But something unexpected happened now. Willibald, who still stood upon the threshold, advanced into the room and exclaimed, half entreatingly, half reproachfully: "But, mamma!"
"Is it you, Willy? What do you want here?" demanded Frau von Eschenhagen, noticing him for the first time, and to whom the interruption was very unwelcome.
Willibald saw very well that his mother was very ungraciously inclined, and was accustomed always to retreat when he found her in that mood, but today, with unusual courage, he remained. He drew nearer and repeated, "But, mamma, I beg of you--Toni has never thought of Fraulein Volkmar's----"
"How dare you! do you wish to accuse me of an untruth?" the angered mother flamed. "What is it to you that I speak with Fraulein Volkmar? Your fiancée is not here--you see that--therefore leave us!"
The young lord grew darkly red at this tone, to which he was accustomed; he seemed to feel shame at the treatment because of the young girl, and looked as if he would offer some resistance, but at a threatening, "Well, did you not hear?" the old habit conquered. He turned hesitatingly and actually left the room, but the door remained slightly ajar.
Marietta looked after him with scornfully curled lips, then turned to her opponent.
"You may rest assured, gracious lady, that I have come to Furstenstein for the last time. As the Chief Forester received me with his usual cordiality, and Antonie with the old affection, I did not comprehend that I now bear a stain in their eyes. I certainly would not have made myself troublesome otherwise. It shall not happen again--no, never!"
Her voice faltered; with effort she suppressed the tears, but they trembled bitterly and plaintively around the little mouth, and Frau von Eschenhagen felt that she had gone too far in her management of the case.
"I did not wish to offend you," she said soothingly. "I only intended to make clear to you----"
"You did not wish to offend me and yet tell me such things," interrupted the young girl in an outburst of anger. "You treat me like an outcast, who should not dare to approach decent circles, because I earn my living, and give pleasure to mankind with a gift which God has given me. You abuse my good, dear old grandfather, who has made such painful sacrifices for my education, who has let me go into the world with such a heavy heart. Bitter tears stood in his eyes when he drew me once more into his arms at parting and said: 'Remain good, my Marietta--one can be good in every position. I can leave you nothing. If I should close my eyes in death to-day or to-morrow you would have to struggle for yourself.' And I have remained good, and I will remain good, even if it is not made easy for me as it is for Toni, who is the daughter of a rich father, and only leaves her paternal home to go to the home of her husband. But I do not envy her the good fortune of calling you mother."
"Fraulein Volkmar, you forget yourself," cried Regine, highly offended, rising to her fullest height; but Marietta was not intimidated, she only grew more excited.
"Oh, no; it is not I who forget myself. You are the one--you who insult me without cause, and I know that the Chief Forester and Antonie are under your influence if they turn from me. Nevertheless, I do not want any kindness nor friendship which cannot stand more firmly, and I am done with a friend who gives me up at the request of her mother-in-law--done with her once for all. Tell her so, Frau von Eschenhagen."
She turned and left the room with a stormy gesture, but in the ante-room the carefully preserved composure gave way; pain overcame anger, and the bravely suppressed tears burst forth hotly. The young girl leaned her head against the wall in passionate, bitter sobbing over the insult.
Hearing her name called in a low, timid voice, she looked up and saw Willibald von Eschenhagen standing before her, holding out the paper which he had dropped so hastily into his pocket. It was folded back now, and disclosed a rose branch, bearing a wonderfully beautiful and fragrant blossom with two half-open buds.
"Fraulein Volkmar," he repeated, stammering, "you wished a rose--please accept----"
Mute apology for his mother's rudeness could be plainly seen in his eyes and his whole bearing. Marietta suppressed her sobs, but the tears still glistened in the dark eyes, which looked at him with an inexpressibly contemptuous expression.
"No, I thank you, Herr von Eschenhagen," she replied sharply. "You have probably heard what has been said in there and have also probably received a command to shun me. Why do you not obey?"
"My mother has done you wrong," Willibald said half aloud, "and she also spoke without the knowledge of the others. Toni does not know anything about it, believe me----"
"So you knew that and did not offer a word of contradiction!" the girl interrupted, scarlet with anger. "You listened to your mother insulting and offending a defenseless girl and did not have chivalry enough to oppose it! Oh, yes, you tried it, but were scolded and sent off like a schoolboy and--bore it meekly!"
