"Do explain," she cried, utterly perplexed. "What is there for me to explain?" he rejoined. "I am merely the middleman, or, if you will, the agent in the affair, which really concerns no one but you and your affianced." "If at least he had given his address," cried Lilly. "It almost looks as if he wanted to eradicate all trace of himself," Mr. Dehnicke observed. It was so romantic and so unlike Walter--how could she help being at a loss! But there was "Baroness von Mertzbach." Walter was the only person not likely to know of her having had to renounce her married name. That, at least, was an indication of the genuineness of the remittance. Mr. Dehnicke inclined his head to the left as usual, and regarded her with calm indifference--he was the innocent middleman, nothing more. "After this unexpected turn of events," he finally said, "you will, of course, no longer refuse to take up the sort of life that accords with your social position and is so essential for the sale of your works." She shook her head, biting her lips. Hereupon he became insistent, more insistent than she had thought his modesty would permit him to be. "You _must_. For his sake you must. I am responsible to him for that. If he should return and want to marry you, he must not find a déclassée. I am responsible to him for that." Lilly asked for time to consider. From now on her distant lover held sway over her life with a certain emphasis. What had been mere fancy became reality. Not that she thought of him unqualifiedly as the real sender of those mysterious five hundred dollars. On the contrary, the voice would not be silenced that said to her: "You are being played with." But she was afraid to listen to it, or even draw inferences and come to conclusions. For if she were to lose the single friend she had, then what? In order to down all her doubts and scruples she worked diligently, and nearly once a week had batches of sunsets ready to be taken away. And in the meantime Mr. Kellermann had brought her new motifs: a Gothic cathedral perched on perpendicular rocks, a hunting lodge with many gleaming windows, and--_chef d'oeuvre_--the moon rising over peaceful waters, whose silvery sheen was broken by fern fronds. October came. The first Sunday of the month Mr. Dehnicke called to take Lilly out walking. He had come for her twice before, and Lilly had accompanied him gladly. Had he offered to take her to the country, her happiness would have been complete. The autumnal sun lay peacefully upon the tattered leaves of the bare little trees that edged the square fountain. Groups of people sauntered by aimlessly, looking bored and depressed. The winter was already laying its icy touch on men's spirits. Mr. Dehnicke and Lilly went along many strange streets all filled with human beings; and Lilly was happily conscious of having a leader and protector at her side in all that bustle. Mr. Dehnicke, who had been brooding over something a long time, finally began: