“ ‘Meanwhile?’ I asked almost breathlessly.
“ ‘Meanwhile,’ he continued very coldly, ‘you will do well not to continue your visits at the Residence. I know you do not wish to compromise a simple-hearted and honest young girl, I shall, therefore, not expect to see you here excepting, of course, at our official receptions.’
“That was plain speaking enough,—was it not William? It was tantamount to a refusal.”
Verstork looked at his friend with very real and deep sympathy.
“I had a presentiment,” he said, “of the trouble that was awaiting you. You remember in what manner I received your communication last week?”
“Yes, and to-day you promised you would let me know why—”
“Now tell me, Charles,” said Verstork, “is there any need for me to say anything more? You must, by this time, I presume, have been able to form a pretty accurate estimate of the family circle into which you would have been received in case your offer had been accepted.”
“But William, Anna—!”
“Oh, yes,” cried Verstork, “I know Anna is the purest and most amiable creature in the world. I know, as well as you do, that Anna is absolutely innocent of all this intrigue and trickery. Indeed I have often wondered how so fair a flower could have opened and developed in the midst of such surroundings. But, let the girl be—why simply what she is—however adorable she may be, if you marry her you cannot help being fettered to her parents, who are most certainly the most self-seeking and most corrupt beings which can possibly be found in any respectable society. My dear friend, just reflect how utterly and hopelessly wretched you would be tied to such a pair of schemers. That, my dear fellow, was the very thing I wanted to point out to you.”
Van Nerekool heaved a deep sigh and, lost in thought, did not answer a word. He sat as one in a dream, with his head resting on his hand, peering upwards into the vast crown of the Wariengien tree through which the moon, now high up in the heavens, was casting her soft white beams.