Paul was quite unembarrassed and much amused by the evident efforts of every one to appear at ease, the sarcastic smile which his friends knew so well hovered upon his lips; he was master of the situation which he himself had contrived, and which was to aid his schemes. He managed with a jest directed towards Uncle Balthasar to relieve the good old man from constraint, and then skilfully drew him into conversation with Leo and Herwarth, so that Eva, Aline, and Hilda were left to talk together. Aunt Minni always preferring to be left to herself.
It was Paul's fashion in pursuit of any aim to act with great recklessness, and now, determined to reconcile Leo with Uncle Balthasar, instead of avoiding all allusion to the scene at Büchner's and the affront offered to Eva by Leo, he led the conversation directly to the subject, and thus gave his friend an opportunity to express his regret to Uncle Balthasar for what had occurred. Leo did this in so frank and manly a way that the placable old man was entirely satisfied, and no longer remembered the dismay with which he had received the announcement of Herr von Heydeck's visit.
For a while Paul left the young girls to themselves; then by appealing to Eva upon some opinion just expressed by Leo, he drew them also into the conversation, which thus became general. To his great satisfaction he noticed that Eva replied willingly and pleasantly to the few remarks which Leo addressed to her.
But a first visit should not be too prolonged. At the end of an hour Hilda rose to take leave, after having arranged that Aline, Eva, and herself should meet frequently, Hilda promising to act as their cicerone to all the points of interest in the country round.
"If you will allow me, Fräulein Hilda, I will walk some distance with you and Leo on your way back." Paul said to Hilda; and then turning to Eva he added, "Will not you, Fräulein Schommer and Fräulein von Schlicht, improve the occasion for a walk? you have not left the house to-day,--and I will promise to escort you safely back to the Post."
Hilda of course seconded this proposition, and Eva agreed to it, to the surprise of Aline, who could not but consent to accompany her friend after commending Herwarth to the kind offices of Uncle Balthasar.
Eva and Aline started with Hilda, while Delmar walked by the side of Leo; and how it happened no one except perhaps Paul could have told, but after a little while Leo walked by Eva's side, while Paul followed with the two other ladies. Gradually the distance between the two parties increased, for Delmar walked very slowly, and often stopped to ask Hilda the names of the various mountain-peaks, or to point out to Aline some special beauty in the landscape, while he talked so fast and so eagerly that he absorbed the entire attention of his companions. They never noticed that Leo and Eva were now a considerable distance in front of them.
Leo's entertainment of his companion was by no means so glib and ready as was Delmar's of Aline and Hilda. He was glad that Paul had so soon procured him this opportunity of speaking to Eva alone and undisturbed; and yet, now that it was thus his, he could hardly find courage to improve it. He walked along by Eva's side in silence for some minutes, and did but grow more and more confused. Never had he felt so utterly and insanely stupid. Of course Eva could not begin a conversation, and how she must despise his inability to find the right words in which to address her! The right words! he thought he could not find them, and yet they came, when, yielding to the feeling that had mastered him, he simply asked, "Can you forgive me?"
These were the right words! They came from the heart, as Eva felt, and she looked up to Leo with a charming smile. "I have nothing to forgive!" She said nothing more, and yet she seemed to Leo to have spoken volumes. He could have shouted for joy, so exquisite was the pleasure that the low whispered words gave him, dispelling the dark shadow that had rested upon his life. Eva had forgiven him! The words that she spoke, and still more the eyes that had gazed for a moment into his, had assured him of this.
He took her hand and pressed it to his lips; he could not help it, and Eva did not resent his doing so, nor did she withdraw it when he placed it within his arm. She had forgiven him, there was no cause for offence between them. He never thought of her wealth, of her betrothal, nor of the future. He walked silently beside her in a blissful dream of the present, conscious only of the pressure of that little hand upon his arm.