"I beg ten thousand pardons!"
Kurt and Celia, who had forgotten all the actual world, and Lucie, in the midst of her sad dreaming, looked up startled. They had just reached the spot where the footpath from Grünhagen crossed the broad road, and confronting them stood the Assessor von Hahn. He took off his hat with an exceedingly low bow to Celia in particular.
"I beg ten thousand pardons, Fräulein von Hohenwald, for intruding again, but I am discreet; I make no boast----"
"There you are quite right, Herr Assessor, for surely there is not much discretion in appearing where you have once been told that your presence is an intrusion."
The Assessor grew crimson at Kurt's words; he retreated a few steps and said, in great confusion, "You wrong me deeply, Herr von Poseneck; you will, I am sure, retract your hasty words when I tell you that my presence here has nothing to do with you or with my respected cousin, but with Madame--that is--I mean, I wish the honour of a few words with Fräulein Müller. I learned in Grünhagen, where I arrived half an hour ago, that Herr von Poseneck had gone to the forest, and I suspected that the two ladies would take their afternoon walk in the same direction. Therefore, as it was highly important that I should speak with Madame--that is, Fräulein Müller, I ventured to come hither."
Lucie bestowed upon the Assessor a glance of anything but welcome, but she could not refuse to respond to his look of appeal. "You have attained your purpose, Herr Assessor," she said. "You probably bring me a message from my friend Adèle. The Assessor is an old acquaintance of mine," she added to Kurt and Celia, who looked rather surprised, "and is a constant visitor at the President von Guntram's."
The Assessor's courage returned upon hearing Lucie acknowledge his acquaintance, and he went on with much more confidence than before: "Certainly, Madame--that is, Fräulein Müller, I bring you a message from Fräulein Adèle, and not merely a message. I am not alone; there is a gentleman in the shrubbery who wishes to speak with you. I brought him at Fräulein Adèle's express desire."
Lucie recoiled in terror. Had the gossiping Assessor betrayed her secret? Had he brought hither either Repuin or Sorr? They were the only persons who could have any interest in discovering her retreat. She gazed towards the spot indicated by the Assessor, and, in dread of encountering Repuin's detested form, moved closer to Kurt as if for protection. "Whom have you brought here?" she asked.
"I cannot mention any name, Fräulein Müller," the Assessor replied. "I promised not to do so, and I am a man of my word. But I can assure you that you will rejoice to see my honoured companion. He wishes to meet you alone, therefore I pray you step aside to where he is awaiting you in the forest only a few steps from here."
"I will not go!" Lucie declared. "Whoever your companion may be, he has no right to require that I should go into the forest to meet him."