"
"Is the chambermaid idea bothering you?"
"No, Maurice, it is not the chambermaid. I feel oppressed by
something which I can not define."
"Maybe you are not used to tokay forty years old?"
"Wine has nothing to do with it."
He was so serious that Maurice dropped his jesting tone. "By the
way," he said, "do you sleep soundly?"
"No. Every night I am awakened by the noise of a horse entering
the court-yard."
"So am I. Moreover, Madame seems to be troubled with the same
sleeplessness.
"Madame?"
"Yes. She is so troubled with sleeplessness that nothing will
quiet her but the sight of the man who rides the horse: all of
which is to say that a courier arrives each night with
dispatches from Bleiberg. Now, to tell the truth, the courier
does not keep me awake half so much as the thought of who is
eating three meals a day at the end of the east corridor on the
third floor. But there are Madame and the countess; we have kept
them waiting,"
"Good morning," said Madame, smiling as they came up. "And how
have you slept?"
"Nothing wakes me but the roll of the drum or thunder," answered
Fitzgerald diffidently.
Pages:
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191