'
'Ay, if he would!' cried she, 'and stay there!'
'And stay there,' echoed the Baron. It was so significantly said,
that her face changed; and the schemer, fearful of the sinister
ambiguity of his expressions, hastened to explain. 'This time he
shall go hunting in a carriage, with a good escort of our foreign
lancers. His destination shall be the Felsenburg; it is healthy,
the rock is high, the windows are small and barred; it might have
been built on purpose. We shall intrust the captaincy to the
Scotsman Gordon; he at least will have no scruple. Who will miss
the sovereign? He is gone hunting; he came home on Tuesday, on
Thursday he returned; all is usual in that. Meanwhile the war
proceeds; our Prince will soon weary of his solitude; and about the
time of our triumph, or, if he prove very obstinate, a little later,
he shall be released upon a proper understanding, and I see him once
more directing his theatricals.'
Seraphina sat gloomy, plunged in thought. 'Yes,' she said suddenly,
'and the despatch? He is now writing it.'
'It cannot pass the council before Friday,' replied Gondremark; 'and
as for any private note, the messengers are all at my disposal.
They are picked men, madam. I am a person of precaution.'
'It would appear so,' she said, with a flash of her occasional
repugnance to the man; and then after a pause, 'Herr von
Gondremark,' she added, 'I recoil from this extremity.
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