Just at this juncture, too, she might well have reason to regard him with an especial apprehension; consequently it was with a good deal of trepidation which defied her powers of self-command that she found herself invited to a private interview with the Chancellor, in what she was always pleased to call, the leopard’s den.
He received her with stern politeness which did not allay her tremors. She was not kept in suspense as to the object of the interview; the Chancellor was notably a man to come to the point, when there was no object in delaying the arrival.
“I am sorry, Countess, to have to charge you with a breach of confidence,” he began severely.
The challenge steadied Minna. “A breach of confidence, your Excellency?” she echoed in well-simulated surprise.
“An exceedingly serious one,” he rejoined, “an abuse of your position as maid of honour to the Princess.”
“Excellency!” she exclaimed in open-eyed astonishment. He held up his hand to check her till she should have heard him out.
“Your position as close companion to the Princess is pre-eminently a responsible one. It has come to my knowledge, Countess, that you have grossly abused it.”
“Tell me how, Excellency,” Minna said with compressed lips, fearing lest an unruly inflection should betray her.
“I am about to give you that superfluous information,” he replied with cutting emphasis, “although it is mere waste of time to do so. The Princess has lately formed an improper acquaintance; improper, that is, certainly so far as the nature of the acquaintanceship goes. You have abetted her in certain clandestine interviews. That is, precisely, what I mean by your abuse of the trust reposed in you.”
He spoke sharply, insistently, as giving a definite explanation which could admit of no quibbling. So, somehow or other, the meeting in the chapel had been discovered. Clearly, Minna thought, denial was useless. Her half paralysed wits must be set to work to make the best of the position.