The next morning all were astir at Villa Baumgarten. Towards midnight a telegraphic despatch had announced the return of the councillor from Berlin, and an hour later he had arrived. He brought with him two business friends, commercial grandees, who were obliged to continue their journey in the afternoon, and for whom, to give them an opportunity of seeing several of their friends in the neighbouring capital, the councillor, before he slept, arranged a large breakfast for the next morning,—of course for gentlemen only. Cook and housekeeper had their hands full, and servants ran hither and thither noiselessly.

Kitty passed a sleepless night. The events of the previous day, and anxiety on Henriette's account, banished slumber from her eyelids. Sitting for hours at her window, she gazed out over the wind-tossed trees of the park, to distinguish, if possible, in the waning moonlight and through the falling rain, a glimpse of the white weathercock on the roof of the house by the stream; but the low dwelling had vanished, at it were, and all was quiet there, although Kitty hourly expected that some messenger sent thence would rouse the inmates of the villa with evil tidings.

From the other window she had seen the councillor arrive. In a twinkling, as if sprung from the ground, the villa servants had ranged themselves about the carriage with their lanterns; the yellow light illumined the white pillars of the porch, and sparkled and shone on the silver-mounted harness and the sleek coats of the horses,—nay, it was even powerful enough to bring into relief one or two of the marble figures in the shrubbery on the other side of the drive. It all looked most aristocratic. The councillor of commerce had sprang lightly from the carriage, in his rich, fur-lined travelling cloak, every motion of his lithe, youthfully-elastic figure proclaiming the man of wealth just grown wealthier still,—a gleaming comet, to whose sparkling track the glittering stream of gold was magnetically attracted. He had conducted his guests to their apartments, leaving the house himself, accompanied by a couple of lantern-bearing servants, towards two o'clock, to seek his rooms in the tower. Then all had gradually grown quiet in the villa; but the wind, whistling and shrieking about the house, still drove repose from Kitty's eyes. At daybreak, however, she fell asleep, to her great annoyance, for it made her late: instead of being in the house by the river at six o'clock, as she had intended, it was nine before she left the villa.

The morning was clear and beautiful. The tempest of wind had moderated to that soft southern breeze that brings upon its wings the fragrance of the first spring flowers, and caressingly but persistently seeks to draw the brown veil from the soft, shy buds. The birds were twittering upon the roof of the doctor's house, the boughs of the cherry-trees at one of its corners were sprinkled with the tender white of the opening blossoms, and the young grass could no longer hide from the light in the glorious morning sunshine. The former bleaching-ground was covered, as it were, with a misty green veil.

As Kitty crossed the bridge the waters were flowing clear and sunlit, almost peacefully, beneath its decaying wooden arches. Strange! The waves that last evening had received into their depths the rejected ring were far on their way towards the distant ocean; they alone could tell of the treacherous white hands that had burst asunder an oppressive chain.

The house by the river was pervaded by what seemed almost an air of festal solemnity. The red tiled floor of the hall was strewn with fine white sand, and there was perceptible a delicate pastille fragrance; the little table near the hall-door was covered with a fresh napkin, and upon it stood an antique clay vase filled with evergreens, snowdrops, and anemones. The faithful old cook-maid was once more installed in her kitchen, with sleeves rolled up and a dazzling white apron tied around her waist, her round red cheeks shining with good humour and content. And why was the dean's widow thus early in the morning dressed in dark-brown silk, with a fine old white lace barbe upon her gray hair, and the same delicate material around her neck and wrists? Kitty's heart sank within her. Was it all in honour of the false love who was expected to-day to visit her sick sister?

The old lady said not a word with regard to it. She only seemed agitated, and in her eyes and in her voice there were traces of tears. She greeted Kitty with the joyful intelligence that the invalid had passed an excellent night, with no return of the hemorrhage.

In gratitude for this good news Kitty kissed the delicate hand extended to her, when suddenly the widow, usually so reserved, clasped her arms about the girlish figure and pressed her to her heart like a daughter, before leading her into the sick-room.

