Kruder threw himself in a chair. "Alea jacta est," said he. "Unhappy Poland!"
The tragedy occurred on the street, at a time when the nobles had arrived from all parts of the kingdom, for a general reunion of the Agricultural Society. No one had foreseen the sinister event, no one wished for it; but an invisible hand seemed to precipitate it.
After he left Bartold's, Jacob could not resist the temptation to visit the scene of the catastrophe. A lugubrious silence reigned there. Noiseless pedestrians hurriedly regained their homes, gliding silently through the misty shadows. Here and there a sentinel was stationed. On the grave faces of the soldiers he believed that he could read the struggle between military honour and human duty.
Near the Hotel Europe Jacob met a group of nobles who came out of the governmental palace; they were excited, and conversed in low voices. As he passed on, by the door of the hotel, some one seized his hand, and he recognized Gromof, the companion of Lucie Coloni. Taking his arm, Gromof drew him into the house, and made him mount several pairs of stairs without saying a word.
They entered the apartment of the Italian lady, and found her seated on a couch. She looked at Gromof and left the room; alone with Jacob, the Russian said:--
"You are young, monsieur, and you cannot be altogether indifferent to that which is happening; you ought to know everything about it."
"Of what?"
"Of the intended revolution."
"I know absolutely nothing, I assure you."
"Do you take me for a spy, an informer?" asked Gromof.