enter the army? O, I knew it!"

The prince looked at her in great surprise.

"You knew it, baroness? I supposed you only knew Hartmut through me, and
considered him a Roumanian!"

The young widow's face flushed as she realised how unwise she had been
to make this outcry, but she answered quickly:

"I learned to know who Herr Rojanow was last winter when he was at
Rodeck. I have known his father, however, for many long years, and
the--I take it for granted that your highness knows the whole story?"

"Yes, I know it all," said Egon in a hopeless tone.

"Colonel Falkenried was a near friend of my father, and a constant guest
at our house. I had never heard of his son, and took it for granted that
he was childless, until that frightful hour at Rodeck, on the day of my
husband's death. I was witness to the painful conversation between
father and son."

The young prince breathed more freely; and an uncomfortable, suspicious
feeling was set at rest for the moment.

"Now I understand your interest and sympathy," he responded. "Colonel
Falkenried is to be pitied indeed."

"Why he?" inquired Adelheid, struck by the hard tone. "And how about
your friend?"

"I have no friend. I have lost him," cried Egon with a passionate burst.
"What he told me two days ago made a break between us, but what I have
since heard has parted us forever."

"You judge a seventeen year old boy--he could not have been much
older--very severely."

There was deep reproof in Adelheid's voice as she spoke, but the prince
shook his head passionately.

"I'm not speaking of his flight, or his broken word, though they were
both bad enough, considering he was an officer's son, but what I learned
yesterday--I see, my dear madam, you do not know the worst. How should
you? I should not have spoken."

"I beg your highness," began Adelheid again, "to tell me the truth. You
say that Rojanow has come back to enter the army. I am not surprised. I
expected it, for it was the only thing left for him to do to expiate his
old fault. Does he march beneath our colors yet?"

"So far he has not been able to gain admission, and I have been saved a
fearful responsibility," said Egon, with intense bitterness. "He
endeavored to get into several regiments but was refused every time."

"Refused? And why?"

"Because he dared not acknowledge himself a German, and all strangers,
especially Roumanians, are regarded with suspicion, and with justice,
too. We can't be to