er, the sound of her voice, its
tones of deep feeling, made such an impression upon her excitable
nature, that she closed her eyes, and when she opened them, great
tear-drops stood upon her long lashes.

The Mother expressed her regret that she had made her shed tears, but
Frau Ceres shook her head violently.

"No, no, I thank you. I have not been able to weep for years--these
tears have lain here--here." She struck her bosom with violence. "I
thank you."

The Mother wanted now to withdraw, but Frau Ceres rose up quickly, went
up to her as she stood there struck with astonishment, and shrinking as
if from a crazy person, fell on her knees before her, and kissed her
hand, crying,--

"Protect me! Be a mother to me; I have never called any one mother; I
have never known a mother."

The Mother raised her up, saying,--

"My child, I can be a mother to you--I can and will. I am happy that
such fair tasks are assigned me here, tasks that I can lovingly fulfil.
But now be composed."

She led Frau Ceres back to the sofa, carefully helped her to lie down,
and covered her with a large shawl; it was an odd complication of soft
cushions in which she always lay muffled, as if she were buried.

She held the Mother's hand fast, and sobbed without cessation.

The Mother now extolled their happiness in having each of them such a
son, speaking less of Eric than of Roland; and as she went on to relate
how in the twilight he had appeared like the transfigured form of her
own dead child, Frau Ceres turned towards her and kissed her hand. She
proceeded quietly to speak of herself as a person of many
peculiarities, which rendered it no easy thing for any one to live with
her; she had been in the habit of being too much alone, and she feared
that she was not young enough and had not animal spirits sufficient to
be the companion of a lady who had every claim to the brilliancy and
joy of a stirring life.

Frau Ceres requested her to draw back the curtains a little, and as she
saw her more plainly she smiled; but immediately her countenance, with
the fine, half-opened mouth, assumed again the listless look which was
its habitual expression; she took the fan and fanned herself.

At last she said,--

"Ah yes, to learn! You cannot think how stupid I am, and yet I would so
like to be clever, and I would have learned so many things, but he
never wanted me to, and has not let me learn anything, and always said:
'You are fairest and deare