“Do you think, aunty, that she loves him so very much?”

“I did not say very much.  He is her husband, and so she loves him, and feels hurt that we treat him badly.”

“But who treats him badly?  I think she is not happy with him,—­that is all.”

“God forbid that you should be right.  I do not say but she might have done better; but after all there is nothing to be said against him.  He evidently loves her very much.  Celina cannot quite forgive him the sale of Gluchow; but as to Aniela, she defends him, and does not allow anybody to say a word against him.”

“Perhaps against her own conviction?”

“It proves all the more that she loves him.  As to his affairs, the worst is that nobody knows how he stands; and this is a great source of trouble to Celina.  But after all, wealth is not everything; besides, as I told you before, I will not forget to provide for Aniela, and you agree with me, do you not?  We both owe her a kind of duty, not to mention that she is a dear, affectionate creature, and deserves everything we can do for her.”

“With all my heart, dear aunt; she will be always as a sister to me, and shall not be in want of anything as long as I live.”

“I count upon my dear boy, and can die in peace.”

Thereupon she embraced me.  The doctor, coming towards us, interrupted our conversation.  In a few words he set our minds at rest,—­

“A little nervous agitation; it often appears after the first baths.  Leave off bathing for a few days, plenty of air and exercise,—­that is all that is wanted.  The constitution is sound; strengthen the system, and all will be well.”

I paid him so liberally that he bowed, and did not put on his hat till he was beyond the railings of the villa.  I would have given anything if I could have gone immediately to Aniela, kissed her feet, and begged her forgiveness for all the wrong I had done her.  I vowed to myself that I would be different, more patient, with Kromitzki,—­not revolt any more, nor grumble.  Contrition, contrition deep and sincere, permeated my whole being.  How unspeakably I love her!

Close upon noon I met Kromitzki coming back from a long walk on the Kaiserweg.  I put my good resolutions at once to the test, and was more friendly with him.  He thought it was sympathy because of his wife’s illness, and as such accepted it in a grateful spirit.  He and Pani Celina spent the remainder of the day with Aniela.  She had expressed a wish to dress and go out; but they did not let her.  I did not permit myself even to chafe at that.  I do not remember that I ever subdued myself to the same extent.  “It is all for you, dearest,” I said inwardly.  I was very stupid all the day, and felt an irresistible desire to cry like a child.  Even now tears fill my eyes.  If I have sinned greatly, I bear a heavy punishment.

5 July.

After yesterday’s commotion a calm has set in.  The clouds have discharged their electricity, and the storm is over.  I feel exhausted morally and physically.  Aniela is better.  This morning we met alone on the veranda.  I put her on a rocking-chair, wrapped a shawl around her shoulders, as the morning was rather chilly, and said:—­