“Ah, that accounts for my ignorance. I never saw Sayn Castle, although I seem to have heard of it. Are you its owner?”
“Yes; I told you I was wealthy.”
“Where is the Schloss situated?”
“Below Coblentz, on the eastern side of the river.”
“Then why not let me take you there instead of to the convent?”
“Willingly, if you had brought your barge-load of armed men, but in Sayn Castle I am helpless, commanding a peaceful retinue of servants who, although devoted to me, are useless when it comes to defense.”
“I cannot account for it,” said Roland in meditative tone, “but the thought of that convent becomes more and more distasteful. You will be free of your guardian, no doubt, but you merely exchange one whom you know for another whom you don’t, and that other a member of your own sex.”
“Do you disparage my sex, then?”
“No; but I cannot imagine any man being discourteous to you. Surely every gentleman with a sword by his side should spring at once to your defense.”
The girl laughed.