"Pray don't speak so loudly; I don't want any one to be alarmed—and please go into the next room, where you will find my maid, who is also bound."
Count Vavel went into the small chamber which communicated with that of the baroness, and saw lying on the bed a woman whose hands and feet were bound; a handkerchief had been thrust into her mouth. He quickly released her from the cords and handkerchief; but she did not stir: she had evidently lost consciousness.
By this time the baroness had followed with a lighted candle. She had flung a silken shawl about her shoulders, thrust her feet into Turkish slippers, and tucked her hair underneath a becoming lace cap.
"Is she dead?" she asked, lifting an anxious glance to Ludwig's face.
"No, she is not dead," replied the count, who was attentively scanning the unconscious woman's face.
"What is the matter with her?" pursued the baroness, with evident distress.
The count now recognized the woman's face. He had seen her with the lad who had been his protégé, and who was now a member of the baroness's household. It was the wife of Satan Laczi.
"No, she is not dead," he repeated; "she has only fainted."
The baroness hastily fetched her smelling-salts, and held them to the unconscious woman's nostrils.
"Peasant women have strong constitutions," observed the count. "When such a one loses consciousness a perfume like that will not restore her; she needs to be bled."