"Hartmut, Hartmut Falkenried! You!"
She stopped suddenly, for Wallmoden laid his hand heavily, very heavily, on her arm, and said sharply: "You are in error, Regine, we do not know this gentleman."
Hartmut was startled, when, upon reaching the top step, he recognized Frau von Eschenhagen. The lattice-work had prevented his recognizing her, and for her presence he was not prepared. But at the very moment when he realized who it was, the ambassador's words sounded in his ears. He understood only too well what the tone and words implied and the blood rushed to his temples.
"Hartmut!" Frau Regine called again, looking uncertainly at her brother, who still held her arm fast.
"We do not know him," he repeated in the same tone. "Must I repeat it to you again, Regine?"
She understood his meaning now, and turned with a half-threatening, half-pained glance from the son of her old-time friend, as she said bitterly: "You are right. I was mistaken."
Hartmut drew himself to his full height, and an angry look flashed across his face as he drew a step nearer.
"Herr von Wallmoden!"
"What is it?" answered the other in a sharp, but contemptuous tone.
"Your excellency has but forestalled me," said Hartmut, forcing himself by mighty effort to speak quietly. "I came to request you not to know me. We are strangers to one another."