"Mr. von Prell! Mr. von Prell!" she was about to call out, but checked herself in time.
No matter--now, she knew, she was no longer solitary in that strange world. Her merry friend was here, her comrade, her playmate, the man to whom she owed her good fortune.
She remembered his having said, "The old man has taken a tremendous liking to me and wants me to run about his estate as Fritz Triddelfitz"--Lilly knew her Fritz Reuter well.
Strange that in all these months it should not have occurred to the colonel to mention a word about Von Prell's being at Lischnitz. To be sure, he had seldom spoken of his estate. Even Miss von Schwertfeger cropped up in his mind only when he wished to reprimand his young wife.
Perhaps he suspected it was Von Prell and no other who had discovered Lilly and brought her forth from concealment. However, she would tell the colonel and Miss von Schwertfeger without an hour's delay that she had met an old acquaintance. They need not be informed of the kiss. To what end? It had no more significance than a kiss in a game of forfeits.
She slipped back into the bedroom, and a moment later, while she was drawing aside the window curtains, someone knocked at the door--three short, sharp, rapid taps, which seemed to probe to the marrow of her bones.
It was Miss von Schwertfeger, of course. Who else would have frightened Lilly so?
Lilly received a kiss on her forehead; and her cheeks were patted with every appearance of consideration and fondness. But the great colourless eyes travelled silently up and down her body, and a wry, bitter smile hovered about Miss von Schwertfeger's fleshy yet severely cut mouth, the skin about which was reddened, as often happens when women with a fine skin age before their time.
She carried clothes thrown over her arm, which Lilly recognised as her own.
"I brought you these necessaries, my dear," she said, "so that you can dress this morning. Here in the country we don't go about in matinées. Besides, directly after you have breakfasted, we will make a little tour of the grounds to give you an opportunity of getting acquainted with the household and the people."
"May I keep house myself?" asked Lilly, hesitatingly.
"If you know how," said Miss von Schwertfeger, and gnawed her lips and squinted.