OF 
 
 CM.I?. LIBUM. LOS ANGELES
 
 MRS. A. L. WISTER'S 
 Translations from the German of E. Marlitt. 
 
 i2mo. Bound in Cloth. 
 The Owl's Nest $ 
 
 The Lady with the Rubies 
 The Bailiff's flaid .... 
 
 In the Schillingscourt .... 
 
 At the Councillor's 
 
 The Second Wife 
 
 The Old Ham'selle's Secret . 
 
 Gold Elsie 
 
 Countess Qisela 
 
 The Little Hoorland Princess 
 
 NEW ILLUSTRATED EDITION, HANDSOMELY BOUND. 
 BOLD ONLT IN SETS, 10 VOI.S., $10.00. 
 
 Other Translations. 
 
 Countess Erika's Apprenticeship. By OssipSchubin $ 
 "OThou, Hy Austria I" By Ussip Schubin .... 
 
 Erlach Court. By Ossip Schubin 
 
 The Alpine Fay. By E. Werner 
 
 Picked Up in the Streets. By H. Schobert 
 
 Saint Hichael. By E. Werner 
 
 Violetta. By Ursula Zoge von Manteuflfel 
 
 Vain Forebodings. By E. Oswald 
 
 A Penniless Girl. By W. Heimburg 
 
 Quicksands. By Adolph Streckfuss 
 
 Banned and Blessed. By K. Werner 
 
 A Noble Name. By Claire von Giiimer 
 
 From Hand to Hand. By Golo Kaimund 
 
 Severa. By E. Hartner 
 
 The Elchhofs. By Moritz von Reichenbach 
 
 A New Race. By Golo Raimund 
 
 Castle Hohenwald. By Adolph Sireckfuss 
 
 n&rgarethe. By E. Tuncker 
 
 T90 Rich. By Adolph Streckfus* 
 
 A Family Feud. By Ltidwig Harder 
 
 The Green Gate. By Ernst Wichert 
 
 Only a Girl. By Wilhelmina von Hiliern 
 
 Why Did He Not Die? By Ad. von Vo ckh..usen . 
 Hulda; or, THIS. DELIVERER. By F. Lewald . . . . 
 
 J. B. Lippincott Company, Publishers, 
 
 715 and 717 Market Street, Philadelphia. Pa.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST 
 
 A EOMANOE 
 
 TR,.A.l:TSIj.A.TE33 ^lEtCM: THE 
 OF 
 
 E. MARLITT 
 
 BY 
 
 MRS. A. L. WISTEK 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
 
 1893.
 
 Copyright, 1888, by J. B. Lippracorr COMPAHT.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 THE hawthorns and syringas in the corners of the 
 court-yard of the G-erold estate were a mass of bloom, 
 the water of the fountain sparkling in the May sun- 
 shine plashed noisily in its stone basin, and the spar- 
 rows were chattering on the roofs of barns and stables. 
 It really seemed that on this especial day everything 
 was blooming and sparkling and chattering more loudly 
 than ever in the Gorold court-yard, with a delightful 
 sense of the comfort of home, for the bushes, the foun- 
 tain, and the sparrows in their worn old nests were 
 all going to stay; they were not driven hence, as 
 were the spiders and moths from behind the antique 
 chests and cupboards in the mansion itself. Yes, it 
 looked forlorn enough in the house, almost as if it 
 were war-time ; the walls were so bare, and there was 
 such heaped-up confusion on the floor of the dining- 
 hall. Everything that prudent housewives had col- 
 lected of linen and bedroom furniture, all that their 
 lords had gathered together of household ware, silver, 
 and hunting implements, had to be carried into that 
 room, to be submitted to the inspection of coldly scru- 
 tinizing eyes, and afterwards to be torn asunder and 
 borne off to all quarters of the world. 
 
 1* 6
 
 6 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 The monotonous voice of the auctioneer, as it camo 
 through the open windows of the hall, sounded as if 
 half stifled with dust from library shelves and from 
 old furniture, and had in it something like insult, 
 " No. 1 ! No. 2 1" etc. It was almost a wonder that at 
 sound of it, with its legal twang, some one of the stern 
 old warriors lying beneath the pavement of the family 
 chapel did not start up from his slumber of centuries 
 to enter his protest. Many a doughty fist was mould- 
 ering there which, in its time, had known well how to 
 maintain by downright blows its owner's right to what 
 of goods and gold he had won, or perhaps usurped. 
 But the latest possessor of Geroldscourt, from whom 
 everything not nailed to its place or built into the 
 walls was now being dragged away, had gentler blood 
 in his veins. He was a tall, handsome man, with a 
 hrow at once lined and ennobled by thought and study. 
 
 lie was sitting at present in his quiet back room, in 
 the corner where the syringas grew high above the 
 windows. At every breath of wind the white blos- 
 soms tapped lightly on the panes; the closed win- 
 dows shut out the noise and bustle of the auction- 
 room, whence only an isolated sound now and then 
 reached this secluded apartment. 
 
 Herr von Gerold was writing at a pine table, which 
 had magnanimously been left to him from the house- 
 hold furniture. It was apparently of no consequence 
 to him that his manuscript lay scattered on the scoured 
 boards of a kitchen table ; his mind, abstracted from 
 the outer world, was absorbed in abstruse problems, 
 while his hand traced small running characters on 
 the paper; only when the syringa-blossoms brushed 
 the window-panes persistently did his look grow more 
 conscious, and become illuminated with something like
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 7 
 
 loving joy in the childish face upon which his eyes 
 rested as he suddenly lifted them. 
 
 For there was some one besides himself in the room, 
 a pretty, fair-haired little girl, who had established 
 herself in a corner by the window. The little thing 
 was as completely wrapped up in her playthings as the 
 writer was in his manuscript. She had gathered to- 
 gether in her corner all that belonged to her, and to her 
 only, the beautiful painted porcelain tea-set which the 
 kind Princess had sent her, and all her dolls. Gorgeous 
 ladies in trains, as well as the crying babies, had come 
 at Christmas and on her birthday, packed in long 
 boxes, and each time Aunt Claudine had addressed 
 them on the covers herself, ' To little Elizabeth von 
 Gerold;' papa had always read it off to her. 
 
 Little Elizabeth was now seated in the midst of her 
 possessions as in a nest, her youngest baby in her arms, 
 and her large blue eyes riveted anxiously upon the 
 door by which the ' horrid men' had a little while 
 before carried away the last pictures and the tall clock. 
 
 She patted her doll, but otherwise sat still as a little 
 mouse ; papa always looked so worried when she dis- 
 turbed him in his writing. Not a sound came from 
 her lips, when suddenly the dreaded door was noise- 
 lessly opened ; the doll slipped down from her lap, 
 the plump little creature arose from her basket-chair, 
 and tripped across the room as fast as her legs could 
 carry her, to lift her arms, her little face beaming 
 with delight the while, towards the lady who had 
 entered. 
 
 Ah, she had come, Aunt Claudine, her beautiful 
 aunt, whom she loved a thousand times better than 
 she had ever loved Fraulein Duval, her governess, who 
 had kept saying to the other people in the house, --Fi
 
 g THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 done! such a,pauvre house is no place for Claire Duval," 
 and who, before she left, had not been kind and polite 
 to papa. Now she had gone, and the child had rubbed 
 away from her cheek the cold, disagreeable kiss Frau- 
 lein Duval had given her. This was very different. 
 Two soft arms lifted her up, and a sweet mouth kissed 
 her tenderly. And then the young lady glided across 
 the floor as noiselessly as she had entered, except for 
 the soft rustle of her dark silk dress, and laid her hand 
 upon the shoulder of the writer at the table. 
 
 " Joachim," she said, in a sweet, gentle voice, stooping 
 to look into his face. 
 
 He started to his feet.. "Ah, Claudine!" he ex- 
 claimed. " Little sister, dear child, you ought not to 
 be here ! You see, I can bear it easily, I have already 
 got over it; but it will pain you terribly, all this deso- 
 lation, this scattering to the four winds, of everything 
 dear to you ! Poor, poor child I How grieved I am to 
 see your eyes filled with tears 1" 
 
 " Only a tear or two, Joachim," she said, with a 
 smile, although her voice trembled. " Old Dobbin is 
 to blame for them, our old letter-carrier, who brought 
 us our mail every morning 1 Only think, the poor old 
 brute knew me, as he was led past me just now " 
 
 " Yes, and Peter is gone, aunt," said little Elizabeth ; 
 " he is not coming back ; and the carriage is gone, 
 and papa must run to the Owl's Nest." 
 
 " No, he need not run, darling, for I have brought a 
 carriage with me," said Aunt Claudine, the consoler. 
 " I will not take off my wrap, Joachim " 
 
 " Indeed, I cannot ask you to in this house ; I can- 
 not even offer you any refreshment. The cook pre- 
 pared our last soup at noon to-day, and then left for 
 her new situation. Oh, I hoped you would be spared
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 9 
 
 the knowledge of all this ! You will have hard work, 
 dear, to forget it when you return to court." 
 
 She shook her head gently. " I am not going back 
 to the court. I am going to stay with you," she de- 
 clared. 
 
 He started. " What ! with me ? To share my poor 
 crust? Never, Claudine, never 1" He stretched out 
 his hand as if to thrust her away. " Our beautiful 
 swan the delight of our eyes, the joy of all hearts 
 fade away in the Owl's Nest ? What do you take me 
 for, to dream that I should allow such a thing ? /go 
 back gladly, and light of heart, to the old house, your 
 house, your inheritance, which you have so generously 
 placed at my disposal. It will wear a face of kindliest 
 welcome to me, for I have my work, which transfigures 
 everything, and sweetens frugal fare, and gilds the old 
 walls ; but you, you ?" 
 
 " I knew what you would say, and took the matter 
 into my own hands," she said, firmly, looking at him 
 with eyes that beamed with affection beneath their 
 long lashes. " I know that you do not need me, quiet, 
 contented hermit that you are, but what is to become 
 of your little Elizabeth ?" 
 
 He looked in a kind of terror at the child, who, in 
 preparation for departure, was trying to put over her 
 shoulders a little round calico cape, such as the Thu- 
 ringian peasant women wear. " Fraulein Lindenmeyer 
 is there," he said, with hesitation. 
 
 "Fraulein Lindenmeyer was grandmamma's faith- 
 ful waiting-maid, and has all her life been as good, 
 as gold ; but she is old and gray now, and we never 
 could intrust the child to her. And what could the 
 sentimental old creature teach, do you think?" she 
 went on eagerly, while a melancholy smile stole over
 
 10 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 his features. " No, let me atone for my error. I ought 
 not to have gone to my dear old Princess ; I ought to 
 have refused the position at court, and have done my 
 best to stem the tide of ruin here. Affairs looked 
 gloomy enough at Geroldscourt long ago, before " 
 
 " Before your brother most foolishly brought home a 
 spoiled wife from Spain, who pined away for years in 
 the German climate, until the angel of deliverance bore 
 her away from a world of suffering, eh, Claudine ?" 
 he completed her sentence, with a bitter sigh. " And 
 he was, besides, no agriculturist, but a useless fellow, 
 who studied the flowers of the field with his micro- 
 scope, delighted in their beauty, and forgot that they 
 were weeds that spoiled good pasturage. Yes, it is 
 true, the estate could not have fallen into worse hands 
 than mine, but am I entirely to blame ? Is it my fault 
 that there is in me no drop of the peasant blood which 
 assimilated so well with the blue current that flowed 
 in the veins of our ancestors ? The plough won most 
 of the G-erold wealth now scattered to the winds, but 
 1 must hang my head before the merest village day- 
 labourer who cultivates his patch of potatoes in the 
 sweat of his brow. I carry hence nothing save my 
 pen and a handful of petty coins, which must provide 
 my child and myself with bread until my manuscript 
 shall be finished and sold. That is why I am writing 
 with such feverish haste " 
 
 He paused, and with a bitter smile laid his hands on 
 the young lady's shoulders. " Yes, my darling sister, 
 we two the two last are the ducks which that re- 
 spectable domestic fowl, the ancient Gerold line, has 
 hatched out at the close of its long earthly career. As 
 children, we instinctively sought another element, I, 
 the ' dreamer/ a student and star-gazer, and you, the
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 11 
 
 nightingale with golden throat, a vision of grace and 
 elegance. And now you come to the absent-minded 
 bookworm that I am grown to be, and would fain creep 
 with him into the Owl's Nest." He shook his head 
 decidedly. " You shall not cross the threshold of the 
 old house, Claudine ! Drive home again 1 My legs 
 are grown stiff, crouched up here in this corner to be 
 out of the way of all the bustle ; a walk to the Owl's 
 Nest will do them good, and Friedrich, our faithful old 
 Friedrich, will carry the child if she gets tired. And 
 now a brief farewell, Claudine." 
 
 He opened his arms to embrace his sister in bid- 
 ding her farewell, but she eluded them. "How do 
 you know that I can go back?" she asked, gravely. 
 "I requested my dismissal, and my request has been 
 granted. My dear old Princess understood me, and, 
 without asking a single question, knows exactly how 
 matters stand. Be as discreet as she has been, Joachim," 
 a flood of crimson dyed her cheeks, " and silently 
 accept the fact that there is another reason for my 
 coming home besides my desire to be with you. Take 
 me as I come to you, with my lips closed, but with my 
 heart filled with faithful, sisterly aifection, will you not?" 
 
 He drew her towards him without a word, and kissed 
 her forehead. 
 
 She sighed as if relieved. " We shall have frugal 
 fare," she went on, with a gentle smile, " but it will be 
 our own. The Princess insists upon continuing my 
 salary, and my grandmother's legacy yields some yearly 
 income. We shall certainly not starve, and there will 
 be no need in future for you to write with ' feverish 
 haste.' No, that I will not have. You shall com- 
 plete your precious work in peace and serenity, for 
 your own amusement. And now let us begone."
 
 12 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 She looked around the bare room, and her eyes rested 
 upon a small trunk. 
 
 " Yes, that is everything that I have a legal right to 
 call mine," said Herr von Gerold, following her eyes. 
 " Not much more than the last representative of the 
 Gerolds unconsciously laid claim to when he first ap- 
 peared in the world, necessary clothes for his person. 
 And yet, no! what base ingratitude!" He struck 
 his forehead, and there was a happy gleam in his eyes. 
 " Such a strange thing, Claudine ! Think ! Do you 
 know of any friend of our family who could put his 
 right hand into his pocket and give away a couple of 
 thousand thalers without letting his left know anything 
 about it ? Rack my memory as I will, I know no one 
 who could and would do it ; no one in the world ! 
 Yesterday various chests were deposited in the next 
 room, chests which those who brought them said 
 belonged to me, and which had been withdrawn from 
 the auction by an agent of mine whom I had em- 
 powered to do so I, beggar that I am ! I think I 
 laughed in the men's faces. But they left, and abso- 
 lutely refused to carry the chests away. They contained 
 my books, Claudine, my valuable little library, which 
 it had broken my heart to see tossed into baskets 
 by profane hands to be taken to the auction-room, 
 my beloved books, faithful companions of ray solitude ! 
 Whoever rescued them from shipwreck ought to know 
 that he has given back to me the very breath of my 
 intellectual life, a sure staff for a wanderer in the 
 desert, for which may he be thrice blessed! You 
 cannot guess, can you, Claudine, who it is? Give it 
 up; we neither of us can solve that riddle." 
 
 He put up his manuscript in the portfolio lying ready 
 for it, and Claudine packed up Elizabeth's treasures in
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 13 
 
 a basket, assisted in her task by the child's small, chubby 
 hands. 
 
 Ten minutes later this last asylum was deserted, and 
 Herr von Gerold was walking along the corridor with 
 his sister leaning on his arm and his child's hand in his. 
 
 A handsomer couple could scarcely be imagined than 
 this brother and sister, hastening for the last time, and 
 with downcast looks, through their ancestral home, the 
 nest which had been added to and decorated by the 
 Gerolds for centuries, and of which strange birds had 
 now taken possession, birds with golden feathers ; for 
 the estate had been bought by some unknown man for a 
 rery high price. 
 
 On the staircase they came upon a lady on her way 
 from the wing where the auction was going on. She 
 was carefully holding up the skirt of her brown gown, 
 muttering in evident displeasure as she did so, for the 
 dust lay thick upon the stairs, which had been ignorant 
 of broom or brush during all these last days of bustle 
 and confusion. She flushed with dismay when, looking 
 up, she saw the pair before her. 
 
 " Beg pardon," she said, in a deep, harsh voice, re- 
 treating as she spoke. " I am blocking the way." 
 
 Herr von Gerold looked for a moment as if it were 
 upon his lips to say, " Must I drink this cup, too, to the 
 dregs?" But he controlled himself, and replied with a 
 courteous inclination, " The way out of this house is 
 only too open ; a little delay should be welcome to us." 
 
 " The dirt on this staircase is terrible, positively 
 shocking!" the lady declared, as if she had not heard 
 his reply, as she shook her skirts. " I never go to auc- 
 tions, chiefly because you are sure to inhale such quan- 
 
 2
 
 14 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 titles of ancient dust ! But Lothar gave me no peace ; 
 he wrote to me twice that I must drive over here to 
 secure the silver set. He will be surprised ; they ran 
 it up to an unheard-of sum." All this was rattled forth 
 with cheeks alternately pale and flushed, and eyes all 
 the while fixed upon the edges of her profaned skirts. 
 
 " For grandmamma's sake I am grateful to your 
 brother for the purchase, Beata ; she set great store by 
 the old heirlooms," said Claudine. 
 
 " What else could he do ? "We have the other half 
 of the set, and could not consent to have our crest 
 stuck up in some pawnbroker's window," the lady re- 
 joined, with a shrug. " But were you not the right 
 one, Claudine, to buy in the silver for your grand- 
 mother's sake? If I am not mistaken, she left you 
 some thousands of thalers for that special purpose." 
 
 " Yes, ' some provision for a rainy day,' as the will 
 said. My practical grandmother would have been the 
 first to blame me if I had spent it upon silver, with no - 
 bread in the cupboard." 
 
 " No bread I You, Claudine ? you, the proud, spoiled 
 lady-in-waiting 1" 
 
 " Was I ever proud ?" She shook her head with a 
 charming smile. " And spoiled ? Well, yes, that may 
 be. One does not learn to work at court." 
 
 "You never knew how to do it before, Claudine," 
 the lady blurted out, " that is - " She tried to find 
 words in which to explain, but failed. 
 
 " Go on ; you are right," said Claudine, with com- 
 posure. " The kind of work to which you allude is 
 not learned at school either. But I am going to begin 
 now; I am going to keep house in my old Owl's 
 
 " You do not mean
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 15 
 
 "That I am going to stay with Joachim? I cer- 
 tainly do. Is he not in more need than ever of affec- 
 tion and sisterly devotion ?" She clung closer to her 
 brother's arm and looked lovingly up at him. 
 
 The lady's rather pale face flushed crimson, and, 
 hastily stooping, she would have patted little Eliza- 
 beth's cheek, but the child avoided her touch and looked 
 at her askance with distrust. " Go away !" she said, 
 crossly. 
 
 Herr von Gerold looked displeased. 
 
 " Oh, let the little thing alone ! I am used to having 
 children dislike me," the lady said, with a hard, em- 
 barrassed laugh, holding her hand protectingly over 
 the little blond head. " All I meant to say was" 
 she turned again to Claudine "that you will have 
 hard work at first ; one need only look at your hands 
 to see that. And then your elegance ! You'll spoil 
 dresses enough before you learn to put on a linen apron 
 
 and cook a decent dinner, that is " Again she tried 
 
 to correct herself, as she glanced hurriedly at the down- 
 cast eyes of the beautiful girl. " Beg pardon, child, I 
 mean no harm ; I only wanted to offer you one of my 
 maids for a while. My servants are well trained " 
 
 "Every one knows that. Your fame as a house- 
 keeper has spread far beyond the boundaries of Ge- 
 roldscourt," Herr von Gerold interposed, not without 
 sarcasm. " But we must decline your offer with thanks. 
 You will easily understand that we can keep no ser- 
 vants. However my sister may perform her difficult 
 task, I shall be content and inexpressibly grateful. 
 She will always be my guardian angel, even although 
 she does not cook me a ' decent dinner' at first." 
 
 "With graceful courtesy he lifted his hat and passed 
 down the staircase, while the lady silently followed
 
 16 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 the party; her own carriage was waiting before the 
 door. 
 
 Meanwhile, old Friedrich, the former coachman, had 
 taken down the trunk, and now passed his master with 
 the basket of toys on his arm. The little girl listened 
 anxiously to the clatter of the porcelain dishes as the 
 old man walked by, and stood on tiptoe to peep at her 
 possessions, among which one venturesome doll was 
 very near toppling over the side of the basket. Frau- 
 lein Beata put out her hand hastily over the child's 
 head to catch the offender. 
 
 "Don't touch my Lena with your great big hands!" 
 the child screamed, clutching the lady's skirts. 
 
 " Ah, poor little thing ! are you disciplining it al- 
 ready?" Fraulein Beata said, with a laugh, when Clau- 
 dine. startled, put her hand over the little girl's mouth. 
 " Why should she not tell the truth ? My hands are 
 large, and all the fine speeches in the world will not 
 make them smaller. And one can see at a glance how 
 clumsy they must be at all delicate work. The child 
 protests against them as our schoolmates used to do, 
 you remember it well, Claudine. I am not an attrac- 
 tive person to my fellow-beings." 
 
 With an awkward inclination she passed down the 
 last stairs and stood in the door-way beckoning to her 
 carriage. Her figure was fine and strongty built, but 
 her movements were angular and ungraceful, and the 
 tanned face beneath bands of hair smoothed back be- 
 hind the ears did not soften the unloveliness of the 
 impression she produced. 
 
 Herr von Gerold recoiled shyly as he stepped out- 
 side the door, and would fain have taken refuge in the 
 darkest corner of the court-yard. Noise and confusion 
 were odious to him, and here, in the open space before
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 17 
 
 the house, there was a throng and a hurrying to and 
 fro as at some fair. On one hand the plush furniture 
 of his former drawing-room was being piled upon a 
 wagon ; on another, women were dragging away feather 
 beds ; kitchen utensils were being packed clattering 
 into barrels, while the prices paid for the various 
 articles were passed from mouth to mouth, with an 
 accompaniment of laughter or of grumbling as the 
 buyer was satisfied or the reverse. 
 
 Fortunately, the hired carriage in which Claudine 
 had arrived was near the door. The party entered 
 it quickly. Friedrich put the basket of playthings 
 on the front seat, closed the door with a sad, last 
 glance, and away rolled the vehicle, past all the fa- 
 miliar possessions upon which the blue skies of spring 
 looked down, past all the empty stables and stalls, 
 past blooming flower-beds, and leaping fountains, and 
 the velvet lawn of the orchard on which the white 
 blossoms lay like snow. Then the bright line of the 
 high-road lay between the meadows and fields of 
 the estate until it was shaded by woods on either 
 hand ; thence a branch road led away into the sun- 
 shine, and along it rolled the glistening and elegant 
 equipage in which Friiulein Beata von G-erold was 
 driving home. 
 
 " Must she too cross your path to-day ?" Herr von 
 Gerold said to his sister, looking angrily after the re- 
 treating carriage. 
 
 "She did me no harm, Joachim. I know her well, 
 and I do not dislike her as some people do," Clau- 
 dine rejoined. She had taken little Elizabeth on her 
 lap, and her face was so hidden in the child's thick, 
 fair curls that she was spared the last sad look at 
 all she left behind. " Beata is blunt to rudeness, and 
 b 2*
 
 18 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 apparently careless of the feelings of others, but it is 
 the result of embarrassment " 
 
 " Nonsense, child ! She is not kind, this Beata of 
 yours. She has no heart, and nothing of the spirit I 
 so adore in woman. That ideal elevation of thought, 
 that charming sensibility which emanated all uncon- 
 sciously from my poor Dolores, and with which you 
 beguile me again to-day, beggared though I be, there 
 is not an atom of it in that barbarous creature." 
 
 The light parasol of the ' barbarous creature' emerged 
 once more into the sunshine from the shrubbery on 
 the side of the road, and then vanished behind the 
 beech-trees on the outskirts of the strip of woodland 
 that marked the boundary of the estate of Gerolds- 
 court. 
 
 On the farther side of this strip, among the moun 
 tains, there was another manor-house, an unornamented 
 modern structure, with walls painted a light color, and 
 white, rolling blinds. There were no fountains playing 
 there, and but few flowers, but in wealth of trees the 
 estate was unrivalled. Gigantic old lindens wove a 
 green net-work above court-yard and mansion, the 
 front of the house alone was unshaded, and about the 
 beautiful dove-cot in the centre of the spacious lawn the 
 breath of spring and the golden sunlight played freely. 
 
 This estate was also a Geroldscourt, the inheritance 
 of the lords of Gerold-Neuhaus. In ancient times 
 the estates lying in the spacious Paulinenthal and the 
 huge forests climbing thence up the mountain-sides 
 had all been united under one rule. The Gerolds von 
 Altenstein had held sway over the life and death of 
 every creature that moved and breathed for miles 
 around ; over the peasant behind his plough, the game 
 in the forests, the scaly tribes in river and lake.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 19 
 
 Later, rather more than two hundred years since, a 
 certain Benno von Gerold, returning victor from a 
 bloody feud, had celebrated the birth of a second son, 
 born to him in his old age, by dividing the estate of 
 Altenstein between his last-born and his first-born ; 
 this was the origin of the Neuhaus line. For a long 
 time it was the less wealthy and influential branch; 
 but then various rich heiresses married into it, and 
 single members of it distinguished themselves in battle. 
 Their successors, trading upon their reputation, gradu- 
 ally rose to high offices in the state, and the family had 
 finally attained the loftiest position by the union of 
 the youngest and handsomest of its members with a 
 Princess of the reigning house. 
 
 Fraulein Beata von Gerold certainly had a right to 
 drive home complacently in her well-appointed equi- 
 page, for she was the only sister of this same ' youngest 
 and handsomest' member, and, young as she was, she 
 was in his absence the sole mistress and manager of 
 the old estate. And she understood thoroughly how 
 to rule and to manage, as had all her predecessors of 
 her sex. To put her own shoulder to the wheel, to 
 rise early, to have a sharp eye everywhere, even in 
 the darkest nook of the house, to be as it were om- 
 nipresent, had been the rule of all who had reigned 
 at Neuhaus. The villagers declared that it was not 
 so very long since the ancient spinning-wheel with 
 its worn treadle had whirred monotonously day after, 
 day during the winter at the window of the living/ 
 room, or since the strips of homespun linen had lain 
 stretched across the sunny bleaching-ground in the 
 summer. Such industry and a strict rule in dairy 
 and storehouse had principally contributed to the 
 wealth of the family ; at least so the people in the
 
 20 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 village asserted, and their assertion was not without 
 foundation. 
 
 The Altensteins, whose last scions we have seen 
 leaving their ancestral home in a hired conveyance, 
 could also look back upon a long line of industrious, 
 thrifty housewives, who had failed in no duty, but the 
 estate lay lower than Neuhaus, and of late years an 
 unhappy fate had repeatedly decreed that the entire 
 Paulinenthal should be visited by terrific tempests. 
 In an hour the low-lying lands had been deluged with 
 freshets from the mountains and flooded by the swollen 
 river, all hope of the harvest destroyed, and the land 
 laid waste for years to come. Thus, in spite of industry 
 and energy, the downward course had begun. 
 
 And these blows of destiny had fallen in the life- 
 time of a man who united in his person all the charac- 
 teristic virtues of his race, ability as a landed pro- 
 prietor, the courage of a soldier, loyalty and devotion 
 to his sovereign. Yes, Colonel von Gerold was a worthy 
 representative of his ancient line. He had, however, 
 wandered into one dark path which his predecessors 
 had shunned, the passion for play had possessed him. 
 He had spent long nights at the gaming-table, and had 
 sacrificed huge sums there. As tempests had ravaged 
 his ancestral soil, so this vice had laid waste the old 
 family strong-boxes, which for centuries had held safely 
 locked within them glittering treasures, valuable deeds 
 and documents. This ruinous career had been cut short 
 by the bullet of a comrade, whom the colonel had chal- 
 lenged in consequence of a quarrel at the gaming- 
 table ; the feverish existence was suddenly extinguished, 
 'just at the right time,' people said, but they were 
 mistaken, there was little more to lose. 
 
 The brimming eyes of the lovely maid of honour
 
 THE OWL'S NEST, 21 
 
 rested upon the face of her brother with its ' pale cast 
 of thought' as he sat beside her. Gradually it was 
 informed by an expression of serene content. Yes, this 
 dreamer and star-gazer, as he called himself, had been 
 summoned, to save all that could be saved, from Spain, 
 where he was residing when the terrible catastrophe 
 occurred. He, however, could do nothing, more es- 
 pecially as the young wife whom he brought with 
 him, the delicate Andalusian, opened her beautiful eyes 
 wide with dismay at the bare idea of undertaking to 
 play the part of a German housewife. Consequently 
 her husband had lived for her alone, and had exhausted 
 his last sources of income to preserve for her the illu- 
 sion of the wealth of the family, until finally the 
 angel of deliverance had freed her from earthly pain, 
 when he had resigned himself placidly to the ruin of 
 his fortune. 
 
 Claudine heard him breathe a long sigh of relief. 
 She followed the direction of his gaze. Ah, yes, there 
 above the forest rose the dark gray shaft of the tower. 
 There lay the Owl's Nest, the protecting roof that 
 was to shelter them. How they had smiled at court 
 when Claudine had expended all her savings in repair- 
 ing and keeping in order her grandmother's legacy to 
 her ! And now it returned her a blessing. 
 
 She could retire here to the green and peaceful 
 shade of its trees from the heated atmosphere of the 
 court. Yes, here she was at home. Home! what a 
 soothing influence the word exerted after all the dis- 
 tress and agitation of the last few months ! And he 
 who sat beside her need not live in a hired dwelling; 
 he would still be upon Gerold soil, even though it were 
 only a woodland nook on the extreme border of the 
 former estate. Heie had been the site, in days long
 
 22 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 gone by, of the convent "Walpurgiszella, close upon the 
 dividing line between the two Geroldscourts. The con- 
 vent had been built by a pious and sorely-tried ances- 
 tress of the family, and had been partly destroyed in 
 the Peasant War. The land with which the Gerolds 
 had endowed the founder had then reverted to them, 
 and the smaller portion, with the ruined structure, had 
 fallen to the share of the Neuhaus branch. They had 
 cared very little for it, allowing the ruins to fall still 
 further to decay, and time and tempest had been left 
 to wear and crumble it as they might. One wing only, 
 where the nuns' parlour had formerly been, was kept in 
 tolerable preservation to accommodate a forester. The 
 entire place had been somewhat of a burden to its pos- 
 sessors, and they were quite willing at a later period to 
 make it over to an Altenstein, the grandfather of these 
 last Gerold-Altensteins, in exchange for a bit of meadow- 
 land. 'A ridiculously romantic whim,' had been their 
 verdict when the Altenstein in question told them that 
 his wife had taken a fancy to the picturesque spot. 
 He had made it over to this dearly -loved wife, and thus 
 the Owl's Nest had become the property of Claudine's 
 grandmother. 
 
 The lofty southern portal of the former convent 
 chapel soon came in sight. The huge round of the 
 window in the blackened wall was filled in with a 
 broken rosette, the delicate stone tracery showing 
 almost like a cobweb against the vivid spring green of 
 the trees behind it. Yes, old Frau von Gerold had 
 formerly expended all her savings in preserving this 
 picturesque corner of the earth from further decay. 
 Not a stone had fallen away from the ruined church 
 for years, and the remaining wing had been converted 
 into a habitable refuge, the dower-house of the old
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 23 
 
 Frau. There she had dwelt after her husband's death, 
 and had filled with the loveliest flowers the mossy pre- 
 cincts of the ancient convent, the Walpurgis church 
 yard, as the peasants called it. 
 
 Old Heinemann, for years chief gardener at Gerolds- 
 court, had been her factotum. With indefatigable pains 
 he had cultivated the waste piece of ground ; and no 
 well-trained child could have delighted him more than 
 did this grateful bit of soil. The old man had accom- 
 panied his mistress when she withdrew to the Owl's 
 Nest, and he still occupied his room in the basement as 
 a kind of castellan, according to the directions of the 
 old lady's will. He watched over every stone in the 
 walls that threatened to crumble, over every weed that 
 sprang up in forest or meadow. " He counts the blades 
 of grass, he is a Cerberus," said Fraulein Lindenmeyer, 
 the former lady's-maid of the old Frau. For her, too, 
 an asylum had been secured for her lifetime in the 
 Owl's Nest by her mistress. She occupied the best 
 room on the ground-floor, the pleasant corner-room, 
 where she sat day after day with her knitting and a 
 novel from the circulating library, and where she could 
 overlook the road at no great distance. 
 
 These two old people lived together very harmoni- 
 ously. They prepared their meals at the same hearth, 
 and never quarrelled, although Fraulein Lindenmeyer 
 might sometimes feel some secret indignation as she 
 removed her chocolate-pot and soup-kettle from too 
 close proximity to the gardener's mess of sauerkraut 
 or leeks. 
 
 Claudine had apprised the old people of her own 
 and her brother's arrival, and she now observed 
 with satisfaction a thin column of smoke rising and 
 floating away above the trees. Fraulein Linden-
 
 24 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 meyer was certainly preparing a refreshing cup of 
 coffee which would make the 'poor beggar' forget his 
 last dreary meal of potato soup. From afar came the 
 crowing of the cock, which, with his six hens, re- 
 sided in a corner of the ruined cloisters, and above 
 the curling smoke from the chimney circled Heine- 
 mann's white doves, glittering against the blue sky 
 like silver spangles. 
 
 The road now made a gradual turn to the right, 
 which brought slowly into view the island of garden 
 and meadow, with its green-wreathed ruins in the 
 midst of the woodland shades. There lay the small 
 house, built of stone, that had formerly withstood the 
 torch and axe of the rebellious peasantry, its rough 
 and blackened walls veined with a net-work of fresh 
 mortar. It certainly was no knightly mansion, and 
 the gray coats of the owls that housed in the ruins of 
 the chapel were much more in harmony with it than 
 silken court trains would have been. No matter! It 
 was a home-like nest for unpretentious mortals ; it lay 
 embedded in luxuriant greenery, and its new windows, 
 with their spotless curtains, looked out from its ancient 
 physiognomy like clear, youthful eyes. 
 
 "Just at the right time of the year, Fraulein," said 
 Heinemann, opening the carriage door. "The beds 
 are still filled with narcissuses and tulips, and the cot- 
 tage roses are just bursting open, while the children 
 are running about the woods with their hands full of 
 May-flowers." 
 
 He had been awaiting the arrival of the carriage in 
 the road, the broad noonday sun shining full upon his 
 bare head and thick gray hair as he helped them all 
 to alight. 
 
 "Ah, it smells good here, little Fraulein, does it
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 25 
 
 not?" he said, as he lifted Elizabeth out of the vehicle 
 and held her for a minute in his arms. The child was 
 inhaling the delicious air with evident delight. " Every- 
 thing fragrant, everything in bloom, whichever way 
 j'ou look, child. Yes, the dear God is very good to old 
 Heinemann !" 
 
 He was right. The air was filled with sweet odours 
 from the beds of narcissus and from the innumerable 
 blossoms of the Persian lilac. 
 
 " And now shall we not go to Fraulein Linden- 
 meyer?" he asked the child, his eyes twinkling and a 
 broad grin on his honest face. " She is waiting for us, 
 with beautiful ribbons on her head, and she's been 
 baking cakes all the morning. There's not a whole 
 egg left in the house." 
 
 With a smile Claudine walked past him to the gate 
 in the picket-fence, where there appeared between two 
 vines flanking the entrance the old-fashioned cap with 
 pomegranate ribbons upon Fraulein Lindenmeyer's 
 gray puffs of hair. 
 
 The good old creature generally had some quotation 
 from Schiller or Goethe ready for such occasions, but 
 to-day her lips trembled with suppressed emotion. 
 Had not that noble, handsome man, her pride, the for- 
 mer lord of the finest estate in all the country round, 
 come to take refuge in the Owl's Nest? 
 
 But with great composure he took the hand which 
 was about to put a cambric handkerchief to her eyes 
 and clasped it warmly between his own. " I wonder if 
 Fraulein Lindenmeyer still understands me as well, and 
 can defend me as truly, as formerly, when some favour 
 was to be obtained from my grandmother for the shy 
 boy ?" he said gently, stooping to look into her face. 
 
 Her eyes beamed. "Ah, be sure of it," was the 
 B 3
 
 26 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 instant response. " The bell-room is all ready for you ; 
 it is heavenly up there, a genuine poet's retreat. You 
 will appreciate it." 
 
 He smiled and pressed her hand as his delighted gaze 
 wandered across the garden. Opposite the southern por- 
 tal of the ruined church, and on a line with the present 
 dwelling-house, although at some small distance from 
 it, stood the bell-tower of the convent church. Fire, 
 tempest, and the blasts of winter had gradually reduced 
 the structure, which had formerly soared high in air 
 with a lofty, pointed spire, to a low round tower, all 
 having fallen to decay above the bell-room, where the 
 mason's hand had arrested it. The old Frau had con- 
 nected the tower and dwelling-house by a narrow build- 
 ing, the lower part of which was used in winter as a 
 conservatory, while the upper part constituted a kind 
 of gallery, guarded on either side by a balustrade, and 
 leading to the rooms of the dwelling-house, as well as 
 to the lower ones in the tower, through glass doors. 
 High above shone the windows of the bell-room, which 
 still preserved its name. 
 
 Whilst Heinemann was taking basket and trunk from 
 the carriage, the others walked towards the house. 
 For a moment Claudine stood alone before the house 
 door. She turned aside, as if to inhale the fragrance 
 of a spray of syringa that drooped above her shoulder, 
 but her thoughts were far away. Across this threshold, 
 three years before, she had passed into a world filled 
 with brilliancy and amusement. By her grandmother's 
 desire and request she had been given the post of lady- 
 in-waiting to the Dowager Duchess. It had not been 
 easy for her to resign her much-coveted position ; far 
 from it. Her eyes were dim and her lip quivered. 
 She had been her noble mistress's acknowledged favour
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 27 
 
 ite, and her Highness had sheltered her from every 
 shaft of envy and malice, so that she had known scarce 
 any save the brilliant side of court life. Now all that 
 lay behind her forever, and her heart was already filled 
 with longing for her kind and gracious old mistresu. 
 The new life which she had prescribed for herself was 
 by no means an easy one. Inexperienced, ignorant as 
 to the needs and requirements of life, she had ventured 
 to undertake to be a faithful mother to the child of 
 her brother, and to relieve him of all care and anxiety, 
 husbanding every penny, that want might be kept 
 from the door of the Owl's Nest. And yet, was not 
 this her bounden duty, as her departure from court had 
 also been her bounden duty ? 
 
 She pressed her hand to her throbbing heart, and, 
 Blowly crossing the threshold, went up the staircase, 
 narrow, indeed, but scoured to a snowy white- 
 ness. As she entered the room which had been her 
 grandmother's little drawing-room she drew a long 
 breath, and said to herself that it would be sinful weak- 
 ness to allow her courage to fail here, here where 
 everything reminded her of the contented life of a 
 gentle, though strong, feminine nature, where the dear 
 old portraits of good people greeted her kindly from 
 the walls. At court, to be sure, the walls of her room 
 had been hung with lofty mirrors and rich stuffs, her 
 foot had trodden upon costly rugs, and a richly-carved 
 canopied bedstead with silken curtains, in the adjoining 
 apartment, had been her resting-place at night. But 
 the same Venetian glasses had reflected the figure of 
 her predecessor, the same canopy had guarded her 
 slumbers, and in a few days a successor would occupy 
 the same apartments ; she had but borrowed them. 
 Where she now stood taking off her hat and mantle
 
 28 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 to stay was her own, her home, with its old-fashioned 
 convenient furniture, its antique bookcase, and its odd 
 corner-cupboards containing her grandmother's porce- 
 lain and china. Little Elizabeth ran towards her in 
 high glee with a piece of cake; her grandmother's 
 copper tea-kettle was smoking on the sofa-table, the 
 door leading to the platform of the connecting structure 
 stood wide open to admit the fragrant breeze from the 
 garden, and at the other end of the short gallery one 
 could see through the glass door into the lower room of 
 the tower, the room which had been her own during 
 her girlish vacations, which she had always passed with 
 her grandmother. More even than by beholding these 
 dear old places was she encouraged and cheered by the 
 sight of her brother. His step was as elastic as if he 
 had been relieved from an almost intolerable burden ; 
 and afterwards, when she went up with him to the 
 bell-room and arranged his manuscript and papers on 
 a table by the window, he said, " It is a trite image, 
 but I can find none better: I feel at this moment like 
 a man who, after being wrecked on stormy seas, treads 
 once more his native soil, and longs to fall down and 
 kiss it gratefully." 
 
 Two weeks had passed since then, weeks filled with 
 work and exertion which had brought their reward. 
 Yes, it was a success, even although the coarse apron 
 donned for household purposes now and then showed 
 scorched spots, and although the hands of the newly, 
 made cook were very sensitive to rough usage. Frau- 
 lein Lindenmeyer's assistance was from the first de- 
 clined. She was frail and old, and often needed care
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 29 
 
 and nursing. Heinemann, on the other hand, was of 
 inestimable service ; he performed all the ruder tasks 
 required in the housekeeping. 
 
 To-day for the first time Claudine found time to 
 mount to the roof of the tower. The morning sun 
 lay brightly upon its hoary head, the brazen tongue 
 of which the bell that had once sounded its summons 
 over forest and hill had long before been hurled into 
 the depths below by infuriated peasants. The topmost 
 walls were flecked with yellow stone-crop struggling 
 forth to the light from every rift and chink, and for all 
 its aged dignity the old pile gladly harboured and shel- 
 tered the tiny feathered folk, that built and bred and 
 piped and twittered beneath its window-sills and ledges. 
 And up from the garden, and from the greenery that 
 draped the ruins of the chapel, came the dreamy hum 
 of ' innumerable bees' and of the wild horde of wasps, 
 insatiate in their thirst for the sweets that May offers 
 in her chalices. 
 
 Over it all arched the blue sky, only now and then 
 traversed by a bird in its swift flight, clear as crystal, 
 as far above the earth, with its blooming growth and 
 mouldering decay, as are the thoughts of the Most High 
 above human dreaming and striving; but on the distant 
 horizon it met the swelling mountain-range and melted 
 into it. There the Paulinenthal broadened to a plain, 
 to be cut off by those far-off heights. A delicate 
 golden mist veiled the level landscape and obscured the 
 ducal castle. Nothing was to be seen of its lofty 
 structure, its flag-decked towers, its broad terrace 
 steps, at the foot of which the swans circled, furrowing 
 the placid silver of the little lake; nothing of the 
 thicket of magnolias and orange-trees in the wondrous 
 conservatories, where the atmosphere, heavy with fra- 
 
 3*
 
 30 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 grance, brought the blood throbbing to the temples and 
 made the heart beat with a sense of oppression ; noth- 
 ing of the lofty windows, behind which a young wife, 
 the daughter of a king, slender and very pale, walked 
 feebly hither and thither, coughing from time to time, 
 and longing for a glance from the dark eyes whose 
 looks of imploring passion were given to another. 
 
 Claudine hastily retreated from the parapet, pale to 
 the lips. Was it for this that she had ascended hither 
 under the cool blue, to be assailed by such memories 
 of all from which she had fled ? Yes, heaven and 
 earth met and mingled in the human heart, as they 
 did there on the distant horizon. 
 
 She turned away from the sunlit expanse and looked 
 northward. Woods, nothing but green woods, in that 
 direction, except where the broad road cleft the foliage. 
 There in distant perspective like a little framed picture 
 could be seen the Neuhaus mansion, its many-windowed 
 facade standing out among its circle of lindens. There 
 a strong and rough but pure breeze was blowing under 
 Beata's rule. For some time there had been a cool- 
 ness between the two branches of the family. The 
 Neuhausers had publicly condemned the colonel's ' god- 
 less devotion to the gaming-table,' and there was an 
 end of all pleasant intercourse between the families, 
 which had formerly intermarried several times. Lothar 
 and Joachim, the present representatives of the two, 
 and about the same age, had studiously avoided each 
 other, although Claudine and Beata, who were pupils 
 of one and the same pension, were far more friendly. 
 
 Thus no one had been surprised when the two 
 Gerolds who suddenly appeared at court had held 
 coldly aloof from each other, Lothar, the elegant, 
 satirical officer, and Claudine, the new lady-in-waiting.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 31 
 
 Lothar was a distinguished figure, imperious in demean- 
 our, conscious of having attained the goal of his ambi- 
 tion, flattered and caressed by the court circle, and he 
 had seemed quite to overawe and embarrass Claudine. 
 It was just before his marriage with the Princess 
 Katharina, the cousin of the reigning Duke, and the 
 girl had not taken it amiss that from his dizzy height 
 he had ignored the daughter of the impoverished 
 branch of his family, which had wellnigh extinguished 
 the splendour of the ancient name, whilst he could now 
 add to it the title of Baron, lately conferred upon him 
 by the Duke. She had been a shadow on the path- 
 way of this brilliant star in the firmament of the court, 
 and this thought had sufficed to cause her to shrink 
 from all possible contact with one so lofty in position. 
 
 How ineffably plain and simple did his paternal 
 mansion show in the landscape at this minute in the 
 light of the event which had crowned his ambitious 
 hopes, his marriage! She could see him now in her 
 mind's eye as he had stood beside the Princess on the 
 steps of the altar, surrounded by all the glittering pomp 
 and splendour of the court. The insignificant figure 
 of the bride, buried, as it were, in satin and lace, had 
 nestled close to his lofty form, as if she feared even then 
 that be whom she had shown such determination to wed 
 might be snatched from her, and her black bead like 
 eyes had gazed up at him fixedly in passionate devotion. 
 And he? He had been deadly pale, and his 'yes' had 
 been harshly, almost angrily, uttered. Had he been 
 seized with a vertigo on the summit of his fortune, or 
 had he suddenly been assailed by a foreboding that he 
 should not long enjoy it, that the loving black eyes would 
 close forever a year afterwards beneath the pines and 
 palms of the Riviera, whither their travelling-carriage
 
 32 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 had borne the pair immediately after the marriage 
 ceremony? Yes, the Princess had died there in their 
 lovely villa after giving birth to a daughter, and there 
 the bereaved husband was still living, to give the child, 
 a frail little creature, the benefit, it was said, of the 
 warmer climate, but it might well be from a reluctance 
 to quit the scene of his short-lived happiness. He had 
 not seen his native place since, and it could hardly be, 
 if he did return, that he would occupy the quiet lonely 
 house yonder, which was surely best for the hermits 
 of the Owl's Nest and for the soothing serenity of the 
 woodland oasis. 
 
 Claudine leaned smiling over the balustrade of the 
 tower and looked down into the garden that lay be- 
 neath her like a bright chess-board with its brilliant 
 flower- and vegetable-beds. " Lullaby, lullaby," sang 
 little Elizabeth, as she trudged along the principal path 
 with her favourite nursling wrapped in a pink cloak 
 in her arms. Heinemann had stuck a bunch of May- 
 flowers in her straw hat, and Fraulein Lindenmeyer 
 was watching the happy little creature from the arbour, 
 where she was tying asparagus into bunches for Heine- 
 mann. The old gardener sold surplus vegetables and 
 flowers in the neighbouring little town ; the proceeds 
 of such sales were his own by the will of his deceased 
 mistress. 
 
 He was just coming from the ruins with an armful 
 of chips, and through the open glass door was heard 
 the deep bell of the tall clock in the dwelling-room 
 striking eleven, time to go to the kitchen. 
 
 " Labour is no disgrace," Heinemann remarked soon 
 afterwards in the kitchen, with a side-glance at the iron 
 pan which Claudine had placed on the hearth, " no, 
 none at all ; and a couple of black spots do not deface
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 33 
 
 delicate fingers any more than does the black earth my 
 white narcissuses when they come up out of it. But 
 to come directly from a court to a kitchen, why, 'tis 
 just as if my beautiful gloxinias should come up in the 
 chicken-yard, poor things! It just chokes me to look 
 on and see it. If it had to be ; but there is no ab- 
 solute need of it that I know. 'Tis all very well to 
 save, I don't throw away my pennies; God forbid! 
 but there's reason in all things, Fraulein Claudine." 
 He looked significantly at the very tiny piece of but- 
 ter which had just been put into the pan in which a 
 couple of pigeons were to be cooked. ' " That's not 
 enough for a barefooted friar!" He shook his head. 
 " No* need for us to shave as close as that, not as close 
 as that. We are richer than you think, Fraulein 
 Claudine." 
 
 He spoke the last words very slowly, and with such 
 significant emphasis that the young lady looked up at 
 him in surprise. "Have you discovered a treasure, 
 Hcinemann?" she asked, smiling. 
 
 " That's as one chooses to look at it," he said, wagging 
 his head, while countless little wrinkles at the corners 
 of his eyes expressed much secret satisfaction. " 'Tis 
 neither silver nor gold. God knows a fellow might 
 search himself blind among the old ruins and never 
 pick up a farthing's worth. No, no ; it all stuck to the 
 fingers of those murdering thieves long ago. Why, 
 they even tore off the gold spangles from the petticoat 
 of the infant Jesus! But there are other things of value 
 besides church vessels and ornaments. You see, the 
 convent once owned a deal of land. Many a young 
 girl joined the order, bringing wealth in land with her, 
 and it was all turned to profit, let out for farms, and 
 there were tithes of grain and poultry and honey and
 
 34 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 God knows what besides, and the convent farms were 
 well managed. The old pile here flowed with milk and 
 honey, like the land of Canaan, and the nuns knew how 
 to turn what came to them into shining coin. Many a 
 freight-wagon left the convent gates laden with casks 
 and chests to be sold out in the world. Ah ! the nuns 
 knew what they were about right well, right well. 
 And everywhere on the meadows there were heath- 
 berries and blackberries and strawberries, all good for 
 bees, which were more plentiful here than on the great 
 bee-farms in Hungary in our time. Yes, indeed; and 
 yesterday evening I was down in the cellar, where I 
 had long since noticed there were a couple of loose 
 stones that needed some mortar. What with" the 
 clearing out and cleaning of the upper rooms, I had 
 put off attending to it; but last evening I thought I 
 ought to be ashamed of my neglect, and I got my 
 mortar-bucket and trowel and went down. I took hold 
 of the loose stone, and it suddenly came out in my 
 hands, and, good gracious! before I knew what was 
 going to happen, more stones rattled out, until there 
 was a hole there big enough for a man to get into, and 
 when I looked in, what did I see ? Why, wax 1" 
 
 He paused for a moment, as if to revel in the remem- 
 brance. " Yes, wax ; beautiful, pure, yellow wax," he re- 
 peated, emphasizing eveiy word. " Plate upon plate, 
 a whole, dry cellar-full, just under the tower!" He 
 shook his head. " 'Tis a marvel ! Old fellow as I am, 
 I love a fairy-tale, and I felt as if I were in the middle 
 of one ; for what fills that cellar is the same as a chest- 
 full of gold. The nuns must have been storing it up 
 for years years! There's a many hundred-weight; 
 and they knew its value well enough, or they would 
 never have walled it up so tight before they ran off.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 35 
 
 And I know it too, for I've kept bees myself, and have 
 sold what they brought me." 
 
 Involuntarily Claudine had paused in her occupation, 
 and had followed the man's story with eager interest 
 as his honest old face brightened with delight and pride 
 in his discovery. " Yes, yes ; there's a couple of thou- 
 sand thalers' worth there at least," he said, with a long 
 breath and a merry twinkle of his eyes. " Hm ! a tidy 
 little dowry which the nun's ghosts, that walk still, they 
 say, have stored up specially for our Friuilein." 
 
 Claudine laughed. " I don't think we ought to appro- 
 priate your discovery, Heinemann," she said, shaking 
 her head. " The former owners here have the same 
 rights as ourselves." 
 
 The old gardener's look turned suddenly to one of 
 
 surprise and dismay. " They surely will not ?" he 
 
 stammered. " Why, it would be a sin and a shame ! 
 That Neuhauser, with all his wealth and princely luck 
 into the bargain, would sooner cut off his hand than 
 snatch at such a petty morsel I To be sure," he 
 shrugged his shoulders, " no one can tell. So many 
 fine gentlemen nowadays want all that they can get, 
 and it may be that the Herr Baron will hold out his 
 hand and not say ' no' when it cornes to the point. 
 Mercy on us ! I no more dreamed of the Neuhausers 
 putting a spoke in our wheel than I did of the skies 
 falling. Well, well, we must wait and see if some one 
 does not scrape the very butter off our bread." He 
 sighed and went towards the door. "But you must 
 come and see it all, Fraulein Claudine. I'll go down 
 and clear out a couple of stones that are in the way, 
 and see that everything overhead is in order, so that 
 there may be no accident, and after that I've done 
 with it "
 
 36 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Soon afterwards Claudine and her brother accom. 
 panied the old man to the cellar. 
 
 It was a fine, dry, cool room which the lantern in 
 Heinemann's hand revealed to them. Yes, these walls 
 dated from the time when the noble might build as he 
 chose, without making any considerable hole in his 
 purse, when the peasants were serfs, whose labour 
 transported hither the huge, smooth stones and ce- 
 mented them o thoroughly that no dampness could 
 penetrate the thick walls. It was no wonder that the 
 waxen treasure of the nuns still lay here just as it 
 had been piled by the hands so long since fallen to 
 dust. There it was, disk heaped on disk; the outsides 
 brown with age, it is true, but where freshly broken 
 showing as bright and yellow as if just from the 
 melting-pot. 
 
 "Just as good as coined gold," said Heinemann, 
 swinging his lantern around so as to show the piles 
 of wax on every side. "And all that collected by 
 the little fellows in yellow breeches." 
 
 " And the cups, the blossoms where they gathered 
 it, bloomed centuries ago," Herr von Gerold said with 
 some emotion. "If I had the disposal of the treasure, 
 not a finger should be allowed to touch it." 
 
 " Lord preserve us !" the old gardener ejaculated in 
 dismay. 
 
 "Even although no inscriptions can be found upon 
 the surfaces of the disks such as have been deciphered 
 on the wax tablets of the ancients," Herr von Gerold 
 went on, regardless of the interruption, "they are vivid 
 mementos of the secluded existence of the cloister. 
 What was the inner life of the nuns, while their busy 
 fingers transformed to the shape we see here what the 
 humming, ' heavy-winged thieves' had brought to them
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 37 
 
 from the blooming, lovely, wicked world outside the 
 convent walls ! What were their thoughts " 
 
 " Allow me, Herr von Gerold, I can tell you exactly. 
 They thought of the glittering coin the wax would 
 bring them, and nothing else," Heinemann interposed 
 respectfully, but with such a twinkle in his eyes thut 
 Herr von Gerold could not help laughing. " The nuns 
 and monks were always fond of hoarding. I've read 
 all about it, and of how the pious ladies in the convent 
 could wheedle the last savings and the tiniest spot of 
 ground out of those who were so frightened at the idea 
 of leaving the world, that they were ready to sign 
 away everything in payment for pra}"ers for their sal- 
 vation. It was just the same then as it is now, 
 man grasps whatever he can get; he is but a poor 
 creature of earth, and has never yet been born with 
 wings. Only there's no need to pull such a holy face 
 and pretend that it's all for the glory of God and His 
 righteousness." 
 
 He let the light of his lantern play upon the walls of 
 the chamber. "What a beautiful cellar it is! Not a 
 trace of the fire that destroyed so much is to be seen 
 here. We shall make good use of this room, Fraulein 
 Claudine. All the other underground rooms are useless, 
 except that miserable hole," pointing towards the 
 email cellar beneath the dwelling-house, " where there 
 is hardly room for a few potatoes. And so we'll get 
 all this stuff out into the air as soon as possible." 
 
 "That must not be, my dear Heinemann," Claudine 
 said, decidedly. "This must all remain just as it is, 
 untouched, until it has been inspected by some one of 
 the Neuhausers. Will you not write to Lothar ?" she 
 said, turning to her brother. 
 
 " I ?" Herr von Gerold exclaimed, with an air of 
 4
 
 38 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 comic dismay. " Dear heart, anything that you desire 
 save only that ! You know " 
 
 " Yes, I know," she said, smiling. " Nor do I wish 
 to have anything to do with the Herr Baron. I will 
 confide the matter to Beata. She can either come 
 herself, or send some suitable person." 
 
 Herr von Gerold nodded. " It can do no harm to 
 inform them at Neuhaus of the discovery. The world 
 is censorious, and, hearing of what has been found, 
 would probably exaggerate and be ready to accuse 
 the finders of concealment. No shadow of the kind 
 must fall upon my little sister. Lothar will think just 
 as I do. The nuns' wax has been unowned property 
 for so long that it now belongs to whoever owns the 
 place where it was found. Nota bene, according to 
 Roman and common law only half, however, for the 
 other half goes to the finder, in this case our Heine- 
 mann." 
 
 The old gardener started in positive terror. " To 
 me ? The half of what is found on Gerold soil mine ? 
 That would bo a fine affair 1 What had I to do with 
 the old stones tumbling out of the wall ? Was it any 
 merit of mine? And what do I want with the stuff?" 
 He shook his head energetically. " I have enough, and 
 more than enough, to keep me while I live. I have no 
 care for the future, thanks to my dear old mistress. 
 No, don't mention anything of the kind to me, Herr 
 von Gerold. Not a crumb will I take, not even so 
 much as would wax an end of thread ! But I suppose 
 things ought to be managed rightly, so let some one 
 come over from Neuhaus and stick his nose in here, 
 that there may be no stupid gossip hereafter."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 39 
 
 The next afternoon Claudine walked through the 
 forest to the Neuhaus Geroldscourt. She wanted to 
 speak to Beata herself. She went by a narrow foot- 
 path which, winding through the woods, at last led 
 into the broad road, leading from the highway, near 
 the Altenstein Geroldscourt. 
 
 It was a tolerably long distance which she had to 
 walk, but the path was carpeted with moss as soft as 
 velvet, and above her arched the luxuriant interlacing 
 boughs of gigantic trees. She herself, the lovely swan 
 of the Gerolds, as her brother had tenderly called her, 
 flitted, in her light summer dress and straw hat, like 
 a ray of light through the delicious green twilight 
 that surrounded her until she reached the road, which 
 gradually ascended the mountain-side through thinner 
 forests, and then past fields of clover and young 
 wheat, through a country rich in every agricultural 
 blessing. 
 
 Involuntarily she stooped and gathered a handful 
 of the buttercups that shone among the rich meadow- 
 grass like little golden eyes. Before long the windows 
 of Neuhaus were in sight. The castle, as it was called, 
 was situated on a gentle eminence ; a velvet lawn 
 clothed the slope ; the grass there was cultivated for 
 beauty, not for utility. 
 
 Claudine approached by a narrow path leading di- 
 rectly through the lawn. Her eyes were bent upon 
 the ground, and she did not look up until she reached 
 the gravel sweep beneath the lindens on the western 
 side ; there she paused for a moment, disagreeably 
 surprised, and for the moment uncertain whether to 
 advance or not. There were visitors at Neuhaus. 
 
 A lady, who had apparently been walking to and 
 fro beneath the lindens, approached her; she was
 
 40 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 tall and stately, with a very fair complexion and dark 
 eyes. Her rich gray silk train trailed on the gravel, 
 and in the comb which fastened her thick braids of 
 hair high on her head jewels were sparkling. She 
 carried in her arms a child, a puny sallow little crea- 
 ture in a long dress, the lace trimming of which almost 
 touched the ground. 
 
 Claudine gazed as if spell-bound at the child's face. 
 She knew those large glittering beady eyes, the aqui- 
 line nose above the pouting lips, the low forehead above 
 which the black hair bristled so thickly, the resem- 
 blance was strong to the collateral branch of the 
 reigning ducal family. 
 
 " Want them !" the child stammered, reaching out for 
 the buttercups in Claudine's hand. 
 
 The young lady with a kindly smile would have put 
 the flowers into the outstretched hand, but the person 
 carrying the child retreated hastily, as if there might be 
 infection in such contact. " Oh, no, if you please ! I 
 cannot allow that!" she insisted, with a contemptuous 
 glance at Claudine's simple attire. There was some- 
 thing decidedly hostile in the woman's fiery eyes. 
 
 The child thus denied began to scream loudly, and 
 at that moment a gentleman came around the corner 
 of the house. " Why is the child screaming so fright- 
 fully ?'' he asked, approaching in evident irritation. 
 
 Claudine involuntarily assumed the coldly-reserved 
 demeanor which had been her shield and breastplate at 
 court. Baron Lothar had returned to Germany, and 
 the wayward little girl was his child. 
 
 " Want them !" the little thing repeated in the midst 
 of its screams, and pointed to the flowers. 
 
 Baron Lothar shook his finger at it gravely, and it 
 stopped screaming. His bearded face flushed, and there
 
 THE OWL'S JVEST. 41 
 
 was irritation in his eyes at sight of the former lady- 
 in-waiting, who stood before him coldly self-possessed. 
 Nevertheless he bowed courteously. 
 
 "Little one," he said, with a sarcastic smile, to the 
 child, as he wiped away the tears from the puny face, 
 "who would have flowers plucked by another! You 
 must learn that fair hands delight to withhold what 
 is desired." 
 
 Claudine looked at him, idolized and spoiled by 
 women as he had been, in incredulous surprise, but 
 she was not at all embarrassed by his sharp speech. 
 " The child shall not learn so hard a lesson from me," 
 she said, gently. " And I really have no right to these 
 flowers, they grew in your meadow. Will you now 
 
 allow me ?" turning to the woman in charge of 
 
 the little girl. 
 
 Baron Lothar turned also to the stately dame in 
 angry surprise. "Now?" he repeated. "How so?" 
 
 " I was afraid that Leonie might put the flowers in 
 her mouth," was the stammered reply. Vexation and 
 confusion struggled for the mastery in the tone in 
 which the words were spoken. 
 
 His lip curled with contempt. " And the wild-flow- 
 ers, torn up ruthlessly and heaped beside the child's 
 carriage and on the coverlet, who gave her those, 
 Frau von Berg ?" 
 
 The lady was silent and turned away her head, while 
 Claudine made haste to give the flowers to the child, 
 for the scene was becoming embarrassing. The tiny 
 hands forthwith began to pull the poor yellow blossoms 
 to pieces. Involuntarily Claudine was reminded of the 
 child's mother, the Princess Katharina, who, it was 
 said, at the time of her incipient passion for the hand- 
 some Lothar, used to pull to pieces flower after flower 
 
 4*
 
 42 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 with a feverishly murmured " He loves me, loves me 
 not," etc., thus destroying the loveliest roses, the rarest 
 blossoms, in the hot-house. 
 
 Perhaps Baron Lothar's thoughts were similarly 
 employed ; he looked on with a frown at the work of 
 destruction and shrugged his shoulders. " I must beg 
 you to let the child lie down again," he said to Frau 
 von Berg. " She has been sitting up too long, and is 
 tired, as she shows by leaning forward." 
 
 The lady rustled away to get the child's carriage, 
 while Claudine, with an inclination of her head, would 
 have left the master of the house, but he walked beside 
 her. 
 
 As they turned around the corner a light breeze 
 awoke, stirring the leaves of the lindens above them 
 to a low murmur. 
 
 "How mysteriously they whisper up there!" said 
 Baron Lothar. "Do you know what the old trees 
 whisper about ? About the Montagues and Capulets 
 of the Paulinenthal ?" 
 
 The young lady smiled coldly. "At a girls' school 
 there is seldom any thought of family feuds," she 
 replied, with composure. " Girls like one another 
 without asking if they may; and if I come to-day 
 where my people have not been welcome, it is to see 
 my school-mate. I spent part of my last school holi- 
 days at Neuhaus ; the beautiful old trees know me." 
 
 He bowed silently and walked on, while she entered 
 the hall. There was no need to ask after Beata ; the 
 clear, energetic voice of the ' school-mate' was distinctly 
 audible behind a door leading into a room looking on 
 the court-yard. 
 
 " Come, don't be silly, child !" it said. " I have no 
 time to waste. Hold out your hand !" Then came a
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 43 
 
 moment's pause. " Only see how beautifully the cut is 
 healing ! We can draw out that stitch now." A low cry 
 in a youthful voice followed, and then there was silence. 
 
 Claudine opened the door noiselessly. The atmos- 
 phere of the ironing-room greeted her senses. At a 
 long table three women were standing ironing dili- 
 gently, while Beata at a window was re-bandaging the 
 injured hand of a young servant-maid. 
 
 She did not perceive her visitor, but her keen eyes 
 strayed from the bandage she was adjusting to the 
 ironing-board. " Louise, you dunce, what are you 
 doing?" she exclaimed. "Good heavens, one of my 
 best collars in your unskilful hands! What business 
 has such a beginner as you to attempt to iron that?" 
 She took the embroidered collar from the girl, sprinkled 
 it with water, and rolled it up. " I will repair the mis- 
 chief myself by and by," she said to the others, pointing 
 to the tiny bundle. Then she turned towards the door 
 and discovered Claudine. On the instant genuine, cordial 
 delight quite transfigured her harsh features. " Have 
 coffee made instantly !" she called back into the ironing- 
 room, as she put her arm around the young lady's waist 
 and led her into the sitting-room, the spacious beauti- 
 ful corner apartment, with its dark antique mahogany 
 furniture, its white-pine flooring, and its spotless white 
 curtains. Just so the room had looked before either 
 Lothar or Beata had been born, when the old spinning- 
 wheel had hummed in the window-recess. 
 
 The shades of the three windows toward the south 
 were pulled down, but the two windows that looked 
 toward the east needed no screen from the broad after- 
 noon sunshine. The lindens arched above them, and 
 beneath their interlacing foliage there was a clear, un- 
 impeded view of the blooming, sunlit landscape.
 
 44 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " Now make yourself comfortable, dear old school- 
 mate," said Beata, leading her visitor to a seat at one 
 of these windows. She took off her hat and passed 
 her hand lightly over the beautiful and abundant hair, 
 which, carelessly knotted at the back, had been some- 
 what loosened beneath the hat. " There it is, just as 
 we all liked to see it, those wavy curls on your fore- 
 head and neck ! No false ' bangs' do you ever wear, 
 and the court barber has had no chance to touch your 
 head with his tongs. Ah, you have come tolerably 
 whole and sound out of that Babel I" 
 
 Claudine smiled and sat down at Beata's work-table. 
 Beside some fine mending lay a beautifully bound copy 
 of Scheffel's ' Ekkehard.' 
 
 " Yes, you see, dear," said Beata, half apologetically, 
 noticing the book, as she busied herself with the ar- 
 rangements for serving the coffee, " a woman like my- 
 self, who has to play gendarme to indolence and care- 
 lessness all day long, and to work very hard herself 
 into the bargain, clings all the more tenaciously to her 
 rare hours of refreshment, and so I gradually gather 
 together in my small library all that is best in our 
 modern literature." 
 
 So saying, she put both book and mending into her 
 work-basket and covered the table with a napkin, then 
 brought out the sugar-box, an old-fashioned lacquered 
 tin case with a strong clasp. She opened it and made 
 a wry face. " Yes, I thought so, and no wonder, with 
 all the hubbub, they have put soft sugar into the box 
 for the best. Did any one ever hear of such careless- 
 ness I Oh, Lothar played me such a trick ! The fellow 
 answered my letter telling him of the purchase of your 
 silver, and informed me that he was coming back him- 
 self. I supposed that he would arrive at the earliest
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 45 
 
 in July, and was in no hurry, when suddenly, just as 
 we were in the middle of our big wash, the day before 
 yesterday, he came down upon us like an avalanche 
 with bag and baggage. It was terrible; I needed all 
 my presence of mind, for the housekeeper lost her head 
 entirely and made mistake after mistake." 
 
 She lit the spirit-lamp under the coffee-urn and cut a 
 piece of cake into slices, Claudine meanwhile reflecting 
 upon how well she looked in her wide, snowy apron, 
 her linen collar and cuffs, as ' on hospitable thoughts 
 intent' she played the part of hostess. Her self-pos- 
 ses'sion contrasted oddly enough with the awkward, 
 almost offensive demeanour of the ' barbarous woman' 
 who had been encountered on the staircase at Alten- 
 stein Geroldscourt. 
 
 "Lothar alone would have given us no trouble at all," 
 she went on, after she had taken a bowl of early straw- 
 berries from the cupboard, " although he is spoiled 
 enough ; but the train of people whom he is obliged to 
 drag about with him! There is Frau von Berg, her 
 maid, and a child's nurse, with several men-servants ; 
 all must be provided for. And the child, the child 1 
 Such a poor little creature has never been seen before 
 within the walls of Neuhaus, no, never! Heavens! 
 what would Ulrich Gerold, my sturdy grandfather of 
 blessed memory, have said to it? 'Worthless brats' 
 he used to call such bloodless little things. Positively, 
 the child cannot stand on its little spindle-legs, and it is 
 nearly two years old. Baths of wild thyme and fresh 
 milk would do the poor little creature good, but none 
 of us dare to interfere with Frau von Berg's compli- 
 cated method of treatment; she is as infallible as the 
 Pope. Lothar's mother-in-law, the old Princess Thekla, 
 engaged her to take charge of her grand-daughter, and
 
 46 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 seems to be fairly in love with the fat, disagreeable 
 creature, who is utterly distasteful to me." 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders, poured the steaming 
 coffee into the cups, and sat down, whereupon Clau- 
 dine explained the purpose of her visit. 
 
 Beata stirred the coffee in her cup and listened in 
 silence, but when it came to the discovery she looked 
 up and laughed. "What! wax? And I was fancying 
 that old Heinemann bad found a chest-full of gold and 
 silver church-vessels! Wax! Well, after all, Ben 
 Akiva was wrong: this is new. And those nuns, who, 
 the poets say, were mostly pure, white roses, pining, 
 pale and emaciated, behind their barred windows for 
 
 the joys of a worldly life " She laughed again. 
 
 " The Walpurgis nuns evidently had no time for that. 
 They must have been positive elves of thrift and fru- 
 gality. According to our old family chronicle, there 
 were two Gerolds among the nuns when they were 
 driven out. Who knows whether they were not the 
 very ones who descended into the cellar with trowel 
 and mortar to wall up the booty from the rapacious 
 rebels? Who knows? I would have done it." She 
 shook her head, smiling. " A strange story. And it is 
 almost as strange that I should have sitting before me 
 here the honest creature who in all seriousness pro- 
 poses to divide the treasure with us disk by disk !" A 
 gleam of merriment lit up her strong features. "Yes, 
 there is always a use for wax, if only to polish up a 
 table, or to make one's thread smoother and stronger 
 for sewing. But I am not the one to be consulted, 
 dear heart ; you must discuss it with Lothar." 
 
 And she rose and left the room. 
 Claudine made no attempt to detain her. Although 
 she had no desire for further intercourse with the
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 47 
 
 'Herr Baron at Neuhaus,' she was aware that only 
 thus could the matter be finally arranged, and she 
 quietly rose as, after waiting awhile, she heard his 
 steps outside in the hall. 
 
 He entered with his sister. At court Claudine had 
 never seen him except in his captain's uniform, bril- 
 liant and victorious ' as the god of war,' the young 
 court-beauties had declared in whispers. To-day he 
 was dressed in a plain suit of gray, and she could not 
 but admit, as she had done to herself before beneath 
 the lindens, that the glittering uniform had borne but 
 a small part in rendering him the most distinguished 
 figure at court, even beside the dignified and chivalrio 
 Duke. 
 
 She left the window, and would have spoken, but he 
 raised his hand, smiling, and said, quickly, " No need 
 of another word ; Beata has told me that your romantic 
 Owl's Nest has given up its treasures, the ancient 
 wealth of a convent! How interesting! Be sure it 
 was the ghostly hands of the nuns themselves that 
 loosened the stones in the wall because the true owner 
 had come at last." 
 
 Claudine looked surprised at the bearded lips which 
 uttered such pleasant words. "Was this the man who, 
 at the side of the Princess, had never had a kindly 
 word for his kinswoman, and whose dark glance had 
 now and then followed the new lady-in-waiting with 
 ill-concealed annoyance? 
 
 Beata, without further ado, forced her back to the 
 coffee-table. "Come, do not put on such a solemn 
 air, Claudine. We are not at court. Sit down. Your 
 Cinderella feet ' the pride of the school' do you re- 
 member? must have been surprised to find themselves 
 expected to take such a walk."
 
 48 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 With a blush the young lady hastily resumed her 
 seat at the table, and Beata sat down beside her, while 
 Baron Lothar stood opposite, leaning upon the back of 
 a chair. 
 
