The countess, a timid rider, was now able to make
long excursions on horseback, having for her
companion one of the most accomplished horsemen
that ever put foot in stirrup. Did she desire,
again, to go to some ball in the neighbourhood,
to some concert or opera in the town?
there was the lieutenant ever ready to give her
his arm, to see her to the carriage, to do all, in
short, that her husband ought to have done.
Cruel and selfish neglect," Madame Stortzer broke
off—" wicked carelessness on the part of that
husband who so left to stand alone the frail fabric of
a woman's weakness. Not," she continued, rapidly
—"not that they erred: the Countess Coustantia
was a true wife."

"It was part of the same selfishness of the
count's which made him so careless of what his
wife did, so long as she did not interrupt him in his
favourite pursuits— that neither would he sacrifice
any of his habits, not even half an hour of his
night's rest, to her constitutional love of pleasure
and change. If he did not get to bed early and
have his due amount of sleep, he would not be fit
for the labours of the next day. So the countess
must be in every night by eleven o'clock. What
she did till that hour was a matter of indifference
to her husband; she might go where she liked and
do what she liked before that hour; but by eleven
she must be inside the castle gates. On one or
two occasions there had been some slight infringement
of this regulation, and the result had been
that the count was so seriously displeased as
actually to go the length of saying that from
that time the porter at the gate would receive
strict orders to close the doors at eleven o'clock,
and not to open them after that hour to any
living soul.

"Things were at this point, when one day
the intelligence was brought to the castle by
the Lieutenant Bergfeldt that a new company
of actors of unusual ability had arrived in the
town, and were to perform an adaptation of one
of those French dramas of extreme interest
which at the time I am speaking of were appearing
continually at the Paris theatres. The
lieutenant had seen the play in Paris, and gave so
promising an account of it that the countess was
wild to see it, and that very evening it was
arranged that Lieutenant Bergfeldt should come to
the castle and accompany her at the proper hour
to the theatre. I think I have mentioned that
the castle was just outside the town——"

Madame Stortzer paused for a moment, as if
almost unwilling to go on, and described what
followed with something of a hesitating reluctance.

"The play almost exceeded in interest even
what the countess had expected, and when in the
middle of an act, and at one of the most exciting
moments of the story, the lieutenant suddenly
leant over to her and said that he had some
inspection to make, some military duty to do—I
know not what—which obliged him to be absent
from the theatre for a short time, perhaps half an
hour at most—when this occurred, she was
so absorbed in watching what was going on upon
the stage that she hardly heard what he said, and
merely bowing her acquiescence, turned again
eagerly to the scene, reluctant to lose a word.
When Bergfeldt returned, after about half an
hour's absence, the play was near its termination,
and the interest was so completely at its highest
that the countess merely turned for a moment
when the lieutenant entered the box and put up
her finger to engage him to silence.

"There was a pause in the acting for a few
minutes, and the countess turned to her
companion to ask the time. ' How pale you look,'
she said; ' are you suffering?'

"' No,' he replied. ' I was afraid of being late,
and I have been running.'

" ' What time is it?' asked the countess again.

"' It is ten minutes to eleven.'

"'I must go,' she said; 'how dreadful to lose
the rest.'

"'In another quarter of an hour the play will
be over, or at least the main interest of it,' said
the lieutenant.

"' Yes, but by that time the gates will be
closed.'

"' You don't mean to say that you imagine for
one moment that the count—that your husb——
that such an order as that will really be carried
out?' urged Lieutenant Bergfeldt.

"'I am sure of it,' she answered.

"'And I am equally certain the other way.
Why, it is ridiculous. Take my advice and try the
experiment. You cannot always adhere to this
arrangement of being in at a certain hour, like a
school-girl.'

"' The count's arrangements are all good ones,
and such as he has a perfect right to make,'
replied the countess, who never would hear a
disparaging word said of her husband.

"At that moment the intermediate scene came
to an end, and the interesting part of the story
was resumed. The crisis was evidently close at
hand. The countess lingered in her place.

"When she rose to go it was ten minutes past
eleven.

"The countess looked at her companion. She
was as pale as he now, but infinitely less
composed. In ten minutes more they were at the
castle gate. It was closed.

"The countess trembled violently as she said:

"' What have I done? I knew that this would
be so.'

"' Nonsense,' said the lieutenant, who himself
was somewhat discomposed; ' it is only a joke.
The thing will never be persisted in. Ring the
bell, Lorenz,' he continued to the coachman, who
had descended from his place.

"The man did as he was told, but no notice
was taken of the appeal. He rang again and
again, and at last a window was opened in the
turret which flanked the gate, and the porter put
out his head.

"'Why don't you open the gate?' said the
lieutenant, in an angry tone. He had alighted
from the carriage, and was now standing beside
the coachman. ' What do you mean,' he