nd wondered what new villainy was on
foot. But the massive stone walls kept their secret, and the luckless
maiden never again emerged from the castle.

For a time the Count's crime went unpunished, and about a year later he
commenced paying his addresses to Eldegarda, a lady of noble birth.
In due course the nuptials of the pair were celebrated. The bride had
little idea what manner of man she had espoused, but she was destined
to learn this shortly; for on the very night of their marriage an
apparition rose between the two.

"Otto," cried the ghost in weird, sepulchral tones, "I alone am thy
lawful spouse; through thee I lost all hopes of Heaven, and now I am
come to reward thee for thy evil deeds." The Count turned livid with
fear, and the blush on Eldegarda's cheek faded to an ashen hue; but the
spectre remained with them throughout the night. And night after night
she came to them thus, till at last Otto grew desperate and summoned to
his aid a Churchman who happened to be in the neighbourhood, the Abbot
Bernard of Clairvaux.

Now this Bernard enjoyed no small fame as a worker of miracles, but when
Otto unfolded his case to him the Abbot declared straightway that no
miracle would be justifiable in the present instance, and that only by
repentance and by complete renunciation of the world might the Count
be released from his nightly menace. Otto hung his head on hearing this
verdict, and as he stood hesitating, pondering whether it were possible
for him to forgo all earthly joys, his old henchman, Riguenbach, chanced
to enter, and learning his master's quandary, he laughed loudly
and advised the Count to eject Bernard forcibly. The Abbot met the
retainer's mirth with a look of great severity, and on Riguenbach
showing that he was still bent on insolence, the Churchman cried to
him: "Get thee behind me, Satan"; whereupon a flame of lightning darted
suddenly across the chamber, and the man who had long aided and abetted
the Count's wickedness was consumed to ashes.

For a moment Otto stood aghast at the awful fate of his retainer; and
now, beholding how terrible a thing is divine vengeance, he began at
last to feel truly repentant. He consented to have his marriage annulled
without delay, and even declared that he himself would become a monk. At
the same time he counselled his wife to take the veil, and they parted,
thinking never to see each other again. But one night, ere either of
them had taken the irrevocable