"But they are working away desperately; can it be entirely in vain?"
"Yes, the engineer-in-chief is waging desperate warfare against the elements," Ernst said, with a kind of savage satisfaction. "He is defending his beloved creation to the death, but against such catastrophes no mortal power avails. The water is steadily rising, the dikes are giving way, and the bridges on the lower portion of the road are already carried off. All nature seems in revolt."
Erna was silent. She went again to the window, and looked out into the mist, which made any distant view impossible. Even the stretch of railway in the vicinity of the villa was invisible, while the roaring of the waters was distinctly audible. Below there Wolfgang was doing battle at the head of his men, fighting, perhaps, in vain.
"The Wolkenstein bridge stands firm, at all events," Waltenberg continued. "Herr Elmhorst ought to be satisfied with that, and not expose himself so foolishly, as he does at every opportunity. He is no coward, it must be admitted, but it is folly to risk his life to save every dike that is threatened. He does wonders at the head of his engineers and labourers, who follow his lead blindly. They had better take care, or he will drag them with him to destruction."
There was a cold, calculating cruelty in his way of speaking to his betrothed of the peril threatening the life of the man whom he knew she loved. She turned and gave him a sad, reproachful glance: "Ernst!"
"Beg pardon?" he asked, without heeding her glance.
"Why do you avoid the frank explanation which I have so often tried to give you? Do you not wish for it?"
"No, I do not desire it. Let us be silent about it."
"Because you know that your silence torments me more than any reproaches, and because it gives you pleasure to torment me."
The girl's eyes flashed, but her passionate outbreak was met with icy coolness: "How you misapprehend me! I wish to spare you a painful explanation."