Willibald stood there as if thunderstruck. He had, indeed, felt the injustice of his mother deeply, and wished to make it good to the best of his ability, and now he was treated like this! He stared at Marietta in deep perplexity, while she only grew angrier at his silence.
"And now you come and bring me flowers," she continued, with increasing passion, "secretly--behind your mother's back, and think that I will accept such an apology! You would better learn first how amandeports himself when he is witness to such injustice. But now--now I will show you what I think of your present and of you!"
She tore the paper with its contents out of his hand, threw it on the ground, and in the next second her little foot stamped upon the fragrant blossoms.
"My, Fraulein----" Willibald wavered between shame and indignation, but a stern glance from the hitherto saucy eyes silenced him, and the poor roses were finished by a push from the small foot.
"So--now we are at the end. If Toni really knows nothing of this affair I shall be sorry, but in spite of it I must remain away in the future, for I will not expose myself to fresh insults. May she be happy. I could not be in her place. I am a poor girl, but I would not accept a man who is still afraid of his mother's switch--no, not if he were ten times lord of Burgsdorf!"
With which she disappeared, and left the poor lord standing alone.
"Willy, what does this mean?" demanded the voice of Frau von Eschenhagen, who appeared in the door. As no reply came, she approached her son with threatening mien.
"It was certainly a strange scene which I had to look upon. Will you be so good as to explain what it really meant? That little thing actually glared with anger and said the most impertinent things to your face, and you stood there like a sheep, without defending yourself."
"Because she was right," murmured Willibald, still looking at the roses.
"She was what?" demanded the mother, who could not believe that she had heard aright.
The young lord raised his head and looked at her. He had a peculiar expression on his face.
"She was right, I say, mamma. It is true, you have treated me like a schoolboy. I ought not to have submitted to it."
"Boy, I believe you are not in your senses," said Frau Regine, but Willibald started in irritation:
"I am no boy. I am lord of Burgsdorf and twenty-seven years old. You forget that always, mamma, and I have forgotten it always--but now I recall it."
Frau von Eschenhagen looked with boundless astonishment at her hitherto obedient son, who was now suddenly making resistance.
"I actually believe you would like to be rebellious, my boy. Do not try; you know I will not permit it. What possesses you suddenly to be so arbitrary? While I try to end a highly improper intercourse and put aside this Marietta, you go and, behind my back, actually offer an apology for it--even offer her the roses which you had intended for your betrothed. Although I do not know how you came to do it, it is the first time in your life--but Toni will not thank you for it. It served you right that the little witch crushed them. You will leave such foolishness alone in the future."
She scolded him in the usual tone without taking any notice of his rebellion, but Willibald took it wrongly this time. He who had but ten minutes before hidden the flowers in his pocket with fear now had a touch of heroism. Instead of leaving his mother in her belief and hushing the dangerous storm, he positively challenged it.
"The roses were not destined for Toni at all, but for Fraulein Volkmar," he explained defiantly.
"For----" the word choked the terror-stricken woman.
"For Marietta Volkmar! She wanted to wear a rose in her hair to-night, and since there were none to be had in Waldhofen, I went to the castle gardener and got those flowers. Now you know it all, mamma."
Frau von Eschenhagen stood there like a pillar of salt. She had turned ashy pale, for suddenly a light had dawned upon her, but it showed her something so awful that she lost both speech and motion for a while.
But her old fire returned. She grasped her son's arm as if she meant to have him in any case and said curtly:
"Willy--we leave to-morrow."
"Leave!" he repeated. "For where?"
"Home. We depart to-morrow morning at 8 o'clock, so that we can catch the fast train and arrive at Burgsdorf the day after to-morrow. Go immediately to your room and pack."
But the commanding tone made no impression whatever on Willy this time.
"I shall not pack," he declared sullenly.
"You shall pack. I command you."
"No," defied the young lord. "If you want to leave so badly, mamma, you can leave--I remain here."
This was unheard of, but it dispelled the last doubt and the energetic woman, who still held her son in her grasp, now shook him fiercely.
