ened with attention, looking her in the eye; he was
apparently mollified, for he said cheerfully enough:--

"Well, what's to be done? God knows that I have sincerely wished to do the
right thing. Only do not be angry, sister; if you do not agree, sister,
you are quite within your rights. It is a sad business, but there is no
use being angry. I gave the advice, for my brother bade me; no one here is
using compulsion. If you refuse Thaddeus, sister, I will reply to Jacek
that through no fault of mine the betrothal of Thaddeus and Zosia cannot
come to pass. Now I will take my own counsel; perhaps I can open
negotiations with the Chamberlain and arrange the whole matter."

In the meantime Telimena's wrath had cooled down:--

"I do not refuse him, my dear brother; not at all! You said yourself that
it is rather early, that they are too young. Let us think it over and
wait; that will do no harm. Let us make the young people acquainted; we
will observe them--we must not thus expose to chance the happiness of
others. Only I caution you betimes, brother, do not prompt Thaddeus, and
do not urge him to fall in love with Zosia, for the heart is not a
servant, and acknowledges no master, and will not let itself be forcibly
put in chains."54

Thereat the Judge, arising, walked away in deep thought. Thaddeus
approached from the opposite side, pretending that the search for
mushrooms had enticed him there; the Count slowly moved on in the same
direction.

During the dispute between the Judge and Telimena the Count had been
standing behind the trees, mightily affected by the scene. He took from
his pocket paper and pencil, implements that he had always with him, and,
leaning on a stump and spreading out the sheet before him, he was
evidently drawing a picture, and saying to himself: "They might have been
grouped thus intentionally, he on the rock, she on the grass, a
picturesque group! What characteristic heads! and what contrasting faces!"

He approached, checked himself, wiped his lorgnette, brushed his eyes with
his handkerchief, and continued to gaze:--

"Is this marvellous, this charming prospect destined to perish or to be
transformed when I approach near it? Will that velvet grass prove only
poppies and beets? In that nymph shall I discover only a mere
housekeeper?"

Although before this the Count had often seen Telimena at the Judge's
house, where he had been a frequent visitor, he had paid little heed to
her; he was no