Henriette was sitting propped up in bed while her maid was arranging her abundant hair, the doctor having retired to take some rest only an hour previously. The sick girl's long, thin face, in which the cheek-bones stood out prominently and the large eyes were encircled by dark rings, looked almost death-like, and Kitty was shocked at the alteration produced in it by the last twenty-four hours, although its expression was much happier. She could not say enough of the doctor's kindness and care, nor of how comfortable and content she felt in the dear old room, which she dreaded to think of ever leaving. She begged Kitty to return to the villa to get a book which she had promised to the widow. Flora had borrowed it of her sister and must be asked where it was. And then she whispered in Kitty's ear that Flora and her grandmother must not weary her by coming to see her too often. She had not the slightest suspicion of the scene that had been enacted at her bedside on the previous evening, and that by her means the long-threatened storm had broken forth.

Kitty could hardly bear to meet her eye, and breathed a sigh of relief when the invalid concluded by begging her to fetch the book as soon as possible, and to bring her several articles from her writing-desk, the key of which she handed to her.

In an hour, therefore, the young girl re-entered the villa. She was thoroughly possessed by the melancholy impression made upon her by Henriette's whole appearance,—the waxen pallor of her face, the sunken features, and the large, brilliant eyes. She recoiled as if from a blow when through the open door of the conservatory she saw the breakfast-table set out with flowers and silver and every costly delicacy that could be procured. A thick Turkish carpet covered the entire marble floor of the Moorish room. The feet of the guests must be made warm enough, and their heads also, to judge by the flasks of choice wine just arrived from the tower cellar.

Kitty ascended to Henriette's room and collected all the articles the sick girl had asked for, and then she dutifully went to bid the Frau President good-morning. As she passed along the corridor her light step was unheard in the hall below by two of the servants, one of whom had just received a parcel from the letter-carrier.

"Good gracious, here is this parcel back again for the third time!" he said, fretfully. "I am tired of the sight of it. I shall have to wrap it up again to-morrow and put a fresh address upon the cover. Our FrÄulein must think we have precious little to do." He turned the parcel about irresolutely. "The best thing would be to throw it into the kitchen fire and——"

"What is inside?" asked the other.

"Quantities of paper; and the FrÄulein has written upon it herself, in big, sprawling letters, 'Woman.' It may be all very fine——" He paused, in terror, and put on a respectful air: Kitty had descended the stairs and passed by him to the Frau President's apartment.

She was not admitted. The maid came out and informed her that her mistress was occupied in receiving an early visit from one of the ladies of the court. Therefore Kitty went to Flora's room to get the book Henriette wished for. She felt a repugnance to crossing the threshold, her heart beat almost audibly from inward agitation, and she was obliged to admit to herself that with this sister she had not one single spark of sympathy. All the indignation which she had so tried to conquer during the night stirred again within her and threatened to master her.

Perhaps Flora experienced similar sensations. She was standing in the middle of the room, beside a large table covered with books and pamphlets, and looked up with flashing eyes at the intruder. Ah, no; her anger was probably due to the returned parcel. There it lay, torn open, and its beautiful mistress had just scornfully tossed into the wastepaper basket the letter that had accompanied it. It was well that FrÄulein von Giese, the malicious maid of honour, was not looking on. Flora's "little finger" had apparently made a small mistake with regard to the destiny of "Woman."

"You have just come from Henriette," Flora said, hastily covering the rejected manuscript with the blue paper in which it had been wrapped. "I hear she is doing very well; I sent over at eight o'clock to inquire. Moritz has no consideration; he sent me a note, written over-night, in consequence of which I was obliged to rise early to be dressed in time, as he wished À tout prix to present his guests to grandmamma and me before breakfast. As if the fate of the world hung upon this presentation! Grandmamma will not be greatly edified."

She looked charming. It has been said that we are all apt involuntarily to dress in accordance with the mood of the hour. If this be true, Flora's awakening must have been unusually gay and glad, for her whole figure was draped in the blue of the summer skies. Even in her light curls there was a blue ribbon.

The dress harmonized but ill, to be sure, with the apartment, which looked gloomy and chilly to one entering from the brilliant sunshine outside, and would have been a more fitting background for the figure of some pale, worn scholar than it was for this graceful azure fairy. Neither did the bright and yet delicate hue suit the lady's expression of countenance, which betokened ill humour and a depression not to be concealed. Not a word was said of the occurrences of the previous evening. Apparently they were buried and forgotten; even the finger so lately stripped of its ring had found indemnification for its loss, and sparkled in the splendour of diamonds.

At Kitty's request, Flora went to a book-shelf and took from it the wished-for volume. "Henriette is not going to read herself?" she asked, over her shoulder.

