, 1889-08-14

Then you knew hat / marriedP
He nodded without looking at her.
"You said yourself that it is not easy
for us to forget the friends Of our youth"
he replied. 81 nave not been in the south
Of Germany since then, but 1 nave met
people in Berlin who Knew you"
"In BerlinT'
Certainly" he answered, confusedly.
Accidentally, perhaps, just at that
time. i heard of the death of
your husband. 1t was accidentally, with
out doubt. 1 frequently spoke of you,
and in this way 1 learned that you had
married a Herr Won Wittkowsky. 1 am
grieved to find you a mourner. Please
accept my sympathy. Oh, this is your
rosidence7'
She had halted in from of one of those
little villas that lie in the outskirts of the
Kur park. She looked at him.
will you promise me to call on me
soonT' she said, cor come to AXE tea
with me this evening. May 1 expect
your
II do not deserve to be treated SO
kindly. / have become moro sedate,
Hortense, and l am just as tedious as /
was at that time-perhaps more 3d."
SCA6' tAPCSb 1Out SNCh
II you were the most tedious of all NOR
tails. We will talk of the time of our
youth; hat will be a better entertain
ment for us than all the pleasures of So
ciety. expect you at Z o'clock Good
day, captain"
She gave him her hand and disap-
peared behind the vines that ornamented
the porch of the house. He looked after
hn- ne &c he --- -. 49,
little. Then he walked up the short,
steep street to the hotel in which he had
taken his quarters.
He came to tea on that evening and
he came on all the following evenings.
Hereafter the pretty blonde lady at
tended the afternoon concerts in COM
pany of the tall officer with the crown
prince beard. And when they were seen
together on the lonely paths of the
spruce park, or driving to Salburg, or
the Marblestone, it was said in those cir
Giles whose interest the lady in mourning
had formerly excited that the captain
was a lucky fellow.
But Reinhard was not happy amidst
all this good luck. He was seen sitting
on the most lonely benches of the Kur-
garten in a thoughtful mood, and when
he was at home he usually walked about
in his room uneasily, in spite of the pain
that his wound caused him, as If he had
a hard battle to fight with himself. Even
in presence of the pretty woman an I'M
easiness sometimes overcame him, and
when Hortense looked at him in sur
prise and asked him a gentle question
she received no reply.
One evening about q week after their
meeting, they were seated in Hortense's
cozy salon. TIL tea was beginning to
diffuse its pleasant scent through the
room. They had just returned from a
walk to the Hardt, and Hortense seemed
to be In an excited frame of mind. Dur
ing their conversation she had spoken of
her husband to him at length for the
first time. Reinhard knew now that her
marriage had been a very unhappy one;
that the min years which she had passed
at h side of a selfish and rough man
had been but a series of disappointments,
insults and fortunes to her. The recol-
lection of that time had excited her to
such a degree that she had shed tears.
Her eyes were red, her breath quick, and
her hands trembled as she served the
tea.
While silently seated together in this
way her tears suddenly began to flow
again, and she pressed both hands to her
face pas~sionately. Reinhard was deeply
moved. The pity arising within him
made him forget the intentions which he
had formed only that very morning. He
seized her gently by her wrists and said
in n tender and consoling tone:
"Hortense, compose yourself. That
10 oil noct nnNu VOW ea~ro--1 Ia-o
come to an end"
And then he was frightened, for her
hot head rested on his breast, and her
soft n silky hair almost touched his
lips.
"Oh, Reiphard," she sobbed, "why did
it not urn out otherwise? How often
have l thought of that during my time
of suffering. If we had found zach other
then, Reinhard, what years of happiness
we would have had"
He kissed her head, pressed her ten
derby into the corner of the sofa, and
arose. She saw him go to the open win
dow and look out into the darkness. She
did not follow him, but her heart throb-
bed quicker and quicker, and she kept
her eyes on him with passionate anxiety.
Finally, he turned around and said:
1T is impossible for me to talk to you.
Allow me to write to you, and to leave
you now. Farewell, Hortense."
He made a motion as if he wished to
give her his hand, but changing his
mind suddenly, he bowed and left the
room.
An Jour later Hortense received the
promised letter. She had remained in
the same crouching position on the sofa,
tortured by the most contradictory feel
ings. At times she thought that Rein
hard had offended her, her again she
stretched out her arms for him longing
ly, and came near following him. Final
ly, she decided that she would never see
him again, and return his letter without
opening it.
When the letter arrived she took it
from the girls hand eagerly, threw the
envelope to the floor, and glanced over
the lines without stopping at the single
words.
He had not written much, but what a
f.Rrn, ~ ro,,nl ,r..l.. II