nd melancholy:

"Yes, Euchar. As the mysterious whirring of the wheels of a clock tells
me that it is going to strike the hour, warnings go before coming
misfortunes. On the very night before the ball I had an awful, a
horrible dream. I thought I was at the ball, and when I was going to
begin dancing, I suddenly found that I could not move my feet from the
floor. And I saw in the mirror, to my horror, that instead of the
well-looking nether extremities which nature has provided me with,
I was dragging about under my body, the gouty old legs of the
Consistorial President, with all their wrappings and bandages. And
while I had to stick to the floor in this terrible manner, lo and
behold! the Consistorial President, with Victorine in his arms,
whirling along in a Laendler, lightly and gracefully as any bird. But
the point of the thing was, that he sniggered at me, with the most
insulting style of sneering laughter, and said he had won my legs from
me at picquet.

"I awoke, as you may imagine, bathed in a perspiration of anguish.
Still sunk in thought over this horrible vision of the night, I must
needs set the cup of almost boiling chocolate to my lips, and burn them
to that extent, that you may see the mark still, although I have rubbed
on as much pomade as I could. Now I know that you don't take much
interest in other people's troubles, so I shall say nothing about the
numerous fateful events which destiny dogged my steps with all day
yesterday, and merely tell you that when it came to be time to dress in
the evening, two stitches burst out of one of my silk stockings--two of
my waistcoat buttons came off--as I was getting into the carriage to go
to the ball, I let my Wellington get into the mud, and at last, in the
carriage itself, when I wanted to tighten the patent buckles of my
pumps, I found, to my intense annoyance, that my idiot of a servant had
put on two which we're not a pair! I was obliged to go home again, and
lost a good half hour. However, Victorine came to me in all the glory
of her beauty and delightsomeness. I asked her for the next dance. It
was a Laendler, we started off together. I was in heaven. But in a
moment I felt the spite of adverse fortune."

"The mutual interdependence of things," said Euchar, interrupting.

"Call it whatever you please," said Ludwig, "it doesn't matter to me
to-day. All I know is, that it was fate which made me fall over that
tree-stump yesterday. As I was dancing I felt