M. de Hansfeld blushed at his own dissimulation in presence of such noble frankness, and was on the point of telling Pierre Raimond his real name, but he dreaded the indignation which this tardy avowal might, perhaps, excite in the old engraver's mind, knowing as he did his anti-aristocratic prejudices. He thus, therefore, hit upon a kind of _mezzo termine_ in the half confidence he made to Bertha and her father. After a few moments' silence he said to Pierre Raimond,-- "You are right, my friend--you have set me an example of confidence. I will imitate you. Perhaps I may inspire you with some interest by certain similarities between my position and that of your daughter; for you have told me that her marriage is not a happy one, and it is to my own marriage that I owe my bitterest grief." "You married, and so young?" said Raimond with astonishment. "These two years." "And your wife?" inquired Bertha. "She is in Germany," replied M. de Hansfeld, after a moment's hesitation. "And some passages in the overture to _Fidelio_ that Bertha played have no doubt recalled painful recollections?" "Alas, yes! When I first knew her whom I married, I was at the height of my first admiration for this opera of Beethoven. I have always had the habit of attaching my thoughts of the moment to certain passages in the music I love--thoughts which for me became, I may say, the words of the airs I love most. Well, then, the opera of _Fidelio_ always reminds me of the phases of my ill-starred love." "Ah, now I can understand your emotion!" said Bertha, shaking her head mournfully. "Let me assure you, my friend," said Pierre Raimond, cordially, "that you will never speak to hearts more fully sympathising." M. de Hansfeld then related what follows of his marriage with Paula Monti; which was true in all points, except the substitution of the name of Arnold Schneider for that of Hansfeld. CHAPTER XXX RECITAL "An orphan almost as soon as I was born," said the prince, "I was brought up by an old servant of my family. We dwelt in a retired village, where we lived in complete solitude. The pastor was a painter and musician, and recognised in me certain inclinations for those arts, to which I devoted all my time.