rce me to open my door to
you in spite of my husband and my stepfather, and in the face of this
Cerberus of a tutor who guards my stronghold."

"But what do I care for these open doors so long as your heart remains
closed against me, Camilla? Ah, you laugh--you mock at my sufferings.
Have you no pity, no mercy? You see what I suffer, and you laugh."

"I laugh," she whispered, "because you are so silly, beau cousin. But
listen, there is the call of my huntresses--I must hasten to them, or
they will surround this cabin and they might enter. Farewell. To-morrow
I will expect you with the letter. Adieu." Throwing him a kiss with the
tips of her fingers, she hastily left the hut.

Baron von Kindar looked after her with a singular smile. "She is mine,"
he whispered. "We will have a charming little romance, but it will
terminate in a divorce, and not in a marriage. I have no idea of
following up this divorce by a marriage. God protect me from being
forced to marry this beautiful, frivolous, coquettish woman."

While this scene was taking place in one part of the forest, the fete
continued gayly. They sang and laughed, and jested, and no one dreamed
that dark sin was casting its cold shadow over this bright scene--that
the cowardly crime of treachery had already poisoned the pure air of
this forest. None suspected it less than Prince Henry himself. He was
happy and content that this fete had succeeded so well--that this bright
autumn day had come opportunely to his aid. The sun penetrated to
his heart and made it warm and joyous. He had just made a little tour
through the forest with some of his cavaliers, and had returned to the
tent on the bank of the lake, where he had last seen the princess amid a
bevy of nymphs, but she was no longer there, and none of the ladies knew
where she had gone.

"She has retired to her hut," said the prince to himself, as he turned
smilingly toward the thick woods. "The only thing is to discover her
hut; without doubt she is there and expects me to seek her. Now, then,
may fortune assist me to discover my beloved. I must find her if only
to prove to her that my love can overcome all difficulties and penetrate
every mystery. There are twenty-four huts--I know their situation. I
will visit each, and it will be strange indeed if I cannot discover my
beautiful Wilhelmina."

He advanced with hasty steps in the direction of the huts. By a singular
coincidence they were all vacant, the ivy wreath