United States or British Virgin Islands ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
'I have spoken with him already this evening, and I ah rather liked what he said. 'Then why haven't you arranged it? To-morrow he joins and he must never be permitted to join the Guard! We might have asked Abenfeldt to remove him, but the Guard has up to the present day been able to set its own house in order, added Colendorp with a sour glance at Unziar.
He is soured and ill-conditioned, the readiest stuff to make a rebel and a traitor of! What more Elmur might have urged was cut short by the entrance of Colendorp. He had left his sword outside. He saluted Sagan in his stiff punctilious way, his dark and sallow face impenetrable. 'I am glad to see you, Captain Colendorp, said Sagan with some constraint.
Colendorp apparently thought for a moment. 'M. Selpdorf? he said. 'But not at all! Selpdorf is one of the foremost of my advisers. Colendorp shook his head as if no other name occurred to him; Sagan bent across the table, the knotted hand on which he leaned twitching slightly. 'You do not speak, but you know the truth. And you know the the Duke.
A pig-headed old fool, who would never be brought to see an inch either side of his oath of allegiance, but would rush blindly on before the Duke to his death, and to the destruction of Maäsau to anywhere! Colendorp, Ulm being away, you are the senior officer, failing Wallenloup.
Before the wine filled the glasses, Adolf was already deep in the story of Unziar's shooting-match with Abenfeldt. 'Allow me the honour of drinking with you, Monsieur, said Colendorp to Rallywood. 'It was in truth a notable performance; we have never had even in the Guard a surer shot than Unziar, he added, alluding to the anecdote.
Unziar looked back at his interlocutor, his eyes hardening. 'Of course, he said, bringing out each word distinctly, 'Rallywood must be got rid of. 'It will offend M. Selpdorf if his nominee be interfered with, went on Colendorp. 'I have already undertaken that little matter, put in Adolf eagerly. There was an undercurrent of meaning in all this of which each man present was fully aware.
The night was drawing to a close. The long supper room was almost deserted. Amongst the lingerers were a few officers in the uniform of the Guard, who stood talking together in one corner. 'The fellow has given you no chance, Adolf was saying gloomily. 'Have him in here! Kick him in here, if necessary! said Colendorp. 'I don't think you will find him reluctant, drawled Unziar.
Oh, you must be on your guard against them! 'Who has been frightening you with all this nonsense? asked Selpdorf with cold suspicion. 'You don't understand me! Father, I know how Captain Colendorp died. I saw it the struggle and his fall over the cliff. Then I guessed his Highness was in danger, and I went to warn him.
There was old walrus-faced Wallenloup; thin, dark, reckless Colendorp; Adiron, whose great bulk behind a cavalry sword was a sight for the gods, and so on; the three lieutenants following closely in the footsteps of the three lieutenants who had been before them; men who went to the rendezvous of a duel in all comfort, affecting to be infinitely more afraid of catching cold than of being killed; men who kissed the wife and dispatched the husband with equal skill and as little noise as might be; men who were feared by a rough, swaggering, raucous soldiery, whom they only knew through the hard-faced sergeants; men, in fact, who lived out their debonair, picturesquely evil lives to the satisfaction of themselves and of few others.
'May I suggest, sir, to Colendorp, who happened to be the captain of his own squadron, 'that it is unusual to be obliged to act so carefully as we have been advised to do in this case? Colendorp's dark face grew darker, but the honour of the Guard over-rode all personal considerations. 'I have been hasty, Unziar, he said in a stifled voice after a slight pause.
Word Of The Day