The hand she extended to him was transparently thin, and when he clasped it in his, which was only a little larger, and did not seem much stronger, and she had hoarsely whispered a friendly greeting, his eyes filled with tears. For a time both were silent. Barbara was the first to find words and, raising her large eyes beseechingly to his, said: "If you come to reproach me--But no! You look pale, as though you had only partially recovered yourself, yet kind and friendly. Perhaps you do not know that it was through my fault that all these terrible things have befallen you." Here a significant smile told her that he was much better informed than she supposed, and, lowering her eyes in timid embarrassment, she asked, "Then you know who it was for whom this foolish heart----" Here her breath failed, and while she pressed her hand upon her bosom, Wolf said softly: "If you had only trusted me before! Many things would not have happened, and much suffering might have been spared. You did wrong, Wawerl, certainly, but my guilt is the greater, and we were both punished--oh, how sorely!" Barbara, amid low sobbing, nodded assent, but he eagerly continued: "Quijada confided everything to me, and if he--you know--now forgets all other matters in the war and the anxieties of the general, and, you need my counsel and aid, we will let what came between us he buried, and think that we are brother and sister." The girl held out her hand to him, saying: "How long you have been a brother to me! But, as for your advice--Holy Virgin!--I know now less than ever how I am to fare; but I shall soon learn. I can say no more. It must be a severe trial to listen to me. Such a raven's croak from the throat which usually gave you pleasure, and to which you gladly listened! Shall I myself ever grow accustomed to this discord? And you? Answer honestly--I should like to know whether it is very, very terrible to hear." "You are still hoarse," was the reply. "Such things pass away in a few weeks, and it will again be a pleasure to hear you sing." "Do you really think so?" she cried with sparkling, eyes. "Firmly and positively," answered the young knight in a tone of most honest conviction; but she repeated in joyous excitement, "Firmly and positively," and then eagerly continued: "Oh, if you should be right, Wolf, how happy and grateful I would be, in spite of everything! But I can talk no longer now. Come again to-morrow, and then the oftener the better." "Unfortunately, that can not be, gladly as I would do so," he answered sadly, extending his hand in farewell. "In a few days I shall return to Brussels." "To remain with the regent?" asked Barbara eagerly. "No," he answered firmly. "After a short stay with her Majesty, I shall enter the service of Don Luis Quijada, or rather of his wife."