He did not venture to press the picture to his lips; but he caught her
hand and raised it to his eyes. They were, perhaps, two of the most
beautiful hands which had ever been clasped together. He felt as if a
stone had fallen from his heart, as if a partition-wall had been thrown
down between him and Ottilie.

Under the miller's guidance, Charlotte and the Captain came down by an
easier path, and now joined them. There was the meeting, and a happy
talk, and then they took some refreshments. They would not return by the
same way as they came; and Edward struck into a rocky path on the other
side of the stream, from which the ponds were again to be seen. They
made their way along it, with some effort, and then had to cross a
variety of wood and copse--getting glimpses, on the land side, of a
number of villages and manor-houses, with their green lawns and
fruit-gardens; while very near them, and sweetly situated on a rising
ground, a farm lay in the middle of the wood. From a gentle ascent, they
had a view, before and behind, which showed them the richness of the
country to the greatest advantage; and then, entering a grove of trees,
they found themselves, on again emerging from it, on the rock opposite
the castle.

They came upon it rather unexpectedly, and were of course delighted.
They had made the circuit of a little world; they were standing on the
spot where the new building was to be erected, and were looking again at
the windows of their home.

They went down to the summer-house, and sat all four in it for the first
time together; nothing was more natural than that with one voice it
should be proposed to have the way they had been that day, and which, as