“Well, General, your ward delays. He should have been here before sunset.”
“He would have been here, my lady Countess, if he had not gone to Munkholm upon his arrival.”
“To Munkholm! I hope it was not to see Schumacker?”
“That may be.”
“Could Baron Thorwick’s first visit be to Schumacker!”
“Why not, Countess? Schumacker is unfortunate and unhappy.”
“What, General! Is the viceroy’s son on familiar terms with a prisoner of state?”
“When Frederic Guldenlew confided his son to my care, he begged me, noble lady, to bring him up as if he were my own. I thought that an acquaintance with Schumacker might be useful to Ordener, who is destined some day to wield such power; consequently, with the viceroy’s permission, I obtained from my brother, Grummond de Knud, a permit to enter all the prisons, which I gave to Ordener. He often uses it.”
“And how long, noble General, has Baron Ordener had the pleasure of this useful acquaintance?”
“Rather more than a year, Countess. It seems that Schumacker’s society pleased him, for it kept him at Throndhjem for a long time; and it was only reluctantly, and by my express request, that he left the city last year to visit Norway.”