 " It certainly is a long walk through the depths of 
 the forest," he said, in assent to his sister's remark, 
 " a walk which no lady should venture to take alone. 
 Are you not afraid of encountering some rudeness?" 
 
 " I have no fear. I used to be as much at home in 
 the forest as in our nursery. I feel rather that it 
 protects me like an old friend." 
 
 "Yes, I am just such another tramp through thick 
 and thin and night and mist !" Beata said, laughing. 
 "We are children of the Thuringian forest. But the 
 walk was really too rough a one for your delicate 
 feet, Claudine " 
 
 " And an utterly unnecessary sacrifice to your over- 
 strained sense of justice," her brother interposed; 
 "for even without the exercise of the wisdom of Solo- 
 mon we cannot but decide instantly that we have not 
 the faintest claim to a share in the discovered hoard. 
 The Owl's Nest has been for many years in the posses- 
 sion of the Altenstein branch. How could we go far 
 back in time to establish such a claim, when if we thus 
 investigate the past we must atone for an injustice? 
 I never have been able to comprehend how my grand- 
 father could consent to receive a very valuable piece 
 of cultivated ground in exchange for that worthless 
 heap of ruins." 
 
 " My opinion exactly," Beata observed, with an ener- 
 getic nod. "No, let your old Heinemann put his esti- 
 mate of his discovery to the proof. An annual addition 
 to your housekeeping fund will not be unwelcome to 
 you "
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 49 
 
 " Practical as ever, my dear Beata," said Baron Lo- 
 thar; "but I am half inclined to protest against such 
 a use for the nuns' legacy. Would it not be more poetic 
 if the spoils gathered by bees in ancient times from the 
 flowers were converted into precious stones? into a 
 diamond necklace, perhaps, which the heiress might 
 wear at her first reappearance at court?" he added, 
 carelessly, with a glance at the former lady-in-waiting. 
 
 She raised her eyes; her glance met his. "Stones 
 for bread?" she asked. "The delight of being able to 
 banish care from my home is far more precious to me, 
 and therefore I am ' practical' like Beata. And what 
 should I do at court? You seem not to know that I 
 have resigned my place " 
 
 " Oh, the very birds on the house-tops in the capital 
 chatter about that. But do not your name and your 
 coveted position as prime favourite of the Dowager 
 Duchess give you the right to go to court ?" 
 
 " From the lowly Owl's Nest?" she interrupted him, 
 with quivering lips and eyes which had a suspicion of 
 moisture about them. 
 
 " The distance is certainly too great," he admitted ; 
 but his voice sounded harsh and stern, as if he had a 
 victim in his power whom he was resolved not to re- 
 lease. " Eight hours of driving by the road ! Well, 
 perhaps the court will find some means of shortening 
 the distance. It may move nearer to you " 
 
 "How could that be?" exclaimed Claudine, startled. 
 "Except the old hunting-lodge, ' Woodburn,' the ducal 
 family owns nothing habitable in our vicinity." 
 
 "And the moisture is absolutely dripping from the 
 walls in that famous Woodburn, with its thi-ee rooms," 
 Beata said, with a laugh. " The wind will blow away 
 the whole structure one of these days." 
 c d 5
 
 50 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Baron Lothar was silent for a few moments. Ho 
 began to pace the room to and fro. " I spent a few hours 
 in the capital, to let the Princess Thekla see her grand- 
 child, the day before yesterday, on my way hither," 
 he began again, " and there I heard casually of some 
 such intention on the part of the Duke." As he ut- 
 tered the last word he suddenly fixed his eyes with 
 an inquiring, half-hostile expression upon Claudine's 
 face, which flushed crimson. " There were all sorts of 
 explanations and surmises," he went on, averting his 
 eyes from the flushed face, and smiling contemptuously. 
 " You know what court gossip is. It flits like moths 
 out of every corner, and can neither be caught nor 
 arrested, but its traces are to be seen in some defaced 
 reputation or other." 
 
 Claudine raised her head at these words. " Yes, I 
 know what court gossip is, but I have never conde- 
 scended so far as to allow it to exercise any influence 
 upon my actions or opinions." 
 
 "Brava, old school-mate!" exclaimed Beata. "You 
 certainly have come back untainted from that atmos- 
 phere." Her clear eyes had sharply scanned the agitated 
 face of each speaker. "But let us drop these court 
 reminiscences," she added, frowning. "I detest gossip, 
 whether of the wash-tub or of the court; both are alike 
 vulgar. Eather tell me, Claudine, how you are suc- 
 ceeding in your new life." 
 
 "It certainly was hard at first," the young lady 
 replied, with her gentle smile in which there was apt 
 to be a tinge of melancholy. "My hands and my 
 gown bore traces of my awkwardness in the kitchen. 
 But that first stage is fortunately past, and I now can 
 find time to take pleasure in our quiet life and in 
 Joachim's cheerful face."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 5] 
 
 " Indeed ! He looks on cheerfully at your perform- 
 ance of a servant's duties ?" The Baron's eyes spoke 
 contempt. 
 
 " Do you suppose that 1 do not take care that he 
 shall see no such performance on my part?" she re- 
 joined, gayly, seeming to ignore his sarcasm. " There 
 needs no special art to do so, I assure you. Joachim is 
 busy from morning until night over his work upon 
 Spain, into which he is weaving all his most beautiful 
 poems. And in his delight in such labour he is utterly 
 unconscious of the world of reality, with its petty 
 cares and anxieties. He is one who sleeps just as well 
 upon hard boards as upon a soft bed, and who is per- 
 fectly content to live upon milk and brown bread. 
 What his nature needs is affection, intelligent sym- 
 pathy, and these he always finds when he comes down 
 to us from his bell-room. Yes, I am sure I compre- 
 hend the task set for me. Joachim is a genuine poet 
 confided to my care by no less a person than the Muse 
 herself." She rose and took up her hat and gloves. 
 "And now I must go home and make an omelette for 
 supper. Don't laugh, Beata," she joined heartily for a 
 moment in her school-mate's merriment, " my good 
 Linden meyer is very proud of the skill of her pupil 
 in turning an omelette." 
 
 " Your old Princess ought to see it." 
 
 "It would please her, I know. She is a German 
 woman ; the housewifely element is in her blood, born 
 in the purple though she be." 
 
 "Do you suppose it would please her if she were 
 suddenly compelled to exchange her audience-chamber 
 for the kitchen fire ? The contrasts of light and shade 
 which you have experienced are too harsh. My heart is 
 sore to-day."
 
 52 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " No, indeed, Beata," her brother interrupted her, 
 with evident irony. " This time of trial will not last 
 long. It is only a transition-period. Before you are 
 aware of it a sunny splendour will envelop the shaded 
 flower, a burst of sunshine for which all the roses of 
 Shiraz would envy it." 
 
 The brother and sister had, unperceived by Claudine, 
 exchanged a look of intelligence, and as he uttered the 
 last words Baron Lothar bowed and hastily left the 
 room. 
 
 "He talks nonsense," said Beata, shrugging her 
 shoulders, as she went to the door leading into the next 
 room. "Wait a moment, Claudine, while I get ready 
 for a walk ; I should like to go part of the way with 
 you." 
 
 Claudine again walked to the window. Her cheeks 
 burned, and there was a frown on her brow. How 
 great must be the malice of those in the ducal castle 
 who could malign her after she had courageously 
 taken a step prescribed by her self-respect 1 And how 
 had she so offended and irritated the man who had 
 just left the room, that he had dared to outrage and 
 embitter her but lately soothed consciousness by offen- 
 sive remarks uttered apparently in jest ? 
 
 Outside and tolerably near the window stood the 
 child's carriage in which his little girl was lying. Was 
 he wreaking upon others his disappointment in the loss 
 of the high-born wife who had lent such material 
 splendour to his existence? He might well bewail his 
 fate. She had been snatched from him forever, and all 
 that was left of her lay there frail and feeble, while
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 53 
 
 the wealth which she had possessed was powerless to 
 give to her child sufficient strength to enable it to 
 stand ! What a strife there had been already about 
 that puny little creature ! Its grandmother, the Prin- 
 cess Thekla, who was inconsolable for the loss of her 
 favourite daughter, had been to Italy herself to obtain 
 possession of the child, but Baron Lothar had refused 
 peremptorily to accede to her desire. It was whispered 
 at court that the old lady was now scheming to bestow 
 upon her son-in-law her second daughter, the Princess 
 Helena, for his second wife, in order that her beloved 
 grandchild might not fall into the hands of a strange 
 step-mother ; and there were certain knowing ones who 
 maintained that the young Princess would not say ' no' 
 to such an arrangement, since even before her sister's 
 marriage she had cherished a secret inclination for her 
 handsome future brother-in-law. The Princess Helena 
 was prettier than her sister had been, but she, too, had 
 the large, glittering, bead-like eyes with which the 
 child outside there was staring fixedly up into the 
 linden boughs. It lay stretched out among the white 
 pillows, its thin little fingers plucking nervously at the 
 blue satin of the coverlet, while an old child's-nurse 
 sat beside the carriage, knitting, and talking to the 
 child incessantly. 
 
 The noise of wheels startled the young lady, and 
 at that instant Beata, dressed for out of doors, re- 
 entered the room. She took from the table the basket 
 of strawberries and hung it on her arm. " For your 
 little Elizabeth," she said to Claudine, while a faint 
 carmine tinged her cheek. 
 
 Before the hall door a light open carriage was stand- 
 ing. Baron Lothar was on the box, holding the reins. 
 
 " Get in quickly, dear," Beata insisted, as Claudine, 
 5*
 
 54 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 dismayed, hesitated upon the door-step, evidently averse 
 to accept such an attention at Neuhaus. " Those gay 
 fellows" she pointed to the horses, beautiful young 
 animals, dancing with impatience "are snorting like 
 the steeds of the god of day, and would like to run 
 away with us." 
 
 Immediately afterwards the carriage was rolling 
 swiftly along beneath the lindens and on the open 
 road. Baron Lothar guided his fiery span with easy 
 grace, and scanned with interest, as he drove along, 
 the fields of rye and wheat and the budding fruit on 
 the fruit-trees on either side of the road. But never 
 once did he glance toward the occupants of the seat 
 behind him. He had seen Claudine's hesitation, and 
 had read her unwillingness in her eyes. She knew it, 
 for her look had met his, and she had seen a sarcasm 
 in it which had sent the blood to her cheeks ; but there 
 was no help for it, they were forced to drive together 
 Montagues and Capulets in the same carriage, which, 
 with its light satin cushions and its glittering, elegant 
 appointments, dashed through the Paulinenthal like an 
 embodied ray of splendour from the court. 
 
 Filled with the fragrance of forest and meadow, 
 bathed in the golden glow of the late afternoon sun, 
 the lovely, spacious valley lay extended around them, 
 a luxuriant landscape, watered by the winding stream 
 that had its source far up among the mountains. 
 Rippling and dimpling, now creeping darkly beneath 
 drooping willows, now rushing swiftly in the broad 
 sunshine between flowery banks, it pursued its course, 
 the guilty stream that had repeatedly been transformed 
 by the spring freshets into a roaring beast of prey. 
 Who, to see it now, would dream that it bad devoured 
 80 large a portion of the Gerold wealth ?
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 0& 
 
 The country-people were at work in all directions. 
 The scythe of the mower swept shining through the 
 rustling grass ; in the furrows of the potato-fields long 
 lines of women were wielding the hoe, and on the 
 borders of the stream and along the hedge-rows bare- 
 footed girls were driving before them their goats and 
 geese, and knitting as they walked. From the forests 
 on the hill-side echoed the measured stroke of the 
 woodman's axe. There was many a hearty greeting 
 exchanged between those thus labouring and the occu- 
 pants of the carriage, and it occurred to Claudine for 
 the first time that Beata and herself had no cause for 
 shame in the presence of hard-handed labour. They 
 were not useless lilies of the field, nor drones in the 
 hive ; they each laboured also, the one from an inborn 
 impulse to industry, the other for the sake of her own 
 self-respect, and that she might promote the welfare 
 of those dear to her. 
 
 For a brief moment the huge slated roof of the 
 Altenstein Geroldscourt was visible behind the trees 
 of the garden. The flag-staff was but a bare pole ; the 
 much-lamented lost home as yet sheltered no new in- 
 mates. But along the road came a heavily-laden fur- 
 niture-wagon, followed by another occupied solely by 
 a grand piano. 
 
 " Our new neighbour is moving in, it seems," said 
 Beata, as if to herself, scanning the passing wagons 
 with a keen glance. 
 
 At this moment Baron Lothar turned hastily to 
 Claudine. "You know who has bought the estate?" 
 His tone, breaking the silence he bad hitherto main- 
 tained, was that of a judge attempting to surprise a 
 delinquent in an unguarded moment. 
 
 " How should I know ?" she replied, rather sharply,
 
 56 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 irritated by his tone. " We are trying to forget that 
 we ever were at home on this side of the forest, and 
 certainly we have no interest in our successors." 
 
 "Nobody in the valley knows as yet, Lothar," said 
 Beata. " The biggest gossips in the village find that 
 nut too hard for their teeth. I have a secret dread lest 
 some rich manufacturer should be the purchaser, and 
 my fear was strengthened by my glimpse of those 
 wagons just now. Such people revel in luxury I 
 Dreadful! Smoky factory-chimneys in our beautiful 
 quiet valley!" 
 
 Baron Lothar had turned away again, and made no 
 reply. The carriage rolled on, now along the forest 
 road, where Beata, noticing how the boughs of the 
 trees arched above mossy beds sown with wild-flowers 
 and fanned by waving ferns, observed that she should 
 think any one with lungs irritated by the dust of the 
 capital would be glad indeed to stretch weary limbs 
 on such a couch. She sat with the basket of straw- 
 berries in her lap, covered with a napkin to shield the 
 fragrant fruit from the sun. The drive was a shorter 
 one than that taken some weeks before in a hack. 
 
 " Look how exquisitely your Owl's Nest has decked 
 itself!" Beata exclaimed, surprised, as the little en- 
 closure came in sight. " I have not been here since 
 my last visit to you and your grandmother. It has 
 actually covered itself with a mantle of green." 
 
 She was right. In the last years of her life the 
 late owner of the spot had planted wild vines around 
 the tower. A couple of weeks previously the tender 
 green of spring had tinged the net-work of tendrils 
 and shoots that clung to the old structure, and now 
 all was in full leaf and the windows looked out from 
 a luxuriant screen. The vines had crept up to the
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 57 
 
 platform connecting tower and dwelling-room, bad 
 wreathed about tbe glass door, and bung over tbe 
 balustrade like a green carpet. 
 
 Heinemann bad just been showing a bird's nest in 
 a syringa-bush to little Elizabeth, and the child was 
 still in his arms as he advanced to meet the carriage, 
 his bushy eyebrows elevated in wonder not unmixed 
 with dread lest ' they should have come back with 
 Fraulein Claudine to claim their share.' 
 
 The carriage stopped. The old gardener opened the 
 door with a low bow, but his young mistress alone 
 alighted. Beata sat still, and handed the strawber- 
 ries to the child still in Heinemann's arms. Claudine 
 observed with surprise a beautiful, tender smile illumine 
 the grave face of her school-mate, and the child seemed 
 aware that this sunbeam was a rare one, for the little 
 thing suddenly leaned towards Beata and threw her 
 arms around her neck. Then with a laugh of delight 
 she took the basket from the 'big hands' which she 
 had so lately pushed away from her favourite doll, and 
 scrambled down out of Heinemann's arms to run to 
 the house. 
 
 Beata arranged with the mistress of the Owl's Nest 
 for another visit in a short time, ' a tramp through 
 the woods that would drive all housekeeping worries 
 out of one's head,' and then the carriage drove off. 
 
 Baron Lothar did not again address Claudine, but 
 he bowed low as he drove away and spoke a few 
 kindly words to the old gardener. 
 
 " Well, well, upon my word ! I'm no friend of the 
 Neuhausers, not at all ; quite the contrary ! They 
 have more luck than wisdom, and the Altensteiners 
 must strike sail to them, more's the pity!" said Heine- 
 mann, shading his eyes with his hand, and looking with
 
 58 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 keen interest after the retreating carriage. " But his 
 worst enemy must admit that he's a fine figure of 
 a soldier, even in that simple gray coat. I've been a 
 soldier too, in the infantry, Fraulein Claudine, and 
 I know what an officer should be. When that man 
 rides at the head of his squadron the fellows will sit 
 square and straight on their horses, I warrant me. 
 What he is inside every one' knows, haughty enough, 
 and mightily stuck-up with his fine marriage. As for 
 this," he made as though he were counting out 
 money with his thumb and forefinger, looking up the 
 while in eager inquiry into his young mistress's face, 
 "eh, I suppose he'll take what he can get?" 
 
 Claudine smiled. " You may rest easy, Heinemann ; 
 your discovery can be disposed of as you please " 
 
 " What ! Eeally ? Those people are not going to 
 take any of it ?" He was nearly dancing with joy. 
 " It's a weight off my heart, a hundred-weight I I was 
 terribly worried about it. But that's over, thank God I 
 Now you shall see, Fraulein Claudine, what old Heine- 
 mann can do. I'll wile the pennies out of the pocket 
 of that rich old Bolz, that fellow in the capital who 
 can never get enough wax from the bee-men about 
 the country here. We can use them all ; we need them 
 now when we are likely to have plenty of fine visitors. 
 It ought not to look poverty-stricken in the house 
 here; we owe it to my dear old mistress to have 
 things furbished up. I'll take the good pewter to the 
 tinker to-morrow ; he must freshen it. We need a new 
 sream-jug, too; and suppose we get a new set of cur- 
 tains for the sitting-room ? Fraulein Lindenmeyer 
 worked away mending for a week after the last wash, 
 but, finely as she does it, some weak places will show 
 here and there."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 59 
 
 "But what in the world is it all for?" Claudine 
 asked. " Fraulein Beata " 
 
 " Oh, who cares for her? She herself stitches and 
 mends old rags together and hangs them up at the 
 windows again ; she's saving and frugal enough, and 
 never would turn up her nose at a darn !" With his 
 thumb he pointed over his shoulder to Fraulein Lin- 
 denmeyer's corner-room. " She's in there now, the 
 forester's wife from Oberlauter, the village gossip, who 
 gets all the news hot and hot from the capital, and car- 
 ries it about from house to house in her knitting-bag 
 until it grows stale. Wait till you get to the house, 
 Fraulein Claudine ; you'll smell the chocolate, good 
 vanilla, which Fraulein Lindenmeyer has been brewing 
 a pot of in honour of her rare visitor. It's so thick the 
 spoon will stand upright in it. Hm I And to-morrow 
 morning our old Ma'amselle will be in bed with in- 
 digestion ; but that's no business of mine. The news 
 which our fine postilion in petticoats has brought us 
 to-day is really worth a little discomfort ; our Duke 
 himself has bought our dear, beautiful Altenstein 
 Geroldscourt." 
 
 Claudine was still standing by the yew-tree at the 
 entrance to the garden. With a sudden start she 
 clutched a bough, as if needing support. The blood 
 rushed to her face, and then retreated, leaving it ghastly 
 pale. 
 
 " Oh, dear heaven, how I have shocked her 1" ex- 
 claimed Heinemann, startled, and putting out his arm to 
 sustain her. " Old fool that I am ! But there is noth- 
 ing to be done now, nothing ! And is it not a thousand 
 times better that Geroldscourt should fall into such 
 hands than to have some rich manufacturer set up 
 his spinning-jennies in the halls and chambers ? And
 
 60 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 then your pleasures, Fraulein Claud ine. Ask those 
 down below there" he pointed to the ground beneath 
 his feet, the ancient church-yard of the nuns " if every 
 one of them would not have escaped with delight from 
 the lonely forest if a hole could have been found in the 
 high walls. You see, that is the best of it ; you will 
 get back to your associates, to your own element. 
 Why, every flower needs its own special soil. The en- 
 tire court will come for the summer to the Altenstein 
 estate. The Duke is going to have a dairy expressly 
 for his young wife ; they say she has the consumption, 
 poor little lady, and that cows' breath is good for her. 
 God bless me I that remedy is like musk for Hodge as 
 he breathes his last." 
 
 The young lady slowly and silently entered the gar- 
 den and walked towards the house, her pale lips com- 
 pressed. Heinemann watched her anxiously. There 
 were signs of suffering that puzzled him in the lovely 
 face with which he had been familiar ever since its 
 deep blue eyes first opened upon the world. It was 
 not distress for the lost home, as he had thought at first : 
 it looked rather as though she were struggling with 
 some dark power within as though there were a con- 
 flict in the soul, while the lips were mute. He saw it 
 in the proud carriage of the head, in the involuntary 
 gesture. She seemed to have quite forgotten his pres 
 ence. 
 
 Not another word did he say, but busied himself 
 among his vegetables. Only when she seemed about 
 to enter the house did he approach her and ask for 
 leave of absence for the following day, ' because of the 
 wax.' She nodded with a languid smile and went in. 
 
 Up in her own quiet room, she sank on a chair and 
 clasped her hands before her face. Had it all been in
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 61 
 
 vain ? Would persecution pursue her whithersoever she 
 took refuge ? No, no ; she was not so helpless and un- 
 protected as she had been weeks before. Was not her 
 brother with her ? And could she not say now, " My 
 house is my castle. I can, and I will, close its doors to 
 every one who has no right to cross my threshold" ? 
 
 The next morning Heinemann took his way early to 
 town. Beside him trotted a boy from the village with 
 a hand-barrow laden with fresh vegetables for the old 
 gardener's customers ; the expedition to the town was 
 to be made as profitable as possible. The pewter-ware 
 was, indeed, left at home, and he had been positively 
 forbidden to bu}* new curtains. From time to time he 
 looked back with some anxiety at the house, as long as 
 it could be seen through the trees. His peevish fore- 
 bodings had proved correct. Fraulein Lindenmeyer 
 had the headache; she was in bed and needed nursing. 
 He would gladly have stayed at home, but the vege- 
 tables had been cut in the early morning and must not 
 go to waste. 
 
 His young mistress was left alone, he reflected, for 
 the occupant of the bell-room counted for nothing. 
 Once let him take up his pen, and the world of reality 
 had no existence for him ; everything around him 
 might burn up if only the bell-room were left standing 
 and his ink did not run dry. This conviction in Heine- 
 mann's mind gave rise to no depreciation of Herr von 
 G-erold ; on the contrary, the old man greatly admired 
 him ; but in his eyes the learned gentleman was one to 
 be taken care of and watched like the innocent little 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 6
 
 62 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 "Well, he had done his best to lighten his young mi& 
 tress's labours for the day. He had milked the goats, 
 brought in the fresh eggs from the nests, picked the 
 peas for dinner, piled kindling-wood on the hearth, 
 swept the stairs, and placed the homoeopathic medicine- 
 box on the table in Fraulein Lindenmeyer's room, with 
 a paper of directions beside it in his own handwriting. 
 Fraulein Lindenmeyer had the greatest confidence in 
 his medical capacity. As he was quite unaccustomed 
 to close the garden gate, let alone latch it, he left it 
 ajar. The dog, whose kennel was near the fence, was 
 sure to bark if it creaked upon its hinges ; and what 
 was there to steal in the garden ? The chickens were 
 confined behind high palisades, and the cat prowled 
 about the ruins and the forest as she chose. The old 
 man never thought of little Elizabeth. She was usually 
 his inseparable companion in the garden, prattling to 
 him indefatigably as he worked ; he was always ready 
 to talk to her and to answer her questions, only paus- 
 ing now and then from his labours to brush the earth 
 from his hard, horny hands that he might set her hat 
 straight on her curls, or smooth her doll's dishevelled 
 locks. He had never known the child to go as far as 
 the gate by herself; and Claudine, too, thought her 
 afraid of the dog chained near by, and so went about 
 her household tasks with an easy mind, while the little 
 one was playing in the garden. She heard the doll's 
 carriage rolling on the gravel pa-th, and smiled on hear- 
 ing the child's voice, now raised admonishingly and 
 now gently soothing her charge. 
 
 Thus it drew on to noon ; the heat increased ; only 
 at long intervals did a single floating cloud, like some 
 giant bird, cast a beneficent shadow for a few moments 
 upon the flowers, hanging their heads in the sultry air.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 63 
 
 Claudine went to the window and called the child ; 
 but the silence outside, whence came no reply, startled 
 her. The dog rattled his chain as he crept out of his 
 close kennel, and pricked his ears at the sound of her 
 voice. The child was not to be seen. 
 
 Still, Claudine was not anxious ; the little one often 
 went directly up from the garden to the bell-room to 
 carry her father some flowers or an apronful of won- 
 derful stones. Claudine hastened up there ; but in the 
 cool, darkened tower-chamber her brother was sitting 
 alone at the northern window so absorbed in his work 
 that he only shook his head absently with a loving 
 glance at the intruder in answer to her inquiry, and 
 then went on writing. Nor was the child in Fraulein 
 Lindenmeyer's room ; and Claudine, now anxious in- 
 deed, flew down into the garden. 
 
 The doll's carriage was in the arbour, the wax face 
 of the baby-doll covered carefully with the child's 
 apron, which she had taken off, but the little nurse 
 was not there. Nor was she in the corner of the clois- 
 ters with the goats and the chickens, nor in the ruined 
 chapel, where she loved to tumble about upon the 
 grass and pluck daisies for the 'poor ladies,' as she 
 called the carven stone figures of nuns and abbesses on 
 the mossy gravestones, now for the most part leaning 
 against the old walls. Claudine called her and sought 
 her in vain. 
 
 As she looked over the picket-fence along the forest 
 road she saw a scarlet peony lying there, and instantly 
 she knew that the child must have left the garden 
 and dropped it. Without a moment's hesitation she 
 ran out and down the road. 
 
 Its course stretched out into the distance lonely and 
 quiet ; the highway was near enough to be preferred
 
 64 TEE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 to this forest pathway, and its silence was seldom 
 broken by the noise of wheels. There was no fear 
 that the child would be run over. She must have 
 made a raid upon Heinemann's beds, and her little 
 hands had evidently had more flowers in them than 
 they could carry, for here and there a dropped pansy 
 or spray of jessamine showed where she had passed 
 along. 
 
 She must have been gone for a considerable time, at 
 least Claudine seemed to have walked on for an endless 
 distance. Tears of anxiety filled her eyes, and her heart 
 throbbed as though it would burst. At last she found 
 on the ground the little hat of the favourite doll 
 Lena, near the thicket that bordered the road. What 
 if the child had plunged into its depths and were 
 wandering there lost ! Claudine was just about to put 
 forth all her strength in a loud call, when she heard, 
 not very far off, the sound of childish prattle mingling 
 with manly tones ; it came from where the road made 
 so sharp a turn that the woods hid it from sight. 
 Involuntarily she clasped her hands upon her heart 
 and listened. Yes, it was Baron Lothar who was 
 speaking, and the child was with him. A few more 
 hurried steps, and she came in sight of the pair. 
 
 Baron Lothar was walking, his horse's bridle over 
 his left arm, while he carried the little truant on his 
 right. Her hat hung down behind her head, and her 
 fair curls lay in dishevelled masses on her forehead 
 and about her flushed cheeks. She must have paid 
 dear already for her heroic enterprise, for her eyes 
 were red with crying; but even in her terror and help- 
 lessness she had clung to her beloved Lena. The doll 
 was clasped tight to her breast with one arm, while 
 the other was about Lothar's neck.
 
 THK OWL'S NEST. 65 
 
 She cried out when she saw her beautiful aunt 
 suddenly approaching. " I wanted to take the straw- 
 berry-lady some flowers, but it was so far, so farl 
 And Lena has lost her pretty new hat," she called out, 
 unclasping her arm from the neck of her bearer, as 
 if to flee to her aunt's protection, but she was held 
 tight. 
 
 " No, stay with me, child," said Baron Lothar. She 
 put down her head like a startled bird, and looked 
 timidly into the bearded face close to her own ; the tone 
 of command was new to her. " It is your own fault, 
 little gypsy," he went on to the child, with an expres- 
 sive glance at the agitated face and tearful ej-es of the 
 lovely maid of honour, who was standing before him, 
 breathless, and trying to express her thanks. " Oh, 
 you are very ready to forsake me now, with never 
 a thought whether those arms are able to carry 
 you! You cannot run another step on your poor 
 tired little legs ! No, no, let her alone !" he went on to 
 Claudine, who raised her arms to take his burden from 
 him. " She is no more weight for me than if a grass- 
 hopper had lighted on my arm. Come, little one, put 
 your arm around my neck again, and don't look at 
 me so timidly ; my beard did not frighten you before. 
 See how good and obedient my horse is, walking be- 
 side me! and there is the unfortunate hat that has 
 cost you such bitter tears." 
 
 The child laughed with delight as Claudine put the 
 hat on the doll's head and tied it tightly. 
 
 Baron Lothar looked at the two slender hands, 
 whose beauty had been so admired at court, and upon 
 one of which, as they tied the strings of the little hat, 
 a dark stain was plainly visible. 
 
 " ' Eust-stains are no disgi-ace,' my old Heinemann 
 6*
 
 66 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 says," she stammered, as she hastily finished tying the 
 strings. 
 
 " No, no disgrace. But that they should be there ! 
 Was there really no one to be found in the Owl's Nest 
 who could save you from such rude contact ?" An 
 incredulous, half-contemptuous smile was on his face. 
 " Will there not surely come a time when the remem- 
 brance of such stains may be felt as a reproach ?" 
 His ardent eyes never left her face. 
 
 She looked at him with haughty indignation. " Has 
 the gossip of the court also informed you that I am false, 
 and fond of acting a farce?" she asked. "Must I state 
 to you expressly the painful fact that my brother 
 although, thank God ! with every debt paid has been 
 driven from his house and land, a beggar ? We can no 
 longer afford to keep a servant, and I am now perfectly 
 aware that this involves no great amount of self-denial. 
 These stains" she looked down at her hands " can 
 be no reproach in my eyes, except as they bear wit- 
 ness to my awkwardness, and that grows less from day 
 to day." She smiled brightly, for she saw a dark flush 
 mount to his forehead, and she could not reprove more 
 severely the man who was carrying so tenderly her 
 tired little darling. "I shall soon have no cause to be 
 ashamed ; and really yesterday evening I might with- 
 out fear have invited Beata, the careful, to share my 
 ridiculed omelette " 
 
 " I am sure of it, and beg to tender my apology," he 
 interrupted her, bowing low with sarcastic deference. 
 " You not only seem Cinderella, you are really the 
 maiden herself. A man can hardly imagine the charm 
 of such a situation, but doubtless there is one in donning 
 the gray chrysalis from which, later, the brilliant butter- 
 fly will emerge to flutter its wings in the sunshine."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 67 
 
 She was silent, dreading the sound of her own voice 
 should she so much as allude to that which she kept 
 hidden away in the depths of her consciousness, but to 
 which he seemed obstinately bent upon referring. The 
 expression of his eager, manly face agitated her against 
 her will. 
 
 She stepped aside to allow him to pass, and he walked 
 on beneath the overhanging beeches. For a while there 
 was no sound save of his tread and of the tramp of the 
 horse patiently following him; the silence was finally 
 broken by little Elizabeth's apostrophizing the ' dear, 
 good horse.' 
 
 "She is not the least like her brunette Spanish 
 mother, this blond little maiden," said Baron Lothar, 
 looking at the charming little face leaning towards the 
 horse. " She has the Altenstein eyes. At Neuhaus 
 there is a picture of my great-grandmother, who, you 
 know, was an Altenstein. Wild as I was as a boy, and 
 little as I cared for the stiff portraits on the walls, I 
 always was attracted by that large picture hanging in 
 our state drawing-room upon the occasions when it 
 was thrown open. Ulrich, who was Duke in her day, 
 called her ' the lily of the valley.' But she was a shy 
 dame ; she never went to court after the Duke one day 
 kissed her hand rather too ardently." 
 
 There was another silence, in which the crunching 
 of the gravel beneath the tread of the horse mingled 
 with the twittering of young birds in a nest overhead. 
 
 "There are little birds up there, I know; Heine- 
 mann lifts me up and lets me look into nests some- 
 times," the child said, with a longing look upward. 
 
 He laughed. " That is too high, little one, for us to 
 reach. But, ah, how blue eyes can sparkle ! I do not 
 believe that the starlight in my beautiful grandmother's
 
 68 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 eyes ever was so brilliant. None of the Neuhaus 
 Gerolds inherited that fair face, with its blond curls, 
 man}- as were the daughters of the line. I thought 
 that feminine type unique. But later, much later, I 
 discovered that that face was an inheritance of the 
 Altensteins. It was at our court. I had been hunting 
 with the Duke, and we returned late and went to the 
 drawing-room of the Dowager Duchess just as a new 
 lady-in-waiting was going to the piano to sing Mozart's 
 'Violet.'" He leaned forward to look into Claudine's 
 face. " Of course you do not remember that evening ?" 
 
 She shook her head and blushed. " No, I have had 
 to sing ' The Violet' so often that I have no remem- 
 brance of any special occasion when I sang it." 
 
 He had stayed his steps for a moment, but now he 
 went on more quickly. For an artist the group then 
 walking along the forest road would have made a fine 
 subject for a picture of a fugitive family. The noble, 
 manly figure, with his horse's bridle thrown around 
 one arm, while on the other he carried the weary child 
 with such graceful ease, and the feminine form beside 
 him, her long skirt caught up through her girdle 
 that it might not impede her steps, and the luxuriant 
 waves of her hair uncovered, so that the sunbeams 
 flickering through the beechen boughs touched them 
 here and there with gold, the pair looked as if they 
 belonged to each other, sharing joy and sorrow, like 
 'those whom God hath joined together.' 
 
 A few more moments, and the gay colours of the 
 garden showed through the trees, and the barking of 
 the dog was heard. Herr von Gerold had probably 
 gradually awakened to a sense of the sudden appear- 
 ance of his sister in the bell-room and her hurried in- 
 quiries after the child. He had also heard her calling
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 69 
 
 it, and had finally bestirred himself to search for it. 
 He came rapidly towards the group, and between the 
 ivy-wreathed posts at the garden gate appeared a 
 female head carefully wrapped up and nightcapped. 
 Fraulein Lindenmeyer, in her anxiety, had ventured to 
 the very bottom of the garden ; but at sight of the tall, 
 manly figure she turned and ran back to the house like 
 one possessed, her skirts flying and her shawl hastily 
 pulled over her head. 
 
 A few days previously Herr von G-erold would have 
 passed by his Neuhaus kinsman as a stranger, without 
 any sentiment of relationship, as had always been the 
 case at the university ; but yesterday Baron Lothar 
 had shown special courtesy to Claudine, and to-day 
 he had brought back the lost child to her father. 
 Therefore he hastened gratefully towards him, and, 
 after a few words of explanation from Claudine, the 
 two men shook hands cordially. And Baron Lothar 
 made no move to mount his horse and depart after 
 Herr von G-erold had taken the child from him. He 
 walked on between the brother and sister, talking with 
 them, as far as the garden gate, and then, without any 
 hesitation, quite as though it were a matter of course, 
 he accepted Herr von G-erold's invitation to enter and 
 inspect the interesting discovery of wax. He had, he 
 declared, taken his ride this way to-day for the sake 
 of seeing the Owl's Nest, which had impressed him 
 yesterday as charming. 
 
 Claudine hurried on to the house before the others. 
 On the threshold of the door she could not help smiling. 
 Was not all this like the transformations in some old 
 fairy-tale ? There was the man whose presence had but 
 lately diffused such splendour at court carefully lead- 
 ing his horse among Heinemann's cherished flowers,
 
 70 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 taking pains that the steed's hoof should crush no leaf 
 that might be a means of profit to the old man ; and 
 here was she, only a short while ago the petted and 
 caressed maid of honour, special favourite of the Dow- 
 ager Duchess, hurrying down the worn cellar-stairs to 
 bring for his refreshment a bottle of wine from the 
 small store left by her grandmother 1 
 
 He led his horse to a shady corner among the chapel 
 ruins and tied it to a stout juniper-tree which had 
 found a lodgement there and was spreading its dark 
 greenery lovingly above the desecrated walls, and then 
 he came into the house. 
 
 He bestowed but little attention upon the store of 
 wax in the cellar ; it was easy to see that it was not 
 the prosaic production of the nuns that had suddenly 
 awakened his interest in the Owl's Nest. Indeed, he 
 frankly confessed that he greatly preferred the vine- 
 wreathed gallery and bell-tower outside, to the result 
 of the domestic industry and thrifty love of gain of 
 the devout recluses. 
 
 Therefore Claudine placed a table, with the wine 
 and glasses and a fresh bunch of flowers, outside of 
 the glass door leading from the sitting-room into the 
 open air. 
 
 Close by the wall of the low, connecting building 
 there stood an ancient linden, the last remnant of u 
 former avenue, and already partly dead from age. The 
 only boughs in which the sap still flowed stretched far 
 over the balustrade ; they were in luxuriant leaf, and 
 with a small awning extended there made a shady 
 nook, whence could be seen two slender, isolated 
 columns, the only ones remaining of the magnificent 
 row that had once sustained the nave of the church, 
 and behind them the arched stone frame of a pointed
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 71 
 
 Gothic window in the eastern wall. Through the other 
 windows, in the course of years, the forest-trees grow- 
 ing close on the outside of the walls had thrust their 
 boughs, and the vines wreathing their trunks had 
 climbed across the sills, to cling to the inner walls of 
 the ruined temple. But the two columns and the arch 
 of the eastern window enclosed a small shady bit of 
 woodland, a peaceful island of green, over which the 
 deer wandered fearlessly. 
 
 Baron Lothar stepped up to the balustrade and gazed 
 with folded arms down the charming vista. 
 
 " Our German forests are also fine," said Herr von 
 Gerold, the traveller, in his gentle voice, as he stood 
 beside him. 
 
 "What?" Baron Lothar turned upon him hastily. 
 " Also ? I say our German forests alone are fine. What 
 do I care for palms and mangoes, or for the soft south- ( 
 ern breeze that breathes upon my face like a caress 
 from an unloved hand ! I have been fairly ill with 
 longing for the Thuringian forest and its bracing air, 
 its deep shades, and its dank undergrowth that opposes 
 so firm a barrier to the huntsman ; ill with longing for 
 its winter blasts that rage among its boughs and chal- 
 lenge all my strength to battle against them. No ; 
 and I confess, even at the risk of being set down as a 
 barbarian, a German bear, that all the treasures of art 
 did not help me to overcome my homesickness ; for I 
 do not understand them. I understand them no better 
 than do most of my countrymen who undertake yearly 
 pilgrimages in crowds to the South, however they may 
 pretend and fall into ecstasies." 
 
 Herr von Gerold laughed ; he was well acquainted 
 with the affectation of which Lothar spoke ; but Clau- 
 dine, who was just then filling the glasses with wine,
 
 72 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 said, with a glance towards the speaker by the balus- 
 trade, " You understand music all the better." 
 
 " Who told you so ?" he asked, frowning. " To my 
 knowledge I never allowed my light to shine at court. 
 Did you ever see me touch a piano there ? But, you 
 see," he turned to Herr von Gerold, " because there 
 has been some vague rumour of my sacrificing, in the 
 privacy of my own study, to my gods, Beethoven and 
 Bach, they are trying to keep me by appealing to this 
 weakness of mine. Not on my account. Heaven for- 
 bid ! If it were not for my little daughter I might go 
 live among the Hottentots, and no one would care ; but 
 they want the child in the capital, and therefore his 
 Highness graciously offers me the post of impresario." 
 He laughed in a forced way. " A charming idea ! I 
 am to manage the springs of the wooden and paste- 
 board world, consort with odious prime-donne and bal- 
 let-dancers, and in the end learn intrigue, that I may 
 not be ruined by it. God forbid ! I would rather re- 
 tire absolutely to Neuhaus or to my estate in Saxony, 
 and hunt and sow and reap and follow the plough, if 
 need be, for I could in that case at least preserve my 
 soul and body in health." 
 
 He took one of the filled wineglasses from the salver 
 which Claudine offered him. " But you ? I see only 
 two glasses," he said to her. "At court I remember 
 you always contrived with admirable dexterity to avoid 
 clinking your glass with mine. I understood it : Mon- 
 tague and Capulet confronted each other ; but to-day 
 it is different. I am here as your guest, and if you 
 will not allow me to drink specially to your health, 
 I can certainly pray you to join me in remembrance 
 of one whom we both love, in wishing health to the 
 venerable Dowager Duchess."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 73 
 
 Claudine made haste to bring another glass, and 
 shortly afterwards the three clinked musically in the 
 quiet air. 
 
 " These ancient trees will wonder," said Herr von 
 Gerold, gayly, looking up at the lofty oaks which had 
 beheld the grand convent of St. Walpurga wrapped in 
 a royal robo of crimson flame, and the stately wooden 
 figure of the saint in its costly silken vestments reduced 
 to a heap of ashes. " Since the orgy held by the icono- 
 clasts among the wine-casks of the burning convent no 
 glass has been heard to clink here until now ; and it 
 sounded so clear and loud, so full of the promise of 
 future joy, that I should like to propose another health, 
 that of one whom I honour, although I do not know 
 him personally ; a noble man, a zealous patron of the 
 arts and sciences ; he loves poesy. Long live our Duke !" 
 At that moment the golden Ehine wine was scattered 
 on the air from Baron Lothar's glass, which fell from 
 his hand and was shattered on the ground. 
 
 "Ah, forgive me for my clumsiness! I am very 
 awkward," he said, with an odd smile. " But this old 
 fellow" he pointed to the linden bough against which 
 he had struck his arm "is still too sturdy to yield 
 an inch. Well, his Highness's health does not depend 
 upon my wishes." He drew on his gloves and took up 
 his riding- whip. " I have abused your hospitality, and 
 my immediate self-banishment shall be my punishment. 
 I should have liked to stay longer in this peaceful re- 
 treat, and to have a look into the bell-tower, but that 
 must be for another time. And now come here, little 
 truant." Elizabeth had been sitting quietly in her 
 small arm-chair by the balustrade, and as he spoke he 
 lifted her in his arms and kissed her. " No more walks 
 outside the gate, do you hear? If you want to visit 
 D 7
 
 74 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 the straw berry- lad}-, tell me, and I will come in the 
 carnage and take you to her as often as you choose." 
 
 The child nodded shyly, and tried to get down from 
 his arms. 
 
 " Was Cousin Lothar angry ?" she asked her father, 
 when he returned from escorting the visitor to the gate. 
 
 "No, my child, not angry ; only a little odd," he re- 
 plied. " Our poor glass, and that capital wine the 
 linden-bough was not to blame! Tell me, Claudine," 
 and he turned to his sister, who was standing by the 
 balustrade, leaning forward slightly, as if listening to 
 the sound of the horse's hoofs in the distance, " was 
 not Lothar a special favourite of the Duke's ?" 
 
 "He still is so," she said, her face turned from him. 
 " You heard how they are trying to keep him in the 
 capital." Her voice was not quite steady, and the 
 smile with which she passed her brother on her way 
 to the kitchen to prepare the mid-day meal was forced. 
 There, in the centre of the sitting-room, stood the table 
 already set with its three places. Yes, the dinted 
 pewter plates from which they ate were old-fashioned 
 enough. Her grandmother, when she retired to her 
 dower-house, had left behind her all her silver, the 
 store of magnificent silver-plate was not to be broken 
 up, and had taken with her only her inherited pewter 
 dishes and plates, " quite suitable for a widowed recluse 
 who had but a few days to live," she declared. With 
 her limited income, which her grandson's pecuniary 
 embarrassments curtailed still further, it was sensible 
 to use ware that would not break. The knives and 
 forks had black, defaced wooden handles, and a piece 
 of thin oil-cloth was spread in the centre of the table 
 to save the table-cloth, all very plebeian and econom- 
 ical, although scrupulously neat and clean.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 75 
 
 He had seen it all as he passed through the room, 
 and it was well that he had done so. There could be 
 no talk of playing a part; the whole footing of the 
 establishment showed the determination of its owners 
 to accommodate themselves to their changed circum- 
 stances. He must now be aware that she had been in 
 earnest in her flight. 
 
 The ducal family owned various castles in the coun- 
 try, fine, ancient piles, with magnificent gardens and ex- 
 tensive parks, but they were situated for the most part 
 in the vicinity of towns, or on level plains where the 
 parks were bordered by vast meadows, and where the 
 forests were so distant that they showed only as a dark 
 line on the horizon. The ancestors of the present Duke 
 had been fond of the sunny plains, and had shunned the 
 wooded portions of their domains when they indulged 
 their taste for building, and although they had been 
 passionate lovers of the chase, and had often spent 
 weeks in the forests hunting, certain very primitive 
 hunting-lodges, scattered here and there, had sufficed 
 for their shelter at night and for the preparation of 
 their simple meals. 
 
 Every one admitted, therefore, that Altenstein Ge- 
 roldscourt, with its adjacent forests and its bracing 
 mountain-air, was a most valuable acquisition for the 
 Duke. His three delicate young sons, with their frail, 
 invalid mother, could have no healthier place of resi- 
 dence in the hot summer, and the zeal and haste with 
 which Geroldscourt was made ready for its princely 
 possessors were but natural. The youthful Duchess 
 herself pushed forward these preparations with fever-
 
 76 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 ish eagerness; no baths, no change of climate, had 
 hitherto availed to restore her failing health ; she 
 hoped everything from the air of the forest here. 
 Therefore, by the Duke's orders, the various build- 
 ings had been left pretty much as they wei'e ; not a wall 
 had been changed, not a garden-plot rearranged ; and 
 when they brought to his Highness for his approval a 
 sketch of a fine modern fountain to replace the one in 
 the court-yard, which, although finely carved and dec- 
 orated, was rustic in design, he frowned, and ordered 
 that the fountain should be left just as it was. He was 
 seriously angry when he discovered that the haw- 
 thorns and syringas in the corner of the court-yard 
 had been torn away root and branch to let more light 
 into the apartments of the ladies-in-waiting, and there 
 were wry faces among the royal servants when the 
 Duke appointed as castellan of Geroldscourt old Fried- 
 rich Kern, late coachman, gardener, and footman all in 
 one to the last Altenstein lord. His Highness thought 
 with justice that so faithful a servant would be the best 
 man to take charge of his new estate. 
 
 Thus the exterior physiognomy of Geroldscourt was 
 but little altered; and in the interior there was still 
 many an heirloom which the Duke had ordered to be 
 purchased, and which occupied its old place. The rare 
 Meissen candelabra with the antique girandoles were 
 still in one of the drawing-rooms, with much of the 
 rococo furniture inlaid with the Altenstein arms and 
 initials in mother-of-pearl and silver. Everything else, 
 to be sure, was new, and the peaceful sleepers beneath 
 the chapel pavement, if the fancy had taken them for 
 a ghostly tour of inspection, would hardly have recog- 
 nized their old haunts, so great was the display every- 
 where of princely luxury and rich artistic decoration.
 
 THE OWL'S XEST. 77 
 
 Day and night workmen had been busy at Gerolds- 
 court, and the railway had transported hither the 
 finest that Paris and Vienna could afford of furniture 
 and hangings. By the end of July all was ready for 
 the court to migrate to the Paulinenthal. 
 
 There were changes too at the Owl's Nest. Heine- 
 mann had made a ' splendid trade,' as he expressed it, 
 rubbing his hands the while in high glee. One day 
 a wagon drew up at the garden gate, and all the 
 product of the industry of bees and nuns, which had 
 been garnered up underground for centuries, was 
 brought out into the light of day and sent abroad 
 into the world to serve the uses of mankind. When 
 Heinemann, as the result of his sale, laid before his 
 young mistress at her writing-table a goodly pile of 
 bank-notes, he remarked, with the twinkle of the eye 
 that so well became his honest face, that he thought 
 there might now be a little more butter allowed 
 with the tea-cakes and a larger piece of meat in the 
 soup-pot, not to speak of the new curtains, which must 
 surely be bought now, as there were so many eyes to 
 glance from the road towards the windows of the 
 corner-room. 
 
 Yes, the road certainly had become more frequented, 
 and Fraulein Linden meyer wore her spectacles pushed 
 up upon her forehead oftener than before her eyes. 
 She continually dropped her stitches, and complained 
 that she could scarcely finish her sentences when 
 reading, there was so much going on in the road. 
 But as she spoke she smiled with delight, for " although 
 the forest solitude was lovely, else surely the poets 
 would not praise it so constantly as they did, yes, 
 really heavenly, still sometimes, when the entire day 
 was spent without the passing of even a wood-cart 
 
 7*
 
 78 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 or a labourer, or even a huckster-woman from the 
 village, it was just the least bit lonesome." 
 
 The three little princes, with their servants and train, 
 were the first to arrive at Geroldscourt, and the path 
 to the Owl's Nest must have pleased them greatly, for 
 they made their appearance there daily. The sight 
 of them trotting up on their ponies rejoiced the eyes 
 of Ma'amselle, sitting knitting at her window ; and 
 no less did she enjoy seeing the well-appointed equi- 
 page from Neuhaus drive past: it always went very 
 slowly ; and Frau von Berg, handsome and portly, sat 
 inside with the Princess Katharina's pale little child on 
 her lap, while Baron Lothar drove his little daughter 
 himself. 
 
 Heinemann contrived to be always busy with his 
 rose-bushes when the carriage went by, and he per- 
 sistently turned his back to it, for he detested the 
 sight of the stout Frau, ' wedged in among the cushions' 
 as if she were the Princess herself. Had he not 
 with his own eyes seen how she turned away her 
 head, as if some poisonous beetle had flown in her 
 face, when his young mistress had been standing on 
 the gallery, in her pretty white muslin gown, looking 
 as beautiful as an angel ? And had she not, the first 
 time she drove past the Owl's Nest, examined it scorn- 
 fully through her eye-glass, and then scanned him, 
 Heinemann, in the most arrogant manner, as if ex- 
 pecting him to bow his very lowest on the instant? 
 She would wait a long time before he bent his head 
 before her! 
 
 It was very different when Baron Lothar came 
 riding past on his spirited chestnut. Then the finest 
 rose in the gai'den was plucked and handed across the 
 hedge to the rider, who always stuck it in his button-
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 79 
 
 hole. And Heinemann frankly confessed that he did 
 not understand how it was, but he could not cherish 
 any more dislike for the Neuhauser ; he liked to look 
 up into his fine, fiery soldier-eyes as he talked with 
 him across the picket-fence. 
 
 Beata, too, had paid several visits to the Owl's Nest. 
 She always came afoot, and stayed to take a cup of 
 coffee, and, little as she was wont to speak of her own 
 likings, she declared to Claudine that she looked for- 
 ward to these visits all through the week. The two 
 school-mates would sit at their coffee on the gallery, 
 and little Elizabeth would gambol and play about them. 
 And although Herr von Gerold could never quite make 
 up his mind to go down and welcome the visitor, he 
 shuddered at the remembrance of the encounter on 
 the staircase at Geroldscourt, he often looked from 
 his window in the bell-room and saw how confidingly 
 his little girl nestled in ' Cousin BeataV lap, and how 
 tenderly the large brown hands stroked the child's 
 fair curls. Baron Lothar always drove over for his 
 sister towards evening, and then Heinemann held the 
 horses while the Neuhauser paid his respects to the 
 ladies on the gallery and sometimes went up to the 
 bell-room to bid the recluse there good-evening. 
 
 And now the ducal family had all moved out to 
 Geroldscourt, and the flag was flying from its roof- 
 tree. The villagers had gathered by the roadside, and 
 had been fairly stunned by the splendour and magnifi- 
 cence of the ducal equipages and by the multitude of 
 attendants and servants that arrived in humbler vehi- 
 cles. Why, there would not be one empty room at 
 Geroldscourt ! The Altenstein mansion was an exten- 
 sive structure ; generation after generation had en- 
 larged and improved it ; its architectural pretensions
 
 80 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 and its size were imposing enough to allow of its being 
 called a castle. 
 
 The afternoon sun shone broadly upon its front, 
 flanked by two octagonal towers, and brought into 
 relief the delicate yet forcible fret- work of its roofs 
 and window-frames, while through the open sashes 
 the air, laden with the odour of the pines and the in- 
 vigorating aroma of the forest, streamed into the house, 
 a delicious air. "My fountain of health!" said the 
 young Duchess Elise, in her low, husky voice. 
 
 It was the second day after her arrival. The day 
 before, after her fatiguing drive hither, she had, by her 
 physician's advice, kept her bed ; but to-day, ' already 
 feeling wonderfully better,' she had, upon her husband's 
 arm, walked through the suite of rooms in the upper 
 story. And she recalled with a shudder the hot glare 
 of the sun, here where the sun did not scorch, but 
 where its light came delicately emerald in color through 
 the luxuriant green. 
 
 " Here I shall once more be your fleet-footed fawn, 
 your merry Liesel, shall I not, Adalbert ?" the young 
 Duchess said, as her eyes sought tenderly those of the 
 tall, handsome man with whose step she made a great 
 effort to keep pace. Yes, ethereally pale and shadowy 
 as was the little figure in the simple white dress re- 
 flected in the tall mirrors as she passed them, she 
 should soon be well here, the thin cheeks would re- 
 gain their rounded outline, the form recover the elastic 
 grace which had formerly caused it to be admired as 
 sylph-like. Two months of this delicious forest air 
 and all would surely be well again. 
 
 She occupied the rooms in the eastern wing adjoin- 
 ing the dining-hall and looking out into the court- 
 yard, separated from those of her husband in the
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 81 
 
 western wing only by a reception-room common to 
 both. The last room in the long suite was his study, 
 from which a door in one corner led out upon the bal- 
 cony of the tower. The walls were covered with ex- 
 quisite paintings, Spanish landscapes from which a 
 southern sun rayed forth a golden glow. A heavy 
 purple plush curtain looped on either side hung across 
 the door opening on the balcony. 
 
 In the centre of the room stood a step-ladder. Old 
 Friedrich or rather the Castellan Kern, as he was 
 now called had been hanging up a chandelier that 
 had just arrived, and at sight of the ducal pair he 
 scrambled hui-riedly down the steps. 
 
 Involuntarily the Duchess paused on the threshold. 
 "Ah, this was the poor Spaniard's room!" she ex- 
 claimed, with a slight tremor in her voice. "Did she 
 die here?" she asked, fixing her feverishly-bright eyes 
 with a look of inquiry in them upon the old man, who 
 bowed low. 
 
 " No, your Highness, not here. Herr von Grerold 
 had this room painted for her at great expense, but she 
 could not stay here an hour. The farm is too near. 
 She could not bear to hear a cow low, and if a hay- 
 wagon rattled over the ground, or the threshers were 
 at work in the barns, she would put her fingers in her 
 ears and run through the rooms and passages until she 
 found a quiet corner, where she could crouch like a 
 timid little kitten. Ah, she was not fitted to be mis- 
 tress here ! She was always quiet and sad, and she 
 would not eat ; now and then she would break off a 
 corner of a cake of chocolate ; that was what kept her 
 alive. At last she lived in the summer-house, and 
 when the weather was fine she was wrapped up in 
 silken, downy coverlets and carried out and laid upon
 
 82 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 the mossy ground just on the borders of the r brest at 
 the foot of the garden. That was the place she liked 
 best in our pale country, as she called our dear Thu- 
 ringia, and there she dropped asleep for the last time 
 on an autumn day ; all was over. She died of home- 
 sickness, they said." 
 
 The Duchess advanced into the room and gazed 
 round her at the paintings on the walls. 
 
 " Homesickness !" she repeated, shaking her head 
 gently. " She ought not to have married her German 
 husband, for she did not love him. I should not be 
 homesick if I were to go with you to wastes of ice 
 and snow," she whispered, tenderly, looking up into 
 the face of her companion, as together they went to 
 the open door of the balcony. 
 
 He smiled down upon her kindly. She sank into 
 a low cushioned seat and looked abroad over the land- 
 scape in a rapture of delight. 
 
 " What a delicious view !" she said, clasping her small 
 waxen hands in her lap. "The Gerolds understood 
 better than we, Adalbert, how to choose the site for 
 the home of their race," she went on, after a moment's 
 pause. " In all our castles and country-seats we have 
 not a single view equal to this. Who occupied this 
 wing ?" she asked the castellan, who was noiselessly 
 preparing to depart with the step-ladder. 
 
 " Only the ladies, your Highness, for as long as 1 
 have been at Geroldscourt," the old man made reply, 
 carefully setting down the ladder. "First the late 
 councellor's wife, until she retired to the Owl's Nest, 
 and then the colonel's wife. And two rooms farther 
 on belonged to our Fraulein." 
 
 "Ah, the beautiful Claudinel" the Duchess ex- 
 claimed, in a tone of inquiry.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 83 
 
 "The same, your Highness ; Fraulein Claudine von 
 Gerold. She was born in one of those rooms. I re- 
 member when the little angel was first shown to us on 
 a white cushion." 
 
 "Mamma's favourite; do you hear, Adalbert ?" the 
 Duchess said with a smile to her husband, who was 
 standing at one of the windows gazing into the dis- 
 tance, apparently lost in thought. " The swan, as 
 her poetical brother calls her in his poems, the re- 
 markable girl who left the court to embrace a life 
 of poverty that she might be a help to her brother. 
 Owl's Nest is the name of the forest retreat where 
 Fraulein von Gerold now lives, is it not ?" she asked 
 the castellan. 
 
 He bowed. " Walpurgiszella is its real name, your 
 Highness. But the old Frau von Gerold called it ' my 
 Owl's Nest' when she first saw the ruins by moon- 
 light, and there was a whirring of wings and a scream- 
 ing all about her, as if every corner were filled with 
 little children. And it has been called the Owl's Nest 
 ever since, although the feathered rogues no longer 
 have it their own way there. It is very comfortable 
 now in the tower, where they were the thickest. Oh, 
 yes, the tower," he stroked his faultlessly shaven 
 chin as he spoke, " all the country round has been 
 talking of the old tower for the last few days. They 
 say there has been a treasure discovered in the cellar 
 there." 
 
 " A treasure in money ?" the Duke asked, eagerly, 
 turning from the window and holding back the violet 
 plush curtain, that he might look the castellan in the 
 face. 
 
 The old man shrugged his shoulders. " In coin, your 
 Highness? I hardly think so. They tell of an im-
 
 84 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 monse treasure of gold and silver and jewels ; but" 
 a dry smile flitted across his face "I know my good 
 friend Heinemann, the old rogue ; he would be certain 
 to tell wonderful tales to any one who should ask him, 
 and most likely the wonderful treasure will dwindle to 
 a single sacramental cup." 
 
 The large, brilliant eyes of the Duchess were riveted 
 upon the old man, like those of a child listening to a 
 fairy-tale. 
 
 " A treasure ?" she asked. Then she paused, and 
 her smile was replaced by a haughty, cool expression. 
 Between the curtains of the opposite portiere appeared 
 a gentleman, who advanced with a respectful inclina- 
 tion. She bent her head in a scarcely perceptible ac- 
 knowledgment of his salute, and turned away to the 
 window with a nervous quiver of her delicate lips, 
 while the Duke said, graciously, 
 
 " "Well, Palmer, what have you to tell us now that is 
 disagreeable ? Are the rafters worm-eaten, or are your 
 rooms haunted?" 
 
 " Your Highness is pleased to jest," was the reply. 
 "My warnings with regard to the purchase of Altenstein 
 vere the result of my sense of duty as a faithful ser- 
 vant, and I am sure your Highness did not misunder- 
 stand me. At present I have only what is agreeable 
 to announce. Baron Lothar Gerold begs to be per- 
 mitted to pay his respects to his noble neighbour." 
 
 The Duchess turned eagerly. " Oh, he is cordially 
 welcome I" she exclaimed; and when, after a few mo- 
 ments, Lothar entered the room, she held out her trans- 
 parent hand to him with, " My dear Baron, what a 
 pleasure !" 
 
 The Baron took her hand and carried it reverently 
 to his lips. Then, bowing to the Duke, he said, in his
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 85 
 
 deep, musical voice, " Your Highness will allow me to 
 announce my return home; I propose now to remain 
 here." 
 
 " It is high time, cousin ; you have made us wait 
 long enough for you," replied the Duke, offering him 
 his hand. 
 
 " Alas that you come alone, my dear Gerold !" said 
 I the Duchess, again extending her hand to him, her fine 
 eyes suddenly filled with tears. " Poor Katharina !" 
 
 " I have brought my child home with me, your High- 
 ness," he replied, gravely. 
 
 "I. know, Gerold, I know! But a child is merely 
 a child, and can only partially replace our life's com- 
 panion." 
 
 She spoke almost passionately, and her eyes sought 
 the Duke, who stood leaning against a costly inlaid 
 cabinet, and, as if he were not listening, gazing out 
 among the linden boughs waving in the broad after- 
 noon sunshine. 
 
 There was a pause ; the Duchess looked down, and 
 from beneath her eyelashes a couple of tears rolled 
 over her cheeks; she brushed them away as she said, 
 " It must be so hard to die in the midst of perfect 
 happiness!" 
 
 Another pause ensued. The three were alone in the 
 apartment ; the old castellan had slipped out with his 
 ladder, and Palmer, the Duke's private secretary and a 
 much-envied favourite with his master, was standing in 
 the next room, behind a window-curtain, immovable as 
 a statue. 
 
 "Apropos, Baron Gerold," the Duchess began again 
 quite eagerly, " have you heard the wondrous tale of 
 the discovery that has been made at the Owl's Nest?" 
 
 " Of a truth, your Highness, the old ruins have 
 8
 
 86 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 yielded up their treasure," Baron Lothar replied, evi- 
 dently relieved. 
 
 " Indeed ?" said the Duke, smiling incredulously. 
 " What is it ? sacramental vessels ? coined gold ?" 
 
 " Nothing of silver or gold, your Highness. It is 
 wax, simple, yellow wax, walled up there by the nuns 
 at the approach of the enemy." 
 
 " Wax ?" the Duchess repeated, in a tone of disap- 
 pointment. 
 
 "Wax, your Highness, is as good as coined money 
 when it is genuine and unadulterated. Nowadays " 
 
 "Have you seen it?" the Duke interrupted him. 
 
 " Certainly, your Highness. I inspected the treasure 
 where it was found." 
 
 " Then the axe has been buried that was for so long 
 above-ground between the Altensteiners and the Neu- 
 hausers," his Highness said, composedly. 
 
 " My sister Beata, your Highness, and Claudine von 
 Gerold have been friends from childhood," was the reply, 
 as quietly uttered. 
 
 "Ah, indeed!" said the Duke, a shade more indif- 
 ferently than before, turning to the window again. 
 
 " But, my dear Gerold, I should like to see this waxen 
 treasure!" exclaimed the Duchess. 
 
 " Then your Highness must make haste, for the 
 traders are after it like wasps about a ripe pear." 
 
 " Do you hear, Adalbert ? Shall we not drive over ?" 
 
 " To-morrow, or the day after, Liesel ; whenever you 
 like ; only let us make sure that we shall not intrude." 
 
 " Intrude ? Intrude upon Claudine ? I am sure she 
 will be glad to see some one in her solitude. Pray, 
 Adalbert, give orders to have us go now." 
 
 The Duke turned to her. "Now?" he asked ; and 
 his handsome face changed colour slightly.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 87 
 
 "Now, Adalbert, please!" 
 
 She had risen and approached her husband, laying 
 her hand entreatingly upon his ; her eyes, her un- 
 naturally brilliant eyes, looked up at him imploring as 
 those of a child. 
 
 He looked out, as if to make sure of the weather. 
 "But the drive in the cool of the evening?" he mur- 
 mured. 
 
 "Oh, in the delicious forest air!" she begged. "I 
 am quite well, Adalbert, really quite well." 
 
 He nodded assent, and gave orders to Palmer, who 
 just then entered, to have the carriages brought 
 round. Then, after inviting Lothar to accompany 
 them, he gave his arm to the Duchess, and conducted 
 her to her rooms to make ready for the drive. 
 
 The Neuhauser gazed gloomily after the pair; 
 what had become of the Duchess during his absence, 
 of the elegant although delicate woman so ardently 
 enthusiastic, so eager for all that was beautiful and 
 true? the woman who had undertaken the duties of 
 her position as parent of her people with a zeal that 
 was wellnigh fanatical ? Here was but a pale shadow 
 of herself; the fire that gleamed in her eyes was the 
 glow of fever; the gayety which had formerly so 
 charmed every one was now a nervous restlessness, 
 that constantly revealed the invalid. And he? The 
 curtain had just closed behind his tall and strikingly 
 fine figure, the very personification of strength, a 
 genuine ancient German, with his fair, waving hair, 
 blue eyes, characteristic repose of manner, and obsti- 
 nacy in carrying out his will. Baron Lothar could 
 not have told why, but the memory of a hunt in which 
 they had both shared occurred to him. The Duke 
 had started a magnificent 'stag of ten,' which had
 
 88 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 | 
 
 escaped him ; he followed it for days and nights with 
 a single huntsman as his companion, and with un- 
 equalled endurance he underwent all the hardships 
 of the chase. At last on the fourth morning he re- 
 joined his party, in soiled attire, drenched by the rain 
 which had fallen on the previous night, and with boots 
 heavy with clay, but he had shot the stag at dawn. 
 Yes, obstinate in the extreme, and therefore 
 
 Lothar's gaze was still riveted on the violet portiere, 
 when Herr von Palmer appeared, and approached with 
 elegant ease of manner. 
 
 " Allow me also, Herr Baron," began the little man, 
 whose hair, already grizzled, curled close about his 
 temples, " to welcome you back to your native soil, 
 You have been too much missed at court not to be 
 greeted with enthusiasm upon your return." 
 
 Baron Lothar looked down from his superior height 
 into the sallow face of the speaker without moving 
 a muscle of his own. " A peculiar face, a genuine 
 sharper's physiognomy," he said to himself, observing 
 the southern olive complexion, the bold dark eyes 
 overshadowed by heavy eyebrows, and the forehead 
 from which the hair had largely retreated. " Thank 
 you," he replied coldly, and his eyes wandered from 
 the little man's face to the glowing colours of the 
 paintings on the walls. 
 
 "How do her Highness's looks strike you, Herr 
 Baron?" asked Palmer, his features assuming a mel- 
 ancholy expression. And when he whom he addressed 
 seemed, lost in thought, to have failed to hear his 
 question, he added, " We shall have a very quiet 
 winter, for she is dying. And then " 
 
 Lothar turned suddenly and looked at the speaker. 
 " And then ?" he asked, and his regular features wore
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 89 
 
 for an instant so menacing a look that Palmer did not 
 reply. " And then ?" 
 
 At that moment the carriages were announced, and 
 Baron Lothar strode past Palmer without awaiting an 
 answer. 
 
 As he took his seat opposite the ducal pair his face 
 had grown quite pale. The carriage rolled swiftly 
 along the wonderfully well kept road and into the 
 odorous pine forest. The emaciated face of the young 
 Duchess showed in startling pallor in contrast with 
 the crimson silk tissue of her gown, but it was instinct 
 with delight in existence, the longing to live and to 
 enjoy. Her pale lips were parted, showing the small 
 pearly teeth, her glittering eyes beneath her sailor hat 
 with its simple crimson ribbon looked eagerly into 
 the forest as if to pierce its mysterious depths, and 
 her chest rose and fell as if she were drinking in 
 health with every breath. 
 
 "Yes dying ! f> Lothar said to himself. "And then 
 then ?" 
 
 The Duke, leaning back among the cushions beside 
 his wife, seemed to have no thought except for the 
 rustic fence that separated them from the forest. 
 
 And then ? Baron G-erold was only too well aware 
 of the secret known to all the world ; it had had wings, 
 and had pursued him to the quiet villa by the Mediter- 
 ranean. He was not surprised when he heard of the 
 Duke's passion ; he had seen its dawn, and had clinched 
 his fist the first time he heard his royal Highness's 
 name coupled with hers. 
 
 Her Highness began to talk, and of Claudine, and he 
 was obliged to answer, although he would fain have 
 laid his hand upon her lips. 
 
 Behind them rolled the carriage containing the 
 8*
 
 90 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Duchess's oldest lady-in-waiting, the Freiin von Kat- 
 zenstein. Beside this kindly old lady sat Palmer with 
 a bitter-sweet smile ; that the Duke should find his 
 way to the Owl's Nest at this early date seemed to 
 him over-eager. 
 
 Suddenly the barouche stood still. He leaned for- 
 ward over the side, and the bitter-sweet smile deep- 
 ened. At a little distance in front was the ducal equi- 
 page, and drawn up on the side of the road another, 
 the Neuhaus carriage ; Palmer recognized it by the 
 spirited horses and the orange cockade of the coach- 
 man. And then Baron G-erold alighted and handed 
 to the Duchess a white bundle decorated with blue 
 ribbons, his child. 
 
 "Ah, Frau von Berg with Princess Katharina's 
 child," said the Freiin, putting up her eye-glasses. 
 " They say it is a puny little thing. I am sorry for 
 poor Berg." 
 
 Herr von Palmer leaned back in his seat again, 
 making no reply to the last remark, but still smiling. 
 How rural and domestic it all was! At last the 
 horses started again, and the Neuhaus equipage rolled 
 past them ; with immense courtesy the sallow little 
 man saluted the handsome woman beneath her gay 
 parasol. She had the child in her lap, and her grayish- 
 blue eyes met his with a strange expression in them. 
 
 " She is still handsome," murmured the Freiin, re- 
 turning her salutation with a degree of reserve, " and, 
 good heavens ! she cannot be very young ! Let me see, 
 Palmer; I think it was thirteen years ago that we met 
 her first at Baden-Baden, when I was there with the 
 Dowager Duchess and the Duke, it was at Countess 
 Schomberg's. And then she came to the capital with 
 her elderly husband ; the change of air would do her
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 91 
 
 good, she said." There was a suspicion of mischief in 
 the old lady's good-humoured smile. " I would not 
 breathe a word against her; it was so short a period 
 of splendour, Palmer; the Duke was married a year 
 afterwards, and since then he has been the most exem- 
 plary of husbands." 
 
 "Oh, dear madame, his Highness always pursued 
 the path of virtue then, as now ; who could doubt it I" 
 
 The old lady scanned her companion's smiling face, 
 and her own flushed with irritation. " Have done with 
 your innuendoes, Palmer!" she exclaimed. "I know 
 what you mean ; but there never was, and never will be, 
 an atom of truth in it. Claudine Gerold " 
 
 " Ah ! who says a word against Claudine von Gerold, 
 the purest of the pure ?" he rejoined, lifting his hat 
 above his bald head. 
 
 Frau von Katzenstein flushed a deeper crimson, bit 
 her lip, and was silent. This Palmer was an eel, it 
 was impossible to catch him ; a Mephistopheles, a Tar- 
 tuffe. In her indignation she could not find epithets 
 sufficiently strong to bestow upon the favourite, so 
 universally disliked. 
 
 " Here we are," he said, waving his gloved hand to- 
 wards the ruined gables of the convent, in which the 
 tracery of the mullioned window showed like lace upon 
 dark velvet. Above the tower, as it emerged from the 
 depths of shade, Heinemann's doves were flying like 
 flakes of silver, and beneath the spreading beechen 
 boughs gleamed the flowers of the garden. 
 
 "Positively, madame," said Herr von Palmer, "it 
 is idyllic, this Owl's Nest ; a lovely nook in which to 
 dream of future bliss."
 
 92 THE OWL'S NEST: 
 
 From the platform of the gallery came a burst of 
 laughter, not precisely as melodious as might have 
 been expected from lovely feminine lips, it was per- 
 haps a little too loud, but it was so cordial, so clear, 
 that even the busy writer in the bell-room paused to 
 listen, till a smile chased from his face the expression 
 of annoyance it had worn. 
 
 Such a sound ! so honest, so frank, so absolutely 
 healthy; it reminded him of a cool mountain-brook 
 bubbling over rocks and stones. A remarkable laugh, 
 and it was Beata's, that ' barbaric creature's.' He 
 shook his head and took up his pen, but the laugh still 
 rang in his ears. Below, in the shadow of the oak, 
 Beata was wiping from her bright eyes tears of merri- 
 ment. 
 
 She was sitting beside Claudine on the bench which 
 Heinemann had skilfully constructed of beech branches, 
 and was giving her young cousin a lesson in the use of 
 the sewing-machine. The little instrument was placed 
 before them on the green-painted garden-table, and the 
 delicate hands of the quondam lady-in-waiting were 
 busied with its complicated mechanism. 
 
 " You look so droll, Claudine I" laughed Beata. "My 
 dearest child, your needle came unthreaded long ago, 
 and yet you go on sewing in a perfect frenzy of energy ! 
 Look, there it is; now it is right." 
 
 Claudine, dressed in the simplest of gowns, was 
 working away, her cheeks crimson with eagerness. 
 "Only have patience with me, Beata; I shall soon 
 learn," said she, examining her seam. " Before long I 
 shall come and help you with your sewing." 
 
