ide of the mother might not have led her
to consider such an alliance quite impossible, but so extravagant an
idea had never entered the contemplation of the sounder judgment of the
old man. Both were satisfied of the sincerity of my love, and could but
put up prayers to Heaven for the happiness of their child.

A letter which I received from Minna about that time has just fallen
into my hands. Yes, these are the characters traced by her own hand. I
will transcribe the letter:--

"I am indeed a weak, foolish girl to fancy that the friend I so
tenderly love could give an instant's pain to his poor Minna! Oh no!
thou art so good, so inexpressibly good! But do not misunderstand me. I
will accept no sacrifice at thy hands--none whatever. Oh heavens! I
should hate myself! No; thou hast made me happy--thou hast taught me to
love thee.

"Go, then--let me not forget my destiny--Count Peter belongs not to me,
but to the whole world; and oh! what pride for thy Minna to hear thy
deeds proclaimed, and blessings invoked on thy idolised head! Ah, when
I think of this, I could chide thee that thou shouldst for one instant
forget thy high destiny for the sake of a simple maiden! Go, then;
otherwise the reflection will pierce me. How blest I have been rendered
by thy love! Perhaps, also, I have planted some flowers in the path of
thy life, as I twined them in the wreath which I presented to thee!

"Go, then--fear not to leave me--you are too deeply seated in my
heart--I shall die inexpressibly happy in thy love."

Conceive how these words pierced my soul, Chamisso!

I declared to her that I was not what I seemed--that although a rich, I
was an unspeakably miserable man--that a curse was on me, which must
remain a secret, although the only one between us--yet that I was not
without a hope of its being removed--that this poisoned every hour of
my life--that I should plunge her with me into the abyss--she, the
light and joy, the very soul of my existence. Then she wept, because I
was unhappy. Oh! Minna was all love and tenderness. To save me one tear
she would gladly have sacrificed her life. Yet she was far from
comprehending the full meaning of my words. She still looked upon me as
some proscribed prince or illustrious exile; and her vivid imagination
had invested her lover with every lofty attribute.

One day I said to her, "Minna, the last day in next month will decide
my fate, and perhaps change it for the better; if not, I wou