"That is _my_ affair," returned Philip with emphasis; "and I shall take care to express myself quite clearly and plainly on the subject. Moreover, I take delight in setting all my acquaintances to wondering and shaking their heads in a knowing way; indeed, I shall enjoy all the talk and sensation which will be created in the church when the announcement of our betrothal is made from the chancel. In three weeks, therefore, so it please you, the wedding will take place. I propose then to take the young Frau Doctor upon a tour, and we shall spend a whole year in travel. She will thus have time to become somewhat accustomed to society, and to receive that polish which even the costliest jewels must have in order that they may be estimated at their true value. In the meantime, our dear mother will remain quietly in the apartments which will be provided for her in my new home; and her daughter, let us hope, will keep her informed, by frequent letters, that she was not deceived when she thought proper to try her arts of witchery upon a certain Doctor Philip." He bent down and kissed the mother upon both cheeks, down which two tears trickled silently. Then, drawing the radiant girl to his breast, he kissed her upon lips and eyes; and before either of them could breathe a word, he rushed downstairs, flung himself into the carriage and drove back to town. The house of "The Unbelieving Thomas" was burned out so completely during the night that when morning dawned only the four black walls, like the sides of some deep shaft or well, remained standing; while the chestnut-tree lay, a heap of ashes, in the court, and only a few smoking ruins covered the site of the coach-house. In the porter's room were found a pile of blackened human bones, and among them four bits of copper which had bound the corners of the large Bohemian Bible, and had not been melted, despite the intense heat. High above, on the pointed ridge of one of the neighboring houses, sat, in the early gray of the morning, the two former occupants of the coach-house, both in the worst possible humor. Heinrich Müller cast a savage glance at the wet debris of the charred timbers, from which rose an ill-smelling vapor. "Well, the comedy is ended!" he said, shaking himself. "I am glad that no one suspected who was the author." "Not you, after all, Herr Heinrich?" inquired his comrade, who was looking away over the roofs into one of the side streets.