ent in the entry to
recover his breath. His heart throbbed loudly; he heard through the
door Franzelius' deep voice, suppressed but apparently engaged in eager
conversation, and now and then a merry, girlish laugh he had missed for
weeks. Only a momentary pang thrilled his frame, the next instant he
was calm and cheerful again. He felt strong enough to enter and greet
the happy pair without envy. "Perhaps I will when I come back," he
thought, and then limped softly forward, glad that he met no one who
would have remonstrated against his hazardous venture.

A keen, cold east wind was blowing, driving before it flakes of dry
crumbling snow. Fortunately an empty droschky was just passing; Balder
stopped it, and as he sat within, wrapped himself closely in his cloak.
But it was not the cold that made him shiver, but the feverish
excitement of his blood; for every pulse throbbed in anticipation of
the decisive moment he was about to meet.

When he reached the house in Rosenstrasse, he could not alight directly
at the door, as an elegant carriage already occupied the place. He
ordered the droschky to wait, and with many pauses, that he might not
lose his breath, ascended the stairs.

Little Jean opened the door and stared at the unexpected visitor with
eyes that grew larger than ever at the sight of him. There was some one
calling on his mistress, he said, but perhaps she would receive him; he
would see. He came back almost immediately and in his unmovably solemn
manner, without uttering a word, opened the door of Toinette's room.

CHAPTER II.

When the young girl saw Balder, she hastily rose from the sofa and with
the most winning cordiality approached him, holding out both little
hands, as if to support his tottering steps.

"You've come to see me yourself--to-day!" she exclaimed. "But was it
safe? The wind is so cold--my stairs are so steep--and yet you don't
know how glad I am to see you well again. Allow me to introduce you to
the Herr Count."

She turned toward a tall, slender man, dressed entirely in black, who
sat negligently leaning back in the chair beside the sofa, and only
noticed the young stranger in the shabby cloak by a slight bend of the
head. A flush crimsoned Balder's face, partly at the count's haughty
gesture, partly at the thought: "So he's the man who has supplanted
Edwin!" His clear eyes rested a few seconds upon the countenance of the
young nobleman, who h