"Will you grant my request, and for one short quarter of an hour take on yourself the rôle of guardian angel?"
Agnes deliberated.
It was, no doubt, grievously wrong to favour a meeting prohibited alike by mother and guardian; but, on the other hand, here was a soul to be saved, a brand to be plucked from the burning: this last consideration outweighed all minor scruples. The jesuitical principle, that the end justifies the means, was once more brought into mischievous action.
"It is Sunday to-morrow," said the girl, slowly. "If you will go to high mass in the cathedral----"
"I will go to early mass," put in Max, who had a vague idea that this was generally the shorter ceremony.
"To high mass!" said Agnes, dictatorially. She had, it seemed, taken a lesson from the doctor himself; this was just the tone in which he was in the habit of issuing his orders. The young diplomatist evidently half distrusted him; at all events, she meant to make sure of the attendance at church before pledging herself to the counter-obligation. "To the full service," she added, "sermon and all, from beginning to end."
Max heaved a deep sigh.
"If there is no help for it .... well, heaven's will be done--so be it!"
This pious ejaculation rejoiced Agnes's heart. She now felt confident that the sermon would fully accomplish the work she had commenced; that the seeds of the true faith would be planted in the soil she had so laboriously tilled, and prepared for its reception; and, in the effervescence of her joy at the prospect, she held out the tips of her fingers to the adversary, who had now become her ally. Of this overture she, however, quickly repented her; for, like the overreaching personage of the proverb, Max at once seized the whole hand, which he pressed and shook in the heartiest manner possible.
Next morning, as the cathedral bells were ringing, Councillor Moser, giving his arm to his daughter, walked with slow and stately steps down to the church, there to take his accustomed place. The devout old gentleman's attention was, of course, exclusively given to the sacred ritual; he therefore did not notice that Agnes, instead of sitting as usual in reverent meditation and with downcast eyes, was on this occasion restless and disturbed, glancing around half anxiously, half expectantly, as though in search of some one. She had not long to seek, for, but a few paces from her, and in close vicinity to the pulpit, stood Dr. Brunnow, also, as it seemed, expectantly on the watch.