ated, "rise; come, remain here
for a few moments; I wish to speak to your mother--alone. Natalie!"

The elder woman accompanied him a short distance across the lawn; they
stood by the fountain.

"By Heaven, I would do anything for the child!" he said, rapidly; "but
you see, dear friend, how it is impossible. Look at the injustice of it.
If we transferred this duty to another person, what possible excuse
could we make to him whom we might choose?"

He was looking back at the girl.

"It will kill her, Stefan," the mother said.

"Others have suffered also."

The elder woman seemed to collect herself a little.

"But I told you we had not said everything to you. The poor child is in
despair; she has not thought of all the reasons that induced us to come
to you. Stefan, you remember my cousin Konrad?"

"Oh yes, I remember Konrad well enough," said the general, absently, for
he was still regarding the younger Natalie, who sat on the bench, her
hands clasped, her head bent down. "Poor fellow, he came to a sad end at
last; but he always carried his life in his hands, and with a gay heart
too."

"But you remember, do you not, something before that?" the mother said,
with some color coming into her face. "You remember how my husband had
him chosen--and I myself appealed--and you, Stefan, you were among the
first to say that the Society must inquire--"

"Ah, but that was different, Natalie. You know why it was that that
commission had to be reversed."

"Do I know? Yes. What else have I had to think about these sixteen or
seventeen years since my child was separated from me?" she said, sadly.
"And perhaps I have grown suspicious; perhaps I have grown mad to think
that what has happened once might happen again."

"What?" he said, turning his clear blue eyes suddenly on her.

She did not flinch.

"Consider the circumstances, Stefan, and say whether one has no reason
to suspect. The Englishman, this Mr. Brand, loves Natalie; she loves him
in return; my husband refuses his consent to the marriage; and yet they
meet in opposition to his wishes. Then there is another thing that I
cannot so well explain, but it is something about a request on my
husband's part that Mr. Brand, who is a man of wealth, should accept a
certain offer, and give over his property to the funds of the Society."

"I understand perfectly," her companion said, calmly. "Well?"

"Well, Mr. Brand, thinking of Natalie's future, refuses. But consider
th