"I believe that I am sufficiently acquainted with his majesty's intentions, madame, to be certain of the futility of your application," said Mlle. de Soissons. Then she offered her hand to M. de Létorière, saying: "Adieu, my friend; go to Vienna . . . I will wait for you at Montmartre Abbey."
That very evening M. de Létorière started for Vienna.
[CHAPTER X]
THE GOVERNOR OF HENFERESTER
Ten leagues north of Vienna is the vast manor of Henferester—an old pile blackened by time, its walls covered with ivy, its roof with moss; it seemed deserted and abandoned. The main structure, and a great tower which faced the east, were almost in ruins. The only habitable part of the chateau was the western tower; through some hedges of box, pushing in every direction over the esplanade, which, surrounded by lime-trees, extended before the door of the castle, could be seen traces of an ancient parterre overgrown with brambles and parasitic plants.
Autumn was drawing towards its close; the foliage of the great clumps of trees which fringed the horizon had begun to put on their rich purple tints. The sky was gray and rainy; the air damp and cold; night approached. The high and narrow window which gave light to the basement of the tower was suddenly illuminated; the stained glass windows, although somewhat blackened by smoke, shone brilliantly, and the coat-of-arms of the lords of Henferester glittered in the darkness steadily deepening.
The lower floor of the tower formed one immense circular room; it was at once the dining-hall and the kitchen of the Governor of Henferester; the upper stories contained many dilapidated chambers, which were reached by a rough and narrow spiral stone staircase, the ascent of which was aided by a rope attached to the damp wall by rings of rusty iron.
A great fire was burning in the immense kitchen chimney; a copper lamp with three branches suspended from the smoky rafters of the ceiling, lighted the place; on the walls, whose plaster was in patches, were hung deer-horns, which supported guns and hunting-knives, wild boars' tusks and hoofs, and several wolves' heads, stuffed.
The floor, trodden hard like the threshing-floor of a barn, was strewn with hatchelled straw, by way of a carpet. In one corner an enormous hogshead of beer, between two beams, was on tap. Above it were two barrels of different sizes. One contained Rhine wine, the other, which was smaller, the kirchenwasser of the Black Forest. On either side of the barrels were ranged pewter mugs of various sizes. Near by were two great firkins set against the wall, one full of salted bacon, the other of sauer-kraut pickled in vinegar. An iron fork and spoon hanging over these two firkins, formed, so to speak, pendants to the pewter mugs ranged above the barrels.
Lastly, a kneading-trough, containing a dozen loaves of bread as big as mill-wheels, completed the list of culinary furniture.