d
so much to forgive him.

The Ortlieb sisters did not see him, but Cordula unconsciously shook her
head as she gazed. Was this grave man, so absorbed in devotion that he
did not vouchsafe those who surrounded him even a single glance, the
Heinz whose delightful gaiety had captivated her heart? The linden, with
foliage withered by the autumn blasts, was more like the same tree in the
spring when the birds were singing in its boughs, than yonder absorbed
supplicant resembled the bold Heinz of a few days ago. The old mocker,
Chamberlain Wiesenthau, was right when he told her and her father that
morning that the gay Swiss had been transformed by the miracle which had
befallen him, like the Saul of holy writ, in the twinkling of an eye,
into a Paul. The calendar-makers were already preparing to assign a day
to St. Schorlin.

But she ought not to have joined in the boisterous laugh with which her
father rewarded the old slanderer's news. No! The knight's experience
must have made a deeper impression than the others suspected.

Perhaps little Eva's love would result in her seeking with the sisters of
St. Clare, and Heinz with the Franciscans, peace and a loftier passion.
She was certainly to be pitied if love had taken as firm a hold upon her
heart as Cordula thought she had perceived.

Again her kind heart throbbed with tender sympathy, and when the sisters
left the sedan chairs which had brought them back to the house, and
Cordula met Eva in the corridor, she held out her hand with frank
cordiality, saying, "Clasp it trustingly, girl. True, you do not value it
much, but it is offered to no one to whom Cordula does not mean kindly."

Eva, taken by surprise, obeyed her request. How frank and kindly her grey
eyes were! Cordula herself must be so, too, and, obeying a hasty impulse,
she nodded with friendly warmth; then, as if ashamed of her change of
mood, hurried past her up the stairs.

The following day had been appointed for the mass for the dead in St.
Sebald's Church.

Els had told Eva that the countess had seen Heinz Schorlin at the
consecration. The news pleased her, and she expressed her joy so
animatedly and spoke so confidently of the knight's love that Els felt
anxious. But she did not have courage to disturb her peace of mind, and
her father's two sisters, the abbess, and Herr Pfinzing's wife, also said
nothing to Eva concerning the future as they helped Els to arrange the
dead woman's clothing, which was t