"Come Gaston!" exclaimed Sperver indignantly, "let's get a breath of fresh air! I'm strangling here!" and he pulled me out of the chamber.
"That is the happiness of high-born people!" he exclaimed, as we stepped into the hall. "What is the use of being master of Nideck, with its fine Castle, forests, and game-preserves, and all else, if your own daughter can blight your life,—even cause your death, perhaps, by a nod of her head or a mincing refusal to obey your will? It would be a thousand times better to come into the world the son of a humble woodcutter, and live in the quiet accomplishment of your labor. Come down to my den, and we will drink a glass and have a pipe. I know nothing better to put care to flight than a good stiff glass."
It was then about nine o'clock. The sky, so clear at daybreak, had become overcast; the north wind was whirling the flakes against the window-panes, and I could hardly distinguish the peaks of the neighboring mountains. We were descending the staircase which led to the main courtyard, when, at a turn of the corridor, we came face to face with Tobias Offenloch. The worthy majordomo was puffing like a porpoise.
"Hullo!" said Gideon; "where are you going in such a hurry?"
"To tell the Countess that the Baron Zimmer begs the privilege of paying his respects to her before quitting the Castle."
"Baron Zimmer?"
"Yes, the stranger who came in last night at midnight."
"To be sure," replied Sperver; "I was forgetting."
We went along. A moment later we reached our destination. My companion pushed open the door and we went in.
We sat down before the hearth. Gideon possessed himself of a corkscrew and two bottles, and soon our glasses were filled and pipes aglow. We were about to begin a discussion of the singular scene of a few moments before, when Offenloch appeared, but not alone, for to our astonishment we saw the Baron Zimmer and his valet following at his heels. We rose. The young Baron approached to greet us with uncovered head, and I studied with interest his handsome face, pale and haughty, with long, black locks falling about it. He paused before Sperver.