Eva wept bitterly, while Aline clasped her closer in her arms. "You must not be unhappy, Eva," she said earnestly; "you must not sacrifice your life to an illusion! This miserable engagement should never have been entered into. There is still time to break it; you must not give your hand to a man whom you detest and despise while your heart belongs to another. Courage, Eva! Your fate is in your own hands. Break the disgraceful chains that fetter you!"
"I cannot, Aline! Bertram has my promise; he knows that I do not love him, but he will hold me to my promise. Would not Leo von Heydeck despise me if he thought me capable of wantonly breaking a promise for which Bertram has sacrificed his entire future? And if I did so, I never could be really happy. Leo is himself betrothed."
"Herr von Heydeck betrothed?" Aline asked in surprise.
"Yes; he has complied with his father's desire that he should be betrothed to his cousin Hilda. Herr Delmar told me this."
"My poor Eva----"
"No, not so, Aline! I was indeed wretched when I thought that Leo von Heydeck hated and despised me. Now that I know that he cherishes for me a pure, disinterested affection,--that he loves me, although he knows that we are separated forever,--I am no longer unhappy. The thought that I am sacrificing myself for his sake consoles me. I gave my promise to Bertram that Leo von Heydeck might escape a great peril,--I cannot be unhappy."
"You deceive yourself, Eva; you must not sacrifice yourself to a phantom of the imagination. Bertram loves not yourself, but your money; with money you can atone to him for his lost future."
"Say no more, Aline, I cannot bear it; you must not think so meanly of the man who, although I cannot esteem or love him, has never given me reason to believe him so sordid a wretch as you describe. I will keep the promise I have given. Do not try to shake my resolution, it is firmly fixed."
"I have no right to urge you further," Aline said sadly, "but answer me one question, what are you going to do now? Will you return Fräulein Hilda's visit? Will you thus provoke frequent opportunities of meeting Herr von Heydeck? I should think such interviews would be alike painful for yourself and for him."
"You are wrong; we are reconciled. If our future destinies separate us forever, we may at least avail ourselves of these few chance weeks of friendly intercourse. I am resolved to enjoy this time, troubled by no sad thought of the future. When I leave Tausens I will go to meet my fate serenely, for I know that Leo von Heydeck will have none but kindly thoughts of me."