"No, I am not mad," said he, with a heart-breaking smile. "I know
all, all! Were I mad, I would not be so unhappy. Were I unconscious,
I would suffer less. But, no, I remember all. I know how this evil
commenced, how it grew and poisoned my heart. The evil was my
poverty, my covetousness, and perhaps also my ambition. I was not
content to bear forever the chains of bondage; I wished to be free
from want. I determined it should no more be said that the sisters
of Count Weingarten had to earn their bread by their needlework,
while he feasted sumptuously at the royal table. This it was that
caused my ruin. These frightful words buzzed in my ears so long,
that in my despair I determined to stop them at any price, and so I
committed my first crime, and received a golden reward for my
treason. My sisters did not work now; I bought a small house for
them, and gave them all that I received. I shuddered at the sight of
this money; I would keep none of it. I was again the poor secretary
Weingarten, but my family was not helpless; they had nothing to
fear."

To whom was he telling all this? Certainly not to that young girl
standing before him, pale and trembling. He had forgotten himself;
he had forgotten her whom in other days he had called his heart's
darling.

As she sank at his feet and covered his hands with her tears, he
rose hastily from his seat; he now remembered that he was not alone.

"What have I said?" cried he, wildly. "Why do you weep?"

"I weep because you have forgotten me," said she, softly; "I weep
because, in accusing yourself, you make no excuse for your crime;