heart as Cordula thought she had perceived.

Again her kind heart throbbed with tender sympathy, and when the sisters
left the sedan chairs which had brought them back to the house, and
Cordula met Eva in the corridor, she held out her hand with frank
cordiality, saying, "Clasp it trustingly, girl. True, you do not value
it much, but it is offered to no one to whom Cordula does not mean
kindly."

Eva, taken by surprise, obeyed her request. How frank and kindly her
grey eyes were! Cordula herself must be so, too, and, obeying a hasty
impulse, she nodded with friendly warmth; then, as if ashamed of her
change of mood, hurried past her up the stairs.

The following day had been appointed for the mass for the dead in St.
Sebald's Church.

Els had told Eva that the countess had seen Heinz Schorlin at the
consecration. The news pleased her, and she expressed her joy so
animatedly and spoke so confidently of the knight's love that Els felt
anxious. But she did not have courage to disturb her peace of mind, and
her father's two sisters, the abbess, and Herr Pfinzing's wife, also said
nothing to Eva concerning the future as they helped Els to arrange the
dead woman's clothing, which was to be given to the poor, decide to what
persons or charitable institutions it should be sent, and listened to her
account of the facts that formed the foundation of the slanders against
her, which were being more loudly and universally discussed throughout
the city.

Eva felt painfully how incapable of rendering assistance the others