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'You had better put it into your pocket, answered Greifenstein grimly, but without a trace of unkindness in his voice. 'You may like to have it about you, you know. Rieseneck looked at his brother in silence for a few seconds, and then took the thing once more in his hands. 'Do you mean it as a gift? he asked. 'You might not care to claim it afterwards. 'Yes.
But the examination proved the contrary. It was plainly evident that both men had died in their chairs by the weapons found in their own hands. Rieseneck had written to his son, but Greifenstein had not, or, at least, if he had written anything it had not been discovered. Rex alone could know the secret, therefore, if it had been revealed at all.
'And for that matter, said the baroness, as the carriage swung round the curve and began the last ascent that ended at the castle gate, 'for that matter, you can call yourself Sigmundskron instead of Greifenstein. Greif moved uneasily in his furs. It seemed as though everything were conspiring against him.
Greifenstein had stood still for some seconds, overcome by the horror of his shame. One glance told him that his brother had spoken the truth. He turned away and stood facing the empty room. His face was convulsed, his teeth ground upon each other, his hands were clenched as in the agony of death.
The baroness came back in a few minutes and stood beside Hilda, laying her hand upon her daughter's forehead, and bending down. 'What did he say to you, child? she asked. 'He said that he would not marry me because it would be a shame that I should be called Greifenstein after what has happened.
So long as Greifenstein and Clara had been alive, Hilda's marriage with Greif had seemed right in her eyes. She regretted Rieseneck's disgrace, as a family disaster, but her conscience was not so sensitive as to look at it in the light of an obstacle to the union. Now, however, there was that before her there upon the bed of state in the glare of the lights which changed everything very much.
She wished it were all over, and that she might fall asleep without the dread of waking. Greifenstein did not notice her. 'What shall it be? he asked. She raised her face slowly and looked at him. 'Oh, Hugo, I would rather not! she exclaimed faintly.
Her hands grasped and crushed the damask of the cloth beneath the table, as she tried to steady her nerves by contemplating her near deliverance from torture. Greifenstein was the bravest of the three, as he had also the least cause for anxiety. He saw that it was impossible to continue the meal in total silence, and he made a tremendous effort to produce a show of conversation.
More than once, Greifenstein proposed to go away, to travel, to spend the winter in a southern climate, but she refused to leave her home, with a firmness that surprised him. There was Greif, she said, and Greif must be considered. When he was married they might go away and leave the castle to the young couple. Until then she would not move.
'Yes, answered Frau von Sigmundskron with her gentle smile, 'I hope so. 'I think that if you approve, and if your daughter has no objections 'Objections! cried Frau von Greifenstein, suddenly waking from her reverie and turning her face to her companion's with an engaging simper. 'As if dear, sweet, beautiful Hilda could have any objections to marrying our Greif! Objections!
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