 " Not exactly," Beata rejoined. " What! with all you 
 have to do, come and help me, who have a houseful of 
 servants tripping one another up I If you have a leisure
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 93 
 
 hour, you should give it to your piano or to your easel. 
 But I have designs upon a certain person, that Berg. 
 Would you believe it, she never even knits a stocking 
 for the child ! And when a few days ago I took her 
 some of our finest homespun yarn and said, 'Here, 
 my dear, the child must be well provided against next 
 winter; it is cold here in our mountains,' her very 
 nose grew pale, and she replied that her Grace the 
 Princess Thekla would on no account permit any one 
 to interfere with her grand-daughter's wai'drobe; and, 
 besides, woollen stockings were unhealthy. 'Indeed?' 
 said I. 'Do I look unhealthy? or the child's father? 
 And we, my dear, never wore anything until we grew 
 up but homespun wool and homespun linen.' She did 
 not dare to reply, but I wish you could have seen her 
 face. She tried to conceal her vexation, and coldly 
 observed that she had very exact directions from the 
 Princess. Good heavens! why was Lotbar so stupid? 
 He is the child's father. But when I told him about 
 it afterwards, he only shrugged his shoulders, without 
 a word. Just let me have charge of the puny little 
 creature for a month, Claudine, and you will see won- 
 ders ; it will be as fresh and rosy as your chubby little 
 darling." She pointed to the child, who was busy with 
 the cups and saucers which Aunt Claudine had produced 
 that morning from her own doll's cupboard. " More- 
 over," Beata continued, "your present fresh, natural 
 mode of life has done you good. Your eyes are so 
 bright, and there is the former bloom on your cheeks, 
 which you quite lost at court. 'Tis fortunate, child, 
 that there is no one here whose head you can turn; 
 you 
 
 Claudine was bending over the sewing-machine, and 
 smiling as she turned the little wheel. She did not
 
 94 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 observe Beata's pause, nor the surprised, half-terrified 
 glance that she cast down the road. Why, good 
 heavens ! those were the crimson court-liveries ! 
 
 " Claudine, Claudine, look!" she exclaimed. "Actu- 
 ally there come the Duke and Duchess I" 
 
 Claudine suddenly leaned against the back of the 
 bench upon which she was sitting, and looked as if 
 about to faint, her startled gaze fixed upon the ap- 
 proaching carriages. Heinemann came running up the 
 garden path in his shirt-sleeves, stripping off his apron, 
 probably that he might don his ancient livery ; Frau- 
 lein Lindenmeyer's window was closed with a rattle, 
 and Beata was about to take flight, when her eyes fell 
 upon Claudine. 
 
 "What is the matter?" she whispered, seizing the 
 girl's hand. u Come, we must go and receive them. 
 Or are you ill ?" 
 
 But Claudine had already recovered herself. She 
 hastened down to the garden, and passed through it 
 with a step as firm as though she had been treading 
 the polished floor at some brilliant court ball, her 
 carriage as gracefully easy as if, instead of her simple 
 gown and black silk apron, she had been attired in 
 the trained robe of light blue velvet in which she had 
 but lately excited such an enthusiasm of admiration. 
 Beata followed her with admiring eyes. How self- 
 possessed was her low courtesy 1 what grace in the 
 inclination of her fair forehead to receive the Duchess's 
 kissl 
 
 Beata leaned forward to observe the gentlemen. 
 Good heavens! there stood Lothar beside the Duke, 
 and they were all walking towards the house, the 
 Duchess leaning on Claudine's arm. Beata hastily 
 slipped through the glass door into the sitting-room
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 95 
 
 and thence into Fraulein Lindenmeyer's apartment. 
 The old lady had almost lost her wits from the exciting 
 nature of the occasion. She was standing before the 
 glass, trying to put on a wonderful cap with scarlet 
 ribbons, but her trembling hands refused to put in a 
 pin with any security. Poor old lady ! she looked odd 
 enough ; she had put on the waist of her best black 
 silk gown, but had forgotten the skirt, which was still 
 hanging in the open wardrobe. She was trembling like 
 an aspen. 
 
 " My dear Lindenmeyer, do not be agitated," Beata 
 exclaimed, merrily, " but tell me where the glass dishes 
 are that grandmamma used to have, and where Clau- 
 dine keeps the silver spoons, and then sit down in your 
 arm-chair by the window ; you are sufficiently dressed 
 to do that, and you can watch the grand party in peace 
 as they walk in the garden." 
 
 But the old lady had so entirely lost her head that 
 she declared that for the present she could not, to save 
 her life, remember anything. Then Beata laughed, 
 and, closing the door after her, ran up-stairs to the 
 dreamer's room. Of course he had no inkling of the 
 honour shown his household ; he heard and saw naught 
 save his own fancies. 
 
 Beata shook her head as she paused hesitating at 
 the door of the bell-room. Her face flushed crimson 
 as she lifted the latch in response to the ' come in,' and 
 suddenly her stern face, with its masculine strength, 
 looked sweet and maidenly. 
 
 " Joachim, you have visitors," she said. " Put on 
 your best coat and come down ; the Duke and Duchess 
 are below." And when he raised his eyes from his work 
 and looked at her, half amazed, half vexed, she laughed 
 the same laugh that had resounded a while before.
 
 96 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " But make haste ; their Highnesses will wonder at 
 the absence of the master of the house. I will follow 
 you with some refreshments." 
 
 Involuntarily, .he ran his hand through his thick 
 brown hair. This was the last thing he had expected 
 in the Owl's Nest, a visit from their Highnesses I 
 What did they want of an impoverished man ? Ah, 
 Claudine ! they wanted Claudine back again ! 
 
 With a gloomy air he hurried out of the room. 
 Bcata lingered a little, looking around her like some 
 shy child when it goes to church for the first time. 
 Then she went on tiptoe to the writing-table, and, with 
 her heart beating fast and her cheeks crimsoned, peeped 
 at the sheet of paper across which lay the pen that had 
 peen dropped. In letters of which the ink was scarcely 
 dry she read, ' A Few Thoughts upon Laughter.' She 
 hook her head in some bewilderment, and looked from 
 "he manuscript to the open bookcase, smiling again ; 
 and this time her smile was one of heartfelt satisfaction, 
 which still illumined her face as she went down to the 
 pantry, where she arranged fresh, fragrant wild straw- 
 berries on a salver, and went out on the gallery, fol- 
 lowed by old Heinemann, looking odd enough in his 
 antiquated Gerold livery, his countenance composed to 
 an expression of due solemnity. As Beata made her 
 appearance the Duchess was just about to visit the 
 cellar where the wax had been discovered, now in- 
 deed more than half emptied of its store. 
 
 Beata von Gerold had already been presented to 
 their Highnesses ; on the occasion of her brother's mar- 
 riage with a princess of the reigning family she had 
 spent three of the most uncomfortable days of her life 
 in the capital, had been obliged to pay visits and to 
 receive them, had dined with the Princess Thekla, and
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 97 
 
 had ' endured,' as she expressed it, a ball at the Castle. 
 She had worn a sky-blue silk gown once, and a lemon- 
 coloured satin once, and had been wretched in each, be- 
 cause the modiste could not be induced to make them 
 loose enough in the waist. And when, on her return 
 to her home, she donned once more her elastic jersey, 
 she had vowed that she would rather break stones on 
 the highway than live at court. Remembering all this, 
 her courtesy on the present occasion was not very pro- 
 found, and her face wore the expression which Joachim 
 had stigmatized as ' barbaric.' 
 
 " Let us go to the wax-cellar, then," said the Duke, 
 carefully wrapping a richly-embroidered shawl about 
 his wife's shoulders. Claudine took a large key from 
 the basket on the table beside the sewing-machine and 
 directed Heinemann to show the way; Joachim es- 
 corted their Highnesses, while she herself went into 
 the house to get the lacking plates and spoons and a 
 tablecloth. 
 
 She did it with trembling hands and a distressed 
 look upon her face. " Why should it be ?" she mur- 
 mured. '"'Why should it be, here too?" She leaned 
 her head against the corner of the old oaken press that 
 held her grandmother's store of linen, as if seeking 
 some material support in the tempest that filled her 
 soul. " Be calm !" she whispered, pressing her hand 
 upon her breast, as if to quiet the throbbing of her 
 heart. And she recovered her self-possession ; when, a 
 few minutes afterwards, she prepared to follow the party 
 to the cellar, her face was as serene as ever. 
 
 " Stay !" said a deep voice from the cellar-vaults ; 
 
 " thus far and no farther. You have no wrap, and it is 
 
 very cool down here." Baron Lothar was standing 
 
 below her with his hand extended. " Try to control 
 
 B 9
 
 98 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 your impatience, my fair cousin," he continued, and 
 there was something like contempt in his tone. " I 
 hear their Highnesses returning. Was not that the 
 Duke's voice ? or am I mistaken ?" 
 
 She looked him full in the face with a slight shrug. 
 His tone was so strange, almost menacing. 
 
 " We had better await their Highnesses up there," 
 
 he went on ; " here " He paused, for she had 
 
 turned and was mounting the steps leading to the hall 
 of the house, whence she went, without turning to look 
 back, out on the gallery. He followed her, and stood 
 leaning against the frame of the glass door, observing 
 the simply-spread table. There was nothing to recall 
 an ancient, wealthy race, the dishes were of plain glass 
 and the spoons were thin and worn. The silver-plate 
 of the family was in his cupboards. The damask linen 
 table-cloth alone showed the G-erold scutcheon in its 
 four corners, a masterpiece of the weaver's art. It had 
 been brought hither by the old widow in memory of 
 the first day when it had been used, the day when 
 her infant son was christened. 
 
 "Our arms," he said, indicating the leaping stag 
 with a star between its horns, that stood out like satin 
 on the fabric. " It has been stainless, this scutcheon 
 of ours, for centuries ; not once has the splendour of 
 that star been dimmed. The race has had misfortunes, 
 has succumbed to destiny, but its honour has been pre- 
 served untarnished, by its men and its women, until 
 to-day " 
 
 The girl whom he confronted shrank as from the 
 sting of an adder, and a piteous glance from her blue 
 eyes appealed to him; but her words died upon her 
 lips, for at that moment their Highnesses appeared, 
 and Lothar hastened to meet them. The Duke, walk-
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 99 
 
 ing with Joachim, followed his wife, who was leaning 
 upon the old Freiin's arm. Behind them came a very 
 ill-assorted pair, Beata with Palmer, who was a head 
 shorter than his companion. She was listening with a 
 smile of contempt to his chatter, and when the party 
 sat down she took a chair as far from him as possible. 
 
 "And that large cellar was quite full?" the Duchess 
 asked, as she took her place; and then, without waiting 
 for an answer, she ran on, " Oh, wild strawberries I how 
 I love them ! They certainly are a thousand times 
 more fragrant than those grown in our gardens and 
 hot-houses. Do you know, Adalbert," and she turned 
 to the Duke, who was still standing talking with Joa- 
 chim, "that I should so like to go strawberrying with 
 the children in the forest! we might have a charming 
 picnic. HeiT von Palmer, pray have one arranged 
 somewhere where the berries are thickest, and let it 
 be soon, soon ; we must make the most of our time in 
 this lovely place." 
 
 They all sat down round the table, and Claudine 
 handed about the bowl of fruit. When she offered 
 it to the Duke, he simply refused with a wave of his 
 hand to take any, and, without looking at her, went 
 on attending to what Joachim was saying. She then 
 approached the Neuhauser ; he, too, refused. Upon 
 which she also took her place at the table, and sat 
 quietly looking down at little Elizabeth, who had 
 slipped to her side and stood leaning against her lap. 
 She was roused from her revery by the voice of the 
 Duchess : 
 
 "My dear Fraulein von Gerold, you must come 
 often to Altenstein ; we, my husband and I, have de- 
 termined to lay aside all etiquette and formality while 
 we are here, and be only good neighbours, visiting one
 
 100 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 another frequently. "We are going to drop in upon 
 the Neuhausers, too. Yes, yes, Fraulein von Gerold," 
 she said to Beata, " I must have a glimpse of your 
 wonderfully-ordered establishment, and I hope to see 
 you soon at Altenstein." 
 
 " Tour Highness will confer great honour upon our 
 house by your presence there, but you must be gra- 
 ciously pleased to excuse me," Beata dryly replied. 
 " My domestic duties do not allow me to leave home 
 often or for long; its welfare is intrusted to me, and 
 I occupy the post of housekeeper for my brother. One 
 must be doubly careful, your Highness, in administering 
 the affairs of others." 
 
 The Duchess looked surprised for a moment by the 
 speaker's frankness, and then, with a gracious smile, 
 observed, " The Gerolds were always loyal to duty ; I 
 must bear my disappointment. But 3 r ou, Fraulein 
 Claudine von Gerold, you ? "We reckon certainly upon 
 you. Do we not, Adalbert?" 
 
 " Beg pardon. What did you say ? I was not listen- 
 ing, Liesel." 
 
 " You must ratify what I say," she went on, kindly. 
 "We depend upon mamma's favourite while we are 
 at Altenstein, and we wish to have Fraulein Claudine 
 von Gerold with us often, do we not ?" 
 
 For a moment there was silence beneath the oak; 
 the setting sun gilded each leaf and sent quivering 
 rays and gleams of light to dart among its branches ; 
 its glow seemed to be reflected in Claudine's face, and 
 then she grew very pale. 
 
 " It is certainly true, Fraulein von Gerold," and the 
 tone of the voice that fell on her ear was so calm and 
 indifferent that the turmoil in her soul was suddenly 
 soothed, "it is certainly true that the Duchess has
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 101 
 
 been looking forward to practising with you at Alten- 
 stein." And then, turning again to Joachim, he asked, 
 "How did it end? Did the man die of the wound, 
 or " 
 
 " He is still living, your Highness, and is as much of 
 a poacher as ever." 
 
 Everybody knew that when once the Duke began to 
 discuss hunting and kindred subjects he was lost to 
 everything else. Palmer alone smiled incredulously, 
 and watched Claudine, whose bosom felt lightened of a 
 load. 
 
 "As your Highness pleases," she said, gently; " but 
 I have not sung a note for a long while; my time is too 
 much occupied." 
 
 The Duchess coughed slightly ; the first cool breeze 
 of evening began to play among the trees, and the in- 
 valid's pale cheeks flushed feverishly. 
 
 The Duke started. "It is time to go," he said. 
 " Order the carriages." 
 
 The footman, who had been standing motionless at 
 the garden gate, beckoned to the carriages passing 
 slowly to and fro, and in a very short time the distin- 
 guished guests had taken their places in them and 
 were driving towards home. 
 
 " It is time we were thinking of going, too, Lothar," 
 Beata said to her brother. He nodded assent, and 
 shook Joachim's hand, but when he turned to take 
 leave of Claudine, she had vanished. 
 
 Beata, going to get her hat and sunshade, found her 
 in the kitchen, busy preparing a saucer of strawberries, 
 as she said, for Fraulein Lindenmeyer. 
 
 " Where have you hidden yourself? "We must go, 
 Claudine," Beata began, pulling on her spun-silk gloves. 
 " This has been a very exciting day. I congratulate 
 
 9*
 
 102 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 you on your sociable neighbours ; tbey may prove very- 
 agreeable. Always keep something in the house, a 
 couple of cakes or so. Her Highness von Altenstein 
 will come often ; she enjoys her role, as did Queen 
 Louise at Paretz. Ah, Claudine, I believe it is the 
 very anguish of death that drives that poor creature 
 from one thing to another so restlessly ; did you ob- 
 serve that she could scarcely breathe? But I must 
 go. That fat Berg will be hungry, and they cannot 
 get into the pantry; I saw to that. Good-by, Clau- 
 dine ; come soon, and bring the child with you." She 
 pressed Claudine's hand and hurried out. 
 
 Claudine carried the strawberries to Praulein Lin- 
 denmeyer, whom she found still sitting in her petti- 
 coat and the cap with red ribbons; little Elizabeth 
 was in her lap, listening to a lovely story about a 
 wondrously beautiful girl who married a prince. 
 
 "A duke," the child corrected her; and then, per- 
 ceiving Claudine, she asked, "May I stay here awhile, 
 aunt ?" 
 
 But her aunt did not hear ; she was listening to the 
 rumbling of carriage-wheels dying away on the forest 
 road. 
 
 " Oh, heavens, Fraulein Claudine !" exclaimed Frau- 
 lein Lindenmeyer, delighted to be able at last to discuss 
 the great event, and letting the child slip down from 
 her lap as she arose, " what a handsome man our 
 gracious Duke is ! Every inch a duke! As he walked 
 through the garden beside Herr Joachim I could not 
 help thinking of what Schiller says: 
 
 1 So grand his port ; his falcon glance.' 
 
 Ah, Fraulein Claudine, if your grandmother could 
 only have lived to see you all sitting in the gallery and
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 103 
 
 eating strawberries together like one family ! Ah, dear 
 Fraulein Claudine !" 
 
 "Aunt Claudine, I like Cousin Lothar better," said 
 the child. " Cousin Lothar has nicer eyes." 
 
 The young lady suddenly turned and walked towards 
 the door without a word. She mounted the narrow 
 staircase and tapped at Joachim's door. Entering, she 
 found him pacing the room to and fro with an utterly 
 bewildered expression of countenance. " My ideas are 
 in sad confusion," he complained. "Alas for my de- 
 licious solitude ! Claudine, do not misunderstand mo. 
 You know how I love and honour our reigning family, 
 how proud I am that my beautiful sister should attract 
 
 them to our forest nook. But, Claudine Are you 
 
 vexed that I say this ?" suddenly aware of the shadow 
 upon her brow. 
 
 She shook her head. " No, Joachim ; why should I 
 be ? But I am sorry for you, and we will frankly tell 
 the Duke and Duchess that nothing, absolutely nothing, 
 must disturb you at your work." 
 
 He paused before her and patted her cheek. " No, 
 my child," he rejoined; "as a former lady-in-waiting, 
 you must know that such a course would be impos- 
 sible. It was amiability itself in their Highnesses to 
 pay us a visit. Such a repulse as Beata gave them in 
 her blunt fashion they must not meet with from us. 
 That Beata," he went on, "fairly took my breath 
 away when she blurted out her reply. I cannot un- 
 derstand how Lothar could listen so composedly ; it 
 shocked me intensely." 
 
 " But your work, Joachim, you may be sure that 
 fhe Duchess would be inconsolable if she thought she 
 had interrupted you." 
 
 " She is a lovely creature, Claudine, an enthusiast
 
 104 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 for all that is beautiful, and she is ill, very ill. Did you 
 hear her cough ? It cut me to the heart. It was pre- 
 cisely like her cough, Claudine ! Oh, this cruel disease ! 
 No, no, Claudine ; if only for the sake of that fading 
 life, let them always be welcome to the Owl's Nest." 
 
 His sister made no reply. She had gone to the bow- 
 window, through which the crimson glow of evening 
 shone into the room, and was looking, with distress in 
 her eyes, far away beyond the tree-tops. No, she 
 could not, she must not, burden him with fresh care j 
 she must not disturb him ; and perhaps it no longer 
 existed, that blind, unreasoning passion. Not one 
 ardent look had she encountered this afternoon ; he 
 had scarcely glanced towards her. She nodded her 
 head mechanically, as if controverting an inward con- 
 viction. Yes, perhaps his courtesy, his magnanimity, 
 his chivalry, had been victorious, and the sight of that 
 fading life She might be reassured, she might hope. 
 
 Her brother approached her and took her hand. 
 " Does the solitude here make you melancholy, Clau- 
 dine?" he asked, tenderly. " To-day, when our house 
 was illuminated by a gleam from your past life, every- 
 thing here seemed unspeakably poor and mean ; it oc- 
 curred to me that it was a sin to fetter you thus, you 
 royal swan." 
 
 " Joachim," she exclaimed, laughing, although there 
 were tears in her eyes, " if you only knew how I like 
 to be here, how dear and home-like all this poverty 
 seems to me, you would not talk so. No, I am not 
 sad ; I am really happier than I have been for a long 
 time. And now I must go down and attend to our 
 supper; there is very little, to be sure, besides lettuce 
 and eggs, but you have no idea, Joachim, how tender 
 and crisp Heinemann's lettuce is."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 105 
 
 She presented her cheek for his kiss and went, giving 
 him a little nod as she stood in the door-way. And 
 the tap of the heels of her slippers on the stairs, and 
 the fresh melody of her voice, resounded cheeringly 
 in the ears of the solitary man, standing where she 
 had stood at the window. If only the melancholy in 
 her eyes had not contradicted it all ! 
 
 A few hours later the Owl's Nest was as calm and 
 quiet as if the forest had sung it to sleep with its rustling ; 
 only in Claudine's chamber a light was still shining. 
 Its owner was seated at the old-fashioned writing-table, 
 which managed to maintain its equilibrium upon ridic- 
 ulously thin legs, and which had once formed part of 
 the furniture of her grandmother's maiden chamber 
 fur away in Southern Prussia. She had opened several 
 drawers, and was rummaging among letters and pressed 
 flowers and all kinds of boxes. Yes, the lovely, haughty 
 lady-in-waiting, with all her self-possession, was only a 
 girl, a genuine girl, with a heart that fluttered amid 
 secret hopes and fears, else why should she press to her 
 lips, as she did, while her eyes filled with tears, a little 
 slip of paper on which a few notes of music were 
 written ? only a couple of lines of written music, and 
 the words, ' Wouldst thou but be mine own, love, none 
 should our secret know.' She had once been asked 
 by her dear old Princess to sing it, and the notes were 
 not to be found ; one of those present had gone to a 
 writing-table and had jotted down the lovely air from 
 memory, and then she had sung the song. She knew 
 she had sung well that evening. And when she had 
 finished, one pair of eyes had paid her the homage 
 of unconcealed admiration, but only that once, never 
 again 1 It had lasted but a second, that look which 
 met hers, and then his gaze had rested upon the
 
 106 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Princess Katharina, beside whose chair he stood, a 
 courteous cavalier, always obedient, in a sort of smiling 
 indifference, to his lady's whim. And the bold black 
 eyes of the young Princess had gazed up into his face, 
 as if repeating the words, ' Wouldst thou but be mine 
 own!' 
 
 That evening must have faded from his memory, or 
 he would not have spoken so irritably a while ago of 
 his love for music ; but she had never been able to for- 
 get it. It was thon that another pair of eyes had first 
 sought her own with so ardent an expression that she 
 had been terrified indeed. 
 
 ' Wouldst thou but be mine own !' 
 
 She sprang up and walked from the writing-table to 
 the window and back again in extreme agitation. Her 
 eyes wandered about the room as if seeking help, and 
 as she paused before the writing-table she looked down 
 at a small pastel picture of a lovely female face, the 
 richly-carved frame that enclosed it surmounted by a 
 stag's head, between the branching horns of which 
 shone a star, that gleamed in the dim candle-light 
 with a metallic lustre. An expression of supreme mel- 
 ancholy appeared on the girl's face. " Ah, mother," she 
 whispered, " if you were but living, and I could tell you 
 all !" 
 
 She stood before the picture with hands folded as in 
 prayer. 
 
 The next day at noon heavy clouds came up from 
 behind the mountains and emptied themselves in the 
 Paulinenthal. Old Heinemann, with many a sigh, 
 watched the tempest beating down his flowers, and the
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 107 
 
 water loosening the tender roots of bis freshly-planted 
 vegetables and nearly sweeping them away. 
 
 "Oh, heavens!" he wailed in the kitchen, where he 
 was ' washing up' like a regular scullery-maid. " Only 
 look, Fraulein Claudine; this is a perfect storm!" He 
 pointed through the window to the fir-clad mountains, 
 where thin columns of mist could be seen rising here and 
 there. " The Stag is smoking his pipe ; you may rely 
 upon it, the rain will last for three days, if it only stops 
 then! It's just pouring over there, and very gloomy 
 down here." 
 
 And so it was ; a genuine mountain-rain set in ; the 
 water dripped and trickled on the steep roads ; the little 
 brook among the hemlocks was muddy and swollen, and 
 all the flowers hung their heads. 
 
 The child stood with her doll at the window of Frau- 
 lein Lindenmeyer's room, flattening her nose against 
 the panes, and asking when it would be done raining, 
 that she might run out in the garden. And the old 
 lady sat busily knitting, and turning her head now and 
 then, from habit, to observe the passers-by, but in vain. 
 Only the lame errand-woman, dripping wet, drove her 
 skinny horse past the gate, her petticoat thrown over 
 her head, and her horse covered with oil-cloth, while 
 the water poured out of the back of her wagon. 
 
 Claudine was pursuing her studies upon the sewing- 
 machine in the sitting-room, her cheeks flushed with 
 pride in her first faultless seam. Yes, labour even de- 
 spised, mechanical, feminine labour is a blessing; it 
 serves to beguile many an hour of sorrow. Joachim 
 was buried in his books. It was the very weather for 
 work, he said at table, and as soon as dinner was over 
 he returned to his manuscript and was oblivious to all 
 else.
 
 108 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 The next day it still rained steadily, and on the next 
 still harder. In the Altenstein manor-house there was 
 little more cheer than was to be found outside. The 
 Duchess was weary and out of sorts, and coughed con- 
 tinually ; the gloomy weather suggested sad thoughts 
 of the future. She tried to be cheerful, and wrote a 
 letter to her sister ; but tears had suddenly fallen upon 
 the paper, and she could not add to the grief of the 
 young widow by any hint that she was worse than 
 usual. Then she went down into the spacious central 
 hall, where her two eldest sons were having a fencing- 
 lesson ; for a moment or two the gallant bearing of 
 her handsome, fair-haired darlings filled her with de- 
 light, but the old feeling of weakness suddenly over- 
 came her, and Frau von Katzenstein had to conduct 
 her back to her couch. After a while she had her 
 youngest boy brought to her, the child whose coming 
 into the world had so exhausted her failing vitality, a 
 splendid rosy fellow, glowing with health, and she 
 gazed with ecstasy into his laughing blue eyes. How 
 like he was to his father, the husband whom she so 
 worshipped! And suddenly she arose, with the boy in 
 her arms, and walked towards the door of her room. 
 
 Frau von Katzenstein and the maid rushed towards 
 her to take the little Prince from her, but she refused, 
 smiling, to give up the boy, saying, " No, please ; I 
 want to surprise the Duke." And she went on tiptoe 
 across the polished floor of the drawing-room that sep- 
 arated his apartments from hers, and paused, panting, 
 before the door of his room. 
 
 It was delightful here in Altenstein to have him so 
 near, to be able to run to him, like any other happy 
 wife, carrying her child to its father. She took the 
 boy's little hand and made it knock at the door.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 109 
 
 " Papa !" she cried ; " dear papa, let us in ; it is we, 
 Liesel and Adi!" 
 
 Within, a drawer was closed, and immediately after- 
 wards the door opened ; the Duke, in a black velvet 
 morning-coat, appeared on the threshold, evidently 
 surprised by this visit. Palmer was standing by the 
 writing-table, his hand full of papers, and several sheets 
 were spread out upon the table. 
 
 " Oh, I am interrupting you, Adalbert," the young 
 wife said, coughing. The chamber was filled with, 
 smoke from Turkish cigarettes. 
 
 "Can I do anything for you, Liesel?" he asked. 
 " Excuse this smoke, it makes you cough ; you know I 
 am addicted to smoking when I am at work. Come, 
 let me take you to your rooms; this is no place for 
 you." 
 
 She slowly shook her head. " I wanted nothing." 
 And, with a glance towards Palmer, she suppressed the 
 words, " I only wanted to see you, to bring the child 
 to you." 
 
 "Nothing?" he repeated, with a slightly impatient 
 emphasis, as he took the child from her. " But come, 
 you must not stay here." 
 
 A few minutes afterwards she was sitting again in 
 her easy-chair, alone. He had work to do : he was dis- 
 cussing the building of a new Academy to be founded 
 at Neurode, a very important matter. When she had 
 asked, " Will you not take five o'clock tea with me, 
 Adalbert?" he had replied, absently, "Perhaps, my 
 love, if I have time ; but do not wait for me." 
 
 Five o'clock struck, and she waited, when suddenly 
 the noise of carriage-wheels sounded beneath her win- 
 dow. It was the Duke ; he was driving out, and in such 
 weather ! Oh, yes, she had forgotten j he had spoken 
 
 10
 
 HO THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 yesterday of driving over to Oakshade, the ancient 
 ducal hunting-lodge, which was to be restored. She 
 leaned back sadly among her cushions. How desolate 
 these strange rooms were, with the rain beating against 
 the windows, and so lonely ! The child was in his 
 nursery again ; the Duke did not like to have her keep 
 him long with her, because his joyous restlessness 
 fatigued her. The physician daily enjoined it upon 
 her to avoid exertion, a hard rule for a mother. Frau 
 von Katzenstein, to be sure, sat in the anteroom, sleep- 
 ing or reading, but there might as well have been no 
 one there ; the kind old lady did not understand her ; 
 she cared only for the bodily weal of her ' sweetest 
 Highness,' and so did her lady's-maid ; but ah, this lone- 
 liness! She picked up the book that she had dropped ; 
 her eyes ached, she could not read any more. It 
 was a terrible story ; one knew beforehand that the 
 heroine would end in suicide ; it was the fashion now- 
 adays. And when one is sad to begin with, and the 
 rain is pouring outside as if it never were going to 
 stop, it is hardly worth while to read what will make 
 one yet sadder. If there were only a single soul to 
 talk to, as she used to talk to her sister at home ! Ah, 
 yes, that would make it home-like here, with a bi'ight 
 fire on the hearth in the twilight and the rain pouring 
 outside. 
 
 And all at once she saw with her mind's eye Clau- 
 dine von Gerold, in her simple gown, her basket of 
 keys on her arm, presiding with such grace over her 
 brother's poor household ; how serene she seemed, how 
 happy, and how fitted to bestow happiness I Claudine 
 had always contrasted so finely with the other ladies-in- 
 waiting ; not for worlds would her Highness have had 
 with her here in Altenstein the little Countess H., with
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. Ill 
 
 her soubrette face and wayward disposition, or Fraulein 
 von X., who scarcely ever really opened her eyes, and 
 who never smiled ; she never had the least desire to 
 see anything tnore of them. But Claudine, Claudine 
 von Gerold ! And suddenly she felt a positive longing 
 for the gentle girl with the earnest blue eyes. She 
 pressed the button of the silver bell on the table beside 
 her, and then wrote a few hurried lines at her writing- 
 table. 
 
 " Take this letter to Fraulein von Gerold. Let a 
 carriage be sent for her. Make haste !" 
 
 A feverish restlessness possessed her. In an hour 
 she might be here. She ordei-ed a fire made on the 
 hearth, and had the tea-table arranged near it. 
 
 Then she wandered to and fro in the room, now and 
 then going to the window and looking out into the 
 rain. An hour passed, and she did not come. But 
 hark! a carriage! She left the window, her heart 
 beating like that of a young girl awaiting her lover, 
 and she laughed at herself. " Christine would call me 
 4 fanatical' again," she said to herself, thinking of her 
 sister, when, to her surprise, Baron Gerold was an- 
 nounced ' by appointment with her Highness.' She 
 had quite forgotten it. To-day ? Yes, it must be so ! 
 True, she had begged him to come and give her some 
 information with regard to the reported poverty in 
 Walderode, the village in the vicinity. 
 
 She was delighted to see him, and made minute in- 
 quiries of him, but between-whiles she listened eagerly. 
 " I seem absent, Baron ; I am expecting a visitor," she 
 said, laughing, when suddenly, in the midst of an ex- 
 planation as to the structure of an almshouse, she 
 turned to the window. " Guess whom ! But no, do not 
 guess, and then you will have a surprise. Then, my
 
 112 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 dear Gerold, if you undertake to build this house, you 
 may rely upon my help." 
 
 " Your Highness is, as ever, kindness itself," said 
 Lothar, rising. 
 
 " His Highness," Frau von Katzenstein suddenly 
 announced, and immediately afterwards the Duke 
 entered. 
 
 "Oh, how pleasant, Liesel!" he said, gayly, kissing 
 the delicate hand held out to him. "And you, dear 
 Baron, do you know I was just sending my huntsman 
 for you ? I thought of having a game of ombre this 
 evening. It is just the weather for ombre, eh?" 
 
 " I am at your Higbness's commands." 
 
 The Duke smothered a yawn and sat down near 
 the fire ; old Frau von Katzenstein was busy at a side- 
 table making the tea; a lackey went noiselessly to and 
 fro in the room, and finally stood like a shadow at the 
 door, awaiting the moment when he should hand about 
 the cups. The twilight had gathered quickly; it was 
 difficult to distinguish the faces of those present ; now 
 and then a flame would flicker forth in the chimney 
 and cast a momentary light upon the Duke. He 
 looked weary, and his large, white hand continually 
 stroked his fair, full beard. 
 
 "It is very lonely here on such days as this," he 
 began at last. " We positively met no one on the road, 
 my dear Gerold, except your lady sister. She was 
 walking with great determination along the wet, de- 
 serted high-road in a waterproof and with an umbrella, 
 apparently as content as if it were a delicious May 
 morning. She was probably going to the Owl's Nest, 
 for she turned to the right." 
 
 " Very likely, your Highness ; she is not easily pre- 
 vented by the weather from paying her cousin a visit."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 113 
 
 The Duke took one of the cups, which were all 
 decorated with his scutcheon. " She is to be envied," 
 he said in an undertone, putting a huge lump of sugar 
 into the steaming tea. 
 
 "For her health, your Highness thinks? It is a 
 fact that none of the Gerolds know what nerves are ; 
 they have, to quote your Highness's favourite author, 
 ' nerves of steel and bones of ivory.' " 
 
 " Of course that is what I meant." Then, hastily 
 draining his cup, he asked, " Is it your fashion now to 
 sit in the dark, Liesel ? You used to like light above 
 all things." 
 
 " Fraulein Claudine von Gerold!" the old Frau von 
 Katzenstein suddenly announced. 
 
 The rustle of a silk dress was audible, and a rich, 
 feminine voice spoke : " I am here, your Highness." 
 
 " Ah, my dear Claudine !" exclaimed the Duchess, 
 motioning her to a chair: "I trust my impatient sum- 
 mons did not inconvenience you." 
 
 At that moment the lights in the hanging-lamps 
 flamed up more clearly and revealed the crimson-hung 
 apartment, casting a mild white light upon the little 
 group of people around the hearth. 
 
 The Duke, as well as Baron Gerold, had risen, and 
 both were looking at the beautiful girl with the same 
 expression of surprise. There was a sudden light in 
 the Duke's eyes, which, however, instantly gave place 
 to the old expression of apathy. A frown gathered 
 upon the Baron's brow, but that vanished also imme- 
 diately. And there beside the Duchess's sofa she stood, 
 her simple black silk gown showing her magnificent 
 figure to the best advantage. There was scarcely a 
 trace of colour in her face, and, after a low courtesy to 
 his Highness, she stood looking down at the Duchess, 
 h 10*
 
 114 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 who motioned her again to the chair that had been 
 placed for her, and asking if she were well, she looked 
 so pale, begged her to take a glass of wine after her 
 cool drive. 
 
 The Duke did not sit down again ; he leaned upon 
 the mantel-piece, watching with great apparent in- 
 terest the proceedings of the old Freiin, who had just 
 approached her royal mistress with a basket of gay 
 worsted, but who withdrew at a gesture from the 
 Duchess, who was speaking. He took no part in the 
 conversation, in which the Duchess included Lothar, 
 whose remarks, however, sounded constrained. 
 
 " I suspect our ombre table is ready for us," the 
 Duke said suddenly, and, with a light kiss upon his 
 wife's forehead and a slight bow to Claudine, he left 
 the room, followed by Lothar. 
 
 " Dearest Katzenstein," said the Duchess, " I know 
 you want to write letters ; do not let me detain you. 
 You see I have the best of society. Draw the cur- 
 tains, have the tea-table removed and my lounge 
 placed near the fire, which feels comfortable, although 
 it is the 6th of June by the almanac. And, dear 
 Katzenstein, have lamps put on the piano. You will 
 sing a little?" she asked, turning to Claudine. 
 
 " If your Highness commands " 
 
 " No, I beg. But let us have a chat first." 
 The eager young creature lying upon the lounge 
 exerted all her charm to induce her silent companion to 
 join her in this ' chat,' but the girl was as if under a 
 spell. It seemed to her that she should stifle in this 
 artificially heated apartment, where from every corner, 
 every bit of carving, old memories floated towards her. 
 Here, in this very room, she and Joachim had always, 
 as children, had their Christmas-presents; here the
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 115 
 
 pretty ball had been given in honour of her eighteenth 
 birthday; here, weeping and in deep mourning, she 
 had received her brother upon his return home with 
 his young wife, while their father's body lay on its bier 
 in the room below. Then the bow-window had been 
 turned into a garden ; seats had been placed there 
 among blooming pomegranates, that the northern cli- 
 mate might not depress the young wife ; the scarlet 
 blossoms, Claudine had thought, would be like a greet- 
 ing to her from her distant fatherland, but they had 
 sufficed only to fill her young sister-in-law's eyes with 
 tears. " Oh, how small these blossoms are! how sickly 
 they look !" she had wailed. Ah, it had been a hard 
 time ! 
 
 Claudine came back to the present as if from a dream, 
 roused by the voice of the Duchess, and the young 
 girl's look was so sad and tearful that her Highness 
 ceased speaking and timidly clasped her friend's hand 
 in her own. 
 
 " Ah, I forgot how sad it must make you to see 
 strange people in your old home !" 
 
 It sounded so kind, so gentle, and the clasp of the 
 hot, little hand was so sincere, that Claudine turned her 
 head aside to conceal the tears that veiled her eyes. 
 
 " Cry, dear ; it will relieve you," the Duchess said 
 simply. 
 
 Claudine shook her head, and did her best to regain 
 her composure, but without success. What a medley 
 of emotions surged up within her! and then this 
 woman's tenderness ! 
 
 " Pardon me, your Highness, pardon me," she said 
 ut last, " and permit me to withdraw. I am conscious 
 that I cannot to-day be the companion whom your 
 Highness "
 
 116 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 "No, no, my dear Claudine! I cannot let you go I 
 Do you imagine I do not understand you ? My dear 
 child, I too have been crying to-day." And the tears 
 flowed fast again over her fever-flushed cheeks. " I 
 have had a sad day to-day," she went on. " I feel so ill 
 that I caanot but think continually of dying; I cannot 
 help dwelling upon the terrible family vault beneath 
 the chapel of the castle in the capital ; and then I think 
 of my children, and of the Duke. Why should one so 
 young and so happy as I am have such thoughts? 
 Just look at me, dearest Claudine; I am perfectly happy 
 but for my illness. I have a husband to whom I am 
 dear beyond measure, and such lovely children, and yet 
 all these frightful thoughts will not leave me. I am so 
 oppressed for breath to-day." 
 
 "It is the close atmosphere, your Highness," said 
 the young girl, deeply moved. 
 
 " Yes, of course. I am nervous ; it will pass away, I 
 know. I feel better since you came. Come as often as 
 you can. I will confess to you, dear Claudine, mamma 
 knows my secret, that since seeing you I have been 
 longing to have you always about me. But mamma 
 was so charmed with you that she would not hear of 
 giving you up. I cannot blame her. The Duke him- 
 self begged for me, but she refused point-blank." 
 
 Claudine did not stir ; her eyes were downcast, and 
 for an instant her cheek crimsoned. 
 
 " It was strange ; dear mamma never before refused 
 me anything. And now, dear Claudine, comes my re- 
 quest. Stay with me, at least, while we are here." 
 
 " Impossible, your Highness 1" Claudine said almost 
 bluntly ; and then in a tone of entreaty she added, 
 " My brother, your Highness, and his child !" 
 
 " Oh, I take all that into consideration ; but you
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 117 
 
 must contrive to give me a couple of hours every 
 day, Claudine, only a couple of hours! Give me your 
 hand upon it. Only one or two songs now and then. 
 You cannot think how your singing soothes mel" 
 
 The poor woman leaned her feverish face forward 
 close to Claudine's, and the unnaturally brilliant eyes 
 looked beseechingly into the young girl's own. How 
 touching was the evidence in that face of the fading 
 life! Why should she so entreat? and for what? If 
 she could dream but no, she must not ! 
 
 "Your Highness " Claudine stammered. 
 
 "No, no, I will not be put off so. I long for a 
 friend, and I could not find one nobler, better, or truer 
 than you, Claudine. Why do you let me entreat you 
 so?" 
 
 " Your Highness " the girl repeated, overcome, 
 
 and bowing over the hand that clasped her own. But 
 the Duchess lifted up her face and kissed her brow. 
 
 " My dear friend !" she said. 
 
 " Your Highness ! for the love of heaven !" Clau- 
 dine whispered. But the Duchess did not hear her: 
 she had turned her head towards her old lady-in- 
 waiting, who announced in an undertone that the 
 Duke would sup with the gentlemen in the room next 
 the card-room, and asked where her Highness would 
 take her supper. 
 
 "Up here in the little drawing-room," the Duchess 
 gave orders, with a glance of disappointment towards 
 Claudine. " I had so looked forward to this evening. 
 We should have been such a pleasant partie carree, the 
 Duke, your cousin, and we two." And she added, as 
 in jest, "Yes, yes, my dear Claudine, we poor wives 
 must share our husbands' hearts with various other 
 passions. The chase and ombre have cost me many
 
 118 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 a tear; but happy is the wife who has nothing graver 
 to cause them." 
 
 It was nine o'clock before Claudine was permitted 
 to return home. As she descended the broad, familiar 
 staircase, attended by the Duchess's maid, a lackey 
 passed her with a couple of silver champagne-coolers. 
 She knew that his Highness was fond of cards, with 
 an accompaniment of Heidsieck and cigarettes, and that 
 he sometimes sat at the card-table until dawn. Thank 
 heaven that he was so occupied this evening ! Her 
 light foot-fall was inaudible on the crimson-carpeted 
 staircase. At the hall door stood her father's old ser- 
 vant, Friedrich Kern, now in the ducal livery, his 
 honest face beaming with delight. She nodded to him 
 kindly, and hurried out. With a sigh of relief she 
 sank back among the silken cushions of the carriage ; 
 she had been as frightened as a child lest some one 
 might meet her in the corridor, some one ! No, thank 
 God ! she was alone in the ducal vehicle, which was 
 bearing her swiftly towards her home, her own dear 
 home ! Never before had she so yearned for the simple 
 little rooms. For a while she resigned herself to such 
 reflections; then suddenly she opened the window and 
 passed her hand across her forehead ; the perfume that 
 lingered in the cushions of the carriage aroused pain- 
 ful memories. It was the Duke's favourite perfume; 
 the sweet, heavy fragrance hung around his clothes, 
 enveloping him as in a cloud. It had often made 
 her dizzy when waltzing with his Highness at balls. 
 Nothing else in the world brings back the past so 
 vividly as an odour. 
 
 She opened the other window, and sat in the draught 
 caused by the rapid driving, her lips compressed and 
 her eyes shining through tears. In spite of herself,
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 119 
 
 she had been compelled to cross that threshold. "What 
 had her flight availed her? Nothing! nothing at all I 
 Would he make good his declaration that he should find 
 her out everywhere ? 
 
 Her thoughts grew confused and contradictory ; she 
 seemed to herself untrue, degraded. Ought she not to 
 have repelled the Duchess's advance as bluntly as Beata 
 had done ? Ah, Beata ! How steadfast and true was 
 her walk through life! At that moment the lights 
 in the windows of the Neuhaus mansion shimmered 
 through the linden boughs; a sudden yearning for 
 her simple, upright cousin possessed her; she longed 
 for a word from her, to learn from a glance from those 
 clear eyes whether she had done wrong. She pulled 
 the silken cord that passed around the coachman's 
 arm, and ordered him to drive to Neuhaus. 
 
 Beata was just passing through the spacious hall, her 
 bunch of jingling keys in her hand, and followed by a 
 girl carrying a bolt of linen fresh from the loom. 
 
 "What! is it you?" she called in her loud voice that 
 re-echoed from the walls of the hall. " Heavens and 
 earth ! where have you come from this evening ?" 
 
 Claudine stood beneath the waving hanging-lamp, 
 her face looking white as marble from out the black 
 lace which she had tied around it. " I wanted to say 
 good-night to you in passing," she said. 
 
 " Come in, then. Where have you been ? At Alten- 
 stein, I suspect, from your dress. I intended to pay 
 you a visit to-day, but when I had nearly reached your 
 house I met Berg with the child ; and guess who was 
 in the carriage with her ? Herr von Palmer ! It ex- 
 cited my curiosity, so I beckoned to the coachman, 
 and begged permission to make use of our carriage in 
 the threatening weather. Of course the pair were de-
 
 120 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 lighted, apparently. Mark what I say, Claudine, I 
 don't know much about love-affairs, they're not at all 
 in my line, but I'll stake my life that will be a match." 
 
 Talking thus, she had conducted her cousin into the 
 study, and seated her in one of the brown-covered arm- 
 chairs. " But tell me," she went on from her work- 
 table at the other end of the room, where she was 
 looking for scissors, needle, and thread, " have you 
 been at Altenstein? And is that the ducal carriage 
 outside? Yes? Then, my dear child, we will send it 
 away. Our Lorenz will bo delighted to drive you home." 
 She glanced at the clock on the wall above the sofa, 
 between the portraits of her parents. " Five minutes 
 of half-past nine ; you can surely stay until ten." And 
 in an instant she had pulled the bell beside the door, 
 and given her orders to the maid-servant who appeared. 
 
 "Did you not see Lothar?" she asked. " The Duke's 
 huntsman was here to summon him to Altenstein. 
 They sent for you, too ?" 
 
 Claudine nodded. 
 
 "Your expression of countenance is very edifying, 
 my dear," said Beata, laughing, as she seated herself at 
 her sewing. 
 
 " I am not very well ; I would rather have stayed at 
 home." 
 
 " Why did you not say so frankly ?" 
 
 Claudine blushed. " I thought I ought not to ; the 
 Duchess wrote so kindly." 
 
 "You are right, my dear Claudine; you could hardly 
 have refused," Beata rejoined, waxing the thread with 
 which she was sewing on a loop which had been torn 
 off a coarse kitchen towel. " They have always been 
 so kind to you, and the little Duchess, in spite of her 
 sentimentality, is a true-hearted woman, and so ill.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 121 
 
 It really would be disobliging if you refused to make 
 some slight sacrifice for her sake. If you are afraid 
 lest your household should suffer from your absence 
 now and then, I can assure you, my child, that I will 
 see to all that." 
 
 As she finished she rose and went to her work-table 
 again, as if she did not wish to look at Claudine. 
 
 "You are so kind," the girl murmured. Even the 
 pretext that her home duties might have afforded was 
 taken from her. Everything seemed to combine against 
 her. 
 
 " But you have not told me yet whether Lothar was 
 in Altenstein," Beata asked, resuming her seat. 
 
 " Yes; he is playing ombre with his Highness." 
 
 "Oh, gracious, they'll play forever! "Who made up 
 the game?" 
 
 "Probably the adjutant or the chamberlain and 
 some one else, Palmer, perhaps." 
 
 "Oh he! of course! He said he was in a hurry 
 when he took leave of me in the carriage. I offered to 
 drive to Altenstein, but he thanked me and declined; 
 said he had only been picked up as he was taking a 
 walk, in this rain, Claudine. He preferred walking. 
 I said, ' Very well,' and let him go ; but 1 was amused 
 at the worthy Berg's expression of countenance when 
 I dropped from the skies into the carriage ; the milk- 
 bottle that she held might have been a bowl of hem- 
 lock. The nurse told me afterwards that they often 
 met Herr Palmer 'by accident' in their drives, and 
 that then he and Frau Berg spoke 'Italian,' she 
 meant French, which she could not understand. But, 
 good heavens, there comes Lothar! See the dog." 
 
 The beautiful spaniel had risen, and was standing, 
 wagging his tail, at the door of the room. There was 
 F 11
 
 122 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 a light, elastic step outside, and presently the Baron 
 entered. He looked amazed for an instant upon see- 
 ing Claudine, who had risen to her feet and was tying 
 her black lace veil over her head. 
 
 "Ah, my gracious cousin," he said, bowing. "And 
 I thought you still at Altenstein. His Highness broke 
 up the card-party so suddenly that I supposed you 
 were going to spend a social evening with the Duchess 
 His Highness had very bad luck at cards to-night," he 
 went on ; " but he apparently took it as a good sign ; 
 he is superstitious, like all great intellects. At all 
 events, he called me 'cousin' to-night with extreme 
 urbanity, and he never does so unless the barometer 
 Btands very high." 
 
 As he spoke he laid aside his hat and was taking off 
 his gloves. " Give me a drink of cool, honest beer, 
 sister," he said, changing his tone. " I detest sweet 
 French champagne and those strong cigarettes. But 
 are you going already, cousin ?" 
 
 " Stay awhile," said Beata ; and then turning to 
 Lothar, she added, " She is not very well, but since the 
 Duchess sent her carriage for her, she could not help 
 driving over." 
 
 Herr von Gerold smiled, and took the foaming glass 
 which a servant had brought. " Of course not," he 
 said, and drank. 
 
 Claudine, who had been standing putting on her 
 wrap, saw his smile, and turned very pale. She walked 
 haughtily towards him. " Of course not," she repeated, 
 and her lip quivered. " I could not but obey her High- 
 ness's summons. I went to her to-day, and I shall go 
 again to-morrow, and the day after to-morrow, and 
 every day when she summons me to her presence. I 
 know I act as Joachim would approve, in helping an
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 123 
 
 invalid to forget her sufferings for an hour, whether 
 she be a duchess or the poor woman who does day- 
 labourer's service in our garden." 
 
 She paused, but she looked as if she were putting a 
 restraint upon herself not to proceed. 
 
 "Pray order the carriage, Beata," she said; "it is 
 high time I were at home." 
 
 The smile had vanished from the Baron's face for a 
 moment, but it hovered upon his lips again as he bowed 
 low in assent. " Permit me to accompany you," he 
 said, taking up his hat. 
 
 " Thank you, I had rather be alone." 
 
 " I regret that you should be forced to endure my 
 society for a quarter of an hour longer, but I cannot 
 allow you to drive alone." 
 
 She threw her arm round Beata and kissed her. 
 
 " What is the matter?" the latter asked. " You are 
 trembling." 
 
 " Oh, nothing, Beata." 
 
 " You must let me know when you are called away 
 from home, Claudine, and I will come and get tho 
 child." 
 
 Again she was driving through the silent forest. 
 She leaned back in the corner of the carriage, her 
 skirts gathered close about her and her hand firmly 
 grasping their folds, as if it soothed her in her indig- 
 nation to crush something together. Beside her sat 
 Lothar ; a ray from the carriage-lantern fell upon his 
 hand, on which glistened the broad, gold marriage 
 circlet ; the hand lay motionless, as if its owner were 
 sleeping. Not a word was spoken in the comfortable 
 silken-cushioned little room which sheltered two people 
 from the rain and all terrors of the night. A tempest 
 of indignation and distress was raging in the girl's
 
 124 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 heart. What did this man think of her? what was 
 she in his eyes ? 
 
 She could not pursue the train of thought ; her own 
 words dismayed her: 'And I shall go again to-mor- 
 row, and the day after to-morrow, and every day.' 
 
 The die was cast ; she would do as she had said, and 
 what she did was right. 
 
 She leaned forward. Thank heaven ! there gleamed 
 the light from Joachim's window. The carriage stopped, 
 and the door was opened. Baron Gerold sprang out and 
 offered her his hand to assist her to alight. She made 
 as though she did not perceive it, and passed through 
 the gate with a haughty inclination of her head. As 
 she glanced towards him she thought she saw by the 
 light of the lantern, held high by old Heinemann, that 
 he was looking after her with an anxious expression. 
 Pshaw ! Lothar anxious, and anxious about her ! 
 
 She reached the house breathless, hearing behind her 
 the rolling of the wheels that bore him back to Neuhaus. 
 
 " They are all asleep," whispered the old man, as he 
 lighted his mistress up the steps ; " the master only is 
 still at work. The little one played in Fraulein Lin- 
 denmeyer's room, and then we had strawberries and 
 milk, and everything went on delightfully." 
 
 She nodded to him with a pale, serious face, and 
 closed the door of her little room behind her. Then 
 she threw herself into a chair, clasped her hands over 
 her eyes, and sat for a long time lost in thought. " He 
 is no better than the rest," she said to herself at last, 
 as she began to make ready to go to bed ; " even he no 
 longer believes in feminine purity, in feminine honour!" 
 
 What had her flight availed her? Did not he be, 
 of all men believe the worst of her? His smile, his 
 words, this very evening, would have convinced h<r
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 125 
 
 of it, even had she not long known it. Oh, the whole 
 world might think of her what it chose, if only her 
 heart, her conscience, acquitted her. She would see to 
 it that she had no cause for hanging her head. 
 
 She compressed her lips. Yes, she would show him 
 that a Gerold could walk along the dimmest, muddiest 
 paths without even soiling the sole of her shoe. She 
 looked towards where she knew the star shone be- 
 tween the stag's horns ; its lustre should never be 
 dimmed on her account. 
 
 She rose, lit a candle, and looked around her. What 
 a sight ! Everywhere in the apartment, usually so 
 neat and pretty, were visible the traces of her disor- 
 dered thoughts : the wardrobe door was wide open, on 
 the dressing-table lay sashes, gloves, pins, combs, all in 
 confusion ; various gowns encumbered the bed and the 
 chairs ; everything mirrored the period of indecision 
 through which she had passed before she drove to 
 Altenstein. She had taken the articles from drawers 
 and closets aimlessly, and had then dropped them here 
 and there. She would not no, she would not go, 
 and yet she had not the courage to excuse herself by 
 a falsehood. Outside, the ducal horses had stamped 
 impatiently; one quarter of an hour after another 
 had passed, until at last Joachim had appeared: "But, 
 sister, are you not ready yet ?" 
 
 Then she went. 
 
 She began to restore order to her room, and gave a 
 sigh of relief when it again reigned around her. Yes, 
 everything was settled now. She herself had decided 
 in a moment of anger, of bitter anguish. But had she 
 decided rightly ? 
 
 11*
 
 126 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Frauvon Berg was seated at her writing-table in her 
 room at Neuhaus. The door leading into the adjoining 
 apartment was open ; it was occupied by the child with 
 her nurse. The rain was dropping outside and weigh- 
 ing down the wet linden boughs ; the lady was writing, 
 wrapped in a thick woollen shawl. She must have been 
 somewhat agitated in mind, for her pen flew over the 
 thick, cream-laid paper, and the letters were excessively 
 small and flowing, a peculiar handwriting, reminding 
 one of delicate little cat's-paws. 
 
 The writer was in an extremely bad humour, and 
 when Beata's loud voice was heard from the hall below 
 she clinched her hand and glanced angrily towards 
 the door. Who could guard against that domestic 
 dragon's insisting, by virtue of her office, upon coming 
 in here to see that everything was in order? just 
 as yesterday, by virtue of her authority, she had in- 
 truded in the carriage and had spoiled a cosey hour 
 of chat. And the worst of it was that one was so 
 powerless here. The Herr Baron had hardly any eyes 
 for his little daughter; they were employed elsewhere, 
 as she knew very well. Had he not escorted her back 
 to the Owl's Nest yesterday evening through the night 
 and rain ? 
 
 She looked out of the window, nodded as if some- 
 thing especial had occurred to her, and then wrote on : 
 
 "Yesterday in my weekly bulletin to Princess Thekla 
 with regard to her grandchild's health, I added various 
 hints, which, after all of which I informed you, must 
 certainly have thrown the Princess Helena into one 
 of her fits of rage. It is almost incredible, that young 
 lady's capacity for jealousy, of which I have often 
 told you. 
 
 " Moreover, my dear Palmer, yesterday evening as I
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 127 
 
 "was passing the study, on my way from the ironing- 
 room, where I had had a dispute with a housemaid, you 
 have no idea of the vexations one must encounter in this 
 model household in having a little extra work done, 
 I heard, in passing, the little goose ci-devant swan 
 declare to her faithful adorer that she meant to go to 
 Altenstein every day. Thus far your prophecy, you 
 see, has been verified. How did you put it? 'There 
 is no surer means of depriving a timid lover of the 
 last vestige of common sense than to play a little hide- 
 and-seek with him.' I never should have thought it! 
 To be sure, you say, the Duke's ardour has cooled, 
 tant mieux ! Permit me, by the way, to have some 
 slight doubt as to this last. I think I know his Serene 
 Highness better. 
 
 " To-morrow I hope to see you. Mademoiselle Beata 
 has instituted a grand cleaning. On these occasions she 
 covers her head with a white handkerchief and dusts 
 the portraits of her ancestors with a long feather 
 duster. High festival is held : there are potato-dump- 
 lings with baked fruit for dinner. Oh, we lead an 
 idyllic life here ! I cannot stand it, my dear Palmer, 
 much longer, I can assure you. Arrange that the 
 stay at Altenstein shall be short, then my captivity 
 will come to an end. Find cholera-bacilli in the spring- 
 water, or turn loose a few dozen rats and mice in 
 their Highnesses' rooms, or let the ghost of the late 
 colonel or of the fair Spaniard ' walk,' or contrive a 
 stroke of lightning; I don't care what, if it only drives 
 away the inmates of Altenstein and lets me once more 
 behold the roofs of the capital. I cannot breathe in 
 this cow-stable." 
 
 Here she broke off and turned her head towards the 
 next room, whence a child's cries were audible. An
 
 128 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 expression of irritation appeared on the listener's full 
 
 white face. " Oh, heavens, I wish I " she muttered 
 
 and arose. 
 
 " Frau von Berg, the child is very restless," said the 
 nurse. 
 
 " Give her some milk, then ; good heavens, it must be 
 hungry. What else can ail her ?" 
 
 " It will not take anything, madame." 
 
 " Then take the child out ; it must be quiet." 
 
 "I dare not take the little thing out while it has 
 the wet compress on its chest ; the doctor particularly 
 forbade " 
 
 Frau von Berg threw down her pen and rustled 
 into the next room. 
 
 "Hushl Be quiet!" she called in her harshest voice, 
 clapping her hands as she approached the bed. 
 
 There was such an angry threat in her eyes that the 
 child stopped crying for a minute, only to begin again 
 louder than ever after the pause. There was something 
 so piteous, so suffering, in the cry, that the nurse left 
 the table where she had been preparing the child's 
 food, and hurried to the bedside, while footsteps were 
 suddenly heard in the corridor, and the next moment 
 Baron Gerold appeared. 
 
 "Is Leonie ill?" was his first question, while his 
 eyes sought the little creature, who, as she lay in bed, 
 stretched out her arms to him and ceased crying. 
 
 Frau von Berg was confused, but she kept her place 
 at the foot of the bed. "No," she replied; "only 
 hungry and wayward." 
 
 " But that was not the cry of a wayward child," 
 he said, curtly and decidedly. 
 
 " It is possible that she does not feel very well," the 
 stately woman declared. " I have thought for some
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 129 
 
 time that the air here is too bracing for the little 
 thing. Imagine what the transition must be from the 
 soft, warm atmosphere of the Riviera to this cool, 
 sharp mountain air," 
 
 He looked at her gravely. "Do you think so?" he 
 asked. His tone brought the blood to her cheeks ; she 
 dreaded the Baron's sarcasm. " I regret," he continued, 
 with composure, "that the poor child should have been 
 ordered directly to this cool, sharp mountain air by the 
 first physician of Nice. Unfortunately, it must become 
 accustomed to it, Nice being entirely out of the ques- 
 tion at present, since its father is forced to stay here. 
 Besides, my dear Frau von Berg, ' the cool, sharp air' 
 seems to me to have been beneficial already; yester- 
 day I saw the child creep quickly from one end of the 
 room to the other, and rise to its feet by that chair 
 without assistance." 
 
 Frau von Berg shrugged her shoulders slightly. 
 " What is that for a child two years old ?" she said. 
 
 "Be logical, madame; the question is not of the 
 child's age, but of its improvement in health. I should 
 like to tell you of something which will probably in- 
 terest you. Her Highness the Princess Thekla, with 
 the Princess Helena, is shortly coming to Neubaus 
 for a few weeks, to convince herself personally of her 
 grandchild's welfare. Where could her Highness have 
 learned that the Reitenbach physician is at present 
 attending my child. Have you any idea?" 
 
 Frau von Berg changed colour, but made no reply, 
 merely shrugging her shoulders again. 
 
 " I never mentioned it in my letters to her High- 
 ness," he continued, walking towards the window. "I 
 dislike all intermeddling in the arrangements which I 
 make. The Princess Thekla is a homoeopath, and has
 
 130 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 her pocket filled with pellets. Have you really no idea, 
 Frau von Berg?" 
 
 She shook her head. " None." 
 
 He scarcely seemed to heed her ; he stood motion- 
 less at the window, gazing out at the road which 
 traversed the forest opposite, like a white, shining 
 band. Along it the ducal vehicle was driving rapidly ; 
 for a moment a pale face appeared behind the glass 
 of its window, and then the equipage disappeared, 
 Claudine was driving to Altenstein. 
 
 When he turned round he looked strangely pale. Frau 
 von Berg watched him with a malicious smile hovering 
 about the corners of her mouth ; she, too, had seen the 
 carriage. He did not notice her smile, but, approaching 
 the bed, where his child now lay asleep, he gazed down 
 at the frail little creature for a long time. 
 
 Frau von Berg softly withdrew to the next room. As 
 he stood by the bed, a hard, bitter expression gathered 
 about his lips. The old nurse looked at him from behind 
 the blue bed-curtains. Could the Herr Baron dislike the 
 poor little thing because it had cost his idolized wife 
 her life when it was born ? Yes, yes, that was often 
 the case 1 Poor thing! such an innocent little creature, 
 and yet condemned to be looked at so reproachfully 
 always. Poor thing I 
 
 Suddenly the man at the bedside turned away and 
 hastily left the room. The old woman stooped and 
 held her hands above the sleeping child as if to shield 
 it; she was sure the door would close with a crash 
 behind him, he looked so desperate. Thank heaven, 
 although it was closed hurriedly and firmly, the child 
 did not wake.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 131 
 
 Yes, Claudine was driving to Altenstein. She was 
 sitting in the carriage with the calm, proud expression 
 of countenance now usual with her. She had attended 
 betimes to her housekeeping, and after the mid-day 
 meal had changed her Cinderella costume for the taste- 
 ful toilette of soft dark-blue silk which the modiste had 
 sent her home a few days before she had resigned her 
 post at court. She had not donned it from vanity ; she 
 was forced to dress thus, for her Highness had declared 
 yesterday in the course of conversation that she disliked 
 black clothes. 
 
 When Claudine entered the tower-room to take leave 
 of her brother, he gazed at her in surprise. 
 
 "How beautiful you look!" he said proudly, kissing 
 her brow. 
 
 She looked at him confused and anxious. " I have no 
 other gown, Joachim, and in this cloudy weather " 
 
 "I am not finding fault with it," he rejoined, 
 pleasantly. " I was only admiring the effect of your 
 fair hair set off by the deep blue. Good-bye, my little 
 sister. You can go without an anxiety ; Elizabeth is 
 happy with Fraulein Lindenmeyer, and I am writing. 
 What are you waiting for, my darling? Are you 
 troubled about anything ?" 
 
 She approached him hesitatingly, and her lips moved 
 slightly, as though she would have spoken. Then she 
 turned hastily, murmured an ' Adieu,' and went. She 
 could not submit the question in her mind to him, the 
 dreamer, with his gentle spirit, for decision. The only 
 right way was to act for herself. And so she got into 
 the carriage with the uncomfortable sensation that 
 must assail a noble nature when all about it is not 
 clear and transparent, and yet with the firm resolve 
 to find of herself a way out of her present perplexity.
 
 132 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 But what in the world should she do next ? The 
 Duchess called her she must obey her summons. 
 Unless she were really ill, she had no possible reason 
 for refusing; a falsehood she would not tell, and the 
 truth could not be told. And, after all, was she not 
 safest in the society of the Duchess? None of the 
 ardent, entreating glances which she feared could be 
 cast towards her in the wife's boudoir ; in the presence 
 of that loving and lovable creature every wild wish 
 must be suppressed. She pressed her lace handker- 
 chief to her throbbing temples, as if she could thus 
 deaden the pain which had raged there all day long. 
 
 The pointed gables of Altenstein were just visible 
 among the tree-tops, and, for the first time after long, 
 dreary days of rain, a golden gleam of sunshine broke 
 through the clouds and sparkled on the gilded top of 
 the tower, as if her old home were extending her a 
 welcome. 
 
 " Her Highness has been expecting you with im- 
 patience," old Frau von Katzenstein whispered to her 
 in the antechamber. " Her Highness wishes to hear 
 you sing a new song of Brahm's, and has been prac- 
 tising the accompaniment for two hours this morning. 
 She is terribly nervous and excited, dearest Gerold ; 
 there has been a little dispute with his Highness." 
 
 The young girl looked inquiringly into the old lady's 
 face. 
 
 " Entre nous, dearest Gerold," the latter whispered, 
 " her Highness wanted the Duke to take tea with her 
 this afternoon, and he refused so decidedly as to be 
 almost unkind. 'We are to have some music,' her 
 Highness said timidly ; ' and I thought, dear, that you 
 took such an interest in singing ? I believe you never 
 missed one of mamma's musical evenings ?' His High-
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 133 
 
 ness replied, 'True, true, my dear; but just now I 
 have sent for Palmer to consult with him; and, since 
 the weather is brighter, I must go to Meerfeld this even- 
 ing ; you know the physician insists upon my being as 
 much as possible in the open air.' " 
 
 Claudine rolled up her sheet of music; she had 
 changed colour, and, painfully affected by all this, she 
 asked, "Will you not conduct me to her Highness?" 
 
 " In a moment, dearest Gerold ; only let me tell you 
 this: the Duchess turned away from him, saying un- 
 der her breath, ' You do not want to come, Adalbert 1' 
 And then he left her without replying, and she burst 
 into tears." 
 
 The Duchess was seated at her writing-table when 
 Claudine entered, and she held out her hand to her 
 visitor. "It is as if the sunshine just breaking forth 
 outside had come into my room with you, dear Clau- 
 dine," she said kindly in her weary, husky voice. " You 
 cannot think how lonely one gets sometimes even with 
 those who should be who are everything to us. I 
 got out my diary in my restlessness, and I have been 
 looking through it, and it has done me good. I have 
 had much, very much happiness, and that consoles 
 me, and makes me grateful. Sit down. Are those the 
 songs I was speaking of?" She took the sheets and 
 turned them over. " Yes, these are they. ' Faithful 
 Love' you must sing that one to me after a while, 
 dear; now I must beg you to take a little walk with 
 me. I long so for fresh air, and, thank heaven I the 
 sky is clearing." 
 
 When the ladies returned at the end of an hour, 
 they had tea, and then Cluudine went to the piano. 
 The Duchess lay back in her reclining-chair and 
 listened ; old Frau von Katzenstein sat at the window 
 
 12
 
 134 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 behind her mistress, and watched her every move- 
 ment. 
 
 Claudine's fine, rich contralto floated through the 
 room, which the twilight had already invaded; the 
 notes were before her, but she did not need them. 
 Song followed song ; she sang with a melancholy en- 
 joyment; the costly grand piano was, oddly enough, 
 placed in the same spot in the same room where her 
 own instrument had stood formerly. The memory 
 of the full, frank happiness of her youth awoke within 
 her in this apartment; she hardly knew how it was 
 that she found herself singing Joachim's favourite 
 song, 
 
 " From youth's time of bliss, from youth's time of bliss, 
 
 Sounds a song, a song divine. 
 How long past it is, how long past it is, 
 What once, what once was mine!" 
 
 She sang the simple, pathetic air with intense feel- 
 ing, but in the midst of the last line her voice failed as 
 if broken, and after a couple of false chords, which 
 her hand struck mechanically, she was silent. 
 
 A gentle voice was heard saying, " I knew you would 
 come, Adalbert." 
 
 Claudine had risen, and stood gazing at the tall figure 
 just bending to kiss his wife's hand. She courtesied, 
 and grasped the back of her chair as if needing support. 
 
 " Pray go on singing, Fraulein von Gerold," said the 
 Duke ; " it is a long time since I had the pleasure of 
 listening to you." 
 
 He sat in deep shadow beside his wife's chair. Clau- 
 dine knew that the last rays of crimson from the west 
 were falling full upon her own figure, and the knowl- 
 edge confused her still more. She tried to regain her
 
 THE OWL'S WEST. 135 
 
 composure, but when she sat down at the piano her 
 voice sounded veiled and weak, a spasm seemed to close 
 her throat. She stammered an excuse and rose. 
 
 " How strange 1" said the Duchess. " Have you ever 
 felt it before, dearest Claudine?" 
 
 " Never, your Highness," the girl stammered, with 
 absolute truth. 
 
 " There are such nervous affections," the Duke ob- 
 served ; " perhaps you have exacted too much already 
 of Fraulein von Gerold." 
 
 " Oh, that may be I Forgive me, dear Claudine, and 
 take some rest," the Duchess exclaimed, evidently dis- 
 tressed. She beckoned to the young girl to come and 
 sit beside her on the low chair which the Duke had 
 just left to pace the room to and fro with an almost 
 inaudible tread. 
 
 " Sit so that I can see your face," she said. " Indeed, 
 you look quite ill; but your colour is returning. Good 
 heavens, I believe you took fright at the Duke's sudden 
 entrance. Adalbert!" she laughed, and tried to turn 
 her head towards where he was now standing behind 
 her chair, " it is your fault that she had to stop. Oh, 
 you wretched man, what mischief you do!" 
 
 Involuntarily Claudine had raised her eyes to the 
 Duke, thus addressed, only to avert them the next in- 
 stant in mortal terror. There it was again, that ardent 
 glance of entreaty ! Above his wife's head it encoun- 
 tered her own, while his voice sounded perfectly calm : 
 " I should be sorry to think so, Fraulein von Gerold, 
 and I really cannot imagine how my appearance here 
 should seem startling or extraordinary. I " 
 
 " Certainly not, your Highness," Claudine replied, 
 sitting erect. " I was tired at the moment, and had a 
 little headache ; it is almost gone now."
 
 136 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 "So much the better!" said the Duchess; "and now 
 let us talk. You are so silent, Adalbert. How came you 
 to give up your expedition ? Tell us ! Was it really 
 only because you wanted to spend this evening with 
 me?" And as he passed her lounge in pacing the room 
 again she followed him with happy eyes, and went on 
 without waiting for an answer: "Only fancy, Adal- 
 bert, your eldest son has composed a poem, his first 
 verses; his tutor brought it to me to-day; he had 
 found it between the leaves of the boy's Latin exercise 
 book. Do you not want to read it ? Dearest Claudine, 
 there it is on my writing-table, under the paper-weight, 
 no, under the statuette of the Duke. Thank you ; 
 will you not read it aloud to us ? It is expressed in 
 childlike fashion, but it shows such earnest feeling." 
 
 Claudine took the paper, and, going to the window, 
 read by the fading daylight the large, childish char- 
 acters, 
 
 " When I to manhood shall attain, 
 There is a word I'll live by ever ; 
 
 Within my heart I'll write it plain. 
 And thence it shall be banished never. 
 
 True is this word : true will I be, 
 
 True to my people and my God ; 
 
 True to my friends eternally, 
 
 True to myself, to duty true, 
 
 And true to truth I will be too." 
 
 Claudine could not see the Duchess's face, but she 
 saw her stretch out her hand to her husband and heard 
 her tremulous whisper, "Your son, Adalbert 1" then 
 aloud, "Is it not delightful?" 
 
 The Duke had paused in his walk to and fro. " Yes, 
 Liesel, it is delightful. God so guide him that he may 
 never find it hard to keep true !"
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 137 
 
 "That never can be hard, Adalbert, never!" 
 
 " Never ?" he asked. 
 
 " Never ! What do you say, Claudine ?" 
 
 " There may be cases," the girl began, " when it costs 
 a hard struggle to keep true." 
 
 " But such truth would not satisfy love," the Duchess 
 interposed, and her cheeks flushed. " It would only 
 be an artificial truth." 
 
 " Yes," said the Duke, in an undertone. The mono- 
 syllable had a strange intonation. 
 
 " It would not be truth, it would be a sense of duty," 
 the Duchess declared, eagerly. 
 
 " Truth to duty ; that is perhaps the highest grade 
 of truth, your Highness," said Claudine, gently. 
 
 "Ah, that is hair-splitting, my dear child," the 
 Duchess interposed again. " Truth that costs a strug- 
 gle has lost its value. If, for example, sans comparai- 
 son, if the Duke," she hesitated a moment, and an 
 arch smile flitted across her face, " if he should some- 
 times once, we will say allow his thoughts to dwell 
 fondly upon you, Claudine, his conjugal truth would 
 be valueless, even though he were actually the most 
 dutiful of husbands. Do you hear, Adalbert? In my 
 opinion you would be untrue." 
 
