"But, Johanna!" their mother exclaimed, running between them in horror.
"Leave her alone, mummy," he said. "You see she is over-strung. You prepared me for it yourself."
"Have patience with her," the mother entreated softly.
"I have, haven't I?" he laughed. "If I hadn't learnt by this time to put up with a few feminine vagaries, I should indeed be incorrigible. I am not so thin-skinned, and when you choose, my dear sister, to adopt a more reasonable tone towards me we shall be friends again. Does that suit you, eh?"
She looked at him and did not speak.
He flung out of the room and the door banged behind him. He stood for a moment in the outer hall and drew a deep breath. His sister's immovable, sphinx-like glance had oppressed him like a nightmare. A vague suspicion began to dawn within him, but he struggled against it.
"Now for work!" he exclaimed, and he shook his fists in the air.
VII
The worst of it all was, that the crops were ripe for harvest, but could not be cut, because there were not enough hands for the labour.
Uncle Kutowski, whom Leo wanted to call to account for this, was nowhere to be found. He had not been seen since early morning, when he had driven off in his one-horse chaise. Leo learnt how matters stood from Schumann, who was officiously obliging in giving information.