of the guests in the ballroom were watching them; besides the saucy
little count came again and again to fill his goblet, and he wished to
avoid everything which might elicit sarcastic comment. The young cup-
bearer desisted as soon as he noticed the respectful reserve with which
Heinz treated his lady, and the youth was soon obliged to leave the hall
with his liege lord, Duke Rudolph of Austria, who was to set out for
Carinthia early the following morning, and withdrew with his wife without
sharing the banquet. The latter accompanied her husband to the castle,
but she was to remain in Nuremberg during the session of the Reichstag
with the lonely widowed Emperor, who was especially fond of the young
Bohemian princess. Before and during the dance with Heinz the latter had
requested him to use the noble Arabian steed, a gift from the Sultan
Kalaun to the Emperor, who had bestowed it upon her, and also expressed
the hope of meeting the knight frequently.

In the conversation which Heinz began with Eva he was at first obliged to
defend himself, for she had admitted that she had heard the Burgravine's
warning to beware of him.

At the same time she had found opportunity to tell him that her heart
yearned for something different from worldly love, and that she felt safe
from every one because St. Clare was constantly watching over her.

He replied that he had been reared in piety, that he knew the close
relations existing between her patron saint and the holy Francis of
Assisi, and that he, too, had experienced many things from this man of
God. Eva, with warm interest, asked when and where, and he willingly
told her.

On the way from Augsburg to Nuremberg, while riding in advance of the