s met me a little sooner, we
should not now have to mourn our poor Ulrich. I know--for I have tried
often enough to soothe his resentment--how greatly he incensed your
lover. Oh, how sad it all is! But your aunt, the abbess, was right when
she told us before our confirmation, 'When the cross that is imposed
upon us weighs too heavily, an angel often comes, lifts it, and twines
it with lovely roses!' That has been my experience, dear Els; and what
great injustice I did you when I kept out of your way so meanly! I
always felt drawn to you. But when that evil gossip began I turned
against them all and bade them be silent in my presence, for it was all
false, base lies. I upheld your Eva, too, as well as you, though she had
been very ungracious whenever we met."

How joyously Els opened her heart to these confessions! How warmly she
interceded for her sister! The girls had passed their arms around each
other, as if they had returned to the days of their childhood, and
when Ursel's lover glanced at his betrothed bride, who, spite of her
well-formed figure and pleasant face, could not be classed amongst the
most beautiful of women, he thought she might compare in attractiveness
with the loveliest maidens, but no one could equal her in kindness of
heart. She saw this in the warm, loving look with which he sought her
pleasant grey eyes, as he approached to remind her that it was time to
go; but beckoning to him, she begged him to wait just a moment longer,
which she employed in whispering to Els: "You should find shelter with
us, and no one else, if my father----Don't think he refused to let me
invite you on account of poor Ulrich, or because he was angry with you.
It's only because----After the session to-day they all praised his noble
heart, and I don't know what else, so loudly and with such exaggeration
that it was too much to believe. If he interceded for the Eysvogel firm
and you poor children, it was only because, as a just man, he could not
do otherwise."

"Oh, Ursel!" Els here interrupted, wishing to join in her father's
praise; but the latter would not listen and eagerly continued:

"No, no, he really felt so. His modesty made him unwilling to awaken the
belief that he asked the betrothed bride of the man--you understand
and her sister into his house, to set an example of Christian
reconciliation. False praise, he says, weighs more heavily than
disgrace. He has already heard more of it than he likes, and therefore,