"Emile is an excellent husband," she declared, indignantly, the source of her tears suddenly drying up. "You need not reproach him, papa; it is right and proper that a husband should have some feeling for his wife."
Frank laughed. "Don't be so hasty, child, I meant no harm. Well, you have put yourself out quite needlessly. As you have guessed so near the truth, we must take you into the plot now, we can't help ourselves. News has just arrived ..."
"From Waldemar?" inquired the Professor, interrupting him with eager anxiety.
His father-in-law shook his head.
"No, from Rakowicz. We cannot hear from Herr Nordeck. He will either come or ... or we must make up our minds to the worst. But the Princess and her niece are to arrive in the course of the afternoon, and as soon as they are there, you must go up to the Castle. It may look strange that the two ladies, who have not been near Wilicza for a year, should come over just now so unexpectedly, and should remain there alone in the absence of the master. Your presence will give a more harmless colour to the business; it will seem quite a natural coincidence. You must pay a visit to the mother of your former pupil, and present Gretchen as your wife. That will satisfy the servant-folk. The ladies know the exact state of the case. I shall ride over to the border-station, and wait there with the horses, as has been agreed. And now, child, your husband must tell you all the rest, I have no time to lose."
He went, and Gretchen sat down on the sofa again to receive her husband's communications, well-pleased that she was now to be placed on a par with Polish women, and admitted to take part in a conspiracy.
Evening had come, or rather night. All was quiet and asleep at the manor-farm, and up at the Castle the servants had been despatched to bed as early as possible. Some windows on the first story were still lighted up, those of the green salon and the two adjoining rooms. In one of the latter stood the tea-table, which had been prepared as usual--any change might have excited surprise below stairs--but the meal was naturally a mere form. Neither the Princess nor Wanda was to be induced to take any refreshment, and even Professor Fabian turned rebellious, and refused to have any tea. He declared he could not swallow a drop, when his wife urged on him the necessity of taking some support. She had brought him to the table almost by force, and was administering a low-toned but most impressive lecture.
"Don't be so anxious, Emile. I shall have you ill with the agitation, and the two ladies in there as well. Countess Wanda looks as pale as a corpse, and the Princess's face is enough to frighten one. Neither of them utters a word. I can't bear this state of mute suspense any longer, and it will be a relief to them to be alone. We will leave them together for half an hour."
Fabian assented, but pushed away the tea-cup she had forced upon him.
"I can't think why you are all in such despair. If Herr Nordeck has declared that he will be here with the Count before midnight, he will be here, even if a whole regiment is posted on the border ready to take him. That man can manage anything. There must be something in the superstition of his Wilicza people who one and all hold him to be bullet-proof. He has just gone through dangers, only to hear of which makes one's hair stand on end, and gone through them unharmed. He will get safely across the frontier, you'll see."