se or
round it. If the more circuitous route were chosen, it lay first through
the garden; and this was the course taken by Orion. He had made a very
great effort in the presence of the ladies to remain master of the
agitation that possessed him; he saw that the battle he had begun, and
from which he, at any rate, could not and would not now retire, was
raging more and more fiercely, obliging him to drag the young creature
who must become his wife--the die was already cast--into the course of
crime he had started on.

When he had agreed with his mother that he was not to prefer his suit for
Katharina till the following day, he had hoped to prove to her in the
interval that this little thing was no wife for him; and now--oh! Irony
of Fate--he found himself compelled to the very reverse of what he longed
to do: to fight the woman he loved--Yes, still loved--as if she were his
mortal foe, and pay his court to the girl who really did not suit him. It
was maddening, but inevitable; and once more spurring himself with the
word "Onwards!" he flung himself into the accomplishment of the unholy
task of subduing the inexperienced child at his elbow into committing
even a crime for his sake. His heart was beating wildly; but no pause, no
retreat was possible: he must conquer. "Onwards, then, onwards!"

When they had passed out of the light of the lamps into the shade he took
his young companion's slender hand-thankful that the darkness concealed
his features--and pressed the delicate fingers to his lips.

"Oh!--Orion!" she exclaimed shyly, but she did not resist.

"I only claim my due, sunshine of my soul!" he said insinuatingly. "If
your heart beat as loud as mine, our mothers might hear them!"

"But it does!" she joyfully replied, her curly head bent on one side.

"Not as mine does," he said with a sigh, laying her little hand on his
heart. He could do so in all confidence, for its spasmodic throbbing
threatened to suffocate him.

"Yes indeed," she said. "It is beating. . ."

"So that they can hear it indoors," he added with a forced laugh. "Do you
think your dear mother has not long since read our feelings?"

"Of course she has," whispered Katharina. "I have rarely seen her in such
good spirits as since your return."

"And you, you little witch?"

"I? Of course I was glad--we all were.--And your parents!"

"Nay, nay, Katharina! What you yourself felt when we met once more, that
is what I want to know."

"Oh, let