Presently, out of the roar and rush of inchoate emotions, three thoughts began to dominate me.
Regret—bitter, maddening, and unavailing—for the years I had lost and the career I had thrown away; wrath, wild and vengeful, against the old enemy of my family, von Augener, for the treachery of his action toward me; and delight, infinitely sweet, that Minna's safety was secured, and that, after all, it was I who had secured it.
The last outweighed the others, and I lost myself in the maze of a love reverie as I sat there, picturing the joy that would leap from her eyes and the light that would gladden her beautiful face if only I could be the messenger of the good news. And it was to be so.
After I had waited I know not how long, for time goes unmeasured in love dreams, some one came and addressed me by a name that made me jump to my feet and stare at the messenger like one half beside himself.
"Count von Rudloff!"
It was one of the two members of the suite I had seen with the Emperor before my interview with him.
"You are addressing me, sir?" I asked.
"I am addressing the Count von Rudloff," he answered, with that air of impassive coolness that men of his kind affect.
I made an effort to regain my self-possession, and to answer him with the same measured calmness.
"I am the Count von Rudloff," I said.