Nora rose suddenly to her feet. She felt vaguely that a bribe had been offered her, and, what was worse, a bribe whose cunning effectiveness had been based on some instinctive knowledge of her mind. All her natural loyalty rose up in arms against it. "I have not passed judgment," she said proudly. "I should never pass judgment on a people to whom I belong." Then the old impulsive kindness moved her to add: "All the same, I shall be pleased to renew my acquaintance with your sister-in-law at any time convenient to her." She gave him her hand, a little ashamed of her previous outburst, and he bent over it and kissed it respectfully. "Thank you, _gnädige Frau_." She left him, and he stood there stroking his fair moustache and looking after her with amused and admiring eyes. Nor was he the only one to watch her quiet progress, for, little as she knew it, the child Nora had become a beautiful woman, and the charm of her new womanhood hung about her like a veil. Later on, when the last of Her Excellency’s protégés had performed their uttermost, and Frau von Seleneck and Nora had started on the home passage, the latter ventured a question concerning Frau Commerzienrat Bauer. She did not know why she asked, and Frau von Seleneck’s answer did not encourage further curiosity. "I believe her father had a big furniture-shop somewhere," she said, "and her husband is something or the other on the money-market. I cannot imagine how the captain got into such a good regiment." "He may be a very good officer," Nora said, conscious of a slight feeling of irritation. Frau von Seleneck shrugged her shoulders. "He may be. At any rate, I know nothing more about his relations." She lifted her skirts a little higher, though whether to avoid contamination with the mud or as a sign of her general disapproval was not clear. "They are very rich," she added indifferently. *CHAPTER IV* *A VISITOR ARRIVES IN KARLSBURG* The square-built house in the Moltke Strasse was to let. A big notice in the front windows published the fact, although the curtains were still hanging, and the air of desolation which usually envelops "desirable residences," or their German equivalents, was not yet noticeable.