, to her
+horror, frequently felt the ground tremble beneath her feet.  It was
+actually terrifying suddenly to meet with contradiction in a quarter
+where for years she had found only complete adherence and blind
+submission.
+
+She was, however, quite right in attributing the change in Helene's
+demeanour not only to the "unhappy" influence exercised upon her by her
+brother, but far more to her own son, who had conducted himself so
+strangely during the last few days.  Helene's was, in reality, a noble
+nature, capable of appreciating all that was lofty and honourable, and
+animated by the purest desire for the good and true; but she had been
+accustomed from childhood to consider herself as the centre of the
+loving care and attention of all around her.  Notwithstanding her
+physical infirmity, she had never known the bitterness of being
+slighted.  That she might forget her weakness, every one around her made
+her the object of marked attention. While she knew that she could never
+occupy a wife's position, her heart, overflowing with tenderness, had
+joyously welcomed a first love; and although, when alone, she might
+bewail with tears the neglect of nature, which had denied her the
+crowning joys of life, still she possessed the blissful conviction that
+her love was returned.  Hollfeld's constant attentions, his frequent
+sojourn at Lindhof, his continual expressions of tenderness, were well
+calculated to plant this conviction ineradicably in her mind.
+
+Suddenly he had appeared altered and constrained in her presence, and
+neglected her in the most unaccountable manner.  She suffered greatly;
+her inner self revolted; insulted feminine dignity, an irritation
+hitherto unknown, and devoted affection, were all at war within her; she
+was yet far from that height to which, early or late, every noble nature
+attains: resignation and forgiveness.  She grew bitter and violent, and
+she manifested this change less towards him who had caused her suffering
+than, by way of indemnifying herself, towards those whose tyranny she
+had endured for the sake of her love.
+
+Hollfeld had been reading aloud to the ladies, when the old waiting-maid
+of the baroness entered the room upon some errand, and, before leaving,
+glibly narrated the remarkable discovery at Gnadeck.  If Helene's eyes
+had not been riveted upon the lips of the speaker, the change in her
+cousin's features could not have escaped her.  He listened breathlessly,
+with an expression of the intensest delight.  In passing from mouth to
+mouth, the discovered jewels had come to be of "priceless value," and
+the beautiful Lila's coffin was now pure silver.
+
+The baroness also had not observed the striking change in her son's
+sullen aspect; and in consequence of Helene's reproof, very naturally
+darted at him an angry glance, which was not seen by Fraeulein von
+Walde.  She was greatly amazed to see him suddenly approach his cousin.
+He smoothed the embroidered cushion beneath her head, and pushed the
+bouquet of flowers in the vase nearer to her, that she might more easily
+inhale their fragrance.
+
+"Helene is quite right, mother," he said with a kindly glance at his
+cousin, who replied by a happy smile.  "You should be the last to bring
+in question the nobility of that family."
+
+Although the baroness was tortured by the thought that those who had
+been so far beneath her, might now be her equals,--nay, even rank
+considerably above her in wealth; still she wisely suppressed the bitter
+retort that rose to her lips, and contented herself with observing that
+the whole story at present had altogether too much the air of a legend
+or fable to be implicitly believed.  For her part, she should require
+the testimony of more competent eye-witnesses than the two masons,
+before she could consider it worthy of credit.
+
+A competent eye-witness was just passing beneath the windows.  It was
+Reinhard, who was returning from the mountain.  He smiled as his
+attendance upon Fraeulein von Walde was immediately required; for, from
+the curious looks of the servant, he guessed that the story of the
+discovery at Gnadeck had reached the castle, and that information from
+him upon the subject was what the ladies desired.
+
+At his entrance he was immediately assailed by Helene with questions.
+He answered them in his usual calm manner, and took a malicious pleasure
+in detecting the keenest curiosity and the greatest irritation behind
+the apparently careless and indifferent remarks and questions of the
+baroness.
+
+"And will the Ferbers venture to lay claim to the old name on the
+strength of that scrap of parchment?" she asked; taking a large dahlia
+from the vase of flowers, and smelling it.
+
+"I should like to know who could dispute their claim," replied Reinhard.
+"It only remains to be proved that they are the descendants of Jost von
+Gnadewitz, and that can be done at any moment."
+
+The lady leaned back in her large arm-chair, and dropped her eyelids, as
+if she were weary or bored.
+
+"Indeed! and those treasures of Golconda, are they really as priceless
+as Dame Rumour reports them to be?"  The tone of voice was meant to be
+contemptuous, but Reinhard's practised ear detected with great
+satisfaction that it betrayed great eagerness, and something like secret
+anxiety.
+
+He smiled.
+
+"Priceless?" he repeated.  "Well, in such cases so much depends upon the
+estimation in which such things are held by their possessors, that I can
+hardly judge."
+
+He might, we know, have told their value, but he thought, rather
+ungallantly, that a little uncertainty would prove a healthy excitement
+for the lady.
+
+The examination would probably not have concluded here, if Bella had not
+suddenly burst into the room with her usual violence.
+
+"Mamma, the new governess has come," she cried, out of breath, shaking
+back, with a toss of her head, the sandy locks that had fallen over her
+forehead; "why, she is uglier than Miss Mertens!" she went on, without
+taking the least notice of Reinhard's presence.  "She has a bright red
+ribbon on her bonnet, and her mantilla is even more old-fashioned than
+Frau von Lehr's.  I won't go to walk with her, you need not tell me to,
+mamma!"
+
+The baroness put both hands to her ears.
+
+"My child, I pray you, for Heaven's sake, do not speak so loud," she
+gasped; "your voice goes through and through me; and what nonsense you
+talk! you will have to walk out with Mademoiselle Jamin whenever I bid
+you."
+
+This reproof, uttered with considerable emphasis, causing Bella to pout
+angrily while she secretly tore a piece of the fringe from one of her
+mother's cushions, was the result of what might have been called the
+period of martyrdom that had followed Miss Mertens' departure. The
+baroness had been forced to take upon herself the care of Bella, and it
+was, as she declared, death to her nerves. To Fraeulein von Walde she
+always maintained that all her trouble was in consequence of the defects
+of Miss Mertens' educational system; but in the depths of her soul she
+acknowledged, that her daughter strikingly resembled in disposition the
+deceased Lessen,--among whose characteristics an indomitable obstinacy
+and a determined proclivity to a perpetual _dolce far niente_, were the
+most prominent.  She was, however, far from admitting that any injustice
+had been done to Miss Mertens; that person had been paid to educate her
+daughter, and consequently should have known, without ever acting in
+opposition to the mother's views, or reproving the child, how to correct
+all her faults.  Therefore, the glimpse that she had just had perforce
+of Bella's character, was of no advantage for the new governess; the
+unfortunate French woman, with the gay ribbons on her bonnet, had no
+presentiment of the joyless days that awaited her. Just now, her arrival
+removed a weight from the mind of the baroness, to whom nothing could
+have been less desirable than a dispute at present between teacher and
+pupil, and hence her rebuke of Bella's impertinent remarks.
+
+The baroness arose and went to her apartments, accompanied by her sullen
+daughter, to receive the stranger. At the same time, Reinhard departed.
+
+"Do you wish me to go on reading, Helene?" asked Hollfeld, after the
+three had left the room.  As he took up the newspaper his manner was
+almost caressing.
+
+"By and by," she replied with hesitation, looking at him searchingly,
+with a kind of timid anxiety in her eyes. "I should like to ask you, now
+that we are once more alone together, to tell me what has changed you so
+during these last few days.  You know, Emil, that it pains me deeply
+when you refuse to let me share in what delights or troubles you.  You
+know that it is not idle curiosity which leads me to pry into your
+affairs, but a sincere and heartfelt interest in your weal or woe.  You
+see how I suffer from your reserve.  Tell me frankly if I have done
+anything to make you think me unworthy of your confidence."
+
+She stretched out her hands towards him as if in entreaty.  The gentle
+melancholy in the tones of her voice would have melted a stone.
+
+Hollfeld crushed and twisted the rustling newspaper uneasily in his
+hands.  He held down his head, and avoided meeting the pure, frank gaze
+of the poor girl. Any one with any knowledge of the world could not have
+failed to perceive in his attitude, and in the restless eyes that sought
+the ground, the crafty plotter endeavouring to hit upon some device by
+which to deceive.  To Helene's innocent, loving eyes, the lofty figure,
+slightly leaning forward, the face beneath the thick, light curls,
+rather suggested a thoughtful Apollo.
+
+"You will always have my confidence, Helene," he broke silence at last.
+"You are indeed the only being in the world in whom I can
+confide,"--Helene's eyes sparkled at these words, the poor child was so
+proud of the distinction,--"but there are obligations in life whose
+existence we can hardly acknowledge to ourselves, far less have the
+courage to confess to others."
+
+Fraeulein von Walde sat upright, in eager expectation.
+
+"I am forced," Hollfeld continued, with a stammer, "to adopt a certain
+resolution, and it has been weighing heavily upon me for days."
+
+He looked up to see what impression his words had made.
+
+Helene seemed to have no suspicion of what he was about to say, for she
+never changed her attitude, and looked as if she would have read the
+words upon his lips. He was therefore compelled to proceed without any
+assistance from her.
+
+"You know, Helene," he slowly continued, "that for the last year I have
+had constant trouble with my housekeepers.  They are continually leaving
+me, often without warning even, and I have no way of ordering my
+domestic affairs.  The day before yesterday, the last one, who only
+entered my house two weeks ago, declared she would not stay.  I cannot
+tell what to do about it; my house is nothing but an annoyance to me
+under these circumstances--"
+
+"Ah, you want to sell Odenberg?" Helene interrupted him eagerly.
+
+"No, that would be folly, for it is one of the finest estates in
+Thuringia; but I am forced to find some other way out of my troubles,
+and nothing is left for me but--to marry."
+
+If some unseen and mysterious agency had suddenly opened a yawning abyss
+at Helene's feet, her face certainly could not have expressed more
+horror and amazement than at this moment.  She opened her white,
+quivering lips, but no sound issued from them, and, entirely incapable
+of concealing her pain, she covered her face with her hands, and sank
+back among the cushions with a low cry.
+
+Hollfeld hastened to her side, and took both her hands in his.
+
+"Helene," he whispered, in a low, tender tone,--his manner was
+perfect,--"will you let me speak and show you how sore my heart is?  You
+know only too well that I love, and that this love will be my first and
+only one as long as I live."
+
+His tongue did not stammer over this odious lie; on the contrary, it
+aided his plans with such insinuating tones that the poor girl's heart
+was torn by a wild conflict of emotions.  If some good angel would only
+have whispered to her to lift her eyes for one moment, she could not but
+have been undeceived, for the look that accompanied his protestations
+was utterly contemptuous as it glanced at her crippled figure; and
+perhaps, in the first moments of her indignation, she might have found
+strength enough to have extricated herself from the snares of the wily
+egotist.  But her eyes were closed as if she would shut out all the
+world, and revel only in the sound of the voice which for the first time
+spoke of love to her.
+
+"Would to Heaven," he continued, "that I might follow the dictates of my
+heart, and live for this love only, for I desire nothing beyond the
+pleasure of constant intercourse with you, Helene.  But you know I am
+the last of the Hollfelds and must marry.  My sacrifice can be lessened
+only in one way,--I must choose a wife who knows you, and----"
+
+"O tell me quickly!" cried Helene, giving way to her grief, while the
+tears burst from her eyes.  "Your choice is already made!  I know
+it,--it is Cornelie!"
+
+"The Quittelsdorf?" he cried, with a laugh.  "That will-o'-the-wisp?
+No, I would far rather leave the administration of my domestic affairs
+to the most repulsive of housekeepers!  What should I do without an
+enormous income with such an extravagant, frivolous wife!  Besides, let
+me tell you most emphatically, my sweet Helene, my choice is not yet
+made,--hear me, and do not weep so violently, you break my heart; I must
+have a wife who knows and loves you; a simple-hearted woman, of genuine
+understanding, to whom I can say: my heart belongs to another who never
+can be mine, be my friend and here."
+
+"And do you imagine that any one could understand you?"
+
+"Most certainly, if she loved me."
+
+"No, I could not,--never, never!"  She buried her face in the cushions,
+sobbing convulsively.
+
+And now an ugly frown appeared on Hollfeld's smooth forehead.  His lips
+were compressed, and for an instant the colour left his cheeks.  He was
+evidently very angry. An expression of hatred lighted up the eyes that
+rested upon the young creature who was unexpectedly rendering his part
+so difficult to play.  But he controlled himself, and lifted her face
+with a light, caressing touch.  The poor thing trembled beneath his
+hypocritical contact, and let her delicate head rest passively upon his
+hand.
+
+"And would you then forsake me, Helene," he asked sadly, "if I were
+compelled to fulfil so hard a duty? Would you turn away and leave me
+lonely, with a wife whom I did not love?"
+
+She raised her swollen eyelids, and from beneath them broke a ray of
+inexpressible love.  He had played his part admirably, and that glance
+told him that the game was in his own hands.
+
+"You are now fighting the same battle," he continued, "which I have
+struggled through during the last few days, before I could arrive at any
+fixed determination.  At first the thought that any third person may
+interfere with our relations to each other may well appall you, but I
+give you my word that shall not be.  Think, Helene, how much more I can
+do for you; how much more truly I can live for you then than now.  You
+can come to me at Odenberg.  I will guard your every footstep, and
+cherish you as the apple of my eye."
+
+Hollfeld possessed very little intellect, but he had a vast amount of
+cunning, which, as we see, served his turn better than intellect could
+have done.  His poor victim flew into the net, her heart torn and
+bleeding, her force of will utterly annihilated.
+
+"I will try to endure the thought," Helene at last whispered almost
+inaudibly.  "But what a being that woman must be who could bear with me,
+and whom I might at last learn to love like a sister!  Do you know any
+such lofty-minded, self-sacrificing creature?"
+
+"I have an idea,--it occurred to me just now quite suddenly,--at present
+it is vague and unformed.  After due consideration I shall certainly
+unfold it to you.  But you must first be more composed, dear Helene.
+Think for a moment.  I place the choice of my future wife solely and
+entirely in your hands.  It depends upon you to approve or condemn what
+I propose."
+
+"And are you strong enough to pass your life with a woman to whom you
+cannot give your love?"
+
+He suppressed a contemptuous smile, for Helene's eyes were riveted upon
+his lips.
+
+"I can do all that I resolve to do," he answered; "and to have you near
+me will give me strength.--But let me entreat one favour of you,--say
+nothing as yet to my mother of this important matter, as you know she
+wishes to control everything and everybody, and I could not now endure
+her interference.  She will learn all soon enough when I present my
+future wife to her."
+
+At any other time, this heartless, unfilial speech would have disgusted
+Helene; but, at this moment, she scarcely heard it, for every thought
+and feeling had been thrown into the wildest uproar by the words,
+"future wife," which suggested, in spite of the multitude of unhappy
+wives, the idea of supreme contentment and bliss.
