CHAPTER X.
Some days passed on after the visit to the jeweller's shop--perhaps ten or twelve--before Nina heard from or saw her lover again; and during that time she had no tidings from her relatives in the Windberg-gasse.
Life went on very quietly in the old house, and not the less quietly because the proceeds of the necklace saved Nina from any further immediate necessity of searching for money.

The cold weather had come, or rather weather that was cold in the morning and cold in the evening, and old Balatka kept his bed altogether.

His state was such that no one could say why he should not get up and dress himself, and he himself continued to speak of some future time when he would do so; but there he was, lying in his bed, and Nina told herself that in all probability she would never see him about the house again.

For herself, she was becoming painfully anxious that some day should be fixed for her marriage.

She knew that she was, herself, ignorant in such matters; and she knew also that there was no woman near her from whom she could seek counsel.