"I believe that is his name," said Hofer, quietly; "his other name Ihave forgotten; we call him only Captain Ulrich, as you call me Andreas. Well, Captain Ulrich has already received his instructions and the list of prisoners whose release he is to advocate. It will only remain for us to add Hohenberg's name to the list, and you yourself, my Lizzie, shall urge Captain Ulrich to restore to you the old baron and your friend Elza.--Pray, dearest Cajetan, go and fetch the captain; he was to set out in an hour, and he must, therefore, be here yet.""He is certainly here yet, for there are his papers, which Iintended to take to him, and without which he cannot depart," said Doeninger. "And here is the list of the prisoners whose release he is to procure.""Add to it the names of the old baron and his daughter, Cajetan, and state that their release is urgently desired.""But for whom are they to be exchanged?"
"Yes, yes, for whom? Well, for Captain Ulrich himself. If he procures their release, and returns hither, as he solemnly swore be would, with the reply of the Bavarian government, and, perhaps, brings the old baron and his daughter with him, he shall be free and at liberty to go wherever he pleases. Go, Cajetan, say that to the captain, and give him the papers, and repeat to him once more all that he is to do. And you, Lizzie, will you not send by him a note to your friend? But it is true, you have not yet written a letter to her. It is better for you to tell him what he is to say in your name to your friend.--Go, therefore, Cajetan, take the papers to the captain, and conduct him to Lizzie. But do not bring him in here, for there are in the anteroom still a great many persons whom I must see before I can converse further with you. Take him, therefore, into the other room; and when he is there, return to me, Cajetan.
Lizzie may then go in there and see the captain; and we shall speak with the poor people in the audience-room who have had to wait already so long to-day.--But I shall not let you go again, my Lizzie," added Hofer, after Doeninger had left the room; "no, Ishall not let you go again. You must stay with me at the palace here, and be my dear little daughter until the captain returns from his mission, and until you know if he brings your friend and her father along with him. Will you do so, Lizzie?""I will, dear father Andreas; I will stay with you until then, and take care of you as a good daughter, until my dear Elza, if it please God, returns, when I will go back with her to Windisch-Matrey."
At this moment Doeninger re-entered the room. "The captain is in the room yonder," he said, pointing to a side-door; "he awaits you, and will set out after seeing you. The carriage is already at the door.
Go, therefore, Eliza Wallner."
"I am going already," said Eliza. She nodded to Andreas with a sweet smile and opened the door of the adjoining room, while Doeninger admitted another person from the audience-room into Hofer's cabinet.
The room which Eliza entered was one of the large state apartments of the palace, which Andreas did not occupy, and which he used only on rare occasions. It was a wide room with heavy silken hangings on the walls; curtains of the same description covered the windows, so that only a dim twilight reigned in the large apartment. Magnificent gilt furniture lined the walls; between the windows stood large Venetian mirrors in broad carved golden frames, and gorgeous lustres of rock-crystal were suspended from the ceiling.
Was it the splendor and magnificence surrounding her all at once that rendered Eliza so timid and anxious? She leaned for a moment in great embarrassment against the door, as if she could not venture to advance on the glittering floor. Her large, bright eyes glanced uneasily around the great room, and now she saw in the window-niche yonder the tall form of a gentleman; his head was averted from her, and he seemed to be looking eagerly out of the window.
"I do not know him; surely, I do not know him," said Eliza to herself. "It is foolish in me to think so; be strong, therefore, my heart, strong and calm, and do not throb so very impetuously!"And overcoming her bashfulness with a courageous effort, she advanced toward the officer, who was still turning his back upon her.
Now she was close behind him, and said in a low, bashful voice:
"Captain, I--"
He turned quickly, and gazed at her with eyes radiant with joy and intense love.