"Boy, wake up! Come to your senses! I believe you do not know what is the matter with you. I will tell you then. You are in love--in love with this Marietta Volkmar."
She threw the last words at him with annihilating emphasis, but Willibald was not in the least annihilated. He stood quite still from surprise for a moment. He had not thought of that, but now it began to dawn upon him.
"Oh," he said with a deep sigh, and something like a smile flitted over his features.
"'Oh!' is that your whole answer?" burst forth the enraged mother, who had hoped for a denial. "You do not even deny it? And I have to live to see that in my own son whom I have raised--who has never been allowed to leave my side! While I put you there as a guard during those previous visits to your fiancée she bewitches you--that is plain--and even plays the virtuous, deeply offended one before you--this----"
"Mamma, stop; I cannot allow it," interrupted Willibald, irritated beyond silence.
"You cannot allow it? What does it mean----" Frau von Eschenhagen suddenly paused and looked toward the door, listening. "Toni is returning, there--your betrothed, to whom you have pledged your word, who wears your ring. How will you account to her?"
She had finally struck the right chord. The young lord started at this thought and bowed his head mutely when Antonie entered, quite unconcerned.
"You have returned already, Willy?" she asked. "I thought--but what is it? Has anything happened?"
"Yes," answered Frau Regine, grasping the reins, as usual, decisively. "We have just received a communication from Burgsdorf which forces us to depart to-morrow morning. You need not be frightened, my child, it is nothing dangerous--only a foolishness"--she laid sharp emphasis on the word--"a foolishness which has been committed, but which will be removed just as speedily by quick interference. I will tell you all about it later, but for the present nothing can be done but by our departure."
Curiosity was not one of Antonie's faults, and even this quite unexpected news was not able to ruffle her composure. The statement that nothing serious was concerned satisfied her entirely.
"Must Willy leave also?" she asked without particular enthusiasm. "Cannot he at least remain?"
"Answer your fiancée yourself, Willy," said Frau von Eschenhagen, fixing her sharp, gray eyes upon her son. "You know best what the circumstances are. Can you really consent to stay here?"
A short pause. Willibald's glance met his mother's; then he turned away and said in a suppressed voice, "No, Toni, I must go home--nothing else is possible."
Toni accepted the decision, which would have pained another girl deeply, with moderate regret, and began to inquire directly where the travelers would dine to-morrow, since the fast train had no stoppage anywhere. This seemed to grieve her as much as the separation, but she finally concluded that it would be best for them to take a lunch along to eat on the train.
Frau von Eschenhagen felt triumphant when she went to her brother-in-law to notify him of their departure, for which she had already found a pretext.
Many a thing could happen on the large estates to afford an explanation.
Naturally, the Chief Forester must not learn the truth any more than his daughter, although he had caused the whole trouble in his blindness.
Regine did not doubt in the least that as soon as she removed her Willy from the fascinating circle of this "witch" he would return to reason. Had he not shown it just now?
She would not see that honor toward his betrothed alone had conquered, and that it had been a terrible mistake to expose his feelings to another.
"Wait, my boy," she muttered grimly. "I will teach you to commence such things, and to rebel against your mother. When once I have you at Burgsdorf, may God have mercy on you!"
On the appointed day the Duke, with the Duchess and a numerous suite, arrived at Furstenstein, and the life full of splendor which had been led in former times began again in the wide, beautiful hunting grounds of the Wald.
The present sovereign was no ardent huntsman, and the hunting lodge of his ancestors had stood deserted for years, or was occupied only at long intervals for a brief visit. Now, when a prolonged stay was anticipated, the spacious castle scarce afforded room enough for the guests; a part of them were quartered in neighboring Waldhofen, which made the little town, as well as the entire vicinity, very festive in joyful excitement.
The owners of the neighboring castles and villas, who, like Prince Adelsberg, belonged to the best families of the land, were induced by the arrival of the Court to take up their fall quarters there, too. Nearly everybody had brought numerous guests, and so an unusual life and bustle developed in the silent Wald, the centre of which activity being, of course, Furstenstein.
The castle shone to-night in fullest splendor; every window of the upper floor was lighted, and in the court torches threw their red light upon the walls and towers gray with age.