+
+"Oh, my God!" she cried, wringing in an agony of grief the little hands
+that lay in her lap.  "I always hoped to die before this; I was not,
+indeed I was not so selfish as to think you could lead a lonely life for
+my sake; but I hoped that the necessarily short period of my life might
+induce you to let this cup pass from me,--to wait until my eyes should
+be closed upon my misery."
+
+"But, Helene, what do you mean?" cried Hollfeld, still controlling his
+temper with difficulty.  "At your age, who would think of dying?  We
+will live--live, and in time be, as I confidently hope, happy indeed.
+Think of the matter, and you will see it all as I do."
+
+He pressed her hand affectionately to his lips, imprinted a kiss upon
+her brow, for the first time,--took his hat, and left the room.
+
+Outside, as the door closed upon the suffering girl, he gave full play
+to the expression of contempt that he had so long suppressed, and which
+gave place only to a look of self-satisfaction still more detestable.
+One hour before, his heart had been filled with rage.  His passion for
+Elizabeth, fanned into a flame by her rejection of his advances, had
+been a consuming fire, and had robbed him of all his boasted
+self-control.  But the idea of marriage with the daughter of the
+forester's clerk had never occurred to him,--such a thought would have
+seemed to him insane.  He had exhausted his ingenuity in contriving
+plans to procure a return of affection from the object of his passion.
+The late occurrence at Gnadeck had given his thoughts another direction.
+Elizabeth was now a most desirable match, noble and wealthy.  No wonder,
+then, that he exulted at the news, and immediately formed the
+magnanimous resolution of honouring the fair flower of Castle Gnadeck
+with an offer of marriage.  There was, of course, no doubt that she
+would accept the offer, for although coquetry had led her to reject his
+advances hitherto, she could not possibly pursue such a line of conduct,
+in view of the brilliant prospect of becoming the envied wife of Herr
+von Hollfeld.  He was so secure upon this point that not a cloud of
+distrust darkened the horizon of his future.  It was not only his
+intense desire to possess Elizabeth that urged him on to act as quickly
+as possible,--the thought, that as soon as the discovery in the ruins
+became known, other suitors would present themselves for the hand of
+Gold Elsie, already so famous for her beauty,--this thought made his
+blood boil in his veins.
+
+Only one obstacle stood between him and the fulfilment of his
+determination, and that was Helene.  It was not that he hesitated,
+through sympathy, at the thought of how the fondly-loving girl would
+suffer,--he knew no pity with regard to her,--but he was in dread lest
+too hasty a marriage might cost him the inheritance which he looked for
+from her.  It was a case for prudence and forethought.  We have seen
+how, in cold blood, he made use of the unhappy girl's deep and blind
+affection, and, while pretending to submit to her decision the
+weightiest questions concerning his future life, riveted the chain that
+bound her to him.
+
+As soon as he had left the room Helene tottered to the door, and bolted
+it after him.  And then she resigned herself to utter despair.
+
+They who have never known the hours of torture that ensue upon the
+sudden hearing of some unexpected misfortune,--hours when we would fain
+shriek out our misery into the ears of the universe, and when, needing
+the sympathy and support of others as never before, we are driven, as by
+some evil spirit, to darkness and loneliness, as though light and sound
+were deadly poison to our wound,--they, we say, who have never known the
+pangs that threaten to efface all the landmarks of a previously
+harmonious inner life, will scarcely be able to conceive that Helene
+sank down upon the floor, with her little hands plucking wildly at her
+fair curls, and her frail, diminutive form shivering as from a fever
+fit.  She had lived and breathed only in her absorbing affection for
+this man.  If a few gloomy looks, some slight neglect of his, had
+sufficed to plunge her into the deepest melancholy, and make her utterly
+careless of an event that would once have wrung her sisterly affection
+to the very soul, how much greater must her agony now be in the
+conviction that she was about to lose him forever!
+
+In the wild chaos of thought filling her brain, she was entirely
+incapable of one clear, decided conclusion. The humiliating
+consciousness of her physical infirmities, which caused her to be thrust
+out of an earthly paradise; Hollfeld's confession of love to which she
+had just listened, and which brought such infinite joy and woe; a
+frantic jealousy of the woman, whoever she might be, who was to stand
+beside him as a wife,--all these emotions were seething in her mind,
+threatening to sever the frail thread that bound together soul and body.
+
+It was late, and night had already fallen, when she admitted her anxious
+maid, and yielded to her entreaties to retire to rest.  She emphatically
+refused to see the physician, sent word to the baroness, who asked to
+come in to say good-night, that she could not be disturbed, her need of
+rest was so great,--and then passed the most wretched night of her life.
+
+She grew a little more quiet, that is, the fearful tension of her nerves
+relaxed somewhat, when the first beam of morning light pierced the
+curtains of her room.  The thin golden ray seemed to glide into her
+darkened soul, and illumine thoughts which had hitherto been hidden in
+the wild tumult of her mind.  She began to believe that Hollfeld's
+course was one of the purest self-sacrifice. She had never been able to
+disguise or thrust from her the haunting conviction that his marriage
+might one day become an imperative necessity, and she could not fail to
+be conscious that her idea of his waiting until she should be no more
+had never occurred to him.  Was not his sacrifice great?  Loving her,
+and her only, he must belong to another; ought she to make the
+performance of a sacred duty difficult for him by her grief?  He had
+asked her to tread a thorny path with him.  Should she draw back like a
+coward when he set her such an example of strength and endurance?  And
+if another woman could be found content with friendship instead of love,
+should she allow herself to be outdone in self-renunciation?
+
+In feverish haste she rang the bell by her bedside, and summoned her
+maid.  Yes, she would be strong; but she was conscious that only entire
+certainty could give her courage and the power of endurance; she must
+know, as soon as possible, the name of the woman whom Hollfeld thought
+capable of undertaking so hard a part in life.  She had passed before
+her, in review, every unmarried woman of her acquaintance, but had
+rejected on the instant each and all.
+
+The hour had not yet arrived at which she was accustomed to take
+breakfast with the baroness and Hollfeld; her brother always avoided
+this early meeting of his household, but she could not remain in her
+lonely room, and, as she was greatly exhausted, was pushed in her
+wheeled chair into the dining-room.  To her surprise, she heard from one
+of the servants that the baroness had gone to walk half an hour
+previously,--a very strange piece of news, but one that she was most
+glad to learn, for just as she was wheeled into a recess of one of the
+windows she discovered Hollfeld pacing to and fro upon the lawn without.
+He seemed to have no suspicion that he was observed.  His fine, manly
+figure moved with elastic grace.  Now and then he put a cigar to his
+lips with evident enjoyment, and the delicate aroma floating through the
+air reached Helene at her window.  At first the little lady was
+painfully impressed by his unusually gay and cheerful expression; she
+could not but confess to herself that youthful exuberance of spirits,
+love of life, and an unwonted exhilaration of mind were manifest in his
+every look and motion, even in the half-unconscious smile that now and
+then parted his lips, discovering his wonderfully white teeth.  There
+was no trace there of those struggles which she had passed through
+during the night; he certainly did not look much like the victim of an
+inexorable combination of circumstances.  But was not his
+self-possession the result of great mental force and a strong manly
+will?  He must have reached a height almost too lofty for human nature
+to attain.
+
+The little lady's brow contracted in a frown.
+
+"Emil!" she cried loudly, almost harshly.
+
+Hollfeld was evidently startled, but in a second he stood beneath her
+window, and waved a "good-morning" to her.
+
+"What!" he cried, "are you there already?  May I come up?"
+
+"Yes," she replied more gently.
+
+And in a few moments he entered the room.  Helene had reason to be
+better pleased with his present air and manner; there was an expression
+of great gravity upon his countenance as he threw his hat upon the table
+and pushed a chair close to her side.  Taking both her hands tenderly
+within his own, he gazed into her face, and really seemed struck by her
+ashy cheeks and the lustreless eyes that met his.
+
+"You look ill, Helene," he said pityingly.
+
+"Do you wonder at it?" she asked, with a bitterness that she was unable
+to conceal.  "Unfortunately I am denied the gift of such perfect self
+control as could enable me in a few hours after a crushing experience to
+look forward with content and gaiety to the future.  I envy you."
+
+"You are unjust, Helene," he replied quickly, "if you judge me from my
+exterior.  Is it the part of a man to whine and cry when he submits to
+the inevitable?"
+
+"You certainly do not seem inclined to any such course."
+
+He was provoked beyond measure.  The puny, little creature at his side,
+who, with her crippled figure, ought to be thankful to God if a man
+could so far control himself as not to treat her with absolute rudeness
+and aversion, and who had previously been so grateful for the smallest
+attention, had suddenly taken upon herself to reprove him!  Although he
+had done all he could to inspire her with faith in his ardent love for
+her, in his soul he thought it showed a measureless vanity in the child
+to imagine herself capable of inspiring any man with such a passion, and
+with great irritation he acknowledged to himself that in her case he had
+to contend with most determined obstinacy and disgusting sentimentality.
+It cost him great pains to control himself, but he even accomplished a
+melancholy smile, which became him infinitely.
+
+"When I tell you of the cause of my cheerful looks you will repent your
+reproaches," he said.  "I was just picturing to myself the moment when I
+could go to your brother and say, 'Helene has decided to live in my
+family for the future,' and I cannot deny that the thought gave me
+satisfaction, for he has always regarded my love for you with an eye of
+disfavour."
+
+They say Love is blind, but in most cases he closes his eyes
+voluntarily; knowing that perfect vision would kill him, he fights
+desperately against annihilation.
+
+Helene did her best to reconcile what he said with his previous
+appearance, and succeeded excellently.  With a deep sigh she held out
+her hand to him.
+
+"I believe and have faith in you," she said fervently. "The loss of this
+faith would be my death-blow.  Ah, Emil, you must never, never deceive
+me, not even although you think it would be for my good.  I would rather
+learn the harshest truth than harbour the faintest suspicion that you
+were not perfectly true to me.  I have had a terrible night, but now I
+am composed, and I beg you to tell me more of what you spoke of
+yesterday. I am but too sure that I shall not regain entire self-command
+until I know with certainty who it is that is to stand between us.  At
+present she is a phantom, and in her unreality lies the cause of the
+tormenting anxiety that is consuming me.  Tell me the name, Emil, I
+entreat you."
+
+Hollfeld's eyes sought the ground.  Affairs just then did not look very
+promising.
+
+"Do you know, Helene," he began at last, "that I hesitate to discuss
+this subject with you to-day?  You are greatly agitated.  I am afraid
+that such a conversation will make you ill.  And, as I must say that the
+project which I spoke of yesterday seems more and more feasible to me
+the more I ponder it, I fear much lest in your agitation you should
+overlook its great advantages."
+
+"Indeed I will not!" cried Helene, as, sitting upright she riveted her
+unnaturally bright eyes full upon him. "I have overcome myself, and am
+ready to submit to the inevitable.  I promise you I will be thoroughly
+impartial; as impartial as if I--did not love."  She blushed as the
+confession escaped her for the first time.
+
+"Well, then," said Hollfeld, with hesitation,--he could not quite master
+his emotion,--"what do you think of the young girl of Castle Gnadeck?"
+
+"Elizabeth Ferber?" cried Helene, in the greatest astonishment.
+
+"Elizabeth von Gnadewitz," he hastily corrected her. "The sudden change
+in her social position first suggested the girl to me.  Hitherto I have
+scarcely noticed her, except that her modest demeanour and the repose of
+her countenance impressed me favourably."
+
+"What! did you see nothing to admire in that lovely, wondrously-gifted
+creature, except repose and a modest demeanour?"
+
+"Well, yes," he replied, with an air of indifference, "I remember that
+several times, when you were provoked at some mistake that you had made,
+she never altered a muscle, but patiently went over the passage with you
+again and again, until you were perfect in it.  That pleased me.  I
+believe her to possess great equanimity of mind, and that is the
+characteristic that my wife will need above all others.  I know, too,
+that she fairly adores you, and that is the chief consideration.
+Besides, she has been educated in the strictest economy, her
+requirements will be few, and she will readily assume her right position
+with regard to you and me.  I believe that she has a certain amount of
+tact, and she has been notably brought up,--a great advantage to----"
+
+Helene had sunk back upon her pillows, and covered her eyes with her
+hand.
+
+"No, no," she cried, sitting up once more, and interrupting his eager
+flow of panegyric,--"not that poor, darling child!  Elizabeth deserves
+to be truly loved."
+
+A loud and sudden howl here caused her to give a little cry of fright.
+Hollfeld had just stepped upon the paw of his pointer, Diana, who had
+accompanied him into the room, and was lying stretched out at her
+master's feet.  The interruption was most welcome to him,--for Helene's
+last words sounded to him so comical, in connection with his own
+vehement desires, that he could hardly restrain his laughter.  He opened
+the door and sent the limping brute from the room.  When he returned to
+the young girl he was all grave composure again.
+
+"Well, we will both love the girl, Helene," he said with apparent
+indifference, as he resumed his seat.  Helene was in a state of too
+great excitement to notice the flippancy of his tone and manner.  "Let
+her only leave you the first place in my affections.  She must do that.
+She certainly has enough coolness and presence of mind; she testified
+those qualities abundantly the day she saved Rudolph's life."
+
+"Oh, how?" cried Helene, opening wide her eyes in amazement.
+
+The servant, who had on the previous day involuntarily let slip some
+mention of the occurrence in the forest, had, in terror at his
+oversight, instantly refrained from all further particulars relating to
+it, simply asserting that the bullet intended for Herr von Walde had
+fortunately fallen wide of its mark.  Hollfeld had heard the exact
+account of the murderous attempt only an hour before from the gardener.
+Elizabeth's fearless conduct naturally lent her a new charm in his eyes,
+and goaded afresh his desire to win her as soon as possible.  He related
+the story, which he had just heard, to Helene, concluding his account by
+saying: "You now have one more reason to love the girl, and her conduct
+strengthens my conviction that she is the only one whom I should
+select."
+
+This was his last round of ammunition.  He stroked back the hair from
+his brow with his delicate white hand, and from beneath it narrowly and
+eagerly watched the little lady, whose head was so sunk amid the pillows
+that only her profile was visible.  The tears were gushing from her
+closed eyelids; she said not a word; perhaps she was struggling with
+herself for the last time.
+
+But why did it never occur to her that Elizabeth might fail to accede to
+Hollfeld's wishes?  Any loving woman can answer this question for
+herself, if she will only reflect that the loving heart believes the
+object of its passion irresistible, and learns with difficulty that all
+the world does not share its conviction.
+
+The silence, which began to be painful, was interrupted by the return of
+the baroness from her walk.  Helene started, and quickly dried her
+tears.  With evident impatience she submitted to the caresses with which
+the lady overwhelmed her, replying in monosyllables to the tender
+inquiries with regard to her health.
