‘Oh! he bought it, did he? That is he, I think, talking to Miss Ford now.’ ‘Most certainly, that is he. He appears to spend most of his time in talking to Miss Ford. We have all come to the conclusion that the only thing which keeps him so long in Elberthal is Miss Ford’s presence.’ ‘Ah! you think he wishes to marry Miss Ford.’ ‘It looks like it. What is quite certain is, that she would be overjoyed if he asked her.’ If Frau Goldmark could have caught the expression in Father Somerville’s half-veiled eyes at that moment, she might have changed her opinion as to his extreme affability. The look said: ‘How dare a little insect like you presume to pass judgment on that woman!’ The man had no good designs towards Sara and her happiness. She stood between him and the accomplishment of a purpose which had now crystallised in his mind into a set scheme and plan, which he was resolved to do all in his power to carry out; but though he would crush her himself, and smite down her life, no spite would enter into his arrangements. He perfectly comprehended what she was, and knew that had he been other than he was, he would have sacrificed all he had for the chance of winning her; he knew that she had about as much desire to captivate Rudolf Falkenberg as he had himself; and he knew that the woman beside him had a small mind which could not rise to the level of those who had roused her enmity, by first doing her great kindnesses, and then, perhaps, snubbing her a little. That was nothing to the purpose. He encouraged Frau Goldmark to ramble on, giving him one proof after another of the attachment existing between Falkenberg and Sara. The latter he felt to be a mistake. Sara did not love Falkenberg—she loved Jerome Wellfield; but the former he believed and grasped at. Every sign of devotion on Rudolf’s part put a weapon into his hands for the furtherance of his plan. He heard glowing accounts of Falkenberg’s riches and great possessions; of his status in the world of finance; of his interviews with royal and imperial personages and their ministers; of what changes a word of his could work in the state of the _Börse_; in short, every word that Frau Goldmark said convinced him that here was a splendid alliance, waiting for Sara Ford to ratify it; that nothing prevented that ratification, except the insignificant fact that she was bound to Jerome Wellfield, and, incidentally, of course, that she loved him as her life. He left early, excusing himself on the plea that he had to travel early the following day, and that he had one or two important letters to write that night—which was true. He repaired to his hotel, to his own room, drew out writing-materials, and wrote: ‘DEAR WELLFIELD,