Her mother could not fail to notice a change in Clotilde’s wintry face now that Marko was among them; her inference tallied with his report of their interview, so she supposed the girl to have accepted more or less heartily Marko’s forgiveness.  For him the girl’s eyes were soft and kind; her gaze was through the eyelashes, as one seeing a dream on a far horizon.  Marko spoke of her cheerfully, and was happy to call her his own, but would not have her troubled by any ceremonial talk of their engagement, so she had much to thank him for, and her consciousness of the signal instance of ingratitude lying ahead in the darkness, like a house mined beneath the smiling slumberer, made her eager to show the real gratefulness and tenderness of her feelings.  This had the appearance of renewed affection; consequently her parents lost much of their fear of the besieger outside, and she was removed to the city.  Two parties were in the city, one favouring Alvan, and one abhorring the audacious Jew.  Together they managed to spread incredible reports of his doings, which required little exaggeration to convince an enemy that he was a man with whom hostility could not be left to sleep.  The General heard of the man’s pleading his cause in all directions to get pressure put upon him, showing something like a devilish persuasiveness, Jew and demagogue though he was; for there seemed to be a feeling abroad that the interview this howling lover claimed with Clotilde ought to be granted.  The latest report spoke of him as off to the General’s Court for an audience of his official chief.  General von Rudiger looked to his defences, and he had sufficient penetration to see that the weakest point of them might be a submissive daughter.

A letter to Clotilde from the baroness was brought to the house by a messenger.  The General thought over it.  The letter was by no means a seductive letter for a young lady to receive from such a person, yet he did not anticipate the whole effect it would produce when ultimately he decided to give it to her, being of course unaware of the noble style of Clotilde’s address to the baroness.  He stipulated that there must be no reply to it except through him, and Clotilde had the coveted letter in her hands at last.  Here was the mediatrix—­the veritable goddess with the sword to cut the knot!  Here was the manifestation of Alvan!

ETEXT EDITOR’S BOOKMARKS: 

Above all things I detest the writing for money
Beginning to have a movement to kiss the whip
Dignitary, and he passed under the bondage of that position
Giant Vanity urged Giant Energy to make use of Giant Duplicity
Hesitating strangeness that sometimes gathers during absences
His apparent cynicism is sheer irritability
I give my self, I do not sell
Night has little mercy for the self-reproachful
Not in a situation that could bear of her blaming herself
O for yesterday! 
Professional widows
Self-consoled when they are not self-justified
Want of courage is want of sense
We shall not be rich—­nor poor
Work of extravagance upon perceptibly plain matter