The first disappears behind the wall, and the armed one slowly
follows him. Yet once again, he glances over the wall, raising his
arm and shaking his dagger toward Natalie and her friend. Then he
disappeared, and all was again peaceful and still in this smiling
paradise!
Was it, perhaps, only an illusive dream that bantered us, only a _fata
morgana_ formed by the moonbeams? Or does the serpent of evil really
lurk about this paradise? Will destruction find its way into this
charmed garden? Ah, no solitude and no wall can afford protection
against misfortune! It creeps through the strongest lock, and over the
highest wall; and while we think ourselves safe, it is already there,
close to us, and nearly ready to swallow us up.
THE LETTERS
It was suddenly lively in the garden. Cecil, Paulo's old servant,
approached from the house, with a lantern in his hand.
He comes down the alley with hasty steps, and with an anxious
countenance approaches his master.
"What is it, Cecil?"
"Two letters, sir, that have just arrived. One comes from the hotel
of the Russian legation, and the other from that of the Lord-Cardinal
Bernis."
Paulo shuddered slightly, and his hand involuntarily grasped after the
first letter, but he suddenly constrained himself, and his glance fell
upon Natalie, whose eyes were fixed with curiosity upon the two letters.
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