Vinzi went down the stairs obediently, but not without calling out with all his might, “Alida, I am not allowed to come to you. But I want you to know that I was here.”
“What are you saying?” said the woman furiously. “I see, you meant to fool me and make me think that you know the little girl whose name you happened to hear once? Look, here is the door.”
But Alida, who had heard him, now came running down.
“Why do you send Vinzi away? He came to see me,” she said in a superior tone.
“Oh, I see, the matter was arranged beforehand,” said Mrs. Troll, but she used quite a different tone of voice now. “Does Miss Landrat know that he was expected?”
“No, but I know,” Alida answered obstinately.
“If we tell Miss Landrat the matter will be settled,” Mrs. Troll said with a shade of sarcasm. “But the best he can do now is to go where he belongs.”
Vinzi couldn’t help agreeing to that. Giving Alida his hand, he went sadly away with the conviction that everything was now over. Alida was filled with rage that the woman should be allowed to send her dear friend away like that.
“I’ll tell father everything,” she cried out passionately, “and he won’t have Vinzi treated that way again.” Her anger giving her wings, she flew up the stairs.
As soon as Mrs. Troll saw Miss Landrat approaching with Hugo she went out quickly and gave a thorough report of what had happened. “It is quite evident that the boy has been here before,” she concluded her tale excitedly. “Everything was planned, for he shot up the stairs as if he were perfectly at home here. The girl was apparently waiting for him upstairs.”