 The Duke had turned away, and was gazing out 
 of the window. Claudine looked positively horrified. 
 The Duchess did not notice it ; the idea was so divert- 
 ing that she laughed in childlike glee, as only those 
 can laugh who feel secure in the possession of great 
 happiness, and therefore can jest at the possibility of 
 losing it. 
 
 " Claudine," she exclaimed, in the midst of her laugh- 
 ter, " how you look ! Do not be annoyed ; it is not high 
 treason. You know, Adalbert, how I love to tease ? 
 
 1-2*
 
 138 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Good heavens! this pain in my chest ! It is the laugh- 
 ing. Claudine ! Claudine!" The word died away in 
 a violent fit of coughing. " Water ! water !" she gasped. 
 
 The terrified girl sprang up and ran to the table, 
 where stood a carafe of water. Frau von Katzenstein, 
 who had rushed into the room, supported the sufferer, 
 who gasped for breath, while the Duke stood beside 
 the lounge with a gloomy air, his wife holding his hand 
 in a convulsive clasp. 
 
 She was racked by the terrible cough, and was un- 
 able to drink. The physician, hurriedly summoned, 
 glided noiselessly into the room, and Claudine stepped 
 aside to make way for the kindly old man. 
 
 " Dear Doctor "Westermann," the invalid panted 
 forth, " I am better already ; it is almost gone j I can 
 breathe again !" 
 
 Gray twilight reigned in the apartment; Claudine 
 had withdrawn to the recess of a window ; the ground 
 seemed burning beneath her feet as she gazed in a sort 
 of bewilderment at the group in the centre of the 
 room. 
 
 The Duke moved aside, and the sufferer asked, in an 
 exhausted voice, " Did I startle you, Adalbert ? For- 
 give me 1" 
 
 He made a gesture of denial, but there was in it a 
 degree of suppressed impatience. 
 
 " Her Highness must lie down," said the physician. 
 
 The Duke, who had gone towards the door, suddenly 
 returned. Frau von Katzenstein supported the invalid, 
 who rose obediently to go to her room. She waved her 
 hand kindly to Claudine : " Au revoir I I shall send for 
 you, dearest Claudine, in a few moments. Good-night, 
 dear heart," she said to the J)uke. " I shall be all 
 right to-morrow."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 139 
 
 As soon as she had disappeared behind the portiere 
 the physician went up to the Duke: "It is nothing 
 alarming, your Highness, but the patient must be 
 treated with extreme caution ; there must be none of 
 the exciting conversation, the intellectual discussions 
 in which her Highness delights. Her Highness's tem- 
 perament is one of extreme sensitiveness ; she must 
 lead a monotonous, commonplace life." 
 
 "My dear doctor, you know the Duchess; she really 
 only laughed a little." 
 
 " I merely wished to remind your Highness," the old 
 man replied, with a bow. 
 
 The Duke waved his hand impatiently: " Good-even- 
 ing, my dear Westermann." 
 
 Claudine was terrified ; she retired to the darkest 
 corner of the window-recess, and looked with dread 
 after the retreating figure of the physician. She was 
 alone, alone with the Duke. That which she had 
 always prudently endeavoured to avoid, that which 
 he had evidently desired, ardently desired, had taken 
 place. But perhaps he had forgotten her presence ; 
 he was restlessly pacing to and fro ; oh, he might not 
 perceive her ; the single candle, which had been has- 
 tily lighted in the candelabrum on the chimney-piece, 
 scarcely sufficed to illuminate a small circle about the 
 hearth, and she was hidden behind the silken hangings 
 of the window-recess. 
 
 She waited breathless, like a hunted deer which sees 
 no escape from its pursuer. She heard the beating of 
 her own heart as plainly as his step upon the soft car- 
 pet. Ah, she shrank ; the steps approached her hiding- 
 place ; a tall figure appeared between the curtains, and 
 a voice made strangely husky by passionate emotion 
 uttered her name : " Claudine."
 
 140 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 She timidly stepped aside, as if trying to discern 
 some way of escape. 
 
 " Claudine," he repeated, bending over her so that in 
 spite of the darkness she could see the entreaty in his 
 eyes, " this scene has troubled you ? It was not my 
 fault. I would fain ask your forgiveness." 
 
 He tried to take her hand, but it was concealed amid 
 the folds of her dress. Not a word issued from her 
 compressed lips; she stood mute, on the defensive, 
 gazing at him with beautiful, indignant eyes. 
 
 " What does this mean?" he asked. 
 
 " I have the honour, your Highness, to be the friend 
 of the Duchess!" she said, in desperation. 
 
 A melancholy smile hovered for a moment upon his 
 face. " I know it. You are not wont to be of those 
 who contract sudden friendships; but you think to 
 avail yourself of everything." 
 
 " Such seems to be your Highness's opinion." 
 
 " Mine ? No, on my honour, Claudine ! But you, 
 you do indeed hasten to take refuge behind the barrier 
 which this friendship erects between you and me." 
 
 " Yes," she said, frankly ; " and I hope your Highness 
 will respect this barrier, or " 
 
 "I recognize and honour your reserve, Claudine," he 
 interrupted her, standing respectfully at some distance 
 from her. " Do not imagine that I shall dog your foot- 
 steps like a love-sick page. Nothing shall remind you 
 that I love you as passionately as ever man loved woman. 
 Only allow me to be in your society without encounter- 
 ing the icy coldness which you maintain towards me; 
 grant me a hope for a future in which there may be 
 sunshine for me, Claudine, only this hope!" 
 
 " I do not love your Highness !" she said, haughtily 
 erect. " Permit me to withdraw."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 141 
 
 " No ! One word more, Claudine I I ask for no ad- 
 mission of your preference; this is neither the time nor 
 the place for it ; you are right to remind me of it. Is it 
 my fault that I was forced to marry without love, that 
 my first ardent passion belongs to you ? The same 
 fate has befallen others who were better than I. It 
 comes without our will ; the love exists, and increases 
 with every hour the more we struggle against it. I 
 do not know that you share my feelings. I only hope 
 that you do, and I do not wish to live without this 
 hope." He approached her and leaned towards her. 
 "Just one word, Claudine," he entreated, in a low, 
 humble tone. " May I hope ? Yes, Claudine ? Say 
 yes, and not a look shall betray our secret." 
 
 " No, your Highness; by the love I bear my brother 
 I declare that you are entirely indifferent to me!" she 
 said, earnestly, retreating still farther into the recess. 
 
 "Is there another, Claudine? do you love another? 
 
 If that were so 1" came in the same passionate 
 
 tones. 
 
 She made no reply. 
 
 He turned away with a gesture of despair and 
 walked to the opposite door, then returned once more. 
 
 " Do you imagine that every regard would not be had 
 for your honour? Do you imagine I could degrade 
 you ?" he asked. " Do you imagine " 
 
 " Your Highness does so," she interrupted him, "in 
 speaking to me of love in your invalid wife's apart- 
 ment." 
 
 " If you think so " he said, sadly. 
 
 "By heaven, I dol I do think so, your Highness!" 
 the girl exclaimed. 
 
 "Claudine, I entreat!" he whispered, and again he 
 paced the room, so hastily that the flame of the candle
 
 142 THE OWUS NEST. 
 
 on the chimney-piece wavered in the draught and burned 
 more dimly. Once more he approached her. " You 
 know that my brother, the Crown Prince, died suddenly, 
 shortly before my father's death, about twelve years 
 ago ?" he said, inquiringly. 
 
 She mutely assented. 
 
 " But you do not know that at that time our court 
 had entered into negotiations with that of X. as to a 
 project of marriage between the Princess Blise and the 
 Crown Prince, my brother. The affair was wellnigh 
 concluded when my brother died, and I inherited his 
 rights, and also his duties. After the period of mourn- 
 ing had expired I went to X. and wooed the bride." 
 
 " It was a voluntary act, your Highness." 
 
 " Not at all ! This marriage was but another burden 
 added to that already imposed upon me by my succes- 
 sion. The Princess Elise, who received me without a 
 suspicion in her large, childlike eyes, was as little aware 
 of the proposed alliance with my brother as of the 
 views with which I sought her. She is susceptible, 
 and it cost me but little trouble to win her affection. 
 At that time I was supremely indifferent to women ; I 
 knew very little of the best, and the rest bored me. At 
 first I rather disliked the Princess Elise; I cannot 
 endure women who are always hovering in realms of 
 the sublime. I hate overstrained feeling, exaggera- 
 tion 'now soaring to heaven, now sunk in despair.' I 
 thought at times her sudden dissolvings into tears 
 would drive me mad. I/ater, what had at first repelled 
 me became a matter of indifference to me. I have 
 always been an attentive husband, and have since her 
 illness shown a certain forbearance for her caprices ; I 
 honour and esteem her as the mother of my children ; 
 but my heart was untouched, and grew more indiffer-
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 143 
 
 ent as her affection for me increased. I cannot help it; 
 no reasoning upon the subject can do any good. Then 
 I saw you. I know yes, yes, I know you judged my 
 preference by the light of inherited ideas and fled from 
 it to your forest home ; but my ardent longing drove 
 me to pursue you thither, and I find you here as unap- 
 proachable as ever nay, the friend of the Duchess." 
 
 An uncertain expression hovered for an instant upon 
 his face. " Well, Claudine, I will acquiesce for the 
 present," he went on ; " only one question you must 
 answer: do you love another?" 
 
 She was silent; her fair face flushed crimson with 
 maidenly shame as she bent her head. 
 
 "Say no!" the Duke whispered, passionately. 
 
 " Her Highness begs Fraulein von Gerold to come to 
 her in her bedroom, and to bring the volume of Scbef- 
 fel's songs, that she may read some of them aloud to 
 her Highness," said Frau von Katzenstein, entering the 
 room. 
 
 Claudine started, and looked up as if suing for pity. 
 
 " Yes or no, Claudine : are your affections engaged ?" 
 he whispered, authoritatively. 
 
 She recreated a step, and courtesied low. " Yes 1" she 
 said, firmly, and then passed him with head erect, the 
 book, which she had mechanically taken from the table, 
 in her hand. Eead aloud now ? She felt paralyzed ! 
 
 The Duchess was lying in her huge French canopied 
 bed, the heavy, red silk hangings of which were drawn 
 aside. The entire apartment was furnished with this 
 intense red, the favourite colour of its inmate. From 
 the ceiling hung a chandelier of ruby glass. Beside the
 
 144 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 bed stood a table covered with red silk, on which a 
 lamp with a red shade was burning, and where stood 
 a folding leather case holding the photographs of the 
 Duke and the young Princes. On the opposite wall, 
 in a heavy gilt frame, was a wonderful copy of the Ma- 
 donna della Sedia; the Duchess's first glance on awaking 
 could not but rest on this charming picture. 
 
 Her Highness seemed to be much better; she lay 
 with a certain sense of comfort beneath her red cover- 
 let, and smiled at Claudine as she entered. " Sit down 
 here on this ottoman and read me the Thuringian songs, 
 dear Claudine. Did the Duke stay with you ? Was 
 he very much distressed by that attack of coughing? 
 I am so sorry to have to cough when he is by ; I know 
 how it depresses him. Was he very sad ?" 
 
 The invalid looked keenly in the face of the girl, who 
 did not know what reply to make. She sat down and 
 stooped to pick up her handkerchief, hoping thus to 
 gain time. What a fearful dilemma was this! 
 
 "Claudine," said the Duchess, "I believe you all 
 think me very ill, more ill than I really am. Eead to 
 me. I do not wish you to answer me. There, where 
 my marker is." 
 
 And Claudine read, in a tremulous voice, 
 
 " No pain the German forest brooks ; 
 
 Within its depths they vanish, 
 And every ill from life and looks 
 Its healthful breezes banish " 
 
 " Do you hear ?" the Duchess interrupted her, " do 
 you hear? I, too, shall recover here ! And to-morrow 
 the sun will shine, and we will go out among the firs 
 and inhale health. Oh, my beloved home 1" 
 
 *******
 
 THE OWL'S XEST. 145 
 
 As Claudine was descending the staircase to drive 
 home, Herr von Palmer met her, and accompanied her 
 all the way down. Unperceived by her, he motioned 
 to the maid whom the Duchess had sent down with 
 her to withdraw. 
 
 " Fraulein von Gerold," he began, with an exagger- 
 ated show of respect, he could not have been more 
 servile in manner had she been Duchess already, " his 
 Highness has intrusted me with the flattering commis- 
 sion of placing a note in your hands. I thus fulfil it." 
 He held out to her a note sealed with the ducal arms. 
 " It concerns her Highness the Duchess, and, his High- 
 ness says, requires no answer." 
 
 She was forced to take it, although she would gladly 
 have repulsed the hand that offered it to her. How 
 could the Duke be so careless as to send her a letter, 
 a sealed letter, by this creature ? She tore open the 
 envelope in his presence and read the few lines it 
 enclosed : 
 
 " CLAUDINE, Your character is unique, and, conse- 
 quently, your judgment of what is unique will be cor- 
 rect. After your last word, I have only one request to 
 make: remain the Duchess's friend in spite of all. Do 
 not let what I have said result in your avoidance of 
 Altenstein. It need not do so, Claudine. On my word 
 you may trust me ! ADALBERT." 
 
 "With the note and envelope in the hand that hung 
 by her side she hastily traversed the hall. Herr von 
 Palmer followed her, and helped her respectfully into 
 the coupe, not forgetting to gather up and arrange 
 her train as carefully as though he had been a mother 
 taking care for her daughter's ball-dress. Not until 
 Q k 13
 
 146 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 the servant closed the door of the vehicle did he retire 
 with a low bow. 
 
 " Au revoir," he said, as the footman sprang up beside 
 the coachman, and the horses started. Then, with a 
 smile, he drew from the right sleeve of his coat a small 
 paper. "You ought to be more careful, my lovely 
 Claudine," he murmured, reading the lines by the light 
 of the lantern above the door. 
 
 With a satisfied nod, and humming an opera air, he 
 re-entered the castle and sought his room on the ground- 
 floor. Here he lighted a cigar, threw himself into an 
 arm-chair, and re-read the note. He had known its 
 contents for an hour; he read privately everything, 
 one might say, that the Duke wrote, from a distance, 
 from the movement of the pen ; if the worst came to 
 the worst, an envelope could be opened. To-day he 
 had had no trouble, for before the Duke had enclosed 
 his note he had sprung up from the table where he had 
 been writing to pace the room, and thus the contents 
 of the sheet had been revealed to the falcon-eyes on 
 the watch. Nevertheless, it was pleasant to possess 
 the original. 
 
 "His Highness appears to have made a somewhat 
 stormy appeal," he murmured, " and she has repulsed 
 him with virtuous indignation, threatened not to come 
 again. And now he begs her for the Duchess's sake 
 not to persist in such cruelty, and promises amend- 
 ment. With time won, all is won, he thinks. It is 
 developing quite logically, no one can deny that. 
 Hm I She is wise ; she will never be satisfied with 
 merely wreathing his Highness's brow with roses ; she 
 will desire to aid in his government. Such a woman 
 always thinks she can atone for her doubtful position 
 by what are called virtuous deeds ; she would fain en-
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 147 
 
 noble the unhappy man whom she Las in her toils, 
 would fain show the people that their beloved sovereign 
 is in no unworthy hands ; they shall be made to adore 
 her, kneeling, calling her ' the country's good angel.' 
 And the wisest of such women, in their devotion to 
 petty interests, see only what is just before their eyes, 
 and in this case the object in question might possibly 
 be myself!" 
 
 He blew the smoke from his cigar towards the ceil- 
 ing, and gazed meditatively at the frescos there. 
 
 "She cannot endure me," he soliloquized further. 
 " I am to her what Mephistopheles was of old to in- 
 nocent Margaret, and it is clear that some day she will 
 say to her princely Faust, 
 
 1 The man who with thee goes, thy mate, 
 "Within my deepest, inmost soul I hate,' 
 
 and so on. That must be prevented. I will not allow 
 it to reach the point of the Duke's believing or not 
 from her that I am a scoundrel. In the mean time 
 take care 1 The Berg will help ; she has an extraordi- 
 nary talent for intrigue ; positively, I am almost afraid 
 of that woman sometimes." 
 
 " Supper is served," a lackey announced. Herr von 
 Palmer arose without undue haste, carefully locked 
 up the note in a huge antique cabinet, on the doors 
 of which was carved the Gerold escutcheon, arranged 
 his scanty locks before a tall mirror, bathed his delicate 
 skinny hands in floods of cologne, yawned slightly, 
 took his crush hat and gloves from the servant who 
 was waiting respectfully, and after a glance at the 
 clock, where the hour-hand pointed to ten, went to 
 the small dining-room, where the few gentlemen whom 
 the Duke had selected to attend him in his present
 
 148 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 residence were assembled, the old Chamberlain von 
 Schlotbach, the Adjutant von Einkleben, whose rank 
 was that of captain, and the Squire von Meerfeld, 'a 
 fellow like a young dog,' according to Palmer's descrip- 
 tion. The latter did not seem especially to rejoice in 
 the friendship of these three gentlemen. " Excuse 
 me," he said to the assembled group ; " I have kept you 
 waiting. I was engaged in his Highness's service, and 
 a most delightful service, gentlemen 1 His Highness 
 ordered me to conduct the lovely Claudine von G-erold 
 to the carriage." 
 
 "By Jove! has she been here again?" the squire 
 asked, with unconcealed surprise. 
 
 " She has just left the ducal apartments." 
 
 " You mean ' the apartments of her Highness,' Herr 
 von Palmer," the captain corrected him, sharply, while 
 his face flushed slightly. 
 
 " I had the pleasure of encountering the lovely guest 
 of this house in the upper corridor," Palmer replied, 
 smiling significantly. 
 
 " Indeed ? 
 
 ' And whence she came they could not tell, 
 
 For all trace of her presence vanished 
 "When once again she bade farewell,' " 
 
 declaimed the squire, laughing. 
 
 The captain glanced angrily at him. " Fraulein von 
 Gerold was with the Duchess, singing in her drawing- 
 room, and afterwards staying with her Highness in 
 her bedroom," he said, in a loud, decided tone. 
 
 " Extraordinarily well informed," Palmer whispered, 
 and then bowed low ; the Duke had just entered. 
 
 "I cannot comprehend Claudine von Gerold," the 
 captain said, gravely, as, after supper, he was walking 
 with Von Meerfeld along the corridor leading to their
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 149 
 
 room. " It is misplaced courage ; she ought to avoid 
 the lion's don. It is incredible, the rashness with which 
 a woman secure in her own virtue will risk her reputa- 
 tion." 
 
 " Perhaps she enjoys the dangerous pastime of rope- 
 dancing," Meerfeld replied, carelessly: "if she stumbles, 
 there are arms extended to receive her ; if she does 
 not stumble, so much the better. But I should think 
 it might be quite amusing ; it is infernally stupid in 
 this German Aranjuez." 
 
 "It might be so, my dear Meerfeld, with some 
 women, but I must beg you to weigh your words with 
 regard to the lady in question." 
 
 "Do not take it so tragically, captain dear," the 
 other said, with a laugh. " Do not lose sleep over it. 
 His Highness had by no means the air of a happy 
 lover ; he was more than cross. Ennui I ennui 1 This 
 Altenstein was such an insane idea. Whatever stupidity 
 one might be guilty of here, I should plead extenuating 
 circumstances." 
 
 As Claudine drove up to the gate at the Owl's Nest, 
 Bhe still held a crushed piece of paper in her hand. 
 Old Heinemann, who had been waiting there for her for 
 a long time, lantern in hand, received scarcely more 
 than a nod of recognition from his young mistress. 
 She flew before him into the house, and as he bolted 
 the door, after following her, he only heard the rustle 
 of her silken skirt in the upper story ; then a door 
 closed, and all was quiet. 
 
 In Claudine's small room quiet also reigned ; it was 
 as dark and silent as if no one were there; and yet 
 
 13*
 
 J50 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 there was a figure seated at the window gazing out 
 into the forest that enclosed the lonely house in a 
 deeper darkness than that of the starless night, and 
 endeavouring with all the power of her mind to review 
 calmly what the day had brought forth. "What has 
 happened ?" she asked herself. And she began : " The 
 Duke has made me a declaration of love, and I re- 
 pulsed him, repulsed him ; but at what cost !" At the 
 cost of the confession of her most sacred secret ; that 
 which she had hitherto not dared to confess to herself, 
 so wildly did her heart throb at the mere thought of 
 it, that she loved. Her pride was in arms at the fact, 
 and yet now it was known to him who had dared to 
 approach her with an insulting declaration. Could tho 
 Duke suspect whom she loved ? That would be intol- 
 erable ! 
 
 Involuntarily she crushed together the note in her 
 hand, and hot drops of shame stood in her eyes. She 
 rose hastily, lit a candle, and, unfolding the paper, tried 
 to smooth it out; then, leaning upon the table, she 
 gazed in dismay at the empty envelope, there was 
 nothing else, the note was gone ! The next minute 
 she began a hurried search, upon the table, the floor, 
 the place where she had been sitting ; she shook out her 
 wrap, and the skirt of her gown, and at last, taking 
 the candle with her, she went out of her room and 
 searched the stairs of the sleeping, silent house. There 
 was nothing to be found 1 Stealthily she slipped the 
 bolt of the front door and looked out upon the stone 
 step. There was nothing to be seen ! In her anxiety 
 she passed, shading the flickering flame of the candle 
 with her hand, along the garden-path to the gate ; pos- 
 sibly she had dropped the note in alighting from the 
 carriage. The grated gate leading out upon the road
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 151 
 
 creaked as she opened it ; the ray from her candle flitted 
 ghost-like over the ground, there was nothing white 
 lying there. Suddenly the candle flickered and went 
 out, leaving her in the dark, a darkness which seemed 
 at first so dense to her eyes, accustomed to the guiding 
 light, that she paused for a moment irresolute, unable 
 to decide which way to turn to re-enter the garden. 
 
 Ah, there above her window Joachim's study-lamp 
 was burning peacefully, and sending a narrow ray 
 out into the garden and along the road. What if he 
 knew she was standing out here, her heart filled with 
 distress and anger ! She envied him the peace of his 
 quiet room, where no storms from without ever pen- 
 etrated; his vessel was safe in port, while hers was 
 still driving out upon the rolling sea, and God alone 
 knew where it would find a harbour! Involuntarily 
 she turned and gazed longingly across the dark moun- 
 tains in the direction of Neuhaus, and just above 
 where it lay a rift in the clouds showed a single star. 
 She smiled amid her tears ; it consoled her, it was a 
 good omen. 
 
 On a sudden she started and slipped into the open 
 gate. The sound of hoofs was audible on the road ; it 
 came nearer in a rapid trot ; the hoi'seman passed close 
 to her, and just where the ray of light fell on the road 
 he paused and looked up at the window of the tower. 
 She clutched the bars of the gate as if for support, and 
 gazed at him. Lothar! What did he want here? A 
 sensation of exquisite bliss possessed her; the candle- 
 stick dropped from her hands, which she clasped as in 
 prayer. Did she see aright ? Was it really he ? What 
 did he want ? Had he come to look up at her window ? 
 Oh for a sign that she was not dreaming! that this 
 was reality !
 
 152 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 He turned his horse and slowly rode back ; the dark- 
 ness again swallowed up his figure but the sound of 
 his horse's hoofs still rang in the ears of the trembling 
 girl, until at last she slipped back into the house. 
 
 She had forgotten the lost note; she was unable to 
 think; her eyes burned, her lips were dry, and her 
 temples throbbed. "Best! rest!" she whispered, and 
 buried her hot forehead in her pillow, after hurriedly 
 seeking her couch. " Rest ! Sleep !" 
 
 The next day there were great changes at Neuhaus. 
 On the ground-floor next the sitting-room to the left of 
 the large hall, in the lofty, spacious dining-room stood 
 a table differing essentially from that usually spread 
 there. While it had hitherto been furnished with a 
 spotlessly white but somewhat coarse linen cloth, and 
 napkins of the same quality, to-day it was covered with 
 the finest damask hanging down on all sides nearly to 
 the parquetted floor, which was polished to a dangerous 
 degree. The simple service of English stoneware with 
 blue edges was replaced by costly old Meissen porcelain, 
 long the pride of the Neuhaus cupboards ; beautifully 
 shaped epergnes, holding fruits and confections, ap- 
 peared instead of the metal baskets in which Beata 
 was wont to have the early pears, winter apples, or 
 little cakes served at dessert ; and the strong but clumsy 
 knives and forks with buckhorn handles had given way 
 to silver, bright and shining as if just from the shop, 
 and yet marked with the scutcheon and monogram of 
 the Gerolds, and with a date which would have borne 
 witness to its antiquity even had it not been attested 
 by its beauty of form.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 153 
 
 The branches of the huge crystal chandelier above 
 the table, which was set out for seven people, were 
 furnished with yellowish wax candles, as were the 
 numerous sconces on the walls. On the tall oaken 
 sideboard there was a dazzle of silver and glass. The 
 sun, that daily visited the apartment about this time, 
 peeped in amazed at this unwonted splendour, gliding 
 here and there in prismatic colour, and touching the 
 brown hair above Beata's white forehead as she stood 
 at a table arranging flowers in a pair of vases. 
 
 " Oh, do stand up !" she murmured, impatiently, as 
 a couple of gillyflowers fell over on their sides re- 
 peatedly. " There, that will do." And she stuck a 
 red rose in the midst of the brilliant structure, and 
 contemplated it with satisfaction, as she handed it to 
 a maid who was standing beside her. " Carry it to 
 Frau von Berg, Sophy ; she is to put it in the Princess 
 Thekla's room. The master desired it placed there. 
 And come down again as quick as you can and dust all 
 the chairs once more, and close the blinds ; the sun is 
 coming in." 
 
 Beata then walked around the table, and paused, 
 with a shake of her head, at the place which she, by 
 Lothar's decree, was to occupy next to the Princess 
 Thekla, to-night for the first time, and then daily for 
 four long weeks. How could she endure it? There 
 lay the soup-ladle, the symbol of her dignity ; Lothar 
 wished her to fulfil her usual duty : " For we are at 
 Neuhaus, not at court, and I dislike nothing more than 
 to have the soup handed from a side-table; it is so 
 easily spilled." 
 
 But this was the only direction given by him with 
 relation to the impending visit; everything else he 
 had intrusted to his sister's wise head and capable
 
 154 THE OWLS NEST. 
 
 hands, and to all appeals from her he had replied, 
 " Do just as you think fit ; you will be sure to have 
 everything as it should be." 
 
 And now her gigantic work of preparation was over. 
 She had tied a white kerchief over her glossy brown 
 hair, and had gone through the house in calico dress 
 and apron with keys, duster, and broom, had ' given 
 legs,' as she expressed it, to the servants, had seen 
 to the hanging of curtains and the laying of carpets, 
 and had produced from chests and cupboards the 
 finest and best of her store. All was finished, and 
 she had a couple of hours in which to rest before 
 presenting herself as mistress of the household to her 
 guests. 
 
 The entire upper story had been arranged for Lo- 
 thar's distinguished mother-in-law and sister-in-law, 
 the lady-in-waiting had been assigned a pretty room 
 next to Frau von Berg's, the gentleman in attendance, 
 with the chamberlain, occupied the pavilion in the 
 garden, and her Grace's maid was near her mistress. 
 Lothar retained his room on the right of the hall, 
 Beata's dear old sitting-room and bedchamber were 
 undisturbed, she must have a refuge somewhere. 
 
 She now walked along the corridor towards the 
 door of her sitting-room ; there was a shade of amuse- 
 ment on her fresh face as she took a piece of chalk 
 from her key-basket and wrote on the brown panel 
 'No admittance.' Then, still smiling, she entered 
 her kingdom, where she sat resting in an arm-chair 
 for a while, and then sprang up and hurried into her 
 bedroom. After a few moments she reappeared in a 
 large brown straw hat, with a light wrap thrown 
 around her shoulders. As she left the room she put 
 on a pair of thread gloves, and while buttoning them
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 155 
 
 went into the kitchen, where the housekeeper was 
 taking crisp cakes from the oven. 
 
 "It is a good thing, Eieka, that a few are baked," 
 said Beata, taking half a dozen of the delicate little 
 trifles. " Give me some paper, there. I am going for 
 a walk, and shall be back punctually. Don't make any 
 mistakes with the cooking, and don't put on the peas 
 too soon ; let the saddle of venison be exactly an hour 
 before the fire. I repeat, I have no time while I am at 
 table to attend to such things, or to see whether the 
 trout are the right colour and served with cress. The 
 entire responsibility is yours, Rieka." 
 
 She nodded, and went, walking quickly, straight 
 from the kitchen into the park, where she followed a 
 b} T -path out to the high-road. In fact, there was no 
 excuse for her running away thus just when her repu- 
 tation as head of a household was at stake. What if 
 anything should go wrong? 
 
 "Never mind !" she said to herself; " when the whole 
 pack has arrived I shall hardly be able to go to the 
 Owl's Nest, to Claudine and the child." 
 
 She almost ran, and by many short-cuts; her face 
 was crimson as, at the end of half an hour, the Owl's 
 Nest appeared among the trees; it was just three in 
 the afternoon. 
 
 The child was playing with her doll's carriage in the 
 shade of the old wall ; she came with flying curls to 
 meet her ' aunt,' who stooped and clasped the little 
 girl in her extended arms. 
 
 " It was not pleasant, Aunt Beata," she complained ; 
 " it rained all the time, and Aunt Claudine drove away 
 BO often." 
 
 " But to-day the sun shines, and you can play in the 
 garden ; is not that pleasant ?"
 
 156 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 The little thing nodded, and tripped on beside her. 
 "And Aunt Claudine is at home, too," she prattled 
 away ; " she is sitting in her room writing, and she 
 has on such a pretty dress." When they reached the 
 house door the child stopped and shook her fair head. 
 " I am going 1 to Heinemann," she said, and was off in 
 an instant. 
 
 Beata mounted the narrow staircase and knocked 
 at the door of her cousin's room. Claudine was in 
 fact sitting at her writing-table, but she had finished 
 writing; an addressed letter lay before her, and the 
 fragrance of fine sealing-wax was perceptible in the 
 room. 
 
 " Oh, Beata, is it you ?" she said, wearily, and rose 
 to meet her visitor. 
 
 "Aha!" said Beata. " In white with blue ribbons? 
 "What is it for? Are you going to Altenstein?" 
 
 The girl nodded : " I refused early this morning, but 
 the Duchess would not take no for an answer. She 
 wrote that if I could not come to her she should come 
 to me ; she is going to pick me up as she drives past." 
 As she spoke she looked at Beata with an air of resig- 
 nation. " It is so warm," she continued ; " I longed for a 
 thin dress. They say the colour of one's dress influences 
 the mood of the wearer; but I might as well " 
 
 " Wear black crape," Beata concluded her sentence 
 as she sat down. " What is the matter with you ? 
 You look as if you had a headache." And she looked 
 inxiously at Claudine's weary face. 
 
 " There is really nothing the matter with me, Beata." 
 
 'Really? Ah, that you get from the court! So 
 happy a lady-in-waiting must always be well, just as 
 a ballet-girl must always smile, even though her breath 
 be wellnigh gone."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 157 
 
 "You exaggerate, Beata," said Claudine, quietly. 
 "No, I am not ill; but I am thinking that perhaps 1 
 shall go away from here for a while." 
 
 " You ?" exclaimed her cousin. " Now ?" 
 
 "Yes, yes; but do not say anything about it; Joa- 
 chim knows nothing of it as yet," she replied. And 
 before Beata could ask the question hovering upon her 
 lips, Claudine interposed : " Did not you meet Joachim ?" 
 
 " No," Beata replied, in a low tone. 
 
 "I think he meant to return Lothar's visit; and you 
 know what a resolve that is for him. He went some 
 time ago, and I am convinced that he will spend three 
 hours on the way, for as he walks along all sorts of 
 things occur to him, and then he sits down and writes, 
 and takes notes in his note-book, and forgets time and 
 place." 
 
 " He will not see Lothar," Beata said, hesitatingly. 
 " Lothar has gone to Lobstedt." 
 
 "To Lobstedt?" asked Claudine. "Is he going 
 away?" 
 
 "No; he is expecting the Princess Thekla and hei 
 daughter. Did you not know it? She is to spend four 
 weeks at Neuhaus to enjoy her little grandchild." 
 
 "No," Claudine said, mechanically. 
 
 " I thought I had told you, Claudine." 
 
 To this Claudine made no reply. The silence that 
 ensued was so profound that even the ticking of the 
 small watch set with brilliants, in its pretty mother-of- 
 peai'l stand on the writing-table, was audible. Beata 
 looked longingly out of the window. She would have 
 liked to run back. She thought of her post as mistress 
 of the household which she had faithlessly deserted, this 
 day of all others, and in fancy she saw the figure of a 
 man in the dim corridor at Neuhaus pausing before a 
 
 14
 
 158 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 closed door whereon was inscribed in chalk, ' No ad- 
 mittance I' And she saw him shake his head and slowly 
 turn away. He must not be allowed to go so, no, no I 
 He might never come again. 
 
 She suddenly sprang up : " Excuse me, Claudine, I 
 must go; you know there are all sorts of things to 
 attend to." The falsehood died on her lips. She 
 blushed. " Good-bye, my darling 1" 
 
 " Adieu, Beata." 
 
 " God bless me, you are ill, Claudine !" she exclaimed, 
 now first noticing her cousin's extreme pallor. 
 
 " Oh, no, no 1" the girl replied, while a wave of colour 
 dyed her cheeks crimson. " I am perfectly well. Come, 
 I will go down with you. Of course you have a great 
 deal to do. And if you meet Joachim, tell him to come 
 back before the ladies arrive ; he is so shy, you know, 
 so odd." 
 
 "He need not see them; I have my own room," 
 murmured Beata. 
 
 " Oh, you do not know the Princess Helena," was 
 the bitter rejoinder. 
 
 " Indeed ?" asked Beata, as she went down-stairs 
 with Claudine. " Give me some hints about this little 
 Princess ; I cannot get a word about her out of Lothar." 
 
 " Beata I you see, I am too prejudiced to be just. 
 She does not like me, and always shows me the most 
 disagreeable side of her character. Those whom she 
 likes admire her excessively. She is a brilliant elf, at- 
 tractive without being exactly pretty, full of vivacity, 
 
 capricious " She hesitated. " Yes, yes," she added, 
 
 in an undertone, " she is very charming, very. And 
 now good-bye, Beata 1" 
 
 " Are you crying ?" asked her cousin. " Your eyes 
 shine so."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 159 
 
 " No," said Claudine, " I am not crying." 
 
 " Well, then, good-bye, dear child. Devise some new 
 dresses. Lothar is going to give an entertainment. I 
 think you will outshine this ' very charming' Princess, 
 and I am sure you will help me with counsel and ad- 
 vice. I am as ignorant as a child of court etiquette. 
 Adieu, my darling ; good-bye." 
 
 Claudine hurried back into the house and up to her 
 little room. Since yesterday the world seemed to have 
 turned upside down. She knew only too well why the 
 Princess Thekla was bringing her second daughter to 
 Neuhaus. 
 
 " Lost !" she whispered, " lost forever! But can that 
 be lost which has never been possessed ?" 
 
 She was no poorer than hitherto, and yet since yes- 
 terday since that strange, terrible yesterday a hope 
 had grown to giant size in her heart ; involuntarily she 
 had woven a thousand sweet, foolish fancies from her 
 knowledge of Lothar's midnight ride. Hopes and fears 
 had agitated her until the dawn, when she had fallen into 
 an uneasy slumber ; and when she awoke, his image, 
 as she had seen it in the ray of light from Joachim's 
 window, was still present with her. 
 
 What folly! He had not come to look with loving 
 eyes for her shadow, but to convince himself that she 
 was at home, as an honest girl should be. Oh, he was 
 very careful of the hon6ur of his name ! 
 
 She pressed her eyes with her hands so closely that 
 she seemed to see myriads of sparks, but in the midst 
 of them hovered a slight girlish figure. She dropped 
 her arms at her sides and walked to the window. Was 
 she dreaming? Through the crimson spots that still 
 danced before her eyes she saw on the other side of 
 the garden gate the red liveries of the ducal servants,
 
 160 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 and at the same moment Fraulein Lindenmeyer rushed 
 into her room : " Claudine dear, Fraulein Claudine, their 
 Highnesses !" 
 
 Claudine's step was far from firm as she walked to the 
 mirror, put on a white straw hat, then allowed Frau- 
 lein Lindenmeyer to thrust a blue-lined parasol into 
 her hand, and went down-stairs. She scarcely perceived 
 that upon the lofty box of the pretty two-seated ve- 
 hicle the Duke himself was holding the reins. Me- 
 chanically she kissed the hand the Duchess extended 
 to her ; the face of its owner was beaming with delight 
 in the drive. 
 
 "Oh, thank you, thank you, dear Claudine! I am 
 wonderfully well," she said, in her feeble, eager voice. 
 " How could I be otherwise ? Such heavenl}- weather, 
 the delicious odour of the pines, the Duke driving 
 me, and you beside me! Why, you must see for your- 
 self." 
 
 They drove about the forest for hours ; they stopped 
 at a lonely mill beside a rushing brook, and the Duchess 
 begged of the miller's astonished young wife a glass of 
 cool milk, while the Duke threw the reins to the foot- 
 man and stood by the carriage door chatting. With 
 gracious condescension he asked the miller, who hur- 
 ried out respectfully cap in hand, about his business, 
 and bade him show the Duchess his three boys, whose 
 ages corresponded with those of the three Princes, 
 and the royal lady asked the fair-haired, sunburned 
 children what they were going to be when they grew 
 up; and when with one accord they answered, 'Sol- 
 diers !' she gave each a bright thaler stamped with 
 the Duke's likeness. Then they drove on towards 
 home, for the sun's rays were beginning to come aslant 
 *hrough the pine boughs.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 161 
 
 Duchess asked a thousand questions; it cost 
 Claiuiine an effort to collect her wandering thoughts. 
 
 " There are guests at Neuhaus," the Duchess said, 
 finally. " I see the standard of our family waving 
 above the roof." 
 
 " Her Highness the Princess Thekla," Claudine said, 
 wearily. 
 
 " And Helena ?" 
 
 "The Princess Helena is also expected, your High- 
 ness." 
 
 "Adieu to delightful solitude!" the Princess said, 
 with a sigh. 
 
 The equipage was just nearing the low wall of the 
 Neuhaus park, when two landaus appeared, rolling 
 swiftly along, coachmen and footmen in full livery. 
 They met close to the entrance, and the Duke saluted 
 with his whip, while the Duchess waved her hand 
 amiably towards the carriage, upon the brown silk 
 cushions of which sat two ladies opposite Baron 
 Lothar. Claudine saw that the young Princess, in 
 a becoming travelling-cloak of shining gray silk, its 
 wide sleeves lined with blue, cast at her from beneath 
 her pretty straw hat a glance of contemptuous sur- 
 prise, that the Princess Thekla, as she half reluctantly 
 accorded the salutation due to the reigning Duchess, 
 glanced coldly at herself, and that Lothar appeared 
 scarcely to notice her. In a couple of moments they 
 had all disappeared. 
 
 "The future mistress of Neuhaus is just making her 
 entrance there," said the Duke, turning on his lofty 
 seat to glance at the pale face of the girl sitting beside 
 his wife. 
 
 " Do you really think so, Adalbert ? What a good 
 thing for the poor little child !" 
 I 14*
 
 162 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 He did not reply. Claudine's hand grasped the 
 handle of her parasol more tightly in her effort to 
 control all evidence of agitation. Did the Duke sus- 
 pect whom she cherished in her heart ? She could not 
 prevent her cheeks from flushing crimson, and once 
 more she encountered the Duke's searching glance. 
 
 " She is a spoiled little creature," said the Duchess, 
 leaning back negligently among the cushions. " I trust 
 she may both confer and receive happiness. Between 
 ourselves, dearest Claudine, I think Gerold's preference 
 is returned by her, and regarded with favour by the 
 Princess Thekla." 
 
 " I think so too, your Highness," Claudine assented, 
 startling herself by the hard tone of her voice. She 
 had grown wonderfully cold and quiet on the instant. 
 
 In the mean time the distinguished guests were 
 established at Neuhaus. The Princess Helena had 
 kissed her sister's child, whom Frau von Berg had 
 presented to the ladies almost smothered in lace, and 
 had then explored the mansion. She had gone up-stairs 
 and down-stairs, had opened doors, had looked into 
 rooms, and had asked the way to her brother-in-law's 
 own particular domicile, whither she had instantly 
 betaken herself. His rooms, with their pictures and 
 trophies of the chase on the walls, their antique furni- 
 ture and Eastern rugs, were the model of a bachelor's 
 apartments, and she had gazed about her there, her 
 black beady eyes wide with childish curiosity. She 
 had been in the garden, and upon her return to the 
 house had suddenly come to a door upon which was 
 chalked in bold, decided characters ' No admittance.' 
 Her Grace had instantly lifted the latch, and her dark 
 head had peered inquisitively into the old-fashioned 
 sitting-room. How comfortable it looked ! How at-
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 163 
 
 tractively the light from the setting sun shone on the 
 furniture, brown with age ! And, oddly enough, there 
 by the open window sat a slender man reading, his 
 delicate profile sharply defined against the dark green 
 of the trees outside. He was so absorbed in an old 
 parchment-bound volume that he did not perceive the 
 intruder. 
 
 The little Princess softly closed the door again, and 
 flew up the broad oaken staircase. Up-stairs, she 
 threw herself into an arm-chair and burst into a fit of 
 laughter at the startled face of Frau von Berg, who 
 was sitting in her usual place, writing. 
 
 " What could you mean, my dearest Berg, by what 
 you have told us of this Neuhaus?" she asked, settling 
 her little feet comfortably upon a cushion. " Your 
 letters to mamma were full of ' not at all comme ilfautj 
 of ' provincial ways,' etc. I think it charming, abso- 
 lutely charming here. I shall not have a throb of the 
 ennui which one could always see between the lines 
 of your epistles. And as for the Baron's sister, she is 
 an original, and is quite majestic in her gray silk gown. 
 And the child, whose looks you complain of, why, 
 wash off the layer of violet powder that you have 
 covered the poor little thing with, apparently to excite 
 mamma's compassion, and it will look much better. 
 At present it resembles you, dearest Berg, when you 
 want to appear delicate." 
 
 " Your Grace !" exclaimed Frau von Berg, aggrieved, 
 and flushing under ' the layer' of powder. 
 
 "Do not be vexed," the Princess continued; "rather 
 give up such adornments. I think it is charming here, 
 and I shall tell my brother-in-law so." 
 
 " Then your Grace will agree with him entirely j he, 
 too, finds it charming here."
 
 164 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " Oh, I know what you are thinking, Berg," the 
 Princess replied; "but that is ridiculous, simply ridicu- 
 lous. Speak out, Berg dear, if you know anything 
 positive," she went on, in a tone of triumphant secu- 
 rity. " You can understand my interest as to who is 
 to be the mother of that child." She waved her hand 
 towards the adjoining i-oom. 
 
 " Your Grace does not believe me," the lady pouted, 
 with a passing glance at the bright black eyes fixed 
 almost passionately on her face. 
 
 " Sometimes I do not, but I can generally discrimi- 
 nate between your truth and your fiction." 
 
 " Well, then I leave you to choose, Princess, whether 
 to believe me or not," Frau von Berg began, eagerly. 
 "He " 
 
 " That is not true." 
 
 " But, your Grace, I have said nothing yet." 
 
 " Do not say anything, Alice : it is not so I" the 
 Princess exclaimed, in a tone that was almost a threat. 
 " He never looked at her. He always avoided her. 
 You meant to tell of something else." 
 
 " As your Grace pleases. She " 
 
 "She is interested and fettered elsewhere; I saw it," 
 interposed Helena. " The Duke " 
 
 "But I have said nothing as yet," Frau von Berg 
 interposed in her turn. " If your Grace is so well 
 informed, what is there for me to say?" 
 
 " Tell me, Alice," the Princess now entreated. " Can 
 it be? Mamma is beside herself about it; she has 
 never spoken to me since we met the Duke with her 
 in the carriage, and her nose has grown very sharp ; 
 that is always a sign of storm ; you know it is, Alice." 
 
 " But the Duchess was driving too, Princess." 
 
 " Oh, heavens !" Helena exclaimed, clasping her small
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 165 
 
 hands ; " that poor good Liesel ! As usual, she is soaring 
 in loftier regions, and cannot see the woods because of 
 the trees. I'll wager her Highness is writing another 
 tragedy, which will be played next winter for our 
 edification. Don't you remember last winter, Alice? 
 But you were in Nice ; I forgot. It was fearful ! fear- 
 ful! Once or twice, to be sure, the tears came into my 
 
 eyes ; but, on the whole heaven preserve us 1 There 
 
 were three corpses on the stage in the last act, and I 
 heard Count Windeck say to Fraulein von Moorsleben, 
 ' Now be prepared ! the prompter is going to stab the 
 call-boy!' " 
 
 She laughed immoderately, and then in an instant 
 fijrew grave : " But I really love her, Alice, in spite of 
 it all ; she is lovely, with all her sentimental nonsense. 
 Poor, poor Liesel ! If she had not been sitting beside 
 her to-day I should have jumped out of the carriage 
 and have given her a hug. Tell me, Alice, how can 
 any one like to associate intimately with such an icicle 
 as that Claudine?" 
 
 The summons to dinner came at this moment, and 
 the Princess Helena ran off to have her curls arranged 
 by her maid in her own room. The Princess Thekla 
 was just going down-stairs on the arm of the master 
 of the house, as the little Princess followed with Frau 
 von Berg and the lady-in-waiting. 
 
 "Apropos, Alice," Helena asked, in an undertone, 
 " who is the gentleman that lives in the room with the 
 door marked ' No admittance' ? " 
 
 " A gentleman, your Grace ?" 
 
 " Why, yes, yes." 
 
 ' Your Grace must have seen a ghost." 
 
 "Not at all. I shall ask Fraulein von Gerold." 
 And she did so before they were well seated at table.
 
 166 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " That was my cousin Joachim, your Grace," Beata 
 replied, and the soup-ladle trembled slightly in her hand. 
 
 "Claudine von Gerold's brother?" 
 
 " Yes, your Grace." 
 
 " The Owl's Nest is very near, I hear, my dear 
 Gerold," said the Princess Thekla, adding salt to her 
 soup as she spoke. 
 
 " A half-hour's drive away," Lothar replied. " If 
 agreeable to you, I can drive you past the ruins of the 
 convent. They are worth seeing." 
 
 "No, thank you," the old Princess coldly replied. 
 
 "No, thank you," replied the Princess Helena, as 
 coldly. 
 
 He looked up from his plate in surprise : " Your 
 Grace can scarcely avoid a view of the convent ; our 
 most beautiful forest road leads directly past it." 
 
 " I hope, Baron," the Princess Helena interposed, 
 thus diverting Lothar's attention from his noble 
 mother-in-law's nose, which was really becoming very 
 sharp, " I hope you will accompany me in my rides ; 
 Countess Moorsfeld joins me sometimes." 
 
 " I am at your Grace's service," he replied, glancing 
 at the pretty face of the Countess, who with difficulty 
 suppressed an ironical smile at the 'sometimes.' In 
 the capital she had been obliged to join the riding-party 
 every day, or the little Princess would not ride at all. 
 
 The Princess Thekla talked of a milk-cure which she 
 thought of trying. On a sudden she became over- 
 poweringly amiable, rallied Lothar upon his idyllic 
 mode of life, and called Beata ' my dear' again arid 
 again. Never before had she tasted such delicious 
 trout ; and when Lothar arose, his glass of foaming 
 champagne in his hand, to acknowledge the honour 
 shown his house by this visit from his child's most
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 167 
 
 illustrious grandmamma, she graciously extended her 
 small hand loaded with rings for him to kiss, and in 
 token of emotion pressed her lace handkerchief to her 
 eyes for a moment. 
 
 Upon pretence of fatigue she rose from table before 
 dessert, and the ladies withdrew to their apartments. 
 Frau von Berg sat for a long time at the bedside of the 
 Princess Thekla, and when she went to her own room 
 she did so with head erect, and added a postscript to 
 her letter of the afternoon : 
 
 " All is admirably in train ; the little Princess is all 
 aflame with love and hatred : with the first for we 
 know whom, and with the last for Claudine. 
 
 " In a few days the forest-trees will have a piece of 
 news to tell. Meanwhile, in the beginning of next week 
 there is to be a fete here ; it will be wonderfully fine. 
 The Princess Helena is longing for a dance beneath the 
 lindens in the garden. By the way, with all her malice, 
 she is possessed of a certain good nature which must 
 put us on our guard lest she should commit some folly. 
 
 " A. v. B." 
 
 She sealed the letter and carried it down-stairs, where 
 one of the scullery-maids received it in the dim light 
 of the basement and with a grin pocketed a thaler. 
 Frau von Berg paid a high postage. 
 
 From the dim sitting-room there echoed a burst of 
 merry feminine laughter. When Beata had entered, a 
 figure was still seated in her arm-chair on the platform, 
 by the window, writing at her work-table by the dying 
 evening light. " But, Joachim !" she cried, in her ring- 
 ing tones, " do you want to ruin your eyes ?" 
 
 He started, having quite forgotten where he was.
 
 168 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " Good heavens !" he exclaimed, rising suddenly and 
 looking for his hat, " that old book made me forget how 
 time was passing. Forgive me, cousin ; I will vacate the 
 premises instantly." 
 
 " Not now," she said, still laughing, " for you must 
 see Lothar ; your visit was to him, was it not?" And 
 she gently forced him back into the arm-chair and went 
 for her brother. 
 
 She found him at the window of his room, gazing out 
 towards the road. 
 
 " Lothar," said she, " come to my room. Joachim is 
 there still, having forgotten time and space over that 
 old Spanish book of travels, the one that was our 
 grandfather's, bound in parchment." 
 
 " How in the world did Joachim come here ?" Lothar 
 asked, taking a cigar-case and a tray for ashes from his 
 smoking-table. 
 
 " I found him here when I came back from the Owl's 
 Nest, and as I could not stay with him, with all I had 
 to attend to, and did not want to send him away until 
 he was rested, I bethought me of that old book. You 
 see he has been well entertained with it." 
 
 He looked at her with a smile as he walked beside her 
 through the lighted hall and turned into the corridor. 
 
 " Tell me, Beata, did you write those words on your 
 door when he was there, or before ?" 
 
 " Before, of course," she replied, quite naturally, and 
 then she blushed. 
 
 "Well, you know, sister," he said, with a merry 
 glance which became his fine face wonderfully well, 
 " people generally write ' no admittance' on the doors 
 of rooms containing something which they wish to 
 keep for themselves alone." 
 
 "You are an odious fellow F said Beata, confused,
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 169 
 
 hastily passing her hand over the chalk letters. And 
 then all three sat round the table in the pleasant room 
 over a glass of wine, and Joachim, being moved thereto 
 by the book, told of his travelling experiences. He 
 talked wonderfully well. " Like music," thought Beata, 
 sitting idly by, forgetting everything, forgetting that 
 the wax candles in the chandelier in the dining-hall 
 were burning to waste, forgetting even to-morrow's 
 breakfast. 
 
 The bunch of keys at her girdle kept perfectly quiet ; 
 not the slightest jingle reminded her of her housewifely 
 duties. The lindens outside of the windows whispered 
 in the evening breeze, and the fragrance of new-mown 
 hay floated into the room. 
 
 It was late when Lothar drove his cousin through 
 the forest to the Owl's Nest. On the way back he met 
 the Duchess's coupe. He knew whom it contained, and 
 he passed it with furious rapidity. As he drew up 
 before the hall door at Neuhaus a window above was 
 closed, and within the quiet room to which it belonged 
 a passionate young face buried itself among the pillows. 
 
 The Princess Helena had seen him drive away in 
 the direction of the Owl's Nest. Thank heaven he 
 was at home again ! 
 
 There was a change at the Owl's Nest. Fraulein 
 Lindenmeyer had a visitor. 
 
 First there had been a great interchange of letters, 
 and then, on the morning after the day when Claudine 
 had driven with the Duchess, Fraulein Lindenmeyer 
 made her appearance in the girl's sitting-room, her face 
 very red and confused, anfl an open letter in her hand. 
 H 15
 
 170 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " Ah, Fraulein Claudine, dear, I have a great favour 
 to ask," she began 
 
 "My dear, good Lindenmeyer, it is already granted," 
 Claudine replied, pouring out the tea for Joachim's 
 breakfast. 
 
 " But you must tell me frankly, Fraulein Claudine, if 
 you think it unadvisable ; I will do everything that I 
 can to prevent any annoyance, but " 
 
 " Only let me hear what it is, my dear Lindenmeyer," 
 Claudine said, encouragingly. " I do not know what 
 request of yours I could refuse, unless you should ask 
 to leave the Owl's Nest ; that I could not allow." 
 
 "I leave? Oh, Fraulein Claudine, I could not sur- 
 vive such a thing ! Oh, no, it is not that. I expect 
 I am to have to have a visitor, if you will allow me." 
 
 "Why, who is it, my dear Lindenmeyer?" 
 
 " The Frau Forester's second daughter, Ida ; she 
 needs some training, and wishes to be taught em- 
 broidery, and the Forester's wife has taken it into her 
 head that an old thing like me can teach her. I shall 
 be very glad to do it, with your permission. She could 
 have the little room just back of mine, if " 
 
 The good old soul had clasped her hands over her 
 letter and looked at her young mistress in eager ex- 
 pectation. 
 
 "Why, that will be quite delightful for you," was 
 the kind reply; "let the young girl come as soon as 
 possible, and stay as long as she pleases." 
 
 And so the next day when Claudine betook herself 
 to the kitchen to fulfil her duties there, she found a 
 plump, girlish little figure already busy by the bright 
 fire, handling pans and casseroles as if she had been 
 there always. A pair of laughing blue eyes above a 
 pretty little turn-up nose greeted Claudine, and their
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 171 
 
 possessor made a rather awkward courtesy as the grace- 
 ful figure of the mistress of the Owl's Nest appeared. 
 
 "But, my dear child " said Claudine, surprised. 
 
 " Ah, Fraulein von Gerold, let me do it," the girl 
 entreated. " I cannot sit all day long with Aunt Doris 
 and embroider ; I should die if I could not do a little 
 house-work. Please do not say no 1" 
 
 " But I cannot accept your services, my dear Ida, 
 is not that your name ? I should grow too self- 
 indulgent." 
 
 " I should so like to learn," said the girl, with down- 
 cast eyes. 
 
 Claudine smiled : " Of me ? Ob, you have come to 
 the wrong person ; I am only a learner myself." 
 
 "Dear Fraulein, let me tell the truth. I know some- 
 thing of housekeeping, but I am ignorant of so many 
 other things. I should like to have a situation as 
 lady's-maid in S., and I thought I could learn here 
 how to dress a lady and all the rest of a maid's duties. 
 Let me do a little house-work here, and learn sewing 
 and a little dress-making in return." 
 
 The girl looked into Claudine's eyes with a pleading 
 expression, and she herself felt very sad and weary, 
 but she made no reply, only betook herself to Fraulein 
 Lindenmeyer. "Now confess, Lindenmeyer dear," she 
 said, forcing herself to speak in a jesting tone, and 
 caressing the old woman as she had done in her child- 
 ish days, "you invited your visitor to relieve me of 
 the burden of the house- work ?" And the tears stood 
 in her eyes. 
 
 "Ah, my darling," the good-humoured creature re- 
 plied, " Ida has betrayed us, and we had contrived it all 
 so beautifully. Don't be angry. I cannot bear to see 
 you come down in the morning with your eyes looking
 
 172 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 as if you had not slept, and so pale, so pale ! There is 
 an old proverb, 'A bed of roses and ploughed land 
 ne'er thrive when tended by one hand.' If you want 
 to be fresh at court you must be freer from care, or 
 your lovely complexion will show it. Heinemann says 
 so too; he has been as anxious as I about you. And, 
 Fraulein Claudine, it is greatly to Ida's advantage too. 
 Her aunt could get her a situation as lady's-maid with 
 the Countess Keller, only that she is too inexperienced. 
 Indeed it is so," the good old soul asseverated. 
 
 And thus Claudine had an assistant in spite of her 
 efforts to the contrary. The fresh, modest young girl 
 brought comfort and brightness into the house. Never 
 was a mistress more zealously served, never was a child 
 more affectionately spoiled, than were Claudine and the 
 little Elizabeth. Heinemann actually beamed when he 
 met the brisk, smiling girl on the stairs, or heard her 
 in the kitchen singing her folk-songs in an undertone, 
 so as not to disturb the Herr Baron. Little Eliza- 
 beth no longer wept when Aunt Claudine drove away 
 in the beautiful carriage with the Duchess, and Clau- 
 dine no longer was so nervous at table that she could 
 eat nothing. 
 
 "We are quite grand!" said Joachim, when Heine- 
 mann for the first time placed the simple viands upon 
 the table, and Claudine sat still in her place. " I atn 
 rejoiced tor your sake, sister." 
 
 Claudine had given up her journey. "When she men- 
 tioned it to the Duchess her Highness burst into tears : 
 "1 cannot keep you, Claudine; go, go I" And then,
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 173 
 
 startled and touched, she promised to remain. Each 
 day the carriage that conveyed her to Altenstein came 
 earlier, but she was perfectly calm and serene now ; she 
 drove with the Duchess and sat with her in her boudoir 
 reading aloud and talking. Now and then, indeed, the 
 Duke would enter hastily unannounced, and he was al- 
 ways greeted with an exclamation of delight from his 
 wife ; but Claudine no longer dreaded his visits. There 
 was never an ardent glance to encounter, he never 
 attempted to whisper a syllable ; she knew he would 
 keep his princely word. She knew him well through his 
 mother; many a mad prank of his had been recounted 
 to her by the old Duchess, who had told her of the 
 anxiety she had undergone on his behalf, of the fer- 
 vent prayers she had uttered kneeling before the 
 imaged Mother of God, above which the little silver 
 lamp hung in her own room, prayers that this beloved 
 son might not go to ruin in the wild heyday of hia 
 youth. " And," the old Duchess had added, " it was, 
 after all, only the effervescence of youthful spirits; his 
 heart was always true ; he could be guided if he were 
 appealed to in the right way." And Claudine thought 
 she had discovered the right way. Hers was one of 
 the noble natures that never rest until they have dis- 
 covered the good in a human soul; that search and 
 search, and, when they have found the gold, know no 
 bounds in their willingness to forgive. 
 
 She silently forgave the Duke the insult he had 
 oifered her when she saw how chivalrously he strug- 
 gled with his passion, striving to be more patient with 
 his wife than before, and how he honoured herself 
 as the friend of this wife. As such she was sacred 
 from either love or hatred, she grew to believe. She 
 wrote to the Dowager Duchess alluding in heartfelt, 
 
 15*
 
 174 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 grateful words to her happiness in being the chosen 
 friend of the Duchess. " I wish your Highness could 
 know" these were her words " how happy I am in 
 the love and confidence of this noble nature ; I do all 
 that I can to show my gratitude for the friendship 
 thus accorded. Even that which your Highness has 
 sometimes thought worthy of blame, proves upon a 
 nearer acquaintance to be no fault. Her Highness 
 not only frankly displays her affection for her hus- 
 band, her whole being is so permeated by her love 
 for him that she could not conceal it without hy- 
 pocrisy." 
 
 Claudine seemed happier than she had been for a 
 long time. She began to await with impatience the 
 carriage which was to take her to Altenstein. In the 
 intellectual atmosphere that surrounded the invalid she 
 felt her own sorrow dwindle. One day the Duchess, 
 with all the shyness of a school-girl, slipped into 
 Claudine's hand some manuscripts. They contained 
 charming verses composed by herself; first a joyous 
 song of betrothal, then the earnest outpouring of the 
 happiness of the young wife, and then verses written 
 beside the cradles of her sons. They were perhaps too 
 tender, too sentimental, but as Claudine looked at their 
 author she thought it could not be otherwise than 
 that they should have been inspired by intense happi- 
 ness and by a presage of death. 
 
 And there were several short stories among them, 
 unique of their kind, always portraying the fortunes 
 of two people who loved each other beyond all else in 
 the world, but who were parted either by death or by 
 some cruel destiny, never by the fault of either. Clau- 
 dine had been surprised by the tragic nature of all the 
 endings, but had not ventured to speak of it, lest she
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 175 
 
 should add to the melancholy to which the Duchess 
 was so often a prey. 
 
 Thus eight peaceful, happy days passed. The Neu- 
 hausers had not disturbed this serenity, as the Duchess 
 had feared they would. The Princess Helena had ap- 
 peared several times like a hurricane in the Duchess's 
 apartments, but had given it to be clearly understood 
 that she was in the greatest haste to return to the 
 'sweet baby' of her late sister. Meanwhile, the old 
 Princess was laid up on a lounge at Neuhaus with 
 a sprained ankle. Claudine saw Beata but for a mo- 
 ment at a time, when she came in the early morning to 
 the Owl's Nest to inform herself as to various little 
 Princess-habits, and to disburden herself of quantities 
 of delicate cakes, bonbons, and confections. She ap- 
 proved highly of Fraulein Lindenmeyer's 'visitor,' but 
 otherwise she was very taciturn and depressed, and in 
 reply to Claudine's questions shrugged her shoulders 
 rather impatiently and declared that she desired noth- 
 ing so much as to be four weeks older. It was fearful, 
 far worse than she had fancied ; not a corner in the en- 
 tire house was there where one could be safe from that 
 jack-o'-lantern the Princess Helena, and Lothar only 
 shrugged his shoulders when she complained to him. 
 
 Claudine bowed her head, as if to receive the coup- 
 de-grace which would annihilate all hope, but Beata 
 paused, and then began to tell of how Frau von Berg 
 grew more disagreeable every day, and certainly had 
 great influence with the old Princess. " It makes no 
 difference to me, however," she had added. 
 
 To-day, a delicious summer day, the Duchess had 
 ordered tea in the park, just where the forest-trees gave 
 place to the garden ; the spot where Joachim's wife .had 
 fallen asleep forever. The Duchess's hammock was
 
 176 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 swinging, beneath an old oak, and Claudine, sitting be- 
 side her in a light bamboo easy-chair, was reading aloud. 
 Upon the Japanese table before her lay Frau von Kat- 
 zenstein's inevitable knitting : the old lady was stand- 
 ing on one side, busy with the tea. In the shade of 
 a group of huge chestnuts, separated from the ladies 
 by the breadth of the gravelled avenue, the Duke was 
 playing at ninepins with the two older Princes, Captain 
 von Rinkleben, and Herr von Palmer ; the shouts of the 
 children, laughter, and the noise of the tumbling pins 
 filled the air, and the Duchess looked across at the 
 players with a blissful expression in her eyes. 
 
 " Stop there, Claudine," she said at last. " The day 
 is so lovely, the sunshine so golden, and that story so 
 gloomy. It seems to me perfectly unnatural to-day. 
 What do you think is going to happen now ? I mean 
 to the people in the book." 
 
 " I am afraid, your Highness, that it ends terribly," 
 said the young lady, obediently putting down the 
 volume. 
 
 " He has procured the poison," the Duchess went on, 
 
 "Yes," rejoined Claudine j "she must die." 
 
 " She ?" the Duchess said, amazed. " What a horrible 
 idea I He is going to poison himself because he feels 
 that he cannot live with her or without the other.' 1 
 
 " I am not sure, your Highness," the girl stammered, 
 " but from the course of the story I suspect " 
 
 " Give me the book !" exclaimed the Duchess. She 
 opened it and read the close. " Good heavens, Clau- 
 dine, you are right!" she said then. 
 
 " There was nothing else to be done, psychologically, 
 if we remember the man's character as it was de- 
 scribed " 
 
 " It did not strike me as anything remarkable,'' the
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 177 
 
 Duchess interposed. "No, Claudine, it is all false! 
 Thank God, such fancies are the offspring of insanity. 
 We will not go on with the book; the world is so beau- 
 tiful and I am so light-hearted to-day." 
 
 She threw aside the silken coverlet spread over her 
 simple, dotted foulard gown, and pointed to the group 
 beneath the chestnuts. 
 
 " Look, Claudine, there comes the Duke ; he is tired 
 of pla} r ing. Dear heart, I am too lazy to-day for our 
 game of dominos, but perhaps Fraulein von Gerold 
 will take my place ? Please bring the table here." She 
 turned in her hammock, and, resting her head on her 
 hand, looked on while the Duke took his place oppo- 
 site Claudine, distributed the dominos, and arranged 
 his own. 
 
 Suddenly Claudine's slender fingers began to tremble ; 
 she bent her lovely face over her dominos, and a rosy 
 flush mantled her cheek and brow. On the other side 
 of the strip of lawn there was a glimmer of blue, which 
 fluttered about like a delicate butterfly and then paused 
 motionless. And back of this blue ? 
 
 " Ah, my child," said the Duchess, in an undertone, 
 "you are not paying attention; the Duke will win the 
 game." 
 
 " Oh, what an idyllic group ! Watteau might have 
 arranged it ! I am afraid we shall intrude, Baron," the 
 Princess Helena said, as, dressed in light-blue muslin, she 
 turned, with an expression that was half sarcasm, half 
 vexation, to where her mother was advancing leaning 
 on the arm of her son-in-law and followed by the lady- 
 in-waiting with her cavalier. And as she spoke she 
 looked in Lothar's faoe, which showed not the slightest 
 change of feature. 
 
 Her Grace the old Princess put up her eye-glass, and
 
 178 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 x 
 
 said, composedly, " En avant, my child : you wanted to 
 surprise Elizabeth. You will please to announce us." 
 
 Princess Helena advanced, but she no longer flut- 
 tered gayly ; she walked slowly and her face wore a 
 discontented expression. She closed her parasol noisily 
 as she neared the old oak-tree and paused with a pout. 
 "Excuse me, your Highness, if I intrude " 
 
 The Duchess looked up and laughed. "Where did 
 you come from, you gypsy ?" she asked, holding out 
 her hand. " Did you fly over the wall, or " 
 
 "In a carriage from Neuhaus. Mamma, Baron 
 Gerold, and the rest are there behind the trees, and 
 request permission to pay their respects." 
 
 She bowed gracefully to the Duke, kissed the Duch- 
 ess's hand, and then, appearing not to notice Claudine, 
 who stood by, she began to wave her parasol with comic 
 zeal, as if to notify the visitors that they were welcome. 
 
 The Duke went to meet the old Princess, and con- 
 ducted her to his wife. While greetings were inter- 
 changing, Lothar happened to stand beside Claudine, 
 but in vain did she look for a word from him ; she re- 
 ceived only a silent bow. All seated themselves, and a 
 lively conversation ensued among the illustrious ladies. 
 Princess Thekla excused herself for her delay in in- 
 quiring for her Highness's health, but she had slipped 
 upon the Neuhaus staircase and had been obliged to 
 sit with her foot on a rest for six long days; and 
 Princess Helena's visits had been so short; there was 
 no driving her from the nursery, or from Neuhaus 
 itself; she had even borrowed a linen apron from 
 Fraulein Beata, and had run about with her in garret, 
 pantry, and cellar. And as she spoke the old Princess 
 archly shook her forefinger at her daughter. " Yester- 
 day I caught her in the kitchen, where they were
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 179 
 
 preserving raspberries. Yes, yes, try to hide your 
 stained fingers." 
 
 The Duchess turned to the Princess Thekla with a 
 smile: " And how is the little grand-daughter?" 
 
 " Well, it is recovering," the old lady replied, ungra- 
 ciously ; " hut not as it should. Our good Berg fol- 
 lowed perhaps too implicitly the directions of the phy- 
 sician whom the Baron employs, never any medicine, 
 but cool bathing, and fresh air all day long; the child 
 is far too delicate for such treatment. It is taking 
 aconite now as a preservative against cold, and is kept 
 in the nursery until noon." 
 
 "My little daughter is just beginning to walk," the 
 Baron added, composedly ; " and as she has attained 
 the normal size of a young lady two years old, she 
 clambei's about by the sofas and chairs " 
 
 " Not as much as she should," the Princess Thekla 
 interrupted. 
 
 " I am quite satisfied with the little that she does," 
 he rejoined. 
 
 Meanwhile, Claudine turned kindly to the Countess 
 Moorsleben and addressed a few remarks to her. A 
 couple of monosyllables, while the young lady's merry 
 brown eyes looked in another direction, were the sole 
 reply. 
 
 Claudine, surprised, fell silent. The little Princess, 
 in a rocking-chair opposite her, stared at her pro- 
 vokingly for a while. Claudine's beautiful brown eyes 
 looked calmly and half inquiringly into those bold, 
 black stars, whereupon the dark, curly head was 
 turned away, and a contemptuous smile hovered upon 
 the rather too ripe lips. 
 
 " The young ladies ought to have a game of cro- 
 quet," the Duchess proposed. " I am sure those gen-
 
 180 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 tlemen will gladly take part in it. My dear Claudine. 
 please show the Princess and Countess Moorsleben the 
 way to the ground, and have the hoops set out." 
 
 Claudine rose. 
 
 "Excuse me, your Highness. No, I thank you," said 
 Helena ; " I am rather tired." She leaned her head back 
 in the rocking-chair and slowly rocked herself. Count- 
 ess Moorsleben sat down again when her mistress re- 
 i'used, and Claudine quietly took her place once more. 
 
 Ices and tea and coffee were served. The gentlemen 
 came over from where they had been playing and 
 joined the ladies; Claudine was suddenly aware of 
 two of them behind her chair, Herr von Palmer and 
 Captain von Kinkleben. She soon entered into conver- 
 sation with the latter; she had known his younger 
 sister at school, and now asked after her. He gave a 
 long account of her marriage, and of the happiness 
 she had found in it, contrary to all expectation. Yery 
 moderate means, a small income, and yet she was per- 
 fectly contented and happy. 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Claudine ; " with a little content the 
 smallest home can be charmingly decorated." 
 
 " Fraulein Claudine herself is a striking example of 
 what she is saying," Palmer interposed. " The Owl's 
 Nest is an idyl, a dream, Fraulein Claudine, where you 
 reign as a fairy of comfort. True, the consciousness 
 that it is only an episode helps to complete the charm. 
 It is easy to be contented when one beholds a temple 
 of happiness in the distance." 
 
 Claudine looked at him inquiringly. He smiled fa- 
 miliar^, and took a glass goblet of ice from the table 
 at his side. 
 
 " You are obscure, Herr von Palmer ; I do not un- 
 derstand you," said Claudine.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 181 
 
 " Really ? Ah, Fraulein von Gerold, with jour bril- 
 liant intellect that is scarcely to be credited. It must 
 seem very home-like to you here," he went on, as if 
 changing the subject. " Probably the time is not far 
 distant when you will return definitely to your ances- 
 tral home. The perpetual drives to and from the 
 Owl's Nest are, after all, tiresome, and will be specially 
 so during the approaching festivities at Altenhaus and 
 Neuhaus." 
 
 " I am unfortunate to day, Herr von Palmer; again 
 I do not catch the point of your remarks." 
 
 " Then look upon his words as prophetic, Fraulein 
 von Gerold," said a clear young voice, and the heredi- 
 tary Prince, an ideally handsome lad of twelve years, 
 with his mother's large, sparkling eyes, pushed his 
 chair over beside Claudine. "Prophets always speak 
 obscurely," he added. 
 
 " Bravo, your Highness !" exclaimed Herr von Pal- 
 mer, laughing. 
 
 " I wish Herr von Palmer might be a true prophet," 
 the lad continued, looking with the frank, bold admira- 
 tion of his years at the beautiful girl. " You ought to 
 come and live with mamma, Fraulein von Gerold. She 
 said to papa, yesterday, that it would be so pleasant if 
 you never had to drive away." 
 
 Herr von Palmer continued to smile. 
 
 " Unfortunately, that cannot be, your Highness ; I 
 have duties at home," Claudine replied, quietly, " or 
 how gladly would I come to my dear Altenstein I" 
 
 " It is a delightful property," the captain remarked. 
 <( Such a wonderful garden !" 
 
 " It was my grandfather's hobby," Claudine observed, 
 sadly. 
 
 " You used to play here at ' robbers and princess' 
 16
 
 182 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 with your brother and other children when you were 
 little, did you not ?" asked the Prince, without taking 
 his eyes from her face. 
 
 "Down there," she nodded, pointing towards the 
 left, " by the low gate- way in the wall ; it was used 
 as a sally-port." 
 
 " Captain," Princess Helena called aloud, " I should 
 like a game of croquet, after all. Come, Isidora." 
 
 The Countess and the captain arose and hastened 
 towards the croquet-grounds. Princess Helena still 
 lingered. "Baron," she said to Lothar, and there was a 
 shade of entreaty in her voice, " will you not play ?" 
 
