"I cannot promise to do so."
"And why not?"
"Fräulein von Walde will not desire my society, and even if——. I have already declared once to-day that I shall not bear the new name."
"What a strange reply! What has that to do with the matter? Ah, now I understand. At last I begin to see clearly. Then you think that I agreed to Hollfeld's suit because you suddenly had a right to an ancient name? Speak, is not this the fact?"
"Yes, I believe this to be the fact."
"And you suppose further, that the same reason leads me to desire your companionship for my sister. You are convinced that aristocratic pride prompts all my thoughts and actions?"
"Yes, yes."
"Pray let me inquire of you what name you bore when I asked you for a birthday greeting, when we last walked together here in this path?"
"Then we did not know of the secret hidden in the ruins," said Elizabeth, in an almost inaudible tone.
"Have you forgotten the words which I dictated to you that afternoon?"