before the time appointed for confirmation, by briefly informing her that this would be the last lesson. By this he meant the last with him; for he certainly intended to care further for her, but through others. She remained, however, motionless in her seat. The color forsook her face, she could not take her eyes from him, and involuntarily touched, he hastened to give a reason.
“To be sure, all young girls are not grown up when they are confirmed; but you surely feel that such is the case with you.”
Had she been standing in the glow of a great fire she could not have become rosier than she did at these words; her bosom heaved, her eyes grew restless and filled with tears, and driven to extremity he hastened to say:—
“Would you, after all, rather continue?”
Only when it was too late did he realize what he had proposed; it was wrong; he would take it back; but she was already raising her eyes to his face, she was not saying “yes” with her lips, and yet more forcibly she could not have expressed it. To excuse what he had done to himself by seeking a pretext, he asked:
“I presume there is something you especially wish to turn your attention to, something you”—he bowed low over her—“feel a call for, Petra?”