It was the occasion of the first large fête since the arrival of the princely family, to which were asked all the nobility of the neighborhood, the higher officials of the district, and, in short, everybody who had any claim upon their sovereign's notice.
The castle, which was built in a grand style, contained a number of gorgeous rooms of state, which, with their old-fashioned but costly furnishings, and the brilliant company moving through them, afforded a decidedly splendid spectacle.
The young wife of the Prussian Ambassador was a new star among the ladies present. Mourning for her father, who had died shortly after her marriage, had kept her from all festivities, and she entered to-day for the first time this brilliant circle, where the position of her husband assured her a prominent place, and where she was being treated by the Duke and Duchess with noticeable distinction.
The rising of this new star was noticed by the ladies, of course, with some displeasure. They found Frau von Wallmoden very haughty in her cool composure, and that she had very little occasion for such bearing; for, of course, they all knew that she was a born burgher, who did not properly belong in this circle, even if her father's wealth and his prominent position with the industries of the country gave her a certain distinction. Nevertheless, she moved upon the foreign soil with a strange ease--the husband must have schooled her well for this first appearance.
The gentlemen were of a different opinion. They found that His Excellency the Ambassador had proved his talent most strikingly in his own cause. He who already stood upon the border of old age had understood how to gain, with the hand of this young, beautiful wife, a fortune extensive enough in itself, but magnified by rumor into the immeasurable. For this he was envied on all sides.
Wallmoden did not seem at all surprised at the impression which the beauty and stateliness of his wife too apparently caused, but accepted it as something natural. He had expected nothing else; the contrary would have surprised him in the highest degree.
At present he was standing in a window recess with his brother-in-law, the Chief Forester, and after exchanging a few indifferent remarks about the fête and the guests, he asked casually: "What sort of person is that whom Prince Adelsberg has introduced? Do you know him?"
"You mean the young Roumanian?" said Schonan. "No; I see him to-day for the first time, but have heard of him before. He is the bosom friend of the Prince, whom he accompanied upon his Eastern travels, and a young man handsome as a picture--his eyes positively sparkle with fire."
"He impresses me as an adventurer," remarked Wallmoden coldly. "How does he happen to have an invitation? Has he been presented to the Duke?"
"Yes, at Rodeck, if I am not mistaken; the Duke was there recently. Prince Adelsberg loves to throw etiquette aside as much as possible. But this invitation to-day signifies no acceptance, since everybody has been asked."
The Ambassador shrugged his shoulders.
"Nevertheless, one should hesitate about bringing such elements near one before they come well recommended."
"Everything must be certified to with letter and seal with you diplomats," laughed the Chief. "This Rojanow has certainly something aristocratic about him, and one is never so strict, anyway, with a foreigner. I can well understand that our sovereigns like to hear and see something different from the usual court circle, which presents the same old tiresome face from year to year. The Duke appears to be quite captivated already with the Roumanian."
"Yes, it seems so," muttered Wallmoden, upon whose brow a cloud gathered.
"But why should this concern us?" remarked Schonan. "I will go now and look for Toni, who has to appear now everywhere without her betrothed. That was another notion of Regine's. She departed from us with her son like a skyrocket. Your sister cannot be detained as soon as the beloved Burgsdorf is brought into question. If she had only left Willy with us! Everybody wonders that my future son-in-law should take his departure before the fête. I cannot understand it at all."
"A stroke of good fortune that they are gone," thought Wallmoden, as his brother-in-law left him. "If Willibald had met his former friend and playmate here unexpectedly another scene similar to that upon the Hochberg might have occurred. But who would have thought that Hartmut would carry his defiance so far as to appear in a circle where he was sure to meet the Ambassador?"
Prince Adelsberg, who held in this circle one of the highest positions through his name and relationship to the reigning house, had, indeed, succeeded with the presentation of his friend, and the Duke seemed to have had a very favorable opinion of him from the first meeting at Rodeck, for he now himself presented this young stranger to the Duchess.
This Rojanow, with the captivating charm of his personality and the foreign air which surrounded him, was, indeed, an extraordinary person, who had only to appear to cause general observation.
