But that they are Christians, one may know from their kitchen:
there is always a lamb for dinner on Easter; and the usual _heiligen
Stritzel_ on All Saints'. But they never go to church, nor is the pastor
ever received at the castle."
"What reason can they have for so much mystery, I wonder?" musingly
observed the baroness.
"That I cannot say. I can furnish only the data; for the deductions I
must refer your ladyship to the Herr Doctor."
"Ah, true!" ejaculated her ladyship, joining in the general laughter.
"The doctor, to be sure! If you are the county clock, Herr Doctor,
surely you ought to know something about our mysterious neighbors?"
"I have two versions, either of which your ladyship is at liberty to
accept," promptly responded the doctor. "According to the first
'authentic' declaration, the nameless count is the chief of a band of
robbers, who ply their nefarious trade in a foreign land. The lady is
his mistress. She fell once into the hands of justice, in Germany, and
was branded as a criminal on her forehead. That accounts for the heavy
veil she always wears--"
"Oh, that is quite too horribly romantic, Herr Doctor!" interrupted the
baroness.
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