"I thought so!" the old Baron rejoined, taking his son"s hand as he stood before him. "It has been so great a pleasure to me to watch you during these last few weeks. My Arno will be happy after all, I thought. I dreamed of her as the lovely mistress of Hohenwald, and now--now it is all over."
Arno did not reply. Again he paced the room restlessly to and fro, never heeding the unusual bustle that had arisen in the court-yard.
The Freiherr too was only aroused from his brooding reverie by the sound of footsteps in the hall and the sudden flinging wide of the doors to admit Count Schlichting, followed by the Geheimrath Steuber, while almost at the same moment steps resounded upon the terrace, and two dragoons with drawn sabres stationed themselves at the gla.s.s door leading to the garden. At this sight the old Baron"s sadness was converted into violent anger. "Thunder and lightning, Franz! How dare you introduce visitors unannounced!" he exclaimed, furiously, to the old servant, who stood in the doorway quite uncertain which to fear more, his master or the terrible man in spectacles.
"Don"t scold your servant, old friend," said Count Schlichting, approaching the Freiherr"s rolling-chair and taking his reluctant hand.
"He conducted myself and this gentleman hither only upon compulsion.
And we do not intrude voluntarily upon your seclusion, but in obedience to an august command, which, I am sure, will be respected by the Freiherr von Hohenwald."
The Freiherr gazed at the colonel with flashing eyes. He had not seen him for more than fifteen years, and had not at first recognized him.
Now he remembered his old friend well, but his anger was not diminished thereby, and he had to put the greatest restraint upon himself to suppress another outbreak. He looked from the colonel to the Geheimrath, and then out upon the terrace at the two dragoons stationed there, and the case suddenly became clear to him. He was not surprised that suspicion should attach to him in consequence of Werner"s intrigues. True, he had never contemplated being arrested, but his anger died away when he reflected that the colonel was merely fulfilling his duty as a soldier, and he had no fear of consequences, for he was conscious of his innocence.
Quickly regaining his composure, he returned the pressure of the colonel"s hand and said, "Those two blue fellows out there explain the "august command" which brings my old friend here. It is not your fault that you must fulfil your duty, which, however, may perhaps allow you to inform me why the Freiherr von Hohenwald is arrested in his own castle."
"Not quite that yet, old friend,--no fear of that," the colonel replied, kindly. "My orders certainly are to arrest the Finanzrath, your eldest son, and Count Repuin, your guest, and to a.s.sist this gentleman, the Geheimrath Steuber, from Berlin, in the execution of his orders, which are to search the castle for treasonable matter. Until this is over I must indeed beg you not to leave this room."
"A request with which I shall have no difficulty in complying, since I am, as you see, confined to my rolling-chair," the Freiherr replied, with a smile.
"I see it with regret; but this gentleman also,--Baron Arno von Hohenwald, if I do not mistake,"--Arno bowed in silence,--"and the young lady,"--the colonel greeted Celia with chivalrous courtesy,--"I must entreat to remain here until my disagreeable duty is finished. The first and hardest part of it, unfortunately, concerns your eldest son and Count Repuin, for whom I am forced to make search."
"It will be fruitless," the Freiherr quietly replied. "My son Werner was in the castle, but he left it more than half an hour ago. Count Repuin I do not know. He has never been my guest."
"That is not true!" the Geheimrath exclaimed. "The Count certainly accompanied the Finanzrath to Hohenwald,--both must be concealed in the castle!"
"Sir! how dare you accuse me of falsehood!" the Freiherr burst out; but the colonel laid his hand upon the old man"s shoulder and said, kindly, "Be calm, old friend. The Herr Geheimrath has in his zeal for duty made use of a wrong expression. He cannot mean to accuse of falsehood a n.o.bleman whom he has been ordered to treat with the greatest consideration. He will apologize for his error."
This the Geheimrath immediately did, conscious that he was in the wrong, and never reluctant to make use of smooth words. Nevertheless he maintained that both the Finanzrath and Repuin were probably still in the castle, although without the Freiherr"s knowledge. He chose his apologetic phrases so well that the old Baron was entirely appeased, and even condescended so far as to explain that a certain Herr von Sorr, and not Count Repuin, had been his son"s companion, and that they had left the castle together about half an hour previously.
"For this you have my friend"s word," the colonel remarked.
"The word of honour of the Herr Freiherr von Hohenwald will suffice me," the police official rejoined.
"My simple a.s.sertion must suffice you, sir," the old man burst forth again.
The Geheimrath looked keenly at him for a moment, and then said, with a courteous bow, "It is the word of a man of honour, and therefore a word of honour; it suffices entirely. May I now beg the Herr Baron to allow me to proceed in my search of the castle?"
"I have nothing to say; do your duty!"
