concerning the unhappy wife. The fact
is this: girls want a husband of wealth and standing, and a young and
brilliant lover besides. Why will they not marry poor men? Because they
can give them no fine establishment. And these men, who offer
themselves as lovers,--

"Lovers!" she exclaimed aloud. Frau Dournay sprang quickly up and rang
the bell violently, for she heard the carriage drive into the court.
She told the servant to ask her son to come to her directly.

Eric came, looking much excited; he gazed in astonishment at his
mother, whom he had never seen looking as she did now, with her long
hair hanging loose, and her face looking gray like her hair.

"Sit down," she said.

Eric seated himself. His mother pressed her hand to her brow. Could she
warn her son plainly? What can a mother, what can parents do, if a
child, grown up and free from control, wanders from the right path?
And if he has already wandered, can he still be honest? He _must_ lie;
it would be double baseness if he did not shield himself with
lies,--himself and her!

"My dear son," she began, in a constrained tone, "bear with me if I
feel lost in this restless life, which has broken in upon my loneliness
and quiet. I wonder at your calm strength--But no, I won't speak of
that now. What was I going to say to you? Ah, yes, the Countess
Wolfsgarten, the wife of our friend,"--she laid a quiet but marked
emphasis on this word, and paused a moment, then continued, "wishes to
have Aunt Claudine go and remain with her."

"That is good! that's excellent!"

"Indeed! and why? Do you forget that it will leave me quite alone in a
strange house?"

"But you are never alone, dear mother. And Aunt Claudine can find a
noble vocation at Wolfsgarten; Countess Bella is full of unrest, in
spite of all the beauty which encompasses her life; a strong, true
nature like Aunt Claudine's, steadfast, and bringing peace to others,
will soften and compose her as nothing else in the world could do. I
acknowledge the sacrifice that you must make, but a good work will be
accomplished by it."

His mother's eyes grew loss troubled; her face quivered as from an
electric shock, as she said smiling:--

"At last we have all found our mission, we are all to be teachers. Let
me ask you how Countess Bella, our friend's wife, appears to you."

A two-edged sword went through Eric's heart; he saw how he was bringing
a weight upon his mother's spirit. And perhaps Bella had betrayed