At last the task was completed. Count Vavel was satisfied with the work Master Matyas had performed, and it only remained for Marie to express herself satisfied with the arrangement which would barricade her every night as securely as were the treasures of the "green vault" in Dresden.
A few days afterward was Marie"s sixteenth birthday. Count Vavel had come to her apartments, as usual, to congratulate her, and to hear what her birthday wish might be. But the young girl, whose sparkling eyes had become veiled with melancholy, whose red lips had already learned to express sadness, had no commands to give to-day.
After dinner the count, on some pretence, detained Marie in the library while Master Matyas completed his task in her room.
This masterpiece was a peculiar curtain composed of small squares of steel so joined together that light and air could easily penetrate the screen. It was fitted between the two marble columns which supported the arch of the bed-alcove. When the metal curtain was lowered, by means of a cord, two springs in the floor caught and held it so securely that it could not be lifted from the outside. To raise the screen the person in the alcove had only to touch a secret spring near the bed, when the screen would roll up of itself.
"And hast thou no wish this year, Marie?" asked the count, adopting, as usual on this anniversary, the familiar "thou."
"Yes, I have one, dear Ludwig," replied the young girl, but with no brightening of the melancholy features. "I have lost something, but thou canst not give it back to me."
"And what may this something be? What hast thou lost, Marie? Tell me."
"My former sweet, sound sleep! and thou canst not buy me another in Vienna or Paris. I used to sleep so soundly. I used to be so fond of my sweet slumber that I could hardly wait to say my prayers, and often I would be in dreamland long before I got to the "Amen." And if by any chance I awoke in the night and heard the clock strike, I would beg of it not to hurry along the hours so fast--I did not want morning to come so soon! But now that I have to sleep with locked doors, I lie awake often until midnight--terrified by I know not what. I dread to be so entirely alone when everything is so quiet; and when it is dark I feel as if some one were stealthily creeping about my room. When I hear a noise I wonder what it can be, and my heart beats so rapidly! Then I draw the covers over my head to shut out all sound, and if I fall asleep thus I have such disagreeable dreams that I am glad when I waken again."
Count Vavel gently took the young girl"s hand in his.
"Suppose I could restore to thee thy former sweet slumber, Marie?
Suppose I take up my old quarters on the lounge by the door?"
The young girl gazed into his eyes as if she would penetrate his very soul. Then she said sorrowfully: "No, dear Ludwig; that would not restore my slumber."
"Then suppose I have thought of something that will? Come with me, and see."
She laid her hand on his arm, and went with him to her room.
Ludwig conducted her into the alcove, and stepped outside.
"Draw the cord which hangs at the head of the bed," he said, smiling at her wondering face.
Marie did as he bade her, and the metal screen unrolled, and was caught in the springs in the floor.
"Oh, how wonderful!" she exclaimed in amazement. "I am a prisoner in my own alcove."
"Only so long as you care to remain in your prison," returned Count Vavel. "No one can lift the screen from this side; but if you will press your foot on the little bra.s.s b.u.t.ton in the floor at the foot of the column to your left, you will be at liberty again."
The next instant Master Matyas"s handiwork was rolled up to the ceiling.
Marie was filled with delight and astonishment.
"There is another work of art connected with this wonderful mechanism,"
said the count, after Marie had rolled and unrolled the screen several times. "The cord which releases the screen rings a bell in my room. When I hear the bell I shall know that you have retired; then I shall bring my books and papers into your room out yonder, and continue my work there. Only enough light will penetrate the screen to the alcove to prevent utter darkness. You will not need to be afraid hereafter, and perhaps the sweet, sound sleep will return to you."
Marie did not offer to kiss her guardian for this birthday gift. She merely held out both hands, and gave his a clasp that was so close and warm that it said more than words or kisses. She waited impatiently for evening to test the working of her wonderful screen. She did not amuse herself with her cards, as usual, but went to bed at ten o"clock. At the same moment that the screen unrolled and was caught by the springs in the floor, Count Ludwig"s footsteps were heard in the corridor. In one hand he carried a two-branched candlestick, in the other his pistol-case and ink-horn. His pen was between his lips; his books and papers were held under his arm. He seated himself at a table, and resumed his studies.
