Thou wert always of
a more reasonable brain than I, though thy more southern origin would seem
to contradict it. Here, then, are all our fine fancies and liberal schemes
of generosity blown to the winds!"
"That is not so evident," returned the Genoese, who had not failed the
while to study the countenance of Adelheid, as if he would fully ascertain
her secret wishes. "There has been much discourse, fair Adelheid, between
thee and the youth on this matter?"
"Signore, there has. I was about to communicate the intentions of my
father; for the circumstances in which we were placed, the weight of our
many obligations, the usual distance which rank interposes between the
noble and the simply born, perhaps justified this boldness in a maiden,"
she added, though the tell-tale blood revealed her shame. "I was making
Sigismund acquainted with my father's wishes, when he met my confidence by
the avowal which I have just related."
"He deems his birth--?"
"An insuperable barrier to the connexion. Sigismund Steinbach, though so
little favored in the accident of his origin, is not a beggar to sue for
that which his own generous feelings would condemn.
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