had been in
every respect. Well now, about home matters; before everything else,
tell me about Falkenried?"

"Well, what is there for me to tell? Don't you write one another
regularly?"

"Yes, but his letters are always short and monosyllabic. I wrote him of
my marriage, but his congratulations were very laconic. You must see him
frequently, since he has been made minister of war, as you are so near
the city."

A shadow darkened Regine's clear eyes, and she shook her head sadly.
"You are mistaken, the colonel scarcely ever comes to Burgsdorf. He
grows more reserved and unapproachable each year."

"I am sorry to hear it; he has always made an exception of you, and I
hoped you could use your influence to bring him often to Burgsdorf. Have
you made no attempt to renew the old intimacy?"

"I did at first, but I have finally given it up as hopeless, for I saw
that I was only annoying him. There is nothing to be done, Herbert.
Since that unfortunate catastrophe he has been turned to stone. You have
seen him several times yourself, since then, and know he lives bereft of
hope."

Wallmoden's face clouded darkly, and his voice was very bitter as he
replied: "Yes, that boy Hartmut has done for him, that's certain. It's
over ten years ago now, however, and I did hope Falkenried would take
some interest in life again by this time."

"I never hoped that," said Frau von Eschenhagen, earnestly. "The life
has all gone from the roots. I shall never forget, as long as I live,
how he looked on that fateful evening, when we waited and waited, first
with uneasiness and apprehension, then with deadly anxiety. You grasped
the truth at once, but I would not let you say a word while there was a
chance. I can see him now as he stood at the window staring out into the
night, with drawn features and face like death, and to every word of
ours only the one answer. 'He will come! He must come! I have his word.'
And when in spite of all, Hartmut did not come, and we repaired to the
railway station at daybreak, only to learn that they two, mother and
son, had taken the express train hours before. God preserve us, may I
never see such a look on a man's face again. I made you promise to stay
by him, for I thought he would put a bullet through his heart before the
day was over."

"You were wrong there," said Wallmoden with decision. "A man of
Falkenried's temperament would consider it cowardice to commit suicide,
even though the days of his li