"Then she must come away," said Paula much touched. "Send her to us.
Kind and comforting souls dwell under Rufinus' roof."

"I thank you warmly. I will entreat my mother most urgently. . . ."

"Do so," interrupted Paula. "Have you ever seen Pulcheria, the daughter
of my worthy host?"

"Yes.--A singularly lovable creature!"

"She will soon take Mary into her faithful heart--"

"And our poor little girl needs a friend, now that Susannah has forbidden
her daughter to visit at our house."

The conversation now turned on the two girls, of whom they spoke as sweet
children, both much to be pitied; and, when Orion observed that his niece
was old for her tender years, Paula replied with a slight accent of
reproach: "But Katharina, too, has ripened much during the last few days;
the lively child has become a sober girl; her recent experience is a
heavy burden on her light heart."

"But, if I know her at all, it will soon be cast off," replied Orion.
"She is a sweet, happy little creature; and, of all the dreadful things
I did on that day of horrors, the most dreadful perhaps was the woe I
wrought for her. There is no excuse possible, and yet it was solely to
gratify my mother's darling wish that I consented to marry Katharina.--
However, enough of that.--Henceforth I must march through life with large
strides, and she to whom love gives courage to become my wife, must be
able to keep pace with me."