Marie would have been untrue to her s.e.x had she not watched him for several minutes through her metal screen--watched and admired the superb head, supported on one hand as he bent intently over his book, the broad brow, the cla.s.sical nose, the chin and lips of an Achilles--all as motionless as if they had been molded in bronze. A true hero--a hero who battled with the most powerful demons of earth, the human pa.s.sions, and conquered. From that day Marie found her old sweet sleep again.
The second day Marie"s curiosity prompted her to signal to Ludwig half an hour earlier. He heard, and came as readily at half-past nine o"clock. And then the little maid (like all indulged children) abused her privileges: she signaled at nine o"clock, and at last at eight o"clock--retiring with the birds in order to test if Ludwig would obey the signal.
He always came promptly when the falling screen summoned him.
And then Marie said to herself:
"He loves me. He loves me very much--as the fakir loves his Brahma, as the Carthusian loves his sainted Virgin. That is how he loves me!"
PART V
ANGE BARTHELMY
CHAPTER I
So far as Marie"s safety from robbers was concerned, Count Vavel might now rest content. Satan Laczi"s advice had been obeyed to the letter.
But how about Baroness Landsknechtsschild? Danger still threatened her.
Count Vavel was seriously concerned about his fair neighbor, and wondered how he might communicate his extraordinary discovery to her.
What could he do to warn her of the danger which still threatened her?
Should he call in person at the manor, and tell her of his interview with Satan Laczi?
A propitious chance came to Count Vavel"s aid in his perplexity.
One afternoon the sound of a trumpet drew him to his window. On looking out, he beheld a division of cavalry riding along the highway toward the village. They were dragoons, as their glistening helmets indicated.
When the troop drew near to the village, the band struck up a lively mazurka, and to this spirited march the soldiers made their entry into Fertoszeg. Ludwig could see through his telescope how the men were quartered in the houses in the village; and in the evening, after the retreat had been sounded, he also saw that the windows of the hitherto unused wing of the manor were brilliantly illuminated. Evidently the officers in command of the troop had taken up their quarters there, which was proper. The armed guard on duty at the manor gates verified this supposition.
Count Vavel might now feel perfectly sure that no robbers would attempt to break into the manor; they were too cunning to come prowling about a place where cavalry officers were quartered.
And with the arrival of the troop another danger had been averted. Now Baroness Katharina would not break into the Nameless Castle and despoil Count Vavel of something which Satan Laczi could not, with all his cunning, have restored to him--his heart!
Count Ludwig did not trouble himself further about the manor. He was convinced that enough gallant cavalrymen were over yonder to entertain the fair mistress, so that she would no longer wait for any more tiresome philosophizing from him.
Every evening he could hear the band playing on the veranda of the manor, and very often, too, the merry dance-music, which floated from the open windows until a late hour of the night. They were enjoying themselves over yonder, and they were right in so doing.
How did all this concern him?
In one respect, however, the soldiers taking up their quarters in Fertoszeg concerned him: they exercised daily on the same road over which it was his custom to take his daily drive with Marie. In order to avoid meeting them, he was obliged to change the hour to noon, when the soldiers would be at dinner.
Several days after the arrival of the troop at Fertoszeg, the officer in command paid a visit at the Nameless Castle--a courtesy required from one who was familiar with the usages of good society. At the door, however, he was told by the groom that Count Vavel was not at home. He left his card, which Henry at once delivered to his master, who was in his study.
The card bore the name:
"Vicomte Leon Barthelmy, K. K., Colonel of Cavalry."
Count Vavel tried to remember where he had heard the name before, but without success. He quieted his dread which this act of ceremony had aroused in him by the thought that it contained no further significance than the conventional courtesy which a stranger felt himself called upon to pay to a resident.