limpses of a great and glorious future,
in which at moments of excitement he would indulge. A life of intrigue
and plot would naturally enough suggest ambitious hopes, and conduce to
the very frame of mind which he appeared to reach. That I should become
the follower of such a man, and the disciple of such a school, revolted
against all her feelings. The spy, no matter how highly accredited and
how richly rewarded, was, in her eyes, the most ignoble of all careers;
and she would rather have seen me clad in the sheepskin of an Alpine
shepherd than wearing, in this capacity, the decorations of every order
of Europe.

From the moment, therefore, the suspicion crossed her mind that Herr
Robert had been such, she firmly determined to withdraw me altogether
from his intimacy. Nor was the step an easy one. He had become a
recognized member of our little household; each evening saw him seated
at our hearth or board; on every Sunday he dined with us. His little
presents of wine and fruit, and occasionally of books, showed that he
intended reciprocity to be a basis of our intercourse, of which, indeed,
the balance lay in our favor. How, therefore, was such a state of things
to be suddenly arrested? How bring to an abrupt conclusion an intimacy
of which nothing had hitherto interrupted the peaceful course? This was
a matter of no common difficulty, and for several days did she ponder
over it to herself.

It chanced that, for the first time since her arrival at Reichenau, Herr
Robert had been slightly indisposed, and being unable to come and see
us, had sent for me to come each evening and read to him. At any other
moment my mother would have thought no more of this, but coming now, at
the very time when her feelings of doubt and suspicion were torturing
her, she regarded the circumstance with actual apprehension.

At first, she thought of sending Raper along with me, in the guise
of protector; but as Herr Robert had not requested his company, there
seemed an awkwardness in this; then she half resolved to refuse me
permission, on pretence of requiring my presence at home: this, too,
would look ungracious; and when at last she did accord her leave, it was
for a very limited time, and with strict injunctions to be back by an
early hour.

It chanced that Herr Robert felt on this evening a more than ordinary
desire to be frank and confidential. He related to me various anecdotes
of his early days, the scenes he had mixed in, and th