remained alone in her room as she had been so many days before.
She could hear the gnawing of the moths in the old wood-work, and now
and then the steps of the servant in the corridor. With burning eyes
she gazed at the ever-darkening sky; her hands grasped the slender arm
of her chair as if they must have an outward support at least.

Gradually it began to grow dark; the approaching evening and the black
storm-clouds together soon made it quite dusk, while now and then sharp
flashes of lightning brought the dark trees into full relief. Close by
Johanna was closing the windows of the sleeping-room.

"Shall I bring a lamp?" she asked, looking through the half-opened
door.

"No, thanks."

"But you oughtn't to sit so near the window, ma'am, it looks so
dreadful out there."

Gertrude did not move and the tear-stained face disappeared. A sudden
gust of wind swept through the trees, the branches were tossed wildly
about as if in a fierce struggle with brute force; the slender branches
were bent down to the ground only to rise again as quickly, and a
fierce blast whirling about gravel, leaves and small stones dashed them
against the rattling panes. Then followed a dazzling flash of
lightning, thunder that made the house shake, and at the same time a
sudden deluge of rain mingled with the peculiar pattering of large
hail-stones.

Johanna, with her child in her arms, came anxiously into her mistress'
room.

"Oh, mercy!" she shrieked, falling on her knees before the nearest
chair. Another flash filled the room for a moment with a dazzling red
light, and the thunder crashed after it like a thousand cannon.

"That struck, Mrs. Linden, that struck!" cried she in terror.

Gertrude had stepped back from the window; she was standing in the
middle of the room. By the light of the constant flashes the servant
could see her pale, rigid face with perfect distinctness. She rested
her hands on the table and looked towards the window as if it did not
concern her in the least. And still the storm raged more fiercely,
while the world seemed to be standing in a perfect sea of fire. It
seemed to have endured for hours. But gradually the flashes grew less
frequent, the crashes of thunder grew more distant, and at last only a
light rain dripped on the trees and the storm died away in a distant
low grumbling.

Gertrude opened the window and bent far out; a wonderfully sweet air
blew upon her face, soft and aromatic, refreshing and invi