"Doctor Bruck would hardly allow it; his aunt wishes to read the book," Kitty replied, coldly, as she took the volume from her sister.

A sneer hovered upon Flora's lips, and vexation shone in her eyes. She evidently regarded this mention of Bruck's name as great want of tact upon Kitty's part.

Kitty turned to go. But, as she opened the door, the councillor made his appearance, in a state of great hurry and agitation, although he looked quite radiant.

"Stay, Kitty!" he exclaimed, gaily, and stretched out his arms to bar her way. "I must convince myself that you are well and uninjured." He led her back into the room, closed the door, and threw his hat upon the table. "Now tell me, for heaven's sake, the truth of this harrowing story which Anton has been narrating to me as I have been dressing!" he went on. "My people, foolishly enough, said not one word of it all to me last night, for fear of spoiling my night's rest. I have strictly forbidden any such ill-judged forbearance for the future." He ran his hands through his hair. "I am outraged! What will the world think of my want of feeling? Henriette sick in bed, and a formal breakfast arranged for this morning! Tell me the truth of it. They say you were attacked by a mob of furies."

"I alone was the object of the attack, Moritz," said Flora, "Henriette and Kitty suffered only because they were with me. I cannot help saying that, to my mind, the principal blame in allowing matters to come to such a point is your own: you ought to have taken decided measures at the first hint of discontent among these wretches. A man of sufficient force of character is always master of such a situation. But your perpetual dread of offending and shocking makes you so weak——"

"Yes, weak enough with you, and with grandmamma," the councillor, pale with vexation, interrupted her. "You, especially, never rested until I recalled the promise I had given my workmen, and so irritated them intensely. Bruck is right——"

"I beg you spare me there!" Flora angrily exclaimed. "If you have no other authority upon whom to rely——"

The councillor approached her and looked into her eyes with amazement in his own. "What, Flora, still so hostile?"

"Do you imagine me so deplorably weak that I can assume and lay aside my views as one puts on and takes off a garment?" she asked, in reply.

"No, not that; but are you not rash thus to defy our whole cultivated society?"

"What is society to me?" She laughed aloud. "'Our whole cultivated society!'" she repeated. "Will you tell me how you can possibly find any connection between it and your poor failure of a protÉgÉ?"

The councillor shook his head, and took her hand in his; he was almost speechless with surprise. "Why, is it—can it be possible? Do you not know——"

"Good heavens! what is there to know?" she interrupted him, with an impatient frown, and a slight stamp of her small foot.

At this moment the door opened, and the Frau President entered. She was simply dressed in violet silk. It might have been that the colour made her face look shrunken and sallow, or perhaps she had had a restless night as the result of her yesterday's agitation,—she certainly looked haggard and old.

The councillor hurried towards her and kissed her hand respectfully, reminding her that he had been desirous of paying his respects to her half an hour before, but had been informed that she had not yet left her sleeping-apartment, where she was receiving a visit from FrÄulein von Berneck, one of the court ladies.

"Yes, the good creature came to express her sympathy for Henriette's illness and the shameful attack made upon Flora," she said. "We shall have a most trying day to-day: the whole town is ringing with what has occurred, and our friends are indignant; they will all be here to inquire for us."

She sank wearily into an arm-chair; her voice trembled, and all the elasticity which usually triumphed so victoriously over her years seemed gone. "FrÄulein von Berneck had another reason, and a principal one, be sure, for coming," she began again. "I know her well: she is one of those who long to be the first to tell a piece of good news, and is quite careless as to whether it may still be a court-secret or not. She came to tell me privately of the good fortune that has befallen our family." She rose and clasped her hands. "And yet what a terrible dilemma for me! I cannot tell absolutely whether to mourn or to rejoice. It certainly is most distressing that at court, where the best example ought to be set, the old proverbial ingratitude should be shown. What sacrifices BÄr has made for the royal family! And suddenly he is set aside as if the faithful old man were not in existence. And so full of vigour as he is, in body and mind,—they are going to pension him!"

"And this is old Von Berneck's good news?" Flora asked, indignantly.

"Of course not!" the Frau President replied, emphasizing her words strongly. "Flora, the strangest things are happening every day. Could you have thought it possible an hour ago that Bruck should be Hofrath and physician to the royal household?"

"Nonsensical court gossip! What will not idle brains contrive!" laughed Flora. "Hofrath and court-physician! And you listened to such ridiculous stuff, grandmamma, and were congratulated upon it?" And she broke again into a ringing laugh.

