with Ottilie, knowing well that the old mill could not be far off, which was somewhere in the middle of the rocks there.  The path was so little frequented, that they soon lost it; and for a short time they were wandering among mossy stones and thickets; it was not for long, however, the noise of the water-wheel speedily telling them that the place which they were looking for was close at hand.  Stepping forward on a point of rock, they saw the strange old, dark, wooden building in the hollow before them, quite shadowed over with precipitous crags and huge trees.  They determined directly to climb down amidst the moss and the blocks of stone.  Edward led the way; and when he looked back and saw Ottilie following, stepping lightly, without fear or nervousness, from stone to stone, so beautifully balancing herself, he fancied he was looking at some celestial creature floating above him; while if, as she often did, she caught the hand which in some difficult spot he would offer her, or if she supported herself on his shoulder, then he was left in no doubt that it was a very exquisite human creature who touched him.  He almost wished that she might slip or stumble, that he might catch her in his arms and press her to his heart.  This, however, he would under no circumstances have done, for more than one reason.  He was afraid to wound her, and he was afraid to do her some bodily injury.

[Illustration:  Edward and Ottilie]

What the meaning of this could be, we shall immediately learn.  When they had got down, and were seated opposite each other at a table under the trees, and when the miller’s wife had gone for milk, and the miller, who had come out to them, was sent to meet Charlotte and the Captain, Edward, with a little embarrassment, began to speak: 

“I have a request to make, dear Ottilie; you will forgive me for asking it, if you will not grant it.  You make no secret (I am sure you need not make any), that you wear a miniature under your dress against your breast.  It is the picture of your noble father.  You could hardly have known him; but in every sense he deserves a place by your heart.  Only, forgive me, the picture is exceedingly large, and the metal frame and the glass, if you take up a child in your arms, if you are carrying anything, if the carriage swings violently, if we are pushing through bushes, or just now, as we were coming down these rocks—­cause me a thousand anxieties for you.  Any unforeseen blow, a fall, a touch, may be fatally injurious to you; and I am terrified at the possibility of it.  For my sake do this:  put away the picture, not out of your affections, not out of your room; let it have the brightest, the holiest place which you can give it; only do not wear upon your breast a thing, the presence of which seems to me, perhaps from an extravagant anxiety, so dangerous.”

Ottilie said nothing, and while he was speaking she kept her eyes fixed straight before her; then, without hesitation and without haste, with a look turned more toward heaven than on Edward, she unclasped the chain, drew out the picture, and pressed it against her forehead, and then reached it over to her friend, with the words: