"
The girl laughed.
"You will find no fellow-craftsman there, Pirate Roland, if ever you
visit it. The Schloss is not on the Rhine, and, perhaps on that account,
rather than because of its owner's honesty, is free from the taint you
suggest. It stands high in the valley of the Saynbach, more than half a
league from this river."
"Ah, that accounts for my ignorance. I never saw Sayn Castle, although I
seem to have heard of it. Are you its owner?"
"Yes; I told you I was wealthy."
"Where is the Schloss situated?"
"Below Coblentz, on the eastern side of the river."
"Then why not let me take you there instead of to the convent?"
"Willingly, if you had brought your barge-load of armed men, but in Sayn
Castle I am helpless, commanding a peaceful retinue of servants who,
although devoted to me, are useless when it comes to defense."
"I cannot account for it," said Roland in meditative tone, "but the
thought of that convent becomes more and more distasteful. You will be
free of your guardian, no doubt, but you merely exchange one whom you
know for another whom you don't, and that other a member of your own
sex.
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