The absolute hatred with which he regarded her was fiercer than ever as he lay ill and helpless in bed; he could not forgive her for causing his attack by insisting upon his plunging his head beneath the cold water, and for then leaving him neglected and alone, that she might escape the punishment of the crime which Delmar had probably come to Tausens to investigate.
To revenge himself upon her the doctor now handed Paul the papers, which he had instructed Dr. Atzinger a few days previously to fetch from their hiding-place, and which he had since kept beneath his pillow. The worthless woman, the doctor declared, should perish in want and misery,--she had spent everything that she had extorted from Herr von Heydeck in dress and finery, and had only taken a small sum with her upon her flight. With these papers her power over Herr von Heydeck was gone,--he would certainly do nothing more for her when he knew that she could do him no further harm.
In possession of these documents Delmar could, the doctor explained, force Herr von Heydeck to bequeath to him his name. Through fear lest he should lose his money and be dragged through a disgraceful lawsuit the old coward, so said the doctor, could be made to do just as Delmar pleased.
With a sensation of absolute rapture Delmar received the precious papers which secured to him a happy future, from the hands of the sick man, who never dreamed how worthless in Paul's estimation was a high-sounding, aristocratic name.
Delmar thanked the doctor warmly, but the sick man shook his head. "I have done this not for your sake, but my own," he said. "I know that my detestable wife will perish in want; I am content. I pray you leave me now, Herr Delmar, my strength is exhausted. We shall never meet again. Farewell!"
CHAPTER XVIII.
Never had the heavens been so blue or the sunshine so bright,--never had the hemlocks filled the air with such exquisite fragrance as upon this blissful day, when Paul lightly trod the forest-path towards Castle Reifenstein. A shepherd-boy upon a distant mountain jodelled down to him, and Paul could not refrain from jodelling back a full clear note, that echoed far over the sunny valleys.
He could have embraced the world. He had suddenly been transported from the black depths of despair to the heights of hope. A future, with Hilda by his side, beckoned him. Where were all the gloomy reveries of the last few weeks? As he walked briskly up the steep ascent, he thought with horror of the dark temptation to self-destruction that had once assailed him. Yes, Leo was right when he declared that only a coward would ever seek such a solution of the problem of life,--that a true man should possess a 'heart for any fate.' When he had nearly reached the castle he heard well-known voices near him, and could not forbear giving another genuine Tyrolean jodel.
"That is Delmar's voice!" Leo exclaimed.
"Oh, no; it is long since Herr Delmar has shouted so gayly," Hilda replied.