+
+"Ah!" cried the baroness, as she shook the scarf from her shoulders and
+left it in her son's hands, while she sank clumsily into an arm-chair.
+"How very warm I am!  That path up the mountain is terrible!  No power
+upon earth shall take me over it again!"
+
+"Did you go up the mountain, mother?" asked Hollfeld incredulously.
+
+"Why, yes; you know the physician prescribed an early morning walk for
+me."
+
+"Oh yes; but that was so many years ago, and I thought you always
+maintained that the trouble with your heart made any such exercise
+impossible."
+
+"Still, everything ought to have a fair trial," replied his mother, a
+little embarrassed, "and as I could not sleep last night, I determined
+to try once more; but it will do no good,--I have just had fresh cause
+for vexation.  Only think, Helene, just outside in the gravel walk I met
+Bella with her new governess,--would you believe it, the woman had the
+impertinence to let the child walk by her left side!  And she looks,
+too, like a perfect simpleton.  I was really angry, and defined her
+position to her as clearly as I could.  But tell me yourself, is it not
+hard that I cannot even attempt to refresh myself with a walk without
+encountering what makes me miserable and ill?"
+
+Just as she leaned her forehead in a melancholy manner upon her hand,
+she discovered that the false curls upon her temples had been pushed
+considerably awry by her bonnet.  She arose hastily, and begged for a
+little time before breakfast that she might arrange her dress.
+
+"By the way," she said carelessly, turning round to her son and cousin
+as she reached the door, while she set her bonnet firmly upon the
+rebellious front, "that fellow, Reinhard, imposed upon us finely
+yesterday.  I accidentally encountered the forester's clerk, Ferber, up
+there near the ruins,--I congratulated him----"
+
+"Ah! now I understand the ascent of the mountain!"  Hollfeld interrupted
+his mother ironically.  "And you actually spoke to the man, mother?"
+
+"Oh! now there is no reason why I should not.  The jewels principally
+interested me."
+
+"Did you wish to buy them?" asked her son contemptuously, remembering
+the constant ebb in her finances.
+
+"Hardly," she replied with an angry glance; "but I have always had a
+perfect passion for precious stones; and if your father had not died so
+suddenly, I should now have had a charming set of diamonds, which he had
+promised me, and you would have been six thousand thalers the poorer.
+But to return to the discovered jewels. Ferber told me just what they
+were, and, when I asked him, frankly replied that they would bring about
+eight thousand thalers,--that is what that fellow, Reinhard, calls
+inestimable wealth.  Once more adieu for a few minutes."
+
+The contemptuous smile disappeared from Hollfeld's face, as he listened
+to his mother's words, and gave place to a decided expression of
+disappointment; he had suddenly experienced a sensation like the shock
+of a shower-bath.
+
+Scarcely was the door closed behind the baroness, when Helene aroused
+herself from her apparent apathy, and stretched out both hands to
+Hollfeld.
+
+"Emil," she said quickly, in a low voice, with trembling lips, "if you
+succeed in gaining Elizabeth's love, and I cannot doubt that you will, I
+agree to your plan, but I must always live with you at Odenberg."
+
+"Of course," he replied, although with some hesitation; his voice had
+lost its former decision of tone, "but let me warn you that you will
+have to resign many luxuries. My income is not large, and as you have
+just heard, Elizabeth has nothing."
+
+"She shall not come to you poor, Emil,--rely upon that," the little lady
+rejoined in a tender voice, and with eyes unnaturally bright.  "From the
+moment she promises to be yours I regard her in the light of a sister; I
+will share faithfully with her, and will instantly make over to her the
+rents of my estate of Neuborn, in Saxony; I will talk to Rudolph about
+it as soon as he returns, and when death closes my eyes, all that I
+possess will be hers and yours.  Are you content with me?"
+
+"You are an angel, Helene," he cried; "you shall never repent your
+magnanimity,--your generous devotion."
+
+And this time there was no dissimulation in his delight, for the rents
+of Neuborn made Elizabeth a very wealthy bride.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+Two days had passed since the morning upon which Helene had, as she
+thought, won such a victory over herself, and had been convinced that
+the conflict within her would be quieted by absolute certainty.  But she
+had been far from fathoming the depths of her sentiments; she had
+snatched at a straw in the whirling flood, and it had afforded her not
+one instant's support.  Only two days!--but they outweighed in suffering
+her whole previous life.  She constantly repeated to herself that the
+long desired repose that she had dreamed of was close at hand, and yet
+she shuddered at the thought of the time that must intervene before
+death should bring her release, with the same horror with which the
+sceptic looks forward to the moment of dissolution.  She became
+distinctly aware that her promise to pass her days at Odenberg converted
+her remaining years into a period of superhuman self-sacrifice, and yet,
+for worlds, she would not have retracted one iota of all that she had
+vowed to Hollfeld.  She would be worthy of his love.  No sacrifice was
+too great that was rewarded by his esteem. Poor dupe!
+
+Her nerves suffered intensely during this protracted mental conflict.
+She had constant fever, and could scarcely sleep at all.  The subject
+that occupied her whole mind was constantly hovering upon her lips, but
+she refrained from all mention of it in accordance with Hollfeld's
+request.  He had also entreated her to forego Elizabeth's society for a
+few days; he feared that, in her agitation, she might stand in the way
+of his wishes.  He himself had already taken the first steps towards a
+continuation of his pursuit of Elizabeth.  He had twice presented
+himself at Gnadeck at the gate in the wall, to make inquiries after the
+health of the "von Gnadewitzes," but although he had nearly pulled off
+the bell-handle the door had not been opened.  The first time no one had
+been in the house, and upon the last occasion Elizabeth had observed him
+coming.  Her parents had gone with little Ernst to the Lodge, and Miss
+Mertens had agreed to Elizabeth's idea of not admitting the unwelcome
+visitor.  They sat together in the dwelling-room, laughing, while the
+little bell rang till it was quite hoarse.  Of the conspiracy against
+his admission the visitor of course had no suspicion.
+
+It was seven o'clock in the morning; Helene was already lying dressed
+upon her lounge, she had passed a restless, sleepless night.  The
+baroness was still in bed, and Hollfeld had not yet made his appearance;
+but the little lady could not be alone, and therefore her maid was
+sitting sewing in the room.  Her replies to Helena's remarks were
+unheard by the poor sufferer, but there was something soothing in the
+mere sound of a human voice after her wretched, lonely night.
+
+The noise of an approaching carriage was heard. Helene opened the window
+and leaned out.  Her brother's travelling carriage was just driving up
+the sweep, its wheels sinking deep in the smooth gravel; but it was
+empty.
+
+"Where is your master?" Helene cried out to the coachman, as the vehicle
+passed beneath her window.
+
+"My master got out at the entrance of the park road," the old man
+replied, taking off his hat, "and is coming home on foot over the
+mountain, past Castle Gnadeck."
+
+The little lady shut the window, and shivered as though she were cold;
+the single word "Gnadeck" had acted upon her nerves like an electric
+shock.  Every word that brought Elizabeth to her mind produced the same
+effect upon her that one's imagination would experience from some sudden
+apparition.
+
+She arose, and leaning upon the arm of her maid, went down to her
+brother's apartments.  She ordered breakfast to be served in the room
+opening with glass doors upon the grand staircase, and seated herself in
+an armchair to await the traveller's return.  She took up one of the
+gorgeously bound books that were lying about, and mechanically turned
+over the leaves; but, although her eyes rested upon the engravings that
+filled its pages, she could not have told whether it were portrait or
+landscape that lay open before her.
+
+After she had waited half an hour, her brother's tall form appeared
+behind the glass door.  The book slipped from her lap as she held out
+her hands to welcome him. He seemed surprised at this reception; but he
+was evidently much pleased at finding his sister alone and glad to see
+him.  He hurried towards her, but started in alarm at a nearer view of
+her face.
+
+"Do you feel worse, Helene?" he asked with anxious tenderness, as he
+seated himself beside her.  He put his arm around her and raised her
+head a little, that he might see her face more closely.  There was so
+much kindness and caressing sympathy in his accent and manner that
+suddenly it was as if the warm air of spring breathed over her heart,
+that had been as it were congealed with pain.  Two large tears rolled
+down her cheeks as she leaned her head upon her brother's shoulder.
+
+"Has not Fels been to see you while I have been away?" he asked
+anxiously.  The little lady's aspect evidently caused him great alarm.
+
+"No.  I gave express orders that he should not be sent for.  I am taking
+the drops that he prescribed for my nervous attacks, and he can do
+nothing more for me. Don't be concerned, Rudolph, I shall be better
+soon.  You have had a sad time at Thalleben?"
+
+"Yes," he answered, but his eyes still rested anxiously upon his
+sister's altered features.  "Poor Hartwig died before I arrived; he
+suffered fearfully.  He was buried yesterday afternoon.  You would
+scarcely know his unfortunate wife, Helene; this blow has added twenty
+years to her life!"
+
+He imparted to her some further particulars concerning the sad event,
+and then passed his hand across his eyes, as though desirous of
+banishing from his mind all the trouble and sorrow that he had witnessed
+during the last few days.
+
+"Well, and is all going on here as usual?" he asked after a short pause.
+
+"Not quite," Helene replied with some hesitation. "Moehring left us
+yesterday."
+
+"Ah, Heaven speed him!  I am glad that I escaped a final interview with
+him.  Well, I have one more enemy in the world, but I cannot help it; he
+belongs to a class of men whom I despise."
+
+"And at Gnadeck a piece of good fortune has befallen the Ferbers,"
+Helene continued in an unnaturally quiet voice, averting her face.
+
+The arm-chair in which she was sitting was suddenly pushed aside by the
+arm upon which her brother had been leaning.  She did not look up, and
+therefore could not see the livid pallor that overspread his face for a
+moment, while his quivering lips essayed twice to frame the simple
+monosyllable "Well?"
+
+Helene related the story of the ruins, to which her brother listened
+breathlessly.  Every word that she spoke seemed to lift a weight from
+his heart, but he never dreamed how it cut into the very soul of the
+narrator like a two-edged sword, and that all this was only the prelude
+to her announcement of the terrible sacrifice that she was about to
+make.
+
+"This is, indeed, a most wonderful solution of an old riddle," he said,
+when Helene had finished.  "But I question whether the family will think
+it great good fortune to belong to the von Gnadewitz race."
+
+"Ah! you think so," Helene interrupted him quickly, "because Elizabeth
+has always spoken so slightingly of the name.  I cannot help, however,
+in such cases, thinking of the fable of the fox and the grapes."  She
+spoke these last words with cutting severity.  Her passionate excitement
+and agitation had brought her to the point of denying her nobler nature
+and of attributing mean motives to one who had never injured her, and
+whom, in cooler moments, she knew to be all purity and honour.
+
+An expression of intense amazement appeared upon Herr von Walde's
+countenance.  He stooped and looked keenly into his sister's averted
+face, as if to convince himself that her lips had actually spoken such
+harsh words.
+
+Just at this moment Hollfeld's large hound rushed up the staircase and
+into the room, where he made two or three playful bounds, and then
+vanished again at the sound of a shrill whistle from the lawn without.
+His master was passing by, who apparently did not know of Herr von
+Walde's return, or he would certainly have appeared to welcome him.  He
+walked on quickly, and turned into the path that led up the mountain to
+Gnadeck.  Helene's gaze followed the retreating form until it was lost
+to sight, and then, clasping her hands convulsively, she sank back in
+her chair.  It seemed as if for a moment all strength failed her.
+
+Herr von Waldo poured a little wine into a glass, and held it to her
+lips.  She looked up gratefully, and tried to smile.
+
+"I am not yet at the end of all I have to tell," she began again, rising
+from her half-reclining position.  "I am like all novelists,--I reserve
+my most interesting facts until the last."  She could not hide her
+struggle for firmness and composure beneath the mask of playfulness
+which she attempted to assume in these words.  Her gaze was riveted upon
+the trees outside the window, as she said: "A happy event is about to
+take place among us,--Emil's betrothal."
+
+She had certainly expected some instant expression of astonishment from
+her auditor, for, after a moment's silence, she turned around to him in
+surprise.  His brow and eyes were covered by his hand, and the uncovered
+portion of his face was deadly pale.  At Helene's touch he dropped his
+hand, arose hastily, and went to the open window, as if for a breath of
+fresh air.
+
+"Are you ill, Rudolph?" she cried, with anxiety.
+
+"A passing faintness, nothing more," he replied, again approaching her.
+His face looked strangely altered as he walked several times up and down
+the room, and then resumed his seat.
+
+"I told you of Emil's approaching betrothal, Rudolph," Helene began
+again, emphasizing each word.
+
+"I heard you," he replied mechanically.
+
+"Do you approve this step on his part?"
+
+"It is no affair of mine.  Hollfeld is his own master, and can do as he
+pleases."
+
+"I believe his choice is made.  If I dared, I would tell you the young
+girl's name."
+
+"There is no need to do so.  It will be time enough to hear it when the
+banns are published in church."
+
+His expression was icy; the tone of his voice sounded rough and harsh;
+the blood seemed to have forsaken his cheeks.
+
+"Rudolph, I implore you not to be so rough," Helene begged, in a tone of
+entreaty; "I know that you are no friend to much speaking, and I am
+accustomed to your laconic replies; but now you are too cold and silent,
+just, too, when I have a request to make of you."
+
+"Tell me what it is; am I to have the honour of playing the part of
+groomsman to Herr von Hollfeld?"
+
+Helene recoiled at the bitter contempt expressed in these words.
+
+"You do not like poor Emil, it is more evident to-day than ever before,"
+she said reproachfully, after a little pause, during which Herr von
+Walde had arisen and traversed the room with hasty steps; "I entreat you
+earnestly, dear Rudolph, listen to me patiently; I must talk over this
+matter with you to-day."
+
+He folded his arms and stood still, leaning against a window-frame,
+whilst he said briefly: "You see I am ready to listen."
+
+"The young girl," she began, with a hesitation which was the result less
+of her own internal agitation than of her brother's icy demeanour, "the
+young girl whom Emil has selected is poor."
+
+"Very disinterested on his part; proceed."
+
+"Emil's income is not large."
+
+"The poor man has only ten thousand a year; starvation in his case seems
+unavoidable."
+
+She paused, evidently surprised.  Her brother never exaggerated; the
+sum, then, which he had mentioned, must be correct to a farthing.
+
+"Well, he may be wealthier than I thought," she went on after a short
+pause; "that is not the question at present; his choice is a girl who is
+very dear to me, very dear."  What effort this cost her!  "She has done
+what must forever fill my sisterly heart with gratitude."  Herr von
+Walde unfolded his arms, and drummed with such force upon the
+window-pane with the fingers of his left hand, that Helene thought the
+glass would be broken.
+
+"She will be as a sister to me," she continued, "and I do not wish that
+she should come into Hollfeld's house without a dowry.  I desire to make
+over to her the rents of Neuborn.  May I?"
