"You will be sent to jail as a forger, and will never refund the money which I once foolishly lent you and which I considered lost long ago. True, but that is a matter of entire indifference to me. I require you to obey me! Make up your mind! Do you hesitate? Well then your fate is decided!"
Delmar turned towards the door, but Bertram seized his hand, and cried in a tone of entreaty, "Have pity upon me! Do not ruin me! I will do what you ask,--only let me make the apology in a less humiliating form!"
"Not a word shall be changed. I insist upon a humble apology!"
"I will make it, but let me add that my betrothed has requested me to do so publicly."
Delmar laughed aloud. "A request as modest as it is extraordinary. For the sake of its oddity I will grant it."
Bertram's face, as he returned beneath the awning, followed by Delmar, was ashy pale, and there was a strange flitter in his eyes, but his demeanour was calm and composed. He stepped up to Colonel von Heydeck, who was awaiting his return with the utmost impatience.
"Colonel von Heydeck," he began in a low voice.
"Louder," said Delmar.
Bertram obeyed; he raised his voice so that it could be heard by most of those present. "It is my duty as a man of honour, Colonel von Heydeck, to atone for a wrong committed in my haste this morning, and this is the more incumbent upon me, as I have been earnestly entreated by my betrothed, Fräulein Eva Schommer, to do so."
A murmur was heard among the officers present. "Betrothed to the lovely Eva Schommer! Impossible! Scandalous! Poor girl!" These and similar expressions were uttered so loudly that for a moment they interrupted what Bertram had to say, but when curiosity had got the better of surprise, he continued: "This morning I grossly insulted your son in this place; I herewith retract the offensive expressions I then made use of, and publicly beg his forgiveness."