it was not that which so greatly consoled
her. The physician's remark, that there was no greater joy than the
discovery that we have been deceived in thinking ill of another, recurred
to her mind; and she had once loved the man who now stood before her open
to every good influence, deeply moved in her presence; and her judgment
of him had been a hundred, a thousand times too hard. Only a noble soul
could confidently expect magnanimity from a foe and he, he had put
himself defenceless into the power of her who had been mortally stricken
by the most fateful, and perhaps the only disgraceful act of his life. In
giving up this gold frame Orion also gave himself up; with this talisman
in her possession she stood before him as irresistible Fate. And now, as
she looked up at him and met his large eyes, full of life and intellect
but sparkling through tears of violent agitation, she felt absolutely
certain that this favorite of Fortune, though he had indeed sinned deeply
and disastrously, was capable of the highest and greatest aims if he had
a friend to show him what life required of him and were but ready to
follow such guidance. And such a friend she would be to him!

She, like Orion, could not for some time speak; but he, at last, was
unable to contain himself; he hastened towards her and pressed her hand
to his lips with fervent gratitude, while she--she had to submit; nay,
she would have been incapable of resisting him if, as in her dream, he
had clasped her in his arms, to his heart. His burning lips had rested
fervently on her hand, but it was only for an instant that she abandoned
herself to the violent agitation that mastered her. Then with a great
effort her instinct and determination to do right enabled her to control
it; she pushed him from her decisively but not ungently, and then, with
some emotion and an arch sweetness which he had never before seen in her,
and which charmed him even more than her noble and lofty pride, she said,
threatening him with her finger.

"Take care, Orion! Now I have the stone and the setting; yes, that very
setting. Beware of the consequences, rash man!"

"Not at all. Say rather: Fool, who at last has succeeded in doing
something rational," he replied joyfully. "What I have brought you is not
a gift; it is your own. To you it can be neither more nor less than it
was before; but to me it has gained inestimably in value since it places
my honor, perhaps my life even, in your keeping; I