d his tongue, since he was feeling quite ill and sick; Nanni, on
the contrary, derived inward comfort from all Leberfink's remarkable
stories, and she plucked up her hopes again. With her trouble, however,
there was united a perceptible mixture of annoyance and anger, and
particularly at the moments when it seemed to her utterly impossible
that Jonathan could have been untrue to her. From this it might be
inferred that Jonathan had not sought to exculpate himself, but had
obstinately maintained silence about his adventure.

After some months had elapsed the young lawyer came back to Bamberg in
the highest good spirits; and Master Wacht, on seeing the bright glad
light in Nanni's eyes when she looked at him, could not well do
otherwise than conclude that Jonathan had fully justified his conduct
to her. Doubtless it would not be disagreeable to the indulgent reader
to have the history of what had taken place between the stranger lady
and the young lawyer inserted here as an episodical _novella_.

Count Z----, a Hungarian, owner of more than a million, married from
pure affection a miserably poor girl, who drew down upon her head the
hatred of his family, not only because her own family was enshrouded in
complete obscurity, but also because the only valuable treasures she
possessed were her divine virtue, beauty, and grace. The Count promised
his wife that at his death he would settle all his property upon her by
will.

Once when he returned to Vienna into the arms of his wife, after having
been summoned from Paris to St. Petersburg on diplomatic business, he
related to her that he had been attacked by a severe illness in a
little town, the name of which he had quite forgotten; there he had
seized the opportunity whilst recovering from his illness to draw up a
will in her favour and deposit it with the court. Some miles farther on
the road he must have been seized with a new and doubly virulent attack
of his grave nervous complaint, so that the name of the place where he
had made his will and that of the court where he had deposited it had
completely slipped his memory; moreover, he had lost the document of
receipt from the court acknowledging the deposition of the testament.
As so often happens in similar cases the Count postponed the making of
a new will from day to day, until he was overtaken by death. Then his
relatives did not neglect to lay claim to all the property he left
behind him, so that the poor Countess saw