"When the pond was drained a ring was found," said Hugo,--"a golden ring, set with a blue or green stone. I have it now; and I should like to know how it came in the pond." The blood mounted to Walter's cheeks, but he said nothing, until shortly afterwards, when he was shown the ring in the smoking-room. Then he could not refrain from remarking, "I think your sister, Fräulein Adela, used to wear that ring. If I am not mistaken, there is a date engraved upon it,--the date of your parents' betrothal----Ah! there it is: 'August 28, 1830.' Does that coincide with your knowledge on the subject?" "To be sure! I never thought of that. Really, it is remarkable how stupid everything is when one comes to investigate it. Some interest attached to the ring so long as no one knew how it came in the pond. But now that we know all about it, it turns out to be perfectly commonplace." "Would you like to see my collection of weapons?" he asked, after a while. "I have some rare pieces." He opened a cabinet and displayed its contents to his guests. "They really are fine, are they not?" he said. "I am thinking now of making an Egyptian collection. I intend going to Egypt; it is a fearful bore to stay at home forever." "Ah!" said Herr von Rosen. "What does your lady wife say to that?" Hugo von Hohenstein looked at his neighbour with undisguised astonishment, then he smiled with an air of superiority. "_Mon Dieu!_" he said, "we did not marry to be bored. My wife will probably visit a French watering-place, or something of the sort." He suppressed a slight yawn, and thought how impossible it was to be entertained by these _gentilshommes campagnards_, who, with their old-fashioned ideas, were really quite out of place in the modern world. Herr von Rosen ordered his carriage. "_À propos_, since you are shortly to pay my governor a visit, my dear Eichhof, why not take the ring with you?" said Hugo. "Walter had already thought of doing so, but had not made up his mind how to propose it. He took the ring, and his heart beat fast. Fate willed that the ring he had cast away in anger should now be returned to him; he would accept the omen,--it was the talisman of his good fortune that he had thus regained. Therefore on the drive home to Schönthal he was in the gayest humour, while Herr von Rosen and Alma could not recover from the impression the visit had made upon them. They had had a fleeting glimpse of a modern fashionable marriage, and both were prompted to make a comparison which pained them. "He is going to Egypt and she to France," Herr von Rosen thought, "and this they call not being 'bored.' And my daughter and my son-in-law, too, have put miles between them. Are they afraid of being 'bored'? Good heavens! have home-life and home-happiness lost all charm for the young people of the present day?"