"No sum ever was large enough for Max." They both smiled. "But a piece of great good fortune came to me just after you went away."
Von Rittenheim turned again to the window and betrayed some embarrassment, but Hilda was intent upon her story, and noticed nothing.
"Some of the investments into which my dowry had been put appreciated enormously in value."
So that was the way Herr Stapfer had explained it. Friedrich nodded approvingly.
"So I always had enough for my needs, even when——"
"When what?"
"Forgive me. I did not mean to say it."
"You were going to say, 'Even when Maximilian took it?'"
She hung her head again, like a sorry child. He noticed how her neck and arms shone white through the thin black of her gown.
"After all, you are his brother. Perhaps I should tell you. At the end—it was because of that that he shot himself, poor Max! He came to me in my room and asked me for money, and I told him I had none. Indeed, he had taken the last I had a few days before. He did not believe me, and he threatened to shoot himself if I did not give it to him."