And when I had come to this determination I returned to the city in order to acquaint Mazeppa with the disconcerting fact of Vera’s mysterious disappearance, and to enjoy his surprise and probable anger and disgust.
I found Mazeppa at his lodging.
‘Well?’ he asked, and waited with evident anxiety for my response.
‘Not so very well,’ I laughed. ‘That is, she is, I suppose, safe, but it has not happened as you desired.’
‘It has not?’ he said, looking annoyed. ‘Wherefore not?’
‘She has disappeared. She is not at her home, and her father knows nothing of her whereabouts.’
‘By all the devils!’ exclaimed Mazeppa, growing suddenly furious. ‘How dare she disappear when I had promised to succour her and see to her safety?’
‘Ask her that when you find her!’ I said haughtily. ‘How should I reply to such a riddle?’ Mazeppa stamped his foot with anger, but controlled himself.
‘But where do you suppose she has hidden herself? has she taken a horse, servants, and so forth? Tell me the details, man, as you know them! Do you not see that I am anxious about the girl and must know all you have to tell?’
‘I have told all I have to tell. She has disappeared. If she is wise she has gone a long way and will tell to no one where to seek her. You should hope this as much as I. Do we not both desire that she should escape from this loathsome marriage with the Tsar? If so, what matters it to us where she is, so long as she is safe? The further the better, say I!’