that pass! How can I describe such a thing?"

"Is that quite impossible?" he asked and clasped her arm more closely in
his own. He must win her over, and his romantic fancy helped him to paint
feelings he had never had, in glowing colors. He poured out sweet words
of love, and she was only too ready to believe them. At a sign from him
she sat down confidingly on a wooden bench in the old avenue which led to
the northern side of the house. Flowers were opening on many of the
shrubs and shedding rich, oppressive perfume. The moonlight pierced
through the solemn foliage of the sycamores, and shimmering streaks and
rings of light played in the branches, on the trunks, and on the dark
ground. The heat of the day still lingered in the leafy roofs overhead,
sultry and heavy even now; and in this alley he called her for the first
time his own, his betrothed, and enthralled her heart in chains and
bonds. Each fervent word thrilled with the wild and painful agitation
that was torturing his soul, and sounded heartfelt and sincere. The scent
of flowers, too, intoxicated her young and inexperienced heart; she
willingly offered her lips to his kisses, and with exquisite bliss felt
the first glow of youthful love returned.

She could have lingered thus with him for a lifetime; but in a few
minutes he sprang up, anxious to put an end to this tender dalliance
which was beginning to be too much even for him, and exclaimed:

"This cursed, this infernal trial! But such is the fate of man! Duty
calls, and he must return from all the bliss of Paradise to the world
again. Give me your arm, my only love, my all!"

And Katharina obeyed. Dazzled and bewildered by the extraordinary
happiness that had come to meet her, she allowed him to lead her on,
listening with suspended breath as he added: "Out of this beatitude back
to the sternest of duties!--And how odious, how immeasurably loathesome
is the case in question! How gladly would I have been a friend to Paula,
a faithful protector instead of a foe!"

As he spoke he felt the girl's left hand clench tighter on his arm, and
this spurred him on in his guilty purpose. Katharina herself had
suggested to his mind the course he must pursue to attain his end. He
went on to influence her jealousy by praising Paula's charm and
loftiness, excusing himself in his own eyes by persuading himself that a
lover was justified in inducing his betrothed to save his happiness and
his honor.

Still, as he utte