Ludwig pressed his hands to his face; his great frame shook.
“Now tell what was your father’s true name,” commanded the hermit.
“I will not tell!” The Graf nigh screamed it in panic-stricken defiance.
“You will tell, and tell it truly, that God may pity you on His last Great Day. What was your father’s name?”
“Heinrich of Waldau.”
“And your true name is not Ludwig, but—”
“Sigismund.” The word was dragged across the Graf’s set teeth. But a loud cry rang through the forest.
“Jesu!”
And Jerome lay as one dead upon the greensward.