z. But no! Can she--can you, believe for one moment that I would now
have her return to him, if, indeed, it were any longer possible? No,
Franz; no; no; no; Karen shall never see that man again. Only over my
dead body should he pass to her. I swear it, not only to you, but to
myself. And Franz, dear Franz, what I think of now is you, and your love
and loyalty to my Karen. You have saved her; you have saved me; it is
life you bring--a new life, Franz," and smiling upon him, her cheeks
still wet with tears, she softly sang Tristan's phrase to Kurvenal:
"_Holder! Treuer!--wie soll dir Tristan danken!_"

Her joy, her ecstasy of gratitude, shone upon him. She was the tutelary
goddess of his family. Trust, for himself and for his loved Karen, went
out to her and took refuge beneath the great wings she spread. And as
she held his hands and smiled upon him he told her in his earnest,
honest German, all that had happened to him and Karen; of his
walking-tour; and of the meeting on the Falmouth headland at dawn; and
of their journey here. "And one thing, _gnaedige Frau_," he said, "that
troubled me, but that will now be well, since you are come to us, is
that I have told them here that Karen is my wife. See you, _gnaedige
Frau_, the good landlady knows us all and knows that Lotta, Minna and
Elizabeth are the only daughters that the Muetterchen has--besides the
little ones. I remembered that the Muetterchen had told her this; she
talked much with her; it was but three years ago, _gnaedige Frau_; it was
not time enough for a very little one to grow up; so I could not say
that Karen was my sister; and I have to be much with her; I sit beside
her all through the night--for she is afraid to be alone, the _armes
Kind_; and the good landlady and the maid must sleep. So it seemed to me
that it was right to tell them that Karen was my wife. You think so,
too, _nicht wahr, gnaedige Frau_?"

Madame von Marwitz had listened, her deeply smiling eyes following,
understanding all; and as the last phase of the story came they deepened
to only a greater sweetness. They showed no surprise. A content almost
blissful shone on Franz Lippheim.

"It is well, Franz," she said. "Yes, you have done rightly. All is well;
more well than you yet perhaps see. Karen is safe, and Karen shall be
free. What has happened is God-sent. The situation is in our hands."

For a further moment, silent and weighty, she gazed at him and then she
added: "There need be no