+
+"The estate belongs to you,--you are of age.  I have no right either to
+consent or refuse."
+
+"Oh yes, Rudolph, you are my next of kin, and should inherit all that I
+have.  Then I may be sure of your consent?"
+
+"Perfectly so, if you really think it necessary----"
+
+"Oh, thank you, thank you!" she interrupted him, extending to him her
+hand.  But he did not seem to notice it, although he was looking fixedly
+at her.  "You are not angry with me for this?" she asked, anxiously,
+after a few moments.
+
+"I am never angry when you are striving to make others happy.  You must
+remember how I have always encouraged and assisted you in such efforts.
+But here I do think you are in too great haste.  You seem to me very
+ready to plunge that young creature into misery."
+
+She started up as though a viper had stung her.  "That is a cruel
+accusation!" she cried.  "Your prejudice against poor Emil, which is
+founded, Heaven only knows upon what, leads you beyond all bounds.  You
+know the man far too slightly."
+
+"I know him far too well to wish to know him any better.  He is a
+dishonourable villain, a miserable fellow of no character, by whose side
+a woman, let her claims for honour and uprightness in a man be ever so
+small, must be wretched.  Woe to the poor creature when she finds him
+out!"  His voice trembled with suppressed pain; but Helene heard in it
+only anger and violence.
+
+"Oh Heavens! how unjust!" she cried, raising her tearful eyes to the
+ceiling.  "Rudolph, you are committing a great sin.  What has poor Emil
+done to you, that you should persecute him so unrelentingly?"
+
+"Must a man be personally aggrieved in order to estimate correctly
+another's character?" he asked, angrily. "My child, you have been
+grossly deceived; but your eyes are blinded.  The time will come when
+you will acknowledge it with shame.  If I should try to remove this cup
+of suffering from your lips, it would avail nothing; you would repulse
+me, seeing in me only a barbarian treading under foot all your holiest
+affections.  You force me to leave you to pursue your path alone, until
+the moment when you will fly to me for consolation and succour. My heart
+will always be open to you; but what will become of that other, bound
+irrevocably to her dreadful fate?"
+
+He went into the next room, and locked the door after him.  For awhile
+Helene sat as if paralyzed,--then she arose with difficulty, and
+supporting herself by the walls and the furniture, left the apartment.
+
+Her soul was filled with bitterness, almost with hatred, towards her
+brother, who had to-day roughly and ruthlessly handled all that she had
+tenderly encircled with the most delicate fibres of her heart.  That
+heart was well nigh broken as she called vividly to mind the
+self-sacrifice which her lover proposed.  She seemed to herself to have
+already wronged him deeply in allowing such terrible abuse of him to
+fall upon her ears.  He should never, never learn how her brother's
+prejudices had carried him away.  No sacrifice, not the greatest, would
+now be sufficient to atone for the injustice which he was forced
+unconsciously to endure.  And since her brother had so openly declared
+his opinion of Hollfeld, she would not allow that he should longer share
+the hospitality of Lindhof.  She would herself request him to return to
+Odenberg, of course suppressing her reason for such a request.  But
+first his engagement to Elizabeth should be concluded.
+
+Occupied with these thoughts, she entered the dining-room, and when
+Hollfeld appeared shortly afterward, she received him with a quiet
+smile, and announced to him that her brother, without even hearing the
+name of the future bride, had approved of her resolution with regard to
+her dowry.  She desired to see Elizabeth now as soon as possible, and
+Hollfeld, greatly rejoiced to observe her repose of manner, assented.
+It was agreed that the interview should take place at four o'clock that
+afternoon, in the pavilion.  Hollfeld left the room to despatch a
+servant to Gnadeck with a request, in Helene's name, to that effect.
+How surprised the little lady would have been, could she have heard it
+expressly enjoined upon the servant to name three, as the appointed
+hour, while the butler was ordered to have everything arranged in the
+pavilion at that time!
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+When the servant from Lindhof rang the bell at the gate in the wall,
+Elizabeth was sitting in the hall.  She was weaving a long garland of
+evergreens and ivy, and Miss Mertens, sitting beside her, had in her
+hand a half-finished wreath of asters.  The grave had been made ready in
+the Lindhof church-yard, and in the afternoon, between five and six
+o'clock, the leaden coffin containing the mortal remains of the
+beautiful Lila was to be consigned to the earth.  If Jost's dreaded eyes
+could have gazed upon his lovely descendant, they would certainly have
+beamed with a mild and tender light to see her engaged in preparing an
+offering of fresh flowers and green vines with which to adorn the bier
+of his idolized love.
+
+After consulting her mother, Elizabeth accepted the invitation, all the
+more willingly as it referred only to "an hour's talk."  Soon after the
+servant's departure, Reinhard appeared.  He looked very grave, and told
+Miss Mertens that his master had returned from Thalleben in the
+strangest state of mind.
+
+"He must have been greatly shocked by the misery that he witnessed in
+the desolate home," he remarked, "for I really do not recognize my kind
+master.  I had several unavoidable communications to make to him, but I
+saw that I spoke in vain; he did not listen, but sat opposite me,
+looking utterly crushed, evidently lost in the most painful reflections.
+He started up hastily when I began at last to tell him of our discovery
+up here in the ruins, and interrupted me angrily with 'I have heard all
+about that matter already; I pray you leave me alone.'"
+
+Miss Mertens plainly perceived that Reinhard was really wounded by Herr
+von Walde's manner towards him.
+
+"Dear friend," she said soothingly, "in moments of great mental
+suffering we either are not aware of the external world, or the
+consciousness of it increases our pain; we cannot endure that all around
+us should pursue its customary course while all within has received such
+a shock, a shock that we cannot recover from.  Herr von Walde was
+doubtless warmly attached to his unfortunate friend, and--but, good
+Heavens!  Elizabeth, what are you doing?" she interrupted herself, "do
+you really think that looks well?"
+
+She pointed to the garland.  In fact, whilst Reinhard had been speaking
+Elizabeth had, with trembling hands, picked up two or three large
+dahlias and woven them into her graceful green wreath.  She now looked
+down, and was aware for the first time of what she had been doing.  The
+poor flowers were instantly torn from the soft green pillow where they
+had laid their heavy heads so comfortably, and treated with as much
+severity as if they had insisted on going where they were not wanted.
+
+Three o'clock had long since struck in the Lindhof church-tower when
+Elizabeth hurried down the mountain. Her uncle had detained her in
+conversation; he was provoked that she had accepted the invitation.
+"For," he said, and with some justice, "surely the poor creature whom we
+consign to her resting-place to-day deserves that we should consecrate
+at least one day to her memory."  He had no idea of what was passing in
+the heart of his niece.  He did not dream that for the last few days his
+darling had counted the hours which must pass before she could think,
+"He is at home again;" and, to his vexation, his usually obedient child
+slipped from him and vanished through the garden gate.
+
+Her feet scarcely touched the ground.  She hoped by walking quickly to
+overtake the time which she had lost, and could have cried, when her
+thin dress caught upon a bramble, and could only be extricated by
+patience and skill.  At last, almost out of breath, she reached the
+pavilion.  Both of the folding-doors were open; the room was still
+empty.  Upon the table stood a salver of refreshments, and Helene's
+corner of the sofa was arranged for her.
+
+Much relieved, Elizabeth entered, and was leaning against one of the
+opposite windows which looked out upon some tall shrubbery, when she
+heard, a slight noise behind her.  Hollfeld had hitherto been concealed
+by one of the open folding-doors, and he now approached her. She turned
+to leave the apartment without even honouring the object of her aversion
+by a look; but he placed himself in her path, although his manner was no
+longer insolent,--on the contrary, it was respectful and even
+submissive, as he assured her that the ladies would appear directly.
+Elizabeth looked up surprised; there was not in his voice the faintest
+trace of that impertinent tone that had so irritated and outraged her.
+
+"I give you my word that Fraeulein von Walde will be here in one
+moment!" he repeated, as she again attempted to reach the door.  "Is my
+presence, then, so disagreeable to you?" he added more gently, with a
+tinge of sadness.
+
+"Most assuredly it is," Elizabeth replied coldly and decidedly; "if you
+will remember your late conduct towards me, you will know that to be
+left one moment alone with you must be odious to me."
+
+"How stern and implacable that sounds!  Must, then, my punishment for my
+thoughtless jest be so severe?"
+
+"I advise you, in future, to be more prudent in your choice of those
+with whom you wish to jest."
+
+"Good Heavens!  I see now that it was a mistake; I regret my
+impetuosity, but how could I dream----"
+
+"That any respect was due to me?" Elizabeth interrupted him, with
+flashing eyes.
+
+"No, no!----, I never doubted that!--Heavens! how angry you can be!  But
+I could not possibly know that you possessed the right to claim more,
+far more, than mere respect."
+
+Elizabeth looked at him inquiringly; she evidently did not understand
+him.
+
+"Can I do more than sue on my knees for pardon?" he continued.
+
+"It shall be granted upon condition that you leave me instantly."
+
+"What cruel obstinacy!  I should be a fool indeed to lose this precious
+moment.  Elizabeth, I have told you already that I love you
+ardently,--that I am dying of love for you!"
+
+"And I am quite aware of having distinctly told you that it is a matter
+of utter indifference to me."  She began to tremble, but her glance was,
+nevertheless, firm and composed.
+
+"Elizabeth, do not drive me to extremities!" he cried in great
+agitation.
+
+"I would especially request you to remember the common rules of
+politeness, which require us not to address strangers by their Christian
+names."
+
+"You are a very imp of coldness and malice!" he cried, now trembling
+with rage.  "Well, I grant that there is some show of reason for your
+irritation with me," he added, controlling himself by an effort; "my
+conduct towards you has not been what it should be, but I will atone for
+it abundantly.  Listen to me quietly for one moment, and you will relax
+your severity.  I offer you my hand.  You must know that I can give a
+brilliant position, as far as rank and wealth are concerned, to my
+future wife."
+
+He looked down at her with a smile of triumph.  It was so natural that
+his lovely opponent should be paralyzed with joyful surprise at this
+unexpected disclosure of his intentions; yet, strange to say, the result
+that he anticipated did not ensue.  Elizabeth stood proudly erect, and
+retreated a pace or two.
+
+"I regret this, Herr von Hollfeld," she said with quiet dignity.  "You
+might have spared yourself this humiliating moment.  After all that I
+have hitherto said to you, I scarcely comprehend what you have just
+declared.  Since you force me to it, I must tell you most emphatically
+that our paths in life lie in opposite directions; and----"
+
+"What!"
+
+"And that nothing could induce me to connect my lot with yours."
+
+He stared at her for a moment vaguely, as though perfectly incapable of
+understanding her words.  His face grew livid, and his white teeth were
+buried in his underlip.
+
+"And would you really carry the farce so far as to give me such an
+answer?" he asked at last in a hoarse voice.
+
+Elizabeth smiled contemptuously, and turned away. Her behaviour
+transported him with rage.
+
+"Your reasons?  I will know your reasons!" he ejaculated, stepping
+between Elizabeth and the door which she was trying to reach.  He caught
+at her dress to detain her.  She shrunk from him, and retired a few
+steps farther into the room.
+
+"Leave me!" she cried, gasping for breath.  Terror almost choked her
+utterance; hut, nevertheless, she once more took courage, and raised her
+head proudly, with an air of command.  "If there is no spark of honour
+in you to which I can appeal, you force me to use the only weapons at my
+command, by declaring to you that I thoroughly despise you; I detest the
+sight of you; the hiss of a poisonous viper could not inspire me with
+the aversion and disgust with which I listen to the words by which you
+would awaken my affection.  I have never harboured one sentiment of
+regard for you; but, if I had, it must have been instantly annihilated
+by your despicable conduct towards me.  Let me go now in peace, and----"
+
+He did not allow her to finish her sentence.  "That I shall certainly
+not do," he hissed between his teeth; his face that had hitherto been so
+pale, flushed crimson, and his eyes flashed as he darted towards her,
+like some raging wild beast.  She fled to the window, as she saw it was
+impossible to reach the door, and tried to lift the sash, hoping to be
+able to leap from the low sill to the ground without.  But she stood
+still, transfixed with horror.  A terrible face was looking into the
+room from the shrubbery outside.  The features were deadly pale, and
+distorted by a fiendish grin, while the fire of madness gleamed in the
+eyes that were riveted upon Elizabeth's face.  She hardly recognized in
+the dreadful apparition dumb Bertha; shivering with terror, she
+recoiled; Hollfeld's extended arms encircled her form,--blinded by
+passion, he did not perceive the ghastly face at the window.  Elizabeth
+pressed her ice-cold fingers upon her closed eyes to shut out the
+horrible sight; she felt her persecutor's hot breath upon her hands; his
+hair brushed her cheek; she shuddered, but her physical force failed
+her; she succumbed beneath the twofold horror,--no sound escaped her
+lips.  At sight of Hollfeld, Bertha raised her clenched fists as though
+to dash them through the window panes,--then, suddenly she paused as if
+listening to some noise near, dropped her hands, and with a shrill
+laugh, vanished among the shrubbery.
+
+All this was the work of a few seconds.  The sound of the shrill
+laughter startled Hollfeld, and he looked up. For one moment, his gaze
+sought to penetrate the bushes, behind which Bertha had disappeared, and
+then it returned to the form which lay in his arms, and which he clasped
+to his heart.  His cunning foresight, his prudent hypocrisy, that had
+always enabled him to conceal his baseness from the eyes of the world,
+were all forgotten.  He did not remember that the time that Helene had
+appointed had arrived,--that through the wide open door the gardener, or
+any of the servants, might enter the room; his passion had mastered him,
+and he never observed that, in fact, Fraeulein von Walde was standing
+upon the threshold of the door, leaning on her brother's arm, while,
+behind them, the baroness was stretching out her long neck, with an
+unmistakable air of great displeasure.
+
+"Emil!" she cried, her voice vibrating with anger.  He started, and
+looked wildly around; involuntarily he opened his arms; Elizabeth's
+hands dropped from her eyes, and she staggered towards the nearest
+couch.  The harsh, rude voice of the baroness sounded like sweet music
+in her ears, for it brought her succour.  There too stood the tall,
+manly form, at sight of which her failing pulses throbbed wildly again.
+She could have thrown herself at his feet, and prayed him,--"Save me
+from that man, whom I detest and flee from, as I would from sin itself."
+But what a look met hers!  Did that annihilating glance really come from
+the same eyes that a few days previously had so tenderly sought her own?
+Was this man, with the stern, erect head, and the pale, cold brow, the
+same who had bent over her, saying with such unutterable
+gentleness,--"may my good angel whisper in your ear the word that will
+unlock that fairy realm for me?"  He stood there now like an evil angel,
+whose mission is to avenge and to crush to the dust some poor,
+quivering, human heart.
