The stranger entered, closing the door behind him, threw back his mantle and took off the hat that shaded his face.
“Cardinal Bernis!” cried Natalie, with surprise.
“Ah, then you yet recognize me, princess!” said Bernis. “That is beautiful in you, and therefore you will not be angry with me for calling upon you unannounced. I knew that I should find you alone, and this was a too fortunate circumstance for me to let it pass unimproved. I must speak to you, princess, even at the hazard of proving tiresome.”
Natalie said, with a soft smile: “You were the friend of Count Paulo, and therefore can never prove tiresome to me! I bid you welcome, cardinal!”
“It is precisely because I was Count Paulo’s friend, that I have come!” said Bernis, seriously. “The count loved you, princess, and what I did not know at the time is known to me now. Because he loved and was devoted to you, he hazarded his life, and more than his life, his liberty.”
“And they have robbed him of that precious liberty,” sighed Natalie. “For his fidelity to me they have condemned him to a shameful imprisonment!”
“You know that!” exclaimed Bernis, with astonishment, “you know that, and nevertheless—” Then, interrupting himself, he broke off, and after a pause continued: “Pardon me one question, and if you deem it indiscreet, please remember that it is put to you by an old man and a priest, and that his only object is, if possible to be useful to you. Do you love Count Paulo Rasczinksy?”
“I love him,” said she, “as one loves a father. I shall always be grateful to him, and shall never esteem myself happy until I have liberated him and restored him to his country!”
“You liberate him!” sadly exclaimed Bernis. “Ah, then you know not, you do not once dream, that you are yourself surrounded by dangers, that your own liberty, indeed your life itself, is threatened.”
“I know it,” calmly responded the young maiden, “but I also know that strong and powerful friends stand by my side, who will protect and defend me with their lives.”