To-day he displayed lavishly all the brilliant attributes which were at his command. His conversation sparkled with life and spirit, his fiery temperament, which betrayed itself involuntarily, gave to everything he said and did a peculiar charm, while he proved himself in every respect master of society forms and customs. In short, the prophecy of the Prince was fulfilled.
Hartmut knew how to conquer everybody here by storm, and had hardly put his foot upon the soil when he reigned there by the power of his magnetism.
This could not pass unnoticed by the Ambassador, even if he did not come into direct contact with the Roumanian. It was not difficult to evade each other in the throng of guests, and a meeting was not desired on either side.
Wallmoden walked through a side room, where the Duke's sister, the Princess Sophie, had gathered a large circle around her.
The Princess, who had married the younger son of a princely house, had very early become a widow, and had lived since then at the court of her brother, where she was not in the least popular. While the Duchess charmed everybody who came into her presence by her grace and kindness, the older sister was considered haughty andintriguante. Everybody stood in fear of the lady's sharp tongue, which had a habit of saying something disagreeable to each and every one.
Herr von Wallmoden did not escape this fate. He was graciously beckoned to and received flatteries on the beauty of his wife, which was not to be denied.
"I offer you my congratulations, Your Excellency. I was quite surprised when your young wife was presented to me, for I had naturally expected to see an elderly lady."
The "naturally" sounded very malicious, for Princess Sophie had known for months that the wife of the Prussian Ambassador was only nineteen years old, but he smiled in the most amiable way as he replied: "Your Highness is very gracious. I can only be grateful that my wife has had the good fortune to make a favorable impression upon you."
"Oh, you cannot doubt it. The Duke and Duchess are quite of my opinion. Frau von Wallmoden is really a beauty--Prince Adelsberg seems to think so, too. Perhaps you have not observed as yet how very much he admires your wife?"
"Yes, Your Highness, I have observed it."
"Really? And what do you say to it?"
"I?" inquired Wallmoden with perfect tranquillity. "It rests solely with my wife as to whether she will permit the admiration of the Prince. If she finds pleasure in it---- I do not give her any rules in this respect."
"An enviable confidence which our young gentlemen ought to pattern after," said the Princess, vexed that the arrow had missed its aim. "It is surely very agreeable to a young wife if the husband is not jealous. Ah, there is Frau von Wallmoden herself, with her cavalier, of course, at her side. My dear Baroness, we were just speaking of you."
Adelaide von Wallmoden, who had just entered in company with Prince Adelsberg, bowed her recognition of the Princess' notice.
She made, indeed, a brilliant picture to-night, for the splendid court toilet enhanced her beauty triumphantly. The costly brocade of the white dress, which fell to her feet in heavy folds, suited the slender figure admirably. The pearls encircling her throat and the diamonds which sparkled in her blond hair were perhaps the most costly of any worn to-night; but more sharply than ever appeared the cold and serious expression of the young wife. She did not in the least resemble others of her age who were also married, but who claimed the right of youth to dress in dainty laces and flowers. She possessed nothing of their brightness--the urbane amiability which was so fully brought to view in them. The severe, serious expression which was an inheritance from her father, and so indelibly stamped in her nature, betrayed itself in her character.
Egon kissed his exalted aunt's hand, and had been honored with a few gracious words, but from the first, the amiable attention of Her Highness was quite taken up by the young Baroness, who was immediately drawn into conversation.
"I was just expressing my pleasure to His Excellency that you find yourself so quickly at home in our court circle, dear Baroness. You enter these circles to-day for the first time, if I understand aright, and have lived hitherto in entirely different surroundings. You were born a----"
"Stahlberg, Your Highness," was the calm rejoinder.
"Quite right. I remember the name, which has been spoken several times in my presence. It is honorably known in your native town, I presume."
"Most gracious aunt, you must permit me to inform you better," joined in Prince Adelsberg, who seldom permitted an opportunity of vexing his most gracious aunt to pass by. "The factories of Stahlberg are world-renowned. They are as well known across the ocean as they are here. I had an opportunity to learn all about them when I was in Northern Germany several years ago, and I can assure you that those works those iron foundries and factories, with their colonies of officers and their army of workmen, can well vie with many a small principality, whose sovereign, though, is not such an absolute ruler as was the father of Her Excellency."
