Julie had listened, full of sympathy, to this long outpouring of the heart. Yet now she had to laugh.
"Dear Herr Baron," she said, "don't take the matter so to heart. I think I am justified in assuring you that all will be cleared up and come out right in the end. Whatever I can do to bring this about, I shall naturally do with all my heart, since my own peace and happiness depend upon knowing that the young couple are happy too. I hope soon to be able to talk the matter over with your niece in person. In case you should have any messages, I also start for the South to-morrow, and shall most certainly go by the way of Riva."
"You, too!" broke out the baron, springing up as if he had been struck by lightning. "Now the world is coming to an end! That was the only thing lacking. No, tell me you are only joking! What is it that drives you off as if you, too, had been stung by a scorpion? And, besides, you made me a promise in regard to my child--or, perhaps, she goes too, now that all Paradise is being loaded on a cart, and Bohemia retreats through the deepest snow to the land of sunshine?"
"You make me laugh, dear baron, although I am truly in no mood for laughter. I repeat, only have patience for a little while. I can't tell you about it to-day. I hope to be able to put your mind at rest about your daughter before I start. You will receive a few lines from me tomorrow, and at the same time a letter to Irene's _fiancé_, whose address I don't know--for, the truth is, he has gone away because of an affair in which his honor is at stake. Promise me, as a reward for what I am going to do as your mediator with Herr Schoepf, to see that this letter reaches Baron Felix's hands safely, at all costs. They must know something about his whereabouts on his estates, and, if the worst comes to the worst, we shall have to seek for him through the newspapers."
"Now I have it!" cried the baron, eagerly; "an affair of honor--a _rencontre_--and that is why the girl was so beside herself that she could not bear even my vicinity. Well, if that's the case, I don't feel troubled. The boy has a sure hand, and won't be such a fool as to let himself be shot dead now that he is engaged to be married. But only tell me--_centre qui?_--overnight in this way--and all the while with good comrades of his, and peaceable disciples of art to boot!"