hopes!  Nay, I have even accused my father of injustice, that he did not train me at the side of the block, that I might take a savage pride in that which is now the bane of my existence.  Not so with Christine; she has always warmly returned the affection of our parents, as a daughter should love the authors of her being, while I fear I have been repining when I should have loved.  Our origin is a curse entailed by the ruthless laws of the land, and it is not to be attributed to any, at least to none of these later days, as a fault; and such has ever been the language of my poor sister when she has seen a merit in their wishes to benefit us at the expense of their own natural affection.  I would I could imitate her reason and resignation!”

“The view taken by thy sister is that of a female, Sigismund, whose heart is stronger than her pride; and, what is more, it is just.”

“I deny it not; ’tis just.  But the ill-judged mercy has for ever disqualified me to sympathize as I could wish with those to whom I belong.  ’Tis an error to draw these broad distinctions between our habits and our affections.  Creatures stern as soldiers cannot bend their fancies like pliant twigs, or with the facility of female—­”

“Duty,” said Adelheid gravely, observing that he hesitated.

“If thou wilt, duty.  The word has great weight with thy sex, and I do not question that it should have with mine.”

“Thou canst not be wanting in affection for thy father, Sigismund.  The manner in which thou interposedst to save his life, when we were in that fearful jeopardy of the tempest, disproves thy words.”

“Heaven forbid that I should be wanting in natural feeling of this sort, and yet, Adelheid, it is horrible not to be able to respect, to love profoundly, those to whom we owe our existence!  Christine in this is far happier than I, an advantage that I doubt not she owes to her simple life, and to the closer intimacies which unite females.  I am the son of a headsman; that bitter fact is never absent from my thoughts when they turn to home and those scenes in which I could so gladly take pleasure.  Balthazar may have meant a kindness when he caused me to be trained in habits so different from his own, but, to complete the good work, the veil should never have been removed.”

Adelheid was silent.  Though she understood the feelings which controlled one educated so very differently from those to whom he owed his birth, her habits of thought were opposed to the indulgence of any reflections that could unsettle the reverence of the child for its parent.

“One of a heart like thine, Sigismund, cannot hate his mother!” she said, after a pause.

“In this thou dost me no more than justice; my words have ill represented my thoughts, if they have left such an impression.  In cooler moments, I have never considered my birth as more than a misfortune, and my education I deem a reason for additional respect and gratitude to my parents, though it may have disqualified me in some measure to enter deeply into their feelings.  Christine herself is not more true, nor of more devoted love, than my poor mother.  It is necessary, Adelheid, to see and know that excellent woman in order to understand all the wrongs that the world inflicts by its ruthless usages.”