oming again the
days of stove-heat and confinement to the house, of rabbit-skins and
herb-bags.

"'I shall invite no one to the harvest festival this year, aunt,' began
Anna Maria, after a pause. 'What would all the people do here without
Klaus? It will give me no pleasure without him; on the contrary, it is
painful to me.'

"'But Klaus wishes----'

"'Ah, aunt, but he will be content _au fond_. I know him!' said the
girl, with a smile.

"Just then Brockelmann announced Baron Stuermer. Like a flash of fire a
sudden blush mounted to Anna Maria's face, the fingers which held the
needle trembled, and her voice was unsteady.

"'Excuse me to the baron. I am prevented, unfortunately; aunt is ill.'

"Anna Maria had hitherto seen him only in the presence of others; she
feared being alone with him; was that indifference?

"'Ask the baron to come up here,' said I with sudden resolution. 'I am
certainly old enough to receive him in bed,' I added to Anna Maria.

"'Come, _mon cher_ Edwin, if you are not afraid to see a sick old woman
in bed,' I called to him, as he was now entering, and pointed to a chair
by the head of my bed, opposite Anna Maria. Edwin Stuermer was the most
versatile man I ever saw, and at once master of a situation. And so he
was soon sitting by me, chatting pleasantly. The twilight deepened, and
Anna Maria let her hands rest. She listened to us as we spoke of old
times; I saw how her eyes were fixed on his face, how now and then a
slight flush spread over it. She spoke little, and all at once rose and
left the room.

"'Anna Maria is quiet, and looks badly,' I remarked; 'the work is too
much for her.'

"He did not answer at once; then he said: 'She was always so still and
cold, Aunt Rosamond.'

"'No, no, Stuermer, she is in trouble, she is worried about Klaus.'

"'Of all things in the world, that is a needless anxiety,' he returned,
laughing. And evidently trying to get away from the subject, he asked:
'But where is Fraeulein Mattoni?'

"'Nearer to you than you think, Edwin.'

"'With the old witch, her duenna?' he asked, with that indifference
which involuntarily suggests the opposite quality.

"'Yes; the old woman is ill and Susanna is taking care of her. _Eh
bien_, you will come, of course, to our harvest festival? Anna Maria
intends to celebrate it very quietly, quite _entre nous_; but you must
come, Edwin.'

"'What?' he asked, absently.

"'For pity's sake, tell me where your thoughts are