"For the present, then, Herr Baron, I take my leave, only requesting that the colonel will accord me the a.s.sistance of his adjutant in my search, if he would himself prefer remaining here with his old friend, I hope shortly to be able to report to you the result of what I feel convinced will be a fruitless investigation."
This proposal was most welcome to the colonel, who rejoiced to pa.s.s the time with his friend instead of a.s.sisting in searching the castle, a duty that would have been extremely repugnant to the old soldier. He therefore acceded to all the Geheimrath said, and Steuber left the room.
Outside, his first care was to despatch his a.s.sistant upon a fleet horse, taken from one of the dragoons, to intercept the flight of the Finanzrath and Repuin, giving the man the most minute directions as to how this was to be done, and how he should procure the a.s.sistance necessary to his success in so doing.
Then he turned to old Franz, over whom two dragoons had mounted guard, and demanded his guidance over the castle. Poor Franz was so completely subdued by the martial array about him, and above all so terrified by the glance of the eyes behind the spectacles, that he obeyed with submissive prompt.i.tude. Encountering in the hall Count Styrum, who had just concluded the posting of his dragoons, Steuber detained him as he was about to pa.s.s on to the garden-room, and said, "May I pray you to follow me, Herr Count? The colonel has permitted me to demand your a.s.sistance in the search I am about to begin."
Styrum would gladly have refused to fulfil so disagreeable a duty; his pride rebelled against a.s.sisting in a search in his friend"s house, but the Geheimrath, who suspected what was in his mind, soothed his wounded sense of honour by adding, "I do not ask you, Count, to take any part in this search, which indeed I now believe will be entirely fruitless.
The aid I need, and which your superior officer permits me to require at your hands, consists simply in your presence as a witness during my search. Thus you are a subst.i.tute, as it were, for your friend Baron Arno von Hohenwald, to whom you may be able to render essential service. May I look for your kind compliance with my wish?"
"I am ready," Styrum replied, and, with old Franz for a guide, they betook themselves to Werner"s apartment.
CHAPTER XX.
The Finanzrath, when he stayed at the castle, occupied a s.p.a.cious room in a retired wing, where, between the windows, stood his writing-table with its many drawers and compartments. This immediately attracted the Geheimrath"s attention. Upon it lay an unopened letter, which Steuber at once took possession of and coolly opened. Looking up as he did so, he smiled at the expression of an outraged sense of honour on Styrum"s face, and then read the letter aloud. "Make no further attempt to win over your father and brother,--it might be dangerous. Unfortunately, some of our friends have been very imprudent. I have received trustworthy information that many of us are under strict surveillance.
The greatest caution is necessary; a new a.s.sociate could avail us little,--one traitor might ruin us. Your brother"s friend, Count Styrum, has already applied for re-admission to the army; if your brother should do likewise, he will rank among our foes, not our friends. Therefore I must entreat you to acquaint neither your father nor your brother with any of our plans. More when we meet; until then be upon your guard!" "And this precious epistle is signed "A,"" the Geheimrath added. "It tells me nothing new of the Finanzrath or his friends, but it hints strongly that neither the old Freiherr nor his younger son knows anything of the Herr Finanzrath"s schemes. Do you still think I did wrong to open the letter, Count?"
Without waiting for a reply the Geheimrath went on to search in the most careful manner every drawer and pigeonhole of Werner"s desk, but his trouble was vain. The drawers were all unlocked, but not one piece of written paper was to be found anywhere. "Hm! the Herr Finanzrath has been expecting me," Steuber muttered, impatiently. "There is nothing here, and I have searched everything except the waste-paper basket."
Thereupon he proceeded to examine all the papers it contained, worthless sc.r.a.ps, one and all, until nothing remained except some small fragments at the very bottom of the basket. Then, while the Count looked on in impatient wonder, he carefully a.s.sorted these, perceiving that they consisted of two kinds of paper, one bluish and stiff, the other creamy and delicate, murmuring, as he did so, "There can hardly be more than two notes here, or the number of sc.r.a.ps would be greater."
Styrum"s interest began to be aroused. Since the Geheimrath now seemed inclined to believe in the innocence of Arno and his father he was no longer so distasteful to the Count, who testified his awakening interest by drawing a chair up to the table and closely watching the arrangement of the fragments of paper. His attention flattered the Geheimrath, who showed himself in the most amiable humour. "We will first undertake the strong, bluish paper," he said; "there are fewer of the sc.r.a.ps, and our work will be comparatively easy. I fear, however, that we are very indiscreet; the writing here is a lady"s, and I suspect we have to do with a love-affair." In a short time the sheet lay completely fitted together before the official, who rubbed his hands with his peculiar chuckle and said, "It is no love-letter; I was mistaken; but it is from a lady, and not even addressed to the Herr Finanzrath, but to Fraulein Adele von Guntram, in M----."
