times becoming almost too heavy for her to
carry.

Now that she was alone and unobserved, the cold, proud repose which had
been so noticeable since her wedding-day, departed as a shadow, and she
was a creature of another world.

Her features, which were an heritage from her father, and betokened a
strong and determined nature, had become more rigid in the last few
months, but over her face lay a new expression, one of pain and anxiety,
as if some secret and hitherto unknown spring had been touched; the blue
eyes lost their cold, passionate look, deep shadows lay in them, which
told of strife and anguish, and the blonde head sank low, as under some
unsupportable burden.

And yet Adelheid breathed more freely than she had done for many a day,
at the thought that this was the last one at Fuerstenstein. To-morrow at
this time, she would be far away, and distance she prayed would save her
from that dark influence against which she had been battling for weeks
in vain, when she would no longer see those eyes whose power she
dreaded, or hear the voice which bewitched her. When she had flown from
the mysterious power which held her, she could conquer and utterly
destroy it. God be praised!

The sound of the hunt grew each moment less distinct, and was finally
lost altogether in the distance; but in the wood, near the elevation on
which she stood, the baroness could hear crunching footsteps which told
her she was no longer alone. She turned to go in an opposite direction,
but as she turned, a man's form appeared among the trees, and Hartmut
Rojanow stood before her.

The meeting was so sudden that Adelheid lost her self-possession.

She drew back as if seeking protection among the trees beneath which she
had been standing, and stared at him with the eyes of a wounded animal
watching the pursuing hunter.

Rojanow did not appear to perceive this. He bowed and asked hastily:
"Are you alone, baroness? The accident was not serious, then?"

"What accident?"

"I heard you'd been thrown from your horse!"

"What an exaggeration. My saddle girth broke, and as I saw it in time I
jumped to the ground, while the animal stood perfectly still--that was
the accident."

"Thank God--I heard something of a plunge, a fall, and as you did not
return to the hunting field I--"

He stopped suddenly, for Adelheid's glance showed him she did not
believe his statement; he had probably met the groom and had questioned
him. Now at last her s