 He rose and looked at her as he bowed an assent. 
 " Has your Grace asked all who are to take part in the 
 game ?" he inquired. 
 
 " Of course ; we are two against two." 
 " No more than four ? Ah, indeed I Your Highness," 
 he turned to the young Prince, " Princess Helena 
 wishes to play croquet. I know how you love the game." 
 Her Grace's little foot tapped the ground impatiently. 
 " I am sorry," the Prince replied, gravely, " but 
 Fraulein von Gerold has just promised to show me a 
 spot where I can build a fortress with my brother. 
 I am much more interested in that." 
 
 Baron Lothar smiled. He stood still for a moment 
 watching the young Prince, who offered Claudine his 
 arm with a charming air of importance. 
 
 The Duchess looked after the pair with surprise. 
 " Why does not Fraulein von Gerold join the game ?" 
 she asked the Baron. 
 
 " Princess Helena, your Highness, made up the party 
 who were to play," he replied. 
 
 " Pray, Baron," the Duchess said, gently, but very 
 decidedly, " go to your cousin and tell her how sorry I
 
 TUB OJFZ/'S NEST. 183 
 
 am that they forgot to invite her to play, and bring her 
 back with you, if possible. The Prince's tutor, whom 
 I see approaching, will supply your place in the game 
 while you are absent." 
 
 The Baron bowed, and departed to excuse himself to 
 the Princess and to resign his mallet to the tutor, an 
 amiable but shy man. Then slowly and by a round 
 about path he went to seek his cousin. 
 
 The old Princess's nose during this episode suddenly 
 grew sharp and white. 
 
 " Pardon me, your Highness," said she, putting her 
 delicate cup down noisily on the table, " Helena cer- 
 tainly had no idea of offending; she means well, and 
 loves your Highness dearly. Her honest heart carries 
 her away, and " 
 
 " I really cannot see what honesty has to do with it, 
 dearest aunt," rejoined the Duchess, her cheeks flushed 
 with excitement. 
 
 Herr von Palmer looked across at the Duke, who 
 took not the slightest notice of this conversation. His 
 Highness was playing with his eye-glass as he gazed 
 gravely after the white, graceful figure of the girl upon 
 whose arm the Prince was hanging familiarly, asking 
 her all sorts of questions. They had disappeared for 
 some time in a thicket of jessamines, when the Duke 
 slowly turned his head and encountered the eyes of the 
 Princess Thekla; they looked brighter than usual, and 
 there was an expression of suppressed malice upon her 
 sharp features. 
 
 "He plays the lover early," the Duke observed. 
 " The boy is all fire and flame." 
 
 "And he has good taste, too," said the Duchess, 
 entering merrily into the jest. 
 
 " That he gets from his papa," the old Princess inter-
 
 184 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 posed, in her shrill voice, and for a moment the inno- 
 cent smile of the woman of the world displaced the 
 suppressed malice in her face as she sat erect in her 
 chair. 
 
 The Duke courteously took off his hat and made 
 her a low bow: "Yes, my revered aunt, I have always 
 preferred to look at a handsome woman rather than 
 at an ugly one, and if you think the Prince has in- 
 herited this propensity from me, you make me very 
 happy. I thank you." 
 
 Herr von Palmer's sharply-cut features quivered with 
 suppressed merriment. It was delicious ! if the Berg 
 could only hear it ! Princess Tbekla plucked nervously 
 at the lace of her pocket-handkerchief; the Duchess 
 cast an appealing glance at her husband, she was 
 perfectly aware of his antipathy for Aunt Thekla. It 
 dated from his boyhood, when the said aunt, who had 
 a distinguished talent for espionage, followed up his 
 mad pranks for the sake of detailing them to the 
 Dowager Duchess ; of course not always quite truth- 
 fully. She now deigned no further word to the Duke ; 
 she turned to the Duchess, and overwhelmed her 
 with exaggerated expressions of affection, expressions 
 tinged with a kind of compassion, such as one uses 
 towards those who, innocent themselves, are called to 
 bear some great sorrow, and which are calculated to 
 put to the torture nervous, proud natures. 
 
 The Duchess did not understand her, but she suffered 
 keenly from all her questions, observations, and advice, 
 and when at last Princess Thekla sighed, " If I were 
 only convinced that this Altenstein were really doing 
 you good 1" she grew impatient, and asked to be con- 
 ducted to her room, as she was tired. 
 
 This was the signal for the departure of the guests.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 185 
 
 In a short time the place beneath the oak was deserted, 
 the gay croquet-balls lay about under the trees, and 
 the two Princesses were rolling along the forest road 
 towards Neuhaus with those who had accompanied 
 them to Altenstein. 
 
 Claudine, with the young Prince, had sought the 
 deepest recesses of the park. She was glad at heart 
 to escape from Lothar's eyes ; the intentional slight on 
 the part of the little Princess had scarcely offended 
 her ; it was so perfectly childish that she thought it 
 hardly worthy of notice. There had always been a 
 certain ill will displayed towards her in that quarter; 
 it dated from balls and other festivities at court, when 
 Claudine had quite involuntarily thrown the little 
 Princess into the background. Why Helena should 
 have chosen to testify her dislike to-day in so striking 
 a manner, and in the presence of the Duke and the 
 Duchess, she could not conceive. Her small Grace 
 must have been in a very bad humour, or could she, 
 with the clear insight of love, have suspected Clau- 
 dine's sentiments towards the man whose affection she 
 coveted? No, that could not be. The Princess was 
 sure of her ground, so sure that she could borrow 
 Beata's apron and play the housewife in her future 
 home. 
 
 And Lothar, too, must be secure in the possession 
 of that inconstant, coquettish little heart ; else how 
 could he have allowed himself to recall her ironically 
 to a sense of her rudeness ? 
 
 The girl suddenly wrinkled her brow and bit her 
 lip. What right had he to notice what happened to 
 
 16*
 
 186 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 her ? He never would have done so had she not borne 
 the name of Gerold. That insane pride of family ! 
 She surely knew how to defend her own dignity, how 
 to take care of herself ; she needed no guardianship, no 
 sympathy, least of all from him. 
 
 She had reached, with her youthful companion, the 
 extreme end of the park, where, even in her childhood, 
 the trees and bushes were allowed to grow as they 
 pleased. It was a damp, mossy, fragrant nook, through 
 which rippled a little brook, its banks clothed with a 
 rich abundance of feathery ferns. Beneath the little 
 birchen bridge the water bubbled and gurgled, just as 
 it had been wont to do when she had played here as 
 a child. There stood the half-ruined hut which had 
 done duty in her plays both as a dungeon and as a 
 knightly stronghold ; how often she had sat within 
 it as an imprisoned chatelaine ! Melancholy oppressed 
 her as she told it all to the Prince. There too was 
 the gravestone beneath which lay Joachim's favourite, 
 the little yellow beagle Lola, who was so clever a little 
 dog that she never betrayed his hiding-place when 
 they were all at play, but would be quiet as a mouse 
 by his side while the rest were searching near. Those 
 were happy times, whither had they gone ? 
 
 "Where does that lead to?" asked the Prince, point- 
 ing to a low door in the wall. 
 
 " To the village," Claudine replied. " By that door 
 the servants used to go to church on Sundays." 
 
 The curious Prince drew the girl still farther along 
 the path by the wall, plying her with all kinds of 
 questions. Suddenly he perceived a jay in one of the 
 tall trees, and, forgetting his companion and the cour- 
 tesy due to her, he ran after it. The bird flew from 
 branch to branch, luring the boy on, appearing here
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 187 
 
 and vanishing there, until both disappeared among the 
 trees. 
 
 Claudine sauntered on, lost in melancholy memories, 
 for a while before she perceived that she was alone. 
 She sighed and passed her handkerchief over her eyes. 
 What did she desire? All was as it had been. Tears 
 and regret will not restore what is lost, nor will weep- 
 ing and wailing avail to alter heaven's decrees. " The 
 time must come when the pain will be soothed," she 
 said to herself; " it must come ; no one could live with 
 a heart so wounded and torn." 
 
 She stood still ; the tears gathered in her eyes. Now 
 that she was alone, the misery that she felt in his pres- 
 ence asserted itself; she knew that she could not endure 
 to see him calmly smiling beside another woman, the 
 acknowledged lover of a superficial, wayward girl. 
 
 "Excuse me, cousin ;" his voice suddenly broke the 
 stillness. She turned in positive terror; a shining drop 
 fell upon her hand, which she hastily covered with the 
 other, while the old haughty expression appeared on 
 her beautiful face. 
 
 " I should not have ventured to disturb you," he con- 
 tinued, approaching her, " but that her Highness com- 
 missioned me to tell you how much she regretted your 
 having been rudely treated." 
 
 " Her Highness is always kind," was the cool reply. 
 " I did not mind it ; one learns to overlook such trifles 
 and to judge according to desert." 
 
 " You appear to have learned much of late, cousin," 
 he said, bitterly, walking on beside her. " I remember 
 the time when you avoided every glance like a timid 
 fawn, it does not seem to me so long ago, in the 
 capital." 
 
 " True," she replied ; " the weak are roused to sudden
 
 188 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 strength by the knowledge that they must act for 
 themselves. Besides, I am twenty -three years old, 
 cousin, and have lately been forcibly awakened from 
 the old girlish existence." 
 
 "There is something of grandeur in the pride of a 
 woman's soul," he rejoined, not without irony ; " the 
 pity is that the first shock that life brings can shatter 
 this pride so easily. It always touches me," he con- 
 tinued, " to see a woman, ignorant of the world, and 
 with a courage beyond compare, take up an untenable 
 position. I feel like shutting my eyes lest I should be- 
 hold her failure, but I cannot ; I would fain snatch her 
 from the brink of the dizzy abyss, but I encounter only 
 a cool, smiling repulse." 
 
 "There may perhaps exist a woman who, in addition 
 to sufficient courage, possesses strength enough to main- 
 tain her position," said Claudine, trembling with emo- 
 tion and quickening her pace. 
 
 " Possibly," he replied, with a shrug. " There are 
 natures which regard themselves as exceptional. ' This 
 I can venture,' they say, ' with impunity." Their de- 
 struction is all the more complete." 
 
 " Do you think so ?" she asked, calmly. " "Well, there 
 are natures which have such faith in themselves that 
 they can pursue the path pointed out to them by duty 
 and conscience without looking to the right or to the left, 
 and without paying any heed to uncalled-for advice." 
 
 " Uncalled-for ?" 
 
 " Yes !" she exclaimed, and her beautiful eyes flashed. 
 " What right have you, Baron Gerold, to force upon 
 me, as soon as you see me, your mysterious wisdom, 
 your ambiguous sarcasms? Have our relations with 
 each other ever been such as to warrant a like guardian- 
 ship on your part ?"
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 189 
 
 "Never," he replied, dejectedly. 
 
 " And they never will be such," she continued, with 
 bitterness. " I can, however, for your satisfaction, as- 
 sure you that the name of Gerold the sole object of 
 your anxiety shall never suffer through me, for I 
 know my duty." She had turned pale. 
 
 She quickened her steps still more; he fell back, 
 overtaking her at the gardener's trim dwelling, where 
 Heinemann's only daughter lived with her husband. 
 Claudine stopped by the open window ; behind the 
 white curtains Heinemann's pretty grand-daughter was 
 sitting crying as if her heart would break, and her 
 mother, a neat, good-looking woman, came out to see 
 her former young mistress, wiping her eyes with tho 
 corner of her apron. 
 
 "Her 'Schatz' has thrown her off to-day, Fraulein 
 Claudine," she explained. 
 
 "But why?" Claudine asked, compassionately, con- 
 trolling her own agitation. 
 
 "It is her own fault, Fraulein Claudine," the woman 
 began, mournfully, courtesying to the Baron ; " the 
 young master on the estate where she is at service has 
 been running after her and flattering her, and Wilhelm. 
 thought she was false." 
 
 "That is very unjust of Wilhelm," said Claudine. 
 
 "Ah, Fraulein Claudine," the woman rejoined, "you 
 can't blame him. I know she is good, for I know my 
 
 child, but a young man like him Lisette ought to 
 
 have left her place, as I advised, and then this never 
 would have happened. You see, Herr Baron," she con- 
 tinued, with another awkward courtesy to Herr von 
 Gerold, "no one will believe it; 'tis the way of the 
 world. She might cry her eyes out and nobody will 
 believe that she has done no wrong. I've thought so
 
 190 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 often to-day of the verse which my gracious lady, your 
 grandmother, Fraulein Claudine, wrote in my hymn- 
 book on my confirmation day. Here it is." And she 
 reached inside the window and brought out a book 
 bound in black with gilt-edged leaves, which she opened 
 and handed to Claudine. " There, just under the Herr 
 Pastor's verse." 
 
 Claudine took the book. There was written first, 
 in delicate masculine characters, ' Blessed are the pure 
 in heart,' and beneath it, in the old Baroness's energetic 
 handwriting, 
 
 ' Purity not alone you need : 
 Pure you must seem in word and deed.' 
 
 The book trembled in Claudine's hand ; she returned 
 it without a word. 
 
 "Let him go, my child," Lothar's voice sounded 
 strangely hard, " he would make a very disagreeable 
 husband, with a tendency to be jealous and to preach 
 morals to you." 
 
 The girl sprang to her feet: " No, no I he was so dear 
 and good; I cannot live if he does not come back to 
 me." 
 
 " We can live through much, little one," he said, 
 kindly. "It is not easy to die of disappointed expec- 
 tations." 
 
 Claudine had nodded gravely to the girl, she was 
 still very pale. " Good-bye, Lisbeth," she said, " and do 
 not grieve for one who does not trust you." 
 
 "Ah, Fraulein Claudine, do not say that!" the girl 
 exclaimed, and hurried away from the window. 
 
 Claudine turned and walked on with Lothar at her 
 side. Her grandmother's words flamed before her eyes 
 and cast a bewildering light upon her own position.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 191 
 
 What if people were already gossiping and whisper- 
 ing about her? And if such gossip should be credited? 
 What if one of all others believed that she had been 
 false to her honour? She suddenly looked up at him 
 with pleading inquiry in her eyes. 
 
 He was walking quietly beside her. No, no, no I 
 The fancy was an insane one ! 
 
 " The place is deserted," he observed ; " they seem 
 to have gone into the house." 
 
 In fact, no one was to be seen beneath the oak save a 
 footman, who was clearing away the tables and chairs, 
 and who informed them that the guests had returned to 
 Neuhaus, and that her Highness was expecting Fraulein 
 von Gerold in her room. The carriage would return 
 from Neuhaus. 
 
 Claudine turned towards the house. The setting 
 Bun gilded the tips of the trees, and kindled to a flame 
 the numerous windows in the front of the old gray 
 Btone mansion. A rosy hue tinged the atmosphere ; 
 the vesper bell could be heard from the neighbouring 
 village. 
 
 "Good-bye," said Lothar, pausing. "I should like 
 to find his Highness, to take leave of him; you are 
 familiar with these paths, and can surely forego my 
 guidance." He made her a low bow, ironically low, 
 she thought. 
 
 She inclined her head haughtily. She knew well 
 that the slight tie of kinship which in the seclusion 
 of country life had superficially drawn them together 
 had been sundered, sundered irrevocably, when she 
 had declined ' uncalled-for advice.' Had she been too 
 harsh ? She hesitated a moment before going farther, 
 and then walked with redoubled speed along the path 
 leading to the principal avenue.
 
 192 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 At a tui'ning the Duke suddenly confronted her. 
 He took off his hat, and, holding it in his hand, walked 
 beside her, talking of the laying out of the park, and 
 pointing out a magnificent group of copper-beeches, 
 which contrasted effectively with the light green of 
 the larches behind them. " Where did you leave the 
 Baron, Fraulein von Gerold?" he then asked. 
 
 "My cousin left me only a minute ago," she replied. 
 il If I do not mistake, he was going to look for your 
 Highness, to take leave of you." 
 
 "Ah! Well, he can easily find me. I have a plan, 
 besides, for keeping him here this evening, to have a 
 game of billiards. My capricious little cousin must be 
 punished." He smiled as he spoke, and looked keenly 
 at Claud ine. "I hope you were not wounded by her 
 childishness ?" he asked, walking beside her in the 
 broad avenue leading to the castle. 
 
 "No, your Highness," Claudine replied, looking to- 
 wards the castle with a frown. 
 
 On the steps in front of it two gentlemen were 
 standing talking ; one had just said to the other, " By 
 Jove, captain, look there, if you wish to see Louis the 
 Fourteenth desirous of showing his respect for the La 
 Valliere 1" 
 
 He who was thus addressed made no reply, but 
 looked with a puzzled expression at the couple ap- 
 proaching with such apparent good understanding. 
 
 Above, from the window of the balcony, a white 
 kerchief was waved, and the Duchess's wasted face 
 appeared smiling behind the panes. 
 
 The gentlemen bowed as they moved aside to allow 
 the Duke and Claudine to pass. She looked strangely, 
 the Duchess's beautiful friend ; there were hard lines 
 about the mouth which was wont to be so lovely, and
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 193 
 
 she ascended the staircase as slowly and wearily as 
 if she were carrying a heavy burden. " Now all is 
 over," she repeated to herself, as she walked through 
 the antechamber to the apartment of the Duchess. 
 
 "Claudine!" she cried, turning from the window, 
 where she had been impatiently awaiting her favour- 
 ite, and throwing her arms about the girl's neck, " You 
 have been away so long! When you left me I grew 
 impatient immediately : I should have liked to go after 
 you. I really cannot live without you. Do you hear, 
 Claudine?" 
 
 She drew the girl down beside her lounge in the 
 shade of the red curtains, and looked into the melan- 
 choly blue eyes. 
 
 " Poor, dear heart ! you were wounded ; the child 
 was naughty and must be punished. It is the old 
 story of the goose, who when with the swan can attract 
 attention only by its loud cackling. Claudine," she 
 whispered, " I saw again how high above all the rest 
 you are !" She pressed the girl's cool hand. " I love 
 you so dearly ! Ah, Claudine, when we are alone to- 
 gether I pray you to call me Elizabeth. Do I ask too 
 much?" 
 
 " Your Highness !" stammered Claudine. 
 
 "Not 'Highness,' Claudine. How can I call you 
 Claudine if you call me 'your Highness'? I must be 
 'Elizabeth' to you. Ah, please, please 1 I have never 
 had any one who could be to me what you are! Let 
 me be sure that you are my friend ; forget the Duchess 
 when we are alone together, and remember that I am 
 to you only Elizabeth, who loves you dearly." 
 
 Claudine kneeled beside the gentle invalid. She 
 would fain have said, " Let me go ! let me go ! It is 
 better for both of us that I should go from you as 
 i n 17
 
 194 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 far as my feet can carry me." But such words she 
 could not utter beneath the gaze of the feverishly- 
 brilliant eyes looking so pleadingly into her own ; and 
 then a kiss closed her mouth, and the next instant 
 she felt something cool upon her arm, and a brace- 
 let sparkled there in shape like a horseshoe, the nails 
 being represented by sapphires and diamonds. 
 
 " Will your Highness will you, Elizabeth," she cor- 
 rected herself, and her tears flowed "never repent 
 your choice of a friend ?" Her face was pale and 
 grave as she asked the question. 
 
 "I have a true perception, Claudine, of human 
 worth ; I know that she upon whom I have bestowed 
 my affection is not unworthy." 
 
 The Princess Helena returned to Neuhaus in a very 
 bad humour. During the drive thither she had sat 
 silent in one corner of the landau, and the Princess 
 Thekla had been as silent in hers. Countess Moors- 
 leben, who was in attendance, with difficulty sup- 
 pressed a smile, there was such a resemblance between 
 the old and the young countenance at such moments of 
 vexation. 
 
 When the apartments up-stairs at Neuhaus were 
 reached, the storm burst, and upon the head of Frau 
 von Berg, who was summoned to the little Princess's 
 room. The young lady heaped her with the most in- 
 sane reproaches, as if it were her fault that four hun- 
 dred years previously an old Gerold had taken it into 
 his head to build here in the country a strong castle 
 which had to-day become this detestable Altenstein. 
 It was a horrible residence, a positive desert; it was
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 195 
 
 as clear as daylight that no man of sense would ever 
 have purchased such a tasteless domain unless with 
 ' views' of a special description. 
 
 " Was ever such a thing heard of as that I should be 
 publicly reproved by her Highness because of because 
 
 of such a " Her rage could not find fitting words. 
 
 "All that was wanting was that the Princess Helena 
 should have to beg pardon of her Highness's lady-in- 
 waiting!" 
 
 "Oh!" exclaimed Frau von Berg, who had bowed 
 her head beneath this tempest ; " ' beg pardon' ? What 
 had your Grace done ?" 
 
 " Simply not seen her, for I cannot endure her !" the 
 Princess declared. 
 
 Frau von Berg's eyes gleamed. 
 
 "Oh, your Grace, do not say so," she said, gently. 
 "Her Highness is infatuated with this friend; one 
 might almost suppose the lovely Claudine guilty of 
 brewing love-philtres in her old Owl's Nest. How 
 disagreeable a scene it must have been for the Baron!" 
 
 "Disagreeable? Do you think so, Alice? He 
 showed no unwillingness to follow his cousin, at her 
 Highness's request, to soothe her and bring her back 
 to the croquet-ground." 
 
 After these words the Princess sprang up from her 
 chintz-covered arm-chair and ran to the window. Frau 
 von Berg saw her clinch both hands and tap the floor 
 nervously with her foot, as if scarcely able to control 
 herself. 
 
 " What else could he do, your Grace ?" said Frau von 
 Berg. " But, to be sure, it is not impossible ; who can 
 understand a man's heart?" And she smiled behind 
 the back of the Princess, who, turning sharply at 
 her words as if a viper had stung her, saw the smile
 
 196 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 upon her confidante's lips. The next moment a small 
 object flew past Frau von Berg's carefully-dressed head 
 and fell on the ground beside the porcelain stove. It 
 proved to be nothing more than the soft work-bag 
 holding her Grace's embroidery, which never was more 
 than begun ; but the fact remained the same, it had 
 been thrown at JYau von Berg's head. 
 
 Much grieved, she put her handkerchief up to her 
 eyes and began to sob. 
 
 " Stop crying !" the little Princess said, imperiously. 
 
 "You know it drives me wild to I know you 
 
 well, Alice ; you smiled maliciously." 
 
 "Great heavens, no!" the weeping woman rejoined. 
 "I was thinking; I smiled compassionately." 
 
 " I do not want your compassion." 
 
 " Who could fancy that it was bestowed upon your 
 Grace? I pity the Duchess; she seems to me like the 
 lamb who invited the wolf to be his guest. Her High- 
 ness idolizes this Claudine, and Ah, your Grace, it 
 
 would be ridiculous, were it not so sad, to see any one 
 feeding with sugar-plums a bitter enemy." 
 
 The Princess made no reply. She was seated on the 
 broad window-sill, behind the chintz curtain ; her feet 
 moved incessantly, while her eager eyes never left the 
 small piece of road visible on the other side of the park. 
 
 " How can I help it if people are blind ?" she said at 
 last. 
 
 " I thought your Grace loved the Duchess ?" 
 
 " Yes ; she is good and childlike, and has always been 
 fond of me. But mamma says she is overstrained, and 
 I am sure she showed it plainly enough to-day. I can 
 do nothing for her." 
 
 The clock that stood on top of the antique cupboard 
 struck seven. The Princess noticed it with impatience.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 197 
 
 " So late already ?" she said. " The Baron forgets 
 that we were to select a place in the garden for dancing 
 at the fete." 
 
 " Perhaps her Highness has requested his attendance 
 in her drawing-room," Frau von Berg observed. " Frau- 
 lein von Gerold sings there every evening, and the 
 Baron is, as your Grace knows, passionately fond of 
 music." 
 
 " But the Duchess knows that he has guests !" the 
 Princess exclaimed, with flashing eyes and a menacing 
 glance at her tormentor. 
 
 " But if her Highness commands ?" was the rejoinder, 
 in a tone of gentle remonstrance. 
 
 " Commands ? We do not live in the Middle Ages. 
 My cousin might finally command him to marry her 
 favourite." 
 
 Frau von Berg chimed in with this rather grim jest 
 with the most innocent air in the world : " Who knows, 
 your Grace, if it were the wish of that favourite ?" 
 
 This was too much for the little Princess. She ran 
 across the room and angrily seized Frau von Berg by 
 the shoulders ; her face was quite pale. 
 
 " Alice," said she, " you are a wicked woman ; I feel 
 that you are wicked ; you would like to torture me. 
 What you say is horrible, but it is not impossible. 
 Alice, I never have a peaceful moment. I wish I were 
 dead, like my sister. She was at least happy once in 
 her life." 
 
 " But, your Grace, a mere jest." 
 
 " No, no ; it is no jest. For God's sake do not make 
 a jest of it ! I do not know what I could not do with 
 delight if she were away from here! Why did she 
 not go with the Dowager Duchess to Switzerland ? 
 Why must she stay here ?" 
 
 17*
 
 198 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " Yes, why ?" asked Frau von Berg, kissing Helena's 
 hand. " Poor child !" she sighed. 
 
 " Ah, Alice, can you not think of some way ? Tell 
 me of one. I cannot endure this uncertainty any 
 longer !" whispered the passionate girl. 
 
 "Ah, your Grace, what can I do? Unless some 
 chance should open her Higbness's eyes." 
 
 " Some chance ?" the Princess repeated, bitterly. 
 
 " How else ? . There is no single soul sufficiently de- 
 voted to her Highness to do her so kind a service." 
 
 " "Wonderfully kind it would be !" the Princess re- 
 joined, sarcastically. " Why, it would be work for an 
 executioner, Alice, for I believe as truly as that I stand 
 here that the knowledge of the truth in this affair 
 would break Elizabeth's heart." 
 
 " Your Grace would rather look on and see the 
 noblest and best of human beings systematically de- 
 ceived ? I must confess that our views as to what 
 constitutes friendship differ widely," replied Frau von 
 Berg, reproachfully. 
 
 " Did you never love any one so very dearly, Alice, 
 so very dearly that you would rather have died 
 than lose them? B.ut you need not answer; I know 
 you never did. Where others have a heart you have 
 only a vacant place. Do not look at me so ; the Duchess 
 shall never be enlightened by me, Alice. Moreover, I 
 never assert what I do not know positively, and here 
 satisfactory proof is lacking." 
 
 Frau von Berg smiled and stroked the Princess's 
 hair, while a tear glittered in her eye. 
 
 "How could a heart of such childlike purity believe 
 in such guilt?" she said, softly. "It would not admit 
 the proofs to be such." 
 
 The Princess shook off her hand. " Pray do not
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 199 
 
 speak so, as if you had your pockets full of them," 
 she said, annoyed at being touched. 
 
 "My pockets are not full of them, 'tis true; one 
 proof suffices for me, your Grace." 
 
 The young Princess's face was dyed with a burn 
 ing blush. "It is not true," she stammered. "No 
 woman is so destitute of honour as to feign friendship 
 where she is practising treachery. You are terrible, 
 Alice !" 
 
 " Oh, your Grace does not know the world." 
 
 The Princess suddenly put her hand to her forehead 
 and ran into her bedroom ; the door closed with a crash 
 behind her fairy figure. Frau von Berg was left alone 
 in her comfortable apartment. She looked towards 
 the door, and a smile hovered upon her lips. Then she 
 took from her pocket a note, which she contemplated 
 affectionately. " Here it is," she whispered. It had 
 already exercised its magic power. In her boudoir her 
 Grace the Princess Thekla was writing to her Highness 
 the Dowager Duchess a letter filled with virtuous in- 
 dignation. 
 
 In the next room passionate sobs were audible. Frau 
 von Berg left her apartment, to return immediately 
 with fresh water and raspberry syrup, after which she 
 unceremoniously entered Helena's bedroom. " Your 
 Grace must compose yourself," she gently entreated as 
 she mixed the cooling drink. She kneeled beside the 
 weeping young creature, who was seated upon the 
 lounge at the foot of the bed. " We must bathe these 
 eyes," she went on. " If I am not mistaken, the Baron 
 has just driven into the court-yard. The pictures of 
 costumes for the fancy fete are on the table, with a 
 number of exquisite patterns from M. Ulmont." 
 
 The Princess rose, and allowed Frau von Berg to
 
 200 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 arrange her hair and bathe her eyes. " Do I look as 
 if I had been crying?" she asked. 
 
 " No, no ; charming as ever," was the reply. 
 
 The dinner-bell sounded clearly from below, and a 
 few minutes afterwards the Princess flew down-stairs, 
 as if eager to lose no second of a delightful hour ; her 
 eyes sparkled, a smile parted her lips. At the open 
 doors of the dining-hall, in which candles were light- 
 ing up the shining table, stood Beata in the rustling 
 gray-and-black-striped silk which she now regularly 
 donned for dinner. 
 
 " My brother begs your Grace to excuse his absence ; 
 his Highness requested his attendance, and the carriage 
 has just returned without him," she said, with a slight 
 courtesy, and in the hard voice which she could use at 
 will. 
 
 The delight in the Princess's face faded ; she sat 
 silent beside Beata. The old Princess remained in her 
 room on the plea of a sudden attack of headache. 
 Countess Moorsleben with difficulty suppressed a yawn ; 
 the chamberlain conversed in an undertone with Frau 
 von Berg, otherwise there was not a sound except the 
 low clatter of the plates, or Beata's voice as loud and 
 clear as ever. Once she addressed the Princess, who 
 looked at her without replying, and before the dessert 
 was served rose, and, signing to the Countess to stay 
 where she was, ran out into the garden like a way- 
 ward child. When she returned to her room a couple 
 of hours afterwards, her hair was damp with dew and 
 her eyes were swollen. These eyes did not see what 
 was actually before them ; what they perceived was a 
 spacious apartment, where at the grand piano was 
 seated a beautiful girl, about whose fair hair the candle- 
 light threw a halo. And as she sang one listened
 
 THE OWUS NEST. 201 
 
 whose heart was enthralled against his will by the soft, 
 sweet tones. Oh, it was enough to drive one mad ! 
 
 '' Send Frau von Berg here," she said to the maid, 
 " and do not light the candles." 
 
 A few minutes afterwards the stately woman's train 
 rustled across the threshold of the dark room, and the 
 Princess's trembling little hand sought Frau von Berg's. 
 
 " The proof, Alice, give it to me," was whispered, in 
 faltering accents. 
 
 " Here," the lady replied, coolly, and put the treach- 
 erous note into the extended hand. "It is scarcely 
 worth the trouble of reading. Throw it away, your 
 Grace, when you have read it." 
 
 " Thank you, Alice ; you can go now." 
 
 The Princess went into her bedroom and read by 
 the light of the hanging-lamp. " In spite of this a 
 friend? Poor Liesel!" she whispered. She made as 
 if she would tear up the note, but paused. The blood 
 rushed to her head; she breathed heavily. The 
 room was still pervaded by the sultriness of the day; 
 through the open window came the sweet intoxicating 
 fragrance of the linden-blossoms, intoxicating as the 
 yearning for happiness that filled the girl's heart. She 
 would grasp this happiness at any price, even at the 
 greatest ! With trembling fingers she folded the note 
 as small as possible and shut it up in a little golden 
 case which she wore around her neck. It contained 
 the miniature of a man ; she had secretly taken it 
 from her sister when that sister was betrothed to 
 Lothar. It was her most profound secret. 
 
 " Only in case of necessity," she whispered, as she 
 concealed the medallion again.
 
 202 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Fraulein Lindenmeyer shook her head amazed in its 
 red-ribboned cap. The change that had come over 
 the Paulinenthal, hitherto so lonely and deserted, was 
 marvellous indeed ! Gay dresses enlivened all the 
 woodland paths, and merry voices resounded j it seemed 
 as if the entire city had chosen this special part of the 
 country for its picnics. Numerous were the elegant 
 equipages that had lately driven past the Owl's Nest, 
 and in the neighbouring village there was not an egg 
 
 to be had. Everything was absorbed by B , the 
 
 tiny watering-place a few leagues distant, which, ac- 
 cording to the forester's wife, swarmed with guests this 
 year. Even the smallest cottages in the place were 
 rented, and the host of ' The Trout' was ready to 
 burst with pride ; he had two Counts with their families 
 in his first story, and his back rooms had been taken 
 by a Frau von Steinbrunn with two daughters, and 
 every one had a carriage, and there was a perpetual 
 driving to Altenstein and Neuhaus. 
 
 Yes, the swarm of courtiers had followed the reign- 
 ing family as the tail with its myriad bobs follows the 
 kite. This year the first society of the capital dis- 
 covered the incomparable beauty of their own moun- 
 tains, so different from Switzerland or the Tyrol, from 
 Ostend or Norderney. Those who had left this part 
 of the country returned to it. There was much eager 
 
 animation in the primitive dining-room of the B 
 
 inn, where the portraits of the Duke and Duchess in 
 staring colours adorned the whitewashed walls, where 
 they sat on pine chairs at small tables and ate very dry 
 veal cutlets, with baked plums for a compote, and drank 
 doubtful red wine. Was there not a prospect of picnics 
 in the forest? of croquet and lawn-tennis in the Alten- 
 stein park ? The Duchess was said to have talked of
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 203 
 
 a bal champetre, a fancy ball in the moonlight beneath 
 the oaks of the castle garden. 
 
 This summer season promised an uncommon amount 
 of enjoyment in all directions ; in addition to the rest 
 there was this extremely interesting and romantic 
 friendship between her Highness and the beautiful 
 Claudine to discuss ; the most marvellous things were 
 told about it. 
 
 " They must be extremely intimate," said the 
 Countess X. 
 
 " They appeared lately dressed exactly alike," Frau 
 von Steinbrunn remarked. 
 
 "Pardon me, that is not the case. The Duchess 
 wore red ribbons and Claudine von Gerold blue," was 
 the eager correction of a young officer in civilian's 
 clothes, who was spending his leave here instead of at 
 "Wiesbaden. 
 
 "They say the Duchess actually heaps her with 
 jewels and trinkets ; they are together all day long, 
 reading, walking, and talking ; they probably write 
 verses together. The Princess Helena told Isidora 
 Moorsleben the day before yesterday that they called 
 each other by their first names," said the Countess 
 Pansewitz. 
 
 " Impossible ! Incredible !" 
 
 " The Gerolds are excessively lucky." 
 
 " "What does his Highness say to it all ?" the pert 
 voice of a youthful diplomatist was suddenly heard to 
 ask. 
 
 An old Excellency with a white head and a dignified 
 aspect at the head of the table cleared his throat and 
 shook his head disapprovingly. 
 
 Popple smiled and looked at one another significantly, 
 silently sipping their wine, and passing around once
 
 204 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 more the plates of fruit which had before been declined. 
 His Excellency's wife began after a pause to talk of the 
 weather. A couple of Countess-mammas, with a glance 
 towards their daughters, instantly made rejoinder, and 
 wondered whether it would be fine enough to climb to 
 the ' lookout,' one of the best points for a view in all 
 the country round. And when dinner was over the 
 elder ladies got together in a group and whispered, and 
 shrugged their shoulders, and put their handkerchiefs 
 up to their mouths to hide their smiles. 
 
 Hitherto no one had been able to see and judge for 
 herself, for until now all who had called at Altenstein 
 in their concern for the Duchess's health had been 
 obliged to content themselves with inscribing their 
 names in the book that lay open in one of the rooms 
 on the ground-floor of the castle. But there were re- 
 ports flying about ; people suspected and looked wise. 
 All were looking forward to the next Thursday, for 
 it might be confidently asserted that the royal party 
 would be present at Baron Gerold's fete, when surely a 
 certain event was to take place, nothing less than the 
 announcement of a long-expected betrothal. 
 
 Yes, it would be very interesting. And while all 
 these suspicions and expectations were rife, the inmates 
 of Altenstein and Neuhaus pursued their various ways, 
 apparently undisturbed by them. 
 
 The Princess Helena was sitting in the garden at 
 Neuhaus, and beside her stood little Leonie's very 
 elegant perambulator. Her Grace played the part of 
 devoted aunt after the same stormy fashion in which
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 205 
 
 she carried out everything that it came into her head 
 to do. She dragged the little girl about with her every- 
 where ; she was indefatigable in her persevering efforts 
 to teach her beloved niece the word ' papa' ; but the shy 
 black eyes stared at her, while the wayward little mouth 
 kept tight closed. Her Grace was not aware that even 
 the youngest child soon learns to read the faces of those 
 about it, and that the impatience and passion of her 
 glance frightened the poor little creature. It usually 
 began to scream after a little while spent with its 
 aunt. And then it was hugged and carried, soothed and 
 kissed, with a fervour of affection, and loaded with ex- 
 travagant terms of endearment, until Beata wrung her 
 hands as she listened in her own room, longing to have 
 some one come to the aid of the poor little thing. But 
 who could ? Lothar sat as if immured in his study, 
 whither he usually betook himself when the meals 
 were ended. The Princess Thekla reclined on her 
 lounge, yawning, or wrote letters ; and Frau von Berg 
 well, she only confirmed the Princess Helena in her 
 extravagance ; the tall, arrogant woman actually grov- 
 elled in the dust before her childish mistress. 
 
 The old nurse, who usually appeared on the scene 
 in a fright, was made use of to quiet the sweet darling 
 sufficiently to allow of her being handed over to her 
 aunt again until she should begin to scream afresh. 
 Beata, who had never known until now what it 
 meant to have nerves, experienced at this time an ex- 
 traordinary tingling in her finger-ends ; her ears, she 
 affirmed, burned continually, and once she even found 
 herself on the verge of tears. It was before the fete, 
 when Lothar declared that it was a matter of perfect 
 indifference to him how she arranged it. There she 
 was, never having had anything in her life to do with 
 
 18
 
 206 THE OWL'S JHEST. 
 
 such matters, left to attend to the programme for the 
 concert, the order of the dances, and the cotillon. She 
 came very near going to the man pacing his cool, dark 
 room to and fro so silently and so lost in thought and 
 telling him the wholesome truth : " You are the master 
 of this house, and if you invite guests here you ought 
 to have the patience necessary for the part of host." 
 
 But before she opened her lips he turned to her a face 
 so pale and so distressed that she was startled. She had 
 been so busy of late that she had not observed him. 
 
 "Mercy upon us, Lotharl" she said, approaching 
 him, " are you ill ?" 
 
 " No, no !" 
 
 " Then you are worried." 
 
 " Worried as a man must be who has laden a frail 
 vessel with all that he possesses, his every hope for the 
 future, and who sees it far from shore, at the mercy of 
 the waves and the tempest, while he stands powerless 
 to save, and knows that its ruin means misery and 
 despair I" he said, in a low tone. 
 
 "But, Lothar!" exclaimed Beata, dismayed. He was 
 not wont to speak in metaphor and with so bitter an 
 emphasis. In what was almost a tone of entreaty she 
 said, "Confide in me, Lothar; explain yourself. You 
 distress me !" 
 
 " Oh, it is nothing, nothing, Beata ; do not mind it ; 
 it escaped me involuntarily. All will be well when 
 when Neuhaus is once more quiet and lonely. Bear 
 with me." 
 
 But his sister persisted. " Lothar," she began reso- 
 lutely, although she felt a pang at her heart, " I think 
 you men are in certain cases slow of comprehension. 
 I believe this time that you have only to stretch out 
 your hand."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 207 
 
 " No, my sapient little sister, not this time," he re- 
 plied. " Above my open hand another is extended, 
 confident of victory, and, seeing this, I have quietly 
 withdrawn my own and clinched it. Do not question 
 me further, and let me alone, Beata." 
 
 " You are the same foolish boy you always were," 
 she murmured, and turned away. " Goc-d heavens ! she 
 runs after you like your Diana there." And she pointed 
 to his dog, who sat watching Lothar's movements with 
 eyes of affectionate intelligence. 
 
 She went out into the hall, where she frowned as 
 she observed the Princess Helena, in a light morning- 
 gown, followed by the Countess, descending the broad 
 staircase to disappear in the garden. As she passed 
 the door of Lothar's apartment the girl's black eyes 
 rested there as if they would have pierced the oaken 
 panels, and Beata's heart was stirred with anger. 
 What did he mean? She could not show more plainly 
 she showed it far too plainly, in Beata's opinion 
 that he was beloved. Those bold, passionate eyes, the 
 Princess's flighty, nervous demeanour, were inexpressi- 
 bly disagreeable to her. God only knew what she had 
 taken into her head now; cow-house and stable were 
 as little secure from her as was the nursery, or even 
 the family burial-vault at the other end of the park, 
 the key to which she had lately imperiously demanded, 
 that she might place wreaths upon the coffins of Lothar's 
 parents, an attention which was unfortunately entirely 
 overlooked by their son. 
 
 Beata shook her head and went up-stairs to the 
 large mansard room, where were the linen presses and 
 chests. There she sat down and yielded to her desire 
 to cry. Was it a good for which he was thus longing 
 so desperately ? That high-born, passionate creature I
 
 208 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Had his first marriage brought him happiness ? Why 
 did Lothar's desires soar so high? She thought of 
 his future at Helena's side; of the forsaken home of 
 his fathers, in which she herself would stay, alone and 
 lonely. He would mingle again in the whirl of life in 
 the capital, travel, as he had been wont to do with the 
 first wife, and now and then come hither for a couple 
 of days alone! What could his high-born wife do 
 here ? Her presence here now was intended as an en- 
 couragement. The interest she feigned in the house- 
 hold of his ancestral home vras only a proof that she 
 would gladly condescend, as her sister had condescended 
 before her. 
 
 And when he came home from time to time, the 
 brother and sister would look into each other's eyes 
 and find that each had changed, he in the stifling 
 atmosphere of a court, and she in solitude, yearning 
 for her ideal of happiness. 
 
 She was startled at the sobs which she could not 
 suppress; she set her teeth, and with tear-dimmed 
 eyes opened the chest which stood nearest and hastily 
 took from it rugs and embroidered hangings. They 
 were costly affairs, and she intended to have the hall 
 decorated with them. Joachim had collected them on 
 his travels, these Smyrna rugs and Turkish stuffs, 
 and she had bought them for herself at the auction. 
 Gazing at their wonderful combination of colours, the 
 tears coursed down her quiet face. 
 
 What was the matter with her? She had never be- 
 fore known herself thus. With eager energy she wiped 
 away her tears, and forced herself to think of cotillon 
 favours and ribbons, of piles of porcelain cups and 
 dishes, of a hair-dresser, of ices, of milk of almonds, 
 and heaven knows what besides, and finally of the folly
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 209 
 
 of the little Princess's idea of turning a simple garden- 
 party into a masquerade and a dance. 
 
 She hurried down-stairs again, gave orders, sent 
 messengers hither and thither, consulted with the 
 gardener and the housekeeper, and in the midst of 
 her cares came Claudine's and Joachim's refusal. She 
 had hardly expected Joachim to come; but Claudine? 
 Beata instantly sought out her brother. She found 
 him in the garden ; he was with the Princess Helena 
 and the Countess on the dancing-floor that had been 
 improvised beneath the lindens. The carpenters had 
 just finished their work, and a couple of under-gar- 
 deners were busy decorating the rough planks of the 
 enclosure with evergreens, and festooning the pillars. 
 
 "Lothar," she began, "Claudine has sent a refusal; 
 will you not ride over and beg her to come ?" 
 
 He grew still paler than he had been before. " No," 
 he replied, curtly. 
 
 The Princess Helena's eyes flashed ; she had observed 
 him turn pale. 
 
 " Then I will drive over, if you will let me," said 
 Beata. 
 
 " You must go to Altenstein, then ; you will hardly 
 find her at the Owl's Nest." 
 
 " I shall go this evening, when she is at home, and I 
 will not come back without her acceptance," rejoined 
 Beata. 
 
 " You seem to be unfortunate, Baron," said the Prin- 
 cess, with an evil glitter in her eyes ; " mamma tells me 
 that the Duke will very probably not be present at your 
 fete. Her Highness mentioned it with deep regret to 
 mamma in a note she wrote her about her dress." 
 
 A vein in the Baron's forehead looked swollen ; other- 
 wise bis face wore its usual expression ; he was eagerly 
 o 18*
 
 210 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 watching the men, who were fastening small red and 
 white flags to the pillars. " That looks well," he said, 
 calmly ; " does it not, your Grace ?" 
 
 The little Princess nodded. 
 
 " Why not use the colours of your house ?" she asked, 
 with enchanting amiability. " Yellow and blue, alter- 
 nating with crimson and white." 
 
 " I do not like the combination," he replied ; " the 
 contrast is forced." 
 
 Beata, who was about to withdraw, turned away in 
 dismay. But the Princess smiled ; perhaps she did not 
 agree with Beata in the sense she attached to his words. 
 
 ******* 
 
 On the afternoon of this day Claudine stood beside 
 her brother's writing-table bidding him good-bye. 
 
 " You wrote my refusal ?" he asked. 
 
 She nodded: " Yours and mine. Good-bye, Joachim." 
 
 " Yours ?" he asked, in surprise. 
 
 " Yes ; I do not care for such fetes. Do not be vexed, 
 Joachim." 
 
 " Vexed ? I do not understand you. You will dis- 
 appoint Beata sadly." 
 
 An arch smile hovered upon his sister's lovely face : 
 " Oh, I can easily appease her. Joachim, I want to 
 stay here on that day ; you cannot imagine how I look 
 forward to an afternoon beneath the oak, and to the 
 evening with you." 
 
 He held out his hand to her: "Do as you please, 
 Claudine. You know you cannot do wrong in my eyes." 
 
 And Claudine went down-stairs, kissed the child, who 
 was making clothes for her doll under Ida's direction, 
 and looked into Frau Lindenmeyer's room. The old 
 lady was asleep in her arm-chair. Claudine softly closed 
 the door and slipped out into the garden, where the
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 211 
 
 ducal equipage was waiting at the gate. In little more 
 than half an hour she was sitting beneath the oaks in 
 the garden at Altenstein, reading aloud to the Duchess 
 from Joachim's work, 'Spring Days in Spain.' The 
 story of his love was charmingly interwoven with vivid 
 descriptions of the country. 
 
 " Claudine," the Duchess interrupted her, " she must 
 have been charming, your little sister-in-law. Tell me 
 about her." 
 
 The girl fixed her blue eyes upon the speaker. " She 
 was something like you, Elizabeth," she said. 
 
 " Oh, you flatterer!" said the Duchess; " but that re- 
 minds me, forgive me for interrupting such interesting 
 reading with a question of dress. What if I should 
 take a mantilla and a fan and go as a Spaniard to 
 Neuhaus ? I think it's an excellent idea. And you, 
 Dina?" 
 
 " I I have declined, Elizabeth." 
 
 The Duchess looked sorry. "What a pity!" she 
 said, slowly and thoughtfully. " The Duke has declined, 
 too." 
 
 Claudine's pale face suddenly flushed crimson. Her 
 friend looked at her anxiously. 
 
 " Are you too warm ?" 
 
 " Why does his Highness not accept ?" Claudine 
 asked, evasively. 
 
 " He gave me no reason," was the reply. 
 
 " Elizabeth," said the girl, hastily, " if you command 
 it I will recall my refusal ; 1 can easily do so with 
 Beata." 
 
 "I do not command, but it would please me very 
 much," said the Duchess, with a smile. 
 
 " Then dismiss me an hour earlier ; I should like to 
 tell Beata myself."
 
 212 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " Of course, much as I dislike to have you leave me. 
 But tell me why you did not want to go to Neuhaus. 
 I cannot imagine, Claudine, that you attached such im- 
 portance to Helena's pettishness that you would visit 
 it upon your relatives." 
 
 As she spoke the Duchess took her friend's hand, and 
 tried to look into the blue eyes. 
 
 But the long dark eyelashes were not raised, and 
 again the crimson flush dyed the cheeks below them. 
 
 " No, no," she said, eagerly, "it is not that. I had 
 promised Joachim to spend a quiet evening with him; 
 I thought you would not miss me amid the brilliancy 
 and noise of the fete" 
 
 " I never feel more lonely than when I am in the 
 midst of a crowd," the Duchess said, softly, detaining 
 in hers the hand that Claudine would have withdrawn 
 from her clasp. 
 
 " I will go with you, Elizabeth." 
 
 " Willingly ? I will not let you go until you tell 
 me." 
 
 "Yes," it was said hesitatingly, and she leaned her 
 cheek towards the Duchess's. " Yes," she repeated, 
 " because I love you dearly." 
 
 The Duchess kissed her: "As I do you, Dina! 
 Since the time of my betrothal I have not felt so 
 content, so glad as I do when I am with you. And 
 the best of it is that friendship rarely disappoints as 
 love does ; the happiness it yields is more calm." 
 
 Claudine looked searchingly into her friend's eyes. 
 
 " Yes, yes, love and marriage bring us various expe- 
 riences, little trials, little disappointments. Remem- 
 ber, Claudine, all the ideal expectations with which a 
 girl of eighteen goes to the altar. But, my child, I am 
 the happiest of wives, because he loves me. To know
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 213 
 
 one's self beloved, to have perfect confidence in a hus- 
 band's faith and affection, is supreme bliss for a woman ; 
 and to lose this confidence would be to me far worse 
 than death itself." 
 
 She went on talking, while the book lay neglected 
 in Claudine's lap, of her first meeting with her husband, 
 of the ardent affection she had conceived for him, of 
 her ecstasy when they told her he had sought her in 
 marriage ; how she had clasped her hands, and asked, 
 tremblingly, "Me? Does he woo me?" She told how 
 she had written to him daily during the brief period of 
 her betrothal, how intense had been her happiness and 
 pride when, after their marriage, she had gone out on 
 the balcony of her father's castle to show her gallant, 
 handsome husband to the thousands who filled the publio 
 square below, and how then, in an unpretentious car- 
 riage, they had driven secretly through the lovely night 
 in spring to a quiet little castle in the vicinity of the 
 capital, where they were to spend their honeymoon. 
 
 As she alighted, her train had caught in the carriage, 
 and she had literally fallen at her young husband's 
 feet ; they both laughed, and because she had struck 
 her foot he had carried her up the staircase in his 
 arms, through the empty corridors, in which the lamps 
 burned but dimly to their rooms, and there they had 
 sat at the open window and listened to the nightin- 
 gales in the park, and watched the lights of the castle 
 mirrored in the little lake, and the warm, damp air had 
 been filled with the fragrance of violets. 
 
 The dark eyes of the young wife sparkled in recall- 
 ing her happiness, and when just at this moment the 
 elegant figure of the Duke in faultless summer array 
 appeared from among the shrubbery, her pale, sickly 
 face was absolutely transfigured.
 
 214 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 He bowed as he approached, but his humour was 
 evidently none of the gayest. 
 
 "Do I intrude?" he asked. "Of course you are dis- 
 cussing costumes. 'Tis a nonsensical idea, a fancy- 
 dress fete" 
 
 " Good heavens, yes !" exclaimed the Duchess. " Clau- 
 dine, where will you get your dress in such a hurry ?" 
 
 " I have a whole wardrobe-full of my grandmother's 
 gorgeous gowns," she replied ; " I am sure there will be 
 something among them that will suit the occasion." 
 
 " The gentlemen's dress-coats will contrast extremely 
 well with all these gypsies and powdered dames," 
 sneered the Duke. " Of course it is a whim of He- 
 lena's, that's very clear." 
 
 "Why will not you come, Adalbert? Do join us. 
 Why refuse to do Gerold this favour ? You used to 
 spoil him in every way," the Duchess begged. 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders. " I cannot arrange it," 
 he said, curtly, and began to talk of something else. 
 
 " Well, then, Claudine, we must be content with each 
 other; I in a Spanish costume, and you ?" 
 
 "In an unbecoming dress of the Empire, your High- 
 ness ; short waist, narrow skirts, and " 
 
 " I beg pardon. Unbecoming that dress is not," the 
 Duke interposed. " Quite the contrary. But it requires 
 a faultless figure and a certain grace of carriage. Ee- 
 member the enchanting picture of Queen Louise, and 
 the portrait of my own grandmother, the Duchess 
 Sidonie, in the gallery of our castle." He kissed his 
 finger-tips. " The fashion was a charming one." 
 
 Claudine made no reply. The Duchess talked about 
 other matters, the Duke took his leave, and Claudine 
 went on reading. 
 
 * * * * * * *
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 215 
 
 It was nearly nine o'clock, and the day bad not yet 
 died on the mountain-tops, when she drove to Neuhaus. 
 Herr von Palmer was standing behind the curtains at 
 bis window, wben be beard the carriage drive out of 
 the court-yard. He twisted bis long dyed moustache 
 with slender fingers that gleamed white in the twilight. 
 He knew that the arrow was fitted to the string, that 
 the bow was bent ; but one impulse was needed, and a 
 poor human heart would be stricken to death, 'made im- 
 possible,' as he expressed it. It was a necessity, and it 
 was high time ; this friendship was getting the upper 
 band ; the Duchess treated him shamefully, worse than 
 before, and he knew whence that wind blew. If the 
 arrow should graze her too, it would serve her right. 
 Ridiculous for Berg to say that the little Princess was 
 afraid on her Highness's account; such natures are 
 tough. 
 
 " A superb idea, that of making her little, jealous 
 Grace the one to send the dart! grand, grand!" he 
 murmured admiringly, pacing the room to and fro. " It 
 needed a woman's brain to arrange that. The effect 
 will be immense, immense, my fair Claudine. The 
 halls of the ducal castle in the capital will know you 
 no more. You will be powerless to harm. Lothar 
 does not waste a thought upon her, fool that he is with 
 his aspiring, wooings; how Berg can imagine that I 
 can't conceive. The Duke, however, may spend any 
 amount of thought upon her, let her Highness's sus- 
 picions be once aroused, nothing will avail the lovers. 
 Parted forever! As for who shall next find favour in 
 his Highness's eyes, that will depend upon me. The 
 Berg is still handsome enough, and old love dies hard. 
 She loves him still, and would further my plans most 
 intelligently."
 
 216 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 An endless vista of brilliant hopes dazzled the man's 
 eyes ; foremost of all was the alluring title of ' High 
 Steward.' His paralytic old Excellency von Elben- 
 stein, whose functions Palmer had fulfilled for months, 
 could not possibly live long ; his Highness had already 
 let fall promising hints. Of course there would be bad 
 blood in certain quarters if he, a foreigner whom his 
 Highness had, so to speak, picked up in the streets of 
 Cairo, should be given this position. He smiled again, 
 and whistled a few bars of the march from ' Fatinitza.' 
 " It will not last too long, gentlemen ; I must enjoy 
 life while I can." And there hovered before his mental 
 vision Paris, and a delightful little hotel in the Champs- 
 Elysees. " And no more slaving for princes ! But 
 Alice ! She might be induced to live there too. Nous 
 verrons /" 
 
 He took his hat and went to see the captain, who 
 had just brewed a bowl of punch ; the first delicious 
 fruit had arrived from the ducal forcing-houses. 
 
 Claudine left the carriage at the end of the Neuhaus 
 linden avenue ; she wished to reach the house and 
 Beata's room unobserved. Avoiding the hall, she en- 
 tered the back door without being seen, slipped softly 
 through the corridor, and tapped lightly at the door 
 of the sitting-room. A step crossed the room inside 
 and the door was opened. 
 
 " It is I, Beata," she whispered. " Do I disturb you ? 
 I came for only a moment." 
 
 "Is it really you!" exclaimed her cousin, drawing 
 the girl into the room, where the lights were not yet 
 lighted, and gently forcing her into a chair.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 217 
 
 " No, no," said Claudine ; " I only wanted to tell you. 
 that after all I will come the day after to-morrow, if 
 you will let me." 
 
 Beata laughed heartily and kissed her. " There !" 
 she called to some one in the dark room. " Which was 
 right, Lothar? There was no need of my drive." 
 
 Claudine was startled ; a figure came forward from 
 the darkness. " The Duchess desired it," she stam- 
 mered. 
 
 " Her Highness is extremely kind," he said, and his 
 voice sounded hoarse. "The Duke has also just done 
 me the honour to withdraw his refusal." 
 
 Claudine grasped the back of a chair for support, 
 but said not a word. What an unlucky chance ! 
 
 " But sit down," Beata urged ; " we see and hear 
 nothing of each other nowadays. Of course I have 
 very little time, but, since you are here, help me to 
 arrange the places at table ; I do not know the half of 
 these people who have accepted." 
 
 " Excuse me, Beata ; I have a headache, and the car- 
 riage is waiting at the end of the avenue," the girl 
 said, turning to go. "Let them draw lots," she added, 
 as if wishing to atone for her rudeness in refusing to 
 assist her cousin. 
 
 " Certainly," Lothar assented. " Chance will surely 
 heed devout prayers and assign a prize. Will you 
 allow me to conduct you to your carriage ?" 
 
 Beata looked disappointed, and stayed behind. Lo- 
 thar walked beside the agitated girl through the lighted 
 hall and out into the garden. Neither uttered a syl- 
 lable. 
 
 The entire row of windows on the first floor of the 
 castle was illuminated : the Princess Helena loved a 
 great deal of light. She had left the table early, ' to try 
 K 19
 
 218 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 on fancy dresses.' The rays from the windows pene- 
 trated some of the recesses of the shrubbery. The 
 odour of the linden-blossoms was stifling, the summer 
 evening was sultry; the moon was hidden by dark 
 clouds. 
 
 They walked on quickly side by side; just before 
 them a shadow glided behind one of the tallest trees ; 
 another followed it. Lothar did not perceive them, 
 but Claudine involuntarily paused. " Do you see noth- 
 ing?" she asked, anxiously. 
 
 " No." 
 
 " It must have been an illusion." 
 
 She hurried on to the carriage, inclined her head 
 with a cold ' good-night,' and drove off. 
 
 The noise of the wheels died away in the silent gar- 
 den ; the man who had stood looking after the carriage 
 walked along the foot-path outside the wall of the park 
 towards the forest, as if to lose himself and find repose 
 in its lonely depths. 
 
 "Alice," the Princess Helena whispered, passionately, 
 coming from behind the trunk of a tree, "Alice, he 
 has driven off with her!" 
 
 "Your Highness, it was only a piece of courtesy." 
 
 " Oh, I cannot bear it, Alice 1 What is she doing 
 here ? What did she want ? Speak to me, Alice !" 
 
 The agitated whisper had grown to be loudly-uttered 
 words. 
 
 " Great heavens, your Highness," Frau von Berg 
 began, as if unable to find words with which to express 
 her surprise and pain, " what shall I say ? I am utterly 
 confounded!" 
 
 The Princess hurried off to the gate of the park; 
 there stood an old stone bench, behind which she 
 kneeled on the ground in the dark, waiting, waiting
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 219 
 
 with throbbing pulses for his return. In vain did Frau 
 von Berg's voice resound through the dark, sultry 
 garden. At last she went up to her own room and 
 smiled into the tall mirror before which she stood to 
 try the effect in her abundant hair of the gay kerchief 
 which she was to wear at the fete as part of her Italian 
 costume. The Princess appeared at the end of an hour 
 with pale cheeks and swollen eyelids. Not a moment 
 did she sleep that night. 
 
 The fete at Neuhaus was at its height. The warm 
 summer evening, with no breeze, made it possible for 
 the invalid Duchess to remain in the open air. The 
 crimson curtains of the tent pitched beneath the lin- 
 dens, not far from the dancing-floor, were thrown 
 back ; there she half reclined in a cushioned chair, sur- 
 rounded by a crowd of ladies and gentlemen. The 
 strange light, compounded of twilight, moonlight, and 
 the rays from hundreds of coloured lanterns, caused 
 her pale face beneath the lace mantilla to look paler 
 than ever, and the eyes more large and glowing. She 
 wore a short scarlet skirt flounced with black lace, and 
 a black Andalusian jacket embroidered with gold. A 
 white bearskin had been laid on the ground beneath 
 her feet, in their small black satin slippers with dia- 
 mond buckles. She looked positively beautiful this 
 evening ; she knew it, the Duke's eyes had told her so, 
 and consequently she was beaming with happiness. 
 
 The Princess Thekla, in a gray moire silk, sat beside 
 her. 
 
 The most charming picture was presented to their
 
 220 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 view beneath the boughs of the lindens, now a century 
 old, whose leaves showed a rich emerald-green in the 
 brilliant illumination. There was wealth of youth and 
 beauty, gleaming jewels, snowy shoulders, brilliant 
 colours, and strange effects of light and shade. Groups 
 of fantastic figures, seemingly evoked from some fairy 
 realm, were bathed in the bewildering fragrance of the 
 linden-blossoms, and around them the electrifying music 
 of one of Strauss's waltzes floated on the air. 
 
 " This is like a. fete at Tiefurt in Goethe's time," said 
 the Duchess. 
 
 "Especially when one looks at the beautiful Gerold. 
 Only look, your Highness, at that figure, absolutely 
 classic 1 Wonderful !" 
 
 The speaker, an aristocratic old gentleman, whose 
 delicate features expressed an ecstasy of admiration, 
 was standing behind her Highness's chair, watching 
 Claudine. 
 
 " Oh, yes, my dear Count," the Duchess replied, and 
 her eyes sparkled as she looked at her favourite, " she 
 is, as always, the star of the evening." 
 
 "Your Highness is too modest," said Princess Thekla, 
 and her cold gaze in the same direction was annihilating. 
 
 Claudine was standing on the grass outside the gar- 
 landed and bedecked dancing-floor. The old Count 
 had not said too much ; never had her unique beauty 
 showed to such advantage as on this evening in the 
 costume of her great-grandmother. She wore her 
 magnificent fair hair gathered into a knot at the back 
 of her head; some little curls strayed over her neck 
 and above her brow; a delicate diadem, in front of 
 which sparkled a diamond star, crowned her beauti- 
 ful head. The short waist revealed superbly-modelled 
 arms and shoulders in a light covering of shining tulle.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 221 
 
 A short skirt of some white, translucent silken stuff, 
 its broad hem embroidered with silver, left exposed the 
 Bmall pink satin slippers tied with crossed pink ribbons. 
 And this airy dress was completed by a pale pink train 
 of heavy silk edged with a broad band of silver em- 
 broidery. Around the waist and tied at one side was 
 a broad pink sash shot with silver, and a bunch of 
 fresh centifolia roses, the favourite rose of the period, 
 adorned the front of the waist. The girl's exquisite 
 beauty and grace were set off by the antique dress, 
 which had been worn by her great-grandmother, then 
 lady-in-waiting at the court of X , at a, fete in Wei- 
 mar, one of those informal witty assemblies in which 
 Karl Augustus and the Duchess Amalie so delighted, 
 and which were made luminous by an immortal talent. 
 
 Yes, there were attached to this gown memories 
 never to be forgotten ! That train had swept past 
 Goethe in those days when he still paid ' endless' 
 homage to Beauty. He had spoken rapturously of 
 the young Baroness's eyes, and it had been the worthy 
 woman's lifelong pride. The diary was still extant in 
 which she had written, "Young Goethe, the Duke's 
 friend, was gallanting about with every pretty face, 
 and made me a very amiable speech about my eyes." 
 There was still lurking in the folds of this gown a deli- 
 cate odour of lavender, the perfume of that gay, witty, 
 sparkling past. 
 
 Perhaps it intoxicated his Highness, for the Duke 
 had been standing for a quarter of an hour before the 
 beautiful girl, who, with the heavy folds of her train 
 gathered up in her hand as if ready for flight, seemed 
 to be restlessly gazing past him as if for some oppor- 
 tunity to escape. The two were left alone in the midst 
 of a wide circle of respectful courtiers, as if it were 
 
 19*
 
 222 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 intended to afford his Highness every chance to talk 
 undisturbed with the beautiful Gerold. And yet while 
 all were apparently occupied only with themselves, 
 jesting, laughing, chatting, every eye was casting 
 stolen glances at the incomparably lovely creature who 
 was so strikingly distinguished by the ducal homage. 
 
 The Princess Helena, who, in a Greek dress, was 
 dancing a quadrille with his Highness's adjutant, per- 
 ceived this with secret joy ; she turned her dark head 
 with so sudden a movement that the gold coins fringing 
 her blue velvet cap jingled and glittered ; she was re- 
 solved to see how the Baron regarded this public tete- 
 dtete. He had been standing a minute ago, leaning 
 against the trunk of a tree, holding a glass of iced 
 champagne, having just clinked glasses with two or 
 three gentlemen around him. Now he had vanished. 
 Helena hastily turned to look towards where Claudine 
 was standing, and she compressed her lips, for Baron 
 Lothar was approaching the pair : 
 
 "Pardon me, your Highness. Her Highness the 
 Duchess wishes to speak with Fraulein von Gerold. 
 May I have the honour, cousin ?" 
 
 The Duke hastily stroked his beard ; he was in the 
 midst of a detailed description of certain costumes and 
 modes of dressing the hair, and appeared unwilling to 
 be interrupted. 
 
 Claudine courtesied and laid her finger-tips upon the 
 offered arm of Lothar, who slowly conducted her to 
 the Duchess's tent. 
 
 " Go to her Highness for a moment," he said, calmly. 
 " It might else create surprise. Afterwards " 
 
 She paused and looked into his unmoved face : " I 
 thought her Highness wished to speak with me ?" 
 
 " No," he replied, composedly ; " but I saw you were
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 223 
 
 on tenter-hooks, and that a hundred prying eyes were 
 on you. Besides," he went on, " since I must see you 
 here among these people this evening, I would fain ad- 
 mire you near your friend. Surely your blond beauty 
 beside yon Andalusian would be the most charming 
 picture of the evening. Gratify us with it." 
 
 She withdrew her hand from his arm. The relief 
 she had felt in obeying his summons gave place to hot 
 indignation. She made no reply, but went instantly to 
 the Duchess. 
 
 " Claudine," said her Highness, holding out a hand 
 to her, " why do you not dance? I should like to see 
 you in that quadrille. I think a vis-d-vis is lacking to 
 a couple there. Herr von Gerold, pray. " 
 
 Claudine could not refuse ; mechanically she took 
 his arm ; a place was quickly found for the host with 
 his partner. They stood opposite the Princess Helena 
 and the captain. Lothar was silent; they were a 
 strangely-mute couple, as well as the handsomest in 
 the assemblage. 
 
 The Princess's sky-blue satin skirt swept rustling 
 past Claudine in the dance, a trembling icy little hand 
 touched her own ; she scarcely noticed it. Only once 
 did she look into the face of the Princess, encountering 
 as she did so a look of mortal dislike ; those black orba 
 fairly pierced her own eyes. She was dismayed, and 
 glanced in inquiry at the captain ; he returned her 
 glance with an expression eloquent of reproach. She 
 held her head proudly erect, and scarcely was the dance 
 concluded, and Lothar's arm offered, when she asked, 
 " Where is Beata ?" 
 
 " Probably in the castle," he replied. 
 
 She thanked him and hurriedly took her way thither. 
 Out of regard for the invalid Duchess, tables had been
 
 224 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 set in the spacious hall for a select few ; the massive 
 folding-doors were flung wide open, affording a view 
 of the illuminated garden ; the table was nestling, as it 
 were, in an orangery. Joachim's rugs draped the walls 
 effectively, and the steps of the fine old staircase wore 
 covered with costly stuffs. Prosaic Beata had achieved 
 a masterpiece of decoration. 
 
 She herself was standing repeating her instructions 
 to half a dozen lackeys. Claudine could not but smile 
 as she observed how obedient and respectful was their 
 demeanour towards the simple peasant-girl, which was 
 the modest character adopted by their strict mistress 
 upon this occasion. She clapped her hands merrily at 
 Bight of Claudine. 
 
 "Upon my word, my dear," she exclaimed, "you are 
 uncannily bewitching in your Old-World gown. And 
 how well it has kept ! the silver is not even tarnished !" 
 
 She patted her cousin's cheek, kissed her, and, point- 
 ing to the glittering table, asked, " Is it all right, 
 Claudine dear? From the head, where her Highness 
 sits, there is the best view of the fireworks. Your place 
 is rather low down ; those twelve covers are for the 
 Princesses and their cavaliers. The rest must distrib- 
 ute themselves about at the tables in the garden as 
 chance may direct. There is the basket with the lots ; 
 I took your advice." 
 
 "Let me beg you, Beata, to leave me out of the 
 company at the ducal table I" exclaimed Claudine. " I 
 would far rather sit elsewhere." 
 
 "And have his Highness frown at me all the rest of 
 the evening ? No, my darling, no use to ask. You 
 must swallow the bitter pill. Of course I cannot tell 
 who will be your neighbour. But excuse me : I must 
 see the housekeeper."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 225 
 
 " Beata !" cried Claudine, trying to grasp the peasant- 
 girl by her snowy sleeve, but she had already disap- 
 peared behind the hanging that divided the corridor 
 from the hall. The girl was left alone, and stood for a 
 moment looking out into the garden, longing to escape 
 and flee along the stony forest paths to her peaceful, 
 secluded home. The notes of a waltz came floating 
 towards her ; she was sick at heart. She knew her- 
 self perfectly free from blame, and yet she was pos- 
 sessed by a sensation of distress and anxiety. She was 
 aware that the true reason for the Duke's withdrawal 
 
 of his refusal was that the Grand Duke of Z , 
 
 whom he wished to meet at the nearest railway sta- 
 tion, had postponed the journey which led him to pass 
 that way. And yet she had perceived so strange an 
 expression on the faces of all the courtiers, a look of 
 inquisitive loyalty, it might be termed, they had been 
 so eager to retire when the Duke had approached her, 
 and he had been as unkind and discourteous as possible, 
 when he had led her away from his Highness. 
 
 She compressed her lips ; again the bitter smile gave 
 place to the old expression of coldness and pride. 
 
 Suddenly she turned and listened. A peculiar sound 
 penetrated even the strains of the music; she could 
 not tell whether it came from within the castle or from 
 outside. It was like the cry of some animal in distress. 
 
 But now No, it was the voice of a child, and it 
 
 came in a shrill scream from above. The next instant 
 Claudine flew up the staircase, hurried along the broad 
 upper corridor, and entered the open door whence the 
 cries proceeded. 
 
 The pink light from the hanging-lamp lighted the 
 apartment but dimly. At first Claudine saw nothing 
 but the child's large, soft playing-rug, strewn with 
 P
 
 226 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 dolls and toys, and the little empty bed, its curtains 
 pulled aside. The room seemed entirely deserted; the 
 crying had ceased ; nothing was stirring. Claudine 
 gazed about her searchingly, advanced a step, and 
 then paused aghast with horror. There at the open 
 window not upon the inside seat, but upon the stone 
 sill outside crouched the child 1 Its long night-gown 
 had got twisted about its little legs ; it had probably 
 grown suddenly frightened; it sat there, with nothing 
 between it and the depth below, gazing with tearful 
 eyes at the apparition of the strange lady. The slight- 
 est motion on the child's part, and it was lost. 
 
 The girl stood breathless for an instant, there was 
 not even a rustle of her silken train, while thought 
 careered with lightning speed through her brain. 
 Would her approach terrify the child ? " God of mercy, 
 help me!" she whispered. 
 
 A smile suddenly hovered upon her lips ; she hastily 
 loosened the bracelet from her arm and dangled it, glit- 
 tering and attractive, before her, while she advanced, 
 first one step, then another. And now she clutched 
 the long night-dress. The little body swayed back- 
 ward ; there was a feeble cry, but the strong white 
 arms were round it, and the next moment Claudine 
 was kneeling with the terrified little creature on the 
 carpet; her trembling knees had refused to support 
 her. Half fainting, she leaned her head against the 
 corner of a dressing-table, while her large blue eyes 
 looked lustreless from her ashy face. 
 
 Some one was kneeling beside her, as terrified, as 
 pale, as trembling as herself; two hot lips were pressed 
 upon her hands and upon the child's little face. 
 
 " Lothar," she murmured, and tried to rise. 
 
 He took the child from her, carried it to its little
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 227 
 
 bed, and then returned to where she now stood erect, 
 ready to pass him and leave the room. 
 
 " Claudine !" There was a quiver in his voice as he 
 barred her way. 
 
 " It was almost too late," she said, with an attempt 
 at a smile, which sat but ill upon her ghastly face. 
 
 He took her hand and led her to the little bed. 
 The child was sitting up and laughing ; he lifted it in 
 his arms and laid its face against the girl's pale cheek. 
 
 "Thank her!" he said, in a voice full of emotion. 
 "Your father dare not do it." 
 
 Claudine saw how the hands trembled that held the 
 little one, and she lightly kissed the childish cheek. 
 
 " A while ago," she said, coolly, " I was vexed with 
 myself for having, after all, accepted your invitation, 
 cousin. I think I may forgive myself now." 
 
 A painful pause ensued. The child, with a laugh, 
 clutched at the star in the fair hair. Claudine had to 
 bend her head to loosen the tiny hand ; it took some 
 time. Outside, a rocket mounted hissing into the air, 
 the sign for the beginning of supper. Music, laughter, 
 merry voices, grew more distinct, and a crimson light 
 from without illumined the room. 
 
