he secret should have been hidden forever in my
own heart, even had it consumed it."

Count Tekeli shook the hand of the young man warmly, and then summoned
his two daughters. They obeyed promptly. Both were agitated, and bent
their eyes upon the floor.

"Count Tekeli," said Michael, speaking in a calm, clear voice, "I have
a word to say to this your younger daughter, the lady Anna."

As her name was uttered, the young girl raised her eyes, inquiringly,
to the face of the speaker.

"Lady, but now," said Michael, "you solicited my forgiveness on your
knees."

"What!" cried the count, the blood mounting to his temples; "a
daughter of mine solicit on her knees forgiveness of one so late my
more than vassal--my slave! What is the meaning of this?"

"It means," cried Michael, kindling as he spoke, "that this morning,
during your absence, count,--nay, a half hour before your return,
this, your younger daughter, in a moment of ill-founded jealousy and
rage, usurping your virtual rights,--rights you had yourself
annulled,--doomed me to the knout!--yea, had me scourged by menials in
the court yard of your castle!"

"How," cried the count, addressing his daughter, "dared you commit
this infamy on the person of my friend--the savior of your life?"

"I did, I did!" cried Anna, wringing her hands.

"And you asked me to forgive you," said Michael. "You offered me your
hand, and begged me to accept it. My answer is, Never, never, never!
The moment you laid the bloody scourge upon my back, you lost your
hold upon my heart forever! I were less than a man could I forgive
this outrage on my manhood. I saved your life--you repaid it with the
lash. It is not the lash that wounds, it is the shame. The one eats
into the living flesh, the other into the living heart. Were you ten
times more lovely than you are, you would ever be a monster in my
eyes."

The tears that coursed freely down the cheeks of the lady Anna ceased
to fall as Michael ceased to speak. A deep red flush mounted to her
temples, and her eyes, so lately humid, shot forth glances like those
of an angry tigress. She turned to the count.

"Father," said she, "will you permit a base-born slave to use such
language to your daughter?"

"Silence!" said the old man. "His heart is nobler than yours. More
measured terms could not have passed his lips. I should have despised
him had he felt and said less. Get thee to thy chamber, and in
penitence and prayer relieve thy co