Page:Maria Felicia.pdf/192

 but shy and frightened was the look that he cast at Andrew’s face, which again was very gloomy. Was he to hear something more dreadful than he had already heard? Since he stepped over the threshold of Hlohov he had encountered a flood of terrible stories.

“You are right,” Andrew finally said. “It is my duty to warn you; for your protection I will dive into the bloody pool of the past of Hlohov. It would be my duty to warn you if you were traveling a road full of unknown pitfalls, and I would not hesitate to make every effort to save you. In the nature of the woman about whom we have been speaking there is undoubtedly, as in her forefathers, a perfect hell of wickedness.”

The harper listened breathlessly.

“What did Miss Felsenburk tell you about this Castle before she sent you here?”

“That it was a lonely place, as if it had been created for people weary of life’s troubles,” the harper replied, but his voice was losing its force, as his cheeks were losing their color.