How lovely Hilda had looked as she said those words! They were not a merely conventional phrase: they were sincere. Of course he must do her bidding; he should indeed have to repeat his visit to the castle on Leo's account. Only on Leo's account? He suddenly experienced a sensation almost of pain. Leo had, it is true, come to the Tyrol only in compliance with his father's desire, and firmly resolved never to further his uncle's scheme. But could he remain faithful to this resolve after he had seen Hilda, the 'Fair one with the golden locks'? Surely her grace and loveliness must conquer the distaste Leo had for the union desired by his uncle; he never could withstand such charms. Paul sighed profoundly as he reflected thus. "He is a lucky fellow,--Leo!" he said to himself. "Happiness drops into his grasp without any effort on his part. He needs no help from me. He must soon see that the union he would have avoided will be his greatest blessing. What have I to do at the castle? It is better that I should escape from the enchanted ground before I am too surely entangled in the spells of the enchantress! It would be base in me to place a pebble in Leo's path towards happiness,--I, who came to serve him if I could. Happy Leo!" He sighed again. He was sorry, near as he was to Castle Reifenstein, not to be able to avail himself of the invitation of the charming fairy of the place, but loyalty to Leo forbade his seeing Hilda again. Still, would she not have just cause for offence if he took no notice of her kind invitation? Oh, she would soon forget the stranger, who was to her only her cousin's friend. And he would try to forget her, although he doubted his power to succeed in the attempt. Paul was so deep in reflections of this kind that he hardly thought of where he was going, and was greatly surprised at a turning in the path to see before him the grassy opening where he had left Herwarth. At the same moment he was hailed by Kuno, who had thought him long in returning. "Here you are at last!" he exclaimed. "I was afraid you had lost your way among the mountains." His call aroused Paul completely from his revery, and he was instantly himself again. Herwarth must not guess at the gloomy nature of his thoughts, and he replied,-- "You are a model of wisdom, noble knight, and a true prophet, who must of course be without honour in his own country. We did lose our way up there among the rocks, where we should have been at this moment if a golden-haired angel had not descended and borne us aloft to Paradise, where I left our Leo, while I returned to this sordid earth to succour a wounded knight. How are you? Is your foot better?" "You did get to the castle then? And you have seen Leo's lovely cousin? Tell me about it." "All in due order; you shall hear everything, and the account shall be as full and detailed as you desire, but you must wait for it until we are back at the inn. First answer me, as a docile patient should, how is your foot?"