+
+Helene, who had stood as though lifeless or rooted to the ground during
+the scene in the interior of the apartment, now withdrew her arm from
+her brother's and approached Elizabeth; she did not for one instant
+doubt that Hollfeld had prospered in his wooing, and that the matter had
+been happily concluded.
+
+"A thousand welcomes to you, dearest Elizabeth!" she cried in great
+agitation, and, while tears broke from her eyes, she took the young
+girl's trembling hands between her own.  "Emil brings me a dear
+sister,--love me as a sister, and I shall be grateful to you as long as
+I live.  Do not look so stern, Amalie," she turned beseechingly to the
+baroness, who was standing like a pillar of stone just outside the
+pavilion; "Emil's future happiness is at stake.  Look at Elizabeth!
+Does she not satisfy every desire that you can have with regard to the
+one who will occupy such a close relation to you?  Young, richly endowed
+by nature, of an ancient family and distinguished name."
+
+She stopped, startled.  At last the life seemed to return to Elizabeth's
+stiffened limbs, and she was capable of understanding what was said.  By
+a hasty movement she released her hands from Helene's, and stood erect
+before her.
+
+"You are mistaken, gracious lady," she said in a clear ringing voice; "I
+have no claim to such distinction."
+
+"What! have you not an undeniable claim to the name of von Gnadewitz?"
+
+"Doubtless; but that claim will never be asserted."
+
+"Would you really reject such happiness?"
+
+"I cannot see that true happiness has anything to do with an empty
+sound."  Her endeavour to lend firmness to her faithless voice was
+distinctly perceptible.
+
+Meanwhile the baroness had drawn near.  She was inwardly furious that
+her son had made his choice without in the faintest degree consulting
+her, or asking her maternal consent; besides, the object of his choice
+was detestable to her.  But she knew well that her interference would
+accomplish nothing,--her son would shrug his shoulders, perhaps smile
+contemptuously, and be confirmed in his resolve.  It was most fortunate,
+too, for her and her interests, that Helene had taken up the matter as
+she had, determined, as it seemed, to carry it through with an
+enthusiastic degree of self-sacrifice.  Although she was thoroughly in
+the dark as to the little lady's motives for such a line of conduct, she
+could not fail to perceive that she was in earnest, and therefore,
+however discontented at heart, she resolved to put a good face upon the
+matter, and to play the part of a forgiving and blessing parent.
+Elizabeth's replies suddenly closed her lips.  She conceived a hope that
+Elizabeth might put a stop to the matter by her own obstinacy; if so,
+she would pour oil on the flames.
+
+"We have to contend here with a plebeian prejudice, my love," she said
+to Helene, who had listened in amazement to Elizabeth's answers.  "You
+may, however, have most excellent reasons for shunning the light of
+loftier realms," the lady continued, in a cutting tone, turning to
+Elizabeth.
+
+"I have no reason to shun that light," the young girl replied, "even
+should it suddenly reveal faults hitherto unsuspected, as it sheds a
+brilliant glare on the stains upon the crest of the Gnadewitzes.  But we
+love our name because it is true and honest, and we would not exchange
+this stainless inheritance for a title made famous by the tears and toil
+of others!"
+
+"Heavens, what exalted sentiments!" cried the baroness with a sneer.
+
+"You cannot be serious, Elizabeth," said Helene.  "Do not forget that
+the earthly happiness of two human beings hangs upon your decision."
+She cast a meaning glance at Elizabeth, which of course was utterly
+incomprehensible to her.  "You must bring a noble name with you into the
+sphere to which you will now belong, and you certainly would not destroy
+your own hopes and those of others?"
+
+"I am utterly at a loss to understand you,"' said Elizabeth with some
+irritation.  "It never occurred to me to connect the name of von
+Gnadewitz with any hopes whatever; least of all can I conceive how the
+wishes or happiness of others can depend upon the resolution of such a
+poor, insignificant girl as I."
+
+"You are not poor, dear child," rejoined Helene. "Come," she continued,
+with emotion, "let us from to-day be sisters indeed!  You too, dear
+Rudolph," and she turned with some embarrassment to her brother; "you
+will welcome Emil's bride into our family, and permit me to share
+everything with her like a sister?"
+
+"Yes," was the reply, spoken sternly, but firmly.
+
+Elizabeth put her hand to her forehead; what she had heard sounded so
+incredible.  "Emil's bride" was what Fraeulein von Walde had said; was
+she speaking of her?--impossible!  Had these people conspired to terrify
+her thus?  And he,--he who knew how she detested Hollfeld, had sided
+with them; he was standing there with folded arms, the perfect image of
+implacable sternness and reserve.  He had been, hitherto, quite silent,
+and had opened his lips only to utter the "yes," which had so crushed
+her.  Had he not, previously, endeavoured almost rudely to prevent his
+cousin's advances?  At thought of that, it suddenly flashed upon her
+that she was now of noble rank,--that explained everything.  Hollfeld's
+nobility could not be dishonoured now by an alliance with her; his
+relatives were, therefore, all quite willing to accede to his suit, and
+Helene's surprise at her announcement that she despised the name which
+they thought noble, was perfectly natural; still, how they could
+possibly imagine an understanding, upon her part, with the man whom she
+detested, was utterly beyond her comprehension, for her brain reeled
+with the wild uproar of her thoughts.  One thing only was quite clear,
+she must immediately convince them of their error.
+
+"I find myself the object of a misunderstanding, the origin of which I
+cannot possibly comprehend," she said hastily.  "It is Herr von
+Hollfeld's duty to make an explanation here; but as he prefers to be
+silent, I am forced to declare that he has had no encouragement whatever
+from me."
+
+"But, dear child," said Helene, in great confusion, "did we not see with
+our own eyes as we entered that----" she did not proceed.
+
+These words sounded like a thunder clap in Elizabeth's ears.  The idea
+that that moment of helpless terror could be misunderstood by any one,
+had never entered her pure and innocent mind.  And now she found, to her
+unutterable pain, that it had placed her in a hatefully false light. She
+turned, for an instant, toward Hollfeld, but one glance convinced her
+that she had no satisfaction,--no concern for her honour, to look for
+from him.  With his back turned to the rest, he was standing at the
+window like a detected school-boy.  If the ladies only had been present,
+he would doubtless have extricated himself by some bold and cunning lie;
+but Herr von Walde was there, and he was utterly at a loss.  He
+contented himself by preserving an ambiguous silence, which gave
+unlimited scope for conjecture.
+
+"God in heaven, how terrible!" cried the young girl, wringing her hands.
+"As you entered you saw," she continued, averting her face, and drawing
+a deep breath, "a defenceless girl striving vainly to repel the
+insolence of a man lost to all sense of honour.  The reiterated
+declaration on my part that I thoroughly despise and utterly detest him
+was of no avail in freeing me from his presence.  I have never concealed
+these sentiments from Herr von Hollfeld,--on the contrary----"
+
+Here she was interrupted by a loud noise.  Helene had sunk back upon the
+couch, and her right hand clutched the table near her, shaking it so
+that the china and glass upon it rattled.  The little lady's face was
+ashy-pale,--her despairing glance sought Hollfeld.  In vain she
+endeavoured to conquer her agitation.  The light that suddenly revealed
+such a hateful web of intrigue was too lurid,--its glare had the
+annihilating effect upon her hitherto unsuspicious mind of a flash of
+lightning.
+
+Elizabeth, although she was herself much agitated, and prepared to give
+further expression to her indignation, felt her heart melt with sympathy
+at sight of the little lady.  In vindicating her own honour she had torn
+the bandage from Helene's eyes, and she was filled with sorrow for her,
+although she knew that she must have been undeceived sooner or later.
+She hastily approached her, and took the icy little hands, which had
+dropped from the table, between her own.
+
+"Forgive me if I have terrified you by my hasty words," she said
+beseechingly, but firmly.  "You can readily understand my position.  A
+few explanatory words from Herr von Hollfeld would have sufficed to
+clear me from every degrading suspicion.  I should not then have been
+forced to declare so emphatically what I thought of his character and
+conduct.  I regret what has happened, but I cannot retract one word that
+I have said."
+
+She kissed Helene's hand, and silently left the pavilion.  She fancied
+that Herr von Walde extended his hand to her as she passed him, but she
+did not look up.
+
+Outside, she followed the narrow, winding way that led through a grove
+to the pond.  She passed by the castle, along the broad gravel-walk, and
+entered the little forest-path leading to the convent tower, without
+knowing whither she was going, or remembering that every step took her
+farther from her home.
+
+She was in a state of fearful excitement.  A wild chaos was seething in
+her brain.  Hollfeld's offer of marriage,--his insolent
+passion,--Bertha's sudden appearance at the window of the pavilion,--the
+inconceivable fact that Helene had received her with joy as the bride of
+the man whom she herself loved,--all these things passed through her
+mind, and in the midst of the confusion she distinctly heard Herr von
+Walde's "yes."  He too, then, would have welcomed her as Herr von
+Hollfeld's bride!  It would have cost him nothing to see her his
+cousin's wife.  This marriage had doubtless been decided upon in family
+conclave.  Herr von Walde had weighed the for and against with his usual
+cool judgment, and had finally agreed with Helene that Emil's choice
+would not prove a blot upon the von Hollfeld escutcheon.  She could be
+graciously received, and they would themselves provide the dowry which
+the bride was deficient in.
+
+At these thoughts Elizabeth set her teeth, as if she were enduring
+physical agony.  She was filled with unutterable bitterness; her sincere
+and ardent sentiments had been misunderstood and crushed under foot by
+that cold-blooded, calculating aristocrat.  How could she ever have
+imagined that he could sympathize in the least with a young, earnest
+heart, enamoured of freedom, and giving no heed to the belittling, often
+ridiculous institutions of the world,--he who found the pride and glory
+of woman only in the ruins and ashes of a long ancestral line?
+
+Several times she paused, lost in thought, and then she walked on
+quickly, heedless that she was traversing the same path along which she
+had gone in such confusion by his side a few days before.  The
+overhanging boughs and branches brushed her forehead; she forgot how he
+had bent them aside, lest they should annoy her.  The underbrush was
+still trodden down, and the stripped leaves were not quite withered upon
+the spot where Fraeulein von Quittelsdorf and Hollfeld had broken
+through the bushes to reach the two lonely wanderers.  Here was the
+place where the unfinished birthday greeting had been whispered;
+Elizabeth passed unheeding by, and it was well that she did so, for
+there were no tears in her burning eyes; here where she could have wept
+her very heart out.
+
+At last she looked around her with surprise.  She stood before the
+convent tower.  Hers was perhaps the first human foot that had pressed
+this turf since the place had been deserted by the latest guests or the
+weary servants on the night of the fete.
+
+It looked sadly out of order; the grass had been trodden down by the
+dancers, whose tread had not been fairy-like.  The two hemlocks, which
+had sustained the refreshment tent, lay prostrate upon the ground in the
+midst of fragments of broken bottles and the remains of the fireworks.
+Above, the shrivelled garlands were still hanging between the tower and
+the oaks, while a gentle breeze swept whispering among the poor flowers,
+which hung crushed together in the air, their short season of triumph
+long since ended.
+
+It was already twilight beneath the oaks, although a golden light
+illumined their topmost boughs, and played upon the gray roof of the
+tower.
+
+It was with a slight shudder that Elizabeth became aware of her
+loneliness in the heart of the dim, silent forest; nevertheless she was
+irresistibly drawn towards the spot where Herr von Walde had taken leave
+of her. She stepped across the trampled sward,--then stood for an
+instant as if rooted to the earth,--for the evening breeze brought to
+her ear single broken tones of a human voice.  At first she seemed to
+hear something like a distant ejaculatory cry for help; then gradually
+the sounds grew more connected, and rapidly drew near.  It was a shrill,
+piercing, female voice, shouting, rather than singing, a hymn.
+Elizabeth could hear that the singer, whoever she might be, was running
+quickly as she sang.
+
+All at once the melody ceased, or rather it was interrupted by a burst
+of horrid laughter, and then by a shriek, which ran through a perfect
+scale of scorn, triumph, and bitter agony.
+
+A foreboding of evil filled Elizabeth's mind.  She looked anxiously in
+the direction, in the dark wood, whence the noise was approaching.  It
+was hushed for a moment, and then the hymn began again, while the singer
+came rushing on like the wind.
+
+Elizabeth stepped within the open door of the tower, for she did not
+wish to encounter the strange singer; scarcely had she crossed the
+threshold, when the laughter was repeated close at hand.
+
+On the opposite side of the open sward Bertha rushed out of the thicket,
+and by her side ran Wolf, the forester's savage watch-dog.
+
+"Wolf, seize her!" she shrieked, pointing with both hands to Elizabeth.
+The animal came tearing, barking, across the open space.
+
+Elizabeth shut the door behind her, and ran up the tower stairs.  She
+thus gained a moment's advantage; but before she had reached the roof of
+the tower the door below was opened.  The growling dog rushed up the
+stairs followed by the maniac cheering him on.
+
+The terrified and hunted girl reached the topmost stair,--she heard the
+growl of the savage brute behind her,--he was just at her heels,--with
+one last effort she stepped out upon the roof, closed the oaken door,
+and leaned her whole weight against it.
+
+For a few moments Bertha rattled at the latch upon the other side,--it
+did not yield.  She raved, and threw herself against the oaken panels,
+while Wolf, barking and growling, scratched at the threshold.
+
+"Amber witch out there!" she shrieked.  "I'll throttle you!  I'll drag
+you through the thicket by your long, yellow hair!  You have stolen his
+heart from me, with your moonshine face,--vile hypocrite that you are!
+Seize her, Wolf, seize her!"
+
+The dog whined, and tore at the door with his paws.
+
+"Tear her in pieces, Wolf; bury your teeth in her white fingers that
+have bewitched him with their devilish music! curse her! cursed be the
+tones that come from her fingers! may they turn to poisonous arrows, and
+bury themselves in her own heart and destroy it!"
+
+Again she threw herself against the door; the old oaken planks creaked
+and groaned, but it did not yield to the little powerless feet.
+
+Elizabeth meanwhile leaned against the door on the other side, with lips
+tightly closed and a face pale as death.  She had seized a piece of wood
+that lay at her feet that she might defend herself, if need should be,
+against the dog.  Her whole frame shuddered at the curses which Bertha
+shrieked out, but she nerved herself with new resolution.
+
+Had she only glanced at the latch of the door, she would have seen that
+any effort upon her part to keep it closed was wholly needless,--a huge
+bolt had slipped forward, against which the maniac's utmost strength
+could avail nothing.
+
+"Open the door!" Bertha shouted again.  "Transparent, brittle creature!
+Ha! ha!  Old Bruin, whom I hate, calls her Gold Elsie.  The old fellow
+despises heaven, and may go to hell for all I care, for I shall be
+blessed, eternally blessed.  He calls her Gold Elsie because she has
+hair of amber.  Fie! how ugly you are! my hair is black as the raven's
+wing.  I am a thousand times the fairer.  Do you hear me, moonlight
+face?"
