"Go, my child, go."
She went, slowly, reluctantly, holding her head very low. On the topmost step, in the doorway leading to the tea-room, she paused and turned, as though expecting that he would summon her back.
But he beckoned with eye and hand: "Go!"
She vanished behind the velvet curtain. He was alone!
XXI.
The mirth and fun of the feast were at their height now. The commander-in-chief had ordered that at twelve o'clock all officers should be in their respective quarters, including those who had been told off to the houses of the ranger, the mayor, and the other chief denizens of the village. It was past eleven o'clock already. No time was to be lost, if the guests wished to drain the cup of delight which the hospitable mansion-house proffered in such abundance.
"Vivat Champagne!" exclaimed one of the young officers, taking a glass of the foaming wine from the salver which a footman offered him.
"And pretty girls!" returned his friend von Köppingen, emptying his goblet at one draught, replacing it on the salver, and turning upon his heel to hurry to the fair Augusta, with whom he was engaged to dance the Rheinländer, the music of which the orchestra was just playing.
"And where have you been, Ringberg?" asked another comrade, Herr von Rollintz; "been gambling a little?"
"You know I never play," replied Kurt, who was leaning against the door.