Then the solemn earnestness vanished from his face, and his features resumed their usual easy repose.
"Is Herr Balzer at home?" he asked.
"I think so," she replied in a low voice; "he asked to see me a short time ago."
"I wish to speak to him," said the count.
She bowed in silence and left the room.
"What a scene!" cried the young abbé, shuddering, "and what a dreadful woman!"
The count looked thoughtfully before him.
"Do you believe," asked the abbé, "that she will heed your warning? that she will repent and amend?"
"I do not know," said the count calmly, "we must hope her heart may at last be opened to grace, in that case she would be an instrument of priceless worth."
"What are your views?" asked the young priest with surprise.