 Claudine went to the mirror to rearrange her dis- 
 hevelled curls. She did not see the passionate, grieved 
 glance that followed her from those dark eyes, nor had 
 she seen how, a few minutes before, a graceful figure 
 in pale blue had appeared at the wide-open door, as 
 if wafted there, only to hurry away again as though 
 it had been aware of some frightful spectacle in the 
 dim room, instead of a charming genre picture worthy 
 of Meissonier, a beautiful girl beside the Baron, who 
 held in his arms his laughing child. 
 
 " I will see that the nurse is sent," said Claudine, as
 
 228 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 she left the room; "the little explorer might else 
 escape from bed again." 
 
 At that moment, however, there appeared, not the 
 child's nurse, but Frau von Berg. 
 
 " Have the kindness, Frau von Berg, to remain be- 
 side Leonie's bed until the nurse whom, by the way, 
 you seem to have in excellent training returns to her 
 post. I should be sorry to have the child run the 
 risk a second time of the danger which it has just 
 escaped, of falling out of that window." He spoke 
 quietly, even ironically. 
 
 Claudine had passed hurriedly into the corridor; she 
 did not see the dismay in the face of the fair Italian, 
 who, at a few desperate whispered words from the 
 Princess Helena as to the strange spectacle she had 
 witnessed, had come, by virtue of her office, to investi- 
 gate matters in the nursery. Claudine had reached the 
 end of the passage when Lothar overtook her. To- 
 gether they descended the staircase leading to the hall. 
 
 A murmur of admiration ran through the throng 
 of people in the hall and among those standing outside 
 the entrance, so lovely was the picture presented by 
 the beautiful figure in antique costume, slowly stepping 
 down the richly-decorated staircase. 
 
 "Magnifique! Enchanting!" murmured the Duke, 
 and his look grew sad. But the Duchess beckoned 
 with her bouquet of pomegranates. 
 
 " Claudine," she said, when the girl stood before her, 
 " we have just determined to draw lots too ; why 
 should not the Duke and I confide in chance for once, 
 to-night ? Our kind hostess has had our names added 
 to those in the basket." 
 
 And when Countess Moorsleben, with a coquettish 
 courtesy which suited well her pretty rococo costume,
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 229 
 
 offered the silver basket containing gilt-edged cards 
 inscribed with the names of the gentlemen present to 
 her Highness for her choice, she gayly drew forth from 
 it one of the small rolls. Princess Thekla refused to 
 draw lots ; the Princess Helena's hand trembled as, 
 standing just behind her Highness, she put it into the 
 basket. Apparently the Countess was about carelessly 
 to overlook Claudine, but the Duchess touched her on 
 the shoulder with her bouquet, and she was obliged to 
 pause. 
 
 "Dearest Claudine," said the royal lady, "your fate 
 awaits you." And Claudine also took one of the little 
 billets. 
 
 " Do not read it yet," said the Duchess, seeming 
 greatly interested in the game. Her large dark eyes 
 sparkled kindly; she leaned lightly on Claudine's arm. 
 " Look, Dina," she said, in an undertone, " how curi- 
 ously the gentlemen are surveying the ladies! Posi- 
 tively, Adalbert himself is glancing in comic terror at 
 my worthy Katzeustcin. How funny she looks as Frau 
 von Goethe !" 
 
 The powdered head of the pretty lady-in-waiting 
 reappeared here and there amid the throng, until at 
 last she held the little silver basket aloft empty, and at 
 the same moment the band began the overture to the 
 'Midsummer-Night's Dream.' 
 
 The ladies were to conduct to table the cavaliers ap- 
 pointed them by lot. Thus it had been arranged by 
 the Princess Helena. The rustle of opening papers, 
 mingled with the soft tones of the music, laughter, and 
 exclamations, ensued. 
 
 Her Highness's eyes sparkled merrily. She had 
 found upon her slip of paper the name of a shy, callow 
 lieutenant. 
 
 20
 
 230 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " Well, Claudine ?" she asked, looking at her friend's 
 paper. " Oh his Highness !" 
 
 Claudine turned pale ; the hand that held the slip 
 of paper trembled. " An extraordinary chance 1" was 
 uttered in a low whisper just behind her. 
 
 The Duchess turned slowly and measured the Princess 
 Helena from head to foot with a cold glance. All the 
 innocent enjoyment had vanished from her face. She 
 silently laid her hand on Claudine's arm and drew her 
 through the throng, which parted respectfully to allow 
 her to pass. 
 
 "Here, Adalbert," she said to the Duke, who was 
 standing beside Palmer, " here is the companion at 
 supper whom kindly chance has allotted you. Herr 
 von Palmer, pray find Lieutenant von Waldhaus for 
 me : he has fallen to my share." 
 
 Herr von Palmer hurried away. The Duchess stood, 
 her smiling face hidden in her bouquet, beside his 
 Highness and Claudine, until a slender young officer 
 of hussars, breathless and blushing, appeared and 
 bowed low before her. 
 
 In a few seconds the moving crowd was grouped 
 about the tables; a broad, glittering stream of youth, 
 beauty, and splendid attire issued from the hall, where 
 the Duchess with her youthful cavalier presided be- 
 neath a crimson canopy, into the garden. They sat in 
 the bluish moonlight upon the steps, which were cov- 
 ered with rugs, or beneath the lindens in the reddish 
 light of the lanterns, while soft music sounded through 
 the sultry, fragrant summer night. 
 
 The Duke turned with Claudine towards the gar- 
 den, pointing to a dim spot beneath the lindens. " It 
 is too warm here in the hall," he declared. On the 
 hall steps he paused and looked into the girl's lovely
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 231 
 
 face, no v wearing an expression of painful embarrass- 
 ment. 
 
 " Great heavens, Fraulein Claudine !" he said, com- 
 passionately, " what can you think ? I am neither 
 
 a robber nor a beggar, and you have my promise. 
 Do not grudge me this innocent enjoyment." 
 
 She walked beside him mechanically down the steps 
 to one of the small tables, laid for only four people, 
 beneath the lindens. Her long pink train lay in the 
 silver moonlight on the grass, betraying her where- 
 abouts ; she, herself, now stood proudly erect behind 
 her chair in the darkness. 
 
 " Eh !" exclaimed the Duke, suddenly ; " there is 
 room here, Gerold." 
 
 The Baron had descended the steps with his com- 
 panion, the gentle young wife of the Landrath von N. ; 
 he looked about him restlessly, and as he hurried to- 
 wards the Duke's table, the pretty little woman at his 
 side, in green tulle embroidered with pearls, and with 
 water-lilies in her hair, could hardly keep pace with 
 him. 
 
 " His Highness summons me," he said. 
 
 He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as he held the 
 chair for his companion to take her seat at the table, 
 and beckoned to a servant passing with a salver of re- 
 freshments. 
 
 To the little Princess chance had assigned Herr von 
 Palmer. She sat at her Highness's table in the hall, 
 where was also the Princess Thekla. From her place 
 the Duchess could sie the table at which her husband 
 was supping ; the figures of the four people there were 
 revealed as in a picture by Eembrandt. Now and then 
 she raised her champagi.e-glass and drank to the Duke. 
 Baron Lothar rose once, and, standing on the hall
 
 232 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 steps, toasted their Highnesses. The Duke toasted 
 the ladies. Princess Helena's eyes glanced continu- 
 ally, with a positively demonic expression in them, 
 towards that table in the garden ; those seated at it 
 seemed very gay: she distinctly heard the Duke's sono- 
 rous laughter. 
 
 Sometimes she turned and looked at the Duchess, 
 observing with satisfaction that her Highness's gaze 
 repeatedly rested upon that group ; there seemed to be 
 a troubled inquiry in her eyes, although her lips smiled 
 and her mood was apparently gayer than it had been 
 for a long time. Those about her shared this mood ; 
 Frau von Katzenstein, who had been taken to supper 
 by a young squire, especially distinguished herself by 
 her dry humour. 
 
 At dessert, when the snapping of the bonbons was 
 added to the hiss of the rockets, the Princess Helena 
 asked Herr von Palmer to exchange seats with her, a 
 request instantly complied with, and she took the place 
 beside the Duchess. Her Highness had scarcely spoken 
 to Palmer ; all her conversation had been for her youth- 
 ful cavalier. At first the little Princess was silent. In 
 spite of her unconscionable jealousy, her heart beat 
 quick at the idea of what she meant to do. Contrary 
 to etiquette, she emptied several glasses of champagne, 
 Herr von Palmer taking good care to see that her glass 
 was kept filled. 
 
 There was wild work in her passionate, wayward little 
 head this evening. She looked into the garden again ; a 
 bengal-ligbt flashed up and showed the woman whom, 
 she hated seated beside him ; they were not talking to 
 each other, but his face was turned towards Claudine, 
 as if to enjoy to the full the girl's beauty bathed in 
 that flood of white light. Helena's rebellious blood,
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 233 
 
 heated by the wine she had drunk, mounted to her 
 head and bewildered her. 
 
 " Your Highness," she whispered, leaning towards 
 her just as the Duchess was preparing to rise, " your 
 Highness 1 Elizabeth, heaven knows your confidence 
 is too implicit." 
 
 Did the Duchess hear her ? She rose slowly and 
 with dignity. The signal for leaving the table was 
 given, chairs were pushed back, and outside, beneath 
 the dark trees, there appeared in fiery characters an 
 intertwined A. E. surmounted by a ducal crown. 
 The company poured out into the garden to dance 
 again. 
 
 " Pray send the Princess Helena to me," the Duchess 
 said to her cavalier, as after a moment she re-entered 
 the pavilion near the dancing-floor. She had thrown 
 a light wrap about her shoulders, and looked as if she 
 were chilly. She did not sit down ; her carriage had 
 been ordered, but the Duke was still standing beneath 
 the lindens, talking to Claudine. 
 
 Princess Helena appeared immediately, a kind of 
 desperate decision in her air. 
 
 " Explain yourself more clearly, cousin," the Duchess 
 addressed her aloud, making a sign to Frau von Kat- 
 zenstein to withdraw. There was now no one else in 
 the pavilion, from the rosy twilight of which there 
 was an outlook into the moonlit fete through the parted 
 curtains. 
 
 " Your Highness," the passionate girl exclaimed, in- 
 dignantly, " I cannot endure to see you so deceived." 
 
 "Who is deceiving me?" 
 
 Once more all that was good and noble gained the 
 upper hand in the girl's heart. She saw how the 
 woman before her struggled to be calm ; she knew 
 
 20*
 
 234 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 well all that her own next words must signify to that 
 imperilled life. 
 
 "No one! no one!" she gasped. "Let me go, Eliza- 
 beth ; send me away !" 
 
 " Who is deceiving me ?" the Duchess asked again, 
 with all the decision she could command. 
 
 The Princess clasped her small hands and glanced 
 towards Claudine, who was still detained by the Duke. 
 The Duchess's eyes followed the glance, and she grew 
 deadly pale. 
 
 " I do not understand," she said, coldly. 
 
 The Princess's heart throbbed madly against the 
 little case in which she kept the Duke's note. "Your 
 Highness will not understand," she whispered. " You 
 choose to shut your eyes." She raised her hands, 
 still clasped, and pressed them against the blue silk 
 jacket; again in fancy she saw the scene in the dim 
 room by the child's bedside. " Claudine von Gerold !" 
 she gasped. 
 
 Before she could utter another word the Duchess 
 tottered, and would have fallen bad not Helena sup- 
 ported her, but in an instant her Highness recovered 
 herself. " This sultry night seems to beget fever," she 
 said, with a smile on her pale lips. " Go to bed, 
 cousin, and take some cooling drink; you talk wildly. 
 Call Fraulein von Gerold, my dear Katzenstein," 
 she said to the old lady-in-waiting, who hurried up 
 anxiously at sight of her mistress's pale face. 
 
 And when the beautiful girl appeared, her Highness 
 said, kindly, and loud enough for even those outside 
 the pavilion to hear, "Take me to the carriage, Dina; 
 and remember that you will have to attend a sick-bed 
 to-morrow. I am afraid this beautiful fett. has been too 
 much for me."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 235 
 
 She leaned heavily on Claudine's arm, and walked, 
 accompanied by the Duke and Baron Lothar, to where 
 the carriage was waiting for her; and as she went she 
 bowed graciously to the right and left, without, how- 
 ever, acknowledging the Princess Helena's low cour- 
 tesy. When Claudine returned with Lothar she had 
 the Duchess's bouquet of pomegranates in her hand. 
 
 She lingered for a few moments among the crowd, 
 who suddenly seemed quite unconscious of her pres- 
 ence ; but she did not observe this ; she longed for rest. 
 "Good-night, Beata; I am going home." 
 
 "How strange the Duchess seemed as she took 
 leave!" said Beata, walking with Claudine to where 
 her carriage waited. " She looked at you as if she 
 would fain have read the depths of your soul, and yet 
 as if she had some atonement to make to you. There 
 is a childlike tenderness about that woman. How 
 sweet her manner was when she handed you her bou- 
 quet from the carriage window and said, 'My dear 
 Claudine,' as if she could not show you affection 
 enough!" 
 
 " We love each other very dearly," Claudine an- 
 swered, simply. 
 
 Princess Helena went on dancing far into the night, 
 "as if she were frantic," thought Frau von Berg, 
 who had returned to the garden after emptying the 
 vials of her wrath upon the head of the nurse. The 
 Princess's eyes sparkled with tears while she laughed 
 and plied her ivory fan energetically. Suddenly she 
 felt as if she could no longer endure her distress, her 
 anguish, and she fled to a dark recess among the trees, 
 and flung herself upon an iron bench there, leaning 
 her hot cheek against the cool metal. Frau von Berg 
 confronted her with a gloomy air.
 
 236 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 "Good heavens!" she exclaimed, "what if any one 
 should see your Grace thus ?" 
 
 " Is the Baron coming ?" asked the weeping girl, 
 drying her eyes. 
 
 Frau von Berg smiled: "Not at all; he is talking 
 with Landrath von Besser about insurance against 
 fire." 
 
 " Did you see, Alice ? The Duchess gave the Gerold 
 her bouquet as she left; that was all the effect pro- 
 duced" here she laughed " by my well-meant warn- 
 ing." 
 
 Frau von Berg continued to smile : " Excuse me, 
 your Grace, but the Duchess could not do otherwise. 
 So noble a character does not doubt a friend upon such 
 a mere on dit. I thought you knew her Highness 
 better. Why, you yourself insisted upon 'proof'!" 
 
 The Princess clapped both hands to her ears, as if 
 she did not choose to hear more. 
 
 "Proof!" Frau von Berg repeated. " Proof, your 
 Grace !" 
 
 Immediately upon her return home the Duchess 
 retired to her chamber and to rest. 
 
 How easy it is to say ' to rest' ! how natural it sounds I 
 and yet how persistently sleep flies from a troubled 
 heart ! 
 
 She had taken some cooling drink, and lay back in 
 her quiet room, her hands clasped listlessly beneath 
 her head. Sometimes she coughed, and her cheeks 
 began to burn. 
 
 It had been too much for her, that noisy fete ; she 
 ought to have stayed in the sick-room, where she be-
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 237 
 
 longed ; but it is hard to be so young and already so 
 infirm. Will it ever be better? 
 
 She felt a dull pain at her left side. " Strange ! what 
 can it be?" Was it physical? Was it the heart? 
 Like some paralyzing anguish it crept through all her 
 veins and dulled her power of thought. 
 
 " Impossible!" she whispered, suddenly aware whence 
 came the dull pain. "Impossible!" She sat up in bed 
 and looked about her, as if to make sure that she was 
 awake and not tormented by an evil dream. There on 
 her toilet-table lay the diamonds which her maid had 
 taken from her hair; she had dismissed her attendant 
 so hastily that she had not allowed her time to put 
 them away ; she had felt an urgent desire to be alone. 
 She usually liked to have a little chat with her good 
 Katzenstein before resting; but to-night the worthy 
 old soul had been dismissed in the corridor. 
 
 There, upon the back of a crimson-cushioned chair, 
 hung her lace mantilla, and beside it still lay one of the 
 centifolia roses from Claudine's breast ; she had asked 
 for it because she so delighted in its fragrance. 
 
 How beautiful the girl had been ! 
 
 The Duchess took the ivory-framed hand-glass from 
 the table beside her bed and looked into it. In the 
 dim crimson light there looked out at her a pair of 
 hollow eyes set in a thin, sallow face. She dropped 
 the glass on the coverlet and lay back, seized with 
 absolute terror. " Oh, merciful God !" she whispered. 
 And then she took from the table the Duke's picture, 
 gazed at the proud, handsome face, and pressed it pas- 
 sionately to her lips. 
 
 Ah, she knew none better how devotedly that man 
 could be loved ! 
 
 With the picture clasped to her breast she lay back,
 
 238 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 gazing into space. Claudine's bewitching beauty, as 
 she had seen her a few hours previously, loomed before 
 her eyes; she saw her beside the Duke at table, and 
 beneath the lindens during the dance. The girl had 
 changed colour continually. How embarrassed she 
 always was when his Highness entered the room 1 She 
 never sang willingly when he was by. At times she 
 was so depressed, and then again so merry ! 
 
 Poor Claudine ! A fine friend you have here think- 
 ing of you; one who urgently entreated your friend- 
 ship to doubt you afterwards. 
 
 No, she would not doubt her. Absurd gossip ! The 
 little Princess was sometimes entirely incomprehen- 
 sible ! 
 
 Poor Claudine ! 
 
 The Duchess smiled, and then suddenly pearly drops 
 of moisture gathered on her brow, and through the sing- 
 ing and surging in her ears of her agitated blood there 
 rang, like some pitiless bell, the voice of the Princess : 
 " Your Highness will not see ; you do not choose to 
 understand." "Our Father" came, wrung from her 
 soul, and her hot hands clasped the picture closer to 
 her restless, throbbing heart. Her lips whispered the 
 Lord's Prayer to its close. " Amen ! Death rather 
 than that I Dear God, let me die! let me die!" 
 
 She passed in review her entire married life. She 
 herself had lavishly adorned with roses the altar of her 
 happiness; could she have overlooked the sad fact that 
 it would else have been bare of all decoration, that 
 she alone had prayed before it? 
 
 How came she to have such an idea ? No, her happi- 
 ness had not been an illusion ; it had been really hers. 
 How kind, how considerate, how attentive he had al- 
 ways been, especially since she had been ill !
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 239 
 
 Kind? Considerate? Is that all that love can 
 give ? 
 
 She groaned. A veil seemed to fall from her eyes, 
 revealing depths of desolation. 
 
 And yet he had never given her cause for jealousy, 
 that plebeian passion, as Princess Thekla called it, 
 which she said no princess should ever experience. 
 
 " I do not myself know the passion," she had made 
 reply; "thank God I have had no occasion for it." 
 But at this moment she, the reigning Duchess, the 
 royal Princess, knew that she had to a great degree 
 fallen a victim to this passion, that it was to torture 
 her hopelessly. 
 
 Again she looked in the glass, and then clasped her 
 hands before her eyes. Had she been blind ? What 
 could she be to him, ill, tottering on the brink of the 
 grave as she was ? Nothing, nothing save a burden. 
 But not that, only not that. 
 
 Could they not wait until she was dead ? How long 
 would it be? "Ah, have compassion only for so long I 
 Take pity!" 
 
 She sank back half fainting, incapable of motion, and 
 yet feeling that she was awake, that it was all horribly 
 real, that her fate had cast aside a smiling mask to 
 show its real face ; ah, so comfortless, so despairing a 
 face! 
 
 She did not know how long she lay there. She no 
 longer had the strength to call herself to account ; she 
 saw a fair head lying on his breast as her own had 
 once lain, while she herself lay in her coffin and could 
 not stir. The cold moisture stood in drops upon her 
 forehead ; by a frightful effort she started up and rang 
 her bell loudly. The waiting-maid, terrified, appeared 
 on the instant.
 
 240 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " Open the window," gasped the Duchess, sitting 
 erect in bed. " I am stifling." 
 
 The maid hastened to the window and drew aside 
 the curtains, letting the first rays of the glowing 
 morning sun penetrate the apartment to play about 
 the feverishly agitated young wife upon her couch. 
 
 She gazed inquiringly out into this wondrously lovely 
 world, her eyes wandering beyond the summits of the 
 trees of the park, quivering in the morning air, to 
 the pine-clad range of mountains that showed bluish 
 green on the horizon. She inhaled the pure, fresh air, 
 she heard the twittering of the birds amid the foliage, 
 and she burst into tears, tears of shame at her despair, 
 her distrust. 
 
 She lay sobbing for a time, and at last fell asleep. 
 When she awoke, Claudine was sitting beside her couch. 
 She was arranging some roses, which she had begged 
 of Heinemann, and was so absorbed in her noiseless 
 occupation that she did not for a time perceive the 
 Duchess's eyes resting upon her. When she looked up 
 a glad expression lit up her anxious face. 
 
 " Ah, dear Elizabeth !" she exclaimed, kneeling beside 
 the bed with her flowers, " how you have frightened 
 me ! What is the matter? Frau von Katzenstein sent 
 for me in the early morning. Did you exert yourself 
 too much last evening?" 
 
 The Duchess propped her head upon her hand, look- 
 ing fixedly into the lovely face, where anxiety and dis- 
 tress were so plain to see. Then she stroked the fair 
 head caressingly. " I am better now," she said, gently ; 
 " how glad I am you came 1" 
 
 She was unusually silent all the forenoon, but she con- 
 tinually followed Claudine with her eyes. Towards noon 
 she tried to rise, but she was obliged to go back to bed.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 241 
 
 " Stay with me, Claudine," she begged. 
 
 " Yes, Elizabeth." 
 
 The invalid opened her weary eyes, and, as if sur- 
 prised by this ready assent, asked, " You can stay away 
 from home without anxiety ?" 
 
 " Do not speak of it, Elizabeth. Even though my 
 absence were felt there, I should come. I will write a 
 line to Joachim and send for a few things. Do not be 
 troubled." 
 
 " Tell me something," the Duchess said towards even- 
 ing. She had been lying almost motionless, with closed 
 eyes, during the afternoon. 
 
 " "With pleasure, Elizabeth. "What shall it be about ?" 
 
 " Something about your life." 
 
 "Ah, good heavens, there is very little to tell. I 
 think you know it all, Elizabeth." 
 
 "All?" 
 
 " Yes, my dear Elizabeth." 
 
 " Were you never in love, Dina ?" 
 
 The girl's face was suffused with a burning blush ; 
 she slowly bowed her head. 
 
 " Ah, hush, Elizabeth !" she said, almost in a whisper ; 
 " do not ask I " 
 
 " Can you not tell me ?" the Duchess persisted. 
 " Give me your confidence, Dina ; ah, give it me ! You 
 know all about me." 
 
 At this moment the Duke was announced, and, almost 
 overcome, the girl arose and, with a bow, was about to 
 pass him and retire to the antechamber. 
 
 " Claudine! Claudine!" cried tbe invalid, and as she 
 returned, the Duchess pointed to a seat beside her bed. 
 " Stay here !" she said, in a tone of command. It was 
 the first time that she had spoken so to her friend. 
 
 Claudine sat down. She heard how tenderly and 
 L Q '21
 
 242 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 compassionately the Duke addressed the invalid, hoping 
 that she would be able to take part in the garden-party 
 which they were to have on the morrow, for which 
 ' mamma' had promised to come to them. 
 
 " I will take pains to be well," she replied. 
 
 " That's right, Liesel. Take pains." And the Duke 
 laughed. " If all invalids would only resolve thus, 
 there would be fewer of them. The will really has 
 something to do with recovery ; ask our worthy doctor." 
 
 " I know it, I know it," she said, hastily. 
 
 " The doctor maintains that you are only mentally 
 ailing to-day," the Duke went on. " I cannot see how 
 that can be. I think, my child, that you have simply 
 taken cold. You must be careful ; the night air is not 
 good for you. In the winter you must certainly go to 
 Cannes." 
 
 " In the winter," she thought, with bitterness. Aloud 
 she said, " But I do not want to be careful." 
 
 His Highness stared in amazement to hear such a 
 tone from one usually so docile. " You certainly are 
 very much out of sorts," he said, with a degree of se- 
 verity sure to be excited by illogical antagonism. 
 Then turning to Claudine, he remarked, as if to change 
 the subject, " Your cousin gave us a charming fete yes- 
 terday; the arrangements were perfect. And what 
 original costumes! Yours, for instance, Fraulein von 
 Gerold ; simply exquisite, was it not, Elizabeth?" 
 
 "I really cannot bear conversation, Adalbert; please 
 go ," said the invalid, her lips quivering nervously. 
 And as he was retiring with an impatient gesture, she 
 held out her hand to him, and with her eyes filled with 
 tears said, "Forgive me!" And then she took Clau- 
 dine's hand, and clasping it in her own, which burned 
 with fever, lay back and closed her eyes.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 243 
 
 He had gone. 
 
 Meanwhile, dark clouds had gathered in the skies; 
 the air was sultry, and seemed to threaten a storm. In 
 the misty twilight the Duchess's face looked like that 
 of a corpse. Thus she lay immovable, and thus Claudine 
 sat beside her, for hours. 
 
 It all seemed to the girl weirdly strange. 
 
 The news of the Duchess's illness had spread every- 
 where. 
 
 " She looked remarkably pale just before she left," 
 Princess Thekla remarked, as they sat at supper in the 
 Neuhaus dining-hall. 
 
 "My cousin was sent for at an early hour this 
 morning," said Beata, who showed no sign of fatigue, 
 although she had not been to bed, that she might over- 
 see the removal of every trace of the previous evening's 
 entertainment. Every fork, every cup, every piece of 
 furniture, was in its place; there was nothing to re- 
 mind one of the fairy spectacle of last night, least of 
 all in the people themselves. " She has just written 
 to me," Beata continued, "that she is attending upon 
 the Duchess, and is staying at Altenstein." 
 
 "What a touching friendship!" exclaimed the old 
 Princess, who was in a very bad humour, for early in 
 the morning, while she was still slumbering sweetly, 
 Baron Lothar had dismissed the child's nurse upon 
 the spot, and very shortly afterwards a note had been 
 brought to Frau von Berg's bedside, rousing her from 
 a delightful dream. It contained a dismissal in due 
 form from her position as ' the governess of my
 
 244 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 daughter;' couched, to be sure, in excessively cour- 
 teous terms, but thus it was, although at the close the 
 Baron most amiably begged Madame to accept, for as 
 long as might be agreeable to her, the hospitality of 
 his mansion. 
 
 She threw on a dressing-gown, and in defiance of 
 all etiquette rushed into the Princess Helena's bed- 
 room. Her little Grace looked wretched, with dark 
 rings around her eyes, as if she had cried more than 
 slept during the night. 
 
 " What of it ?" had been the pettishly expressed 
 consolation tendered to Frau von Berg. "You can 
 comr to mamma, Alice ; I will speak to her. The 
 Moorsleben is going back to her parents in any case." 
 
 And ' mamma' had actually requested ' dear Alice' 
 to come to her. It was unheard of, dismissing a lady 
 as if she had been a bonne, a lady, too, whom she 
 had selected ! And yet she had not ventured to re- 
 monstrate ; the brief statement of the Baron's reasons 
 was too much to the point; indeed, she was obliged 
 for form's sake to reprove the person to whom the 
 death from neglect of her beloved grandchild had 
 nearly been owing. Besides, he had not yet declared 
 himself, and he could not be chosen in marriage like 
 a partner for a waltz. 
 
 Frau von Berg was not perfectly content with this 
 arrangement; she sat, pale, and like an innocent, in- 
 sulted angel, in her room, outwardly nobly composed, 
 inwardly beside herself with anger. The nursery had 
 been suddenly removed to the story below, close to 
 Beata's comfortable old sleeping-room, looking out upon 
 the spacious, airy court-yard, where horses, cows, and 
 chickens were to be seen ; the same prospect that had 
 delighted the eyes of the child's father and of Aunt
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 245 
 
 Beata when they were children. And the same faith- 
 ful creature who had had charge of them now held 
 the little girl in her arms, a cleanly peasant woman 
 of between fifty and sixty years, with the kindest eyes 
 in the world beneath her black cap. Lothar had gone 
 for her himself early in the morning, and had brought 
 her to his child from her pretty little cottage at the 
 farther end of the village. 
 
 " What a touching friendship 1" the Princess Thekla 
 exclaimed, and Beata did not, and Lothar would not, 
 notice the sarcasm. He sat as if lost in thought in 
 the growing darkness of the coming storm. 
 
 "The Duchess is often ill, as we all know, mamma," 
 said Princess Helena, who seemed never to take her 
 eyes from Lothar. 
 
 " Of course ! Perhaps she was annoyed at some- 
 thing," the old Princess observed, significantly. " Be- 
 sides, this sultriness is oppressive ; I had no idea that 
 it could be so hot here in the mountains. I am con- 
 stantly remembering the cool, dashing waves of the 
 North Sea. Herr von Pansewitz," turning to her 
 chamberlain, " have you heard from Ostend whether 
 we can have rooms at the Hotel de I' Ocean ?" 
 
 Beata looked in surprise at her brother. The huge- 
 trunks which the ladies had brought to Neuhaus had 
 betokened a longer stay there. 
 
 Herr von Pansewitz was full of regret : " The host, 
 your Grace, has telegraphed me that unfortunately 
 my notice came too late, but he thinks that another 
 hotel " 
 
 "I hope you will go with us, my dear Lothar," 
 Princess Thekla interrupted the kindly old man, turn- 
 ing to Baron Grerold with even more amiability than 
 she had yet shown him. " The memory of our dear 
 
 21*
 
 246 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 departed will attract you to the spot where you passed 
 with her the short weeks of the time of your be- 
 trothal." 
 
 Lothar bowed with exceeding respect : " Excuse me, 
 your Grace; I do not willingly revisit scenes which 
 have sad associations for me ; we are too apt to give to 
 the past more than is its due, while it is a man's part 
 to attain by every means at his command the outward 
 and inward composure which enables him to perform 
 his duty to the present. Moreover, I have been latterly 
 convinced that my presence at Neuhaus is absolutely 
 necessary, and it would be for the good of my estate in 
 Saxony also that its master should visit it. It is only 
 now," he went on, politely offering the Princess Helena 
 a dish of confitures, " now that I have been obliged to 
 stay so long in southern countries, that I realize how 
 dearly I love my own, this bit of soil where I grew 
 up. I really do not wish to stay away from it an hour 
 longer." 
 
 The Princess cast a despairing glance towards the 
 window ; it might have been caused by the threatening 
 clouds outside as well as by the obstinacy of her be- 
 loved son-in-law. 
 
 " A woman a mother regards the memory of the 
 departed differently, of course," she said, coolly j "less 
 heroically, begging your pardon, Baron." 
 
 " Your Grace," he replied, with warmth, " it would 
 be lamentable were it otherwise. It is woman's privi- 
 lege to indulge in the outward signs of grief as well 
 as of joy. Her hands strew flowers on joyous occa- 
 sions, and they deck the grave. What a lustre would 
 fade from life were she more ' heroic' !" 
 
 The Princess Helena flushed crimson. What put 
 it into her mother's head to leave here now? The
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 247 
 
 fork in her hand trembled so that she had to lay it 
 down. 
 
 "Good heaven!" exclaimed the Countess Moorsleben, 
 " is your Grace not well ?" 
 
 " Indeed I am I suddenly grew dizzy," stammered 
 the Princess. "Excuse me, I " 
 
 She arose, and, putting her handkerchief to her 
 eyes, left the room with a slight courtesy, signing to 
 the Countess not to follow her. She flew up-staira 
 and into Prau von Berg's room. 
 
 " Alice !" she exclaimed, " mamma is talking of leav- 
 ing. It is terrible ! All is lost!" 
 
 Frau von Berg, who, in a light blue morning-gown 
 trimmed with cream-coloui'ed lace, was pacing her 
 room to and fro with half-closed eyes, sniffing from 
 time to time at her vinaigrette and lightly groaning, 
 paused and forgot for a moment her role of invalid. 
 
 " Gerold refused to accompany mamma," the agitated 
 little Princess went on, tearing at the lace of her 
 pocket-handkerchief. " He suddenly raves over his 
 German forests like a very peasant whom one would 
 persuade to emigrate to America. What should I do 
 at Ostend ? Knowing, besides, that you are no longer 
 here, Alice! I will not bear it!" She threw herself 
 upon the lounge. " I will leap from the train on the 
 way ! I will throw myself into the sea ! I " 
 
 The Princess's white face, looking towards the spot 
 where the motionless figure was standing in the gath- 
 erino- darkness, was in its distress altered almost be- 
 
 O 
 
 yond recognition. 
 
 "Oh, God!" she cried, when she received no answer. 
 " All is lost ! I am going, and she stays I" She began to 
 weep passionately, burying her face in the cushions. " I 
 feel it, Alice ; he loves her ! he loves her !" she sobbed.
 
 248 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Frau von Berg smiled. She no longer had any 
 reason for forbearance ; in her discomfiture she hated 
 all these people, and felt something of the satisfaction 
 with which an anarchist may possibly contemplate the 
 probability of a small charge of dynamite's blowing an 
 entire assemblage into the air, the innocent and the 
 guilty alike. 
 
 " Shed no more idle tears, Princess," she said, coolly. 
 " You must act. First of all, it seems to me, her High- 
 ness must be convinced that your Grace spoke advisedly 
 yesterday. All will then arrange itself." 
 
 And in her mental vision Frau von Berg saw the 
 entire clique fly into the air, this childish, irresolute 
 creature with the rest, for all she cared. 
 
 "But I cannot tell her! I cannot!" whispered the 
 Princess. " I once saw a wounded doe, and she looked 
 at me last night just as that poor creature did. I can- 
 not ! I could not sleep last night for thinking of it." 
 
 Frau von Berg shrugged her shoulders : " Then 
 your Grace can go to Ostend, and leave the idyl here 
 to develop undisturbed." 
 
 Outside, the hurricane blast that precedes a storm 
 dashed leaves and sand against the window-panes, and 
 tore at the linden boughs. The first vivid flash of 
 lightning lit up the room for an instant, and showed 
 the contemptuous face of the handsome woman who 
 stood at the window looking out into the hurly-burly. 
 
 " I will write to her," the Princess said. " She 
 would not listen to me." And after a pause, during 
 which a clap of thunder shook the house, " I owe it to 
 her; yes, I owe it to her; you are right, Alice. Come 
 to my room ; I am afraid." 
 
 Frau von Berg lit a candle on the writing-table, and 
 conducted the Princess across the corridor to her room.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 249 
 
 Upon her round white face there was an expression of 
 extreme satisfaction. "At last!" she thought, clinch- 
 ing her fist. Every ray of compassion in her soul, had 
 any such existed, would have been extinguished by the 
 scene of the previous evening. How haughtily she had 
 passed her by when Baron Gerold took her Frau von 
 Berg, a born Czernetzky to task ! Why, her ances- 
 tors were Sobieskis ! There was a gleam in her eyes ; 
 the Duke had spoken to her yesterday evening for the 
 first time since long ago, and she had boldly ventured to 
 remind him of certain past experiences. He had, when 
 a young Prince, been desperately in love with her, and 
 old love 
 
 " What do you think, Alice ?" the Princess inter- 
 rupted her train of thought. "What shall I write?" 
 
 The girl was seated at the antique writing-table, with 
 a sheet of paper stamped with the escutcheon of her 
 family before her; but she had got no farther than 
 'Dear Elizabeth.' 
 
 "Your Grace must say that interest in her Higiv 
 ness's happiness induces you to explain your remark of 
 yesterday evening ; that you cannot answer it to your 
 conscience, and so on ; and then produce the proof." 
 
 The Princess turned away and wrote. The storm 
 raged outside, and when a clap of thunder shook the 
 house the girlish hand paused. Sometimes it would be 
 passed across her brow, and the next instant the pen 
 would fly over the paper. At last the note was handed 
 to Frau von Berg, who still stood motionless in the 
 middle of the room. 
 
 She approached the candle and read. " Con passione, 
 of course," she said. " Eeally touching ! And now his 
 Highness's note." Her eyes had a cruel, cat-like gleam 
 in them.
 
 250 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 The Princess drew a chain from among the folds of 
 her embroidered white gown, took the note out of the 
 little case, and closed her hand upon it. A final strug- 
 gle was going on within her. Frau von Berg leaned 
 against the wall beside the table, playing with the tassel 
 of her dressing-gown. " In fact," she said, slowly, with- 
 out looking up, " she did look superb yesterday evening, 
 this Claudine. There is a unique charm about those 
 blonde women with dark-blue eyes." The little Princess 
 hastily wrote the address upon her envelope. 
 
 At this moment Countess JVtoorsleben appeared, to 
 summon Helena to her mother. The old Princess had 
 a nervous attack, and was in the state in which she 
 was liable to destroy whatever was at hand, to tear to 
 pieces an innocent pocket-handkerchief or two, and to 
 be lavish with abusive epithets. To-day she raged as 
 did the storm outside. In half an hour the Princess 
 came back to her room with red eyes. She had pas- 
 sively defied the storm of reproach with which she had 
 been assailed. It certainly was not her fault that her 
 mother could not breathe any longer in this heavy at- 
 mosphere, and that the Dowager Duchess had replied 
 so coldly to her Grace's confidential communication. 
 Why write to so formal and irreproachable a person ? 
 one who, besides, had always been infatuated about 
 Claudine? The candle on the writing-table had nearly 
 burned to the socket, the pen she had flung down lay 
 beside the inkstand, but she put her hand to her fore- 
 head the letter; where was the letter? 
 
 A tremor of anxiety sent her rushing across the cor- 
 ridor to Frau von Berg's room. 
 
 " Alice !" she called out in the darkness, " the letter I 
 What have you done with the letter ? I want to read 
 it a<jain !"
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 251 
 
 No reply. 
 
 " Alice !" she called, angrily stamping her foot. 
 
 All was silent. 
 
 Without thinking of her red eyelids, she ran down- 
 stairs ; through the half-open hall door a deliciously 
 refreshing breeze was blowing ; it had stopped raining. 
 A shadow was gliding to and fro on the stone pavement 
 outside. 
 
 " Alice !" the Princess called for the third time, and 
 hurried out, " the letter I Where is the letter ?" 
 
 " Your Grace, I sent it immediately." 
 
 A half-stifled cry burst from the girl's lips. " Who 
 told you to send it ?" she stammered, seizing the lady 
 by the shoulders. 
 
 " An excellent opportunity offered, your Grace," was 
 the calm reply. 
 
 But the Princess's agitation was not allayed. " And 
 how shall I say that that wretched note came into my 
 possession ?" she asked, wringing her hands. 
 
 " You found it," the lady replied. 
 
 " I never lie !" the girl said, and her delicate figure 
 seemed to dilate. " I shall say that I got it from you ; so 
 help me God, I will tell the truth !" 
 
 " As your Grace thinks best. Then /shall have found 
 the note," she replied. " I gave it to the groom whom 
 the Baron sent to Fraulein von Gerold at Altenstein ; he 
 was to give it to Frau von Katzenstein, to whom I wrote 
 a few lines asking her to hand the accompanying note 
 to her Highness early to-morrow morning." 
 
 The Princess had grown quiet. She had clasped as 
 a support the antique brass door-knocker, which shone 
 in the pale moonlight, surmounted by the star-crowned 
 stag. She could not think clearly, and she felt inex- 
 pressibly miserable
 
 252 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Frau von Berg know perfectly well that the groom's 
 errand had been from Beata to Claudine, but what 
 need to tell this? Her words must add fuel to the 
 flame. 
 
 The Princess re-entered the hall and paused there, 
 possessed by a foreboding of evil, by a nameless horror. 
 
 Beata was coming from her brother's room, her bas- 
 ket of keys on her arm. " Princess !" she exclaimed, 
 startled, " how ill you look!" 
 
 Then life returned to her. She hurried up-stairs into 
 her room, and flung herself, all dressed as she was, upon 
 her bed, where she lay through the night, half uncon- 
 scious, dreading the dawn of the day. 
 
 "When the storm burst forth, the Duchess sent for 
 her children. The youngest nestled close to her as she 
 sat propped up by pillows in bed ; the eldest Prince 
 stood boldly at the window, looking out into the flash- 
 ing lightning; his younger brother Claudine held in 
 her lap. 
 
 Beside his eldest son stood the Duke, listening to the 
 rattle of the hail and gazing at the floods of water 
 dashed against the window-panes ; the Duchess talked 
 to her baby ; Frau von Katzenstein, the children's gov- 
 erness, and the lady's-maid were in the adjoining room. 
 
 When the thunder had ceased and the rain held up, 
 the children were dismissed to the nursery. The heir 
 looked Claudine in the face. " Were you afraid ?" he 
 asked. 
 
 She gently shook her head. 
 
 " I am glad," said the lad. " Mamma is always afraid."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 253 
 
 The mother drew the boy towards her. "You like 
 Claudine von Gerold very much?" she asked, with a 
 melancholy smile. 
 
 " Yes, mamma," replied the child. " If I were big 
 enough I would marry her." 
 
 No one laughed ; the Duke at the window did not stir, 
 and Claudine was embarrassed. The Duchess nodded. 
 " Good-night, dear children ; God guard you !" 
 
 "When the sound of their footsteps had died away, 
 she said, in a low voice, " I am very tired, Adalbert." 
 
 The Duke took his leave, kissing his wife's brow, and 
 saying, " Wake up well to-morrow." 
 
 "I promise," she replied, pleasantly. 
 
 Claudine was to share the night watching with Frau 
 von Katzenstein. She went to the room which had been 
 assigned her, the same that had been hen? when this 
 house was her home, and put on a wrapper. Then 
 she returned, to sit, silent and patient, beside the bed. 
 
 The Duchess lay with closed eyes. The night-clock 
 ticked softly ; the pictured Madonna gleamed faintly 
 in the semi-darkness ; the girl's eyes rested upon that 
 lovely face, and then wandered to the pale countenance 
 of the invalid. Then her head sank back, she closed 
 her eyes, and meditated. 
 
 She was very weary from the agitations of the pre- 
 vious evening ; dreamily half conscious, she saw herself 
 with his child in her arms, felt his kiss of gratitude 
 upon her hand, and smiled in her sleep. Starting, she 
 sat upright, broad awake, a dread assailing her. The 
 Duchess's eyes were gazing at her with a strange, 
 searching look in them. 
 
 "Elizabeth," she said, shivering slightly, "can you 
 not sleep ?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 22
 
 254 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 "Shall I read to you?" 
 
 " No, thank you." 
 
 " Would you like to talk ? Shall I arrange your 
 pillows for you ?" 
 
 "Give me your hand, Claudine. Was I very dis- 
 agreeable to-day ?" 
 
 "Ah, Elizabeth, that you can never be!" exclaimed 
 the girl, kneeling beside her. 
 
 " Yes, yes, I know it. But but my heart is sick, 
 and you must forgive me." 
 
 " Tell me, Elizabeth, have you had any sorrow ?" 
 
 " No ; I was only thinking of dying." 
 
 " Oh, do not think of that /" 
 
 "You know, Claudine, there is no cure for love and 
 death. I do not think I fear to die ; I am more afraid 
 of living." 
 
 "Ah, you are ill, Elizabeth." 
 
 " Yes, yes ; and I am so tired ! You ought to sleep, 
 and it is better for me to be alone. Please go. The 
 maid is in the next room ; if you stay here I cannot 
 help looking at you." 
 
 Claudine kissed the feverishly hot hand and with- 
 drew. Towards midnight she glided to the sick-room in 
 her night-dress, and listened behind the silken curtains 
 to know if the Duchess were sleeping. All was quiet; 
 but at the soft rustle of her step the large dark eyes 
 of the invalid opened, and slowly turned upon her with 
 the same rigid, inquiring gaze as before. " What is 
 it?" she asked. 
 
 Claudine approached. "I am worried about you," 
 she said ; " forgive me." 
 
 " Tell me," said the Duchess, inconsequently, " why 
 did you at first not want to go to Neuhaus yesterday ?" 
 
 Claudine was startled. " Why did I not want to go
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 255 
 
 to Neuhaus?" she repeated, blushing. Then she was 
 silent. She could not possibly say, "Because I love 
 Lothar, and because he distresses me whenever he sees 
 me ; because he distrusts me ; because " 
 
 The Duchess suddenly turned away: "No, no, I do 
 not want an answer. Go, go !" 
 
 The girl walked towards the door. 
 
 " Claudine ! Claudine !" The cry was one of heart- 
 breaking distress. The invalid was again sitting up in 
 bed, and stretching out her arms towards her with an 
 imploring expression. 
 
 Claudine went to her, seated herself on the bed, and 
 took the frail, trembling little creature in her arms. 
 
 "Elizabeth," she said, tenderly, "let me stay with 
 you." 
 
 "Forgive me, ah, forgive me!" sobbed the Duchess^ 
 kissing the girl's dress, her long fair hair that hung 
 loose behind her, and her eyes. " Tell me," she whis- 
 pered, " and say it aloud, that you love me." 
 
 " I love you very dearly, Elizabeth," said Claudine, 
 wiping away the large tears from the feverish cheeks 
 as a mother would for her child. " You do not know 
 how dearly." 
 
 The Duchess sank back exhausted : " I thank you. 
 I am so tired !" 
 
 Claudine sat perfectly still for a while, and then, 
 when she thought the invalid had fallen asleep, she 
 softly withdrew her hand from her friend's clasp and 
 left the room on tiptoe, pursued by an inexplicable 
 dread. What was the matter with the Duchess? 
 What did those searching glances, that coldness, and 
 this passionate tenderness mean? 
 
 " She is ill," she said to herself. 
 
 She stood before the mirror to fasten up her loosened
 
 256 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 hair. A doubt occurred to her, and the hand busy with 
 the tortoise-shell pins fell at her side. Then she proudly 
 tossed back the waves of gold. Neither she nor the 
 Duchess was so petty as to pay any heed to gossip. 
 
 By a mysterious and inscrutable association of ideas 
 the remembrance of the lost note suddenly flashed upon 
 her mind, and a dull foreboding assailed her for a mo- 
 ment. Then she smiled ; who could divine the wood- 
 land nook where it had probably mouldered away in 
 the rain and dew ? 
 
 She took the little prayer-book in which her mother 
 used to read a sentence aloud to her every evening, 
 opened it at random, and read, " Guard me, O Lord, 
 from evil tongues, and defend me from my enemies. 
 Let no evil befall me or mine, and let no plague 
 come nigh our dwelling." Her thoughts flew to the 
 peaceful house from the tower-chamber of which her 
 brother's student-lamp shone out into the dark forest. 
 Thence they wandered to the bedside of the mother- 
 less child at Neuhaus. " Protect it in future, O God 
 Almighty, as Thou didst protect it last evening," 
 she whispered, and her eyes sought the book again. 
 " Have compassion on the sick who, sleepless, seek for 
 ease on their couches, and on all the dying for whom 
 this night is the last." 
 
 The book slipped from her hands, an icy shiver ran 
 through her; the Duchess's distorted face suddenly 
 rose before her. She turned and hid her own in the 
 pillow; how came she to think of anything so terrible? 
 
 Only after a long while did she sit up, and with a 
 shiver wrap herself in a coverlet. She left the lamp 
 burning on the table ; she could not stay in the dark.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 257 
 
 The next morning was clear, golden, and deliciously 
 fresh. The sun sparkled from millions of dew-drops 
 on the spacious lawns of the Altenstein park, where a 
 host of labourers were busy with preparations for &fete, 
 and everything looked bright and merry. A pole was 
 erected, upon the top of which sat a gaudily-painted 
 bird ; there was a merry-go-round, its horses covered 
 with crimson housings ; there was a puppet-show, and 
 a red-and-white-striped tent, from the summit of which 
 crimson pennons and flags were flying; in the shade 
 a platform was put up for the musicians, and a planed 
 floor for dancing : all devised for the pleasure of little 
 folk. 
 
 It was the heir's birthday, and this was a surprise 
 prepared for him by his paternal grandmother, in ad- 
 dition to the charming little pony which had arrived 
 the evening before and had been secretly conveyed to 
 the stables. 
 
 An early despatch announced the arrival of the 
 Dowager Duchess towards noon. At two o'clock the 
 family were all to meet at table, and many invitations, 
 chiefly to children, had been issued for the afternoon. 
 Even little Elizabeth from the Owl's Nest, and Leonie, 
 Baroness von Gerold, had received formal cards of in- 
 vitation. 
 
 The Duchess's illness, and the storm of yesterday, 
 had caused much anxiety. Could the fete take place ? 
 But, thank heaven, no postponement had been neces- 
 sary ; her Highness was better, and the weather was 
 incomparable. All might reckon upon an interesting 
 afternoon, a continuation of the late entertainment at 
 Neuhaus, which had been " simply divine," as " piquante 
 as a chapter of Daudet," her Excellency Plassen de- 
 clared to Countess Lilienstein as they were taking their 
 r 22*
 
 258 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 morning walk in the forest, and then the two ladies 
 whispered together mysteriously, and her Excellency 
 turned up her eyes. 
 
 " If she is only cunning enough he will marry her yet : 
 the succession is secured," the lady observed at last. 
 
 " Never fear, my dear Countess, the G-erolds all know 
 how to take care of themselves. The Baron will get 
 the second Princess ; he is amazingly modest " 
 
 " Cunning, my dearest Countess." 
 
 "Ah! They are all on the most intimate footing; 
 the Duke frequently calls him ' cousin.' " 
 
 "And well he may, a double relationship." She 
 laughed at her own jest. 
 
 " Does the Duchess really suspect nothing ?" asked 
 one of the gentlemen in the bowling-alley at the 
 ' Trout,' where they had made up a small party for a 
 game, "or does she ignore it intentionally?" 
 
 " Possibly. She is a clever woman," said Baron El- 
 benstein, poising a ball in his hand. 
 
 " But why ?" remonstrated Major Baumberg. " The 
 poor lady sees everything with regard to her husband 
 in a golden light; she idolizes the Duke." 
 
 " That's the very reason ; she would not deny him 
 what would make him happy." 
 
 " Infernally handsome woman, the Gerold !" 
 
 "Charming!" 
 
 " Exalted above every breath I" 
 
 " And a genuine flirt." 
 
 "And cunning, cunning! Such a shrewd move! 
 Euns away from her position at court to this wilderness 
 just at the moment when her paternal estate is brought 
 to the hammer. Clever, wasn't it ? And he snapped 
 at the bait," said a melancholy attache. 
 
 His old Excellency with the venerable white head
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 259 
 
 lifted his bushy eyebrows in disapproval. " Her High- 
 ness is a woman of delicate sensibilities," he said, in a 
 voice scarcely audible from chronic hoarseness. " Come, 
 gentlemen, I must beg " 
 
 But he was not heeded. 
 
 " We know all about it," exclaimed one, who had just 
 made a ten-stroke. 
 
 Again his Excellency entered the lists for the girl 
 who was so harshly judged, and tried to prove that it 
 was all a baseless slander; but in the midst of his 
 defence his voice failed him, he gasped once or twice, 
 wiped bis purple face, angrily drank his glass of beer, 
 and abruptly left the calumniators. 
 
 " Incredible! Incredible!" he murmured to himself. 
 And when he met a couple of young ladies who passed 
 him talking together in a low voice, he looked crossly 
 after them. " I'll bet they are whispering about that 
 scandal. Green girls, with no judgment! I only wish 
 
 that " But his worthy Excellency might swear 
 
 his deepest, he could not restrain the nods and whis- 
 pers. They pursued their course, and the slander was 
 breathed from ear to ear as the summer breeze floats 
 from tree-top to tree-top ; even the servants stuck their 
 heads together, and it penetrated to all sorts of places. 
 The swallows twittered it in their nests in the thatch 
 of the cottages, and one neighbour detailed it to another. 
 In one of the poorest little huts an old peasant-woman 
 wrote with childlike confidence to Fraulein von Gerold 
 begging her to intercede with the Duke to have her 
 son released from military service ; if she asked him, 
 her request would surely be granted. 
 
 In the castle all were noiselessly stirring quite early. 
 The pretty waiting-maid who answered Claudine's ring- 
 ing of her bell brought her several letters.
 
 260 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 11 Do they know yet how her Highness is ?" asked 
 Claudine. 
 
 " Oh, wonderfully well. Her Highness has slept 
 soundly, and is to give the Prince his presents at eleven 
 o'clock in the red drawing-room." 
 
 " Thank God !" 
 
 Claudine sent the girl to the Princess's maid for fur- 
 ther intelligence. After she had dressed she opened 
 her letters. One was from Beata, who promised to 
 look after little Elizabeth, and to bring her to the fete 
 in the afternoon : 
 
 " I shall chaperon two nieces to the court ball. 
 How grand that sounds, and how funny it is in reality 1 
 The little elves! God grant that her Highness may be 
 better when you receive these lines! Lothar has been 
 asked to dine with the ducal party. I wish, Claudine, 
 that if he is going to woo another princess he would 
 make his intentions clear. This dallying is very unlike 
 him ; he is wont to be so resolute. Perhaps now, when 
 
 the old Princess is about leaving Ah, Claudine, I 
 
 had fancied quite another sister-in-law ! Au revoir" 
 
 Claudine sadly laid the letter aside and mechanically 
 opened the second. What a coarse, clumsy hand, and 
 what an idea! Claudine smiled ; she was asked to beg 
 the Duke to release a poor mother's son from military 
 duty. Suddenly she turned ashy pale. Good God! 
 what an indication ! How did this old peasant- woman 
 come to think of her ? This was the sort of letter the 
 Duchess was accustomed to receive. 
 
 She haughtily held her head erect. Ridiculous! 
 What ideas such people took into their heads! She 
 determined to show the letter to the Duchess j it would 
 amuse her. 
 
 Nevertheless, she was conscious of a sense of op-
 
 THE OTPZ/'S NEST. 261 
 
 pression. The stupid letter was like the prick of a 
 needle at her heart. 
 
 Why was she not summoned to her Highness ? 
 
 There was a knock at her door, and the kindly face 
 of Frau von Katzenstein looked in. " Ma}' I come in ?" 
 she asked, as she entered. u Her Highness waked in 
 such good spirits," she went on. " She wished to ar- 
 range the birthday-table herself. She took her break- 
 fast in bed, and gave special orders that you, dearest 
 Claudine, were not to be waked. The maid was told 
 to lay out for dinner a red silk gown trimmed with 
 lace, and now " 
 
 " Is her Highness worse ?" Claudine asked, breath- 
 lessly, hurrying to the door. 
 
 " Stop, dear child, and let me tell you. The Duchess 
 had some letters early this morning, and suddenly I 
 had cut open the envelopes I heard a strange sound in 
 her room, like a deep sigh, and when I went in I found 
 her lying back again, with closed eyes, among the pil- 
 lows. I did what I could for her, but she said to me, 
 in a strange, thick voice, ' Go away, my dear Kat- 
 zenstein ; I must be alone.' I went, with a protest, 
 and when I tried to go to her again, she had locked her 
 door, a thing she never did before. His Highness has 
 sent twice to know if she is ready to receive him ; the 
 Prince is bursting with impatience ; the band is wait- 
 ing in the garden for the signal to begin to play, and 
 still there is nothing stirring in the Duchess's room." 
 
 " Good heavens ! can she have had bad news from 
 her sister ?" 
 
 The old lady-in-waiting shrugged her shoulders: 
 "Who knows?" 
 
 " Come, dearest Frau von Katzenstein. Her High- 
 ness was strangely excited yesterday."
 
 262 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 In an instant the girl stood at the little tapestried 
 door leading to her Highness's room and listened. Not 
 a sound was to be heard. " Elizabeth !" she called, in a 
 low, distressed voice. 
 
 The call was heard within. The Duchess, kneeling 
 beside her bed, raised her head and looked wide-eyed 
 towards the door, but her lips were firmly compressed. 
 In her hand she held a little crumpled note. All doubt, 
 all dread, was past. Eepose had come with certainty, 
 a terrible, stony-like repose, and with it pride, the pride 
 of a royal princess, strong and powerful. No one should 
 suspect how poor she had become. 
 
 Only this short rest she must have, this one hour 
 to soothe, to deaden her heart, thus mortally wounded. 
 Was she not to be allowed even this? 
 
 " Elizabeth !" the call came again. " For the love of 
 heaven ! I am dying with anxiety I" 
 
 The Duchess rose and took a step forward, her 
 hands pressed to her temples as in despair. Then she 
 went to the door and opened it. 
 
 " What do you want?" she asked, coldly. 
 
 Claudine entered and saw before her the erect figure, 
 and the eyes fixed and darkly glowing. " Elizabeth," 
 she asked, softly, " what is the matter ? Are you ill ?" 
 
 "No; call my maid." 
 
 "Do not struggle so, Elizabeth. Lie down. You 
 look feverish ; you are suffering," stammered Claudine, 
 aware of a terrible change. The smiling face was trans- 
 formed to a rigid mask. 
 
 " Call my maid, and bring me a candle." 
 
 Claudine silently obeyed. The Duchess lit a paper 
 at the flame and held it until the fire all but touched 
 her transparent fingers; then she dropped it on the 
 ground and put her foot upon it.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 263 
 
 " There !" she said, laying her band upon her heart 
 and drawing a deep breath. Her eyes had for a mo- 
 ment an expression of great physical pain. 
 
 She allowed herself to be dressed, but insisted upon 
 dark colours. Her face, with its two crimson spots be- 
 neath the eyes, looked very sallow above the plain dark 
 violet gown. She was passive beneath her dressing- 
 maid's hands, except that when she would have put a 
 yellowish rose in her hair the Duchess tore out the 
 flower impatiently and threw it on the ground. 
 
 "Eoses!" she exclaimed, with an indescribable em- 
 phasis. Then she paused before the mirror as if lost 
 in thought, while Claudine stood just behind her, look- 
 ing extremely distressed. 
 
 At last the Duchess began to laugh: "Do you know 
 the proverb ' Tout comprendre, c'est tout pardonnef ? " 
 And, without waiting for an answer, she turned to the 
 maid and said, " Inform his Highness that I am ready." 
 
 She beckoned to Claudine, and went with her through 
 the boudoir to the red drawing-room. The apartment 
 was filled with the fragrance of flowers ; the presents 
 were all arranged on a side-table, toys, books, an ex- 
 quisite little fowling-piece. In the centre of the table, 
 in a richly-carved frame, was the picture of the Duch- 
 ess. She took it up, her hand slightly trembling as she 
 did so, and gazed at it as if it were something strange 
 which she had never seen before. 
 
 " It is enchantingly like your Highness," said Frau 
 von Katzenstein. "It looks so fresh, so happy." 
 
 " It is a bad picture," the Duchess rejoined, in a hard 
 tone. " Take it away ; it is false. I am not that." 
 
 Frau von Katzenstein glanced despairingly at Clau- 
 dine as she left the roon. 
 
 At this moment a footman opened the door, and the
 
 264 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 heir entered, followed by the Duke carrying his young- 
 est son in his arms and leading the second boy by the 
 hand. The Prince was about to rush to his mother 
 with a shout of joy, but he paused, as did the Duke, 
 at sight of the strangely cold, erect figure in the dark 
 nun-like dress. 
 
 She gazed into her husband's eyes as if to read the 
 very depths of his soul. The music struck up below, 
 outside ; the solemn tones floated in through the win- 
 dow, " Praise the Lord Almighty, King of Hosts." 
 
 For a moment it seemed impossible for her to 
 preserve her composure ; she tottered, and, stooping, 
 buried her face in her boy's curls. " Congratulate me, 
 mamma," the lad begged, impatiently; he was longing 
 to go to his gifts. 
 
 " God bless you !" she whispered, and sat down in the 
 chair which the Duke placed for her. 
 
 Claudine had withdrawn to a window in the next 
 room when the Duke entered, as was her duty at a 
 family festival of this kind when no one had asked her 
 to remain. The joyous cries of the children mingled 
 with the notes of the merry march which the band 
 now played. " What, in heaven's name, is the matter 
 with the Duchess ?" she asked herself. 
 
 " Grandmamma! Grandmamma!" was soon the chil- 
 dren's cry, and the girl started with a sense of relief 
 and pleasure; her dear and honoured mistress, always 
 so kind and good to her, had arrived. She longed 
 to run to her to kiss her hand. And then she heard 
 the gentle, kindly voice ; but was there not a strange 
 tone of pain in it? 
 
 "My dear child, my dear Elizabeth, how are you?" 
 
 For a while all was still. Then the same voice, 
 with the same quiver of pain in it, said, " Altenstein
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 205 
 
 seems to have done you no good, Elizabeth ; I shall 
 take you with me to Bavaria." 
 
 " Oh, I am quite well," the Duchess replied aloud. 
 " So well ! You would not believe, mamma, how much 
 I can bear." 
 
 The noisy music outside drowned all further con- 
 versation. 
 
 Claudine stood as on burning coals. Was the Dow- 
 ager Duchess not going to ask after her? She knew 
 that her favourite was here ; Claudine had written to 
 her that it was so. To be sure, she had received no 
 answer; for the first time this struck her as strange. 
 Again the inexplicable distress of the early morning 
 overcame her. 
 
 In the next room it gradually grew quiet; the 
 Dowager Duchess had probably retired to take some 
 rest after her long drive ; the children had been sent to 
 their nursery. The only sound was that of his High- 
 ness's footsteps as he paced the room impatiently. 
 
 " Claudine !" the Duchess called. She must learn to 
 endure seeing the two together. And when Claudine 
 appeared she looked from her to the Duke. How per- 
 fect was their self-command ! His Highness scarcely 
 glanced at the beautiful girl. 
 
 They must have had immense practice in dissimula- 
 tion. Oh, no, they had had an easy time with so con- 
 fiding and credulous a fool as herself. For a moment 
 she was possessed by burning jealousy, by a desire 
 to annihilate at one blow the girl who stood beside her. 
 
 " Hand his Highness that glass of wine, Claudine," 
 she said. " His Highness has forgotten that I offered 
 it to him before." 
 
 Claudine obeyed. 
 
 As she did so the Duchess rose and left the room. 
 M 23
 
 266 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 She was afraid of bursting into that terrible laughter 
 which threatened to stifle her. 
 
 " What is the matter with the Duchess ?" asked the 
 Duke, frowning, as he emptied his glass. 
 
 " I do not know, your Highness," replied Claudine. 
 
 " Follow her Highness," he said, curtly. 
 
 "Her High ness has gone to her bedroom and does 
 not wish to be disturbed ; she wishes to see Fraulein 
 von Gerold in an hour in the green drawing-room," the 
 lady's-maid said, entering at that moment. 
 
 Claudine walked to another door and went to her 
 room. 
 
 In the Duchess's apartment the curtains were closed, 
 and in the dim light her Highness lay on her lounge. 
 She knew that Claudine was alone with him. He 
 would kiss her hand and draw her to him and say, 
 " Bear with her caprice, my love ; she is a sick woman ; 
 endure for my sake." And in the eyes of both would 
 gleam the hope of a happier future ; when in the vault 
 of the castle chapel a new coffin 
 
 She did not shudder at the thought : she only smiled ; 
 it is so good to know that the end must come ! Ah, 
 how many a bitter grief lies at rest with those sleeping 
 in that vault ! 
 
 It is such a comfort that forgetfulness and sleep come 
 finally, however long this waking which we call life may 
 last. 
 
 She felt something of the self-reproach which assails 
 a sensitive person aware of making too great a demand 
 upon the patience of others, and who yet cannot help 
 it. And then the oppression of the chest; it was so 
 bard to breathe. 
 
 4 If it were not for the children !" 
 
 Well, they would scarcely miss a suffering, invalid
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 267 
 
 mother, and they were boys. How well that was I 
 No poor little motherless princess. 
 
 And the outside world. Did it know ? Did people 
 smile and whisper about the betrayed woman who kept 
 as her friend the woman whom her husband loved? 
 She groaned ; the oppression of her chest increased. 
 
 Again she rose, and, with her hands clasped upon 
 her breast, wandered about the room. There was 
 nothing for her to do but to be proud, proud and 
 careful. 
 
 If the day were only over ! If the night were but 
 florae, when she could be alone and weep ! 
 
 Outside, the carriages were rolling into the court- 
 yard ; steps were heard in the corridor, trains rustled ; 
 the guests betook themselves to the apartment adjoin- 
 ing the old Gerold banqueting-hall, in a building which 
 connected the two wings of the castle. 
 
 Claudine, sitting motionless in an arm-chair in her 
 room, heard it all. At every step she turned her head, 
 and when it passed her face flushed for an instant. 
 Why did the Dowager Duchess not send for her? 
 Why at least did not Fraulein von Bohlen, her suc- 
 cessor with the old Duchess, come to see her? It was 
 the custom for such visits to be paid. And the pale, 
 weary -looking young lady with sandy hair and freckles 
 had already been half an hour with Frau von Katzen- 
 stein. 
 
 Before her, on the table, lay her watch. At a quar- 
 ter of two she must go to the green drawing-room, 
 where the Duchess awaited her, and accompany her 
 to receive the guests. She had changed her dress ; she 
 wore a short summer gown which the Duchess had 
 given her a few days previously, a pale-blue foulard 
 trimmed with lace, and with ornaments of silver, each
 
 268 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 representing an edelweiss. The fan of blue ostrich- 
 feathers lay beside the long tan-coloured gloves. She 
 slowly drew on the latter ; it was time to go. 
 
 In the corridor she came face to face with Fraulein 
 von Bohlen, who was apparently going to her mistress's 
 apartment. The two ladies had met at court festivals, 
 and Fraulein von Bohlen had been sometimes invited 
 to join the Dowager Duchess's circle of intimates. Her 
 father, a former chamberlain of the deceased Duke, had 
 made himself obnoxious to his successor by various in- 
 trigues, and had been obliged to retire to private life 
 in circumstances the reverse of brilliant. Her old 
 Highness supported the family, who considered them- 
 selves very ill used. Her gentle disposition forgave 
 and forgot the annoyance inflicted upon her family, 
 and she appointed Fraulein von Bohlen to the post left 
 vacant by Claudine. 
 
 Fraulein von Bohlen's sandy head seemed held erect 
 by a kind of cramp ; she was quite unable to incline it 
 by way of greeting. Claudine, who, in her own kindly 
 courteous way, held out her hand, suddenly found her- 
 self alone. The young lady's cream-coloured train 
 swept by her without stopping, and vanished behind 
 the old oaken folding-doors at the end of the corridor. 
 
 Claudine turned calmly away and went into the 
 little antechamber adjoining the Duchess's apartments. 
 Frau von Katzenstein's face was comical enough, at 
 once kindly, compassionate, and embarrassed. 
 
 " Her Highness has given no sign of life as yet," she 
 stammered, and then paused ; the Duchess appeared 
 on the threshold of her room. Her first glance was at 
 her friend. Claudine had perhaps never looked more 
 beautiful than in that simple girlish costume. 
 
 Her Highness gently inclined her head and walked
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 269 
 
 through the room to the opposite door; from behind 
 it were audible the Duke's suppressed tones and the 
 cold voice of the Princess Thekla. 
 
 The Duchess paused. " Give me your arm, Clau- 
 dine," she said, almost hoarsely, and thus, side by side, 
 followed by Frau von Katzenstein, they entered the 
 room beneath the crimson portiere, which the attend- 
 ants drew aside. In the apartment, where there were at 
 present about twenty people, profound silence reigned 
 for a moment. 
 
 Was that the Duchess ? 
 
 A delicate little figure, half concealed behind a large 
 fan-palm, clutched at the crimson velvet curtain, as if 
 for support ; her trembling knees almost refused to 
 obey her as she made a profound courtesy. At a sign 
 from her mother the Princess Helena advanced, but 
 her dark head was inclined in vain, there was no kiss 
 for her to-day from her cousin the Duchess. 
 
 They did not sit down, but stood in groups con- 
 versing. Baron Gerold's eyes never left Claudine ; the 
 Duchess's hand still lay upon her arm. The girl was 
 looking towards the opposite door, and her lovely face 
 flushed with pleasure as the Dowager Duchess made 
 her appearance. 
 
 To-day there was something unusually hard in the 
 kindly, wrinkled face beneath the bands of snowy hair. 
 But Claudine did not see it. Supported by the girl's 
 arm, the Duchess approached her mother-in-law and 
 bent above the hand extended to her, while Claudine 
 courtesied low. The girl's eyes sparkled with joyous 
 expectation at sight of her old friend. 
 
 " Ah, Fraulein von Gerold, I am surprised to see you 
 here. Did you not tell me that your brother could not 
 possibly dispense with your society ?" 
 
 23*
 
 270 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 The old lady had clasped her hands, after greeting 
 her daughter-in-law, and as she spoke the last words 
 she looked towards Frau von Katzenstein as if Clau- 
 dine had not been present. 
 
 Claudine proudly retired, and for a second her eyes 
 encountered those of her cousin. There was breathless 
 silence, except for the old voice, now so kindly, address- 
 ing her ' dear Katzenstein.' 
 
 Claudine did not look around : a paralyzing dread 
 possessed her ; she tried to speak, but at this moment 
 the doors were opened. The heir, who to-day was 
 to have the honour of escorting his grandmother to 
 table, presented himself with a bow of much solemnity 
 before the old lady, and the next moment the Dowager 
 Duchess's silver-gray train rustled over the carpet. 
 
 "Will your Highness permit me to retire?" stam- 
 mered Claudine, turning to the Duchess. " My severe 
 headache " 
 
 For an instant pity stirred in the heart of the un- 
 happy woman for the girl whose ghastly, pale face bore 
 witness to her intense agitation. 
 
 " No," she whispered, his Highness passed them at 
 that moment, " I am ill myself, and must endure and 
 struggle. Come too." 
 
 Claudine walked along the corridor with the rest 
 and entered the reception-room with Lothar, just be- 
 hind the ducal party. Their Highnesses greeted their 
 guests, the heir received their congratulations, and then 
 the doors into the dining-hall were thrown open. Clau- 
 dine's seat was opposite Lothar. She had a very vague 
 idea of the progress of the dinner; she answered her 
 neighbours' questions, she ate and drank, but it was all 
 as if in a dream. The Princess Helena, beside Baron 
 Lothar, talked for a while very rapidly and then sat
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 271 
 
 mute ; sometimes her sparkling black eyes glanced over 
 at Claudine while she played with her dessert-spoon. 
 And when she encountered Claudine's strangely absent 
 gaze, she turned red, and resumed her forced gaiety. 
 
 And how it was, who can divine ? it hovered in the 
 air, it foamed in the champagne-glasses; looks and 
 gestures told it without a word ; every one at the glitter- 
 ing table knew it. In the royal apartments something 
 had occurred ; the Dowager Duchess had come to in- 
 terfere. There would be an end of the ideal friendship ; 
 the lovely Gerold was here for the last time. 
 
 It had a paralyzing effect upon all these apparently 
 merry people, like a tempest the outbreak of which is 
 desired, and yet dreaded. His Highness seemed very 
 irritable ; and no wonder. The Duchess, contrary to 
 her wont, looked flushed ; she often passed her hand- 
 kerchief across her brow and drank ice- water. 
 
 At last the Duchess arose ; dinner was at an end, 
 and coffee was served in an adjoining room. 
 
 " Her Highness has retired, and wishes to see you," 
 Frau von Katzenstein whispered to Claudine. 
 
 The girl flew up the stairs and along the corridor. 
 Certainty was all she desired. What had she done ? 
 how had she transgressed ? And yet she was haunted 
 by a terrible foreboding. 
 
 The Duchess sat on her lounge, her head leaning 
 against the back of it. 
 
 " I want to ask you," she began, with her lips tightly 
 drawn ; then she shrieked, " Oh, Christ ! I Claudine !" 
 and the blood gushed from her mouth. 
 
 The young girl held her in her arms, neither trem- 
 bling nor speaking, while the maid rushed away for 
 assistance. The Duchess was entirely unconscious. 
 
 In a moment the physician, the Duke, and the
 
 272 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Dowager Duchess appeared. The invalid was put to 
 bed ; soon the feverish restlessness usual in such cases 
 set in. Claudine, her face pale with horror, her dress 
 stained with blood, was all unheeded; whenever she 
 stretched out a hand to help, no one seemed to notice 
 it, or even to see it. 
 
 " Has anything occurred to disturb her Highness ?" 
 asked the physician. 
 
 The Duke motioned towards Claudine : " Fraulein 
 von G-erold, you were with her last ; do you know ?" 
 
 " I cannot conceive," she replied. 
 
 At that moment the old Duchess's eyes encountered 
 the girl's. There was stern disapproval in them, but 
 Claudine met the look with the fearlessness of inno- 
 cence. " I know of nothing," she repeated. 
 
