with several leather bags which they replaced in the chariot.
Then the treasurer stepped in and with him Philippus, and the vehicle
drove away.

"So Paula has entrusted her property to Orion again," thought Katharina.
"They are one again; and henceforth there will be endless going and
coming between the governor's house and that of Rufinus. A very pretty
game!--But wait, only wait." And she set her little white teeth; but she
retained enough self-possession to mark all that took place.

During her absence indoors Orion's black horse had been brought into the
garden; a groom on horseback was leading him, and as she watched their
movements she muttered to herself with a smile of scorn: "At any rate he
is not going to carry her home with him at once."

A few minutes passed in silence, and at last Paula came out, and close
behind her, almost by her side, walked Orion.

His cheeks were no longer pale, far from it, no more than Katharina's
were; they were crimson! How bright his eyes were, how radiant with
satisfaction and gladness!--She only wished she were a viper to sting
them both in the heel!--At the same time Paula had lost none of her
proud and noble dignity--and he? He gazed at his companion like a rapt
soul; she fancied she could see the folds of his mourning cloak rising
and falling with the beating of his heart. Paula, too, was in mourning.
Of course. They were one; his sorrow must be hers, although she had fled
from his father's house as though it were a prison. And of course this
virtuous beauty knew full well that nothing became her better than dark
colors! In manner, gait and height this pair looked like two superior
beings, destined for each other by Fate; Katharina herself could not but
confess it.

Some spiteful demon--a friendly one, she thought--led them past her,
so close that her sharp ears could catch every word they said as they
slowly walked on, or now and then stood still, dogged by the agile
water-wagtail, who stole along parallel with them on the other side of
the hedge.

"I have so much to thank you for," were the first words she caught from
Orion, "that I am shy of asking you yet another favor; but this one
indeed concerns yourself. You know how deep a blow was struck me by
little Mary's childish hand; still, the impulse that prompted her had
its rise in her honest, upright feeling and her idolizing love of you."

"And you would like me to take charge of her?" asked Paula. "Such a wish
is