+
+She paused exhausted, and Wolf, too, ceased his whining and scratching
+at the threshold.
+
+At the same moment the tolling of a distant bell broke the evening
+silence of the forest.  Elizabeth well knew what it signified,--a
+funeral train was descending the mountain from the ruins of old Castle
+Gnadeck.  Lila's mortal remains were leaving the walls which had once
+echoed the sighs and groans of the lovely gypsy girl. She was borne
+through the forest, in longing for which her heart had broken two
+centuries before.
+
+Bertha, too, seemed to listen to the sound of the bell; for a moment she
+did not stir.
+
+"They are ringing," she cried suddenly; "come, Wolf, let us go to
+church; let her stay up here with the clouds that will fall upon her in
+the night,--the tempest will tear her hair, and the ravens will come and
+pick out her eyes, for she is accursed, accursed!"
+
+And then she began the hymn again.  Her terrible voice echoed eerily
+against the narrow walls of the tower.  She ran down and out of the door
+below, then rushed singing across the open space, and disappeared in the
+thicket whence she had issued at first,--the dog following her.  She
+never once turned round towards the tower.  As soon as she turned her
+back upon it she seemed to forget entirely that the object of her hatred
+was standing up there upon the gray stone platform.  Elizabeth caught a
+last glimpse of her scarlet jacket among the dark bushes, and then, with
+her savage companion, she was seen no more.  Gradually her song died
+away, and soon the gentle breeze wafted only the tolling of the bell to
+the ears of the lonely girl upon the roof of the tower.
+
+With a deep-drawn breath of relief she relinquished her constrained
+position, which she had until now retained mechanically, and tried to
+lift the latch of the door.  It was rusty and resisted her efforts as it
+had Bertha's. She now discovered with alarm that the bolt had
+sprung,--it had, indeed, defended and protected her, but it was also her
+jailer,--for she could not possibly stir it; worn out at last with her
+fruitless attempts to withdraw it, she dropped her hands at her sides.
+
+What was to be done?  She thought with distress of her parents who had
+probably been made anxious by her prolonged absence,--for they knew that
+she fully intended to be present at the interment of her ancestress.
+
+Around her were grouped the mighty monarchs of the forest, their topmost
+boughs still tipped here and there by the fading western light.  Far in
+the distance gleamed a strip of light,--there lay L---- with its lofty
+castle, whose long rows of windows glittered for a few moments, and then
+disappeared in gloom.  And there towered the mountain crowned by the
+ruin of Gnadeck; but the forest hid from her her dear home, she could
+not even see the lofty flagstaff.
+
+Elizabeth soon relinquished all hope of being seen by passers-by,--and
+she knew that her feeble cry for help must die away unheard, for the
+tower lay hidden in the depths of the forest; no frequented road passed
+near it; and who would be likely to be walking at nightfall in the quiet
+path which led nowhere except to the convent tower?
+
+Nevertheless she made one attempt, and uttered a loud cry.  But how weak
+it sounded!  It seemed to her that the boughs of the nearest tree
+absorbed it entirely; it only startled some ravens in the vicinity, and
+they flew croaking away overhead; then all was still again,--fearfully
+still.  The Lindhof church bells were silent. A faint red yet glimmered
+in the west, tinging a few little floating clouds,--the forest lay in
+deep shadow.
+
+Utterly at a loss, Elizabeth walked to and fro upon the flat roof.
+Sometimes she stood still at the corner looking toward Castle Lindhof,
+which was the nearest inhabited mansion, and raised her voice in a vain
+cry for help.  At last she ceased all such efforts, and seated herself
+upon the bench which was set into the outer wall of the small landing,
+at the top of the stairs, and which was tolerably protected by the
+projecting roof from wind and weather.
+
+She was not afraid of passing the night here, for she did not doubt that
+search would be made for her in the forest; but how many anxious hours
+her friends must pass before she could be found!
+
+This thought troubled her greatly and increased her nervous agitation.
+She had passed through so much during the day, and had had no
+assistance, nothing but her own force of character to sustain her.  She
+was still trembling from the terror of the last shock.  What could have
+caused poor Bertha's outbreak of insanity?  She had spoken of a heart
+which Elizabeth had stolen from her,--was it possible that Hollfeld had
+played some part in this sad story, as Frau Ferber had lately so often
+insisted?
+
+Such a suspicion revived all the painful sensations that had before
+possessed her.  But now, sitting motionless against the old wall, while
+the darkening heavens seemed to draw near her, and nothing spoke of life
+around save the damp night air that swept soothingly across her hot
+cheek,--now her moistened eyes bore witness that the stern stoicism with
+which her crushed heart had armed itself, had vanished.  All, all was
+over; she had broken with the inmates of Lindhof forever.  She had
+shattered Helene's ideal, and she had thrown back to Herr von Walde the
+gift of his consent to her marriage which he had offered her; doubtless
+his pride had been mortally wounded.  Most probably she should never see
+him again.  He would soon set out upon his travels, glad to efface the
+impression made upon him by the ingratitude of the poor music-teacher.
+
+She covered her face with her hands, and the tears trickled through the
+slender white fingers.
+
+In the mean time the night had fallen, still it was not quite dark.  The
+crescent moon was reigning in the skies, where all the other shining
+wanderers appeared and went their way, never heeding that their sister
+planet, the earth, careering in space with them, contained millions of
+little worlds, each inclosing in its sphere heights and depths, tossing
+waves with their ebb and flow, mighty storms, and only too rarely a
+sacred repose.
+
+And now life began to stir in the old tower.  There was a low murmur and
+moaning upon the stairs; slight blows were struck from within upon the
+oaken door, and wings brushed the inner wall; the owls and bats were
+longing to be abroad, and could not find their accustomed place of
+egress.  And in the forest below there arose a rustling and
+crackling,--the deer broke through the thicket and roamed about in
+entire security.  From the distant east, where the forest almost in its
+primeval luxuriance descended into the valley and then again climbed an
+opposing range of mountains, a faint shot was occasionally heard.  Every
+time Elizabeth heard the sound she nestled closer against the wall
+beneath the protecting roof, as if in fear lest she should be discerned
+by some unfriendly eye gazing thence;--those hunting there were outlaws.
+
+Still no succour came.  Her fear, then, lest her parents should be
+anxious, had been unfounded.  Of course, they supposed her to be yet at
+the castle,--perhaps they were displeased at her long absence from home;
+but they would possibly wait until ten o'clock for her return.  It might
+be midnight before she was released.
+
+It grew quite cold.  With a shiver, she drew her thin shawl close about
+her, and tied a handkerchief around her throat.  She was obliged to
+leave her seat, and walk to and fro on the roof, to prevent herself from
+becoming chilled.  Occasionally she leaned over the balustrade and
+looked down.
+
+White cloud-like phantoms were hovering hither and thither over the open
+space beneath,--the mists rising from the damp ground.  Elizabeth no
+longer thought of the motley spectacle,--the ostentation and vanity that
+had filled this place a few days before.  She forgot the countless idle
+words that had filled the air, causing such a confusion of tongues that
+the old tower, instead of standing upon honest Thuringian soil, might
+have challenged the skies upon the banks of the Euphrates. Forth from
+the billows of mist floated the shadowy forms of the nuns buried under
+these walls, their features pale and passionless, their desolate hearts
+stilled within their long-flowing robes, and their waxen brows, beneath
+their white bands, haunted no longer by restless doubts and longings.
+They would fain have trodden the path leading from the world to heaven,
+had they not been so often dragged down to earth again.
+
+Elizabeth thought of those dark times, when these gloomy walls were
+erected in expiation of the crime of a knightly assassin,--cold stone
+walls to appease Him from whom has come the Word made life,--who is the
+source of Eternal Love.  Could all the prayers, breathed by the inmates
+of that living tomb,--all the masses,--the organs rolling thunder, blot
+out the stain of blood which the criminal carried to the foot of the
+eternal throne? No, a thousand times no!  He heeds no incense wafted
+before the shrine of Baal.  His eternal edicts are not reversed by the
+creatures whom He has made.
+
+What a terrible episode in the family history of the Gnadewitzes those
+crumbling ruins commemorated! And could it be possible that a being,
+conscious of a fervent desire for moral elevation and spiritual growth,
+should be duly respected only when permitted to bear that name?  Must
+she learn that a spotless life was nought, laid in the balance with a
+human device, which was, in fact, a phantom of the brain,--an absolute
+nothing?
+
+Was the superstition that committed witches to the flames darker than
+this delusion of the privileges of birth, by which many a true and
+richly-gifted human life is as ruthlessly destroyed as by the faggot of
+the executioner,--the delusion, that flatly contradicts the Almighty
+decree, which declares all God's children to come alike from His
+creating hand,--alike in outward form, in physical structure, in the
+possession of senses, whereby both king and beggar enjoy and suffer,
+alike in the possession of that vital spark that animates these outward
+shapes?  Where is there a soul, even although it has attained the summit
+of human perfection, that is not conscious of some weakness, or a human
+being so depraved, that one good quality at least does not glimmer forth
+from the slough of vice into which he has sunk?--And can he be
+influenced by such narrow prejudice,--he, whose brow bears the impress
+of high intelligence, whose glance and voice can melt with a tenderness
+that reveals a soul alive to the best and deepest emotions of our
+nature? Could he rank the hollow form above the immortal rights of
+humanity, which accord freedom of thought and action to all?  Did not
+that false system continually crush out the highest and holiest
+sentiment of the human heart, love?  If Elizabeth had loved Hollfeld,
+what would her lot have been without the discovery in the ruins?  And
+if,--here a sarcastic smile hovered upon her quivering lips,--if one
+thought of affection for her had ever stirred Herr von Walde's heart,
+and he should come now and offer his hand?----Never, never would she
+consent to give herself to him, with the consciousness that her
+unutterable love had only been returned when such return was no longer
+forbidden by the old worn-out laws of society.  The pain of renunciation
+lost much of its torture, contrasted with the torment that would be the
+result of such a life.
+
+With looks full of gloom, Elizabeth once more walked to the corner of
+the balustrade looking towards Castle Lindhof, and stood gazing in that
+direction.  One and the same star rose above that graceful pile and the
+poorest hut in the neighbouring village, casting its mild light
+impartially upon each,--or was there really a stronger gleam upon the
+spot where the park opened into the forest?  No; that light came from
+below, and penetrating quickly farther and farther into the forest,
+faintly tinged the boughs above with its rays.  It was most certainly a
+torch borne along the narrow path by which Elizabeth had reached the
+convent tower.
+
+Once the light was, for an instant, immovable, and a faint shout reached
+her ears.  She felt convinced now that help was at hand,--that search
+was made for her,--and she raised her voice in reply, although she knew
+that the faint sound could not reach the bearer of the torch. The light
+hesitated but for a moment, and then quickly came nearer and nearer.
+She could soon plainly distinguish the flame of the torch, and see the
+shower of sparks that fell from it to the ground.
+
+"Elizabeth!" suddenly resounded through the forest.
+
+The voice thrilled through her every nerve,--for it was his voice.  Herr
+von Walde was calling her in tones of unutterable anxiety.
+
+"Here," she called down to him; "I am here, upon the convent tower."
+
+The torch-bearer plunged through the thickets and hurried across the
+open sward.  In a few moments he stood upon the landing without, shaking
+the door with a powerful hand.  Several stout blows followed, and the
+old planks were burst open.
+
+Herr von Walde stepped out upon the roof.  In his left hand he held the
+torch, while with his right he drew Elizabeth within the circle of its
+light.  His head was uncovered, his dark hair lay in dishevelled locks
+upon his forehead, and his face was very pale.  He hastily scanned her
+figure, as if to convince himself that she was unhurt. He was evidently
+in a state of great agitation, the hand which grasped her arm trembled
+violently, and for a moment he could not speak.
+
+"Elizabeth, poor child!" he ejaculated at last, with a gasping sigh,
+"did the insult that you received in my house to-day drive you hither to
+this dreary ruin, and the gloomy night?"
+
+Elizabeth explained to him that her stay here had not been voluntary on
+her part, as the bolted door testified, and related in a few words, as
+she descended the stairs, all that had occurred.  He went before and
+offered her his hand to support her, but she took hold of the rope which
+served for a hand-rail, and turned away her eyes that she might ignore
+his proffered aid.
+
+At this moment a strong draught of air extinguished the torch, which had
+burnt only dimly, and all was enveloped in darkness.
+
+"Now give me your hand!" he said, in the tone of command which she knew
+so well.
+
+"I can take hold of the rope, I need no other support," she replied.
+
+The last word had scarcely left her lips when she felt herself lifted
+from the ground like a feather by two strong arms and carried down the
+steps.
+
+"Foolish child!" he said, as he set her down upon the grass outside.  "I
+will not have you dashed to pieces upon the stone pavement of that
+dreary tower."
+
+She entered the path which led directly to Castle Lindhof,--it was the
+shortest.  Herr von Walde walked silently by her side.
+
+"Do you intend to leave me to-night without saying one kind word to me?"
+he suddenly asked, standing still.  Pain and suppressed auger strove in
+his voice for the mastery.  "Have I had the misfortune to offend you?"
+
+"Yes, you have wounded me grievously."
+
+"Because I did not instantly chastise my cousin?"
+
+"You could not,--his suit had your entire approbation. You, as well as
+the others, would have forced me to accept Herr von Hollfeld."
+
+"I force you?  Oh, child, how little you understand a man's heart?  I
+was the victim of a terrible error when I uttered that 'yes.'  I longed
+to try if it were a delusion, and to free myself from it.  Now you shall
+learn that I will banish everything that can remind you of to-day's
+terror.  You like Lindhof?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"The Baroness Lessen is about to leave the castle. Let me entreat you to
+be my sister's stay and support when I leave her again, when I begin my
+wanderings anew.  Will you consent?"
+
+"I cannot promise to do so."
+
+"And why not?"
+
+"Fraeulein von Walde will not desire my society, and even if----.  I
+have already declared once to-day that I shall not bear the new name."
+
+"What a strange reply!  What has that to do with the matter?  Ah, now I
+understand.  At last I begin to see clearly.  Then you think that I
+agreed to Hollfeld's suit because you suddenly had a right to an ancient
+name? Speak, is not this the fact?"
+
+"Yes, I believe this to be the fact."
+
+"And you suppose further, that the same reason leads me to desire your
+companionship for my sister.  You are convinced that aristocratic pride
+prompts all my thoughts and actions?"
+
+"Yes, yes."
+
+"Pray let me inquire of you what name you bore when I asked you for a
+birthday greeting, when we last walked together here in this path?"
+
+"Then we did not know of the secret hidden in the ruins," said
+Elizabeth, in an almost inaudible tone.
+
+"Have you forgotten the words which I dictated to you that afternoon?"
+
+"No,--I remember every syllable of them with the greatest distinctness,"
+she replied quickly.
+
+"And do you think it possible that such words can end with, 'I hope the
+coming year will prove a happy one,' or the like?"
