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Updated: June 10, 2025
Then Rieseneck took from his pocket his brother's gift and laid it upon the table. 'It is time for us also, he said. 'Yes. I must write to Greif first. Half an hour later the short and terrible tragedy was completed, and of the three persons who had sat together at the table, suffering each in his or her own way as much as each could bear, not one was left alive to tell the tale.
I warn you that it is far. 'It will be enough if you show me the way, answered Rieseneck absently. 'You are very kind. 'It is my interest, said Greifenstein, unwilling that his feelings should be misinterpreted. Then he relapsed into silence. Of the two, Rieseneck was the more at his ease. Possibly he did not realise how his brother despised him.
'You got my letter? inquired the fugitive. 'Yes. I will do what you ask of me. The answers came in a hard, contemptuous voice, for Greifenstein was almost choking with rage at being thus forced to receive and protect a man whom he both despised and hated. But Rieseneck did not expect any very cordial welcome, and his expression did not vary. 'I thank you, he answered.
She came forward, and saw that the two men were standing together before the fire. The door had moved noiselessly on its hinges, but the rustle of the silk gown made Greifenstein and Rieseneck turn their heads simultaneously. Clara's eyes rested on the stranger with some curiosity, and she noticed with satisfaction that his gaze fixed itself upon her own face.
'And what has become of this Herr von Rieseneck, if that was his name? 'He is alive and well. Rich, for anything I know to the contrary. He escaped from the fortress where he was confined and made his way to South America. I had not seen him for some time before that disgraceful affair.
I have sent your rifle to Stuttgardt to be re-sighted as you wished. And so, good-bye. Greif put the letter into his pocket and went gloomily on his way to the lecture, reflecting that at that very moment Rieseneck was probably on his way to Berlin. The snow fell heavily in the Black Forest during the third week of December.
He was making a calculation with the object of fixing some limit of time within which Rieseneck must arrive, and he came to the conclusion that the catastrophe could not be far distant. Rieseneck would probably come to the nearest railway station by train from Stuttgardt, and walk thence to Greifenstein, leaving any luggage he might have with him to be forwarded after he had made good his escape.
The question cut short the good baroness's attempt to justify the marriage. It rose suddenly in her mind and covered every other thought with a veil. Since that day when poor Clara had behaved so strangely on hearing of the amnesty, Frau von Sigmundskron had always believed that she knew more of Rieseneck than any one else supposed.
'Outwardly, it is true. But the fact would remain. You are Rieseneck and I am Greifenstein, for all our lives, and our children will be Riesenecks and Greifensteins after us, if we marry. I would not lay such a curse upon any woman, much less upon one I love. 'A curse is a purely conventional term, having no real meaning in life, replied Rex.
As the words escaped Clara's lips, Greifenstein started violently and made as though he would rise, laying his hands on the edge of the table and leaning forward towards his wife. The echo of Rieseneck's name had not died away when the unhappy woman realised what she had done. Rieseneck himself turned suddenly towards her and the blood rushed to his pale face.
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