“Now, are you going to answer me or not?”
“I cannot.” And though her lips were quivering, she returned his angry look with one so firm that he dropped her arm, and with a muttered oath returned to his seat.
Dorothea escaped from the room, and did not come back. The forester finished his supper, growling all the time to himself, and then fastened up the house and went to bed earlier than usual.
An hour after he had fallen asleep, Dorothea softly opened her bedroom door and crept out. She was dressed for walking, and in her hand she carried a small bundle. Tiptoeing past her father’s door, she went softly down the stairs and approached the front door. It was easy work to draw the bolts and open it, and as soon as this was done she stole outside, and pulled the door gently after her.
Then she ran rapidly down the garden path and out through the gate, and plunged into the thickness of the forest.
Dorothea had made up her mind to accept the invitation of the Princess Hermengarde.
CHAPTER X
THE CARES OF A CHANCELLOR
The Count von Sigismark stared at his private secretary, and his private secretary stared back respectfully at the Count von Sigismark.
“Where did you hear that?” demanded the Count.
“From Von Hardenburg. He was telling it to everybody as Von Stahlen’s latest.”