 Below, the concert began. The Duke hastily left the 
 sick-room to put a stop to its continuance ; in the cor- 
 ridor he encountered the Princess Helena. She was 
 breathless from running ; she had heard the dreadful 
 tidings in the garden, and her terrified eyes spoke 
 more plainly than words could have done. 
 
 "Your Highness," said the physician, who had fol- 
 lowed the Duke, "it would be better to telegraph to 
 
 H for Professor Thalheim. Her Highness is very 
 
 weak." 
 
 The Duke looked dismayed ; he had grown pale. 
 
 "Not dying! For God's sake, not that!" whispered 
 Helena. And she turned away in horror as Claudine 
 appeared in her blood-stained gown. 
 
 In her room Claudine met Beata: "Good heavens, 
 how teiTible !" she exclaimed. " You will see, my dear, 
 that this will all be laid to the account of our fete." 
 
 "Ah, no," said the girl, softly, beginning to change 
 her dress.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 273 
 
 " Do not be so distressed, Claudine ; you look wretched. 
 Down-stairs everything is in the wildest confusion. I 
 sent the nurse with Leonie and Elizabeth far away 
 into the park. A few people are still near the castle, 
 eager, of course, to know the why and the where- 
 fore. The Princes are in their nursery; the heir is 
 crying most piteously. "Who would have thought it ?" 
 
 " Will you be kind enough to take me in your car- 
 riage, Beata?" asked Claudine. 
 
 Beata, who was arranging her bonnet before a mirror, 
 turned hastily: "You want to leave now, Claudine? 
 You cannot." 
 
 " But I can, and will " 
 
 "Her Highness wishes to speak to Fraulein von 
 Gerold," the Duchess's maid knocked at the door to 
 say. 
 
 " There, you see, Claudine, you cannot go away," 
 said Beata, with undisguised satisfaction, as she tied 
 the strings of her bonnet. 
 
 It was quiet and dark in the sick-room. Every one 
 had been sent away; the Duke was pacing the ante- 
 chamber with inaudible footsteps. Claudine sat on a 
 chair at the foot of the couch, whither the Duchess 
 had motioned her by a wave of her hand ; in a faint 
 whisper she begged her to stay, as she had something 
 important to discuss with her. 
 
 Below, in the Prince's room, the Princess Helena 
 was crouching on the carpet beside the slender lad ; 
 she was not crying, but her hands were clasped, as if 
 asking forgiveness of some one. Princess Thekla was 
 in the apartments of the Dowager Duchess. The old 
 lady, profoundly agitated, was sitting in a large arm- 
 chair, the back of which still bore the Gerold escutch- 
 eon ; she scarcely listened to what her Grace was say-
 
 274 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 ing. She was shocked at the condition in which she 
 had found 'Liesel.' 
 
 " Yes ; such agitations of mind " sighed the old 
 
 Princess. " It is wellnigh inconceivable. She is a posi- 
 tive intriguer, this soft-spoken Claudine!" 
 
 " My dear cousin," the venerable Duchess rejoined, 
 " the knowledge is as old as human experience, that in 
 such cases the larger half of the blame is the man's ; 
 let us remember this, if you please." 
 
 "But why do they tolerate her here any longer?" 
 said the Princess, still further irritated by this reply, 
 her sallow complexion growing a shade darker. 
 
 " Please to remember, ma chere, that his Highness 
 alone is master here." 
 
 " Of course. Pardon me, but it is strange, when we 
 think " 
 
 " Yes ; but there are cases when it is better not to 
 think, cousin," was the reply, uttered with a sigh. 
 
 " Baron Gerold begs the favour of an interview with 
 your Highness concerning a matter of much impor- 
 tance," announced Fraulein von Bohlen at this junc- 
 ture. 
 
 Her Highness assented immediately. The next 
 moment Lothar entered the room. Princess Thekla 
 smiled amiably at him and rose : " A private audience ? 
 I will withdraw." 
 
 " Your Grace's presence would in no wise interfere 
 with the request I wish to lay at her Highness's feet, 
 inasmuch as your Grace will take a certain degree of 
 interest in my proposal." 
 
 Her Highness glanced keenly at him from beneath 
 her lace cap. " "What is it, Gerold ?" said she.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 275 
 
 Fraulein von Bohlen, as she slowly withdrew, knew 
 from the weary air of her kindly mistress, usually so 
 ready to give counsel and advice, that she was reluc- 
 tant to allow her thoughts to stray from the Duchess's 
 sick-bed. The young lady courtesied with the melan- 
 choly, compassionate expression of countenance which 
 she had assumed of late, indeed from the day when she 
 had seen her mistress's eyes swimming in tears over 
 a letter. And yet her sensations were far from melan- 
 choly : the secret dread lest Claudine should one day 
 resume her position, and she herself be obliged to re- 
 turn to her shabby home with its parsimonious exist- 
 ence, no longer tormented her; never again would the 
 Dowager Duchess, with her strict notions of moral- 
 ity, desire to have about her the girl who had laid a 
 sacrilegious hand upon the most sacred of ties and had 
 disturbed the domestic peace of the reigning family. 
 She smiled when she found herself alone, and her 
 thoughts busied themselves with the future whilst, 
 standing at the window, she gazed abroad over the 
 sunny garden. What mattered to her the pain and 
 anguish of others? She knew one thing only: never 
 more should she be forced to hear every penny dis- 
 cussed at home ; never more should she be obliged to 
 pass with an air of proud indifference the shops where 
 long accounts were owing, for which she was dunned 
 every week ; never more should she have to clean her 
 gloves with benzine, nor to hear the servant complain to 
 her high-born mamma that she was starved. She was 
 firmly established now in the excellent position of a 
 lady-in-waiting, and Cluudine von Gerold, the ' charm- 
 ing, ever-to-be-remembered Claudine,' whose hand had 
 been 'as gentle as that of a daughter,' had become 
 impossible! What did the haughty creature want?
 
 276 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 She had found a powerful protector. Fraulein von 
 Bohlen suddenly blushed ; she would fain have changed 
 places with Claudine von Gerold. 
 
 All was quiet in the next room. Now and then 
 Baron Gerold's voice was raised ; on a sudden a shrill 
 burst of laughter from the Princess Thekla was heard, 
 and the next moment the tall, spare figure of her Grace 
 in its rustling silk stood beside the startled lady-in- 
 waiting. 
 
 " Princess Helena ! Find the Princess for me !" she 
 panted, and the hand holding her ivory fan shook as 
 with fever. 
 
 Fraulein von Bohlen flew to do her bidding, and the 
 Princess Helena,- breathless with haste, appeared. 
 
 " We are going instantly to Neuhaus. Where is the 
 Countess ?" 
 
 " In heaven's name, mamma, what has happened ?" 
 Helena well understood the mood which her mother's 
 face betokened. 
 
 " Come I" was the reply. 
 
 "No, mamma, dearest mamma, leave me herel I 
 cannot bear my anxiety at Neuhaus 1" the Princess 
 implored. 
 
 " Who told you you would have to bear it there ? 
 We are going to Berlin this evening by the express 
 train. Come!" 
 
 "No, I cannot 1" came from the pale lips. "Do 
 not try to force me. I should escape from you on the 
 way. I cannot leave here !" 
 
 Anger mastered the old Princess; she seized the 
 girl's delicate arm in a hard grasp. "En avantl" 
 she exclaimed. " There is nothing more for us to do 
 here !" 
 
 But her daughter extricated herself. " I am doing
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 277 
 
 my duty !" she cried, almost beside herself, and fled from 
 the room. When the old lady followed her it seemed as 
 if the air had absorbed the little white figure, so silent 
 and deserted was the corridor. 
 
 The Princess Thekla drove to Neuhaus, accompanied 
 by the Countess only. The carriage holding Beata 
 and the children rolled along the road before her, and 
 the joyous shouts of her little grand-daughter resounded 
 in her ears. 
 
 The Countess wore a very pale face when she joined 
 Frau von Berg. The young girl was outraged by the 
 treatment she had received at the hands of her Grace 
 during the drive. " Oh, I wish I could go directly back 
 to mamma!" she cried. "How could I help her High- 
 ness's hemorrhage?" 
 
 Frau von Berg's face had worn its perpetual smile, 
 but at this she grew grave. "A hemorrhage?" she 
 asked. 
 
 " Yes ; and a very serious one. They have tele- 
 graphed to H ." 
 
 "And Princess Helena?" 
 
 " She would not come ; she seems to wish to spend 
 her time on the threshold of the sick-room." 
 
 "And where is the Baron ?" 
 
 " With the Dowager Duchess ; at least he was when 
 we came away. The Bohlen said he had begged the 
 Dowager Duchess for an audience." 
 
 "And Fraulein von Gerold ?" 
 
 The pretty Countess shrugged her shoulders: 
 "Every one is talking about her; I am sorry for her. 
 They say the Duchess has discovered her husband's 
 infidelity; his Highness looks as if he would like to 
 annihilate humanity." 
 
 "Good heavens! that scandal had to come to light 
 24
 
 278 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 some time," said Frau von Berg. " But where in the 
 world is she at present? In the tower at the Owl's 
 Nest, spying over at Altenstein ? or has she thrown 
 herself into the pond in the park, the haughty Clau- 
 dine ?" 
 
 Countess Moorsleben gazed in the face of the woman, 
 who could not conceal her satisfaction. A savage joy 
 gleamed in the black eyes, not the joy of the just at 
 the confusion of the evil-doer. 
 
 "Frau von Berg," said the pretty Countess, mali- 
 ciously, " I have been trying all the morning to re- 
 member the origin of the proverb, ' People who live in 
 glass houses should not throw stones.' " 
 
 " I asked you, Countess, what became of Fraulein 
 von Gerold after so striking a display of the ducal dis- 
 pleasure ?" 
 
 " I do not understand you, dear Frau von Berg," the 
 Countess replied, as gently as she could. " You know 
 more than I do. Displeasure? Striking display? 
 Fraulein von Gerold is sitting at her Highness's bed- 
 side." 
 
 Frau von Berg gasped for breath and rustled into 
 her Grace's apartment, the bell in which had just been 
 ringing a perfect alarum. 
 
 The Duchess was sleeping ; profound silence reigned 
 throughout the spacious mansion. 
 
 Baron Gerold was sitting in the room of Captain von 
 Einkleben ; he had asked permission of the kindly 
 officer to await here the next intelligence with regard 
 to her Highness's health. He had lighted a cigar, and 
 then let it go out ; he had taken up a book, but he was
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 279 
 
 not sufficiently calm to read. His face expressed great 
 distress, and a tormenting unrest urged him to pace the 
 room incessantly. 
 
 Herr von Palmer had bolted his door; he was in 
 the worst possible humour. This was a delightful day, 
 forsooth ! In the morning when he had gone to his 
 Highness's study to discuss some necessary changes 
 and additions in the royal residence in the capital, the 
 Duke had received him with an air of surprise, and 
 an open letter. It was a confidential communication 
 from Prince Leopold, his cousin, and it asked how it 
 happened that for three years no payments had been 
 made by the Duke's High Steward to the firm of 
 Schmidt & Bros., of E. on the Ehine. The head of 
 the firm had now entreated the intercession of the 
 Prince, since all direct appeals resulted only in fresh 
 orders, while any reference to the outstanding account 
 was evaded. Nay, in the last communication the firm 
 had been informed that any further appeal would be 
 followed by the withholding of all further orders. Herr 
 von Palmer had smiled and said that there must be 
 some gross misunderstanding ; his Highness, however, 
 had with great decision expressed the wish that this 
 matter should be arranged as soon and as perfectly as 
 possible. 
 
 It was very unpleasant, very ! As if such a pack of 
 tradesfolk could expect anything save to give credit to 
 all eternity! at least until Herr von Palmer, after some 
 years, should be in condition to depart upon his travels. 
 It was a consolation to have the Berg for an ally. How 
 brilliant had been her scheme for making the beauti- 
 ful Gerold 'impossible' on the Prince's birthday! The 
 old Duchess had dropped Claudine; even his High- 
 ness would not have the courage to carry on his love-
 
 280 THE OWLS NEST. 
 
 affair beneath his mother's eye. "Wonderful! Quite 
 wonderful ! 
 
 Through the high, broad window in the Duchess's bed- 
 room the last rays of the setting sun were streaming. 
 
 " Claudine," whispered a weary voice. 
 
 The girl, who had been sitting lost in sorrowful 
 thought, rose and kneeled beside the bed. " How are 
 you now, Elizabeth ?" she asked. 
 
 " Oh, better better ; I feel that the end is near." 
 
 " Do not talk so, Elizabeth I" 
 
 " Is there any one here to overhear us ?" 
 
 " No, Elizabeth ; his Highness has gone to the little 
 Princes, the dressing-maid is in the next room, Frau 
 von Katzenstein is with the Dowager Duchess, and 
 the Sister who has been summoned to nurse you is 
 asleep over her book of devotion." 
 
 The sick woman lay motionless, her eyes following 
 the red spot of sunlight on the picture of the Madonna 
 as it crept higher and higher, glittering at last upon 
 the carving of the gilt frame, and then vanished. 
 
 "Why had you no confidence in me?" she suddenly 
 asked, sadly. " Why did you not tell me frankly every- 
 thing, everything ?" 
 
 "Elizabeth, I had nothing to conceal from you." 
 
 " Do not lie, Claudine I" the Duchess exclaimed, 
 solemnly. "No falsehood should be told to a dying 
 woman I" 
 
 Claudine raised her head proudly: "I have never 
 lied to you, Elizabeth." 
 
 A bitter smile hovered upon her Highness's pale, 
 emaciated face. 
 
 " Your every look has lied to me I" was uttered with 
 terrible distinctness and coldness, " for you love my 
 husband."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 281 
 
 A cry interrupted her, and Claudine's head dropped 
 heavily upon the red silk coverlet of the bed. What 
 she had feared had come to pass ; she learned it from 
 the lips of the woman whom she so dearly loved. 
 
 " I do not reproach you, Claudine ; I only want you 
 to promise me that after my death " 
 
 " Merciful God !" the girl groaned as she rose, " who 
 has aroused in your mind such terrible mistrust of me ?" 
 
 "Mistrust? Eather ask, Who opened my eyes to 
 perceive the terrible truth ? And he loves you, he 
 loves you !" the Duchess went on, in a whisper. " Oh, 
 God, it is so natural I" 
 
 " No ! no !" Claudine cried, almost beside herself as 
 she wrung her hands. 
 
 "Hush I hush!" the invalid begged, wearily; "let 
 us talk quietly ; I have still so much to say." 
 
 Claudine felt dizzy. What should she do to prove 
 her innocence? 
 
 A flush coloured the invalid's cheeks ; she breathed 
 with difficult} 7 . 
 
 "Elizabeth, believe me, trust me only this once I" 
 implored the girl. 
 
 The Duchess suddenly sat up in bed. " Can you 
 swear," she asked, calmly, " can you swear that there 
 never has been a word of love spoken between the 
 Duke and yourself? Swear this, swear it by your 
 mother's memory, and if you can do so here at my 
 death-bed I will believe you, and shall know that my 
 eyes played me false." 
 
 Claudine stood paralyzed ; her lips moved as if to 
 speak, but no sound issued from them, and her head 
 suddenly drooped as if she felt annihilated. 
 
 The Duchess sank back among her pillows. " That 
 courage you still lack," she murmured. 
 
 24*
 
 282 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " Elizabeth !" the girl entreated, " believe me ! be- 
 lieve me ! Good God, what can I do to induce you to 
 have faith in me ? 1 tell you again, you are mistaken 1" 
 
 "Hush!" said the Duchess, with a contemptuous 
 smile. 
 
 His Highness entered at this instant. "How are 
 you now, Liesel?" he asked, kindly; and, leaning over 
 her, he tried to stroke the hair aside from her damp 
 brow. 
 
 "Do not touch me!" she gasped, her eyes opening 
 wide in terror. " It will soon be over," she whispered. 
 
 Claudine was leaning in despair against the door. 
 The Duke approached her, and asked, in a low, dis- 
 tressed voice, " Is her Highness delirious?" 
 
 The girl suppressed the sobbing cry which threat- 
 ened to break from her lips, and tottered into the next 
 room. 
 
 He followed her in much agitation : " What has 
 happened ?" 
 
 The sick woman's eyes followed them to the door 
 behind which they disappeared. All her fearful, sup- 
 pressed agony convulsed her and bewildered her poor 
 thoughts; she lay with clinched hands and burning 
 eyes. What! could they not have some consideration 
 for a dying woman ? And she had meant so kindly by 
 them. She meant to arrange in her last will that they 
 should belong to each other in future. That was to be 
 her revenge for her ruined happiness. And she, she, 
 what an abyss of turpitude the girl's soul must be, 
 when she could still appeal to heaven to bear witness 
 to her innocence ! 
 
 A desperate, stifling dread oppressed her aching 
 breast. Her husband re-entered the room and stood 
 at the foot of the bed, looking at her with a strange
 
 TEE OWL'S NEST. 283 
 
 inquiry in his eyes. Claudine, who had regained her 
 composure, brought a glass of some mixture. " Prink 
 this, Elizabeth," she begged, as she leaned over her and 
 put her arm beneath her head. " Drink this ; you are 
 so warm ; it is what always refreshes you." 
 
 The Duchess lay motionless, with compressed lips, 
 her large eyes first fixed upon the girl's pale face and 
 then turned towards her husband. The glass in Clau- 
 dine's hand began to tremble. "Ah, please drink!" she 
 entreated, in a failing voice. 
 
 There came a shrill scream, and the glass was hurled 
 from Claudine's hand. 
 
 " Poison !" the Duchess shrieked, sitting erect in bed, 
 with the expression of a maniac, and with extended 
 arms. "Poison! Help! Am I not dying quickly 
 enough for you ?" 
 
 She sank back exhausted, a fresh stream of blood from 
 her parted lips dyeing her night-dress and the bed. 
 
 Claudine, who had fallen upon her knees, sprang 
 up ; she, too, looked almost insane. By a superhuman 
 effort, she controlled herself, rang the bell, and then 
 helped to raise the sick woman and lean her upon the 
 breast of the Duke, whose pale face showed him to be 
 profoundly agitated. 
 
 " Liesel I" he murmured. " Why, Liesel Al- 
 mighty God ! " 
 
 She lay with closed eyes, as if dying. 
 
 There was a stir in the room. The old physician 
 appeared, and looked extremely anxious. He consulted 
 the clock, felt the patient's weak pulse, and shook his 
 head. " At nine o'clock Professor Thalheim will be here, 
 your Highness," he whispered to the weeping Dowager 
 Duchess; "but until then there must be rest, entire 
 rest, with no show of anxiety in the manner of those
 
 284 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 around the Duchess, who should be attended as usual. 
 Meanwhile, I will remain in the next room." 
 
 " Claudine 1" whispered the sick woman. " Clau- 
 dine!" 
 
 The Dowager Duchess looked around for the girl ; 
 she had vanished. In her distress the old lady went 
 out into the corridor and asked her way to Fraulein 
 von Gerold's room. But the door was locked, and 
 nothing was stirring inside. 
 
 Claudine was prostrate in her room, incapable of one 
 distinct thought. Had it come to this ? to this? The 
 world thought her a fallen woman, the Duke's mistress I 
 His own wife was dying in this delusion ! 
 
 Oh, the arrogant folly of her insane pride ! If she 
 could summon the stars from the heavens as witnesses 
 of her purity, no one would believe her, no one, neither 
 the dying nor the living, nor he, he whose warning 
 she had rejected. God alone knew her innocence, and 
 He no longer works miracles. Lost! Lost! She had 
 become the blot on the scutcheon of her family ; the 
 whole country would point the finger of scorn at her 
 with, "Look, look, that is she who broke our poor 
 Duchess's heart I" 
 
 Who could save her? The Duke? He could not 
 enter the lists for her ; they would all pretend to be- 
 lieve him, and laugh in their sleeves. Merciful God, 
 what had she done to be so hated, so bitterly hated ? 
 
 If she could but die ! She could not then wipe out 
 her disgrace, but she should be dead, no longer able to 
 feel. She thought and thought, and a voice within 
 seemed to suggest the little lake in the park. How 
 quiet and cool it was there, so cool ! They would 
 perhaps find her there, and people would say, " She 
 had some sense of honour left, that Claudine, she
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 285 
 
 could not live with guilt upon her soul !" One only 
 would surely say, standing beside her coffin, "My 
 sister, my pure, proud darling, I believe in you !" 
 
 And in Neuhaus, a delicate brunette would lean her 
 head upon its master's shoulder, and a sweet voice 
 would declare, " What do I care, Lothar, for the stain 
 brought upon your name by one of your race ? For- 
 get it. I love you in spite of it." 
 
 A knock at her door startled her. 
 
 " Fraulein von Gerold," it was Fraulein von Bohlen 
 who spoke, " the Dowager Duchess wishes to see you." 
 
 She walked out into the corridor mechanically, for- 
 getting that her hair was loose and falling down, some 
 golden strands hanging across her brow, forgetting 
 that she had on a loose morning-wrapper. As one 
 in a dream she entered the apartment, where the 
 candles had not yet been lit, and where upon the bright 
 rug the moonlight lay in two broad, gleaming strips. 
 
 "Claudine!" said a gentle voice from the window. 
 
 She crossed the room and courtesied. 
 
 "Sit down, Claudine." 
 
 But she made no movement to obey. She stood as 
 if paralyzed. " Is the Duchess dying?" she asked, 
 hoarsely. 
 
 " Her life is in God's hand, Claudine." 
 
 " Oh, through me ! through me !" the girl murmured. 
 
 The Duchess made no reply. " I have a question to 
 put to you, Claudine," the old lady began at last, "a 
 strange question at this moment, when the angel of 
 Death is knocking at the door of the house; but he for 
 whom I ask it has made it my duty to do so imme- 
 diately. Baron Gerold begs you, Claudine, to replace 
 the mother of his orphaned child, to be his wife." 
 
 "Ah, your Highness!" Claudine all but shrieked,
 
 286 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 recoiling a step and leaning heavily against the frame 
 of the window. " I thank him and decline," she said. 
 " I require no sacrifice of him." 
 
 " Very good !" the old Duchess rejoined, sternly. 
 " You have it in your power to silence at one stroke 
 all slanderous tongues ; you have it in your power to 
 restore to life for a while a fleeting existence, that it 
 may fade away in peace." 
 
 *' Your Highness !" groaned the girl. 
 
 "My poor, unhappy daughter!" sighed the old lady. 
 
 " I would give my life for the Duchess, your High- 
 ness ; but do not ask this humiliation of me I" 
 
 "Your life? That is easily said, Claudine." 
 
 " Oh that I could prove it !" she exclaimed, confront- 
 ing the old Duchess with clasped hands. She stood 
 just in the full light of the moon, which revealed the 
 utter despair in her eyes, in her entire figure. 
 
 The Duchess was startled. "But, Claudine, Clau- 
 dine!" she said, soothingly. 
 
 "Does your Highness really believe me dishon- 
 oured?" she asked. The question was put brokenly, 
 hurriedly. 
 
 " No, my child ; Baron Gerold would never ask a 
 dishonoured woman to be his wife." 
 
 She recoiled. " Ah, it is only for that !" she stam- 
 mered. 
 
 " I found it very hard to put any faith in the scan- 
 dal," the old lady continued. " But, child, I know life, 
 I know my son's inflammable temperament, and his 
 power over the hearts of women ; and you who fled 
 from him, you I knew to be suddenly thrown with 
 him daily. Child, child, I believe that you are only the 
 Duchess's friend; but you have arrogantly ventured 
 to risk your reputation. You have failed to avoid the
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 287 
 
 appearance of evil, and therefore you should take the 
 hand which is held out to you," she added, earnestly. 
 "No one will dare, not even the most slanderous, to 
 declare that Lothar von Gerold takes a woman to his 
 heart who is not pure as snow. And he my son 
 would never let his eyes rest upon one who belonged 
 to another." 
 
 "I am incapable of deciding, your Highness." 
 
 " You must decide, my child ; Baron Lothar is waiting 
 below, a prey to hope and fear." 
 
 "Your Highness," implored the girl, "he does not 
 love me; he is making a sacrifice to the honour of our 
 name. I cannot accept it. Have pity upon me !" 
 
 " Sacrifice yourself!" exclaimed the illustrious lady, 
 irritated by opposition. " Is your honour not worth 
 such a sacrifice ? Is she, now lying there struggling 
 with death, not worth it?" 
 
 "Your Highness," whispered Claudine, and a sudden 
 thought shot through her poor, tortured brain, " I will 
 I will speak with Baron Gerold." 
 
 The Duchess took pity upon the wretched girl ; she 
 poured out a glass of water and brought it to her. 
 " Calm yourself first, and then he shall come," she said, 
 gently. 
 
 " The Herr Medizinalrath," Fraulein von Bohlen an- 
 nounced, entering at the moment, while close behind 
 her appeared the physician's short figure. 
 
 "Your Highness must excuse my intrusion," he 
 began, hurriedly. " I consider it my duty to inform 
 your Highness that our illustrious patient is in extreme 
 peril. Her Highness is exhausted to the point of death 
 by loss of blood. Professor Thalheim advises trans- 
 fusion ; I do not disapprove. No means should be left 
 untried. His Highness is determined to supply the
 
 288 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 required blood ; but, since it is always a delicate opera- 
 tion, it may have consequences, such as blood-poison- 
 ing, and so forth, which would imperil life, we cannot 
 avail ourselves of his Highness's resolve ; in the family 
 annals it is expressly forbidden " 
 
 He hesitated. Claudine hastily approached him and 
 held out her hand : " Herr Medizinalrath, I entreat to 
 be allowed to be the one to " 
 
 "You?" the old man asked, looking with amazement 
 at the girl's pale face, now full of beseeching earnest- 
 ness. " You, Fraulein von Gerold ? Well, then, come 
 instantly! There is no time to lose. But stay. I 
 must remind you that we must open an artery." 
 
 " Ah, my dear doctor!" said Claudine, in a tone and 
 with a shrug that seemed to say, ' If that be all !' She 
 hurried on before him, forgetting all etiquette in her 
 dread lest another should precede her. 
 
 The old Duchess had scarcely comprehended. Trans- 
 fusion ? What is transfusion ? When she entered the 
 young Duchess's antechamber both physicians were 
 busied about the patient. Beside Claudine stood the 
 Sister, rolling up the sleeve of the girl's white cache- 
 mire morning-gown. The old lady laid her hand on 
 her son's shoulder ; he had just retired from his wife's 
 bedside to the antechamber, where Frau von Katzen- 
 etein and the dressing-maid were standing with faces 
 of distress. 
 
 "Adalbert," she asked, in a whisper, "Adalbert, 
 what does this mean? The doctor said they must 
 open an artery. Is it to pour her blood into Liesel's 
 veins?" 
 
 He nodded absently ; his eyes never moved from the 
 girl's face with its melancholy smile. 
 
 " In heaven's name, Adalbert," the old Duchess went
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 289 
 
 on, i( can we allow Fraulein von Gerold It seems 
 
 a very dangerous thing." 
 
 He turned and looked at her. "Does it not?" he 
 asked, bitterly, in a low tone. "It requires rather 
 more courage than is needed to shoot from some secure 
 hiding-place the arrow which will mortally wound a 
 poor woman and besmirch the reputation of an inno- 
 cent girl. I cannot prevent her from thus sacrificing 
 herself," he went on, shrugging his shoulders, " I 
 least of all, lest it should be said I cared more for her 
 life than for my wife's." 
 
 The Sister now closed the curtains ; Claudine's white, 
 lovely figure alone was seen for an instant in the mid- 
 dle of the room, looking like a sacrificial priestess of 
 mercy. "Arm to arm, doctor," the professor's voice 
 said ; " it is surer." 
 
 But the Duke neither saw nor heard : he had left the 
 room. He was pacing the Duchess's drawing-room to 
 and fro in intense agitation ; the apartment was the 
 same in which he had told Claudine of his passion. 
 At this moment he would have given years of his life 
 to obliterate the memory of that hour. " Poor girl ! 
 Poor woman !" This he had not meant. He had 
 snatched at this pleasure with the eagerness of a man 
 accustomed to conquer. He had conceived a genuine 
 passion for his mother's beautiful lady-in-waiting ; she 
 had repulsed him, and he had accepted the repulse ; for 
 the first time he had bowed before a woman of strong 
 character; but his fault had brought a fate with it. 
 Who, in the name of heaven, could have slandered 
 Claudine to the Duchess? 
 
 A single candle was burning in the candelabrum upon 
 the chimney-piece, just as on that ill-fated evening. 
 
 His Highness's forehead was covered with cold 
 N t 25
 
 290 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 moisture. " Oh for only time enough," he muttered, 
 "to explain to her! time enough to prevent her from 
 dying in the belief that I am guilty !" 
 
 There is something mighty and sacred in a wife's 
 love. She had deified him in spite of his faults, of his 
 coldness, of his indifference. He saw in fancy her eyes 
 riveted upon him with the old ardent devotion in them 
 from which he had so often turned away impatiently. 
 He heard her soft voice often adopting the pretty 
 patois of the province, and her 'Eh, my Adalbert?' 
 She had always lived so quietly, had been so grateful 
 for every crumb of affection which he had thrown her, 
 so happy at every tender word, so modest in her 
 claims. Her little faults, her weaknesses, which he 
 had at times thought intolerable, how small they 
 looked to him now ! 
 
 He stood at the window and recalled this day eleven 
 years before. Then, too, they had feared for her life. 
 He saw himself beside her bed, beside the cradle of 
 his first-born. She had lain there so pale, but her 
 eyes had beamed ; in spite of her weariness she had 
 smiled proudly. He had given her only formal words 
 of gratitude; all his interest had been for his child, 
 the heir; she had but fulfilled her duty. Suddenly he 
 leaned his head against the window-frame and passed 
 his hand over his eyes. Would they never come to say 
 how all was going in the sick-room ? 
 
 The entire castle seemed under a spell ; the lamps 
 burned dimly in the corridors, and lackeys were stand- 
 ing about with distressed faces. In the apartments 
 below-stairs of the gentlemen-in-waiting conversation 
 was carried on in undertones; in the nursery the 
 governess and the nurse looked at each other sadly 
 and significantly, and in the kitchens the servants
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 291 
 
 whispered together and told frightful stories. The 
 head of the linen-room had distinctly seen the White 
 Lady, in the moonlight, on the great staircase in the 
 left wing, gliding along step by step slowly, and with 
 her head bent, as the spectre was wont to appear when 
 a death was imminent ; and the old woman mimicked 
 her, and the eyes of her audience grew large with 
 terror. 
 
 Every one knew that a last attempt was making to 
 save the Duchess's life, and Fraulein von Gerold's name 
 was on every one's lips. 
 
 In Herr von Palmer's room sat Frau von Berg; she 
 had been sent by Helena's illustrious mamma to fetch 
 the Princess home, and had improved the opportunity 
 to say 'good-evening' to her friend, to inquire as to 
 the state of affairs, and to announce the astounding in- 
 telligence that the Baron, in presence of the Princess 
 Thekla, had made application to the Dowager Duchess 
 for his cousin's hand. 
 
 The stately woman was dumfounded. "If I only 
 had the Princess safe in the carriage !" she wailed, 
 rising and pacing the apartment to and fro, while Herr 
 von Palmer grew very restless in his rocking-chair. 
 " There is no knowing what folly she may not commit 
 in an access of penitence." 
 
 Yes, the Princess, where was the Princess ? 
 
 The old linen-room woman had seen the White Lady ; 
 it had been the little Princess, and her bowed head and 
 slow walk were due to her knowledge that her Highness 
 was likely to die, and that Fraulein von Gerold was in 
 peril. She had learned it from the broken phrases of 
 the old dressing-maid, whom she had encountered talk- 
 ing with the linen-room-keeper, upon her return from 
 the garden, into the depths of which her distress had
 
 292 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 driven her, and where she had gone that she might for 
 a while not even see the castle which misfortune was 
 visiting through her fault. 
 
 Her faltering steps had carried her to the Duchess's 
 drawing-room, and there she had seen the Duke stand- 
 ing by the window, and when he turned round she had 
 perceived by the dim light that the handsome face, 
 usually so cool and unmoved, wore a heart-breaking 
 expression of misery, and the eyes showed traces of 
 tears. It was more than she could bear ! 
 
 In an instant she was on her knees before him, his 
 hand clasped in hers, pouring out in a confused, in- 
 distinct way a flood of self-accusation, and confessing 
 everything. He did not interrupt her; when she 
 ceased, exhausted, he asked one question : 
 
 " The note, Helena ? How in heaven's name did you 
 come into possession of the only note which I ever 
 wrote to Claudine, and which her Highness has evi- 
 dently entirely misunderstood ?" 
 
 " In it your Highness begged Claudine, in spite of it, 
 to remain the friend of your wife." 
 
 " In spite of my having offended Fraulein von Gerold, 
 of course !" 
 
 "Cousin, cousin, punish me!" cried the Princess; 
 " tell me what I shall do to atone " 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders : " How did you come by 
 the note?" 
 
 " Frau von Berg " stammered the Princess, and 
 
 sank on the floor. The Duke lifted her up, led her to 
 an arm-chair, and, without another word, turned on 
 his heel and left the room.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 293 
 
 The operation was over ; the Duchess had regained 
 some colour, and her pulse was stronger. Claudine's 
 healthy stream of life seemed to have lent her fresh 
 vigour : it was like a miracle. She lay sleeping softly, 
 while the fragrant breath of the summer night was 
 wafted in through the open window, and profound 
 silence reigned in the room, save for the gentle, regular 
 breathing of the sick woman. 
 
 Claudine was in her room, with her arm bandaged. 
 She felt very weary j it was not alone the consequence 
 of the loss of blood, the exhausting agitation of the 
 entire day now had its effect. Her limbs all but refused 
 to sustain her, and yet she declined, with a persistence 
 bordering on obstinacy, to lie down. She still had to 
 speak with Baron Gerold, she said, and would then 
 drive immediately home. 
 
 The old Duchess, who had followed her from her High- 
 ness's bedside to overwhelm her with thanks, entreated 
 her like an anxious mother to postpone the interview ; 
 she needed repose after the operation ; but Claudine per- 
 sisted in her desire. " I cannot do things by halves," 
 she declared, with unusual calm and great seriousness. 
 
 The professor, who was called to help to dissuade 
 her, was wellnigh rude. " Well, then," said he, after 
 his peremptory fashion, " let the interview take place, 
 but the drive must be postponed. And now drink a 
 glass of wine I" He held the glass to her lips with a 
 look that admitted of no disobedience ; reluctantly she 
 sipped a little. But when she heard steps in the cor- 
 ridor she turned to the old Duchess: "Your Highness 
 will allow me to speak with my cousin alone." 
 
 The old Duchess withdrew, with a troubled shake 
 of the head ; Frau von Katzenstein and the professor 
 followed her. 
 
 25*
 
 294 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " Good luck to you, my dear Baron," the Duchess 
 whispered to Lothar, who bowed low as he passed her. 
 
 "No excitement, Herr Baron," was the professor's 
 warning ; " say ' yes' to everything, no matter what it 
 may be." 
 
 He entered almost with impatience. He had been 
 wandering restlessly in the park, where the footman 
 sent to search for him had found him, and he had no 
 suspicion of all that had been taking place in the 
 castle. His startled gaze fell upon the bandage and 
 the sling in which Claudine's arm hung, upon the 
 loose morning-dress, the dishevelled hair, and the pale, 
 changed face of the beautiful girl. 
 
 " What does this mean ?" his eyes asked, but no word 
 issued from his lips ; he silently pointed to the bandage. 
 
 " A trifle," she replied, motioning him to a chair ; 
 " nothing more than a tiny wound made by the physi- 
 cian's lancet ; some blood was needed for the Duchess. 
 And now for the matter in hand, Baron." 
 
 "And you can speak of it as if it were nothing!" he 
 exclaimed. " Do you not know that it might have been 
 death ?" 
 
 " You forget who conducted the operation ; and if it 
 had been " 
 
 " You, of course, have no one in the world who 
 would suffer from your loss; no one of whom you 
 should first have asked, 'May I do it? Have I the 
 right to risk my health, and possibly my life?' " 
 
 " Yes, one person there is," she replied, " Joachim. 
 But there was no time." 
 
 "Joachim!" he repeated, with the same bitterness 
 that had characterized his previous words. "Was I 
 not worth a thought ? I, who had just sued for your 
 life for myself, for my child ?" he asked, more gently.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 295 
 
 Suddenly Claudine grew dizzy, and sank into the 
 chair beside which she had been standing. 
 
 " I wanted to speak to you about that," she began, 
 looking past him. <; I promised the Dowager Duchess 
 to assent ; it shall not last long. You are so inexpres- 
 sibly magnanimous, cousin. Indeed, I do not know how 
 to thank you. I could do so fitly only by declining to 
 take advantage of your magnanimity and " 
 
 He stood motionless, looking at her. 
 
 " And that," she continued, " would be to decline to 
 employ a means for lengthening the life of one who 
 has been deeply injured, so says the Dowager Duchess. 
 Therefore I cannot do it; forgive me. But I have a 
 plan : betrothal does not necessarily mean marriage. 
 If the Duchess recovers, we can part; if she dies, of 
 course we can do the same. It is only a measure for 
 soothing her ; a little heroic, I grant, but a betrothal 
 is only a promise, and we all know that not every 
 promise is kept. Heaven knows, many part before 
 marriage ; it is no disgrace. I I " 
 
 She had spoken more and more rapidly; now she 
 leaned her fair head back among the cushions of the 
 chair and closed her eyes. He had approached her, 
 his features working strangely. 
 
 "I," she began again, " I cannot leave here ; but you, 
 Lothar, you are free. After the announcement, which 
 unfortunately cannot be avoided, of this betrothal, you 
 can easily find a reason for visiting some distant place 
 
 until " And she suddenly sat erect. "I am not 
 
 speaking for myself, G-od knows ! Why should I ? My 
 clear conscience suffices mo entirely. But that unfor- 
 tunate woman, do you understand, Lothar ?" 
 
 " We are to play a farce, then?" he asked. 
 
 " Not for long! not for long !" she whispered, while
 
 296 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 her lovely, weary eyes met his, as though beseeching 
 forgiveness. 
 
 He clasped her right hand with a quick, passionate 
 gesture. " So be it," he said ; " but you are ill, and 
 first, before the farce begins " 
 
 "Let it begin immediately," she begged. "Go to 
 the Dowager Duchess and inform her that I have con- 
 sented. Meanwhile, I will make ready for the drive 
 home. I am so tired, so worn out." 
 
 " I will go," he said, calmly, " and you will lie down ; 
 you will not drive home." 
 
 "But I will!" she exclaimed, angrily, and changed 
 colour. " Do not forget that it is only a farce ; that 
 you and I can have our own way in spite of it." 
 
 He controlled himself and went. 
 
 ' Say yes !' the physician had said, ' only yes !' 
 Claudine gazed after him as in a dream ; she felt her 
 strength leaving her; she was weak and humiliated. 
 She would have liked to tear the bandage from her 
 arm and let her life escape with the blood from the 
 little wound. Involuntarily she plucked at it. On a 
 sudden all sorts of colours danced before her eyes; 
 everything wavered and grew indistinct; her chair 
 seemed beginning to rock ; she tried to steady it, and 
 made a grasp in the air. " Stop," she whispered, but 
 all about her seemed spinning furiously around; her 
 head sank back, she felt herself lifted on high, and 
 then knew no more. 
 
 The Sister who came to look after her by the phy- 
 sician's orders found her in a dead faint. With the 
 noiseless dexterity of her calling, she soon restored the 
 girl to consciousness. 
 
 " It is nothing but exhaustion, Herr Baron," said the 
 little doctor, whom Lothar brought from the gentle-
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 297 
 
 men's rooms, where both physicians were sitting with 
 the chamberlain. "Nothing more. Let the patient 
 be perfectly quiet and undisturbed, and to-morrow she 
 will be all right. How could it be otherwise, with 
 such youth and health ? Drive to Neuhaus without 
 an anxiety, my dear Baron." 
 
 Herr von Gerold saw the waiting-maid himself, and 
 enjoined it upon her to summon the Sister if there 
 should be any change in Fraulein Claudine, and he 
 then begged Frau von Katzenstein to see his cousin. 
 
 The old lady went immediately to Claudine's room 
 to give him the latest intelligence of her, and he stood 
 without, waiting. He heard Claudine's voice. With 
 whom was she speaking? He could hear every word dis- 
 tinctly, for Frau von Katzenstein had left the door ajar. 
 
 "Forgive me!" was spoken loudly by the voice of 
 the Princess Helena ; not in a tone of entreaty, rather 
 in that of command. 
 
 Lothar frowned ; he had to put a force upon himself 
 to refrain from entering instantly. 
 
 Frau von Katzenstein discreetly returned. "Her 
 Grace is with Fraulein von Gerold," she whispered. 
 
 " His Highness has ordered me to beg your pardon, 
 Fraulein von Gerold," the same voice spoke again. 
 "Therefore I now beg you to forgive me. Do you 
 hear?" 
 
 Indignantly the Baron crossed the threshold of the 
 dimly-lighted room. The white face of the girl lying 
 among the cushions of the lounge flushed crimson at 
 sight of him. 
 
 " Oh, heavens !" she stammered, with a deprecatory 
 wave of her sound arm. Her heart throbbed so vio- 
 lently that she could say no more. 
 
 It did not surprise her to have him appear thus in
 
 298 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 her room ; all that she thought of was the crushing 
 blow about to fall upon the wayward little creature 
 who had come so arrogantly ' to apologize by his High- 
 ness's command.' 
 
 The Princess had not perceived him ; she stood like 
 the embodiment of obstinacy. At sight of her whom 
 she hated, all her self-reproach had turned to anger. 
 
 "You will not?" she asked. "I have not long to 
 wait; I must return to Neuhaus. Mamma has sent 
 Frau von Berg for me, but I shall not drive back with 
 her, I do not choose to ; I shall ask Baron Gerold for 
 his carriage. For the third time, then, will you for- 
 give me, Fraulein von Gerold ?'' 
 
 " I do not know, Princess, what it is that I am asked 
 to forgive, but I do so with all my heart," Claudine 
 replied, with quivering lips. 
 
 " Your Grace," it was Lothar who spoke, and his 
 voice betrayed agitation, " this mode of begging for- 
 giveness of one who has been deeply offended, and who 
 is at present suffering, is surely new." 
 
 The Princess turned as if from an electric shock. 
 Claudine's eyes sought his in appeal; she held her 
 breath. Ah, she knew from sad experience the terrible 
 effect of the knowledge that one loved is lost to us ! 
 
 " It needs all the kindness and magnanimity of my 
 betrothed to grant the forgiveness asked by your Grace 
 in so strange a fashion." 
 
 It was said. Entire silence reigned in the room, 
 everything swam before Claudine's eyes. What ! could 
 a man treat thus harshly her whom he loved, whom 
 he had wooed for weeks ? Was it done in despair at 
 being forced to resign her? 
 
 She stretched out her hand. " Princess," she said, 
 faintly, as if to ask forgiveness in her turn.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 299 
 
 But the delicate white figure did not shrink, as Clau- 
 dine had feared ; the short curls were shaken back 
 with a haughty toss of the head. " Accept my con- 
 gratulations," she said. In the loud, forced voice alone 
 could Claudine perceive the terrible agitation of the girl 
 whose passionate love had just received its death-blow. 
 
 The Princess would not notice the hand extended to 
 her. "Attend me, Baron!" she said, imperiously. 
 
 Lothar took the offered hand in her stead, and 
 carried it to his lips ; Claudine withdrew it hastily. 
 
 "No need," she said, turning her face towards the 
 wall; "it is quite superfluous, after what we have 
 agreed." 
 
 They were gone. Claudine rang the bell, and was 
 undressed, and the candles were extinguished. Frau 
 von Katzenstein slipped cautiously into the dark room 
 and stood beside the bed. Nothing was stirring behind 
 its curtains; the patient was probably sleeping the 
 sleep of exhaustion. But as the old lady's eyes became 
 accustomed to the darkness, she perceived the girl sit- 
 ting up in bed. 
 
 "But, Claudine, are you not yet sleeping?" whis- 
 pered her kindly old friend, kissing the beautiful face. 
 " I have just heard of your betrothal. God bless this 
 union of hearts, my dearest Gerold!" Then she 
 quietly departed. 
 
 Claudine put her hand to her head. "Union of 
 hearts !" she said, bitterly. " What a mockery 1" 
 
 She pondered and reflected far into the night, until 
 her thoughts grew confused. The most terrible day 
 of her life was over. What misery and heartache 
 were to follow it ?
 
 300 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Early the next morning Claudine was roused from 
 a profound sleep by a messenger from the Dowager 
 Duchess bringing her a delicious bouquet and a dia- 
 mond ring. 
 
 It pained her, obliging her to remember the pre- 
 vious day, and she rose by a great effort. The Duch- 
 ess's waiting-maid appeared just as she was dressed, 
 and summoned her to the sick-room. 
 
 With weary steps she crossed its threshold. The 
 entire crimson apartment was filled with sunshine ; 
 the Duke was standing at his wife's bedside with the 
 little Princes : the two younger ones had their hands 
 filled with roses, the eldest held something that spar- 
 kled and shone. 
 
 The Duke approached her and kissed her hand. 
 "Accept my most fervent gratitude and that of my 
 sons for your eager self-sacrifice," he said, as he led 
 her to the bedside. " See for yourself, Fraulein von 
 Gerold, what an eifect it has had !" 
 
 The Duchess held out her hands to her, while the 
 eldest Prince threw his arms around her. " I always 
 knew," he said, " that you were brave, Fraulein von 
 Gerold, and this we give you, my brothers and I, for 
 making our mamma well again." 
 
 He handed her a costly necklace, and the others held 
 out their roses to her. 
 
 " Claudine," whispered the Duchess. She kneeled 
 as she had been wont to do beside the bed, but she 
 did not, as formerly, lay her cheek confidingly against 
 her friend's. She waited, like one of the old pictured 
 saints in the castle chapel, with downcast eyes and im- 
 movable features. "Oh, why should you thank me? 
 I have done nothing," she said. 
 
 The Duchess, unperceived by Claudine, made a sign
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 301 
 
 to her husband to withdraw. He softly left the room, 
 followed by the two elder boys ; the baby alone re- 
 mained, sitting on the bed, playing with the roses. 
 
 " Thanks, Claudine, a thousand thanks! And take, 
 too, my heartfelt hopes for your happiness in your be- 
 trothal ; I learned it a while ago from mamma. It sur- 
 prised me, Claudine. Why did you never tell me that 
 you loved him ?" 
 
 Claudine was mute ; then she collected herself. If 
 she played her part so ill, the entire scheme would be 
 of no avail. Here, above all, she must be brave. 
 
 " It was so hard so hard for me to speak of it," she 
 stammered. " I did not know whether my love were 
 returned." 
 
 The Duchess pressed her hand. " Claudine," she 
 whispered, "do you know I pity the Duke; he loves 
 you!" 
 
 " No, no, your Highness !" exclaimed the girl ; " he 
 does not love me !" 
 
 " Yes, Claudine," the invalid insisted. " I had a note 
 of his to you " 
 
 Claudine started up: "A note? I never had but 
 one note from his Highness, and that " 
 
 "Hush!" whispered the Duchess; "I know. Yester- 
 day I did not understand it ; this morning Adalbert 
 himself explained to me what it meant. He told me 
 all; it was no easy task for him. I know everything, 
 Claudine, and I pity him, for now you are lost to him." 
 
 "Elizabeth," stammered the girl, wellnigh unable to 
 speak from compassion, "it was a mistake upon his 
 Highness's part, and what human being " 
 
 " Yes, a mistake ! Oh, I understand, I can compre- 
 hend it ; but all here has grown so quiet, so empty, 
 Claudine." She laid her band for an instant upon her 
 
 26
 
 302 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 heart, and then stroked caressingly her friend's band- 
 aged arm. 
 
 " Elizabeth," said the girl, " your nature is so kind 
 and true, your judgment of others so kindly, can you 
 be severe in this case ?" 
 
 The Duchess shook her head : " No, I have forgiven. 
 The little span of time that is still mine to spend hero 
 must be passed at peace with every one. Ah, Claudine, 
 for the first time since I have been his wife he talked 
 with me early this morning as in my dreams and in my 
 waking hours I have longed to have him, kindly and 
 frankly, gently and cordially. It comes too late ! Yes, 
 yes ; but it was so sweet, so dear ! and so I have for- 
 given him. There is left in me only a very little," 
 and she lowered her voice, " only a very little silly 
 vanity now. You see, I always longed to please him, 
 and forgot what a poor, ailing creature I am. So I 
 took up the mirror there and looked into it ; it hurt a 
 little at first, but then " 
 
 She paused, and tears stood in her eyes as she forced 
 a smile. 
 
 Tears which Claudine could not suppress rolled down 
 the girl's cheeks. 
 
 " I am so sorry for him," the Duchess went on. " I 
 will be kind and patient and loving to him. And there 
 is another whom I pity, Helena; she loves Baron 
 Lothar." 
 
 " Yes," sighed Claudine. 
 
 " Oh, you lovely, God-endowed creature," said the 
 sick woman, " before whom all hearts bow down ! 
 How good it must be to be so loved !" It sounded 
 very sad, very hopeless. 
 
 Claudine rose and turned away to the window ; she 
 dared not show how wretched she was.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 303 
 
 "1 will not keep you any longer, Claudine," the 
 Duchess went on. " You have so many, many duties 
 to fulfil to-day. You must pay your betrothal-visit to 
 mamma, and you must see the little one whose mother 
 you are to be, and you will have so much to discuss 
 with your betrothed. Go, Claudine, and God be with 
 you!" She smiled; the baby Prince had pulled the 
 lace cap from her dark hair, and was putting his open 
 mouth to her pale lips. She hastily turned her face 
 away. " My darling," Claudine heard her whisper, 
 "mamma must not kiss you; mamma is ill." 
 
 The agitated girl could scarcely summon sufficient 
 composure to kiss the transparent hand held out to her, 
 and to leave the room calmly. In her own apartment 
 she threw herself into an arm-chair, hid her face in her 
 hands, and wept bitterly. The waiting-maid looked on 
 in amazement. Was this the happiness that should 
 attend a betrothal? The maid stooped and picked up 
 a case that had just fallen from the lady's lap and had 
 spi'ung open in the fall, disclosing to the servant's as 
 tonisbed eyes a wonderful diamond necklace. Claudine 
 took no notice of it ; all she felt was that the pretence 
 in which she now bad a share was intolerable. 
 
 At last she allowed herself to be dressed. As her 
 yesterday's gown was ruined, she was compelled to 
 wear the only other dress she had with her, one of 
 black lace, which she adorned with a couple of roses. 
 They were as colourless, however, as her face, and their 
 effect, like that of the white sling in which her arm 
 hung, was not to brighten her toilette ; the contrast 
 with the black was too strong. Thus, upon Lothar's arm, 
 she went to the Dowager Duchess's rooms, where, at the 
 breakfast given by his Highness to the betrothed couple, 
 they received the congratulations of the little court.
 
 304 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Early in the afternoon Lothar drove her to Neuhaus. 
 All the servants on the estate were assembled on the 
 hall steps, and greeted the young couple with a sound- 
 ing hurrah ! Beata stood on the threshold with out- 
 stretched arms, and a bunch of roses in her right hand, 
 while beside her old Dora dandled the child in its white 
 dress. Tears of joy stood in Beata's honest, laughing 
 eyes. 
 
 "Dina, my darling," she cried, drawing the girl 
 towards her, "who would have thought it?" And 
 snatching the child from its nurse she said to it, " Here 
 is a mother for you, you poor little thing, and such a 
 mother!" 
 
 Lothar, with a glance at his silent betrothed, put a 
 stop to all noisy demonstrations. " She cannot hold 
 Leonie yet, Beata," he said, giving the child back to 
 its nurse, and leading Claudine into the nearest room. 
 "Do not tease Claudine with questions to-daj', sister 
 dear; let us have some refreshments, and then take a 
 drive with us to Brotterode." 
 
 " But, Lothar, there is an open-air concert there to- 
 day, and " 
 
 " Just for that reason, dear Beata !" 
 
 His sister shook her head and went to give her orders. 
 Then, whilst dressing for the drive, she murmured to 
 herself, contrary to her wont, " I thought betrothed 
 lovers liked to sit together in some quiet, secluded spot, 
 and here these, who are by nature disinclined to noise 
 and excitement, drive, on the very first day of their 
 betrothal, directly among those slanderous tongues." 
 
 There was much connected with Lothar's betrothal 
 which Beata did not comprehend to-day ; her brain had 
 been confused in the forenoon, when her Grace had 
 taken so noisy and bustling a departure, and she had
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 305 
 
 not closed her eyes the past night. When, late on the 
 previous evening, Lothar had driven home alone with 
 the little Princess, her heart had seemed to stand still 
 with dread ; true, she had only glanced at her bi other's 
 face, but she had been certain on the instant that he 
 was betrothed, his look was so clear and serene, and 
 the Princess ran up-stairs so hurriedly. 
 
 " She is going to confide her happiness to her mother," 
 Beata said to herself. And, sure enough, Lothar called 
 her into his room, and when she entered he was leaning 
 against his gun-rack, in his favourite attitude when he 
 had anything important to communicate to her. " Sister 
 Beata," he said, coming to meet her, " I am betrothed." 
 
 She took his hand and kissed him on the mouth. " I 
 congratulate you, Lothar." 
 
 " And you are not at all glad, Beata ?" 
 
 " Lothar," she had said, " one always hopes when 
 a brother marries to gain a sister; but" and she 
 had smiled good-humouredly "you cannot possibly 
 fancy your Beata a sister to the Princess ? We should 
 be like a good, honest domestic fowl and a golden 
 pheasant, eh? But that is of small moment if you 
 are only happy." 
 
 " I intend to be so. And although a swan may not 
 be any better companion for a domestic fowl than a 
 golden pheasant, I still hope the two will find pleasure 
 in each other. I am betrothed to Claudine, my sapient 
 sister." 
 
 To Claudine ! No need to mock her wisdom, when 
 affairs had been conducted so quietly. " Thank God 1" 
 she had said, when somewhat recovered from her sur- 
 prise, and then she had taken her brother affectionately 
 by the arm : " Sit down and tell me about it." 
 
 He had told her all that he could, of the operation, 
 M 26*
 
 306 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 of the danger to the Duchess's life, of Claudine's cour- 
 age and self-sacrifice, of everything save that which 
 she longed to know. His was a reserved nature; no 
 one was allowed to look into his heart; it was a Gerold 
 family peculiarity. 
 
 While Beata was indulging in these reminiscences, 
 she was taking out her prettiest bonnet, the one she 
 had procured for yesterday's fete, and as she was put- 
 ting it on she recalled the departure early this morning 
 and the terrible scene in the nursery. Little Leonie 
 was asleep in her crib after her bath, when her Grace 
 the Princess Thekla bad appeared, ready for her jour- 
 ney, followed by Frau von Berg, and had demanded 
 nothing more nor less than the child ! Old Dora had 
 planted herself broadly before the crib with outspread 
 arms, and had declared in her patois that the master 
 must first give his orders that the child was to go with 
 its grandmother. Her Grace had so far forgotten her- 
 self as to try with her own illustrious hands to push 
 the old peasant aside, but a sturdy woman of that class 
 stands as firm in her place as does a fir in the forest. 
 
 " May God forgive me," the old creature had said, 
 while resisting the high-born hands, " for so far forget- 
 ting the respect I owe to one of our Duke's family! 
 And He will forgive me; I am doing my duty, and 
 cannot let my master be robbed." 
 
 " You stupid creature," Frau von Berg had said, " who 
 is robbing? Her Grace is the child's grandmother." 
 
 " I must have orders from my master," had been the 
 reply. 
 
 " Your master is not at home ; listen to reason." 
 
 But it was of no use ; Dora had put her arms akimbo 
 and had stuck to her post; all at once she had suc- 
 ceeded in reaching the bell-pull ; many an impatient
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 307 
 
 peal it had rung, but certainly never so loud a one as 
 to-day. 
 
 The nursery-bell had a familiar tone to the entire 
 household ; in that room its old master and mistress 
 had lain ill and had died. No wonder that every one 
 thought some accident had happened, and that Lothar, 
 who had just returned from his morning ride about the 
 estate, hurried along the corridor before all the rest, 
 followed by Beata and a crowd of servants from every 
 part of the house. He had sent away the servants and 
 had closed the door behind himself and Beata. 
 
 "What is all this?" had been his first inquiry. He 
 looked as if he could scarcely trust his eyes at sight of 
 her Grace, who had not appeared at the breakfast-table 
 on the plea of a headache, and who now stood here, 
 with a crimson face, speaking in an imperious tone : 
 
 " I wish to take my grand-daughter with me, and 
 this person " 
 
 " Ah ! Your Grace supposed me so absorbed by my 
 betrothal that I should forget the hour fixed for your 
 departure? Or, rather, your Grace did not wish to 
 await my return, and preferred to depart by an earlier 
 train. And your Grace wishes to take your grand- 
 child with you" his voice sounded like muttered 
 thunder " without first obtaining my permission ? 
 By what right, may I ask ?" 
 
 " She is my daughter's child." 
 
 " And mine. A father's claim is rather stronger, it 
 seems to me, than a grandmother's, your Grace." 
 
 "Only for a few months, Gerold," the Princess re- 
 joined, beginning to see that her anger had betrayed 
 her into committing a blunder. 
 
 "Not for an hour," he said, with decision, and his 
 face grew a shade paler. " This child shall be guarded
 
 308 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 from the poisonous atmosphere which is ruin for even 
 the purest flowers ; I will shield it from learning an 
 early lesson of contempt for its kind. My daughter 
 shall be trained as was formerly the fashion in my 
 family, simply, naturally, and in lofty modes of 
 thought; and this must be done here, here in Neu- 
 haus, your Grace, under the special superintendence of 
 myself and my future wife." And he drew close the 
 curtains of the crib where the little girl was lying, 
 with her startled eyes wide open. " Allow me to attend 
 your Highness to the carriage," he added, coollj r . 
 
 The Princess walked to the crib, touched the child's 
 forehead with her lips, and then, without another word, 
 rustled along the corridor to the hall, where the Prin- 
 cess Helena and the lady- and gentleman in-waiting 
 were ready to depart. The old Princess got into the 
 carriage with the most amiable of smiles upon her lips; 
 Beata, who courtesied low, received a scarcely percepti- 
 ble nod in return for her hospitality. Lothar sat oppo- 
 site the ladies, as he had upon their arrival. When the 
 horses started, a pair of black girlish eyes cast a long 
 look at the old house, a look so filled with disappoint- 
 ment and remorse that Beata, in spite of her relief, felt 
 her heart swell with compassion. Poor, wayward little 
 Princess ! 
 
 Beata was conscious of this as she stood before 
 the mirror tying her bonnet-strings. She sighed. 
 Thank God ! thank God ! there was peace in the house 
 once more! Up-stairs, the bracing woodland breeze 
 was clearing Frau von Berg's rooms of the last traces 
 of the penetrating scent of patchouli, and the house- 
 maid had long since brushed up the remains of a costly 
 glass vase which the old Princess had dashed upon the 
 floor in her anger. In the linden boughs an end of
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 309 
 
 pale-blue ribbon was fluttering, it had been blown 
 there from the Princess Helena's dressing-table, and 
 on the lawn, beds and furniture were airing. To-mor- 
 row all would be as it had been before this visit, thank 
 God! 
 
 " Forgive me," she said, in her clear voice, as a 
 few minutes later she entered her sitting-room, where 
 Claudine was seated on the platform by the window 
 looking out, and Lothar was standing before his father's 
 picture, at the other end of the room, lost in thought, 
 " forgive me ; I am rather late. Have they brought 
 you coffee ? Yes ; that's right. Well, I am ready for 
 our drive." 
 
 She was rather dismayed, as she spoke, at finding 
 the betrothed pair so far apart, and at the formal man- 
 ner in which Lothar approached Claudine and offered 
 her his arm as if they had been at a court ball : 
 
 "A drive in the air will do you good, Claudine." 
 
 His measured tones almost provoked Bcata. 
 
 "Please, Lothar," Claudine replied, "give orders to 
 stop at the Owl's Nest after our drive. I am longing 
 for rest ; I am still very weary." 
 
 " Yes, of course ; and we must pay Joachim a be- 
 trothal-visit," was the reply. 
 
 It was a very silent drive. As the carriage rolled 
 down towards the valley, where the red roofs of the 
 little spa were visible, Claudine leaned back with a 
 siich. This, too! She had expected it: he wished to 
 show her, rehabilitated, above all suspicion. 
 
 The strains of a waltz greeted them as they turned 
 into the avenue before the small hotel. In the open 
 square, in the midst of which stood the pavilion for 
 the musicians, there were quantities of little tables 
 covered with red-and-white cloths. All the aristocratic
 
 310 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 guests were seated about a gigantic table, conversing, 
 guarded by the Argus eyes of the head-waiter, who 
 was bound to see that no unworthy addition was made 
 to the party. In order to insure this, he was wont, 
 three hours before the beginning of the concert, to lay 
 on the table two primitive tickets inscribed 'Taken,' 
 and to tip up the chairs. And if two only of the circle 
 made their appearance, and ordinary mortals could not 
 find a single vacant chair, he merely declared, with a 
 shrug, " Extremely sorry, but these places are taken." 
 
 To-day, however, not a chair at the table was unoc- 
 cupied ; the conversation was very lively, and was all 
 about the affair of yesterday at Altenstein. The story 
 of the Dowager Duchess's displeasure was in every 
 one's mouth, of course much distorted, exaggerated 
 beyond recognition. One version set forth how the 
 old Duchess had ordered Claudine instantly to leave 
 the castle; another told of her pension's being with- 
 drawn ; a third declared that the fair Gerold had in- 
 sisted upon appearing at the dinner, and added, with 
 significance, that the Duke was, after all, the sovereign. 
 
 Oh, incredible! How dreadful ! And then the Duch- 
 ess's hemorrhage! Poor creature! poor creature 1 
 The consequence, of course, of grief and agitation ! 
 
 Of course, since Claudine had chosen to conduct 
 herself so, the Duke could hardly be blamed. They 
 shrugged their shoulders and smiled at the poor, be- 
 trayed wife, who had believed the girl to be her friend. 
 
 " Oh, terrible 1" groaned an elderly Baroness ; " it 
 was just like the Gerold! How could it have been 
 discovered ?" 
 
 "I wonder what Baron Gerold thinks of it all? He 
 looked like a corpse when the old Duchess turned the 
 cold shoulder to Fraulein Claudine."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 311 
 
 At these words there was a perfect confusion of 
 tongues, suddenly followed by silence. Some one had 
 remarked, " Why, there is the Neuhaus carriage !" 
 
 " True ! And driving this way." 
 
 All had sufficient presence of mind to look as if they 
 were talking of indifferent matters. The ladies flut- 
 tered their fans, and every eye was directed towards 
 the approaching vehicle. The spirited horses danced 
 excitedly at sound of the music ; the coachman and 
 footman on the box were in faultless blue-and-yellow 
 liveries, and behind them ? 
 
 At the long table every hat was instantly lifted ; the 
 gentlemen arose, while the ladies nodded and smiled 
 amiably. 
 
 What in the name of heaven ? Claudine von 
 
 Gerold, her arm in a sling, sitting beside Fraulein 
 Beata? And the Baron opposite her? Slowly, very 
 slowly, the carriage passed the distinguished party at 
 the table and stopped before the door of the hotel. 
 
 Two gentlemen from the table hurried towards it, 
 a young officer of hussars and the melancholy attache. 
 The lieutenant wished to inquire after the health of 
 the Duchess, his illustrious neighbour at table at the 
 Neuhaus/efe, since he was 'sure Fraulein von Gerold 
 would be able to give him the latest news,' etc. The 
 attache had other views. He came by her Excellency's 
 whispered request, " Do find out what it all means." 
 
 " The Duchess is better," Claudine replied to the 
 young officer's inquiries. 
 
 " But have you had an accident, Fraulein von Ge- 
 rold ?" asked the attache, t\v irling his moustache ; " surely 
 you " 
 
 "Only a trifling injury, Herr von Sanders," Lothar 
 interposed. " In a day or two, I trust, my betrothed's
 
 312 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 arm Ob, pardon me ! I forgot to say that you 
 
 are in presence of a betrothed couple, betrothed since 
 last evening. A surprise, is it not, gentlemen ? But, 
 Cluudine, here comes your glass of water j I hope it is 
 cool enough." 
 
 The gentlemen shook hands with the Baron, and 
 congratulations and thanks were exchanged. Mean- 
 while, Claudine drank the water and handed back the 
 glass. 
 
 " Drive on," said Lothar, lifting his hat with a pro- 
 found and grave inclination to those assembled around 
 the large table. The next moment the swift wheels of 
 the carriage had carried it on into the lonely forest road, 
 while the final chords of the waltz were still trembling 
 upon the sunny, fragrant air. 
 
 At the table before the hotel the clatter of tongues 
 suddenly died away like the notes of the loud trumpets 
 with which the waltz had ended. When conversation 
 was resumed, how different had the tone become 1 
 
 " Well," the old Excellency declared, with dignity, 
 " I always maintained there was nothing in all that 
 gossip." 
 
 " Good heavens, there is so much mere talk in the 
 
 world !" sighed the sentimental Baroness. " Who be- 
 gan it ?" 
 
 " Antonie von Bohlen wrote to me about it to-day," 
 said one of the pretty Countesses Pansewitz, " but she 
 told me not to tell." 
 
 "Never mind, tell us what she said," her mother 
 commanded, vexed at such unnecessary reticence. 
 
 " Claudine G-erold had an artery opened because the 
 Duchess was bleeding to death, and her blood was 
 transferred to the Duchess's veins," the Countess ex- 
 plained. " Antonie says the Duchess would else have
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 313 
 
 died. Oh, heavens I it is terrible ! I never could have 
 done it." 
 
 " Terrible ! terrible !" exclaimed the ladies. 
 
 " How courageous 1 There's race for you !" cried the 
 young officer, with sparkling eyes. 
 
 "Deuce take it, that's a girl to love !" his Excellency 
 declared, for which speech he received a glance of stern 
 disapproval from his august spouse. 
 
 " She looked exquisitely beautiful," said the melan- 
 choly attache, more tragically than ever. " By Jove 1 
 why hasn't a fellow a couple of estates ? That lucky 
 Gerold !" 
 
 " He has sent in his resignation," said the young 
 hussar, " and is going to devote himself to the manage- 
 ment of his estates." 
 
 " What else do you know, Lolo ?" the Countess asked 
 her daughter. 
 
 " Oh, she had presents of quantities of diamonds," 
 the girl further declared, " and the old Duchess treated 
 her as if she were her daughter, and kissed and petted 
 her." 
 
 " Ah, charming!" 
 
 " When are they to be married ?" 
 
 " Of course they'll pass the winters in the capital." 
 
 And so on. In their inmost hearts they grudged 
 Claudine her good fortune, but no one dared to breathe 
 a word against Baron Gerold's betrothed. There were 
 quite other murmurs borne upon the fresh woodland 
 breeze, and the ladies unanimously agreed to present 
 the betrothed maiden with a gorgeous basket of flowers 
 in token of their gratitude for her succour of their be- 
 loved Duchess. 
 
 Meanwhile, the betrothed couple had reached the 
 Owl's Nest. The house and garden looked peaceful 
 o 27
 
 314 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 indeed in the late afternoon sunshine, and in its light 
 the hroken rosette in the convent ruin was tinted with 
 rose-colour. Claudine's lovely face suddenly wore a 
 look of distress ; the arch of the old door- way of the 
 house was hung with garlands of evergreens and roses. 
 
 "Lothar," she whispered, touching him lightly on 
 the arm as she alighted, " I beg, nay, I require of you, 
 go home with Beata. I must first prepare Joachim. 
 You shall hear from me when to come again. I cannot 
 play a part here: it is beyond my strength." 
 
 He evidently underwent a brief inward conflict, but 
 a glance into the despairing blue eyes conquered him; 
 she was indeed suffering. He said not a word in reply, 
 but turned and begged Beata to remain in the carriage. 
 He escorted Claudine to the door of the house, and 
 there kissed her reluctantly-yielded hand as little Eliz 
 abeth ran to meet her with a shout of joy. 
 
 " When do you want the carriage for Altenstein this 
 evening ?" he asked. " You will surely permit me to 
 accompany you thither ?" 
 
 Claudine turned on the threshold of the door and 
 waved a farewell to Beata; in her agitation she had 
 forgotten the kindly soul. But Beata did not see it ; 
 she was looking up at the window of the bell-room. 
 
 " Thank you, Lothar," Claudine's voice was low, but 
 decided, " I shall not return to Altenstein. I shall 
 stay here. I will inform the Duchess of my intention. 
 You do not believe it ?" she went on, with a weary 
 smile. " I assure you I really have not strength suf- 
 ficient at present for the part I am to play. I tried 
 bravely to do my duty to-day, did I not? Take pity 
 upon me." 
 
 She inclined her head gravely and went into the 
 house.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 315 
 
 Fraulein Linden meyer came to meet her, almost 
 falling upon the threshold of the door in the hurry of 
 her joy. She had on the cap with red ribbons, and 
 opened wide her arms. 
 
 " Ah, dear Fraulein Claudine, what a pleasure !" she 
 said. " Oh, we know it, we know it ! Who do you 
 think told us? Old Heinemann's grand-daughter. But 
 why did the Herr Baron not come with you?" 
 
 Claudine had to be embraced and kissed, to shake 
 hands with old Heinemann, and to receive Ida's good 
 wishes. At last she could go up-stairs. How hard it 
 all was! 
 
 Joachim was sitting at his writing when she en- 
 tered his room, and it took a moment or two to recall 
 him to reality. Then he sprang up, went to her, and 
 lifted her chin with a caressing hand. "My brave 
 little sister and betrothed ? Look at me, my darling," 
 he begged. 
 
 But she did not raise her eyes, and large drops were 
 clinging to their long lashes. " Ah, Joachim ! Joachim !" 
 she sobbed, gently. 
 
 He stroked her silken hair. "Do not cry," he said, 
 gravely, " but tell me what they have been doing to 
 you over there." 
 
 And then the tempest of anguish and despair burst 
 forth and would not be controlled. She did not spare 
 herself, she disguised nothing of the humiliation that 
 had fallen to her share, and against which her pride 
 had rebelled so vainly. " And, Joachim," she declared, 
 wildly, " the worst of it all is that I love him, and have 
 loved him for years as only a girl can love. On the 
 day that he stood beside the Princess Katharina at the 
 altar I thought I could not live ; and now fate throws 
 my coveted bliss in my lap with a laugh of scorn and
 
 316 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 says, ' There ; but take care : it is only gilded, it is 
 not real gold. There you have what you have prayed 
 for and wept for all these years !' Trust me, he has 
 taken me, as he did the silver at the auction, at any 
 price, because he would rather die than have the slight- 
 est stain upon the Gerold name ; he has asked me to 
 marry him for the sake of the family honour; for 
 nothing else, nothing!" 
 
 She ceased, exhausted, but she continued to sob pas- 
 sionately. 
 
 Joachim made no reply; his hand still lay on her 
 fair hair. At last he said, gently, " And if, neverthe- 
 less, he does love you ?" 
 
 She rose on the instant and stood erect. 
 
 " Ah, God 1" she said, and in her tear-stained face 
 there was something like compassion for her brother's 
 credulity. "No, you good, unsuspicious creature, he 
 does not love me!" 
 
 " But if he should ! He never was one to feign a feel- 
 ing. You know he would rather bite out his tongue 
 than tell an untruth. It was always so, Claudine." 
 
 " Yes, thank heaven," she cried, " he never dared do 
 that. Do you suppose Lothar could make feigned love 
 to me ? Oh, no, he is not false. When I proposed to 
 him that we should act this farce, it never even oc- 
 curred to him to say that he should be distressed here- 
 after when we parted. No, he is honest, honest to 
 rudeness!" Suddenly she seemed to collect herself. 
 " My poor Joachim I" she said, tenderly, taking her 
 brother's hand, " I interrupt your work with my evil, 
 evil tidings. Bear with me, dear ; I shall grow calmer. 
 I shall once more be your housekeeper, your good 
 comrade. Oh, if I had only never left you ! And 
 gradually I shall overcome it all, all, Joachim."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 317 
 
 She kissed him on the forehead, and went into her 
 room, bolting the door behind her. 
 
 The repose of this her own little home had the 
 effect upon her soul of cool, fresh spring- water. She 
 went from one article of furniture to another, as if to 
 greet each one individually, and finally paused before 
 the picture of her grandmother. 
 
 " You were so wise an old woman," she whispered, 
 " and yet what a foolish grand-daughter did you train ! 
 Too late she purchases her wisdom with the happiness 
 of her life." 
 