"Do you really live so far here from the civilized world that you read no newspapers?" exclaimed the councillor. "Do you actually know nothing—positively nothing—of all that has occurred, and that concerns us so nearly? Why, I have returned a day earlier on this very account. I could not rest for joy. All the papers are full of the wonderful skill Bruck has shown in L——g: it is the topic of the day in Berlin society. The Crown-Prince of R——, who is studying in L——g, had a fall from his horse, and his head was so seriously and dangerously injured that no surgeon could be found willing to undertake the only operation that could save his life: even the famous Professor H—— refused to operate. But he remembered that Bruck had treated successfully a similar case in his last campaign, to every one's astonishment. So he instantly summoned him by telegraph——"

"And you imagine this to have been your Bruck, your protÉgÉ?" Flora interrupted him. She tried to smile, but her ashy lips, as well as her whole pale, mocking face, seemed paralyzed to marble.

"It certainly was my Bruck, as I am proud to call him," the councillor replied, with evident satisfaction. He was rejoiced indeed at this fortunate turn of affairs. True, he had long ceased to have any scruples with regard to his silence in a certain matter; the manner of the miller's death no longer troubled his repose,—for he was a genuine child of the times, an egotist, who, when the choice was to be made between "another" and "self," was never for a moment in doubt that "self" was to be preferred. "And, besides this, a pamphlet he has just published has made an immense sensation in medical circles," he continued. "They say he has made a surgical discovery of great importance to the profession. Oh, there is no denying it,—a brilliant career awaits Bruck."

"Impossible!" Flora said, in a strangely altered tone. She looked like a player who stakes his last guinea upon one card. "I am not to be imposed upon! Either there is some mistake here as to the name, or—the whole story is a fabrication."

At this obstinate and unjustifiable incredulity the councillor fairly forgot the courteous forbearance and self-control he was wont to exercise in his intercourse with the ladies of his household. He stamped his foot angrily and turned away.

The Frau President stood by the table, her white, wrinkled fingers playing nervously upon its surface, her eyes fixed anxiously upon her grandchild. She entirely understood what she must feel upon hearing thus extolled the man whom she had so shamefully depreciated and slandered. It was a lamentable defeat; but these were moments in which a true woman of the world was bound to assert her supremacy.

"You cannot help yourself, Flora," she said, calmly; "you will have to believe it at last. For my part, strange as it is, I doubt no longer. The Duke of D—— is uncle on the mother's side to the crown-prince; of course he is rejoiced at his nephew's recovery, for yesterday evening I saw the order of the D—— royal household lying upon Bruck's writing-table."

"And you tell me this now for the first time, grandmamma?" Flora almost screamed. "Why was I not told yesterday? Why have you kept it from me?"

"Kept it from you?" the Frau President repeated, so indignantly that her head shook with the tremulousness that frequently attacks the old when angry. "What impertinence! What, I should like to know, could induce me to keep such a matter to myself, except the fact that during the last few months you have resented the mention of Bruck's name in your presence? I have certainly avoided it——"

"Because my views on the subject were quite in accordance with your own, chÈre grand'mÈre."

"Not at all; but because my whole soul revolts at outbursts of passion. You have been his bitterest opponent; you have judged him more harshly than the severest of his colleagues: the slightest attempt to excuse him always provoked a scene. Poor Henriette and Moritz can tell a tale upon that subject. And have you not this very moment shown how any favourable intelligence with regard to him is received by you?" She must have been agitated indeed so far to forget her almost invariable rule of silence upon disagreeable topics as thus to pass in review before others Flora's misconduct.

Flora was silent. She stood at the window, her back turned to the rest, but her gasping breath showed the struggle through which she was passing.

"And, besides, tell me when I could have told you," the Frau President continued. "Hardly yesterday, when you scarcely showed yourself in the drawing-room, after you came home, to say 'good-evening' either to me or to my guests. Neither was there any time to tell you while we were never alone at the doctor's, when the meagre comforts of his home had put you into such an ill humour."

"They were a source of annoyance to you, my dear grandmother, you will please to remember. You are mistaken as regards myself."

Kitty opened wide her honest brown eyes at this audacious denial; the anathema hurled yesterday against the "dreary old barn" still rang in her ears.

