Her features, which were an heritage from her father, and betokened a
strong and determined nature, had become more rigid in the last few
months, but over her face lay a new expression, one of pain and anxiety,
as if some secret and hitherto unknown spring had been touched; the blue
eyes lost their cold, passionate look, deep shadows lay in them, which
told of strife and anguish, and the blonde head sank low, as under some
unsupportable burden.
And yet Adelheid breathed more freely than she had done for many a day,
at the thought that this was the last one at Fuerstenstein. To-morrow at
this time, she would be far away, and distance she prayed would save her
from that dark influence against which she had been battling for weeks
in vain, when she would no longer see those eyes whose power she
dreaded, or hear the voice which bewitched her. When she had flown from
the mysterious power which held her, she could conquer and utterly
destroy it. God be praised!
The sound of the hunt grew each moment less distinct, and was finally
lost altogether in the distance; but in the wood, near the elevation on
which she stood, the baroness could hear crunching footsteps which told
her she was no longer alone. She turned to go in an opposite direction,
but as she turned, a man's form appeared among the trees, and Hartmut
Rojanow stood before her.
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