Two of the windows in that side of the Nameless Castle which faced the
manor were lighted.
"That is the dining-room; they are at dinner," explained Marie,
adjusting the glass--a task of which the baroness was ignorant. When she
had arranged the proper focus, she made room for Katharina, who had a
better right than she had to watch Ludwig.
"What do you see?" she asked, when Katharina began to smile.
"I see Ludwig and the vice-palatine; they are leaning out of the window,
and smoking--"
"Smoking?" interposed Marie. "Ludwig never smokes."
"See for yourself!"
Katharina stepped back, and Marie placed her eye to the glass. Yes;
there, plainly enough, she beheld the remarkable sight: Ludwig, with
evident enjoyment, drawing great clouds of smoke from a long-stemmed
pipe. The two men were talking animatedly; but even while they were
speaking, the pipes were not removed from their lips--Ludwig, indeed, at
times vanished entirely behind the dense cloud of smoke.
"For six whole years he never once let me see him smoking a pipe!"
murmured Marie to herself. "How much he enjoys it! Do you"--turning
abruptly toward the baroness, who was smilingly watching her young
guest--"do you object to tobacco smoke?"
She seemed relieved when the baroness assured her that tobacco smoke was
not in the least objectionable.
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