The General smoked silently for a moment, and then:
“Herr Hammersley’s mother was a Prussian?”
“Yes, Excellenz, a sister of my mother——”
“Yes, I remember now. Von Eppingen——” the General muttered, his brows wrinkled. And then, “You saw much of your cousin?”
“For a while he went with me to the gymnasium, then to the University of Heidelberg. He has come over each year and shot with me here at Windenberg.”
“You are fond of him?”
Von Winden shrugged.
“He is my relative. We have always got along. I should not have cared to find that he was a traitor.”
The General smoked silently, his gaze on the fire.
“But his father was an Englishman, Graf von Winden. We can’t forget that. Tell me. You have known him always. What was his attitude at the University? Did he show a real affection for German life and customs? In short was he ever able to forget that half of him was English?”