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<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2> When Axel came in two hours later, bringing Dellwig and Manske and two or three other helpers, farmers, who had driven across the plain to do what they could, he found his house lit up and food and drink set out ready in the dining-room. Letty and Anna had had time to recover from their tears and vows, sundry small blisters on the back of Letty's neck had been treated with cotton wool, and they had emerged from their agitation to a calmer state in which the helping of the princess in the middle of the night to make somebody else's house comfortable was not without its joys. The Mamsell, no more able than the Kleinwalde servants to withstand the authority of the princess's name and eye, had collected the maids and worked with a will; and when, all danger of the fire spreading being over, Axel came in dirty and smoky and scorched, prepared to have to hunt himself in the dark house for the refreshment he could not but offer his helpers, he was agreeably surprised to find the lamp in the hall alight, and to be met by a wide-awake Mamsell in a clean apron who proposed to provide the gentlemen with hot water. This was very attentive. Axel had never known her so thoughtful. The gentlemen, however, with one accord refused the hot water; they would drink a glass of wine, perhaps, as Herr von Lohm so kindly suggested, and then go to their homes and beds as quickly as possible. Manske, by far the grimiest, was also the most decided in his refusal; he was a godly man, but he did not love supererogatory washings, under which heading surely a washing at two o'clock in the morning came. Axel left them in the hall a moment, and went into his study to fetch cigars; and there he found Letty, hiding behind the door. "You here, young lady?" he exclaimed surprised, stopping short. "Don't let anyone see me," she whispered. "Princess Ludwig and Aunt Anna are in the dining-room. I ran in here when I heard people with you. My hair is all burnt off." "What, you went too near?" "Sparks came after me. Don't let them come in——" "You were not hurt?" "No. A little—on the back of my neck, but it's hardly anything." "I am very glad your hair was burnt off," said Axel with great severity. "So am I," was the hearty reply. "The tangles at night were something awful." He stood silent for a moment, the cigar-boxes under his arm, uncertain whether he ought not to enlighten her as to the reprehensibility of her late conduct in regard to her aunt and Klutz. Evidently her conscience was cloudless, and yet she had done more harm than was quite calculable. Axel was fairly certain that Klutz had set fire to the stables. Absolutely certain he could not be, but the first blaze had occurred so nearly at the moment when Klutz must have reached them on his way home, that he had hardly a doubt about it. It was his duty as Amtsvorsteher to institute inquiries. If these inquiries ended in the arrest of Klutz, the whole silly story about Anna would come out, for Klutz would be only too eager to explain the reasons that had driven him to the act; and what an unspeakable joy for the province, and what a delicious excitement for Stralsund! He could only hope that Klutz was not the culprit, he could only hope it fervently with all his heart; for if he was, the child peeping out at him so cheerfully from behind the door had managed to make an amount of mischief and bring an amount of trouble on Anna that staggered him. Such a little nonsense, and such far-reaching consequences! He could not speak when he thought of it, and strode past her indignantly, and left the room without a word. "Now what's the row with him?" Letty asked herself, her finger in her mouth; for Axel had looked at her as he passed with very grave and angry eyes. The men waiting in the hall were slightly disconcerted, on being taken into the dining-room, to find the Kleinwalde ladies there. None of them, except Manske, liked ladies; and ladies in the small hours of the morning were a special weariness to the flesh. Dellwig, having made his two deep bows to them, looked meaningly at his friends the other farmers; Miss Estcourt's private engagement to Lohm seemed to be placed beyond a doubt by her presence in his house on this occasion. "How delightful of you," said Axel to her in English. "I am glad to hear," she replied stiffly in German, for she was still angry with him because of Letty's hair, "I am glad to hear that you will have no losses from this." "Losses!" cried Manske. "On the contrary, it is the best thing that could happen—the very best thing. Those stables have long been almost unfit for use, Herr von Lohm, and I can say from my heart that I was glad to see them go. They were all to pieces even in your father's time." "Yes, they ought to have been rebuilt long ago, but one has not always the money in one's pocket. Help yourself, my dear pastor." "Who is the enemy?" broke in Dellwig's harsh voice. "Ah, who indeed?" said Manske, looking sad. "That is the melancholy side of the affair—that someone, presumably of my parish, should commit such a crime." "He has done me a great service, anyhow," said Axel, filling the glasses. "He has imperilled his immortal soul," said Manske. "Have you such an enemy?" asked Anna, surprised. "I did not know