He approached her as he spoke. His eyes sparkled no longer with the angry fury which had thrilled the Baron, but with a mild fire of tenderness and devotion. Nothing more attractive and winning than his whole appearance and manner could be conceived, and for a moment the Baroness had almost forgotten the less accomplished—but, oh! more sincere—passion of her Heinrich.
It was only for a moment. The weakness passed, she instantly drew herself up with dignity, and stepped back against the friendly ilex.
“It was not to hear such words I came,” she said, “but to pronounce those which are to free me from ever having to listen to such protestations again——”
“Oh, say them not! say them not!” said the Wilder Jäger, throwing himself at her feet. “Any thing but that! Name any wish by fulfilling which I can win your favour; name any difficult task by accomplishing which I can prove myself worthy of your love——”
“My love,” said the Baroness, striving to speak coldly, “is another’s already; you see, there is none to be won from me. But interrupt me no more. I have guessed your name, to discover which was to be the price of my freedom. It is——”
The Wilder Jäger clasped her feet in despair, entreating her not to pronounce it, but she went on, with a clear, confident voice, to utter the words,—
“Tree! Fir! Pine!”
The Wilder Jäger looked up as if he did not quite understand what she meant.
“Now, let go your hold, and let me pass, for I am free!” she said, resolutely.
“‘Free,’ say you?” said the handsome Cobbold, with astonishment. “Free? did you mean you thought that was my unknown name?”