"Is
there any cause for apprehension?"
"Only his request to be looked up within a certain time. The
truth is, he was to have come here on a peculiar errand," with
lowered voice. "Did you ever hear of what is called
'Fitzgerald's folly?'"
"Yes; few haven't heard of it." Maurice could never understand
why he resisted the impulse to tell the whole affair. A dozen
words to the man at his side, and the catastrophes, even
embryonic, would be averted. "You must tell me who most of these
people are," he said, in order to get around a disagreeable
subject. "I am a total stranger."
"With pleasure. That tall, angular old man, in the long, gray
frock, with decorations, is Marshal Kampf. You must meet him; he
is the wittiest man in Bleiberg. The gentleman with the red
beard is Mollendorf of the police. And beside him--yes, the
little man with glasses and a loose cravat--is Count von
Wallenstein, the minister of finance. That is the chancellor
talking to the archbishop. Ah, Mr. Carewe, these receptions are
fine comedies. The Marshal, the count and Mollendorf represent
what is called the Auersperg faction under the rose.
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