er was a support
to us all. On the twelfth day, the young count came. We had hardly
expected him so soon, and we were almost startled when he entered the
sick room."

"As soon as he heard the door open, my master waked up from the
lethargy in which he had been lying, and sat up, and in a voice which I
shall hear all my life, he cried: 'Ernest, my son!' and burst into a
passion of tears, and wept as though his spirit were passing away
through his eyes. After that he became surprisingly cheerful and
sensible, and lay quietly, holding his son's hand in his. He talked
again without rambling; so for one moment we hoped the worst was over,
and the turn taken towards getting better. But ten minutes after, his
eyes grew dim again; he gave one look at his countess, and said:
'Ernest will take care of you.' He was going to say something to his
son as well, when he fell back and was gone."

"You must excuse me, Sir, for telling you all this so particularly, but
you must let me say a few words more, to tell you how it ended. Alas!
the end came soon enough! The very day after the funeral Count Ernest
went away again, after having done all that could be done, by seals and
documents, to make the countess complete mistress of the whole. For
they had found no will. Count Henry knew well enough that he had only
to say; 'Ernest will provide for you,' to close his eyes in peace."

"'If there is anything I can do for you, I beg you to command me in
every way;' my dear Count Ernest had said to his stepmother before he
went. 'If you should ever find this solitude too much for you, I hope
you will remember that my wife is waiting to receive you with open
arms.'"

"She looked at him affectionately, and held out her hand, which he
respectfully took and kissed."

"'You are well cared for;' he said in a low voice; 'I leave you with my
own faithful Flor--I only beg you will bring her with you, when you
come to Sweden.'"

"Of course this was more than I could hear with dry eyes. So I threw my
apron over my face, and ran away--but in the passage he held me fast,
and kissed me quite vehemently, and I felt how his heart was beating,
and the hot tears from his eyes came dripping on my grey hairs."

"'My boy, my Ernest, my dearest master!' I said;--'God bless you for
having come! as He has already blessed you for your truth and
tenderness. He did not take your father until you had heard from his
dying lips, that he well knew what a son he was le