Waldemar stood at the window, as far from the door as possible. He would hear nothing of the interview from which he had been shut out--and, indeed, it was impossible for any sound to penetrate the heavy velvet folds of the thick portières. But time pressed. More than half an hour had elapsed, and the two were still closeted together. Neither the Princess nor Leo seemed mindful of the fact that the latter's danger grew with every minute. Waldemar, at length, resolved to interrupt them. He went back into the drawing-room; but paused with astonishment on entering, for instead of the agitating scene he had expected to witness, he found the most absolute silence. The Princess had disappeared, and the door of her study, which had previously stood open, was now closed. Leo was alone in the room. He lay back in an armchair, his head buried in the cushions, and neither stirred nor in any way noticed his brother's appearance. He seemed utterly crushed and broken. Waldemar went up to him, and spoke his name.
"Rouse yourself," he said, in a low, urgent tone. "Take some thought for your safety. We are now connected with L---- in a hundred ways. I cannot secure the Castle from visits which would be dangerous for you. Retire to your own rooms in the first instance. They will be thought empty and closed as heretofore, and Pawlick is trustworthy. Come."
Slowly Leo raised his head. Every drop of blood had receded from his face; it was grey with an ashy pallor. He fixed his large, vacant eyes on his brother, seeming not to understand him, but his ear caught the last word mechanically.
"Come where?" he asked.
"Away, in the first place, from these reception-rooms, which are accessible to so many. Come, I beg of you."
Leo rose in the same mechanical way. He looked round the salon with a strange expression, as if the familiar place were unknown to him, and he were trying to recall where he was; but as his eye fell upon the closed door of his mother's study, he shuddered.
"Where is Wanda?" he asked at length.
"In her room. Do you wish to see her?"
The young Prince shook his head. "No. She, too, would repulse me with horror and contempt. I don't care to go through it again."
He leaned heavily on the chair; his voice, usually so clear in its youthful freshness, sounded faint and exhausted. It was plain that the scene he had gone through with his mother had completely shattered him.