The Princess cast anything but a friendly glance at her nephew; his interference was not desired.
"Indeed! I had no idea of such magnificence," she said in her most caustic tone. "We may, perhaps, then greet His Excellency as such a ruler?"
"Only as administrator, Your Highness," rejoined the Ambassador. "I am only the executor of my father-in-law's will, and guardian of my young brother-in-law, to whom the works will go when he attains his majority."
"Ah, so? The son will probably know how to keep the inheritance. It is really astonishing what the energy of a single man can do in these days, and it is so much more praiseworthy if he, like the father of our dear Baroness, has come from humble circles. At least I believe I have heard so, or am I mistaken?"
Princess Sophie knew very well that these remarks about the origin of his father-in-law were unpleasant to the Ambassador, a man of old Prussian nobility, and it caused her great satisfaction that the surrounding circle did not lose a word of the conversation, which was intended principally to humble the lady of burgher descent.
But she was mistaken if she counted upon the Baroness falling into embarrassment or evasion. Instead of that she drew herself up in all her pride.
"Your Highness is quite correctly informed. My father came to the Capital a poor boy without means. He had to struggle hard, and worked for years as a humble laborer, before he laid the foundation to his later enterprises."
"How proudly Frau von Wallmoden says that!" cried the Princess, smiling. "Oh, I love this filial attachment above everything. So Herr Stahlberg--or perhapsvonStahlberg?--the large manufacturers often bear a title----"
"My father did not bear it, Your Highness," replied Adelaide, meeting the glance of the royal lady calmly and openly. "A title had indeed been offered him, but he refused it."
The Ambassador pressed his thin lips together. He could but find the remark of his wife very undiplomatic. The features of the Princess assumed an angry expression, and she returned with biting sarcasm: "Well, then, it is a good thing that this aversion has not descended to the daughter. His Excellency will know how to value it. I beg your escort, Egon. I should like to look for my brother."
She bowed to the circle and glided away on the arm of the Prince, whose bearing plainly said:
"Now comes my turn."
He was not mistaken. Her Highness had no thought of finding the Duke, but took a seat in the adjoining room with her young relative, whom she wished to have to herself.
At first her anger burst forth at the unbearably haughty Frau von Wallmoden, who boasted of her father's burgher pride, while she had married a Baron from vanity, for she could not possibly feel any affection for a man old enough to be her father. Egon was silent as to that, for he had already put the same question to himself, How had this unequal match come to take place? without finding an answer to it; but his silence was now an offence.
"Well, Egon, have you nothing to say? But you seem to have sworn allegiance to this lady; you have been constantly at her side."
"I do homage to beauty wherever I meet it; you know that, most gracious aunt," expostulated the Prince. But alas! he only called forth another storm.
"Yes, alas! I know that. In this respect you are of incomprehensible heedlessness. Perhaps you do not remember all my admonishings and warnings before your departure?"
"Ah, only too well," sighed Egon, who even now felt quite stifled with the remembrance of the endless lecture which he had had to endure at that time.
"Really? But you have not returned any more sensible or sedate. I have heard things---- Egon, there is only one salvation for you--you must marry."
"For heaven's sake, anything but that!" Egon started up so terrified that Princess Sophie opened her fan indignantly.
"What do you mean by that?" she asked in cutting tones.
"Oh, only my un worthiness to enter into that state. Your Highness yourself have often assured me that I was particularly fitted to make a wifeunhappy."
"If the wife does not succeed in bettering you, of course. I do not despair yet of that. But this is not the place to speak of such things. The Duchess is planning a visit to Rodeck, and I intend to accompany her."
"What a charming idea!" exclaimed Egon, who was almost as much terrified by the proposed visit as by the thought of marriage. "I am really proud that Rodeck, which is usually such a small, tiresome forest nook, can just now furnish you with some curiosities. I brought many things from my travels, among them a lion, two young tigers, several snakes----"
"But not live ones?" interrupted the horrified lady.
"Of course, Your Highness."
"But, mon Dieu! one is not sure of one's life there."
