Leaving Amy to compose herself, Helen went away to find Hoffman. It was never difficult, for he seemed to divine her wishes and appear uncalled the moment he was wanted. Hardly had she reached her favorite nook in the garden when he approached with letters, and asked with respectful anxiety, as she glanced at and threw them by with an impatient sigh,--
"Has mademoiselle any orders? Will the ladies drive, sail, or make a little expedition? It is fine, and mademoiselle looks as if the air would refresh her. Pardon that I make the suggestion."
"No, Hoffman, I don"t like the air of this place, and intend to leave as soon as possible." And Helen knit her delicate dark brows with an expression of great determination. "Switzerland is the refuge of political exiles, and I hate plots and disguises; I feel oppressed by some mystery, and mean to solve or break away from it at once."
She stopped abruptly, longing to ask his help, yet withheld by a sudden sense of shyness in approaching the subject, though she had decided to speak to Karl of the Pole.
"Can I serve you, mademoiselle? If so, pray command me," he said, eagerly, coming a step nearer.
"You can, and I intend to ask your advice, for there can be nothing amiss in doing so, since you are a friend of Casimer"s."
"I am both friend and confidant, mademoiselle," he answered, as if anxious to let her understand that he knew all, without the embarra.s.sment of words. She looked up quickly, relieved, yet troubled.
"He has told you, then?"
"Everything, mademoiselle. Pardon me if this afflicts you; I am his only friend here, and the poor lad sorely needed comfort."
"He did. I am not annoyed; I am glad, for I know you will sustain him.
Now I may speak freely, and be equally frank. Please tell me if he is indeed fatally ill?"
"It was thought so some months ago; now I hope. Happiness cures many ills, and since he has loved, he has improved. I always thought care would save him; he is worth it."
Hoffman paused, as if fearful of venturing too far; but Helen seemed to confide freely in him, and said, softly,--
"Ah, if it were only wise to let him be happy. It is so bitter to deny love."
"G.o.d knows it is!"
The exclamation broke from Hoffman as if an irrepressible impulse wrung it from him.
Helen started, and for a moment neither spoke. She collected herself soonest, and without turning, said, quietly,--
"I have been troubled by a strong impression that Casimer is not what he seems. Till he denied it on his honor I believed him to be Baron Palsdorf. Did he speak the truth when he said he was not?"
"Yes, mademoiselle."
"Then, Casimer Teblinski is his real name?"
No answer.
She turned sharply, and added,--
"For my cousin"s sake, I must know the truth. Several curious coincidences make me strongly suspect that he is pa.s.sing under an a.s.sumed name."
Not a word said Hoffman, but looked on the ground, as motionless and expressionless as a statue.
Helen lost patience, and in order to show how much she had discovered, rapidly told the story of the gloves, ring, handkerchief, prayer-book and collar, omitting all hint of the girlish romance they had woven about these things.
As she ended, Hoffman looked up with a curious expression, in which confusion, amus.e.m.e.nt, admiration and annoyance seemed to contend.
"Mademoiselle," he said, gravely, "I am about to prove to you that I feel honored by the confidence you place in me. I cannot break my word, but I will confess to you that Casimer does _not_ bear his own name."
"I knew it!" said Helen, with a flash of triumph in her eyes. "He _is_ the baron, and no Pole. You Germans love masquerades and jokes. This is one, but I must spoil it before it is played out."
"Pardon; mademoiselle is keen, but in this she is mistaken. Casimer is _not_ the baron; he did fight for Poland, and his name is known and honored there. Of this I solemnly a.s.sure you."
She stood up and looked him straight in the face. He met her eye to eye, and never wavered till her own fell.
She mused a few minutes, entirely forgetful of herself in her eagerness to solve the mystery.
Hoffman stood so near that her dress touched him, and the wind blew her scarf against his hand; and as she thought he watched her while his eyes kindled, his color rose, and once he opened his lips to speak, but she moved at the instant, and exclaimed,--
"I have it!"
"Now for it," he muttered, as if preparing for some new surprise or attack.
"When uncle used to talk about the Polish revolution, there was, I remember a gallant young Pole who did something brave. The name just flashed on me, and it clears up my doubts. Stanislas Prakora--"S.P."--and Casimer is the man."
Helen spoke with an eager, bright face, as if sure of the truth now; but, to her surprise, Hoffman laughed, a short, irrepressible laugh, full of hearty but brief merriment. He sobered in a breath, and with an entire change of countenance said, in an embarra.s.sed tone,--
"Pardon my rudeness; mademoiselle"s acuteness threw me off my guard.
I can say nothing till released from my promise; but mademoiselle may rest a.s.sured that Casimer Teblinski is as good and brave a man as Stanislas Prakora."
Helen"s eyes sparkled, for in this reluctant reply she read confirmation of her suspicion, and thought that Amy would rejoice to learn that her lover was a hero.
"You _are_ exiles, but still hope and plot, and never relinquish your hearts" desire?"
"Never, mademoiselle!"
"You are in danger?"
"In daily peril of losing all we most love and long for," answered Karl, with such pa.s.sion that Helen found patriotism a lovely and inspiring thing.
"You have enemies?" she asked, unable to control her interest, and feeling the charm of these confidences.
"Alas! yes," was the mournful reply, as Karl dropped his eyes to hide the curious expression of mirth which he could not banish from them.
"Can you not conquer them, or escape the danger they place you in?"
"We hope to conquer, we cannot escape."
"This accounts for your disguise and Casimer"s false name?"
"Yes. We beg that mademoiselle will pardon us the anxiety and perplexity we have caused her, and hope that a time will soon arrive when we may be ourselves. I fear the romantic interest with which the ladies have honored us will be much lessened, but we shall still remain their most humble and devoted servants."
Something in his tone nettled Helen, and she said sharply,--
"All this may be amusing to you, but it spoils my confidence in others to know they wear masks. Is your name also false?"