er, with whom Fran Barbara Behaim was talking: "He
first taught me to know what true love is, and since then I have realised
that it was wrong and foolish for me to be angry with you, my dear Els,
and that Wolff did right to keep his troth, hard as his family made it
for him to do so. Had my Hans met me a little sooner, we should not now
have to mourn our poor Ulrich. I know--for I have tried often enough to
soothe his resentment--how greatly he incensed your lover. Oh, how sad it
all is! But your aunt, the abbess, was right when she told us before our
confirmation, 'When the cross that is imposed upon us weighs too heavily,
an angel often comes, lifts it, and twines it with lovely roses!' That
has been my experience, dear Els; and what great injustice I did you when
I kept out of your way so meanly! I always felt drawn to you. But when
that evil gossip began I turned against them all and bade them be silent
in my presence, for it was all false, base lies. I upheld your Eva, too,
as well as you, though she had been very ungracious whenever we met."

How joyously Els opened her heart to these confessions! How warmly she
interceded for her sister! The girls had passed their arms around each
other, as if they had returned to the days of their childhood, and when
Ursel's lover glanced at his betrothed bride, who, spite of her
well-formed figure and pleasant face, could not be classed amongst the
most beautiful of women, he thought she might compare in attractiveness
with the loveliest maidens, but no one could equal her in kindness of
heart. She saw this in the warm, loving look with which he sought her
pleasant grey eyes, as he approached to remind her that it was time to
go; but beckoning to him, she begged him to wait just a moment longer,
which she employed in whispering to Els: "You should find shelter with
us, and no one else, if my father----Don't think he refused to let me
invite you on account of poor Ulrich, or because he was angry with you.
It's only because----After the session to-day they all praised his noble
heart, and I don't know what else, so loudly and with such exaggeration
that it was too much to believe. If he interceded for the Eysvogel firm
and you poor children, it was only because, as a just man, he could not
do otherwise."

"Oh, Ursel!" Els here interrupted, wishing to join in her father's
praise; but the latter would not listen and eagerly continued:

"No, no, he really felt so. His modesty made