The Haugwitzes left on the same day. Having noticed that Gunther's study had only a small bookcase and that several score of law books were in piles on the floor, Roger went out and bought for him the finest bookcase he could find in the town, and expensive presents for Frau Gum her and the doctor who had delivered Lisala. These simple, kindly Germans received them with surprise and gratitude; but he assured them that he could not sufficiently repay the care they had given to his wife. Next morning he and Lisala set out for Schloss Langenstein.
The journey was something under two hundred miles, so could be done comfortably by coach in four days. Lisala took with her in the coach a young girl named Gretchcn, whom Frau Gunther had procured for her as a maid, after Josefa had moved out to the farm with the Negro baby. Roger rode beside the coach, and his soldier-servant, Francois, behind him.
During the conference, husband and wife had exchanged barely a word, except during the evenings when they were with other people. But now that they were alone, he had to make up his mind how he should treat her. Although he was determined to reject any overtures she might make towards resuming their former intimacy, he decided that it would cause great awkwardness at the inns if they did not at least appear to be on good terms; so, when they halted at the wayside for their first picnic lunch, he said:
'Lisala, what has happened cannot be undone. During the times we spent together in Isfahan, Lisbon, Rio and Madrid, I was many times perturbed by the violence of your temper and your extreme selfishness; but my passion for you was such that I made allowances for the unattractive side of your mind, believing it to be beyond the power of your will to control.
'But the day after we reached Erfurt you revealed to me your true nature, even glorying in the fact that you are governed entirely by your baser instincts. That destroyed my love and any latent affection I might feel for you. However, since we are to remain together, it would only be a continual harassment to us both did we do so in a state of enmity. Therefore, I propose henceforth to treat you as I would a sister or cousin, with whom circumstances had made it necessary for me to share a home.'
She shrugged her fine shoulders. 'That suits me well enough. It was your personality that made you more attractive to me than other men, and I greatly enjoyed our early intimacy. But since you returned to the service of the Emperor, your work has absorbed you to a degree that makes you a poor husband. My only interest now is to retain the status that being your wife gives me, and my position as one of the Empress' ladies. I have only to lift my finger, and I could secure more lovers than I would have the time to pleasure.'
'That I do not doubt,' he retorted tartly. 'And, your nature being what it is, I am not fool enough to expect you to remain chaste. But I now give you fair warning. Not only must you be discreet about your affaires, you must also impress the necessity of discretion upon any lover you may take. Should one of them be rash enough to boast that he has had you, I'll call him out and kill him. I will then kill you.'
He knew he would never carry out the last part of his threat, but it had its effect. She paled, cast down her eyes and murmured, 'It has not escaped me that you, too, have a ruthless streak, and are an ill man to cross. So be it then. I will take great care not to provoke a scandal.'
Neither of them had ever lacked subjects of interest to talk about; so, at the inns where they took their evening meals, any casual observer would have put them down as a long-married couple upon good terms with each other. But Roger always asked for a separate room, on the pretext that he suffered from insomnia, spent half the night reading, and was loath to keep his wife awake. On the afternoon of Wednesday, October 20th, they reached Schloss Langenstein.
It dated from medieval times: a rambling, irregular pile, surmounted by a tall tower and perched upon a rocky eminence overlooking a bend in the broad river. The coach had been sighted while slowly climbing the zigzag road that led up to it, so the von Haugwitzes were at the great wooden, iron-studded door to welcome their visitors. Young Charles, now a handsome, well-grown lad, with his mother's dark, curly hair and his father's blue eyes, stood beside them.
Roger felt a momentary alarm as the boy's eyes lit up at the sight of him; but he was reassured when Charles looked away as though indifferent about the new arrivals, and began to pat the head of a wolfhound standing nearby. When the elders had exchanged greetings, Georgina said to him:
'Charles, you remember Monsieur de Breuc, who came to stay with us for a few nights at Sullwaters, years ago when he was on a mission to London ?'
'Yes, Mama,' the boy replied in French. Smiling, he held out his hand to Roger, and added, 'But not very well, for I was then very young.'
The visitors were shown to their rooms, and Roger noted with satisfaction that his was in a different wing from Lisala's; for, in spite of their conversation four days earlier, he had thought it just possible that, if she felt the urge, she might pay him a midnight visit and try her wiles upon him.
Ulrich von Haugwitz proved an excellent host, and Georgina had done many small things to dispel the grim atmosphere of the old castle, so that the rooms had at least something of the atmosphere of an English country house.
The evening meal was admirable: freshly-caught Rhine trout, roebuck, and sweet, white grapes which had been kept on ice since the recent vintage. The wines were superb, ending with a Hock of twenty years from the Baron's Kabinett reserve, grown on his own estate.
Charles had been allowed to stay up for the meal, but was sent off to bed as soon as it was over. Roger saw with pleasure that the Baron showed a great affection for the boy, rumpling his hair and kissing him on both cheeks, as though he were actually his father.
Afterwards they spent an hour or so talking about the conference; then, as the visitors had had a long day travelling, they went to bed. Roger felt no inclination to sleep, as he was hoping that when the Castle was wrapped in slumber, Georgina would come to him; so by candlelight he re-read Voltaire's Candide, which was among the books beside his bed.
Soon after midnight, his hopes were realised. The door opened quietly, and Georgina slipped into the room. He greeted her with a smile, but she ignored it, threw off the chamber robe she was wearing, blew out the candles and, without a word, slid into bed beside him.
Clasping her warm body to him with a joyous laugh, so that her fine breasts flattened against his broad chest, he sought her mouth for their first kiss. But, to his astonishment, she turned her face away, then burst into tears.
Her arms round his neck, she clutched him with sudden fierceness, and sobbed, 'Roger! Thank God you are come. I need your help. I need it most desperately.'
Roger to the Rescue
Several minutes passed before Roger succeeded in quietening Georgina's wild outburst of distress. Having sought to soothe her, he at length took her by the shoulders and shook her, as he said tersely:
'Georgina! Cease behaving like an hysterical girl. Whatever trouble you are in, I'll get you out of it. You must know that. We have been like father, mother, brother and sister to each other, as well as lovers, ever since we were children. I would give my life for you any day. For God's sake, tell me what causes you such grief, so that I may provide a remedy for it.'
Her sobs lessened, and she moaned, 'It is Ulrich. His behaviour revolts and horrifies me.'
'Why? Is he a sadist and brutal to you?'
'No; he has always treated me with consideration, and is proud to have me for his wife.'
'What then?'
'He is heterosexual. He enjoys women, but also boys. He orders the stable lads to his bed. Such practices have always revolted me. It was when I first found that out that I refused ever again to sleep with him, and demanded a room of my own.'