'Who would have thought she
cared for him?' And before the words were uttered, he was struggling in
the Prince's grasp.

'My wife! the Princess? What of her?'

'She is down the road,' he gasped. 'I left her twenty minutes back.'

And next moment, the choked author stood alone, and the Prince on foot
was racing down the hill behind the Countess.

CHAPTER IV--BABES IN THE WOOD

While the feet of the Prince continued to run swiftly, his heart, which
had at first by far outstripped his running, soon began to linger and
hang back. Not that he ceased to pity the misfortune or to yearn for the
sight of Seraphina; but the memory of her obdurate coldness awoke within
him, and woke in turn his own habitual diffidence of self. Had Sir John
been given time to tell him all, had he even known that she was speeding
to the Felsenburg, he would have gone to her with ardour. As it was, he
began to see himself once more intruding, profiting, perhaps, by her
misfortune, and now that she was fallen, proffering unloved caresses to
the wife who had spurned him in prosperity. The sore spots upon his
vanity began to burn; once more, his anger assumed the carriage of a
hostile generosity; he would utterly forgive indeed; he would help, save,
and comfort his unloving wife; but all with distant self-denial, imposing
silence on his heart, respecting Seraphina's disaffection as he would the
innocence of a child. So, when at length he turned a corner and beheld
the Princess, it was his first thought to reassure her of the purity of
his respect, and he at once ceased running and stood still. She, upon
her part, began to run to him with a little cry; then, seeing him pause,
she paused also, smitten with remorse; and at length, with the most
guilty timidity, walked nearly up to where he stood.

'Otto,' she said, 'I have ruined all!'

'Seraphina!' he cried with a sob, but did not move, partly withheld by
his resolutions, partly struck stupid at the sight of her weariness and
disorder. Had she stood silent, they had soon been locked in an embrace.
But she too had prepared herself against the interview, and must spoil
the golden hour with protestations.

'All!' she went on, 'I have ruined all! But, Otto, in kindness you must
hear me--not justify, but own, my faults. I have been taught so cruelly;
I have had such time for thought, and see the world so changed. I have
been blind, stone-blind; I have let all true good go by me, and