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streets, the houses, and the old trees still standing, my emotion was roused to its highest pitch, and I was ready to weep with ecstasy, for a moment forgetting Renata. This circumstance, judging by everything, did not escape her cat-like observation, and she at once amended her amiable attitude towards me, becoming stern and unbending, like a reed that stiffens in the frost.
    Our barge docked at the Netherlands quay in the midst of other vessels, both sailing and rowing, at the time when the confusion on the quays was at its height. Having taken leave of Moritz and clambered ashore, we plunged from our solitude on board ship as if into the first circle of the Inferno of Alighieri, where are heard:

    Diverse lingue, orribilie fevelle,
    Parole di dolore, accenti d’ira,
    Voci alte e fiochi. …

    Everywhere lay unladed goods, barrels and cases, everywhere crowded men, sailors, mariners, dock-hands, clerks of the merchant houses, carriers and simple idlers; here too drove up carts for the carriage of heavy merchandise; wheels squeaked, horses whinnied, dogs barked, men bustled, shouted and swore, and we became surrounded by traders, and Jews and carriers, all offering their services. But as soon as I had picked a lad out of the crowd, and bidden him carry our baggage, Renata, without any warning, turned to me and, in a voice quite changed, spoke thus:
    “Now, Master Knight, I would thank you. You have rendered me great service by escorting me hither. Go now your ways, and I will find me shelter in this town. Farewell, and may God protect you.”
    I thought that Renata was saying this out of exaggerated courtesy, and began to remonstrate politely, but she replied to me, now quite firmly:
    “Why seek you to intrude into my life? I thank you for your pains and your assistance, but now I require them no longer.”
    Taken aback, for then I as yet knew little the soul of Renata, all woven of contradictions and surprises like a cloth of many-hued yarn, I reminded her of the oaths we had exchanged, but Renata turned to me for a third time, with indignation and not without rudeness:
    “You are not my father, nor my brother, nor my husband; you have no right to detain me by your side. If you think that by spending a few guldens you have bought my body, you are mistaken, for I am not a woman from a house of pleasure. I go where I list, and you cannot force me to stay with you by threats if your companionship be distasteful to me.”
    In despair, I began to speak volubly, much of what I said I cannot now recall, at first reproaching Renata, then humbly beseeching her and clasping her hands to retain her, but she shrank away from me with contempt, and perhaps even with disgust, and replied shortly but stubbornly that she wished to be alone. Strangers began to take note of our dispute, and when with especial insistence, I urged Renata to follow me she threatened to seek protection from my assaults with the city reiters, or simply with any good people.
    Then, deciding on hypocrisy, I spoke as follows:
    “Noble lady, my knightly duty does not permit me to leave a lady alone, in the evening, amidst a crowd of strangers. The streets are not safe by twilight, for robbers and misbehaving revellers are abroad. I do not fear to face the guard, for my conscience is guiltless of any crime, but to part with you now I will not agree, for anything in the world. Lastly, by all that is holy, I swear to you that to-morrow morning, if you still desire it, I shall give you final and complete freedom, shall not burden you with my presence, and shall not dream of attempting to trace where you have gone.”
    Probably realising that I would not relent, Renata submitted with that indifference with which submit those sorely ill, to whom all is one, and, closing her cape to conceal her face, she followed me through the city gate. I ordered the baggage to be carried to a widow of my acquaintance, one Martha Ruttmann, who since the death of her husband had lived