"There is no reasoning with you. I know you well. With all your boasted love of honesty and straightforwardness, you are ready to hide behind a falsehood as soon as it suits you to do so!" the Frau President, by this time thoroughly angry, declared, and, as she moved her hand upon the table, she pushed aside the bundle of manuscript lying there. The cover again fell off, revealing the "big, sprawling letters" of the title.

"Ah, is this here again upon its zigzag journey through the world?" she asked, pointing to the papers. Her tone showed how malicious she, the advocate of moderation in all things, could be. "I should think you might at last allow it its natural rest in the waste-paper basket. This perpetual offering of it for publication, with the consequent repeated rejection of it by the publishers, is, since you are so nearly connected with me, becoming unendurable. I should like to know how you would bear it if one of us should even hint a doubt of your 'great intellectual capacity;' and yet it comes to you from others every four or five weeks, put down in black and white——"

"Do not chafe yourself needlessly, grandmamma. You, as well as certain other people, may easily be mistaken," Flora interrupted her, glancing the while angrily towards her young sister. Had not the chit heard a like unfavourable judgment passed upon her mental powers on the previous day? "You are out of sorts, because you have lost in Von BÄr a good friend at court,—and indeed I cannot but sympathize with you, for Bruck will hardly understand how to further your small interests there, even for my sake. It is hard for you, very hard, and yet I cannot see why I should be your victim. I will ask permission to withdraw until the household skies are again clear." She gathered together her papers, and vanished, like a blue cloud, behind the door leading to her dressing-room.

"She is so very eccentric," the Frau President said, with a sigh. "There is nothing in her of her mother, who was all gentleness and docility. Mangold did very wrong in placing her at the head of his household while she was so young. I did all I could to prevent it, but I might as well have talked to the wind. You know well enough, Moritz, how obstinate Mangold could be."

Kitty went towards the door to leave the room. It was undeniable that Flora's early release from all authority had been an injury to her, but the young girl could not stay and hear her dead father so blamed for—refusing, for excellent reasons, to allow his mother-in-law to take the lead in his household.

The councillor followed her and took her hand. "You are so pale, Kitty, so grave and quiet," he said. "I am afraid you we still suffering from the effects of the events of yesterday, my poor child." It was not said at all in the tone of an elderly guardian.

"Kitty has been pale and silent for some days now," the Frau President hastily remarked. "I know what is the matter with her: she is homesick. You need not wonder at it, my dear Moritz. Kitty is used to the quiet life of the middle classes; they make an idol of her in Dresden; everything in the modest household revolves about the wealthy foster-child. With the best will on our part, that cannot be so here. We live too much in the world; all our social customs, the elements of our society, are so different, that she must necessarily feel oppressed and uncomfortable with us." She approached the young girl and gently stroked her cheek. "Am I not right, my child?"

"I am sorry to be forced to say 'no,' Frau President," Kitty replied, firmly, and, as she spoke, she drew back her head, evidently in protest against further caresses. "I am not made an idol of; everything in the household does not revolve about the heiress." She laughed archly. "The poor heiress has more than ever expected of her, and her errors and less indulgence than they did before she was rich. And the distinguished elements of your social circle are by no means so foreign to me as you suppose. The Prime-Minister Von B—— is a near friend of my foster-parents. Our drawing-room is, it is true, too small to accommodate card-tables, but it is a rendezvous for eminent literary men, and is often sought by musical celebrities, when, I assure you, my poor little cottage piano does good service." And again a charming and merry smile hovered upon her lips,—not, however, devoid of sarcasm: there was, indeed, an antagonistic vein in her composition.

"Thank God, my temperament is such as not to allow of my being homesick wherever I know that I am of use," she said, turning to the councillor. "So do not be afraid, Moritz, but rather give me leave to remain here for an indefinite length of time—for Henriette's sake."

"Good heaven, I have no more earnest desire than to keep you here!" he exclaimed, with an eagerness that struck even Kitty as strange.

The Frau President was again standing by the table, turning over the leaves of a book, at which she was looking so earnestly that she seemed to have neither eyes nor ears for aught else. "Of course, my dear Kitty," she said, indifferently, "you will remain here as long as you are content to do so; only your stay must not partake in the smallest degree of the character of self-sacrifice,—that we must most decidedly prohibit. Nanni is an excellent nurse, and my maid is ready to assist her if necessary. You can leave your dear invalid without anxiety."

