"Tell me, tell me. What, please?"
"No; most of it can't be told," said her friend, guardedly. "Not to any one, at least, who is not married."
Hertha thought of the vow they had once exchanged, but an undefinable feeling of shyness stopped her from reminding the forgetful Meta of it.
"All I can tell you," she continued, "is that things are very different from what we girls think they are. Do you remember, for instance, how all our heads were turned once about your uncle?"
"Which uncle?" asked Hertha.
"Leo Sellenthin," replied Meta, glancing sideways.
Hertha sighed. She was only too willing to forget the relationship which gave him authority over her. And then, all at once, her heart seemed to stand still, for she understood that the next minute would be pregnant for her with revelation. She was to hear something terrible.
"Do you know what people said after that duel, when he shot Herr von Rhaden dead?"
"No," she murmured.
"They said that he and Felicitas were in love with each other, and that Rhaden found it out. Good Heavens! What is the matter?"