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I can burn it if I like, said Wastei, striking a match and watching the white flame in the sunshine. 'Of course you can, if you like, replied Berbel unmoved. 'Well, if you want it, there it is, he said, throwing away the match and handing her the letter. 'Do not spoil the christening with it, Frau Berbel.
'Out with it! exclaimed Berbel who was not in a humour for long conversations. 'Out with it is soon said, returned the other. 'It is a serious matter. Do you think I can chatter like a magpie without thinking of what I am to say? 'Then think, and be quick about it, or I shall go in.
He had known Berbel for many years and he was sure of her discretion. She would keep it until the proper moment was come, and would give it to the right person in the end. But he had not been able to resist the temptation of making a profound mystery of the matter and he prided himself upon the effective way in which he had executed his scheme.
And Wastei brought me the letter yesterday, and the coat to-day. That is the whole history. 'Where is it the letter? asked Hilda in an anxious tone. Berbel unlocked her little deal chest and withdrew the precious document, which she put into Hilda's hand. Hilda turned it over and over, and looked from it to the coat, and back again to the sealed envelope, reading the address again and again.
Berbel looked at him for a moment, and then laughed a little, a phenomenon which with her was exceedingly unusual. 'You are really not stupid at all, she remarked. The ghost of a smile played about Wastei's thin lips as he turned his eyes upon her. Their expression was at once keen, cunning and good-natured. 'Nobody ever said I was particularly dull, he answered.
When poverty is to be concealed, his shadow must not be caught lurking at the door by chance visitors. Nor was it only out of fear of being surprised by her relations that the quiet baroness insisted that Hilda and even Berbel should always be presentable. Her pride was inseparably united with that rigid self-respect which, in the poor, alone saves pride from being ridiculous.
How could a man have eyes with no pupils in them, and yet be able to tell a swift from a swallow as well as Wastei himself and at as great a distance? There was evidently something wrong about Rex, and Berbel preferred to trust any other member of the household. For the rest, there was the baroness and there was Hilda.
Berbel used to suspect that Wastei knew more of the nakedness of the land than he admitted, and that he risked more than one dangerous bit of poaching out of secret pity for the poor ladies who were known to buy so little food in the village.
'If you would let me, she said, at last, 'I would take the letter to the baron and explain if it would hurt you 'You? I? cried Hilda almost fiercely. 'It is of him I am thinking, and of what he will suffer. What does it matter for me? It is my duty, and I must do it am I his wife only when the sun shines and we are happy? Ah, Berbel, you should know better than that!
It was yet early morning, and Hilda was in all probability still asleep, dreaming of the festivities of the previous day, but it would be important to know whether Greif was up or not, and whether he intended to leave the castle during the morning. Berbel left her room and went down to the court.
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