"Nay, Master; go not there!" whispered the girl imploringly. "There you have a most powerful enemy whom your death alone will pacify."
"An enemy! Who is he?" asked Feodor in surprise.
"Your brother," replied Mashinka.
"What! Zeno?—he whom I loved so much that I made over to him my inheritance and even the title of Count as well, reserving only a minor's portion for myself?"
"Ay; and now he means to have that portion also," said Mashinka. "He has seized your castle in the forest; and even that seaman's whistle at your breast—he has already been promised that."
"Well, well! Fool that I am!" muttered Feodor. "Was he not all his life a miserable cur? After all, it is not to be wondered at. But what can he know of Krazinski?"
"This much—that Krazinski, in leaving, forgot to take with him a certain leather writing-case, and that it contained many dangerous papers."
"But I myself delivered that case to my wife, in order that she might take charge of it until Krazinski should demand it. She was to give it up to no one else."
"And yet, she has given it up to your brother. And because of that you have been outlawed."
"My wife!" exclaimed Captain Feodor, turning pale.