re, and eyes fixed on the ground, and
declared that he loved Angelica unutterably; but that, upon his honour,
until that moment, not a word approaching to a declaration of his
feelings had crossed his lips. He had been but too seriously doubtful
as to its being possible that Angelica could return his love. He said
it was only at this moment--which he could not possibly have
anticipated--that the bliss accorded to him by heaven had been fully
disclosed to him; and that he trusted he should not be repulsed by the
noblest hearted of mankind, the tenderest of fathers, when he implored
him to bestow his blessing on a union sealed by the purest and
sincerest affection.

The Colonel gazed at Moritz, and then at Angelica, with looks of gloom;
then he paced up and down with folded arms like one who strives to
arrive at a resolution. He paused before his wife, who had taken
Angelica in her arms and was whispering to her words of consolation.

"What," he inquired, "has this silly dream of yours to do with
Count----?"

Angelica threw herself at his feet, kissed his hands, bathed them in
her tears, and said, half-audibly, "Oh, father! dearest father! those
terrible eyes which mastered my whole being were the Count's eyes. It
was his spectral hand which wove round me those meshes of fire. But the
voice of comfort which spoke to me out of the perfumed blossoms of the
wondrous tree, was the voice of Moritz--my Moritz!"

"Your Moritz!" cried the Colonel, turning so quickly that he nearly
threw Angelica down. He continued, speaking to himself in a lower tone:
"Thus a father's wise resolve, and the offer of a grand and noble
gentleman, are to be cast to the winds, for the sake of childish
imaginations, and a clandestine love affair." And he walked up and down
as before. At last, addressing Moritz, he said--

"Captain von P----, you know very well what a high opinion of you I
have. I could not have wished for a better son-in-law. But I have
promised my daughter to Count S----, to whom I am bound by the deepest
obligations by which one man can be bound to another. At the same time,
please do not suppose that I am going to play the part of the obstinate
and tyrannical father. I shall hasten to the Count at once. I shall
tell him everything. Your love will be the cause of a cruel difference
between me and this gentleman. It may cost me my life. No matter; it
can't be helped. Wait here till I come back."

Moritz warmly declared that he