Cordula paid little attention to the sacred service, but watched the Es,
as she liked to call the sisters, all the more closely. The elder,
though so overwhelmed with grief that she could not help sobbing aloud,
did not cease to think of her dear ones, and from time to time gazed with
tender sympathy at her father or with quiet sorrow at her sister. Eva,
on the contrary, was completely absorbed by her own anguish and the
memory of her to whom it was due. The others appeared to have no
existence for her. Whilst the large tears rolled slowly down her cheeks,
she sometimes gazed tenderly at the face of the beloved dead; sometimes,
with fervent entreaty, at the image of the Virgin. The pleading
expression of the large blue eyes seemed to the countess to express such
childlike need of help that the impetuous girl would fain have clasped
her to her heart and exclaimed:

"Wait, you lovely, obstinate little orphan; Cordula, whom you dislike,
is here, and though you don't wish to receive any kindness from her, you
must submit. What do I care for all the worshippers of a very poor idol
who call themselves my 'adorers'? I need only detain wandering pilgrims,
or invite minnesingers to the castle, to shorten the hours. And he for
whom yonder child-angel's heart yearns--would he not be a fool to prefer
a Will-o'-the-wisp like me? Besides, it is easy for the peasant to give
his neighbour the cloud which hangs over his field. True, before the
dance----But the past is past. Boemund Altrosen is the only person who
is always the same. One can rely upon him, but I really need neither.
If I could only do without the open air, the forest, horses, and hunting,
I should suit convent walls far better than this Eva, whom Heaven itself
seems to have created to be the delight of every man's heart. We will
see what she herself decides."