if in him, as in so many others, the heart is one of them, then I say
hopefully, like Horace the Roman: 'Nil desperandum.' It would be unjust
to give him up altogether for lost."

To this assurance Paula found no answer; indeed, it struck her that--if
Orion had told her the truth--it was only to please his mother that he
had asked Katharina to marry him, while she herself occupied his heart.
--The physician, wishing to change the subject, was about to speak again
of the death of the Mukaukas, when one of the crippled serving girls came
to announce a woman who asked to speak with Paula. A few minutes later
she was clasped in the embrace of her faithful old friend and nurse, who
rejoiced as heartily, laughing and crying for sheer delight, as if no
tidings of misfortune had reached her; while Paula, though so much
younger, was cut to the heart, and could not shake off the spell of her
grief.

Perpetua understood this and owed her no grudge for the coolness with
which she met her joyful excitement.

She told Paula that she had been well treated in her hot cell, and that
about half an hour since Orion himself, the young Master now, had opened
the door of her prison. He had been very gracious to her, but looked so
pale and sad. The overbearing young man was quite altered; his eyes,
which were dim with weeping, had moved her, Perpetua, to tears. She
trusted that God would forgive him for his sins against herself and
Paula; he must have been possessed by some evil demon; he had not been at
all like himself; for he had a kind, warm heart, and though he had been
so hard and unjust yesterday to poor Hiram he had made it up to him the
first thing this morning, and had not only let him out of prison but had
sent him and his son home to Damascus with large gifts and two horses.