"Leo! You here?"
The young prince was clasped in his mother's arms. He returned her embrace, but he had no word of greeting. Silently and passionately he pressed her to his heart, but the movement betrayed nothing of the joy of reunion.
"Whence do you come?" asked the mother, recovering her self-possession, and with it an intense anxiety and alarm. "Your presence is so sudden, so unexpected! How could you be so rash as to come to the castle in broad daylight? You are liable to arrest at any moment; why did you not wait until dark?"
Leo released himself from her arms. "I waited long enough," he said. "I left yesterday afternoon, and I have been upon the rack ever since. It was impossible for me to cross the lines, and I had to lie concealed. Toward day break I arrived at Villica forest, and it was with great difficulty that I reached the castle."
His words were excited and incoherent. The mother now saw for the first time how pale and troubled he looked. She drew him almost forcibly to a chair.
"Sit down and rest," she said; "you are wearied to death with your rash venture. What a foolhardy boy you are to stake life and liberty merely for a brief interview! You must have known that our anxiety for you would overshadow all the joy of meeting. I do not understand how your uncle could allow you to leave just now, when you are in the midst of conflicts."
"No, no!" interposed Leo; "nothing will occur within the next twenty-four hours. We have exact information in regard to the plans and position of the enemy. Day after to-morrow--perhaps tomorrow--there will be a battle, but not before. If a fight had been close at hand, I should not be here; but I was forced to come to Villica even at the sacrifice of life and liberty."
The princess gazed at him anxiously, and then, as if seized with a sudden, indefinable suspicion, she asked,--
"Leo, have you your uncle's permission?"
"Yes--certainly," stammered the young man, but he avoided his mother's gaze. "I tell you that all is safe, that every precaution has been taken. I am stationed with my soldiers in the forest of A----, and our position is well guarded. My adjutant has command during my absence."