"Go and get dressed!"
She herself put on a long dark cloak. Then she went to her bureau. I saw her rummage in it and bring out several objects which she slipped into the roomy packets of the cloak.
"Herr von Hagen," she said, coming back, "are you to take Monsieur Vignette to the citadel? At what time?"
"He must be there at ten o'clock, Your Highness."
With a smile of infinite scorn she put her hand on his shoulder.
"And so you actually thought," she said, "that I would let you lock him up?"
There was overwhelming majesty in her look, her pose, her words. I saw the officer hang his head. He trembled in every limb.
"Ludwig von Hagen," she continued, "a certain day, four years ago, I learned that an officer of the 7th Hussars had cheated at cards. It meant death and dishonour to him. The next day that officer's debts were paid, the affair was hushed up and he himself, selected by me for my orderly officer, astonished the whole garrison by his strange and rapid change of fortune. Remarks were passed to which I paid no attention. You know yourself that the sole motive of my action was my wish to rescue from infamy a brave young man, who bore a great name and in whom I believed.
"He, on the other hand," she said, pointing to me, "not only owes me nothing, but indeed suffered at first from my indifference, nay, scorn, the result of unworthy suspicions. He never showed any resentment. Quietly, secretly he has been working for me. Perhaps he himself does not know the full meaning of what he has done. But he certainly knew he was risking his life. And now the man who owes me everything has come to arrest the man to whom I owe everything!"
Tears ran down the face of the little hussar.