Regine did not doubt in the least that as soon as she removed her Willy from the fascinating circle of this "witch" he would return to reason. Had he not shown it just now?
She would not see that honor toward his betrothed alone had conquered, and that it had been a terrible mistake to expose his feelings to another.
"Wait, my boy," she muttered grimly. "I will teach you to commence such things, and to rebel against your mother. When once I have you at Burgsdorf, may God have mercy on you!"
CHAPTER XX.
On the appointed day the Duke, with the Duchess and a numerous suite, arrived at Furstenstein, and the life full of splendor which had been led in former times began again in the wide, beautiful hunting grounds of the Wald.
The present sovereign was no ardent huntsman, and the hunting lodge of his ancestors had stood deserted for years, or was occupied only at long intervals for a brief visit. Now, when a prolonged stay was anticipated, the spacious castle scarce afforded room enough for the guests; a part of them were quartered in neighboring Waldhofen, which made the little town, as well as the entire vicinity, very festive in joyful excitement.
The owners of the neighboring castles and villas, who, like Prince Adelsberg, belonged to the best families of the land, were induced by the arrival of the Court to take up their fall quarters there, too. Nearly everybody had brought numerous guests, and so an unusual life and bustle developed in the silent Wald, the centre of which activity being, of course, Furstenstein.
The castle shone to-night in fullest splendor; every window of the upper floor was lighted, and in the court torches threw their red light upon the walls and towers gray with age.
It was the occasion of the first large fête since the arrival of the princely family, to which were asked all the nobility of the neighborhood, the higher officials of the district, and, in short, everybody who had any claim upon their sovereign's notice.
The castle, which was built in a grand style, contained a number of gorgeous rooms of state, which, with their old-fashioned but costly furnishings, and the brilliant company moving through them, afforded a decidedly splendid spectacle.