It is rising
ground, and in the centre of the demesne, on the top of the hill, stands
a fine modern chateau, the property of a distant kinsman of Fritz's, the
Count Stanislas von Tarlenheim. Count Stanislas himself was a student
and a recluse. He seldom visited the house, and had, on Fritz's request,
very readily and courteously offered me its hospitality for myself and
my party. This, then, was our destination; chosen ostensibly for the
sake of the boar-hunting (for the wood was carefully preserved, and
boars, once common all over Ruritania, were still to be found there
in considerable numbers), really because it brought us within striking
distance of the Duke of Strelsau's more magnificent dwelling on the
other side of the town. A large party of servants, with horses and
luggage, started early in the morning; we followed at midday, travelling
by train for thirty miles, and then mounting our horses to ride the
remaining distance to the chateau.
We were a gallant party. Besides Sapt and Fritz, I was accompanied by
ten gentlemen: every one of them had been carefully chosen, and no less
carefully sounded, by my two friends, and all were devotedly attached to
the person of the King. They were told a part of the truth; the attempt
on my life in the summer-house was revealed to them, as a spur to their
loyalty and an incitement against Michael.
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