“Then haste to me, my friend! I burn with impatience to make my Henry known to you: he too is impatient to see the friend of his Betrothed, the kind adviser, to whom the Happy-ones owe their happiness. I have resolved, that this wished-for introduction shall take place at the altar, before which I am to pronounce the nuptial vow. I confess, this decision is in some degree dictated by selfish motives: were Henry to see the lovely Ida of Werdenberg, before it is too late for him to retract with honour, who knows but her charms might make him faithless to the less fair Elizabeth?—Ah! dearest Ida, you are conscious, that I do but jest; I know well the heart of my friend, and the honour of my lover! Forgive then the fantastic humours of a girl already half wild with her happiness, and refuse not to make by your presence that happiness still greater.”— A great part of this letter was as little understood by Ida as the former one; however, she took good care not to employ the Chaplain to explain the meaning. She doubted not his opposing her departure for the Castle of March, since her uncle (though for what reason she could not imagine) would disapprove of her visit; and in the Count’s absence she was totally under the direction of Father Hilarius. Ida therefore contented herself with understanding from the letter, that she was invited to a wedding, at which the successful counsels which she had given (together with other friendly services which she had rendered the happy pair) would make _her_ an important personage; at which she should meet her sister Constantia, and doubtless many other of her youthful friends; and where she should exhibit her beauty to the best advantage, and should dress, dance, sing, and laugh, as she had frequently done on similar occasions on the blooming lawn of Rutelis. This was enough for her to know, and to determine her proceedings. On the appointed day Elizabeth sent a small body of attendants to wait for her friend in a wood at no great distance from the Castle of Torrenburg. Ida failed not to join them there; and without bidding adieu to Father Hilarius, she very quietly set forward for the Castle of March. She reached it in safety, and soon found herself clasped in the arms of her delighted friend. There too she had the happiness of once more embracing Constantia. The two Sisters past the intervening time between their arrival and the wedding-day with Elizabeth in her apartment; where (according to the custom of our times) on such occasions no man was permitted to show himself, not even the bridegroom.