"No," gloomily replied the count, "nothing will go well any more! The
whole future stands before me in clear and distinct traits--a future
full of shame and horror! Oh, would it not be better to flee from that
future and seek in some remote and hidden valley a place where, perhaps,
misfortune cannot reach, nor destruction overtake us!"
"How?" reproachfully asked Cecil. "Is it Count Paulo who speaks thus?
Is it the pupil whom I taught to defy misfortune and rise superior to
disaster with courageous self-confidence? Is it the son of my heart
for whom I have left all, sacrificed all, for whom I have offered up my
fatherland, my freedom, and my independence; whom I shall love until my
last breath? Paulo, pluck up a good heart, my son! You have proposed
to yourself a great end, which was only to be reached by thorny and
dangerous paths; will you now stop at the first cross-road and return
upon your steps, instead of pressing forward sword in hand! No, no, I
know you better, my son; this momentary hesitation will pass away, and
you will again be great and strong for the struggle and the victory!"
With a faint smile Count Paulo gave him his hand. "You know not, my
friend, how great is the sacrifice you demand of me!" said he, in a
subdued tone. "I must leave Natalie. I must never see her more, never
more draw consolation from her glance, nor hope from her charming smile!
Oh, Cecil, you have not idea of what Natalie is to me; you know not that
I--"
"I know," interposed Cecil, solemnly, "I know that you have sworn upon
the holy book to protect her with your life from every injury; I know
that you have sworn never to give rest to yourself until you have
reinstated her in her inherited rights, and that, until then, she shall
be sacred to you, sacred as a sister, sacred as a daughter whose honor
you will protect and defend against every outrage, against even every
sinful thought. That have you sworn, and I know you will hold your word
sacred and keep your oath!"
Count Paulo dropped his head upon his breast and sighed deeply.
"I must therefore leave her!" said he.
"Your own welfare demands it."
"But how is she to live during our absence? Our money will not suffice
to the end. Alas! we had so surely calculated on this remittance from my
estates, and now it fails us!"
"We will sell that costly ornament of brilliants which you had destined
as a present for Natalie on her seventeenth birthday."
"Ah," sighed the count, "you have a means for the removal of every
obstacle. I must therefore go!"
"And I go with you," said Cecil. "I would, if it must be so, be able to
die for you!"