As he entered his wife's apartment, to bid her farewell ere he departed for the castle, it rose almost to suffocation in his throat, and he put his arm round her as she stood by the widely-opened casement, and remained by her side several minutes without speaking.
"Thou art not going to the castle yet, dearest ?" she inquired.

"Is it not much earlier than usual ?" "Yes, love; but I shall not ride to-night.

I feel so strangely oppressed, that I think a quiet walk in the night air will recover me far more effectually than riding." Marie looked up anxiously in his face.

He was very pale, and his hair was damp with the moisture on his forehead.

"Thou art unwell," she exclaimed; "do not go to-night, dearest Ferdinand,--stay with me.