wn on the sofa and bending over her. "I came to speak to you
frankly. Do you not see that the whole fabric upon which your golden
dreams were built has crumbled? The Bondavara mine is on fire; the
shares are falling; the prime-minister is disgraced; the prince is
under restraint; your husband is dead; your property will be sold by
auction; you are dismissed from the theatre. The five acts of the
drama are played out. Let us applaud the finish, if we are so minded,
and let us begin again. I can give you back your shares. I can get you
a palace in the Maximilian Strasse. I can buy back for you all your
seized goods--your furniture, your diamonds, your horses. I can
arrange matters with the manager of the theatre; you shall be
reinstated as prima donna on better terms than before. I can give you
a far greater position than you have ever enjoyed, and I can offer you
a truer, more self-sacrificing, more adoring lover than you have
possessed. His name is Waldemar Sondersheim." He bowed low before her.

Eveline looked with intense gravity at the top of his boots.

Waldemar was now certain that he was master of the situation. He took
from his waistcoat-pocket a watch, and pressed it into her hand.

"My sweetest love, my time is precious. I am expected at the
stock-exchange. The Kaulmann speculation has to be crushed. It is just
twelve o'clock. I give you one hour to think over what I have said and
to decide your own fate. I am content to wait until then; it is only
one word I ask for--yes or no."

Eveline gave him a yet shorter answer. She dashed the timepiece which
he had put into her hand with such force on the floor that it flew
into a hundred pieces. That was her answer!

Prince Waldemar laughed, put his hand in his left-hand
waistcoat-pocket, took out another watch, and said, dryly:

"I expected just such an answer, and therefore I brought with me
another watch. I beg of you to break this one also. I shall be only
too happy to provide you with a third."

This time, however, Eveline did not take the timepiece in her hand.
She sprang to her feet, and, pointing with her hand towards the door,
cried out:

"If you have bought my things, take everything away; but the apartment
is still mine. _Go!_"

Prince Waldemar looked at her haughtily, although he was still
smiling.

"My dear lady, this is easily said; but reflect a moment. What will
become of you if you reject me? You have no other expedient."

"I have a shelt