There was still an element of uncertainty in the situation which caused
her some anxious moments. Since his recovery Greif had never approached
the question of marriage. It was indeed early yet, but the
opportunities had already been numerous, and he had not taken advantage
of any. The only point which favoured the impression that he had
changed his mind, was his frank and easy manner together with his
evident desire to see as much of Hilda as possible. But he had not
spoken. The baroness was keen enough to fancy that he was prevented
from referring to the subject by the painful reminiscence of his last
interview at Sigmundskron, and by a natural feeling of shame at the
thought of retracting what he had once taken such infinite pains to
say. She was determined that the matter should be put upon a sound
basis as soon as possible, and she promised herself to lead the
conversation to the marriage whenever she had a chance.
Unfortunately for her intentions the chance did not present itself, for
Greif spent the time of his visits with Hilda, and talked as little as
possible to her mother. The latter could almost have found courage to
come alone to Greifenstein, but Hilda would not have allowed her to do
so, for she would not have been willing to miss an opportunity of a
meeting. In this way matters had continued for some time after Greif
had been well enough to decide finally upon his own future as well as
upon Hilda's, until he himself felt that he must soon speak his mind,
or be very much ashamed of himself for his hesitation.
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