"Oh, it is not so dangerous, although some of the beasts have broken away from us already--the people are so careless at feeding time; but they have always been secured again, and have not done any harm as yet."
"As yet? That is a charming prospect, indeed," said the Princess angrily. "You put the whole neighborhood in danger. The Duke ought to prohibit you such dangerous playthings."
"I hope not, for I am just now seriously occupied in attempting to tame some of them. But besides these I can show you many domestic things that are worth looking at. There are several girls among my servants from this vicinity who look charming in their peasant costumes."
Egon shuddered at the thought of his female servants "with wagging heads," whom he still employed under Stadinger's careful eye, but he had speculated correctly. His gracious aunt was indignant and measured him with an annihilating glance.
"So? You have such as that at Rodeck!"
"Certainly. There is Lena in particular, the granddaughter of my steward, a charming little thing, and when you give me the honor of your visit, most gracious aunt----"
"I shall leave it alone," interrupted the incensed lady, using her fan violently. "It must be a peculiar household which you carry on at Rodeck with the young foreigner whom you have, perhaps, also brought as a curiosity from your travels. He has the face of a perfect brigand."
"My friend Rojanow! He has been pining a long time to be presented to Your Highness. You permit it, I hope?"
Without waiting for an answer he hastened away and took possession of Hartmut.
"Now it is your turn," he whispered, dragging him along unceremoniously. "I have been the victim long enough, and my most precious aunt has to have some one whom she can roast slowly. She insists upon marrying me off-hand, and you have the face of a perfect brigand, but, thank God! she does not come to Rodeck. I have taken care of that!"
In the next moment he stood before Her Highness, introducing his friend with his blandest smile.
Herr von Wallmoden had lingered in the circle a few moments after the departure of the Princess; then, with his wife on his arm, he walked slowly through the suite of rooms, greeting an acquaintance here, conversing briefly there, until they finally reached the last of the reception rooms, which was rather deserted.
The tower room, opening directly from this, was not generally used in entertainments, but for tonight it had been transformed into a small, cosy apartment with curtains and carpets and a picturesque group of plants, and, with its dim lights, offered a pleasing contrast to the blinding flood of light and the commotion of the other rooms.
It was quite vacant now, which the Ambassador seemed to have counted upon when he entered with his wife and offered her a seat upon a divan.
"I must draw your attention to the fact, Adelaide, that you did an unwise thing just now," he began in a low tone. "Your remark to the Princess----"
"Was self-defense," finished the young wife. "You must have felt, as well as I did, what the object of the conversation was."
"Nevertheless, at your first appearance you have made for yourself an antagonist whose enmity can materially render your own and my position more difficult."
"Yours?" Adelaide looked at him in surprise. "Are you, the Ambassador of a great power, to ask the grace of a malicious woman who happens to be related to a ducal family?"
"My child, you do not understand," returned Wallmoden coldly. "An intriguing woman can be more dangerous than a political opponent, and Princess Sophie is well known in that line. Even the Duchess is known to be in fear of her malicious tongue."
"That is the Duchess' affair. I am not in fear of it."
"My dear Adelaide," said the Ambassador, with a superior smile, "that proud turn of your head is very becoming to you, and I approve entirely of your making yourself unapproachable with it in other circles, but you will have to leave it off at Court, as well as several other things. One does not give royalty a lesson before so many observers, and you did that when you spoke of the refusal of the title. In any case, it was not necessary for you to lay so much stress upon the descent of your father."
"Should I perhaps have denied it?"
"No, for it is a well-known fact."
"Of which I am as proud as was my father."
"But you are not Adelaide Stahlberg any longer, but the Baroness Wallmoden." The voice of the Ambassador had acquired a certain sharpness. "And you will admit that it is very contradictory to boast of your burgher pride when you have given your hand to a man of the old nobility."
A slight bitterness quivered around the lips of the young wife, and although the conversation had been carried on in low tones, her voice sank even lower as she returned: "Perhaps you have forgotten, Herbert, why I gave you my hand."
"Have you had cause to regret it?" he asked instead of replying.
"No," said Adelaide, drawing a deep breath.
"I should think you could be satisfied with the position you have at my side. Besides, you remember that I did not compel you. I left you perfectly free choice."
