134 BLACK DIAMONDS

135

"

Naturally. ^I did not

know who

_{might have} fired thepistol."

Both

men

ascendedtotheapartments^ofthe countess.

The

abbd enteredfirst toprepare^her.

"\Ve have _got unexpected help," he _said;

"a

neigh-bor_{of yours,} Ivan Behrend."

"A

doubtful person," returned Theudelinde,

scorn-fully.

"

He

is an atheist."

"

Itdoes not matter inthe present ^crisis whether he bea Thug, ^a

Mormon,

^{or a Manichaean},

we

have_great needof his help.

Some

one told

him

ofthe_plight

you

are in,

and

he wishes to see you."

"

I will not see him, or speak ^{to him. I} beg you ^will confer with

him

instead ofme."

"

Countess, ^ifthis

man

is

what

_{you say,} a _heretic, he

may

say ^thathe will not confer with one of

my

cloth."

"

Very

^{well. I} suppose ^I must see

him

, butyou ^will be_present?"

"

If it should be necessary."

The

countess rolled her shawl round her, and

went

into the reception-room, ^into which the

morning

light

was

_breaking.

Abbd Samuel

_thought ^it_necessary, how-ever, tolight the candelabras on the chimney.

Theudelinde,^with _{a freezing}air, asked Ivan to takea chair, and _placed herself at a considerable distance from her visitor.

She

_signed to

him

to begin the con-versation.

mntess, ^this night while ^I was busy reading,

some

one tapped ^at

my

window,

and when

I

opened

^{it thrust}

this note into

my

^{hand. It is written}

by

yoursteward."

"

By my

^{steward!" exclaimed} the countess, ⁱⁿ a tone of surprise.

"

It is written in his _style, and _quite unfit foryou ^to read. ^{I will} tell you what ^interests you.

The

steward

136 feLACK

says^that your ^entire household, without any exception of sex, have

made _good

their escape,

and

thatheis

fol-lowing^theirexample."

"

My

^{steward also!}

^And

^for

^what

^reason?"

"

He

gives the reason ^{in his letter. I} suspect, how-ever, ^{it is} only a pretext

on

_{his part} to conceal a very criminal design. ^I

am

of opinion ^that he has robbed you."

"

Robbed me

!"repeated the countess.

"

Do

not alarm _yourself; there are different sorts of robbery, such as being an ^{unfaithful steward,} injuring yourland,

making

profittohimselfto yourdisadvantage.

This man, ^I imagine, played ^this game, and has

now

tried to give a

humorous

turn to his _flight, so that the laugh

may

^be turned against you. Thisis

my

^idea."

The

countess was _obliged to acknowledge ^{that her} neighbor

was

both a clever and a kind-hearted man.

"

In this letter,"continued _Ivan,

"your

^{stewardstates}

that afterwhat has

happened

^{hecould neverdaretolook} you ^inthe face again, as hecould notconvince you ^that the late scandals in the castle

had

_{gone on} without his knowledge. ^{I did not believe} these words. I felt cer-tain thatyou had ^dismissed your household on finding out

how

_grosslytheyhaddeceivedyou^; therefore,

my

^first

care on_getting this letter

was

to send a messenger on horseback to the nearest telegraph-station with a mes-sage ^to your banker ⁱⁿ Pesth, ^{to tell}

him

that the agent ofthe

Bondavara

estate

had

absconded,

and

on no

ac-count to honor his checks. I thought ^it

was

_probable he had _{liberty to}

draw

ⁱⁿyour name."

"

This was _{really very practical} and _thoughtful on your part," said the abbe.

"The

countess

must

feel

most_grateful toyou."

Theudelinde

bowed

herhead graciously.

137

"One

reason that brought

me

here,"continued _Ivan,

"wasto

know

ifyou approved^ofwhatIhad_done,

and

also to offeryou

my

^{assistance in case} you ^{wishto leave the}

castle. I will help you^to getaway,

and

^I will send

my

people ^tolook afteryour property ^tillyou can

make

fur-ther arrangements."

"Thisisreally most _neighborly and _friendly,and the countess

owes

_you a debt of gratitude," repeated the priest,again assuming^all responsibility.

"

I

am

merely doing

my

duty," returned Ivan.

"And

I would add that ^ifyou should be ⁱⁿ any difficulty as to the necessary funds,which is very likely,as thesteward

and

bailiff have both

made

off,don't let this for a

mo-ment

distressyou; ^Ican lend

you

^tenthousandflorins."

The Abbe Samuel

_whispered tothecountessto accept this offerin the _spirit in which it was meant,

and

on no account tosay anything of interest.

Theudelinde accordingly held out her

hand

with gra-cious dignity ^to her chivalrous neighbor,

who drew

from his pocket ^the

money

ⁱⁿ bank-notes.

The

countess wished to give

him

an acknowledgment, which he de-clined,saying the

money ^was

^{lent for such a short time}

that it was not necessary.

"

And

aboutleaving the castle,"he said. "

How

soon

do

_you start ?"

The

sooner the better!" cried the countess.

"Then,

^ifyou ^{will allow}

me

to suggest a plan ^for ac-complishing ^{the first} stage ^of the journey,which is the difficultpart ^of the business,ⁱⁿ the first place ^{it will} be necessary ^to pack

up

what you^{need. Will} you be

good

enough,countess,^{to select} thetrunksyou

mean

tobring?

When

this is

done

I will harness the horses; then

we

mustlock andsealtherooms, and

my

^{servants willwatch}

them

until

you

send your proper people. This _done,

In document BLACK DIAMONDS (Pldal 146-150)