"Then this bird may cost thee dear, for the demon will avenge it some day!"
"Already he is avenged!" said Konrad, with sudden bitterness.
Anna smiled, for she knew his meaning well.
"Oh, Anna!" said the young man, laying his hand earnestly on hers; "how changed thou art! what have I done to offend thee?"
"Nothing!"
"Then, by some accursed magic this ring hath bewitched thee!"
"Ring!" she reiterated, changing colour.
Konrad dashed his crossbow on the earth.
"And is it so?" he exclaimed; "O Anna! Anna! like Zernebok, the spirit of darkness and of evil, this Scottish Earl hath crossed my path. I saw him salute thy cheek again and again, yet thou didst not reprove him. Even wert thou to love me again as of old, the charm would be broken; and O, my God! there is nothing left me but to wish we had never met!"
Anna leaned upon the parapet, and averted her face a little. The accents of Konrad's voice—that voice she had once loved so well—sank deep in her heart; but Bothwell's kiss, still glowed upon her cheek, and her heart was steeled against remorse.