"Well, then, bury your head in my lap; do not look at me; believe that it is the Angel of Judgment who speaks, who holds the rattling scales high above your head."
Eva knelt down before her mother, and leaned her head in her mother's lap.
"I do not hate Herr von Blanden--never have hated him--but I have loved him."
Noiselessly Eva slid down at her mother's feet. Only after some little time she recovered her senses in her parent's arms.
"I have loved him," repeated the mother, "and that is worse, far worse!"
"And you love him still?" asked Eva, "and you are angry with me that I would rob you of him? but he--how could he--"
"Listen to me, my child! We were both members of a devout community, misjudged by the world; this brought us closer together. A decision in council of the Superiors destined me for his spiritual bride!"
"Spiritual bride!--oh, my God!"
"That in our circle is deemed a bond, which is bound for all eternity!"
"And is not every bride a spiritual one, and every bond united for everlasting endurance?"