ed temperament which had formerly borne her
pleasantly over so many things. Then she told herself that, in order
not to go to perdition herself, she must vow, sacrifice, undertake
everything for the salvation of the dead girl and of her own heavily
burdened soul. For the first time she felt a longing to confide her
feelings to some one. If Lienhard had been within reach and disposed
to listen to her, he would have understood, and known what course to
advise.

True, the thought that he was not looking at her when she took the fatal
leap still haunted her. He could not have showed more offensively how
little he cared for her--but perhaps he was under the influence of
a spell; for she must be something to him. This was no vain
self-deception; had it not been so, would he have come in person to her
couch of pain, or cared for her so kindly after the accident?

In the convent she had reached the conviction that it would be degrading
to think longer of the man who, in return for the most ardent love,
offered nothing but alms in jingling coin; yet her poor heart would not
cease its yearning.

Meanwhile she never wearied of seeking motives that would place his
conduct in a more favourable light. Whatever he might have withheld from
her, he was nevertheless the best and noblest of men, and as she limped
aimlessly on, the conviction strengthened that the mere sight of him
would dispel the mists which, on this sunny spring day, seemed to veil
everything around and within her.

But he remained absent, and suddenly it seemed more disgraceful to seek
him than to stand in the stocks.

Yet the pilgrimage to Compostella, of which the confessor had spoken?
For the very reason that it had been described to her as unattainable,
it would perhaps be rated at a high value in heaven, and restore to her
while on earth the peace she had lost.

She pondered over this thought on her way to the tavern, where she found
a corner to sleep, and a carrier who, on the day after the morrow, would
take her to the sea for a heller pound. Other pilgrims had also engaged
passage at Antwerp for Corunna, the harbour of Compostella, and her
means were sufficient for the voyage. This assurance somewhat soothed
her while she remained among people of her own calling.

But she spent a sleepless night; for again and again the dead child's
image appeared vividly before her. Rising from the soft pillows in
the coffin, she shook her finger threateningly at her,