"Have you forgotten something, Felix?" asked Erwin, who stood before the portal of the castle, talking in a low voice.
"Yes, my revolver," replied Felix, uneasily and absently.
When Erwin wished to go into the castle to help his brother-in-law find it, the latter held him back. "Oh, it is of no importance," he stammered. "I will get it--to-morrow. Where are the children?"
"There," said Elsa, and in the distance, between the feathery green foliage, he saw the children at their play. They flew about and shouted like little gnomes, Gery the merriest of them all.
"I will not disturb him," murmured Felix, after he had watched the children for a long time, without approaching them.
He went.
XXIX.
Returned to Traunberg, he wandered slowly through all the rooms of the castle. Then he had tea served in his room, drank a cupful, and ate a trifle. He laid his watch upon the table. At twelve o'clock all should be finished, he decided.
The cold calm of resolution gave way to the exciting feeling of expectation.
He seated himself at his writing-table, thoughtfully he rested his head in his hand, then he dipped the pen into ink, and wrote a long letter. He read it through with a certain pedantry, added here and there a comma, or made a letter plainer, placed the letter in an envelope, and addressed it to Elsa.