the least, due to thy noble frankness, Thou shouldst in
justice have known it long before."

Adelheid regarded him in speechless apprehension, for the evident and
violent physical struggles of the young man too fearfully announced the
mental agony he endured. The color had fled from her own face, in which
the beauty of expression now reigned undisputed distress; but it was the
expression of the mingled sentiments of wonder, dread, tenderness, and
alarm. He saw that his own sufferings were fast communicating themselves
to his companion, and, by a powerful effort, he so far mastered his
emotions as to regain a portion of his self-command.

"This explanation has been too heedlessly delayed," he continued: "cost
what it may, it shall be no longer postponed. Thou wilt not accuse me of
cruelty, or of dishonest silence, but remember the failing of human
nature, and pity rather than blame a weakness which may be the cause of as
much future sorrow to thyself, beloved Adelheid, as it is now of bitter
regret to me. I have never concealed from thee that my birth is derived
from that class which throughout Europe, is believed to be of inferior
rights to thine own; on this head, I am proud rather than humble, for the
invidious distinctions of usage have too often provoked comparisons, and I
have been in situations to know that the mere accidents of descent bestow
neither personal excellence, superior courage, nor higher intellect.
Though human inventions may serve to depress the less fortunate, God has
given fixed limits to the means of men. He that would be greater than his
kind, and illustrious by unnatural expedients, must debase others to
attain his end. By different means than these there is no nobility, and he
who is unwilling to admit an inferiority which exists only in idea can
never be humbled by an artifice so shallow. On the subject of mere birth,
as it is ordinarily estimated, whether it come from pride, or philosophy,
or the habit of commanding as a soldier those who might be deemed my
superiors as men, I have never been very sensitive. Perhaps the heavier
disgrace which crushes me may have caused this want to appear lighter than
it otherwise might."

"Disgrace!" repeated Adelheid, in a voice that was nearly choked. "The
word is fearful, coming from one of thy regulated mind, and as applied to
himself."

"I cannot choose another. Disgrace it is by the common consent of men--by
long and enduing opinion--it would almos