That was speaking plainly enough. Hermann bit his lips and drew back.
"It seems to me, mein Fräulein, that you have a decided aversion to my person. You insulted me once before, just as intentionally. I regret that my approach, should give you cause for it. Be assured that in future it shall not happen again."
Gertrud's lips quivered, but she made no answer. The Count bowed hastily, and disappeared.
"Well, this is unheard of. Neither my grandmother nor Toni would have put on such airs, and neither of them would have dared to say that to me. 'I wish your interference least.' She condescends, as it were, to dismiss me in disgrace, and I--"
The calm, immovable Graf Arnau actually forgot himself so far that he stamped with his foot.
What vexed him most, though he would not confess it to himself, was, that the manner in which Gertrud had dismissed him resembled his own, on such occasions, to a hair. That was just the calm, cold, and repellant tone which he allowed himself towards some one who did not know how to keep at a distance. Certainly it was the first time it had been used towards him, and who had dared to do this? A "Mademoiselle Walter"--the governess of his little cousins!
Yes, the grandmother was right; there was an unbearable haughtiness hidden under the calm exterior of this girl, and he felt it so much the more deeply, as, in his present position and importance, he was courted and spoiled on all sides by compliance with his wishes, especially from women. Hitherto he had looked down pretty scornfully on all the efforts he had seen to please him, and now, all at once, he was met with open opposition, with open intention to displease, and even wound him.
Count Hermann had already once sought in vain for a reason for this strange hostility, and could find a clue for it now as little as then. Gertrud's whole demeanour was, and remained, mysterious to him, as well as her presence here. Why did she not rather go without permission, and lose her appointment, than expose herself to such a humiliation as a meeting with Eugen? Was she too proud to fly before her former lover? Or did she still love him, and could not resist the temptation of seeing him once more?
The last thought seemed to surprise the Count very much, for he stopped and knitted his brow--
"Well, I shall see to-morrow! They cannot fail to meet. I will see if this unfathomable, sevenfold secret will be revealed at last!"