But, while still pondering over this plan, the door of the sick-room was softly opened and her father beckoned to her to follow him.
Silently leading the way through the dusky corridor, no longer illumined by the moonlight, he entered his daughter's room before her.

The lamp, still burning there, revealed the agitated face of her sister who, resting her chin on her hand, sat on the stool beside the spinning wheel.
Eva's courage, which had blazed up so brightly, instantly fell again.
"Good heavens! What has happened ?" she cried in terror; but her father answered in a hollow tone: "For the sake of your noble sister, to whom I pledged my word, I will force myself to remain calm.

But look at her! Her poor heart must be like a graveyard, for she was doomed to bury what she held dearest.

And who," he continued furiously, so carried away by grief and indignation as to be unmindful of his promise to maintain his composure, "who is to blame for it all, save you and your boundless imprudence ?" Eva, with uplifted hands, tried to explain how, unconscious of her acts, she had walked in her sleep down the stairs and out of the house, but he imperiously cut her short with: "Silence! I know all.

My daughter gave a worthless tempter the right to expect the worst from her.