yard. The young nobleman perceived and
hastened towards them. Karpathy held out his hand while he was still
some way off, and Rudolf pressed it warmly.

"Well, and won't you hold out your hand too?" said the Squire to his
wife; "he's the husband of your dear friend, is he not? Why do you look
at him as if you had never seen him before?"

Fanny fancied that the ground beneath her must open, and the columns and
stone statues of the old castle seemed to be dancing round her. She felt
the pressure of a warm hand in hers, and she involuntarily leaned her
dizzy head on her husband's shoulder.

Rudolf regarded her fixedly, and his ideas concerning this woman were
peculiar: he took this pallor for faint-heartedness, this veiled regard
for coquetry, and he believed it would be no difficult matter to win
her.

As they ascended the staircase together, he told Karpathy the cause of
his coming: he had, he said, to settle a boundary dispute between two
counties, which would detain him for some days.

The two men spent the hours of the afternoon together; only at the
dinner-table did they all three meet again.

Karpathy himself was struck by the paleness of his wife; all through
dinner the lady was speechless.

The conversation naturally turned on general subjects. Rudolf had little
opportunity of speaking to Dame Karpathy by herself. After dinner
Karpathy used generally to have a nap, and it had now become such an
indispensable habit with him that he would not have given up his
after-dinner repose for the sake of all the potentates of the Orient.

"And meanwhile, little brother," said he to Rudolf, "amuse yourself as
you please. Have a chat with my wife, or, if you think it more prudent,
make use of my library."

The choice was not difficult.

Fanny, as soon as dinner was over, withdrew to the garden. Presently,
hearing footsteps approaching, she looked up and beheld Rudolf.

The unexpected apparition of a tiger just escaped from his cage would
not have terrified her so. There was no escape from him. They stood face
to face.

The young man approached her with friendly courtesy, and a conversation
on some general topic began. Rudolf remarked that the flowers in the
garden around them were as wondrously beautiful, as if they were
sensible of the close proximity of their mistress, and did not wish to
be inferior to her in beauty.

"I love flowers," stammered Fanny, as if she felt obliged to answer
something.

"Ah, if