"You did, and I thank you for it; but it is hard to bear."
Ludwig's lips quivered, as they always did when he was moved, and for a while he went on stuffing some things into his portmanteau; then he said, "Finish it all quickly; there should be no half measures where the knife is necessary."
Johann Leopold passed his hand wearily across his forehead and eyes. "You are right; it is time I should do what must be done."
"If you see that, do it instantly,—to-day,—within an hour! Can I help you? Perhaps it would be easier for you if I spoke with the Freiherr——"
Johann Leopold started up and changed colour. "No, no, I must do it myself; I must first be clear in my own mind. But I thank you," he added more quietly, "and later I may entreat your help in another way. I may reckon upon it, may I not?"
"Upon my best efforts, assuredly," Ludwig answered, pressing the delicate white hand extended to him. "But what do you mean? I am not fond of vague promises."
"You shall know more as soon as possible. Your ship sails on the 14th of March,—time enough to arrange everything," said the other, sinking back among the sofa-cushions.
"Time enough to fall back into the old indolence," thought Ludwig, but he did not utter his thought, and hurriedly finished locking his trunk and portmanteau.
The servant came to say that the carriage was waiting.
"Stay here!" Ludwig said, decidedly, as Johann Leopold rose. "The morning is bitterly cold; it is another kind of hardening process to which I would have you subject yourself. Good-by."