"Elise," continued he more urgently, "shall I tell you what has been
whispered in my ear as I returned from a long absence? Shall I tell
you what your enemies--for your youth and beauty and your father's
wealth have made you enemies--shall I tell you what your enemies
whisper to each other with malicious joy?"

"No, no!" said she anxiously, "how would it help me to know it?"

Bertram continued inexorably, "They say that the captive Russian,
General Sievers, was welcomed by your father into his house as
a friend, and that he overwhelmed the noble prisoner with kind
attention."

Elise breathed more freely. "It was with the consent and by the wish
of the king that my father was kind to the captive Russian general."

"And was it also by the wish of the king that Gotzkowsky's daughter
accepted the homage of the Russian general's adjutant?"

A slight shudder ran through Elise's whole frame, and her cheeks
became crimson.

"Ah," cried Bertram sadly, "I see you understand me. You will not tell
me the name of your lover--let me tell it to you. It is Feodor von
Brenda."

"No, no!" cried Elise, looking around in alarm, and fearful lest some
treacherous ear had heard the dangerous secret.

"Yes," said Bertram, "his name is Feodor von Brenda; he serves as a