"Your hand is so cold to-day."
It shot through Sonnenkamp's brain, like an arrow, that he had wanted to punish the boy to-day. If the boy, with this thought in his mind, had drowned himself in the waters of the Rhine!
The ring on his thumb burned into his flesh, as if it were red-hot.
Joseph met them on their way back to the villa.
"Is he there?" cried the Major. Sonnenkamp could not himself ask the question.
"No; but the gracious lady has got hold of it."
In the village through which they drove, people were still standing together in groups, and chatting in the mild spring-night. They met the priest, and Sonnenkamp requested him to accompany them to the villa.
When they arrived at the court of the villa, Sonnenkamp remained sitting in the carriage, as if he had lost himself, and did not get out until he was spoken to. He gained strength and self-possession after his feet touched the ground.
Lights flitted to and fro, and shone through the lofty windows of the house. Now a shriek was heard, and he hurried in. In the great saloon, Frau Ceres, in her night-dress, was kneeling before a chair, her face hidden in the cushion. The priest stood by her side, Fräulein Perini was pouring an effervescent powder into a glass. Sonnenkamp went quickly to his wife, placed his hand upon her shoulder, crying,—
"Ceres, be quiet."