hermit the evening before, served doubtless to irritate him, and I, myself, could find no possible ground for touching upon that well-meant piece of folly. He was, accordingly, angry and displeased, and had declared most positively that no meeting of the kind should or could take place; she must follow him; he was appointed by her mother as her tutor and guardian, and, therefore, thus empowered he must insist upon her unhesitating obedience. She, accordingly, accompanied him to the first stage, from whence they drove to Zurich, where, at the Sword Inn, he committed her to the care of a young lady, who was in readiness to travel with her to Russia, in the capacity of governess. It was then that he imparted to his ward the particulars of her situation and fate, and, greeting her as Countess Barczikoff, informed her, that her grandfather was awaiting her arrival with the utmost impatience.
The hermit had already, through means of a banker at Zurich, provided for clothes, equipage, attendance, and every thing necessary for her, according to the desire and command of the old count; and, at the expiration of one hour, the hermit accompanied the astonished girl to the carriage, where, she could hardly recover from the stupor into which this sudden change in her situation had thrown her.
“And from this moment,” I exclaimed, “were the ladder, and Mount Rigi, and your poor, disconsolate friend entirely forgotten!”
“No, no!” replied the lovely girl, with the same true Swiss candour which she had always displayed, “on the very morning of my departure I besought the hermit from the carriage to give to you—did he not deliver it?”
“What, the Alpine rose?”—I exclaimed, with a grateful feeling of rapture, “Ah! yes, that I still retain—never has it been out of my possession; it ever has been, and ever shall remain sacred near my heart. But did he perform all that he was requested to do?” I inquired, in a tone of eager impatience, devouring with my eyes the beauteous mouth from which I so anxiously awaited a reply.
