'No,' said the general, 'I am not aware of any such feeling, for _I_ have no souvenirs, no cherished remembrances.'
Krusé looked up in amazement at the bitter and almost despairing meaning which lay in these words. Gregers continued:
'I came to ask you to visit me this evening. There is a subject on which I wish to have some conversation with you. Have you time to spare?'
'Very well, come then to me in my tent, near the forest of firs, within an hour--not later, pray observe.'
Gregers took leave, but, before doing so, he cast a glance towards the table, where Krusé had concealed the letter.
The captain remained behind, musing: he could not fathom the cause of this visit. Latterly, Gregers seemed to have avoided his society. During the foregoing conversation, it struck him that there was something harsh and unfriendly in the expression of his countenance, which betokened a dark and hostile mood.
An hour later Krusé entered the general's tent. He found him sitting at a table, on which lay two pistols and a sealed letter. Gregers beckoned to him to come forward, and, pointing to a straw chair a little way from the table, requested him to be seated.
'Have you heard the news?' he began abruptly. 'We are to fight to-morrow.'
'Yes,' replied Krusé. 'So much the better!'
'I also would have thought the same at your age. I would, most likely, have thought the same now, if I, like you, were single, and had not bound another to my fate.'
'You allude to the amiable lady yonder, at Hald?'
'Yes; and perhaps you are surprised that I should be thinking of her just this evening?' asked Gregers sharply.
'No--certainly!' replied Krusé, somewhat astounded at the question. 'What is there to surprise me in your doing so?'
'You are not speaking the truth, captain. Among all living creatures, you are the only one who could dare to conceive a doubt on this subject. You,' he continued, in a hollow and moaning tone of voice, as if the words he were uttering could with difficulty pass his lips--'you, who love her, and whom--she loves in return.'
Krusé was speechless for a moment, while Gregers was making visible and violent efforts to regain his composure.
'Now I understand him,' he thought; 'he has found everything out, and intends to murder me.'