"Oh, you were afraid of that, were you?" he interposed with a contemptuous smile.
"Yes; and I told the _gnädiger Herr_ nothing would induce me to do it. But then he became terribly angry, and thumped me on the shoulders till I sank on my knees, and he cried out that I was an ungrateful hussy, and that he would have me sent back to the village in disgrace, and would tell the Herr Pastor what sort of a wench I was, and he would make me confess and do penance; and then he took me by the throat, and when he had almost throttled me, and I could scarcely draw a breath, then, _then_ ..."
"Say no more," interrupted Boleslav; and seizing the letters that were to establish his father's innocence, he tore them to pieces.
The next morning he took one of the guns out of the case, and wandered into the snowy forest. He tramped about the whole day without meeting a single human creature. The deer and hares were left in peace, for he stared beyond them into vacancy. At dusk he turned his footsteps homewards, dispirited and worn out.
He saw Regina standing like a statue on the Cats' Bridge looking out for him. At first she looked as if she intended to run and meet him, but she changed her mind, and took the path to the house, smiling and murmuring to herself as she went.
But when she brought in his meal she was as silent as usual. He sat without looking at her till a sound like a short convulsive sob roused him from his reverie.
Without answering, she ran out of the room.
He made a movement as if he were about to follow her; then set his teeth and sat down again. A dull resentment devoured him. He could not forgive her for depriving him of the illusion on which for weeks he had been building so many vague hopes.
Now there was nothing for it but to drink the cup of degradation to the dregs, no matter how bitter the bottom might taste.
In a little while Regina appeared again, in her outdoor things.
"You wish to go out to-night, then?" he asked harshly.
She kept her head half averted, so that he should not see she had red eyes.
"To-morrow is Christmas, _Herr_--the holy feast day; and the grocer says that on Christmas night he would rather not be disturbed."
Christmas! holy feast! How strange and like a fairy tale that sounded. Then there was still rejoicing and festivity going on in the world! People still joined hands and frolicked round glittering fir-tree!