n you! But why conjure up such terrible pictures! I
know that my Leonore would be incapable of treachery, and that, during this
week of separation, no word, no look, no hint, will betray that her mind is
anxious and that some care oppresses her."
"I swear to you that by no word, no look, no hint will I betray anything,"
she said solemnly. "I swear that I will not even attempt to guess your
secrets, in order not to be disturbed by them. But one question more,
dearest. I shall give an entertainment to-morrow. Count Andreossy, Colonels
Mariage and Schweitzer, Captain de Guesniard, and the two Counts von
Poldring will be present, as well as Generals Berthier and Massena, and
several men who are prominent in aristocratic Austrian society. Will you
not attend my reception? Will you not come to-morrow?"
"No," he replied, "no, I cannot attend gay entertainments now. My week of
exile begins from this hour, and the first festival for me will be when I
again clasp you in my arms. And now, dearest, let me go. This last kiss on
your eyes--do not open them until I have left you; for your eyes exert a
magic power, and if they are gazing at me I shall not have courage to go.
Farewell, my beloved star, farewell, and when you rise for me once more,
may it be for the radiant hour of a reunion, unshadowed by fresh pangs of
parting."
He pressed a last lingering kiss upon her eyes. She submitted and sat
quietly with closed lids and clasped hands until the door had closed behind
him and the sound of his steps died away in the anteroom.
Then she slipped from the divan upon her knees, and, raising her hands to
heaven, cried: "I thank Thee, oh God, I thank Thee. He is not one of the
conspirators; he has no share in these plans; for he is not coming to the
entertainment to-morrow, and therefore does not belong to those who have
their secret appointment with me. Oh, God be praised for it, and may He
guard and protect him in all his enterprises! I do not wish to know them; I
will not investigate them. Thou, oh God, canst shield and defend him. Thou
alone!"
CHAPTER IV.
BARON VON MOUDENFELS.
Colonel Mariage, alone in his room, was pacing restlessly up and down, with
his eyes fixed intently, almost anxiously, upon the door.
"The appointed hour has come and he is not here," he murmured in a low
tone. "Has suspicion been roused, and have they arrested him? Oh, God
forbid! then we should all be lost, for we are all compromised, an
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