+
+The girl did not speak, but looked up at him with a crimson blush.
+
+"Listen to me quietly for one moment, Elizabeth," he continued, but he
+himself was so far from quiet that his voice sounded faint and
+faltering, as though half stifled by the throbbing of his heart, "a man
+who might have been regarded as fortune's favourite, so richly did she
+endow him in his cradle with rank and wealth, mistrusted these
+advantages when he arrived at years of discretion. He feared that they
+would stand in the way of what he considered the true happiness of his
+life.  He had created for himself an ideal of her by whose side alone he
+could find real peace,--not that he required extraordinary physical
+beauty or intellectual power,--he sought a pure, true heart, that should
+be influenced by no consideration of worldly advantages, but should give
+herself to him for his own sake alone.  He gradually arrived at the
+conviction that his ideal must remain an ideal, for in his search for
+its realization, he came to be thirty-seven years old.  When hope has
+folded her wings, and night is falling around us, there is something
+overpowering in the sudden flushing of a morning light, at the eleventh
+hour.  The mind is unhinged, the long, weary waiting has rendered it
+almost incapable of believing in great, unexpected happiness.  At last,
+Elizabeth, he found the heart he had sought,--a heart accompanied by a
+clear, well-balanced intellect that was infinitely superior to all
+narrow, sordid considerations,--but this heart throbbed in a youthful
+form adorned with every imaginable grace.  Was it to be wondered at that
+the man of riper years, possessing, as he knew, no personal advantages,
+regarded with mistrust another who could lay in the balance youth and a
+fine person?  Was it to be wondered at that he allowed himself to be
+carried away one moment, inspired by the boldest hopes, by some word,
+some act on the young girl's part, only to be cast down utterly the
+next, when he saw that other in her society? Was it not natural that he
+should fear that youth only could attract youth?  Never did heart of man
+long more wildly than his for the accomplishment of his desire,--never
+was there a man more possessed, in moments of despair, by a cowardly
+doubt as to its fulfilment.  And when they told him that his little
+idolized darling belonged to that other, he emptied the bitter cup to
+the dregs, and said 'yes' because he imagined that she had already said
+it.  Elizabeth, I stood on the threshold of the pavilion to-day in a
+state of utter despair.  You do not know what it is, when a merchant
+heaps all his treasure, every jewel that he possesses, in a single ship,
+and sees it sink before his eyes.  Shall I try to tell you what I felt
+when you so decidedly rejected the rank which you might have claimed,
+and so made an alliance with Hollfeld impossible?  Shall I tell you that
+my sister's condition, and consideration for you yourself, alone
+prevented me from chastising that scoundrel upon the spot? He has
+already left Lindhof, and will never cross your path again.  Will you
+forget the insult that you received in my house to-day?"
+
+He had taken her hands in his, and held them pressed close to his
+breast.  Without withdrawing them she assented to his question with
+trembling lips.
+
+"And shall we not forget everything, my darling little Gold Elsie, that
+has occurred between the beginning and the conclusion of the birthday
+wish?  My golden darling, the delight of my eyes, my own Elizabeth
+Ferber stands again before me, and will repeat after me what I say, will
+she not?  The last sentence which was so cruelly interrupted--tell me
+what it was."
+
+"Here is my hand as the pledge of an unutterable bliss," faltered
+Elizabeth.
+
+"In life, in death, and for all eternity, I will be your own."
+
+But she opened her lips in vain to repeat after him the words which he
+uttered so solemnly, with the most profound emotion.  She burst into
+tears and threw her arms around the neck of her lover, who clasped her
+to his heart.
+
+"This divine dream must not fade," he said with a sigh, as Elizabeth
+gently extricated herself from his embrace.  "Leave me your hand at
+least, Elizabeth, I must learn to believe in my bliss.  If you leave me
+now, I shall be crushed by doubt again to-night.  You are thoroughly
+conscious that you are irrevocably mine?  Do you know that you must
+leave father and mother, and the dear home upon the mountain, for my
+sake?"
+
+"I know it, and will do so gladly, Rudolph," she said smiling, but firm.
+
+"God bless you, my darling, for those words!  But you must know the
+depths of my doubt.  Is it not pity for my boundless love that induces
+you to yield your consent to my suit?"
+
+"No, Rudolph, it is love,--a love which first awoke in my heart,--does
+not this sound strangely,--when I saw in your angry eyes, and heard in
+the tones of your voice, how you detested cruelty and injustice!  And
+since that moment it has never left me; on the contrary, it has
+increased and grown stronger, in spite of all my efforts to destroy it,
+notwithstanding all the harsh words that have so often wounded it
+sorely."
+
+"Who spoke such words?"
+
+"You, yourself; you were harsh and unkind to me."
+
+"Oh, child, those were the outbreaks of insane jealousy!  I have
+struggled for and exercised self-control all my life long, but I could
+not conceal how I was tortured then.  And would you, on that account,
+have closed upon me the heaven that is opening before me?"
+
+"Not on that account,--for one kind look from you made me happy again;
+but another obstinate opponent entered the lists,--my reason.  It had
+grown well aware of everything that report declared concerning your
+incredible aristocratic arrogance, and, at every wild throb of my heart,
+dinned into my ears your reasons for refusing the alliance which the
+prince proposed to you."
+
+"Ah! those sixteen quarterings!" cried Herr von Walde, smiling, "But
+see, my little Gold Elsie, what a Nemesis that was!" he continued more
+gravely.  "To avoid annoyance, I seized upon the first means at hand,
+and, as I now know, it almost cost me the happiness of my life.  I like
+the Prince of L----, but any residence at his court was rendered, for a
+time, utterly odious to me, by the matrimonial alliances proposed for
+me, principally by the Princess Catharine.  She had taken it into her
+head that I must marry one of the ladies of her court.  No one could
+believe that the girl was entirely indifferent to me, for she passed for
+a brilliant beauty, and had broken many a heart.  All that I could say
+was of no avail; they continued to plot and intrigue, and so one day I
+cut the whole matter short by declaring to her Highness that her plan
+for me would cost me one of my estates, since, as is true, by my uncle's
+will it was devised to the State if I should marry a wife who could not
+show sixteen quarterings in her escutcheon.  This declaration put an end
+to my torment; no such person was to be found in the length and breadth
+of the little kingdom, and all thought it natural that I should wish to
+retain my estate."
+
+"And will you suffer this loss for my sake?" cried Elizabeth, in
+surprise.
+
+"It is no loss, Elizabeth; it is an exchange,--an exchange by which I
+gain a priceless treasure,--the happiness of an entire existence."
+
+A torch glimmered through the thicket.
+
+"Halt! this way!" cried Herr von Walde.
+
+In a few moments one of the servants appeared, and was ordered to hasten
+as quickly as possible to Gnadeck and announce Fraeulein Ferber's
+safety.
+
+The servant hurried away.
+
+"I have been very selfish, Elizabeth," said Herr von Walde, putting her
+hand within his arm, and no longer loitering.  "I knew that your family
+was most anxious about you; that your father and uncle were ranging the
+forest in search of you, while my people, and many of the Lindhof
+peasants, were traversing the country in all directions upon the same
+errand, and yet I forgot everything when I found you."
+
+"My poor father and mother!" sighed Elizabeth, not without a slight
+twinge of conscience; the whole world had ceased to exist for her when
+he appeared.
+
+"Friedrich runs quickly," von Walde said, soothingly; "he will reach the
+summit of the mountain long before us, and tell them you are safe."
+
+They entered the park and passed by the castle.  It lay in darkness and
+silence.  Only from Helena's chamber window gleamed a faint light.
+
+"There is a life-and-death struggle going on there," murmured Herr von
+Walde, looking up.  "She loved that wretch devotedly; how fearful her
+awakening must be!"
+
+"Go and comfort her," begged Elizabeth.
+
+"Comfort her?  At such a moment?  My child, who could have come to me
+with comfort when I thought I had lost you?  Helene shut herself in her
+room when I ordered Herr von Hollfeld's horse to be brought to the door;
+her maid is near her.  A long time must elapse before she wishes to see
+me; when we have been grossly deceived we do not immediately turn to
+those who warned us of the deceit.  Besides, I will not enter my house
+again until I am sure that your parents will not snatch you from me."
+
+The path branched aside to the well-known bank in the forest.
+
+"Do you remember?" asked Elizabeth, smiling, as she pointed to it.
+
+"Yes, yes.  There you told me so bravely of your determination to go out
+into the world as a governess, and I took the liberty of declaring to
+myself that I never would permit it.  I had to exert all my self-control
+to prevent myself from then and there clasping my little bird in my arms
+and pressing its golden head, filled with such bold resolve, to my
+breast.  And there I drew from you the unconscious naive confession that
+your parents still held the first place in your heart.  But you adopted
+a cold, repellant demeanour, as soon as I attempted to be confidential."
+
+"It was shyness,--and I am not yet quite sure that to-morrow, when I see
+your stern face by daylight, I shall not fall into the same
+embarrassment."
+
+"It will never be stern again, my child; joy has touched it with its
+gentle finger."
+
+Soon afterwards, the old beeches which look in at the windows of the
+Ferber's dwelling-room saw a strange sight.  A man of fine presence, his
+face pale with profound emotion, conducted the daughter to her parents,
+and then asked them to give her back to him as his future wife,--his
+other self.  The old beeches saw him take his young love in his arms,
+and receive the blessing of her agitated parents.  They saw the mother's
+face, smiling through tears, raised gratefully to Heaven, and little
+Ernst shaking the canary's cage, that he might awaken that sleepy
+songster and announce to him, with great solemnity, that Elsie was
+betrothed.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+While happiness was reigning in the home upon old Gnadeck, a sad event
+occurred in the valley.
+
+Two peasants from Lindhof, who, provided with torches, had been looking
+for Elizabeth, heard, as they were proceeding from their village to the
+forest, a loud growling at a little distance,--it sounded like an angry
+dog.  Not far from them lay stretched across the road a human form,
+while a large dog lying beside it, as if to defend it, had placed both
+his forepaws upon its breast.  The animal became infuriated at the
+approach of the men, and, gnashing its teeth, threatened to fly at them.
+They were afraid, and ran back to the village, where they met a party
+bearing torches, and among them the forester, who had just heard from
+Herr von Walde's servant of Elizabeth's safety.
+
+Instantly all hastened to the spot which the frightened peasants
+described.  This time the dog did not growl. He whined, and crept to the
+forester's feet; it was Wolf, his watch-dog, and there lay Bertha,
+apparently lifeless. She was bleeding profusely from a wound in her
+head, and her face was as pale as death.
+
+The forester did not speak, he shunned the sympathetic glances of the
+by-standers; anger and pain strove for the mastery in his features.  He
+raised Bertha from the ground, and carried her into the first house in
+the village; it was the poor weaver's.  Then he sent a messenger for
+Sabina.  Fortunately, the Waldheim physician was with one of his
+patients in the village.  He was sent for, and soon brought the poor
+girl to herself.  She recognized him, and asked for water.  Her wound
+was not dangerous, but the physician shook his head and looked meaningly
+at the forester, who was anxiously watching him.
+
+The doctor was a blunt man, with rather rude manners. He suddenly
+approached the forester, and said a few words to him in a slight
+undertone.  The old man staggered back as though from a mortal blow,
+stared absently at the doctor without replying a word,--and then left
+the house without looking at the sick girl.
+
+"Uncle, uncle, forgive me!" she cried after him in heart-breaking tones,
+but he had already vanished into the dark night.
+
+And now Sabina made her appearance in the doorway. A maid followed her,
+bearing a huge bundle of linen upon her head, and a basket upon her arm,
+containing bandages, provisions, and all manner of necessary articles.
+
+"Gracious Powers! what have you been doing with yourself, Bertha?" cried
+the old woman with tears in her eyes, as she saw the pale face, and the
+bandaged head lying upon the pillow.  "And to-day, too, when I thought
+you went out looking so much better,--you had such beautiful red
+cheeks!"
+
+The girl buried her face in the bedclothes, and began to sob
+convulsively.
+
+The physician told Sabina what was to be done, and strictly forbade the
+invalid to converse or even to speak.
+
+"Must I be silent?" cried Bertha, raising herself in bed.  "Ah! silence
+may be easy for such an old man, whose blood runs cool and calm in his
+veins.  But I must speak, Sabina, and if it kills me,--so much the
+better!"
+
+She drew the old housekeeper towards her upon the bed, and, weeping
+bitterly, confessed all to her.
+
+She had had a love affair with Hollfeld, who had promised to marry her,
+and had induced her to swear solemnly that she would keep silent
+concerning their relations to each other, and not claim her rights until
+he should authorize her to do so; for, as he told her, he must first
+influence his mother and his relatives at Lindhof to accede to his
+wishes.  The unthinking girl promised all that he asked,--and in
+addition vowed solemnly that no human being should hear one word from
+her lips until she could proclaim her proud secret to the world. The
+meetings of the pair usually took place in the convent-tower or in the
+pavilion in the park.  No one discovered them.  The baroness' suspicions
+were aroused by some slight circumstance,--she fell into a violent rage,
+and forbade Bertha ever to show her face at Lindhof Castle.
+
+Still Bertha's lofty hopes were unshaken, for Hollfeld consoled her, and
+referred to the future.  But then came Elizabeth Ferber, and he was an
+altered man from that moment.  He avoided Bertha, and when she compelled
+him by threats to an interview, he treated her with a coldness and
+contempt that excited the girl's passionate nature to frenzy.
+
+When at last she became convinced that she had to do with a man utterly
+devoid of honour, the whole horror of her situation was laid bare before
+her.  She fell into a state of the wildest despair, and then began her
+nightly escapades.  Sleep scarcely visited her eyes, and she grew more
+composed only when she could shriek out her agony and woe in the lonely
+forest.
+
+At last came the end to the tragedy,--the same end that has befallen
+such tragedies hundreds of times before, and that will continue to
+befall them,--for the warning example convinces the understanding but
+never touches an unsuspecting, loving heart.  Hollfeld offered the poor
+girl a sum of money if she would relinquish her claims and leave that
+part of the country.  He pretended that his mother and his Lindhof
+relatives forced him to marry the newly-made Fraeulein von Gnadewitz.
+Bertha denounced him as an unprincipled liar, and rushed from his
+presence. In a frenzy of rage she presented herself before his mother
+and told her all.
+
+Thus far Bertha continued her sad tale connectedly, only interrupted by
+her violent gestures, sobs, and tears. She paused for a moment, and an
+expression of inextinguishable hatred distorted her countenance.
