worth while for him to see you. Go through yonder door. It leads to a
corridor, and there you will find a small staircase by which you can
descend to the court. Go!"

II.--COUNT JOHN ADOLPHUS VON SCHWARZENBERG.

"I think I have distressed and tormented him enough," said the count to
himself; "he will devise some means of gratifying my wishes, and in his
despair will risk everything in order to obtain his wife and child. It is
well that men have hearts, for they supply the most convenient handles for
seizing hold of them and managing them. And for that reason men without
susceptible hearts always become rulers, conquerors. Therefore have I
become great and powerful, and will ascend yet higher, grow yet more
mighty, for I, thank God! I have no heart! I have never been a victim to
the silly vagaries of an enamored heart, never made a fool of myself for
any woman; never have I felt my heart moved by any other desire than that
of attaining a pre-eminent position and becoming a great man. Such I have
become, but I would mount yet higher, and in this--in this that enamored
fool Gabriel Nietzel shall assist me."

The count grew suddenly silent, and looked toward the door. In the
antechamber he had heard the sound of a voice familiar and grateful to his
ears, a voice which awakened in his breast a rare and unwonted feeling of
joy and happiness. "My son," he murmured, "yes, it is my son. I really
believe that I have a heart at last, for I feel it beat higher just now,
and feel that it is a happiness to have a son!"

He hastily crossed the room, and had almost reached the door, when it
suddenly opened and revealed the presence of a tall and slender young
man, dressed in the elegant Spanish garb, such as was worn at the court of
the German Emperor Ferdinand III.

"Father, dear father!" he cried, with a voice full of tenderness, and with
outstretched arms he sped toward his father to press him to his heart.
Count Adam von Schwarzenberg smilingly submitted, and an infinite feeling
of satisfaction penetrated his whole being under the warm pressure of his
only son's embrace. But only one short instant did he yield to this
sensation, for he was ashamed of his weakness, and gently extricated
himself from his son's arms.

"Here you are again, you gadabout and rover!" he said; but he could not
subdue the brighter glistening of his eyes, as they fastened themselves
upon his son's handsome, spirited, and youthful face.

"Yes,