"Let that rest, Hermann! I hardly know you, whenever this unhappy circumstance is touched upon. You, so strong, so energetic in everything else, are in this as weak as a child. As a boy, you showed more courage, you kept silence towards your mother, who would have been killed if she had heard it, and only revealed it, where you knew it would be safely guarded. And you were silent years afterwards, as perhaps no other child would have been, and that made my guardianship of you easy. Must the man, then, hesitate, and be ready to throw off the burden of responsibility he has incurred by no fault of his own?" Hermann did not answer, but looked moodily into the distance. "If only we could find a trace of the wife and child! Your enquiries were fruitless, but I renewed them with redoubled zeal, every possible means of discovery are at my command now, but in vain. It really seems as if they had disappeared from the face of the earth." "They must have left the country." "And perhaps perished miserably, whilst I--" He sprang up suddenly, went to the door, and pressed his forehead against the glass panes; the usually calm man was fearfully agitated. The Praesidentin was silent, she had seen him before in this mood; however great her influence over her grandson might be, this was a point on which she did not dare to argue further with him, over which her power did not extend, she knew that he must now be let alone, unless she wished to make matters worse. A minute's silence followed, at last Hermann turned round. His features were calm and cold as usual, but a dark cloud was still on his brow. "Pardon me, grandmother, that I have tormented you, too, with this subject." "You are right, it is better to let it rest? What were we talking of before?" He sat down again by her side, and she at once seized the opportunity of introducing another subject. "I have wished to ask you a question some time, Hermann. Have you not yet thought that it will soon be necessary for you, as head of our family, and only male representative of the house of Arnau, to form an alliance with some daughter of the nobility?" The Count leaned his head on his hands. "Certainly I have thought of it," replied he indifferently, "especially now that I see the necessity of forming an establishment in the capital, and of moving frequently in society there." "Have you made a choice?" "No. You are aware that ladies have not much attraction for me, and from my standpoint I consider a marriage of convenience the best. I shall have very little time to devote to my wife, and seek in her chiefly a representative of my house." The grandmother bowed her head assentingly. "And what qualities do you lay claim to in choice of a wife?"