"Be it so!" Paul replied, with a firm grasp of his friend's hand. "I will do what you ask; I will investigate this wretched mystery; I will search for proof that I am the son of this scoundrelly Herr von Heydeck, as if in this certainty lay my every hope of happiness instead of my doom to misery; but I am inwardly convinced that your suspicion is only too well grounded. The task I propose will not be a difficult one. I know the hand wherein lies the clue to the secret. That wretch, Dr. Putzer, is your uncle's accomplice. He will do anything for money, as he clearly made known to me yesterday. _In vino veritas_. If I give him what he asks, and insure him from all risk, he can easily be brought to betray his principal and give me the proof I want. I will not chaffer with him; he may have as much as he asks. I will tell you more, Leo, if you will come to Tausens with your cousin this afternoon. Now I leave you to go to Dr. Putzer. Farewell." The friends separated with a cordial grasp of hands that told better than in words of their determination to pursue earnestly the task they had undertaken; and then, when Leo had conducted Paul to the head of the grand staircase, he returned sadly to his studio. As Paul passed through the portal of the castle and saw upon the right the old round tower, a bitter sense of injury possessed him. There was the place where he had been imprisoned as a helpless infant, while the avaricious man who was legally his father annihilated all trace of the existence of the child whom he dared not kill, but would not allow to live. "If he had only killed me!" Paul sighed; and the thought suddenly occurred to him whether it would not be best to end his misery by a leap from the castle rock. "No! no!" he reflected; "they must not despise me as a coward." And yet the thought had a positive fascination for him. Could he not contrive that a misstep upon the perilous path up the rocks should cause his death to be considered by his friends the result of chance? They would--Leo would--mourn him truly, and the will by which he had made his friend his heir would smooth Heydeck's future career for him. He would not hesitate then to approach Eva as a lover. The miserable millions would at last bring happiness to their possessor. But as he was walking through the garden towards the narrow rock-path, oblivious of his promise to Hilda, a prey to dire temptation, a voice was suddenly heard that caused him to pause, startled. "Where are you going, Herr Delmar?" He looked up, and Hilda stood before him, with pain and reproach in her eyes. Her simple question covered Paul with confusion. He now first remembered the promise so frankly given a short time before; a promise he was on his way to break. He might have given an evasive reply. Indeed, Hilda helped him to do so by adding, "Perhaps you hoped to meet me here in the garden. Did you speak with Leo about my visit to Fräulein Schommer?"