"A letter to Adele!" Styrum exclaimed. "Do you know Fraulein von Guntram, Count?" "Certainly; the letter is addressed to my betrothed."
"Then the contents, which are quite incomprehensible to me, will interest you all the more; perhaps you may divine from them how the note came to be torn up in the Finanzrath"s waste-paper basket." And he read:
"What will you think of me, dear Adele, if a few hours after writing my last letter I tell you not to heed the request it contained? I hope soon to be able to let you know why I do this, but I cannot tell you to-day. I cannot leave Castle Hohenwald, and so you are relieved of the burden of looking for another situation for me. Farewell, dear; you will soon hear farther from your
"Lucie"
Styrum listened with the greatest attention, but, although his betrothed had told him of the letter from Lucie in which she had entreated that another position might be found for her, he could give the Geheimrath no information as to why this letter, which had evidently been written since, should be found in the Finanzrath"s waste-paper basket.
Steuber tossed it aside and began upon the creamy-coloured sc.r.a.ps, over which he worked diligently for nearly an hour. When the letter lay complete before him he uttered an involuntary exclamation of delight.
"This," he said, "is a very important doc.u.ment; it puts me upon a fresh scent. It is addressed to Count Repuin, care of Colonel von Berngberg, in Ca.s.sel. Colonel von Berngberg has never before been suspected of hostility to the government; this is a reward for all the trouble we have had." Again the malicious twinkle of his eyes, the joy he evidently felt at the implication in treasonable schemes of a man hitherto thought loyal, disgusted Count Styrum, who, on the spur of the moment, said haughtily "I must pray you, Herr Geheimrath, to spare me the contents of this letter; any prying into official secrets is of course extremely distasteful to me as a soldier and officer."
Steuber looked up from his work for a moment and nodded kindly. "I understand you, Count, but, unfortunately, I cannot relieve you from the duty of listening. I am working under orders, and in the service for the time of your superior officer, whom you now represent. Besides, I will wager that you will not regret listening to the letter that now lies before me. It was written by the Finanzrath, and afterwards, for some unknown reason, destroyed by him; and it runs thus:
"I write in the greatest haste, my dear Count, to tell you that I have received intimations, whether from a trustworthy source or not I cannot say, that our correspondence is known and watched. It is better to be careful: therefore do not intrust your letters to the post again. Send them in the way you know of; it is more secure, although less speedy, than the post. I will make one more attempt to win over my father and my brother, but I tell you frankly that I fear it will be fruitless. My father is no politician, and Arno is an idealist whose heart is set upon a united Germany. If he should re-enter the service he will probably fight against our friends. Indeed, he is so enthusiastic a "patriot" that it is questionable whether it would be wise to attempt to influence him. Always yours,
""W. Von H.""
As he finished it the Geheimrath looked up to his companion with a smile of triumph. "Are you satisfied now with my work, Count?" he asked. "We may inform Count Schlichting that there can be no possible pretext for arresting the Freiherr or his son Arno; not a shadow of suspicion rests upon them. What do you think? For my part I consider our search ended; there is nothing more to be found here. Let us go and report to the colonel. My task at Castle Hohenwald is over."
Count Schlichting felt a sense of relief when the Geheimrath left the garden-room and he found himself alone with his old friend and his children.
"This is but a sorry errand of mine here, Hohenwald," he said, seating himself beside the Freiherr"s rolling-chair; "but you must not take it ill of me, since I accepted the part a.s.signed me in hopes that you would rather see a friend than a stranger, odious although his duties might make him in your eyes. I am rejoiced that Werner got wind of our coming and has vanished; now my hope is that that cursed Geheimrath may poke his infernal nose wherever he chooses in the castle without raking up any evidence against you and Arno."
"Have you any doubts on that head?" the Freiherr asked, bitterly.
There was a degree of embarra.s.sment in the colonel"s air as he replied, "No, not that; but politics nowadays are puzzling. I have the greatest confidence in you; but who can judge for others? Here"s the Finanzrath doubtless an excellent fellow in other respects, has dabbled in plots and schemes which are now thought treasonable, but which may, at another turn of the wheel, lead him to a ribbon and star. To-day a warrant of arrest is out against him, but who knows whether in another month he may not be held in high honour in Saxony and Southern Germany?
I should be very sorry if you, old friend, and your son, who fought the Prussians bravely four years ago, had been led into any indiscretions; but indeed I could not blame you, for, G.o.d knows, it is hard enough for us Saxons to fight shoulder to shoulder with our former foes, against those to whom we owe it that we are not to-day in the position of the poor Hanoverians and Hessians. I am an old soldier, and go wherever my king sends me; but I cannot say that this time I unsheathe my sword with any enthusiasm."