"'Look not thus; I know how lightly you hold the love of one elsewhere.'
"'Of my cousin Marie Louise? Oh! what of that! I never, never loved till now!' and, drawing a ring from her finger, I slipped my beautiful opal in its place.
"'And you love me?' she whispered.
"'Yes; a thousand times, yes!'
"'But you are a soldier—wounded, too. Ah! if you should die before we meet again!'
"'Or, if you should die ere then?' said I, laughingly.
"'Die—I am already dead to the world—in loving you; but, living or dead, our souls are as one, and——'
"'Neither heaven nor the powers beneath shall separate us now!' I exclaimed, as something of melodrama began to mingle with the genuineness of the sudden passion with which she had inspired me. She was so impulsive, so full of brightness and ardour, as compared to the cold, proud, and calm Marie Louise. I boldly encircled her with my arms; then her glorious eyes seemed to fill with the subtle light of love, while there was a strange magnetic thrill in her touch, and, more than all, in her kiss.
"'Carl, Carl!' she sighed.
"'What! You know my name?— And yours?'