The wife was silent, but the bitter expression did not leave her lips.
Wallmoden arose and offered his arm.
"You must permit me, my child, to come to your assistance sometimes in your inexperience," he said in his usual polite tone. "So far I have had every reason to be satisfied with your tact and manner. To-day is the first time I have had to give you a hint. May I ask if you are ready to return?"
"I should like to remain here a few moments longer," said Adelaide in a smothered voice. "It is so insufferably hot in the salons."
"Just as you desire, but I beg that you will not remain too long, as your absence would cause remark."
He saw and felt that she was offended, but found it expedient not to notice it. Baron Wallmoden, in spite of all his politeness and attention, understood that in the training of his wife such kinds of sentiment must not be encouraged. He left the room, and Adelaide remained alone. She leaned her head upon her hand, and with unseeing eyes stared at the group of plants near her, whispering almost inaudibly: "Free choice--O, my God!"
* * * * *
In the meantime Prince Adelsberg and his friend were being most graciously dismissed. They bowed low before the Princess, who arose and left the salon with an unusually mild expression on her sharp features.
"Hartmut, I believe you can magnetize," said Egon under his breath. "I have seen many examples of your irresistibility, but that my most gracious aunt has a regular attack of affability in your presence is something never heard of before. It puts all your other victories into the shade."
"Well, the reception was cool enough," laughed Hartmut. "Her Highness really seemed to take me for a brigand at first."
"But in ten minutes you stood in the full sunshine of her grace, and have been dismissed a prime favorite. Do tell me what you have in you that everybody, without exception, bows to your charm. One might well believe in the old fairy tale of the rat-catcher."
Again the harsh, repulsive sarcasm which took for a moment every beauty from his face, passed over Hartmut's lips, giving him a satanic expression.
"I understand how to play the thing they like best to hear. It has a different sound to every one, but if one knows how to strike the right chord, none can resist it."
"None?" repeated Egon, while his glance passed searchingly through the room.
"Not one, I tell you."
"Yes, you are a pessimist in this respect. I at least recognize some exceptions. If I only knew where Frau von Wallmoden was. I cannot see her anywhere."
"His Excellency is probably reading her a lecture upon the undiplomatic remark of a short time since."
"Did you also hear it?" asked Egon quickly.
"Yes; I stood in the door."
"Well, I do not in the least begrudge our most gracious one the lesson. Naturally she was beside herself about it, but do you really believe that the Ambassador---- Hush! there he is himself."
It was, indeed, the Ambassador before them, just returning from the tower room. An encounter now could not be avoided, and the young Prince, who had no idea of the existing connection, hastened to introduce his friend.
"Allow me, Your Excellency, to make good a neglect which was forced upon me that day upon the Hochberg by the disappearance of my friend. I only found him after your departure. Herr Hartmut Rojanow, Baron von Wallmoden."
The eyes of the two men met. The sharp, penetrating eyes of the one met the expression of challenging defiance in the other, but Wallmoden would not have been the finished diplomat he was if he were not equal to the present moment.
His greeting was cool but polite, only he turned to the Prince alone with his answer, regretting not being able to chat with the gentlemen, since he was called to the Duke.
The whole meeting had lasted but two minutes, but it had taken place.
"His Excellency is more taciturn to-day than usual," remarked Egon, walking on. "Whenever I see this cold, diplomatic face before me I have a chill, and feel a pressing desire to seek warmer zones."
"Therefore we follow so persistently the track of the beautiful, cold aurora," said Hartmut, teasingly. "Whom do we really seek in this walk through the rooms which you continue so untiringly?"
"The Chief Forester," said the Prince, vexed at seeing himself betrayed. "I wish to make you acquainted with him, but you are in one of your railing moods to-day. Perhaps I may find Schonan over yonder in the armory. I shall look there."
He took a speedy departure, and actually turned his steps to the armory, where the ducal couple was at present, and where he also believed Adelaide von Wallmoden to be. But, unfortunately, at the entrance he again crossed the path of his most gracious aunt, who took possession of him. She wished for more particulars of the interesting young Roumanian who stood, indeed, in the sunlight of her favor, and her impatient nephew had to answer all her questions willingly or otherwise.