+
+"That horrible woman," she cried at last, gasping for breath, "has the
+Bible always upon her lips.  She knits and sews night and day for
+missionaries, who are to carry the word of God to the heathen, that they
+may be converted; but they cannot in their ignorance be more inhuman and
+cruel than this Christian in her pride. She wishes to root out
+idol-worship, and sets up herself for an idol, surrounding herself by a
+crowd of fawning, flattering hypocrites, who declare that she is one of
+the elect,--not as other people are.  Woe to the upright, honest man who
+refuses to consider her as such,--his crime is blasphemy!  She thrust me
+from her doors, and threatened to have the dogs hunt me from the park,
+if I ever showed my face there again.  From that time I do not know what
+became of me," she said, sinking back exhausted among the pillows, and
+pressing her hands upon her aching forehead.  "I only know that I awaked
+and saw the doctor's face bending over me.  He told my uncle of my
+disgrace,--I heard him.  What will become of me!"
+
+Sabina had listened to this confession with horror and grief.  She had
+always advocated the strictest purity and decorum, and had been, as
+Bertha well knew, a stern and inflexible judge in such unhappy cases as
+that of the wretched girl.  But her heart was full of love and pity.
+She looked down upon the crushed sinner before her with tears of
+compassion, and soothed the weary head upon her kind old breast.  She
+was rewarded by seeing the poor girl fall asleep in her arms, like a
+child worn out with weeping.
+
+Soon nothing was heard in the little room but the quiet breathing of the
+sick girl and the ticking of the clock. Sabina put on her spectacles,
+drew an old worn copy of the New Testament from her basket, and watched
+faithfully by the bedside until the bright dawn looked in at the
+windows.
+
+Bertha did not die, as she had hoped to do in consequence of her
+agitating confession.  On the contrary, she recovered very quickly,
+nursed and tended by Sabina and Frau Ferber.  There was no return of her
+insanity.  The wound in her head, which had been caused by a fall upon a
+sharp stone, had produced a most beneficial result in the copious loss
+of blood which had ensued.
+
+The forester was beside himself at the disgrace which Bertha had brought
+beneath his honest roof.  For some days he would not even listen to his
+brother's calm, soothing words.  After Sabina had communicated to him
+Bertha's confession, he rode to Odenberg to call "the worthless
+scoundrel to account;" but the servants there informed him, shrugging
+their shoulders, that their master had started upon a journey; they
+could not tell whither, or when he would return.  Herr von Walde's
+search for him was also without result.
+
+Bertha herself declared that she would never again hear of her betrayer,
+whom she now regarded with a hate as fervent as had been her love.  A
+few weeks after her recovery she left the weaver's hut,--she never again
+entered the Lodge,--to go to America.  But she did not go alone.  One of
+her uncle's assistants, a fine young fellow, begged for his dismissal,
+because he had always loved Bertha in silence, and could not find it in
+his heart to let her go alone into the wide world.  She had promised to
+be his.  They were to be married in Bremen, and sail thence for the New
+World, where he would lead a farmer's life.  Herr von Walde provided the
+pair with a considerable sum of money; and, at Frau Ferber's and
+Elizabeth's request, the forester silently consented that Sabina should
+rob the overflowing store of linen that his deceased wife had
+accumulated, to furnish the household of the emigrants.
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
+
+Upon a gloomy autumn day a well-packed travelling carriage left Castle
+Lindhof and slowly rolled towards L----.  Her haughty arrogance all
+vanished, the baroness sat huddled together in one corner of it.  Her
+brilliant part at Lindhof was played; she was reluctantly returning to
+her small rooms and reduced circumstances.
+
+"Mamma," said Bella, in her shrill, childish accents, as she opened and
+shut the carriage window and drummed against the seat with her feet,
+"does the castle belong now to Elizabeth Ferber?  Will she drive in our
+beautiful carriage with the white damask cushions?  Can she go into your
+room whenever she pleases and sit in the embroidered arm-chairs?  Old
+Lorenz says that she will be the mistress there now, and that all her
+orders must be obeyed."
+
+"Child, do not torment me so with your chatter," groaned the baroness,
+burying her face in her pocket-handkerchief.
+
+"It is very unkind of Uncle Rudolph to send us away," the child
+continued, without heeding what her mother said.  "You know we have no
+silver dishes to eat from in B----, have we, mamma?  Shall we dine at a
+restaurant, mamma? and will you dress your own hair while Caroline
+washes and irons?  Why----"
+
+"Silence!" her mother interrupted the flood of speech that so tormented
+her.
+
+Bella cowered terrified in a corner, and did not look up until the
+carriage was rolling over the stone pavement of L----.  The baroness
+cast a hasty glance at the Princely castle, then drew her veil over her
+face and burst into tears.
+
+In consequence of Bertha's confession there had been a stormy interview
+between Herr von Walde and the baroness, which had ended in the
+departure of the latter. Helene repulsed her with aversion when she
+appealed to her, and she was forced to enter the travelling carriage,
+which appeared punctually before the castle at the hour appointed by its
+master.  There was one consoling drop in her cup of misfortune,--Herr
+von Walde had provided the means for Bella's education, upon condition
+that it should be more sensibly conducted than heretofore.
+
+Almost at the same hour in which the Baroness Lessen was leaving Lindhof
+forever, the Countess von Falkenberg presented herself in the boudoir of
+the princess, who had returned with her husband a few days before from
+the baths.
+
+The countess made as profound an obeisance as her uncertain limbs would
+permit, but showed a degree of haste that she would have stigmatized in
+another as contrary to all rules of etiquette.  She held an open letter
+in her hand, which had been somewhat crushed by her trembling fingers.
+
+"I am most unhappy," she began in an unnatural tone of voice, "to be
+obliged to impart to your highnesses a most scandalous piece of news.
+Oh, mon Dieu, who would have thought it!  Well, if even in our own
+sphere all sense of shame, all dignified self-consciousness, is at an
+end,--if every one is to heed the dictates of low and vulgar
+impulses,--no wonder that the halo surrounding us is dimmed, and the mob
+ventures to attack the throne itself!"
+
+"Calm yourself, my dear Falkenberg," said the prince, who was present,
+with evident amusement.  "Your preface is somewhat after the magnificent
+style of a Cassandra. But as yet I see no signs of earthquake; and to my
+great satisfaction I observe,"--and he glanced out of the window at the
+quiet market-square with a smile,--"that my faithful subjects are quite
+composed.  What have you to tell us?"
+
+She looked up surprised,--his sarcastic tone made her falter.
+
+"Oh, if your highness only knew!" she cried at last. "That man, upon
+whose pride of birth I so relied, Herr von Walde, informs me that he is
+betrothed.  And to whom? to whom?"
+
+"To Fraeulein Ferber, the niece of my brave, old forester," the prince,
+smiling, replied.  "Yes, yes, I have heard something of this; Walde
+knows what he is about, I see. The little girl is a miracle of beauty
+and loveliness they say.  Well, I hope he will not keep us waiting long
+to make her acquaintance, but will present her to us soon."
+
+"Your highness," cried the paralyzed countess, "she is the daughter of
+your highness' forester's clerk!"
+
+"Yes, yes, my good Falkenberg," chimed in the princess, "we know that.
+But be calm; she is I assure you of noble rank."
+
+"Will your highness graciously permit me," rejoined the old lady, her
+face crimson, as she pointed to the crumpled letter, "here it stands in
+black and white,--his betrothal with a person of low birth,--here is the
+name, Ferber, and no other, and just so it will be written upon von
+Walde's genealogical tree forever.  It actually seems as if the man
+paraded it with a sort of ostentation.  The inconceivable indifference
+of these people in refusing to assume the name of von Gnadewitz shows
+plainly enough that they have nothing in common with that aristocratic
+family.  Their noble blood has utterly degenerated in the course of
+years, and, according to my notions of nobility, the girl is and always
+will be of low birth.  I sincerely pity poor Hollfeld, who is, as your
+highness knows, of stainless descent; by this misalliance he will lose
+at least half a million,--and the poor Lessen, too, from whom I have
+just had a few sad lines,--she leaves Lindhof to-day, of course to
+escape from such scandalous proceedings."
+
+"Those are matters affecting your own personal feeling, and of course I
+say nothing with regard to them," rejoined the prince, not without
+severity.  "But I herewith request you to announce to the princess and
+myself the fact, as soon as Herr von Walde wishes to present his bride
+to us."
+
+In the next room, the door of which was open, Cornelie was merrily
+turning upon her heels and snapping her fingers.
+
+"Aha! and that was why Sir Bruin wished to escape the tongues of certain
+eloquent ladies!" she cried, with a stifled laugh.  "Cornelie, where was
+your usual penetration with regard to the masculine heart?  Oh, the
+thing delights me for old Falkenberg's sake," she said, in a whisper, to
+another young lady who sat at the window embroidering.  "Now for at
+least two weeks we shall have the pleasure of seeing how the loyal
+creature will look daggers at their highnesses whenever their backs are
+turned, while all the honey of the promised land will overflow her
+withered lips as soon as the sun of their royal smile shines upon her.
+I could wish that every man whom we know would follow Herr von Walde's
+silly example!"
+
+"Good Heavens!  Cornelie, are you insane?" cried her companion at the
+window, dropping her needle from her fingers.
+
+At the same time that every drop of blood in the Falkenberg's
+aristocratic veins was so outraged, Doctor Fels returned to his home,
+and went to the nursery, where his wife was bathing her baby and
+superintending the knitting fingers of her two little daughters.
+
+"Rejoice with me, dear love!" he cried, with sparkling eyes, as he stood
+upon the threshold of the door. "Lindhof will have a mistress, and such
+a mistress!  Gold Elsie, our beautiful Gold Elsie!  Do you hear, my
+darling?  Now the sun will shine brightly there.  The healthy atmosphere
+has conquered, and the evil spirit that actually dropped mildew upon
+poor human souls has fled.  I have just seen it drive past in Herr von
+Walde's travelling carriage.  The announcement of the betrothal has
+fallen upon our worthy town like a bomb-shell.  I tell you it is
+wonderful to see the long, incredulous faces! But the news has not
+surprised me at all.  I have known what must happen ever since Linke's
+murderous attempt.  Since I drove that evening to Lindhof by Herr von
+Walde's side, to see whether the excitement had produced no ill effects
+upon the brave child, I have known well that his hour had struck, that
+he had a heart indeed, a heart full of fervent, passionate love."
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
+
+Let us pass over a space of two years, and once more enter the old
+Gnadeck ruins.  We shall ascend the mountain by a broad well-kept road,
+leading to the castle gate, which has exchanged its rusty bolts and bars
+for more convenient fastenings.
+
+We remember with a shiver the cold, damp court-yard behind this gate,
+shut in by gloomy colonnades on three sides, while the crumbling
+buildings threatened to bury us beneath their ruins.  We remember the
+lonely basin in the centre, that, surrounded by the lions of stone, has
+waited in vain during so many years for the silver stream that should
+fill it.
+
+Remembering all this, we ring the bell.  At its clear sound, a fresh,
+trim maiden opens the massive gate, and invites us to enter.  But we
+start back almost dazzled, for from the open gate what a flood of light
+and colour greets us!  The ruins have vanished, the high wall that
+surrounded them alone remains, and we are for the first time aware how
+extensive is the space which it encloses.
+
+We do not tread upon the echoing pavement of a courtyard, a smooth
+gravel-walk is beneath our feet; before us stretches a level, well-kept
+lawn.  In its centre stands the granite basin, and from the threatening
+jaws of the lions are pouring four powerful streams of water.  The
+chestnuts still remain the faithful guardians of the fountain, but since
+their boughs have been bathed in heaven's air and light they have grown
+strong and young again, and are now covered with a wealth of fan-like
+blossoms. We wind among the gravel paths that intersect the lawn,
+delight our eyes with the groups of shrubbery, still very young, that
+are so tastefully scattered here and there, and with the gay beds of
+carefully tended flowers.
+
+Before us lies the home.  Its four walls are free now to the air and
+light, and have put on a fresh bright garment; but its front is far more
+stately than it used to be. New windows are seen on every side.  Ferber
+has had four rooms added to it; for when the forester retires to private
+life, he and Sabina are to live there also.  In the family
+dwelling-room,--from whose two high windows can now be seen the same
+view formerly seen only from Elizabeth's room above,--Herr von Walde has
+had the trees thinned so that her parents might always have the home of
+their darling before their eyes,--stands the young Frau von Walde.  She
+has been kept in the house for several weeks, and her first expedition
+has been to carry her first-born to her parents' home.  There he lies in
+her arms.  Miss Mertens, or rather the happily married Frau Reinhard,
+has just removed the veil from the little thing. The minute, plump, red
+face shows, in the eyes of the mother, an unmistakable resemblance to
+Herr von Walde. Ernst is laughing loudly at the vague movements of the
+fat little fists, which are stretching out in all directions. But the
+forester stands with his own powerful hands behind him, and an
+expression of great anxiety, as if he feared that if he moved he might
+do the frail atom an injury.  He is no less delighted with his
+grand-nephew than are Elizabeth's parents with their grandchild.  He has
+outlived his distress concerning Bertha, and basks in Elizabeth's
+happiness, which was a great surprise to him at first, and which he
+maintained he was obliged to become accustomed to anew every morning.
+Not, indeed, that he thought such good fortune one whit too great for
+his darling,--he would have thought the richest of earthly crowns well
+placed upon Elizabeth's head; but it was so strange to him to see his
+sunny Gold Elsie by the side of her grave, thoughtful husband.
+
+Elizabeth is happy in the fullest sense of the word. Her husband adores
+her, and his words have proved true,--the expression of stern melancholy
+has faded forever from his brow.
+
+Just now the young wife is looking tenderly at the little creature in
+her arms, and then down into the valley, whence Herr von Walde will soon
+appear to conduct her to her home.  Her glance grows sad for a moment,
+and tears fill her eyes, as they rest upon a lofty gilded cross,
+glimmering among the trees upon the shore of the lake,--beneath those
+rustling boughs Helene has slept for a year.  She died in Elizabeth's
+arms, praying God to bless the dear sister who had so helped her to bear
+her burden of woe until her spirit could soar away from its frail mortal
+tenement.
+
+Hollfeld has sold Odenberg, and no one knows in what corner of the earth
+he hides his discontent at the overthrow of all his plots.
+
+
+
+
+                                THE END.
+
+
+
+
+           *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+
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+
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+*OLD DECCAN DAYS;*
+
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+Tradition By M. FREER.  With an Introduction and Notes by SIR BARTLE
+FREER.  12mo.
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+
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+
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+
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+Home Secretary to the Commission.  In one vol.  8vo of 752 pages.
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+
+*LETTERS FROM THE FRONTIERS.*
+
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+MAJ.-GEN. GEORGE A. McCALL, late Commander of the Pennsylvania Reserve
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+
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+was as much master of the pen as of the sword."--_Phila. Press_.
+
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+
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+Maps and numerous Illustrations, drawn by E. Griset from Original
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+
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+
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+
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+On the Study of Language; Where had I best Travel; On Style; On English
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+a dangerous thing, etc. They are written in a lively, easy style, and
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+The writer's power of illustrating and enforcing his precepts by the
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+rarely blessed with.  The essays on Style and English Composition are
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