 Then she laid aside her lace dress, put on her simple 
 gray gown, seated herself in the old arm-chair at the 
 window, and gazed out into the darkening evening. 
 
 In the room below, little Elizabeth walked sadly 
 around the spread table j it looked so pretty with 
 the porcelain bowl filled with roses in the centre, the 
 napkins which Fraulein Lindenmeyer had taken such 
 pains to fold artistically, and the rose-wreathed chairs 
 for the betrothed couple. And then the beautiful cake 
 which Ida herself had baked. The child's fat wax 
 doll too had on a new blue gown. "Where were they 
 all this while? 
 
 She ran into Fraulein Lindenmeyer's room. " When 
 is the wedding going to be ?" she asked, impatiently. 
 She had supposed all this preparation heralded the 
 wedding. 
 
 "Ah, my darling!" the old Fraulein sighed, looking 
 at Ida, and shaking her head. " ' Who knows,' " she 
 added, with Schiller, " ' what slumbers in Time's back- 
 ground ?' " This was a very different quotation from 
 the one the worthy soul had prepared for the betrothed 
 couple : 
 
 27*
 
 318 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " For when the Strong and Mild are pairing, 
 The Manly with the Tender sharing, 
 The cord will then be good and strong." 
 
 "What kind of lovers were these? They did not 
 even stay together on the very first day of their be- 
 trothal. Or was this the new fashion ? In her day 
 it had been different ; then lovers sat together and 
 looked into each other's eyes. She sighed. 
 
 " Clear away, Ida," she whispered ; " the wasps are 
 coming into the room after the cake, and it will get 
 dry on the table. Ah, our lovely wreaths ! It is the 
 lot of all that is beautiful in this world ! Ida, Ida, I 
 feel far from pleased." 
 
 " Elizabeth would like some cake," said the child, 
 tripping after the girl. 
 
 Heinemann was sitting on the bench before the 
 house door, whistling a melancholy air ; Ida was sing- 
 ing the words of it as she cleared away the table ; 
 they floated out sadly into the garden through the 
 open window : 
 
 " Two turtle-doves were sitting 
 Upon the self-same spray : 
 When two fond lovers sever, 
 The flowers fade away." 
 
 They had no idea of how deeply this grieved Frau 
 lein Lindenmeyer. The old lady put her head out of 
 the window. " Be quiet," she said, in an undertone. 
 ' Heaven knows, that is no song to sing just after a 
 betrothal ; it sounds like frogs croaking." 
 
 Claudine, too, had heard the song. " ' "When they 
 sever,' " she said to herself. " At least they have been 
 united. But we ?"
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 319 
 
 The first snow in the mountains! It falls there 
 early ; on the plains the gossamers may still be float- 
 ing, but up here it shimmers and gleams, and there is a 
 white, glittering veil lying upon the pines. Then it is 
 comfortable in human habitations; the huge tiled stoves 
 do their duty ; and the chinks of the window-frames 
 are so stuffed with green moss that the cold wind can 
 find no smallest entrance. It is delightful then, es- 
 pecially of an evening, when the light of the swinging 
 lamp above the table falls upon the shining tea-service. 
 
 Nowhere among the mountains was it so comfortable, 
 so cosy, so home-like, as in the dwelling-room at Neu- 
 haus. It was a pity that the spinning-wheel, with its 
 fleece of white wool, no longer occupied its old place 
 on the platform by the window ; it would have suited 
 so well with the rest of the room. Outside there was 
 a flurry of snow, within here the lamp was lit upon the 
 old-fashioned writing-table. 
 
 Beata sat writing: "So much, Lothar, for the an- 
 swers to your questions about the farm ; now for other 
 matters nearer your heart. I was at the Owl's Nest 
 a while ago, and found Claudine in the sitting-room ; 
 she was giving little Elizabeth her lessons. I should 
 like to send you some specially cheering news, but it is 
 always the same. She never speaks of you, and if I 
 begin upon the subject she gives me no reply, or none 
 that is at all satisfactory. She seems interested only 
 in one thing, and that is the Duchess's health. She 
 lives like a nun, and looks wretchedly pale ; her only 
 diversion consists in long, solitary walks. Joachim, 
 egotist that he is. either does not see it or does not 
 
 O * 
 
 choose to see it. I opened his eyes to-day, however. 
 He brought to Claudine a thick pile of manuscript 
 to be copied ; I snatched it from him, and said to him,
 
 320 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 1 If you please, I will attend to this ; you overwork the 
 poor girl.' You know she has sent away Ida, and does 
 everything herself, cooks, sews, irons, and all is well 
 done. And in addition to the household work she is 
 required to perform the duties of a copying-clerk and 
 ruin her eyes. As if she had not spoiled them suffi- 
 ciently with crying ! 
 
 " Heaven knows, one scarcely sees her but that her 
 eyelids are swollen, although whenever I ask her, 
 'Have you been crying?' she always replies, 'I? what 
 have I to cry for ?' 
 
 "Joachim looked at me in surprise. I am convinced 
 he was shocked at the idea of my thus prying into the 
 mysteries of a poet's soul. He tried to gainsay me, 
 but it was of no use. He is one of those who must be 
 dealt with resolutely ; it is the only way to manage him. 
 
 " But forgive me for writing of Joachim when you 
 long to hear of Claudine. You ask me if she wears 
 her betrothal-ring. I know it will grieve you, but I 
 must tell you the truth, Lothar. There is no ring 
 on her finger. I asked her about it yesterday; she 
 looked embarrassed, and made no reply. There is a 
 stern line about her mouth which it pains me to see. 
 You should have wooed her differently ; but then, as 
 matters stood 
 
 " Sometimes I think that perhaps the Duke No, 
 
 no, Lothar ; I will not distress you ; I am so ignorant 
 of such matters; I do not even know what has passed 
 between you, and I do not wish to pry into your secret. 
 God grant that these clouds may roll off! One thing 
 I am sure of; if they are not soon dissipated you will 
 both be wretchedly unhappy. Sometimes I am on the 
 point of interfering, and of asking, ' What miserable 
 squabble is this? One here, the other there. Do you
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 321 
 
 love each other, or do you not ?' But you have for- 
 bidden me, and I refrain. 
 
 "I always take Leonie with me to the Owl's Nest, 
 but she behaves as if she did not see the child, and it 
 looks so fresh and hearty now. Joachim says it looks 
 like a Spanish baby, with its dark curls and black 
 eyes. Once when she thought I was out of the room 
 I saw her pet and kiss the child, but as soon as she was 
 aware of my presence she was the same as ever. 
 
 " Frau von Katzenstein wrote lately to Claudine that 
 the Princess Helena was with the Duchess at Cannes, 
 and was tending the invalid with the most unselfish 
 devotion ; the Duchess, too, praises her in her letters 
 to Claudine. Her Highness writes almost every day, 
 and Claudine answers regularly, but the correspond- 
 ence seems to give her no pleasure. She even looks 
 impatient, at times, when the post brings her a scented 
 envelope bearing the ducal scutcheon. The illustrious 
 lady asks in every letter, ' When are you to be married, 
 Claudine ? Why do you say nothing in your letters of 
 your betrothed and your happiness?' And sometimes 
 an orange-blossom is enclosed in the note. What Clau- 
 dine says in reply I do not know, but I infer from the 
 constant repetition of the question that she does not 
 answer it at all. 
 
 "Good heavens, this is a long letter! And I shall 
 write still more this evening, for I mean to begin copy- 
 ing Joachim's manuscript. I have looked over it ; it is 
 the second part of the Spanish ' Experiences of Travel.' 
 
 " What else would you like to know, Lothar ? Only 
 ask, and I will answer you frankly. Do not let time 
 hang too heavy on your hands in your lonely castle in 
 Saxony. God grant there may be some improvement 
 in the Duchess's condition! They say the poor creat-
 
 322 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 ure is restless, and filled with longing for her German 
 home and her children. Yesterday she sent some roses 
 to Claudine. One of the poor exiled buds is in a glass 
 of water on my table as I write, and it seems to gaze 
 in surprise at the snow drifting against the window- 
 panes. It is dancing down outside unceasingly in the 
 darkening night. What a noiseless hurly-burly it 
 makes ! I send you one of our baby's curls. 
 
 "Princess Thekla has really taken Frau von Berg 
 into her household; did you know that? And did 
 you know that the Duke did not take Herr von Palmer 
 with him to Cannes? It is strange. He used not to 
 be able to do without him." 
 
 She addressed the letter, and was about to go to the 
 nursery it was just the time when little Leonie had 
 her supper of porridge, which Beata, like a faithful 
 foster-mother, never omitted to taste when Heine- 
 mann was announced. 
 
 " Well," she asked, when the old man entered in his 
 pilot-cloth coat and high boots, his fur cap in his hand, 
 " what is the matter at the Owl's Nest?" 
 
 "Thank God, nothing! But we have had a tele- 
 gram. Fraulein Claudine must leave by the night- 
 train, and she sent me to ask Fraulein von Gerold for 
 a sleigh to drive to the station." 
 
 Beata instantly gave orders for the sleigh to be got 
 ready, and then with her own hands poured out a glass 
 of cordial for the old man. " I will drive over," she 
 said, " and you can get up behind." 
 
 " Yes; Fraulein Claudine bade me beg you to do so, 
 and I forgot," he murmured. 
 
 In less than a quarter of an hour Beata was driving 
 through the snow-clad forest. What in the world had 
 happened ?
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 323 
 
 The Owl's Nest rose gray amid the white firs, and 
 the lighted windows cast crimson gleams abroad into 
 the night. Fraulein Lindenmeyer received her in the 
 hall ; she looked distressingly solemn, and her eyes 
 were swimming in teat's. She clasped her hands and 
 whispered to Beata, " The Duchess is dying." 
 
 Beata flew up-stairs and into Claudine's room, where 
 she found the girl hurriedly packing a small trunk. 
 . " Good heavens," exclaimed Beata, " are you going 
 to Cannes?" 
 
 " Oh, no : only to the capital ; the Duchess wishes to 
 die at home." She clasped her hands before her face 
 and burst into tears. 
 
 " They are bringing her back, then ? Ah, merciful 
 heavens ! My dear Claudine, do not cry ; dearest child, 
 you must have known that it was only a respite, that 
 appai'ent improvement." 
 
 " There lies the despatch from Frau von Katzenstein, 
 Beata ; the Duchess expects to find me in the capital 
 when she arrives to-morrow evening; the despatch is 
 from Marseilles. I wanted to beg you to look after 
 little Elizabeth now and then, Beata; Joachim is so 
 absorbed in his work, and Fraulein Lindenmeyer grows 
 forgetful. I thought of writing for Ida, but Frau- 
 lein Lindenmeyer tells me she has gone to a situa- 
 tion." 
 
 " Let your mind be perfectly easy," said Beata, with 
 some impatience, as she helped her cousin to put on 
 her wrap. " Make yourself warm enough, and " 
 
 " But leave the child here in the Owl's Nest," Clau- 
 dine interrupted her. "Joachim is so used to have 
 Elizabeth go up to him in the gloaming and sit on his 
 knee while he tells her stories." 
 
 " Of course," Beata replied. " But what I wanted
 
 324 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 to say, Claudine, was " She hesitated, then added 
 
 in a low tone, " Do not forget the betrothal-ring." 
 
 Claudine turned, startled. " Oh, yes ; you are right," 
 she said, sadly, looking for the ring in a little casket. 
 
 Fraulein Lindenmeyer stood weeping beside Beata 
 in the hall, while Claudine took leave of Joachim. 
 
 " Ah, heaven, so young to die !" sobbed the old Friiu- 
 lein, who in her grief could recall no suitable quotation. 
 " Away from her husband and children, far out in the 
 world. God grant she may reach her home alive !" 
 
 " God grant it !" Claudine repeated, half uncon- 
 sciously, as she drove off beside Beata into the snowy 
 night. 
 
 Beata insisted upon seeing her cousin safe in the 
 railway-carriage ; she took almost maternal care of 
 her brother's betrothed. And when the lighted train 
 had vanished into the night, she drove home absorbed 
 in very grave reflections. The sleigh-bells sounded 
 strangely solemn in the forest: all else there was so 
 noiseless; she thought of the express-train speeding 
 through the land bringing home the invalid Duchess. 
 She must be very, very ill to undertake the journey; 
 it could only be because she wished to die at home. 
 And she thought of Claudine's tears. What a meet- 
 ing awaited the two friends! When the Duchess left 
 Altenstein to go to Cannes she had fainted. And now 
 the last parting was at hand. 
 
 Claudine, too, was thinking of her illustrious friend 
 as she rode on alone. Travel with such a goal is ter- 
 rible. So soon ! echoed in her heart. Yes, they had 
 all known that only a short respite could be granted 
 the sick life, but the end was coming too quickly ! The 
 future was dark indeed before the girl, darker than 
 the night outside.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 325 
 
 She had but a short distance to go before there must 
 be a delay of two hours at Wehrburg: the winter 
 trains were very inconvenient. There were the lights 
 of Wehrburg already; the train went more slowly, 
 and stopped at last. She alighted and went through 
 the draughty station to the waiting-room, where, with- 
 out raising her veil, she quietly took her seat in a 
 corner. 
 
 Not far from her sat whispering together a gentle- 
 man and a lady, the latter, like herself, irrecognizablo 
 in a thick veil, although the movement of the head 
 seemed familiar to Claudine. Of the gentleman she 
 could at first see nothing save the short, strongly-griz- 
 zled hair. He wore a costly fur coat; his hat lay on 
 a seat beside him. He was bending over a railway- 
 guide, and when he turned a leaf a large diamond 
 glittered on his finger. Nothing is drearier than wait- 
 ing for a train at night in a poorly-heated, dimly- 
 lighted waiting-room. Involuntarily one scans any 
 fellow-sufferers, and wonders who they are, whither 
 they are going, and what are the relations between 
 them. Are they husband and wife? or father and 
 daughter ? 
 
 Claudine, in the midst of her melancholy reflections, 
 looked now and then at the pair who, with the sleepy 
 railway-porter, shared with her the discomfort of the 
 waiting-room. The lady was talking eagerly, in a low 
 voice, her head quite close to her companion's. The 
 gentleman showed a degree of restlessness that was 
 almost impatience. 
 
 " Nonsense !" Claudine heard him say in French. " I 
 have told you a thousand times that I am going to 
 Frankfort and am then coming back." 
 
 " I do not believe you," the lady said, in an angry
 
 326 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 whisper. " But I shall do as I told you ; deceive me, 
 and you know the revenge I shall take." 
 
 " That will do you no good, my dear." 
 
 " This will never do," she declared, more loudly, 
 perhaps, than she meant, and her small clinched fist 
 struck the table. The gentleman soothingly laid his 
 hand upon it and looked round in alarm. 
 
 Claudine's veil was too thick ; it entirely concealed 
 her face and her astonished eyes. That was good 
 heavens I that was Herr von Palmer, and of course 
 only Frau von Berg could hiss so when she was angry. 
 The abundant hair was hers, and the full figure. What 
 in the world ? 
 
 "Please tell me," the gentleman said, tenderly, 
 " what should I do over there without you, m'amie f 
 Be reasonable, and do as I ask you." 
 
 Just then a train whizzed up to the station ; the 
 windows shook slightly. The bell rang, and a porter 
 opened the door with, " Passengers for Frankfort-on- 
 the-Main !" 
 
 Herr von Palmer arose hurriedly. " Stay here 1" he 
 said, angrily. 
 
 " I shall not deprive myself of the pleasure of ac- 
 companying you to your railway-carriage," she said, 
 sarcastically ; "who knows when I may enjoy your 
 society again ?" 
 
 He made no reply, but hurried out, followed by the 
 lady. 
 
 Involuntarily Claudine rose and went to the win- 
 dow, just in time to see Herr von Palmer disappear 
 in a first-class carriage. The lady stood beside it, 
 wrapped in her furs. The train moved off, and she 
 then icturned to the waiting-room. For an instant 
 she scanned Claudine's veiled figure, then threw back
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 327 
 
 her own veil arid ordered a cup of tea and the news- 
 papers. 
 
 Yes, the thick veil had concealed the painted face of 
 Claudine's enemy. 
 
 Herr von Palmer was probably going to meet their 
 Highnesses, but what could cause Frau von Berg such 
 anxiety ? Perhaps Beata was right ; they stood in 
 close relations to each other, and this passionate woman 
 was jealous. 
 
 At last came Claudine's train. She waited to see 
 which carriage Frau von Berg would take ; there 
 were only two first-class carriages in the train. She 
 walked towards the one not selected by the lady ; a 
 porter opened the door for her. She hesitated for an 
 instant; a gentleman was its sole occupant. 
 
 " Is there a second-class carriage empty in which 
 smoking is not allowed ?" she asked. 
 
 " No, madame ; there are five gentlemen and a lady 
 in it, and in the ladies' carriage an entire family of 
 children." 
 
 She hesitated no longer, but entered by the door 
 which the porter still held open and took her place at 
 the window. The gentleman was sleeping in a corner; 
 there was nothing of him to be seen but fur and a 
 purple railway-rug. Well, the ride would not last long, 
 two hours at the most. She leaned her fair head in 
 its dark fur cap back against the cushions; she was 
 very weary, but her sad and restless thoughts did not 
 allow her to sleep. The Duchess was going to die ; she 
 should lose a faithful friend, and gain her freedom ; as 
 soon as the last funeral torch was extinguished she 
 would return his ring to Lothar, and could then breathe 
 freely. Her chest heaved ; the mere thought of this 
 free breath pained her. Ah, the life that was to follow I
 
 328 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 So colourless, so monotonous, the life of an impoverished 
 woman of rank, doomed to become in time a monosyl- 
 labic old maid. The life of one forgotten ! And sup- 
 pose Joachim should marry again? What if, in addi- 
 tion to all lack of joy in her life, she should be forced 
 to consider herself a burden ? And if Beata should 
 leave the quiet Paulinenthal at a husband's side ? Ah, 
 no! Joachim would always remain to her; he must. 
 Where could he, in his seclusion, in the midst of his 
 laborious existence, find time to play the wooer? Joa- 
 chim and his child would always be hers. It was a 
 sinful lack of courage to doubt it. She had more, much 
 more, than many others! 
 
 She sat erect and looked at the tracery the frost had 
 left on the window-pane. Then she started in mortal 
 terror. In the rumbling and creaking of the train, which 
 was just leaving another station, she had not perceived 
 that the gentleman in the corner had risen and had 
 come over to her. She was first made aware of it by 
 feeling something brush her wrap. She looked round ; 
 before her sat Lothar. 
 
 " It is really you ?" he said, cordially. " Eecognized 
 in spite of the veil ! But of course ! Where else could 
 be found that golden hair? And you, too, are going 
 to the capital ?" His eyes shone with delighted sur- 
 prise. Involuntarily his right hand had been extended, 
 as if to clasp hers; he bad taken off his fur cap; now, 
 as if to conceal some embarrassment, he put it on again. 
 
 Claudine sat like a statue. She had collected herself 
 very quickly. 
 
 " Yes," she replied, keeping her hands clasped in 
 side her muff. " The Chamberlain von Schlotbach tele- 
 graphed to me that their Highnesses would arrive to- 
 morrow morning, and so I set out immediate!}'."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 329 
 
 " But tell mo, how is all going on in the Paulinen- 
 thal ?" 
 
 " Well," was the reply. 
 
 " And my little one ?" 
 
 " She is well, I believe." 
 
 " You believe ?" he asked, with a bitter emphasis. 
 
 For a while both were silent. The train stopped; 
 the snow outside crunched beneath heavy footsteps ; a 
 carriage door was opened and shut; the bell rang, the 
 engine whistled, and the train rolled on. 
 
 " Claudine," he began, with hesitation, " I wrote to 
 you the day before yesterday. The letter will reach 
 the Owl's Nest early this morning." 
 
 She inclined her head slightly, without looking at him. 
 
 "I was in a fearful state of mind," he went on. 
 "Imagine me in that old, scantily-furnished castle, two 
 hours' drive from the nearest town, completely snowed 
 up. Fancy me wet to the skin, just returned from 
 deer-stalking, sitting opposite a smoking fire that will 
 hardly burn, the snow falling outside, and so lonely, so 
 terribly lonely in the dreary pile. In addition I have 
 actual visions : I see the Neuhaus sitting-room, see my 
 little one playing there, hear her shouts, and think I 
 perceive the fragrance of roast apples, sure to be 
 found there at this season of the year." He paused a 
 moment. " And then, then I think, ' Good God ! why 
 do you sit here so sadly ?' At such a moment I roused 
 myself the day before yesterday and wrote to you on 
 the spot to ask you " 
 
 She interrupted him : " Why ask ? I cannot force 
 you to keep your promise, and I never desired that 
 you should go to Castle Stein. You could surely have 
 gone to Berlin or Yienna or Paris, or to some large 
 city even more distant." 
 
 28*
 
 330 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 He let her finish her sentence, and then went on 
 calmly, "I wished to ask you, Claudine, if this farce 
 is never to end. It is surely wrong " 
 
 She started up. Was he in earnest ? 
 
 " You say this to me now," she exclaimed, indig- 
 nantly, " now, when the decisive moment is at hand ? 
 The poor Duchess may perhaps not live twenty-four 
 hours longer. Are you in such haste to regain your 
 freedom ?" 
 
 " You are very bitter, Claudine," he said, reproach- 
 fully, and there was something of compassion in his 
 tone, " but you are right. In view of the sad days, 
 to encounter which we are both going, we ought not to 
 speak of such things ; nevertheless " 
 
 " No, no ! ,do not speak of it," she urged. 
 
 "Nevertheless, I cannot do otherwise," he went on, 
 undeterred. "Her Highness has finally appealed di- 
 rectly to me." He took out his letter-case and handed 
 her a letter. " You had better read it yourself." 
 
 Claudine made a gesture of refusal. 
 
 " It is a note written by the Duchess's own hand," 
 he went on, without withdrawing the paper. " The 
 poor lady is embittering her last hours with needless 
 anxieties. If you will allow me, cousin, I will read it 
 to you." 
 
 Scarcely glancing at the girl's pale face, he began: 
 
 "Mr DEAR BARON, After a long inward struggle a 
 dying woman writes you these lines, praying your aid, 
 as far as is possible, in an affair of great delicacy. 
 
 " Answer me truly one question, the indiscretion of 
 which you will forgive when I am no longer among 
 the living. Do you love your cousin ? If your suit 
 for her hand was merely an act of prudence and mag-
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 331 
 
 nanimity, then, Baron, restore her freedom to the poor 
 girl, and be assured that you will thereby insure a 
 happy future to the two people dearest to me on 
 earth. " ELIZABETH." 
 
 Claudine's blue eyes gazed in despair at the small 
 sheet of paper. Merciful God! what did it mean? 
 Was the Duchess still possessed by the old delusion 
 that her husband loved her, or she him? Or had the 
 Princess Helena confided in her, and did the Duchess 
 wish to intercede for Lothar and for her ? 
 
 "And you?" at last came brokenly from her lips. 
 
 " I am on my way to take my answer to the Duchess, 
 Claudine. You yourself know, I trust, that it was 
 quite needless for the Duchess to ask me to speak 
 truly. I have all my life acted frankly; once only did I 
 countenance a deception, because my sense of delicacy 
 robbed me of the courage to speak, because I thought 
 honour bade me redeem my word, even at the sacrifice 
 of the happiness of my life. No more of that. That 
 past is buried. Since then no considerations have ever 
 prevented me from acting in accordance with my 
 convictions. I shall briefly explain to her Highness 
 that " 
 
 A low cry interrupted him ; Claudine extended her 
 hand to him imploringly, her eyes gazing into his own 
 with an expression of intense pain. "Hush, hush; I 
 am not the Duchess!" she stammered. 
 
 He paused at such an entreaty, while the girl sprang 
 up and took refuge in the opposite corner of the car- 
 riage. 
 
 At this moment lanterns glided past the window; 
 the train went more slowly; in the melancholy dawn 
 of a snowy morning the Baron recognized the railway-
 
 332 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 station of the capital, and the ducal fortress looming 
 grim and gray above the town. 
 
 Claudine had alighted before he had time to assist 
 her. A lackey in the ducal livery awaited her with a 
 carriage. As she was hastily entering it, Lothar stood 
 at the door. In the cold gray light of morning his 
 face looked changed : he seemed to Claudine to have 
 grown years older in the last two months. 
 
 " I pray you, cousin, appoint some time when I may 
 have an interview with you," he said, courteously, but 
 decidedly. 
 
 " To-morrow," she replied. 
 
 " No't until to-morrow ?" 
 
 " To-morrow," she repeated. 
 
 He retired with a bow, and a few moments after- 
 wards passed in the clumsy hotel-omnibus through the 
 southern gate of the town by the same road along 
 which Claudine had been driven rapidly in the ducal 
 equipage. 
 
 " What," he thought, distressed at her extraordinary 
 demeanour, " what if the Duchess should be right, 
 after all, and she should actually love the Duke ? What 
 if I should be absolutely indifferent to her, absolutely 
 indifferent ?" 
 
 He had always prided himself upon his comprehen- 
 sion of women ; he thought he knew Claudine. To-day, 
 for the first time, he was assailed by grave doubts. 
 
 Claudine drove up the steep castle hill and alighted 
 at the portal of the wing inhabited by the Dowager 
 Duchess. The rising sun tipped with crimson the steep 
 snow-covered gables, the towers and walls of the ducal
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 333 
 
 residence, and at the same moment the ducal banner 
 was displayed on the tallest tower in the city below, 
 still lying in gray twilight, in token that its mistress 
 was returning to her home to die. 
 
 Claudino found a couple of rooms in the second story 
 prepared for her, and in the course of the forenoon the 
 Dowager Duchess sent for her. The kindly old Duch- 
 ess's eyes showed traces of tears ; she was sitting at 
 the familiar window, gazing abroad over the roofs of 
 her dear city into the snowy distance. Oh, how often 
 Claudine had sat here before her in the snug room, with 
 its stiff, costly furniture dating from the time of the 
 First Empire, and the many, many pictures on the 
 walls, enjoying the magnificent prospect with her ducal 
 mistress! At the present moment neither had any 
 eyes for its beauties. Their gaze was directed to the 
 spot where the railway emerged from the forest, the 
 railway upon which the train was bringing home the 
 poor invalid. 
 
 The Duchess had had another hemorrhage at Cannes, 
 and had but one desire, to see her children once more, 
 and to arrange various matters before her death. The 
 little Princes had been left at home : their presence was 
 thought to be too exciting. The physician had forbid- 
 den their accompanying her to Cannes, although she 
 had declared, " Herr Doctor, I shall die of longing for 
 them !" 
 
 The old Duchess gently shook her head as she told 
 Claudine all this: "It is hard, terribly hard for Adal- 
 bert: they had come to understand each other thor- 
 oughly, and were on the way to be the happiest couple 
 in the world. He writes most tenderly of her, and 
 now ?" She sighed. " God only knows what lies before 
 us!"
 
 334 TEE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Their Highnesses had forbidden anything like a re- 
 ception of them, but the old Duchess wished to drive 
 to the station with the eldest Prince, and she asked 
 Claudine to accompany her. About two o'clock they 
 drove down the castle hill ; a melancholy November 
 sky canopied the city, and large snow-flakes were fall- 
 ing. But in spite of the weather hundreds of people 
 lined the street leading to the railway-station. 
 
 The Duchess's landau stopped close by the door of 
 the ducal waiting-room ; the police kept off the crowd 
 which silently thronged the place. All stood quietly 
 in a large circle about the carriages. Several gentle- 
 men were on the platform ; the express-train which 
 was to bring the Duke and Duchess had already been 
 signalled. At last it whizzed into tbe station, and 
 there was a stir and bustle on the platform. The 
 Duke was the first to alight ; he kissed his venerable 
 mother's hand, and then he himself lifted his suffer- 
 ing wife out of the carriage. All looks were directed 
 to her pale, emaciated face, as her large eyes eagerly 
 sought the Prince. She embraced the old Duchess and 
 kissed the boy with a sad smile. " Here I am again," 
 she whispered, faintly. She could hardly walk the few 
 steps to the waiting-room, supported by the Duke and 
 the Prince ; kindly but wearily she acknowledged the 
 greetings of the crowd. The Princess Helena with her 
 lady-in-waiting, Frau von Katzenstein, and the gentle- 
 men of the suite, followed her immediately. 
 
 When she saw Claudine her face worked ; she beck- 
 oned and pointed to the carriage. 
 
 The girl hurried towards her. " Ah, your Highness," 
 she stammered, much moved, bowing over the extended 
 hand. 
 
 " Come, Dina," the Duchess whispered, " drive with
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 335 
 
 me ; and you too, my darling," she said to the Prince. 
 " Adalbert will drive with mamma." And when she 
 had been lifted into the carriage she said, as they 
 drove through the crowd of men standing silent and 
 respectful, with bowed heads, " Bow, my child ; bow 
 very kindly ; they all know how ill I am." 
 
 She herself made an effort to lean forward, and 
 lightly waved her white handkerchief. 
 
 "The last time! the last time!" she murmured. 
 Then she clasped the girl's hand : " How good it is to 
 have you here !" Arrived at the castle, she dismissed 
 her friend : " When I have taken a rest I shall send 
 for you, Dina." 
 
 Claudine went to her quiet room, and looked down 
 into the wintry court-yai'd, which had suddenly lost 
 its solitary aspect. Equipages were driving up and 
 away, sentinels were posted, and the great luggage-vans 
 were slowly toiling up the hill. Down below, the bells 
 of St. Mary's Church were ringing, perhaps for a wed- 
 ding ; here and there lamps were already lighted in the 
 early twilight, and it was snowing, snowing incessantly. 
 
 Hours passed. Claudine's tea was served in her 
 room. Leaning back in an arm-chair, she watched the 
 little blue flame beneath the tea-kettle, and thought of 
 Lothar, and how he had described his loneliness and 
 longing in the deserted castle in Saxony. Oh, yes, it 
 is hard, very hard, to be alone with torturing thoughts, 
 with terrible uncertainty. Uncertainty ? She felt al- 
 most angry with herself. Good heavens, she was only 
 too certain ! 
 
 The Princess Helena looked well; her face had a 
 changed, pleasanter expression. The restless, passion- 
 ate look had left it; she hoped, her hope was well 
 grounded.
 
 336 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Wherefore had the Duchess summoned her hither? 
 Ah, it was very plain. After receiving Lothar's reply, 
 she would say to her, " Claudine, be generous, give him 
 back his troth ! He feels himself bound !" 
 
 She knew well that he never would dissolve the tie 
 between them. He relied upon her magnanimity. A 
 passionately defiant mood possessed her. " "What if I 
 refuse ? What if I prefer being wretched with him to 
 being wretched without him? Who can prevent me?" 
 She shook her head. " Oh, never, never ! !No !" 
 
 The old-fashioned clock on the console struck nine. 
 The Duchess must have been too much fatigued to-day ; 
 there was no longer any hope of seeing her. She grew 
 cold suddenly in the dim room ; the little flame beneath 
 the tea-kettle had long been extinguished ; there was 
 only a feeble red light from the dying embers on the 
 hearth. She began to pace the room to and fro; she 
 would wait until ten o'clock, and then go to bed. 
 Perhaps she should be able to sleep. But before ten 
 o'clock the waiting-maid came for her to go to the 
 Duchess. 
 
 She passed along the corridor and up and down vari- 
 ous staircases until she reached the well-warmed and 
 well-lighted vestibule at the entrance to her Highness's 
 apartments. She had rarely been here formerly. At 
 the entertainments given in the castle she had accom- 
 panied the Dowager Duchess only to the state apart- 
 ments, and she had endeavoured to avoid attending 
 her Highness's small social receptions. But to-day 
 she again experienced the charm of those magnifi- 
 cent rooms. Everywhere walls, carpets, and curtains 
 showed the same sumptuous red ; everywhere the light 
 in the hanging lamps and candelabra shone through 
 veiled crimson shades ; everywhere were groups of rare
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 337 
 
 exotics, and everywhere were brilliant pictures in rich 
 frames. 
 
 "Morbid! feverish as the spirit that inhabits these 
 rooms," had once been the comment of his Highness, 
 who, accustomed to the pure woodland air, felt smoth- 
 ered in this heavy, fragrance-laden atmosphere. There 
 was a degree of truth in his words. An ardent desire 
 to decorate bare reality, a longing for life and hap- 
 piness, found expression in the arrangement of these 
 apartments. 
 
 The Duchess was lying on a low bed hung with 
 crimson in her bedroom. The curtains fell from the 
 ceiling, where their folds were sustained by the claws 
 of a gilded eagle. Here, too, the same crimson light 
 was diffused, tinging the invalid's cheeks with a mock 
 hue of health. 
 
 " It is late, Dina," her Highness said, in a husky 
 voice, " but I cannot sleep ; I hardly sleep at all ; and I 
 cannot be alone ; I am afraid. I have had the curtains 
 arranged so that I cannot see the door: I am pos- 
 sessed by an inexplicable terror lest something fright- 
 ful should cross the threshold our family phantom, 
 the White Lady to tell me what I already know, that 
 I must die. Do not laugh at me, Dina ; I used to like 
 to lie in the dark. Now tell me, Claudine, tell me 
 everything; before long I shall not be able to hear 
 you. How have you been, Dina ? Tell me !" 
 
 Claudine felt for an instant as if she must rush from 
 this luxurious room with its gilded ceiling and its at- 
 mosphere filled with the odour of May flowers from 
 the conservatory. 
 
 " I am very well, Elizabeth ; I am only distressed 
 for your suffering," she said, sitting down beside the 
 bed. 
 
 p w 29
 
 338 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " Clandine," the invalid began, " I have so many 
 things to write about and to arrange, and when my 
 father and sister are here, they are to arrive shortly, 
 and if that stifling pain comes again it will be too 
 late. Help me with it a little." 
 
 " Do not excite yourself unnecessarily, Elizabeth." 
 
 "No; oh, no; but please, Dina!" And she turned 
 her emaciated face towards the girl and looked at 
 her from large and unnaturally brilliant eyes, as if 
 to read her friend's heart. "You are so strange a 
 betrothed maiden, Claudine," she whispered after a 
 while, " and the time since your betrothal has passed 
 so strangely, he in one place, you in another. Clau- 
 dine, confess you sacrificed yourself when you said 
 ' yes' on that terrible day ! You do not love him, 
 Claudine." 
 
 She hung upon the girl's looks with an expression 
 of devouring anguish. 
 
 "Elizabeth," said Claudine, after a pause, clasping 
 her hands upon her breast, " I love Lothar, and have 
 loved him from the time when I scarcely knew what 
 love was, when I was hardly more than a child I" 
 
 The Duchess was silent, but her breath came quickly. 
 
 " Do you not believe me, Elizabeth ?" asked the girl 
 in a low voice. 
 
 " Yes, I believe you, Dina. But does he love you ? 
 Tell me, does he love you in return ?" 
 
 Claudine cast down her eyes. " I do not know," she 
 stammered. 
 
 " And if you knew that he did not love you, would 
 you still marry him ?" 
 
 " No, Elizabeth." 
 
 "And could you not then consent to bestow your 
 hand upon another who loves you inexpressibly? '
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 339 
 
 The girl sat like a statue without replying. 
 
 " Claudine, do you know why I have come back?" 
 asked the Duchess, with passionate emotion. " I have 
 come to try with my last breath to insure a coveted 
 happiness to one who is dearest to me on earth. When 
 I went to Cannes my silly weakness, my wounded 
 heart, were still struggling with my better self. Clau- 
 dine, the Duke loves you ; he never has loved me. He 
 loves you with all the truth and fidelity of which his 
 noble heart is capable. In all these years of our mar- 
 ried life I have learned to read his features, and he 
 loves you, Dina, and he never will forget you. Do not 
 sit there so mute and unmoved j for God's sake answer 
 me!" 
 
 "You are wrong," Claudine exclaimed, in great dis- 
 tress, " you are wrong. His Highness no longer loves 
 me ; it is a delusion on your part. You must not at- 
 tach any importance to such phantoms of your brain. 
 You should not have returned for this." 
 
 " Do you suppose, Dina, that love can be put off like 
 a garment ?" asked the Duchess, bitterly ; " that one can 
 decide as one does about taking a walk, for instance 
 that from such and such a day there shall be an end 
 of it? The heart is not to be so controlled." 
 
 There was a pause. Then Claudine said, in a low 
 and resolute tone, " I shall never marry, never without 
 love on both sides; never! Forgive me, Elizabeth, A 
 cannot make you any deceitful promises. Ask any- 
 thing that you will, my life if it may be, but not that, 
 not that." 
 
 The Duchess gazed past Claudine with tearful eyes. 
 For a while there was silence in the apartment. 
 
 " Poor man ! I thought I could arrange it all so beau- 
 tifully," she said as if to herself. " It is not to be !"
 
 340 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Then in a, louder voice, " Such a complication ! you 
 love Lothar, and he poor little Princess 1" 
 
 " Elizabeth !" exclaimed Claudine, her pale lips quiv- 
 ering, " I never will stand in the way of his happi- 
 ness, what can you think of me? never! never I 
 Do me one favour," she went on, hurriedly : " in my 
 name give him back his freedom. I know you are 
 going to speak to him upon this subject." 
 
 " To-morrow," said the Duchess. 
 
 " Then give him this." She drew the betrothal-ring 
 from her finger. "Here is happiness for the Princess; 
 take it, and let me go my own way alone, far from 
 everything that can remind me of him." 
 
 She started up and hurried towards the door. 
 
 " Claudine," the Duchess's weak voice entreated, as 
 her transparent fingers closed upon the ring, " Dina, 
 do not leave me so ! Who is the poorer of us two ? 
 Rather help me to evolve some happiness for some one 
 out of all this pain." 
 
 Claudine returned. "What else shall I do?" she 
 asked, with resignation. 
 
 The Duchess asked for water, then took a portfolio 
 from the table beside the bed and handed the girl a 
 folded paper. 
 
 " It is a memorandum of the little mementos which 
 I wish distributed after my death. Keep it: it is a 
 copy. The Duke has the original." 
 
 " You must not agitate yourself so, Elizabeth." 
 
 " Oh, I shall be calmer when everything is arranged, 
 Dina. Read it aloud, that I may know that nothing is 
 omitted. No one must be able to say, ' She forgot 
 me.' " 
 
 Claudine read in trembling accents. Sometimes tears 
 rendered the writing illegible ; everything was ordered
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 341 
 
 with such tenderness ; it all bore witness to so ardent 
 and affectionate a nature. 
 
 " To my dear Claudine I give the Brussels lace veil 
 which I wore as a bride " 
 
 A burning blush suffused the girl's distressed face; 
 she knew what was meant. 
 
 " Take it back ! take it back !" she sobbed, kneeling 
 beside the bed. 
 
 " Ob, how sad ! how sad !" said the Duchess. " You 
 and he, both wretched ! You two, my best beloved on 
 earth !" 
 
 Claudine kissed the invalid's hot hands and hurried 
 away; the misery she was undergoing was too intense. 
 
 In the conservatory, beneath the magnolias and 
 palms, her tears flowed freely; the soft plash of the 
 fountain soothed her wild despair; in a few minutes 
 she had so far recovered herself that she could say 
 'good-night' calmly; but when she peeped through 
 the silken curtains the invalid was lying apparently 
 asleep, and the girl could perceive lines of pain about 
 the mouth. 
 
 In the anteroom Claudine met the old Medizinalrath, 
 who greeted her kindly. 
 
 " Is the end really so very near ?" asked the agitated 
 girl. 
 
 " As long as there is life there is hope, Fraulein von 
 Gerold. But, humanly speaking, her Highness's life is 
 liable to cease at any moment, to be extinguished like 
 the flame of a candle." 
 
 Claudine involuntarily pointed to her arm : " Herr 
 Doctor?" 
 
 "Ah, Fraulein Claudine," said the old man, with 
 emotion, "that can no longer avail. All has gone 
 here !" And he put his hand on his chest. " I am going 
 
 29*
 
 342 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 to the Duke to report as to her Highness's condition," 
 he said, in an undertone, as he walked beside Claudine 
 along the corridor. " Moreover, his Highness found a 
 very unpleasant surprise awaiting him here. Have you 
 heard of it? Palmer has disappeared, leaving affairs 
 in the greatest confusion." 
 
 " He went by rail to Frankfort last night," said Clau 
 dine, startled. " I saw him at the station at Wehrburg, 
 and supposed he was on his way to meet their High- 
 nesses." 
 
 " The scoundrel !" murmured the old gentleman. 
 " He is far enough out of reach by this time. Meet 
 their Highnesses? What put that into your head, 
 Fraulein Claudine?" 
 
 " I heard him speak of it to Frau von Berg." Clau- 
 dine paused ; the whole matter suddenly became clear 
 to her. 
 
 "They are a match!" the physician said, with a 
 laugh. " I will mention what you tell me to his High- 
 ness. To-morrow, be sure, we shall hear that the Berg 
 has also disappeared, leaving things in sad confusion 
 behind her. 'Tis not well to be malicious, but indeed 
 it serves her Grace right; the protection extended by 
 her to that creature was most extraordinary. Good- 
 night, Fraulein Claudine." 
 
 The old doctor was right. The next morning every 
 one in the castle knew that Frau von Berg had sud- 
 denly disappeared. The only ' confusion,' however, that 
 she had left behind her consisted of a bundle of letters 
 addressed to the Duchess and a note for his Highness. 
 But the guardian angel keeping watch in the shape 
 of Frau von Katzenstein at the door of the sick-room 
 suspected that the contents of the packet could hardly 
 be satisfactory to her Highness, and calmly handed it
 
 THE OWL'S NEST 343 
 
 over to the Duke. The old lady presented herself 
 in his study just as he was looking over some papers 
 with a very angry frown, while the chief of police 
 stood by. 
 
 The Duke probably thought that Frau von Katzen- 
 stein came to bring him tidings of her Highness ; in- 
 stead of which the old lady gravely handed him a 
 bundle of letters tied with a sky-blue ribbon, the top- 
 most one bearing the address, in a hand extremely like 
 his Highness's own, of Frau von Berg. 
 
 The Duke turned pale. 
 
 "And this was to be handed to her Highness?" he 
 asked, with emotion, gazing blankly at these witnesses 
 to a gay bachelorhood, when there were frequent suppers 
 at Herr and Frau von Berg's, and baccarat afterwards 
 in the pretty woman's blue drawing-room. This creat- 
 ure, who had never even breathed the atmosphere of 
 the same room with the woman whose few days of life 
 she had tried to embitter, had dared thus to disturb 
 a death-bed ! 
 
 "I thank you, madame," said the Duke, deeply 
 moved, throwing the letters into the fire burning on 
 the hearth, and tossing after them the other papers 
 which he had been looking over. Involuntarily he 
 brushed off his fingers with his pocket-handkerchief 
 after thus getting rid of the obnoxious documents. 
 " Let the scoundrel go, Herr von Schmidt," he said, 
 contemptuously, with a friendly gesture of dismissal 
 to the chief of police. 
 
 After the man had departed the Duke paced the room 
 to and fro in much agitation. One of the letters, a 
 very small note, still lay unharmed on the hearth ; the 
 Duke perceived it after a while and picked it up. It 
 was in Herr von Palmer's familiar handwriting.
 
 344 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 " Yesterday evening," it ran, " I was sent with a note 
 from the Duke to the fair Claudine ; I stole it from her 
 as I handed her into the carriage. Herewith I place 
 the precious document at your disposal, to be turned 
 to such account as your acute intelligence may suggest. 
 I am sure that my dearest friend will know how to 
 lay the train so skilfully that the two ladies so kindly 
 disposed towards us shall be blown sky-high " 
 
 " Palmer was at work there too, then !" His High- 
 ness smiled bitterly, and thought of the hot-blooded, 
 dark-eyed girl into whose hands had been given the 
 match to apply to this train. The mine had exploded ; 
 its first victim lay dying, and the criminals had es- 
 caped. 
 
 That cunning rogue had certainly contrived to cheat 
 and betray with so smiling and natural an air that the 
 consequences were extraordinary. There was not an 
 official, not a servant connected with the court, whose 
 pay was not in arrears, not a purveyor who had re- 
 ceived a penny for the last two years. The Duke's 
 agents had their hands full in discovering what was 
 owing. All sorts of tradesfolk presented their accounts 
 as soon as Palmer's flight was made known. The Duke 
 laughed angrily when he heard the details. 
 
 The Dowager Duchess, so scrupulously exact in all 
 money-matters, was indignant at being obliged to pay 
 twice for a landau which had been built for her, and 
 her annoyance was much increased by the thought of 
 how placidly she had repeatedly driven in this landau 
 past the place of business of the manufacturer who 
 had in vain dunned Palmer for payment. The entire 
 capital was outraged, and in thought devoted the 
 scoundrel to the gallows; but such sly birds usually 
 go scot-free.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 345 
 
 Claudine was lold much of this by the maid; it 
 scarcely aroused in her the most fleeting interest. 
 She could think of nothing save what to-day might 
 bring her, the decision of her future fate. The 
 Duchess was reported as no worse ; she had slept for 
 several hours, but had not yet summoned her friend. 
 
 The girl stood at the window looking out at the gray 
 November sky. It was still snowing. The sight of 
 the dreary world outside further depressed her spirit, 
 already sorely burdened. Suddenly she blushed, a 
 carriage rolled into the court-yard and drew up at the 
 portal of the wing occupied by the Duchess. It was 
 he. Lothar's tall figure vanished in the vestibule. He 
 had come to give his answer to her Highness I 
 
 She could scarcely stand, in her agitation ; what right 
 had a ray of hope to intrude upon her anguish ? Every 
 word he had spoken to her since he saw her for the 
 first time after his return, in the garden at Neuhaus on 
 the day when she had gone over to tell Beata of the 
 discovery of the wax, had been offensive, sharp as 
 polished steel. He had mistrusted and contemned her 
 whenever he could ; no, no, he did not love herl Once, 
 only once, her heart had foolishly throbbed high with 
 delight, on that dark summer night when he had rid- 
 den to the Owl's Nest to gaze up at her window ; there 
 had then been one moment of intoxicating happiness. 
 But it did not last ; it bad simply been a military habit 
 with him to make a tour of inspection ; he had wished 
 to convince himself that the family honour was safe ! 
 
 She turned away from the window and went to the 
 table, where her breakfast was still standing. She 
 poured out half a glass of wine and put it to her lips: 
 she did not like wine, but she felt at the moment so 
 deplorably weak. A low knock at the door caused her
 
 346 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 to put down the glass before she had drunk. " Come 
 in" was so faintly uttered that it could not possibly 
 have been heard by any one outside. Nevertheless 
 Frau von Katzenstein opened the door and came into 
 the room with an air of grave friendliness. She had 
 brought with her a basket covered with white tissue- 
 paper. 
 
 " My dear Gerold," she said, kindly, " her Highness 
 has just commissioned me to give you this." She put 
 the basket on the table and approached Claudine. 
 " The Duchess wishes to see you in half an hour," she 
 added, pressing the girl's hand. " Forgive me for not 
 staying any longer. I cannot leave the invalid." 
 
 " How is she ?" Claudine asked. 
 
 " She does not complain to-day ; she says she has not 
 nearly so much oppression," replied the old lady, still 
 out of breath with mounting the stairs. 
 
 " And you took the trouble to come yourself!" Clau- 
 dine said, absently ; but Frau von Katzenstein had left 
 the room. 
 
 Claudine scarcely noticed the basket ; in half an hour 
 she should know whether he had taken back her ring ; 
 Burely she should be told the truth ? 
 
 She began to wander restlessly about the room. 
 Then she went to the window. The guard had just been 
 called out ; the Duke was driving across the court-yard 
 in a sleigh j two other sleighs were following him. Was 
 he trying to escape anxiety and annoyance ? She too 
 felt a desire to run out into the park, to cool her hot 
 forehead in the snowy air, to walk till she was weary 
 and could find forgetfulness in sleep. She paused me- 
 chanically before the basket the Duchess had sent her ; it 
 was probably some gift procured for her at Cannes ; her 
 Highness was so fond of giving to those whom she loved.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 347 
 
 She lifted the paper a little; she must know what 
 the gift was for which she should thank her friend in 
 a few moments. The basket was lined with blue silk, 
 and in it, upon a folded fabric of costly lace, lay a spray 
 of blossoming myrtle drawn through her betrothal- 
 rinir. . . . 
 
 The pale, panting girl was on the staircase in an 
 instant; she hurried along the corridors, and not until 
 she had reached the antechamber to her Highness's 
 room was she conscious that her strength was all but 
 exhausted. In the antechamber the Medizinalrath 
 was whispering with Frau von Katzenstein. The old 
 lady pointed towards the next room and laid her finger 
 on her lips. " Her Highness is taking a little sleep," 
 she said, softly. 
 
 As in a dream Claudine passed on to what was called 
 the Duchess's study, a small room wainscoted with 
 costly foreign woods, and with walls covered with an- 
 tique pressed and gilded leather. The book-shelves and 
 writing-table were of dark oak ; heavy curtains and 
 rugs, and the busts of Goethe, Shakespeare, and Byron, 
 lent it a home-like air. On this gray day the light 
 here was dim ; a glass door, the curtain of which was 
 half drawn aside, led into the conservatory, and at this 
 door stood Lothar, contemplating with apparent inter- 
 est a spray of blooming yellow roses. 
 
 His back was turned to Claudine, and involuntarily 
 the girl retreated to a recess formed by the book- 
 shelves, where she could neither see nor be seen ; she 
 could not meet him as yet, and she shrank back into 
 her place of refuge, her heart beating fast. She would 
 not have the ring, which she believed had been re- 
 turned out of compassion. Ah, she knew he did not 
 choose to break his promise ; nothing should induce
 
 348 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 her to keep the token of a word so given. She was 
 looking about her for some means of escape, when the 
 hard voice of the Princess Thekla fell on her ears. 
 
 "Well, Baron," it said, "here you are at last! Do 
 you know that I am quite vexed with you ? You have 
 been here since yesterday, and have not let us see you 
 at the Eed Castle." 
 
 " It certainly was wrong, your Grace. But I found 
 so many things to do, and, besides, one does not usually 
 pay visits upon his wedding-day." 
 
 "Wedding-day?" the old lady repeated, with a shrill 
 laugh. "This is a poor time for jesting, with the 
 Duchess mortally ill ! Eeally, Lothar, you are some- 
 times quite incomprehensible 1 Do you not know that 
 her Highness may die this very day ?" 
 
 " What ? your Grace imagines that I could indulge 
 in so untimely a jest? Nothing is further from my 
 mind. I myself was startled at first, but the Duchess 
 desires that our marriage should take place to-day; 
 with my betrothed's consent, of course." 
 
 " I congratulate you, Baron. And why should your 
 betrothed not consent ? She was very ready to be be- 
 trothed, and marriage naturally follows a betrothal. 
 'Tis a strange caprice on her Highness's part." 
 
 " Strange ? Is it so strange that her Highness should 
 wish before she dies to see the happiness of two people 
 safely moored in port, secure from all the snares and 
 perils to which it is exposed so long as those two are 
 not united ? I confess it does not seem to me extraor- 
 dinary. I am grateful from my soul for this ' strange 
 caprice.' " 
 
 " You did not always find protection so necessary, 
 Gerold. Since when have you felt so weak? You 
 knew how to defy my opposition when I refused you
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 349 
 
 the hand of my daughter. Since when have you so 
 dreaded the right of the stronger, let us say the right 
 of the more powerful ? Or " 
 
 " I fear no honest enemy," he replied, slowly. " Your 
 Grace is aware of the fabled magnanimity of the lion. 
 I do not fear him as a foe; I fear the gliding serpent, 
 whose venomous bite can be given before its victim is 
 aware of danger. I cannot protect her who is to be 
 my wife from malicious slander unless she is mine in 
 reality, for I fight here with unequal weapons. In 
 spite of my years of court life, intrigue must always be 
 an unfamiliar tongue to me ; I might as well bo required 
 to read fluently and translate an Assyrian inscription. 
 And I fear, your Grace, that I shall never learn it, even 
 from the most striking examples." 
 
 But the Princess did not seem to understand him. 
 " Or," she repeated, continuing her sentence undeterred, 
 " are you anxious to secure your betrothed's fidelity by 
 placing it, so to speak, behind the bolts and bars of a 
 matrimonial vow ?" 
 
 " Your Grace is partly right," he replied, courteously. 
 " I am indeed anxious, not about the fidelity and firm- 
 ness of my betrothed, but because I do not yet know 
 whether she has forgiven the audacity with which, in 
 my distress, I attempted to force a ' yes' from her." 
 
 The old Princess laughed : " Eeally, cher Baron, one 
 might almost suppose that in the case of your not pro- 
 curing the forgiveness of which you speak you could 
 be tempted to take your own life, or to commit some 
 other desperate deed." 
 
 " Take my own life ? No ! I have a child to whom 
 my life belongs; but I should be a wretched, solitary 
 man, your Grace, for I love my betrothed with my 
 whole soul." 
 
 30
 
 350 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 Claudine advanced a step or two towards the door, 
 but she paused. She could see the Princess in her 
 black fur-lined cloak, could see how the broad fan- 
 palm beneath which she was standing waved gently, 
 and how her sharp, sallow face changed colour, as if 
 with disagreeable surprise. The girl leaned for sup- 
 port against the carved end of the book-shelves as 
 she heard her Grace say, in a tone of extreme con- 
 tempt, 
 
 " Your love for this lady, Baron, is no guarantee in 
 m j e yes for the excellence of character of one who is 
 to be my grand-daughter's step-mother." 
 
 " Your Grace," was the quiet reply, " probably wishes 
 to hear me declare again that I claim for myself the 
 sole right to decide as to Leonie's training. I gladly 
 assume the responsibility. She who is to be the child's 
 mother is, in my eyes, the noblest, the best, the most 
 unselfish of God's creatures ! Never, even in thought, 
 has she swerved from the path which honour prescribes 
 that a woman should pursue ; never. This I know. In 
 her love for her invalid friend my betrothed may have 
 forgotten tbat a thousand malicious, envious tongues 
 were ready to misconstrue and to slander ; in my heart 
 she stands, therefore, all the higher. It is easy, your 
 Grace, to play the part of an honourable woman before 
 the eyes of the world ; but alone, with no support but 
 the courage of a good conscience, to defy that world, 
 knowing that it could crush us ; to be firm in what we 
 know to be right, conscious that we are falsely judged ; 
 to be steadfast in performing, under all circumstances, 
 every duty prompted by honest affection, even although 
 such duty should be that owing to a friendship regarded 
 with suspicion by many ; to be and to do all this, your 
 Grace, requires purity of heart and strength of char-
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 351 
 
 acter, qualities which I have hitherto sought in vain 
 in " 
 
 " Lothar !" Claudine called out. Tho glass dome 
 of the conservatory swam before her eyes, the ground 
 beneath her seemed unsteady. Then she felt an arm 
 thrown about her, and " Claudine !" sounded in her ear. 
 
 " Do not be so hard," she whispered, " not so hard. 
 The thought that others are vexed and angry suits so 
 ill with such a flood of happiness as now overwhelms 
 me!" 
 
 They were alone. She looked up at him with her blue 
 eyes swimming with tears. "Not a word," she said, 
 laying her hand upon his lips, " not a word, Lothar ; 
 this is not the time to be happy. I know enough, and 
 death is very near us." 
 
 " You will not oppose the wish of the dying ?" he 
 said, entreatingly and humbly. 
 
 " I will not oppose it." 
 
 " And we will go back to our quiet Neuhaus, Clau 
 dine?" 
 
 "No," she said, resolutely; "oh, no! I will not 
 leave, as long as she lives, one who has suffered so 
 much because of me. I have no more fear, for I know 
 now that you and I belong to each other forever, that 
 you trust me and believe in me. And you, you will 
 travel meanwhile. Once more I send you from me; 
 and then, when you return, when my heart can again 
 rejoice, when I can feel that I have a right to be 
 happy, I will come to you." 
 
 Towards evening there was a marriage in the Duch- 
 ess's apartments. All in the castle knew it, from the
 
 352 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 head of the linen-room in her snug quarters in the 
 garret to the scullery-boy who was fitting himself in 
 the cellars for his future career. They all knew that 
 immediately after the marriage the bridegroom had set 
 out upon a journey, and that Frau Claudine von Gerold 
 had taken her place at the Duchess's bedside. 
 
 Her Highness was very weak this evening. She had 
 been present at the ceremony, and had with her own 
 trembling hands fastened the bridal veil upon the girl's 
 fair head. His Highness, the Dowager Duchess, and 
 Frau von Katzenstein had been the other witnesses of 
 the marriage, and in their presence the young couple 
 had taken leave of each other. 
 
 And now beside Claudine at the foot of the bed sat a 
 graceful little figure, and both had been weeping. After 
 the marriage ceremony the Duchess had fainted, and 
 the Medizinalrath had gone to the Duke and had whis- 
 pered to him to be prepared for the inevitable. 
 
 The end was very near. 
 
 Outside, the snow-clouds were rent asunder and the 
 stars glittered down upon the wintry earth. The 
 swinging lamp in the Princes' nursery cast a pale 
 gleam upon their fair heads as they slept soundly; 
 they were unconscious. But for the rest there was no 
 sleep this night. The lights from the castle gleamed 
 abroad over the snowy landscape, and below from the 
 houses in the town many a prayer ascended for the 
 kindly, compassionate sovereign now on her death-bed. 
 
 His Highness was pacing the antechamber to and 
 fro, now and then pausing to glance into his wife's 
 bedroom. All at once a low voice spoke : " Adalbert, 
 has Claudine gone?" The young wife noiselessly ap- 
 proached her friend. " You are still here ?" the Duch- 
 ess asked.
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. ,553 
 
 " Let me stay with you, Elizabeth," Claudine begged. 
 "Lothar has so much to arrange before I can go to 
 Neuhaus." 
 
 The Duchess smiled feebly : " You do not know how 
 to lie, Claudine; I know why you are staying. Poor 
 child, what a melancholy marriage! Call Adalbert. 
 Is Helena there ?" 
 
 The Princess came and stood close beside Claudine. 
 
 "Take each other's hands," the Duchess entreated. 
 
 Princess Helena grasped the hand extended to her. 
 " Forgive me," she whispered, with tears. 
 
 " And now call Adalbert." 
 
 He came and sat on the edge of the bed. She 
 mutely pressed his hands when he fervently implored 
 her forgiveness. 
 
 " If I could only live to comfort you, my poor Adal- 
 bert 1" she whispered. " It is so hard, renunciation, 
 I know it. But they loved each other, and you you 
 have nothing! Ah, if I had the power, how happy 
 you should be !" 
 
 " Do not talk so," said he. " I shall be unhappy, my 
 Liesel, only if you leave me." 
 
 " Say ' my Liesel' once more," she begged, and as she 
 looked at him her eyes, that had wellnigh dimmed in 
 death, gleamed with the old fervent light of love. 
 
 " My Liesel !" he whispered, in a broken voice. 
 
 She pressed his hand. " Now go, Adalbert. I want 
 to sleep. I am so tired. Kiss the children ; go !" she 
 insisted. 
 
 And she fell asleep. 
 
 The wife of a few hours sat faithfully watching 
 
 beside her. Once only invincible fatigue seemed tc 
 
 weigh down her eyelids for a second, it could hardly 
 
 have been more; she roused herself with a shiver. 
 
 x 30*
 
 354 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 The Duchess lay there strangely still, with folded hands 
 and a smile upon her lips. 
 
 Claudine took her hand. " Elizabeth !" she said 
 aloud, in distress. 
 
 Her call was unheard. 
 
 The Princess approached and sank down beside the 
 bed sobbing. And the Duke came, and the physician, 
 and the old lady-in-waiting. 
 
 It was so quiet, so oppressively quiet, in the gorgeous 
 room. 
 
 Then all left it save the Duke and Claudine. They 
 sat beside the dead, and through the open windows of 
 the next room floated in the deep tones of the church- 
 bells announcing to the land on this cold, dark winter 
 morning that its Princess was sleeping the eternal sleep. 
 
 Hepaticas were blossoming in the garden at the 
 Owl's Nest, and crocuses were peeping out of the black 
 earth. Old Heinemann was working away at his rose- 
 bushes, stripping them of their winter coverings and 
 tying them to green rods. The noonday sun had been 
 hot upon the old grave-stones, and the young leaves 
 were stirring in their sheaths, longing for light and 
 air. 
 
 The old man was doubly busy to-day ; he had asked 
 for leave of absence on the morrow, to go to Altenstein 
 to be present at his grand-daughter's marriage to her 
 former lover. 
 
 Behind the bright window-panes appeared Fraulein 
 Lindenmeyer's kindly face; sometimes she turned to- 
 wards the interior of the room to speak to Ida, who
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 355 
 
 was there arranging linen. Ida was established here 
 now,' by the desire of young Frau von Gerold, who was 
 to remove to Neuhaus. When ? No one knew ; the 
 Herr Baron was away, and his young wife was still in 
 deep mourning for the Duchess. 
 
 Claudine's small feet were strangely restless to-day. 
 She had been through the entire house with jingling 
 keys; had looked over every chest and linen-press; 
 had inspected the master's wardrobe and that of the 
 child ; had made up her household accounts and ar- 
 ranged for its future expenses. She shook her head at 
 her own unrest : she could not understand it ; she could 
 not collect her wits sufficiently to write, nor could she 
 compose herself for the hour at the piano to which she 
 usually looked forward with such pleasure. At last 
 she decided it would be best to take a walk. Moreover, 
 she had not seen Beata nor the little one at Neuhaus 
 for a couple of days ; she would go there ; Beata might 
 know something more of Lothar's plans : by the last 
 accounts he was in Italy. 
 
 By Claudine's desire, they had not written to each 
 other. " We can tell each other everything," she had 
 said, entreatingly, "and it will be so much more de- 
 lightful. I can hear from Beata that you are well, and 
 of where you are." 
 
 She put on her wrap, tied a lace kerchief over her 
 head, and went up to say 'good-bye' to Joachim. 
 
 " Where are you going ?" he asked. 
 
 " To see Beata, Joachim." 
 
 He had risen, and was looking at her affectionately. 
 " How soon you will be going away to stay!" said he. 
 
 " When I think of forsaking you at some future day 
 t seem to myself perfectly faithless." 
 
 " Oh, my darling, you cannot dream of how glad I
 
 356 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 am to know you happy!" And he went with her tc 
 the garden gate. " Are you going alone ?" 
 
 "I am not afraid, Joachim." She turned him back, 
 and went away silently. Twilight was beginning to 
 reign beneath the trees ; clouds were flying swiftly 
 across the skies, but the wind driving them was mild 
 and tender; it waved back the veil from the young 
 wife's forehead, and bent the budding boughs towards 
 one another ; it swept over the new grass on the edge 
 of the path, and told of coming glories, of the splen- 
 dour of blossoms and sunshine. She hurried on as fleet 
 and light of foot as if she had had wings, looking down 
 for a while at the sparkling brook beside her, which 
 was carrying away the last snow-water from the 
 mountains, and anon up into the clouds above her, 
 while smiles from time to time replaced the earnest 
 expression on her fair face. Once she said half aloud, 
 " What if he were there !" 
 
 At the entrance of the Neuhaus park she paused ; 
 the breeze was rustling the boughs of the lindens in 
 the avenue, and the castle lay dark and quiet. For an 
 instant maidenly timidity stayed her steps ; blushing, 
 and with her heart beating, she leaned against the 
 stone gate-post, not venturing to set foot inside the 
 garden. Again she thought, " What if he were here I" 
 No one had perceived her as yet ; that was well ! She 
 suddenly felt as though she must turn and go back. 
 
 On the instant she withdrew among the trees on one 
 Bide : a horseman was riding rapidly along the avenue. 
 She recognized him in spite of the gathering darkness; 
 she knew whither he was riding, and a sensation of 
 inexpressible bliss possessed her. But he must riot see 
 her. Then she gave a low cry, Lothar's setter, which 
 had been leaping wildly about his horse, had recognized
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 357 
 
 her and rushed towards her. The next instant the 
 horse was reined in, and the rider flung himself out of 
 the saddle and clasped her in his arms. "At lastl" he 
 said. "It is you! thanks! thanks!" 
 
 She could not reply : she was crying. Then, as they 
 slowly walked towards the house, she found voice to 
 say, "I felt that you were here, Lothar. When did 
 you come ?" 
 
 " Fifteen minutes ago, my love." 
 
 "Where were you going?" she asked, with a smile 
 that became wonderfully well her earnest, lovely face. 
 
 " To you, Claudine," he replied, simply. 
 
 Again she smiled blissfully : " Now I must tell you, 
 Lothar, how I have always loved you. God be thanked 
 for inclining your heart to me I" 
 
 " Inclining my heart to you ?" he said, with emotion. 
 " I have loved you from the day when I saw you so 
 unexpectedly in the Dowager Duchess's rooms. Do 
 you remember, you sang Mozart's ' Yiolet' ?" 
 
 " And after that, ' Wilt thou but be mine own.' Do 
 I remember? But, Lothar, if you loved me then " 
 
 " Ah, do not ask, Claudine ; such a wretched, gloomy 
 time lies between now and then, years of more suffer- 
 ing than I can speak of." 
 
 She was silent, and looked up to the clouds again, 
 clinging closer to his arm. The dog walked beside her, 
 and behind them came the horse, led by the bridle in 
 Lothar's hand. 
 
 " One thing more," she whispered, timidly, looking 
 up into his face. " Lothar, if you loved me, why did 
 you hurt me whenever you could by such harsh, unkind 
 words, humiliating me so in my own eyes that I was 
 wellnigh driven to despair?" 
 
 He looked at her with a smile: " Oh, child, because
 
 358 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 I was tormented by distress and jealousy, because my 
 heart was sick with longing for you, and because I 
 saw what was coming; because I knew the world and 
 its vileness, and knew how you would be crushed when 
 slander and calumny assailed you ; because you, obsti 
 nate child that you were, made it so desperately diffi- 
 cult for me to watch over you ; and, finally, because 
 you would not understand me. Hush, hush, Claudine ; 
 those times lie far behind us. I have you now, and I 
 may care for you and guard you in the future. Thank 
 God !" 
 
 " Thank God 1" she repeated, gently. 
 
 The horse walked off alone, with a hanging head, 
 to the stables; the pair walked up the hall steps to- 
 gether. Baron Gerold opened the door. " Enter your 
 house, Claudine," he said, with emotion ; " it, and not 
 the outside world, shall be our home, if you wish." 
 
 She laughed amid tears : " If I wish ? Do you not 
 trust me yet ? I wish for nothing more in all this 
 world." 
 
 Three years have passed. In Joachim's study, on a 
 winter evening, in the twilight, sits Frau Beata, talking 
 with her husband. 
 
 " Where is Elizabeth?" asked he. 
 
 " Dear heart, you grow more absent-minded every 
 day ! Where should she be but at Neuhaus, of course ? 
 She really cannot live without her aunt Claudine, and 
 she coaxed me until I sent her over there with Heine- 
 mann. It is so lovely in the Neuhaus nursery, and 
 anything as sweet as Claudine's baby never was seen. 
 She ought to be at home again soon."
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 359 
 
 "Have you read the paper to-day?" she asked, after 
 awhile. "No? Then you have missed a deal of news. 
 Let me tell you, Joachim. First, the report of the be- 
 trothal of our Duke to the Princess Helena is con- 
 firmed. I am very glad of it, Joachim, for, with all 
 her waywardness, the girl is good at heart. She was so 
 devoted to the Duchess at Cannes, and she cannot do 
 enough for Claudine to show her contrition. I am 
 quite sure that her marriage will not be one of passion, 
 for she has not, I suspect, yet forgotten Lothar ; she 
 will marry the Duke because she will think it her duty." 
 
 " I hope she will make the Duke happy," Joachim 
 Baid, contentedly; " it is terribly dreary to live without 
 kindly eyes to look into and a tender hand to clasp." 
 He took his wife's hand and kissed it. 
 
 Frau Beata laughed, the same fresh, silvery laughter 
 that had once scattered his ideas ; she had forgotten 
 the short, hard laugh she formerly sometimes indulged 
 in. He cannot understand how he could ever stigma- 
 tize as ' barbarous' any one with so childlike and warm 
 a heart. He confessed his fault to her on one occasion. 
 She only laughed heartily and said, " I am not good 
 for much save housekeeping, and you looked down 
 upon me from your mental heights; but I liked you 
 dearly then, you and your poems, and I hungered 
 then for something to beautify existence. But no one 
 thought it of me. And so I became a very demon 
 of housekeeping." 
 
 Some such thoughts fill her mind now ; she sits for 
 a while as in a revery, then rouses herself with, " Thank 
 God, that's all past. Listen, Joachim." She goes on 
 with her news : " The paper reports that Lothar has 
 bought back Altenstein, and the sapient reporter says, 
 ' Probably Baron Gerold wishes in the future to endow
 
 360 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 his second son, born a few months ago, with the ances- 
 tral home of his family. In the mean time, we hear, 
 the castle will be occupied by Joachim von Gerold, to 
 whom it formerly belonged. 1 How wise people are ! 
 We never shall do that, Joachim ; you cannot persuade 
 me to leave the Owl's Nest j I have been and am too 
 happy here." 
 
 " Yes, yes," he said, hastily, " we will stay here, 
 Beata ; we have quite room enough since the addition 
 was made, and it is so quiet and peaceful. I hope the 
 Neuhausers are not thinking of asking us to move?" 
 
 " Heaven forbid, Joachim ! They are thinking of 
 nothing save themselves," said Beata, gayly. " I mean 
 no reproach ; are we any better ? Do you know, dear 
 heart, that to-day is the anniversary of our betrothal ?" 
 she chattered on. " Ah, see how you forget everything ! 
 Yes, two years ago to-day we were sitting at Eliza- 
 beth's bedside; the crisis had just passed, and we knew 
 the child's sleep was the first step towards recovery. 
 And we whispered together of death and of immor- 
 tality. You read me the poem you had written after 
 your wife's death, and said how lonely you were with 
 Claudine away, and how forsaken the child was 
 and " 
 
 " And then I asked you, Beata " 
 
 "And I said 'yes.'" 
 
 " And then I learned who it was that had secretly 
 bought in my library for me." 
 
 " I certainly," she said, with a laugh, " always had a 
 perilous sympathy with the dreamer, the most unprac- 
 tical, helpless mortal on God's earth." She kissed him 
 and took up her basket of keys. " I must pay old Frau- 
 lein Lindenmeyer a visit," she said, by way of excuse 
 for leaving him ; " she wants to see me, and she sita
 
 THE OWL'S NEST. 361 
 
 there BO patiently in her arm-chair good old creature 
 knitting socks for Claudine's children. She must, 
 have a chest-full by this time." 
 
 As she goes down-stairs the hall door is flung open, 
 and a child, a girl, comes running in, loosening her hold 
 of Heinemann's hand to fly to meet the smiling figure 
 that pauses in the hall and catches the child in her 
 arms. 
 
 " Little romp 1" she says, with maternal pride, taking 
 the rosy, childish face between her hands. " Was it 
 delightful at Aunt Claudine's, little daughter? What 
 did you play? And was Uncle Lothar at home?" 
 
 " Yes ; but Uncle Lothar was angry, and so was Aunt 
 Claudine," the child said, with a troubled glance at 
 Heinemann. 
 
 The old man had taken off his hat, upon which flakes 
 of the first winter snow-storm were glistening, and was 
 shaking it. 
 
 " Were they not, Heinemann ?" the child asked, in 
 some distress. 
 
 " Oh, they had a terrible quarrel !" the old fellow said, 
 with a sly twinkle in his eye as he glanced at Frau 
 Beata; " and before me, too. Just as I came in to put 
 on our child's cloak, because the sleigh was waiting, 
 the Baron said, ' You will put on your grandest gown, 
 Claudine, and go with me to the capital to his High- 
 ness's wedding. I should like to see if I can still be 
 jealous,' that's what he said." 
 
 "And then," the littte girl interposed, "Aunt Clau- 
 dine was sad, and said, ' As you please, Lothtxr.' " 
 
 " Of course!" the old man assented. "And then it 
 all began. ' No, as you please,' cried the Herr Baron. 
 'No, just as you say, Lothar.' 'No, you are right, 
 Dina; what should we do there? We will stay at 
 
 Q 31
 
 362 THE OWL'S NEST. 
 
 home.' < But suppose I want to go, Lothar ?' ' Oh, 
 I know you, Dina ; we shall stay here.' And so they 
 went on quarrelling, madame, until at last " 
 
 ' Well ?" Beata interrupted him, " which of them was 
 victorious ?" 
 
 " The one who always conquers, madame, when mar- 
 ried people quarrel. The Frau Baroness, of course. 
 She sends a great deal of love to madame, and on the 
 day when our Duke marries she invites the Herr Baron 
 and herself to come over to the Owl's Nest to have a 
 cup of tea and to talk over old times." 
 
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