And there is one thing more—­here comes the interpreter again!—­A moment yet, I beg!—­If the messenger should return and bring news of my father or, my God! my God!—­my father himself, let me know, or bring him to me!—­Or, if I am dead by the time he comes, tell him that to find him, to see him once more, was my heart’s dearest wish.  And beg my father,” she breathed the words into Joanna’s ear, “to love Orion as a son.  And tell them both that I loved them to the last, deeply, perfectly, beyond words!” Then she added aloud as:  she kissed each on her eyes and lips:  “I love you and shall always love you—­you, Joanna, and you, my Pulcheria, and you, Mary, my sweet, precious darling.”

At this the water-wagtail humed forward with outstretched arms, but Dame Joanna put out a significantly warning hand; and they who were one in heart clasped each other in a last embrace as though they were indeed but one and no stranger could have any part in it.

Once more Katharina tried to approach Paula; but Martina, whose eyes filled with tears as she looked on the parting, held her back by the shoulder and whispered: 

“Do not disturb them, child.  Such hearts spontaneously attract those for whom they yearn.  I, old as I am, would gladly be worthy to be called.”

The interpreter now sternly insisted on starting.  The three women parted; but still the little girl held tightly to Paula, even when she went up to the matron and kissed her with a natural impulse.  Martina took her head between her hands, kissed her fondly, and said in a voice she could scarcely control:  “God protect and keep you, child!  I thank Him for having brought us together.  A soul so pure and clear as yours is not to be found in the capital, but we still know how to be friends to our friends—­at any rate I and my husband do—­and if Heaven but grants me the opportunity you shall prove it.  You never need feel alone in the world; never, so long as Justinus and his wife are still in it.  Remember that, child; I mean it in solemn earnest.”

With this, she again embraced Paula, who as she went out to enter the chariot also bestowed a farewell kiss on Eudoxia and Mandane, for they, too, stood modestly weeping in the background; then she gave her hand to the hump-backed gardener, and to the Masdakite, down whose cheeks tears were rolling.  At this moment Katharina stood in her path, seized her arm in mortified excitement, and said insistently: 

“And have you not a word for me?”

Paula freed herself from her clutch and said in a low voice:  “I thank you for lending me the chariot.  As you know, it is taking me to prison, and I fear it is your perfidy that has brought me to this.  If I am wrong, forgive me—­if I am right, your punishment will hardly be lighter than my fate.  You are still young, Katharina; try to grow better.”

And with this she stepped into the chariot with old Betta, and the last she saw was little Mary who threw herself sobbing into Joanna’s arms.