But what would she do if Anton were to announce to her some day that he found himself, as a Jew, unable to marry with her as a Christian?
In such a case she thought that she must drown herself, as Lotta had suggested to her.
As she sat thinking of this, her eyes suddenly fell upon the one key which she herself possessed, and which, with a woman's acuteness of memory, she perceived to have been moved from the spot on which she had left it.

It was the key of the little desk which stood in the corner of the parlour, and in which, on the top of all the papers, was deposited the necklace with which she intended to relieve the immediate necessities of their household.

She at once remembered that Lotta had been left for a long time in the room, and with anxious, quick suspicion she went to the desk.

But her suspicions had wronged Lotta.
There, lying on a bundle of letters, was the necklace, in the exact position in which she had left it.

She kissed the trinket, which had come to her from her mother, replaced it carefully, and put the key into her pocket.
What should she do next?
How should she conduct herself in her present circumstances?
Her heart prompted her to go off at once to Anton Trendellsohn and tell him everything; but she greatly feared that Anton would not be glad to see her.