MRS. HOOPER,
THIS STORY
IS AFFECTIONATELY AND GRATEFULLY
INSCRIBED.
PREFACE
It seems hardly necessary, but it may prevent misunderstanding, to state that I have incorporated in the ensuing pages whole passages from the autobiography of Goethe. Wherever it has been possible, he has been allowed to speak for himself, and thus no imagination has been exercised in the portrayal of his character. "Alide Duroc," on the contrary, is a purely imaginary creation, though her story is that of Frederika Brion.
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I [Dr. Julius Steck]
CHAPTER II [The Parsonage]
CHAPTER III [Alide]
CHAPTER IV [A Moonlight Walk]
CHAPTER V [Goethe]
CHAPTER VI [First Love]
CHAPTER VII [In Strasburg]
CHAPTER VIII [Happiness]
CHAPTER IX [After-thoughts]
CHAPTER X [Quiet Pleasures]
CHAPTER XI [In the Shadow of the Cathedral]
CHAPTER XII [Hamlet]
CHAPTER XIII [The Clouds gather]
CHAPTER XIV [A Strange Interview]
CHAPTER XV [Drifting Apart]
CHAPTER XVI [Parting]
CHAPTER XVII [Freedom]
CHAPTER XVIII [Letters]
[Epilogue]
ALIDE
CHAPTER I
DR. JULIUS STECK
"If it were not that I must play true to my clerical gown, Max, I could for very delight in the glory of this October afternoon caper one of my lately-learned waltzes on the roadside. Gods! what a gift life is on such a day as this! Do, you not feel this mountain air tingling like wine through your veins? My blood is all aglow within me—my heart is as light as flame." It was a rich, vibrant, sonorous voice, and yet it had a boyish ring of merriment that seemed in no wise to belong to the soberly-clad student who walked demurely by his companion's side through the quiet, shining meadows.