"May I bring the stranger in when he returns?" he asked, as he was retiring.
"Yes," replied the knight, seating himself sadly in a chair, and already plunged in a gloomy revery, which betrayed itself in his features.
Bonello of Castellamare entered a moment afterwards, and met with a reception whose coolness he at once attributed to its proper cause.
"My daughter," he said, "has been severely punished for visiting the court without my permission."
"Do you think so?" asked Erwin.
"Do you doubt it, my lord Count?"
"From what I have just learned, her marriage with Pietro Nigri has been definitely settled for some time," remarked the young German.
"The project is abandoned; Hermengarde will never be the wife of Pietro Nigri."
"Still, the Consul, who appears to be an honorable man, and who for a few hours has been my prisoner, tells a very different story."
"Because he is ignorant of certain facts. It is true that, a few years ago, a marriage between our children was contemplated. But I have never spoken to Hermengarde on the matter, and I know that Pietro's manners have in some way of late displeased her. Besides, after your visit to Castellamare, she herself informed me that she would never be his wife, and as my intention is in no way to coerce her inclinations, she is perfectly free."