"'Then leave me!' exclaimed Marcella, starting from beside him. 'Why should you wish to wed the child of such a man? Might you not find a devil in me? Why should I love a being whose lips have declared my father a demon? Go! Wilhelm, I took you for a man; but you have the soul of a dwarf.' "Her eyes flashed indignation as she spoke, and in the eyes of her lover she appeared more beautiful than ever. "'I can forgive your reproaches, for I know them to be actuated by noble sentiments,' he replied, drawing her gently back to her seat. 'Honor to our parents is nature's first law, and God forbid that I should condemn it; but, dearest Marcella, there should be no reserve between us, who have grown up side by side, as it were, and I speak to you as I would to no one else--not even my parents. That I love you, you surely cannot doubt, and that love would be worth little to either of us, did it enjoin concealment of our true opinions from each other. I speak as an honest man, when I tell you, that I once beheld your father in the Black Forest, accompanied by a stranger, who was not of this world.' "'Great God!' ejaculated Marcella, starting up with affright. "'Forgive me, dearest; but you forced me to say it in my own defence. Calm yourself and we will talk of this fearful subject no longer.' "'Wilhelm, you are not trifling with me?' "'As I hope to be saved, no.' "The daughter of Hermann trembled for a moment, as though the spirit of Fear had touched her, and the dim rays of the swinging lamp, as they fell upon her finely cut features, revealed the undisguised terror there betrayed. But she quickly settled rigidly as a marble effigy, and her voice was firm, as she said: "'Wilhelm, I believe you, and may God help my unfortunate father. Tell me of what you _saw_, and disguise nothing!' "'It were better to remain untold, Marcella.' "'I must and will hear it,' she answered with cold determination.