"Ah well, that will be proved at the trial. But at least as long as the affair lasts you are well lodged here, I hope. Also you have something to eat, I see, and some clean linen."
"I fancy my former serving-maid must have brought it for me from home. She was a very devoted servant."
"Oh, you think it's she, do you? Well, there are other devoted people in the world who remember Mr. Ráby's needs, I fancy, as well. Books too, I see, and well-chosen ones. Well, there's a difference between this and your earlier lodging at any rate."
Ráby felt the blood mount to his head, but he would not betray his resentment.
"My arrest was a wholly unjust one," he said bitterly. "If no regard is shown to the Hungarian nobleman, at least, the imperial mandate should be respected."
"So you think that the turn for the better your affairs have taken is owing to the Emperor's intervention, do you?"
"I am convinced that his Majesty would not allow his devoted servant to perish," answered Ráby.
"You are right in what you say of our illustrious sovereign; he is, indeed, gracious. You soon found means, it seems, of advising the Kaiser of your situation. I admire your promptness! The Emperor did not lose time either; yesterday, early, I had his despatch in my hands."
Ráby's cheeks grew red with indignation.
"And why, then, in spite of this, was I yesterday afternoon cast into a far worse dungeon than the one I was taken from—a cold, dark hole, where I fainted."