She was there impatiently and feverishly awaiting him.
"You don't love me any longer, then," she cried, springing to him, "as you have submitted so easily to my mother's orders."
"Your mother has not told you, has she, what she threatened me with if I did not go?" he asked, reassuring his mistress with a thousand kisses.
"No, but I believe she would do anything to gain her end."
"She told me simply that if I did not leave Pampeln to-day, her husband would challenge me to a duel."
"That is the fact, and the thing has been cunningly thought out, for it is certain that if I were to fight the general I could not remain here afterward."
"But she would have to supply my step-father with some reason for a challenge."
"Oh, your mother is clever enough to find a reason."
"And he would obey her blindly, at the risk of being run through the body. He is simpleton enough for that. I know the influence his wife has over him."