"We will hope so," returned Wallmoden, rising and giving his hand, "but do not forget that the greatest danger lies in Hartmut himself. He is in every respect the son of his mother. I hear you will come with him to Burgsdorf the day after tomorrow?"
"Yes; he always spends the short autumn vacation with Willibald. I myself can probably stay only for the day, but I shall surely come with him. Au revoir!"
The Ambassador's Secretary departed, and Falkenried again approached the window, glancing only hastily after the friend, who bowed once more. His glance was again lost with the former gloom, in the gray masses of fog.
"The son of his mother!"
The words rang in his ears, but there was no need for another to tell him that. He had long known it, and it was this knowledge that furrowed his brow so deeply and caused those heavy sighs.
He was a man to offer himself to every open danger, but he had struggled in vain, with all his energy for years, against this unfortunate inheritance of the blood in his only son.
CHAPTER II.
"Now I request that this utter foolishness shall end, for my patience is exhausted. There has been an awful turmoil in all Burgsdorf for three days, as if the place were conjured. Hartmut is full of foolishness from head to toe. When once he gets free from the rein which his father draws so tight there is no getting on with him. And you, of course, go with him through thick and thin, following obediently everything that your lord and master starts. You are a fine team!"
This lecture, delivered in very loud tones, came from the lips of Frau von Eschenhagen of Burgsdorf, who sat at breakfast with her son and brother.
The large dining-room was in the lower story of the old mansion, and was a rather bare room, the glass doors of which led to a broad terrace, and from there into the garden. Some antlers hung upon the whitewashed walls, giving evidence of the Nimrod proclivities of former owners. They were also the only ornament of the room.