"There is no need for you to look so horrified," he said. "Fräulein Kohnheim is a very pretty girl; her parents had her baptized some time ago; and her father could pay the debts of an entire regiment if he chose."
"Hugo!"
"Leave me in peace, and be thankful that there is one way out of this for all of us. To-morrow morning this letter goes; to-morrow evening I go, and the next day our troubles will all be over."
"And papa?"
"Our father will soon recover; the doctor says so. A first stroke is never so dangerous----"
"Adela!" a weak voice called at this moment.
"You see he has already recovered his speech, as the doctor said he would," said Hugo.
Adela flew to her father's side and covered his hand with kisses. For a moment her brother was forgotten; she only felt that a change for the better had come, that her father would recover, and that he had wanted her--her; that the first use he had made of his returning voice had been to call his daughter!