it. Most likely it was some poor, half-witted devil, or perhaps—perhaps a child." "But I saw the blaze immediately after I passed you," said Dellwig. "You were within a stone's throw of the stables, going home. I had hardly reached them when the fire broke out. Did you then see no one on the road?" "No, I did not," said Axel shortly. There was an aggressive note in Dellwig's voice that made him fear he was going to be very zealous in helping to bring the delinquent to justice. "It was the supper hour," said Dellwig, musing, "and the men would all be indoors. Had you been to the stables, gnädiger Herr?" "No, I had not. Take another glass of wine. A cigar? Whoever it was, he has done me a good turn." "Beyond all doubt he has," said Dellwig, his eyes fixed on Axel with an odd expression. "Some of us would have no objection to the same thing happening at our places," remarked one of the farmers jocosely. "No objection whatever," agreed another with a laugh. "If the man could be trusted to display the same discrimination everywhere," said the third. "Joke not about crime," said Manske, rebuking them. "The discrimination was certainly remarkable," said Dellwig. "That is why I think it must have been done by some person more or less imbecile," said Axel; "otherwise one of the good buildings, whose destruction would really have harmed me, would have been chosen." "He must be hunted down, imbecile or not," said Dellwig. "I shall do my duty," said Axel stiffly. "You may rely on my help," said Dellwig. "You are very good," said Axel. Dellwig's voice had something ominous about it that made Anna shiver. What a detestable man he was, always and at all times. His whole manner to-night struck her as specially offensive. "What will be done to the poor wretch when he is caught?" she asked Axel. "He will be imprisoned," Dellwig answered promptly. She turned her back on him. "Even though he is half-witted?" she said to Axel. "Are you obliged to look for him? Can't you leave him alone? He has done you a service, after all." "I must look for him," said Axel; "it is my duty as Amtsvorsteher." "And the gracious Miss should consider——" shouted Dellwig from behind. "I'll consider nothing," said Anna, turning to him quickly. "—should consider the demands of justice——" "First the demands of humanity," said Anna, her back to him. "Noble," murmured Manske. "The gracious Miss's sentiments invariably do credit to her heart," said Dellwig, bowing profoundly. "But not to her head, he thinks," said Anna to Axel in English, faintly smiling. "Don't talk to him," Axel replied in a low voice; "the man so palpably hates us both. You must go home. Where is your carriage? Princess, take her home." "Ach, Herr Dellwig, seien Sie so freundlich——" began the princess mellifluously; and despatched him in search of Fritz. When they reached Kleinwalde, silent, wornout, and only desiring to creep upstairs and into their beds, they were met by Frau von Treumann and the baroness, who both wore injured and disapproving faces. Letty slipped up to her room at once, afraid of criticisms of her hairlessness. "We have waited for you all night, Anna," said Frau von Treumann in an aggrieved voice. "You oughtn't to have," said Anna wearily. "We could not suppose that you were really looking at the fire all this time," said the baroness. "And we were anxious," said Frau von Treumann. "My dear, you should not make us anxious." "You might have left word, or taken us with you," said the baroness. "We are quite as much interested in Herr von Lohm as Letty or Princess Ludwig can be," said Frau von Treumann. "Nobody could tell us here for certain whether you had really gone there or not." "Nor could anybody give us any information as to the extent of the disaster." "We presumed the princess was with you, but even that was not certain." "My dear baroness," murmured the princess, untying her shawl, "only you would have had a doubt of it." "The reflection in the sky faded hours ago," said Frau vein Treumann. "And yet you did not return," said the baroness. "Where did you go afterwards?" "Oh, I'll tell you everything to-morrow. Good-night," said Anna, candle in hand. "What! Now that we have waited, and in such anxiety, you will tell us nothing?" "There really is nothing to tell. And I am so tired—good-night." "We have kept the servants up and the kettle boiling in case you should want coffee." "That was very kind, but I only want bed. Good-night." "We too were weary, but you see we have waited in spite of it." "Oh, you shouldn't have. You will be so tired. Good-night." She went upstairs, pulling herself up each step by the baluster. The clock on the landing struck half-past three. Was it not Napoleon, she thought, who said something to the point about three-o'clock-in-the-morning courage? Had no one ever said anything to the point about three-o'clock-in-the-morning love for one's fellow-creatures? "Good-night," she said once more, turning her head and nodding wearily to them as they watched her from below with indignant faces. She glanced at the clock, and went into her room dejectedly; for she had made a startling discovery: at three o'clock in the morning her feeling towards the Chosen was one of indifference verging on dislike. <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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