"Tekla."
"Bah! She is fat and homely and the mother of seven squalling children."
"What a world! To think that Tekla should be at the bottom of all this tangle! What irony! I ruin my life, I break the heart of the grand duke, I nearly cause war between two friendly states—why? Tekla, now fat and homely and the mother of seven, would not marry me. The devil rides strange horses."
"Good night, Hermann, and God bless you for your forgiveness. Always come at night if you wish to see me, but do not come often; they might remark it."
A rap on the door startled them. Hans, a finger of warning on his lips, opened the door. Carmichael stood outside.
"Ah, Captain!" Hans took Carmichael by the hand and drew him into the room.
Carmichael, observing Hermann, was rather confused as to what to do.
"Good evening, Hermann," he said.
"Good evening, Herr Carmichael."