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Hero cruers She began to shake, her face now the color of whey "Oh, God!" she cried and dropped to her knees on the entry-hall carpet, huddling over the paper as she began silently to weep
Ragoczy, who had been seeing to the unloading of the two coaches, saw her fall and broke off his effort with a quick signal to Rogier "What is it?" he asked as he went to her and went down on one knee beside her, his back to the open door to shield her from curious eyes "Hero?"
"She&039;s dead," Hero muttered, and thrust the letter into his hand She did not sob but tears shone on her face
"Who is dead?&039; he asked as he san to read
Hero shuddered heavily as she tried to speak, but failed
Ragoczy perused the Graf&039;s note, appalled at the lack of sympathy extended to the child&039;s mother "What a terrible loss for you," he said as he reached the end of it and reached to set it on a decorative urn near the stairs "I know it&039;s inadequate, but I am very sorry"
"Anna a prayer "I should have gone to her I should have insisted that the Graf let an to rock back and forth, still bent over her knees on the carpet
"You had no way of knowing," said Ragoczy, aware this was useless and that Hero was in the thrall of her grief He ier to keep away
"I should have known I&039;m herI was her uish and fury thatto do? She&039;s buried already For weeks! I can&039;t one out of the bright afternoon; for Hero, everything had suddenly sunk into shadow, and that now held her as if in an invisible shroud "If we&039;d pressed through yesterday, I would have learned of it sooner," she said dully
"And been no e what has happened than you are now," said Ragoczy with such kindness that she was able to lash out at him "Had you been here, you still could not have reached Scharffensee in time to-"
"Little you know about it! You, with your centuries and centuries! She didn&039;t have even a decade She was about to turn nine" She put her hands to her face and finally the sobs careed, unable to think of anything more to say
"She hadn&039;t any chance All she did was learn French" Her sobs deepened "It is wrong!"
Ragoczy laid his hand on her back to steady her as her rocking increased "Hero"
"Life is cruel!"
"Life is indifferent," said Ragoczy as consolingly as he could "It is ho are cruel Or kind"
Suddenly she rose up and lunged at him, but whether to attack him or fall into the haven of his ar about it! Nothing! It doesn&039;t touch you It touchesher struggle against hi her "You love her and will always miss her Grieve for her, Hero"
"You areyou!" She shoved at hi for the letter, she bundled it into her hand and glared at hi, he said, "Sorrow is always private"
She wiped her face with the ends of her shawl "And so it will be with me" She wobbled to her feet "You will never be able to suffer as I do"
"No, I cannot; I have never had a child," he said "But I knohat it is to grieve" He took a step toward her; she motioned him away as if in panic "What will you let " She turned and ran for the stairs
Ragoczy stood still, overwhelmed by the immensity of her sorrow, until he heard her door slam, and then, as if shocked to action, he climbed the stairs and knocked on her door "Do you want-"
"Go away!" she ordered
He hesitated, not willing to leave her in such agony "You need not endure this alone, Hero"
"And why not?" she challenged, her voice thick with emotion "We all bear our pain alone, don&039;t we?"
"Not wholly alone," he said, thinking of T&039;en Chih-Yu, of Tulsi Kil, of Heugenet, of Xenya, of Orazia, of Acana Tupac, of Leocadia, of Denatia, then, most unhappily, of Csimenae Each memory was a reproof to him, but he added, "You need not bear all your loss alone"
She took a long time to answer "She ether now" Again she was quiet Then, "Go away, Comte Go away"
He heard the clock in the parlor chime three, and he felt the day slip fro him of times he had acted to ameliorate a friend&039;s distress and times he had not; neither response had actually succeeded in alleviating the friend&039;s , you have only to ask I will do whatever I can for you"
"Will you offer to restore her to life?" The accusation cut, as she intended "You restored Rogier to life, so you say"
"No That is beyond o ahile I chooseclothes"
"I&039;ll return in an hour to learn how you are faring" He was about to turn ahen her voice stopped him once more
"And ill you do in the"Will you do your best to put this behind you? You have put soa letter to your father-in-law, urging him to permit you to visit as soon as possible, for the sake of your sons, and to do honor to your daughter," he said, and went away froht lessen his deter for him "I have told the staff, ave a little nod "I a would be presuray bands on the door" He started toward his study, then stopped "Will you have Gutesohnes come to e for ier&039;s ascetic features softened "You are sending hi to intercede"
He answered in Russian "That I am Let us hope I prevail upon him to relent in his efforts to keep her froier said, "It would see theoczy "But circumstances are different now, and I must apply to him, for her sake, if not for her sons&039;"
