“Dearest Sigismund—­”

“I feel my injustice, and can only pray to be forgiven.  But there are moments of feeling so intense, that I am ready to believe and treat all of my species as common enemies.  Christine is an only daughter, and thou thyself, beloved Adelheid, kind, dutiful, and good as I know thee to be, art not more dear to the Baron de Willading than my poor sister is among us.  Her parents have yielded her to thy generous kindness, for they believe it for her good; but their hearts have been wrung by the separation.  Thou didst not know it, but Christine took her last embrace of her mother here on the mountain, at Liddes, and it was then agreed that her father should watch her in safety over the Col, and bestow the final blessing at Aoste.  Mademoiselle de Willading, you move in pride, surrounded by many protectors, who are honored in doing you service; but the abased and the hunted must indulge even their best affections stealthily, and without obtrusion!  The love and tenderness of Balthazar would pass for mockery with the vulgar!  Such is man in his habits and opinions, when wrong usurps the place of right.”

Adelheid saw that the moment was not favorable for urging consolation and she abstained from a reply.  She rejoiced, however, to hear the presence of the headsman so satisfactorily accounted for, though she could not quiet herself from an apprehension that the universal weakness of human nature, which so suddenly permits the perversion of the best of our passions to the worst, and the dreadful probability that Balthazar, suffering intensely by this compelled separation from his daughter, on accidentally encountering the man who was its cause, might have listened to some violent impulse of resentment and revenge.  She saw also that Sigismund, in despite of his general confidence in the principles of his father, had fearful glimmerings of some such event, and that he fearfully anticipated the worst, even while he most professed confidence in the innocence of the accused.  The interview was soon ended, and they separated; each endeavoring to invent plausible reasons for what had happened.

The arrival of the party from the refuge took place soon afterwards.  It was followed by the necessary explanations, and a more detailed narrative of all that had passed.  A consultation was held between the chiefs of the brotherhood and the two old nobles, and the course it was most expedient to pursue was calmly and prudently discussed.

The result was not known for some hours later.  It was then generally proclaimed in the convent that a grave and legal investigation of all the facts was to take place with the least possible delay.