69

“I can’t be with you today,” Dorka said. The hostess wants me to spend the night with her.

Is she afraid of something?

The woman was embarrassed and hurriedly answered:

What is she afraid of?

“I don’t know,” Isstvan shrugged his shoulders, “perhaps she is tormented by nightmares.

“Perhaps,” said Dorothea grimly.

The absences of his mistress seemed strange to him, and when she announced for the third time that the mistress demanded her presence, he decided to follow Dorka.

As soon as it was dark, he stood under the canopy of the stable, from where the flickering light of a candle in its window was perfectly visible. About half an hour passed, a shadow flickered in the room, and at the same moment the light went out.

Istvan ran up the stairs to the gallery, slipped into the corridor and, having reached the turn, carefully peered around the corner. At the far end of the narrow passage he saw the receding figure of Dorothea. Without thinking twice, he darted after him.

It was cool in the c