Louis Van Ramm continued his way towards the manor-house, walking rapidly, I following on the turf at the roadside. Suddenly I came upon the place where I had joined the high road in my retreat from the park the night before. Knowing that the path that led to this point was a short cut through the woods, I ran along it in the hope of finding some place of vantage, whence I could observe what went on outside the manor-house. When I reached the edge of the wood I saw the shadowy building, its front all shot with lighted windows. One of these windows was on the lower floor near the ground. I wondered whether it would offer me any advantage as a means of discovering what was going on inside the building. Some high bushes grew near it and in these I managed to conceal myself so near the window that I could see inside quite well. I presume that the fire of logs within made the room too hot, for the window was open, in spite of the chill wind that bit me to the bone. The patroon was sitting at a table in plain sight of the window. Between him and the door and facing him was the woman I had seen the night before on the terrace, evidently his daughter.

136“Go to your room, Miriam,” I heard him say to her. “I have no use for you here. As for this man Le Bourse, if you have any dealings with him I shall lock you up. Go. Do you hear me?”

The girl did not move. She folded her arms across her breast, at the same time drawing herself up proudly. She was tall and slender, and of a fine, dignified figure.

“Father,” she replied, “there is no use threatening me. You know that I am not a coward. If you do not intend to make some reparation to this man who has come to seek his sister, I shall. You can at least be kind to him. You know only too well that unkindness here hastened, perhaps caused, the poor girl’s unhappy death.”

She brushed her hand across her eyes. I blessed her in my heart for that little act. The patroon, however, grew angry. He lifted a wine glass from the table and held it in his hand, as if he intended to throw it at her.

“Do not talk to me of her,” he burst out. “Not a word of her or you shall repent it. Now go. You have already seen too much of this man. I shall not tolerate it.”

The girl bowed with proper dignity, but she did not move. She had still a word of protest that must be said.

“I shall obey you, sir, but I must say what I feel. I shall not act behind your back. You shall know exactly what I intend to do. I shall see him again 137and tell him all I can of the miserable fate of his sister and I shall do all in my power to sooth his sorrow. I loved Ruth even if she was but—”

Her words were cut short by the crash of breaking glass. She had sprung to one side just in time to evade the flying goblet which her father hurled at her.

“Will you not obey me? Are you not my daughter?”

“I am you daughter, but for all that, father—”

She stopped speaking and left the room abruptly, for at that moment another door was opened, which I could not see, though I heard the latch click distinctly. Then Louis Van Ramm entered the room and came to his master’s side. I heard the patroon say something to him about the “Wench, my daughter.” Then he and the dwarf fell to talking in tones so low that I could only hear now and then an excited exclamation of surprise.

I can hardly express the feelings that I experienced at that moment. From where I crouched in the shrubbery, shivering with cold, I could look upon the wide space where I had seen the Red Band drilling the night before, surrounded by the jumping shadows of the torches. The picture of the girl dressed in white, standing upon the platform while the troopers obeyed the commands of their chief, and the impatient gesture with which she had been dismissed by her father, were all clear in my mind’s eye. I had not thought then that 138within a day I should have found a friend within the walls of the manor. Yet such was the case. The girl was disposed to treat me kindly. I did not care so much for that. My heart was drawn towards her because she had loved Ruth, and because she was now suffering for that affection. I could not but admire her spirit, and the quiet dignity with which she stood to her convictions before the hot anger of her parent; nor could I observe without still greater admiration the noble pride that prompted her to be silent the moment another person entered the room. Of course I did not know then as I knew later how unlike her usual manner this severity towards her father was. But I soon learned that there were moments when his peculiar infirmity demanded such firmness and that this was one of them.

While I mused upon the scene before me and all it stood for, the patroon and his retainer sat at the table in busy conversation. At last Van Volkenberg leaned back in his chair and fitted the palms of his hands together, tapping the finger tips slightly.

“Good news, Louis,” he said, for the first time raising his voice so that I could hear him distinctly. “This time we trip the Earl, God’s curse upon him.”

For a moment they sat silent, the master lost in thought. Evidently the news communicated to Louis in the meeting by Webber’s tavern was vitally connected with the welfare of the Earl of Bellamont. 139At last Van Volkenberg was roused by some question from his companion that I could not hear.

“You are right,” the patroon answered. “On my life we must not let this chance slip. Before day-light&md............