"Let the motive be what it may, dearest grandmamma, it suffices that Kitty wishes to stay with us," the councillor eagerly interposed. He could not turn his eyes away from the young girl, who stood entirely unmoved by the words either of the Frau President or of her guardian. "Why, in the joyful hope that you would stay with us, I ordered the new grand piano——" He broke off to breathe an ecstatic kiss upon the closed thumb and forefinger of his right hand. "Kitty, you have an instrument now in comparison with which the one in the music-room is a mere spinnet. I ordered it, I say, sent directly here."

"Oh, Moritz, that is not what I meant!" cried the young girl, thoughtlessly, with a look of actual terror in her eyes. "God forbid! Dresden is and always must be my home, and Villa Baumgarten only a temporary abode." She laughed merrily. "A grand piano would be a clumsy piece of luggage to carry about with me."

"I venture to predict that you will entertain another opinion with regard to Dresden one of these days," he rejoined, with a meaning smile. "The grand piano will be here to-morrow, and will be placed for the present in your room."

The Frau President closed her book and rested her small white hand upon the cover. "You have made other arrangements than those we agreed upon," she said, with apparent composure. "They embarrass me somewhat, but I willingly comply with them. I will write to Baroness Steiner to-day and postpone the visit she was to pay us during the month of May."

"But I cannot see why——"

"Because we cannot accommodate her, my dear Moritz. Her companion, who comes with her, was to have Kitty's room."

The councillor shrugged his shoulders. "I am very sorry, then. Of course my ward must stay where she is."

He opposed her! He dared to look calmly into the irritated old lady's angry eyes and think it quite natural that the Frau Baroness von Steiner should give place to Kitty,—he who once would have moved heaven and earth, who thought no sacrifice too great, if thereby he might tempt any person of distinction to be his guest! The thin coating of social varnish which his intercourse with refined society had given him had suddenly been rubbed off, exposing the coarse, common nature of the parvenu. True, he now possessed rank, and was wealthier than most others of his present station,—he had just reaped another golden harvest,—he could plant himself defiantly upon his money-bags, and—this he was doing.

The old lady bit her lip. "I will write immediately," she said, and gathered up her train to go. "The situation in which I find myself placed, from no fault of my own, is scarcely an enviable one, I must say," she said, in a tone of some bitterness, elevating her eyebrows and speaking over her shoulder.

"And all on my account!" Kitty exclaimed, approaching, and extending her hand to detain the Frau President. "Moritz, you cannot mean that I, young girl as I am, should exclude any friend of the Frau President's. It cannot be. Have I not my own home in the mill? I shall take up my abode there when Frau von Steiner arrives."

"That you certainly will not, my dear Kitty; I decidedly protest against that," the Frau President rejoined, coldly but firmly, and all the haughty arrogance of her nature shone in her eyes. "Your mother never had any unkindness upon my part to complain of; but this intimate association of the villa and the mill is repugnant to my very soul, and least of all would I expose such a connection to the severely critical eye of my refined and aristocratic friend." She stiffly inclined her head. "I shall be in the blue drawing-room, Moritz, in case you wish to present your guests." And she left the room.

The councillor waited with a scornful air until the rustle of her silken robes had died away and the door of the music-room had closed audibly, and then he indulged in a low chuckling laugh.

"You have had your lesson, Kitty," he said. "There is no doubt that the velvet paws conceal sharp claws. Yes, yes, the old cat knows how to scratch. I myself could show scars enough. But, thank Heaven, her turn has come! She must endure what she most abhors; she is no longer dangerous. With Von BÄr pensioned, her influence at court and in society is destroyed." He rubbed his hands in smiling satisfaction. "Not a hair's-breadth shall you stir, my dear child; you have a better right in my house than all the rest of them,—remember that!"

He was interrupted. A servant entering announced that the guests awaited their host. Moritz hastily seized his hat, and would have given Kitty his arm, but she slipped past him into the corridor. This transformed guardian, with his bewildering tenderness of voice and manner, pleased her not at all; his cold, business-like letters had been much more to her taste. What a strange change there was in him! Involuntarily she thought of her recent reception in this house; she seemed still to hear the anxious whisper in which the councillor had reminded her of the respect she owed to the Frau President; and here he was, sneering at her behind her back, and beginning to set bounds to her power, hitherto so unquestioned beneath his roof. All this terrified the young girl; it was inexplicable, and as uncomfortable as the close crimson room, with its musty odour of books and papers upon which she now turned her back to return to the house by the river.