Von Prell had to kneel and hold down the unruly little animal, while he unwound the chain from her ankle.
"Tommy, Tommy, what have we done? We have grievously hurt our n.o.ble mistress. We can"t be blamed for pulling at our chains, but if in doing so we get under people"s skirts, we give great offence. Shame on you, you rascal."
He planted a kiss on the dog"s pointed little snout.
"Doesn"t he ever bite?" asked Lilly with interest.
"He has had the benefit of a rigorous military training, as a result of which he has grown accustomed to kisses."
Another burst of gaiety. Von Prell held the struggling little ball of wool up to Lilly, and asked whether she would like to try a kiss, too.
Laughing she declined, and, laughing, she went home with him.
Characterless as she was.
Still laughing aloud, she entered the lighted hall of the castle, where Miss von Schwertfeger met her with great reproachful eyes.
"Where have you been, my dear?" she asked, evidently prepared to meet the grave situation in a mild spirit, while subjecting Lilly, none the less, to a keen cross-examination.
"He"s so funny!" Lilly sang out, hiding her face red with laughter on Miss von Schwertfeger"s shoulder.
"Did you--"
"Of course I did. Do you suppose I"d leave such a delightful, jolly old friend of mine in the lurch?"
Miss von Schwertfeger"s face became rigid.
Lilly gave herself a little shake and uttered a joyous gurgle. Then she ran off to her room, undressed, and burying her head in the pillows laughed herself to sleep.
CHAPTER XVIII
In laughter it began, and in laughter continued.
When Lilly awoke the next morning she saw that everything about her, the chandelier, the washstand, and the pretty, sentimental gleaner on the wall, had a.s.sumed a new aspect, and the sun was shining twice as brightly.
She stepped to the mirror in her nightgown, and forthwith had to laugh again at the reflection she saw there, a veritable street Arab"s face with sly, darting eyes and saucy nose.
At breakfast she fairly sparkled with playful conceits, chased the stiff-legged colonel about the table, and felt a warm sense of grat.i.tude toward Miss von Schwertfeger rise within her.
As for Miss von Schwertfeger, she smiled to herself significantly; and when the colonel left the room, caught Lilly by her ears, kissed her on her forehead, and said:
"You baby, you."
She made no reference to the confession Lilly had let slip that she and Von Prell were old friends. In fact, to judge by her manner, you might suppose she had not heard it.
Lilly ran up to her balcony, pushed aside the creepers, and sent a summoning nod to Von Prell, who was walking up and down uncertainly between the castle and the lodge.
He understood, bowed, and disappeared in the direction of the terrace steps.
What took place between him and Miss von Schwertfeger remained a secret; and there was no finding out whether or no she had questioned him in regard to his former relations with the colonel"s wife. But whatever the doubts on that score, the success of his interview was indisputable. So far from having to slink away from the place, he appeared at the supper table that very same day, ushered in by the colonel himself. In his striped coat, white waistcoat and high collar, in which his face lay almost buried, and wearing his most respectful expression, he was the very embodiment of correctness.
"I heard," said the colonel, leading him to Lilly, "that Mr. von Prell doesn"t feel entirely happy over there in the lodge. If you have no objections he will come to meals oftener after this."
Lilly hadn"t the slightest objections. The thought, however, that Katie would appear in the doorway the next instant almost choked her. But another maid took Katie"s place in handing old Ferdinand the dishes.
Lilly gave Miss von Schwertfeger a questioning look, which she answered in a whisper, so as not to be overheard by the gentlemen:
"The poor girl got very sick, and asked for a long leave of absence.
Most likely she will never come back again."
In her gratification Lilly impetuously pressed Miss von Schwertfeger"s hand under the table. She had a dim idea that Katie had been dismissed in order to spare her the repugnance of witnessing something impure.
The gentlemen without delay plunged deep into a discussion of the cavalry, richly interlarding their talk with proper names.
Mr. von Prell sat inclined toward the colonel to take in the instructions of his old commander, and kept blinking his lids in respectful attention. The colonel dominated like a wrathful G.o.d. He spoke gruffly and noisily and shot out his dagger glances as if to mow down rank after rank of the enemy"s army. But this was nothing else than a craftsman"s vain joy in his work.
Lilly listened, and would gladly have taken part in the conversation, but the men had forgotten her presence, and a jealous gloom clouded her spirit, for which she did not know whether to blame the colonel or Von Prell.
When Von Prell rose to take leave the colonel laying his hand on the young man"s shoulder said:
"See here, why haven"t we done this before?" The glance he sent Lilly seemed to signify: "Such an amount of caution was really unnecessary."
When the first cool days in September brought on the colonel"s gout again, and his visits to town had to be postponed indefinitely, Von Prell"s invitations to supper grew more frequent.
The colonel groaned and cursed each time he mounted a horse, though he refused to listen to Lilly when she pled with him to give up his morning gallop.
"Too bad all of you are always so dreadfully concerned about me," she observed, "because sometimes I might take your place in riding about the country."
The colonel and his housekeeper exchanged looks.
"After all, it"s a shame she can"t ride horseback. Any decent sort of a riding master might take her in hand. My morning excursion is more than enough for me. What do you think, Anna, can we entrust her to that humbug Von Prell?"
Lilly"s face lighted up with joy. Miss von Schwertfeger let her eyes rest on her glowing cheeks and said very slowly, as if to chew the cud of every word:
"You know Von Prell is reckless. What if he should bring our darling back to us some day with broken bones? At all events, it seems to me, before deciding, we had better consider the matter carefully."
Though Lilly took good care not to utter a syllable expressive of desire or opposition, she was not successful, apparently, in concealing her secret wishes; for the next time they were alone together, Miss von Schwertfeger suddenly took Lilly"s face between her hands and said:
"Get rid of the idea, darling. Do. Believe me, it"s better so."
About this time Lilly made a remarkable and somewhat suspicious find.
She enjoyed going on expeditions of discovery through the s.p.a.cious castle, only part of which was inhabited; and on one occasion while rummaging about in one of the third-story guest rooms, now seldom used, she extracted from a chiffonier a light gauze shirt, covered with silver spangles and shot with silver thread, resembling the shirt she had often had to wear during the Dresden stay before going to bed. Her own shirt these days hung undisturbed in her closet, from which it had not been removed even for Miss von Schwertfeger"s inspection, because Lilly was a little ashamed of it.
Her curiosity was piqued by the vestment she had found, and folding it carefully she went down to question her friend about it.