Meanwhile she longed more and more eagerly to know the name of the little
creature that had brought so much trouble upon her, and whether she was
still forcing herself between Lienhard and his beautiful wife.

As soon as she was able to talk again, she began her inquiries. The
Sister, who was entirely absorbed in her calling and never left the scene
of her wearisome toil, had little to tell; but the leech and the priest,
in reply to her questions concerning what had happened during the period
of her unconsciousness, informed her that the Emperor had ordered that
she should receive the most careful nursing, and had bestowed a donation
upon the convent for the purpose. He had thought of her future, too.
When she recovered, she would have the five heller pounds which the
generous sovereign had left for her as a partial compensation for the
injuries sustained while employing her rare skill for the delight of the
multitude and, above all, himself. A wealthy Nuremberg Honourable,
Lienhard Groland, a member of the Council, had also interested himself in
her and deposited the same amount with the abbess, in case she should
recover the use of her limbs and did not prefer to spend the remainder of
her life here, though only as a lay sister. In that case he would be
ready to defray the cost of admission.

"That the lofty convent walls might rise between him and the sight of
me!" Kuni said to herself at this information, with a bitter smile.
On the--other hand, her eyes filled with tears of genuine emotion and
sincere shame, when she learned from the leech that Herr Lienhard
Groland's lovely wife had come daily to the convent to inquire about her,
and had even honoured her couch with a visit several times. She did not
remain absent until one day, in the noble lady's presence, Kuni, when her
fever was fiercest, loaded the wearer of the wreath, whom her delirium
often brought before her as a nightmare, with the most savage and