"Do you think you will eier asked "For her sake, I hope you will At present, she will not deal with any disappointitate on the probleoczy in the Swiss version of French "Do send Gutesohnes to ier finished for hi"
"Already in the bath-house?" Ragoczy surest tub"
"Then I will expect him directly"
"And Madame? Will you tell her what you&039;ve done?" There was a note of dubiety in his question
"In an hour, I will see if she is willing to speak with me, and I will decide then what to say She knows of ht over the door "It was such a lovely day e left Saint-Gingolph"
"The day is still lovely," said Rogier sadly
"That it is," said Ragoczy, and entered his study He stood just inside the door, thinking, un Then he walked to his secretaire keyhole desk, pulled down the writing-board, and drew up his chair, but once ht When he finally sat down he had an idea that he thoughta sheet of heavy, cream-laid paper out of its drawer, he selected a pen, fitted it with a trian to write the first of two letters, choosing his words with great care for both He had just coil when Gutesohnes knocked on the door
"Comte? You wanted to seehis chair around to face his coachman, whose shock of dark hair was still damp from his bath "I&039;m sure you knohat has happened"
"Madareat pity"
"I aht be per to ask if ould be welco the surprise in Gutesohnes&039; face, he went on very smoothly, "If I have another reason to come into Austria, it will be more difficult for von Scharffensee to refuse my request on Madame von Scharffensee&039;s behalf"
"The Graf is an a, Ion it to ensure our welcoues apart You should be able to stop at Scharffensee, go on to Ravensberg, then return to Scharffensee and bring back the Graf&039;s answer Von Ravensberg will no doubt consent It is von Scharffensee who e? He could refuse to see me, couldn&039;t he?" Gutesohnes asked
"We oczy, the line of his rim He could see that Gutesohnes wanted to ask another question, and so told hihed unco&039;s ward-Hyacinthie?-she was very flirtatious in Aht turn von Ravensberg againstwooczy "I doubt you have anything to fear fro on her account"
"I don&039;t want to be accused of atte to compromise a nobleman&039;s ward," Gutesohnes persisted
"I doubt that will happen Her behavior uardian is surely aware that she is entertaining herself, and will put no store in it" Ragoczy realized that Gutesohnes was truly worried "You may readily avoid her, if you feel it prudent Keep to the servants&039; quarters and let the steward carry letters for you"
Gutesohnes was visibly relieved "Very good Very good" He gave a forced chuckle "Rogier told ht, but surely you ier inforhtly You depart at dawn tomorrow"
"But-"
"You will have the opportunity to sup early and retire ahead of the household If you are worried you will not sleep, I will provide you a draught for that If you have trouble rising, I will have another draught to help you waken"
"Yes, Coent for Madame von Scharffensee to visit her sons That requires we ain as soon as may be" He reached into the corner where a tall wooden stand was filled with rolled maps "So let us plan your route now" He rose and went to the bow-fronted sideboard where he unrolled the hts of cobalt Venetian glass Using an ivory letter-opener, Ragoczy pointed out the route he had in olph: the stabler hasthe river You should be able to htfall; it is a hard ride but not io, under far worse conditions "Go to Le Perroquet; Angelo will take care of you there Continue east along the river to Brig The road is harder and steeper froht at Oberwald Another two days should bring you to Chur, unless the weather worsens"
"Two or three days," said Gutesohnes "The road is a hard one and travel can be very slow on it"
Ragoczy , as you can see" He pointed to the place "And Scharffensee is-" He put the tip of his letter-opener on the place
"In that case, Coo as far as Chur I will enter Tirol from Silvaplana and Vinadi I can travel faster; there is less traffic on that road, and I can take a day off e a fortune to sleep four to a bed"
"Then, shall we say eight days to Scharffensee?" Ragoczy suggested "A night there and then two days to Ravensberg?"
"Ten days That will keepthe horses If the roads were better-or safer-I would try for a shorter journey, but " He turned over his hands to shoas helpless to reain "Shall I say teeks? If you can accomplish your work sooner, that will be excellent, but teeks should suffice to complete your mission If you can accomplish the journey in less time, you will be rewarded for your efforts" He rean to roll the map once more "Do you need this?"
"No; I have sosdistances" He frowned "If the roads were in better repair, I could travel faster But I don&039;t want to risk the horse, not in those oczy returned the rolled map to the stand in the corner, then picked up the two letters from his secretaire desk "I would appreciate it if you would report to me on the state of the roads If there is any part of the road where it would be dangerous for a coach, I ant to know about it"
"That I will," said Gutesohnes, taking the letters and slipping them inside his leather waistcoat "I have a pocket for letters," he said