She could have had no idea that any one was near, for, as she walked, she gesticulated violently with her arms. Her cheeks were crimson, her eyebrows contracted as though in the greatest agony of mind, and her lips moved as though she were talking to herself. Her white hat, which she had decked with flowers, had slipped from her dark braids, and was hanging upon her neck by its loose red strings, which, as her motions grew still more earnest, became wholly untied, and the hat fell on the ground without the knowledge of its owner.
She came rapidly forward, and did not raise her eyes until just as she stood close to Elizabeth. Then she started as though stung by an adder. In a moment the expression of anguish upon her countenance was changed to one of the bitterest anger. Hate flashed from her eyes, her hands clenched convulsively, and while something like a low hiss escaped her lips, she seemed as if about to spring, raging, upon the young girl. Reinhard instantly placed himself by Elizabeth's side, and drew her slightly back. When Bertha saw him, she uttered a low cry, and rushed madly into the thicket, through which she forced a path, although her clothes were torn by the thorns, and she struck her forehead against the drooping boughs. In a few moments she was lost to sight.
"That was Bertha, from the Lodge!" cried Miss Mertens, with surprise. "What can have happened to her?"
"Yes,—what can have happened?" repeated Reinhard. "The young creature was in a state of terrible excitement, and seemed to grow actually furious at sight of you," turning to Elizabeth. "Is she related to you?"
"No indeed," she replied. "She is only distantly connected with my uncle, and I do not even know her. She has avoided me from the beginning most resolutely, although I wished much to be on friendly terms with her. It is clear that she hates me, but I cannot tell why. Of course it troubles me, but her character is not sufficiently pleasing to induce me to attach much importance to her dislike."
"Good Heavens, my child, there is no question of dislike here! The little fury would have gladly torn you to pieces with her teeth."
"I am not afraid of her," replied Elizabeth, smiling.
"But I would advise you to be careful," said Miss Mertens. "There was something actually demoniac in her looks. Where could she have been?"
"Probably at the castle," remarked Elizabeth, as she picked up Bertha's hat, and brushed the moss and dried leaves from it.
"I think not," rejoined Miss Mertens. "Since she has been dumb she has, very strangely, ceased visiting Lindhof. Before then she came every day, attended the Bible Class, and was a great protegée of the baroness, but suddenly it all came to an end, to the surprise of all. Only now and then, in my solitary rambles in the park, I have seen her gliding through the bushes like a snake,—indeed she seems to me to bear an affinity to that reptile."