then cautiously entered her sitting-room, shielding herself from
observation. No; there was no beautiful lady at the window opposite. A
sense of relief passed over Magnhild, and she went forward. She was
obliged to move some plants into the sunshine, one of her daily duties,
but she came very near dropping the flowerpot into the street, for as
she held it in her hands the lady's head was thrust into the open
window.

"Do not be frightened!" was the laughing greeting, uttered in tones of
coaxing entreaty for pardon, that surpassed in sweetness anything of the
kind Magnhild had ever heard.

"You will allow me to come in; will you not?" And before Magnhild could
answer, the lady was already entering the house.

The next moment she stood face to face with Magnhild, tall and
beautiful. An unknown perfume hovered about her as she flitted through
the room, now speaking of the lithographs on the wall, now of the
valley, the mountains, or the customs of the people. The voice, the
perfume, the walk, the eyes, indeed the very material and fashion of her
dress, especially its bold intermingling of colors, took captive the
senses. From the instant she entered the room it belonged to her; if she
smelled a flower, or made an observation concerning it, forthwith that
flower blossomed anew; for what her eyes rested upon attained precisely
the value she gave it.

Steps were heard above. The lady paused. Magnhild blushed. Then the
lady smiled, and Magnhild hastened to remark: "That is a lodger--who"--

"Yes, I know; he met me last evening at the wharf."

Magnhild opened her eyes very wide. The lady drew nearer.

"My husband and he are very good friends," said she.

She turned away humming, and cast a glance at the clock in the corner
between the bed-room wall and the window.

"Why, is it so late by your time here?" She drew out her own watch. "We
are to walk to-day at eleven o'clock. You must go with us; will you not?
You can show us the prettiest places in the wood behind the church and
up the mountain slopes."

Magnhild promptly answered, "Yes."

"Listen: do you know what? I will run up-stairs and say that you are
going with us, and then we will go at once--at once!"

She gave Magnhild's hand a gentle pressure, opened the door and sped
swiftly up the stairs. Magnhild remained behind--and she was very pale.

There was a whirling, a raging within, a fall. But there was no
explosion. On the contrary, everything became so em