leader of bandits, after the manner of Castruccio Castracani, and
you, as a politician of the old energetic and unscrupulous stamp,
might not have cut a bad figure. But now, all we can do is to help
ourselves as best we can. Now let me tell you something. You have been
over-excited, and have lost your spirits. Come out to the lake with me
to-morrow. I will introduce you to her young highness. Perhaps you will
fall in love with her and find favor in her eyes, and then our little
princess and both of us would be made happy at one stroke."

Felix shook his head with increasing embarrassment. "He was not the man
for such company," he said, in a stammering voice; "Schnetz would get
little honor by introducing him. He couldn't swear that he wouldn't go
out to the lake. He certainly did stand in great need of a change of
air. But, unfortunately, he could be of no use to him in entertaining
his countesses, baronesses, and young nobles."

With these words they had shaken hands and parted.

But no sooner did Felix find himself alone than his passionate grief
and his old yearning came upon him with such force that he threw all
his resolutions to the winds, and thought only how he could be near her
once more. The evening train did not leave for some hours. It would be
impossible to wait for it, or to pass the intervening time in any
civilized fashion. He hired a horse and mounted, dressed just as he
was, and left the town at a sharp trot, without giving notice at his
own house of his intended absence, or even taking leave of Jansen.

His horse was none of the best, and was somewhat tired from having been
in use before that day. Consequently he was soon obliged to moderate
his speed, and had only accomplished half his journey, when the train
whirled by him. But he was not at all sorry to have to take the last
part of the way at a walk. The nearer he approached his goal, the more
conflicting became his feelings. What object had he in coming here at
all? He knew that she avoided him, and that she would unquestionably
leave this retreat too, if she should form but the slightest suspicion
that he was following her, and seeking an opportunity to meet her
again. And in what a light must he himself, his pride, his sense of
delicacy, appear to her, unless he carefully avoided even the
appearance of trying to intrude himself upon the peace that she had won
with such difficulty? If she could do without him, ought he to show how
painful it