Hartmut
threw himself upon his knees.
"Father, by all that is sacred in heaven and earth--oh, do not, do not
look at me that way--you will drive me mad. Father, I give you my word
of honor--"
A wild, hideous laugh from his father interrupted him.
"Your word of honor--you gave that at Burgsdorf. Let us end this comedy;
you cannot deceive me. You leave me with one lie, you return to me with
another. You have become the genuine son of your mother. Go your own
way, and I'll go mine. But one thing I tell you, I command you! Never
venture to connect the name of Falkenried with the dishonored name of
Rojanow. Never let the world know who you are. Remember this warning,
otherwise my blood be upon your head--for I will make an end of it all."
With a cry of despair, Hartmut sprang up and would have rushed to his
father, but the latter held him back with his hand.
"Perhaps you think that I love life. I have borne it because I must, and
I felt that it was my duty. But there is a point where duty ends, you
know it now--so act accordingly."
He turned his back to his son and stepped again to the window. Hartmut
spoke no word; in silence he turned and left the apartment.
The ante-chamber was not lighted, but the dim, distant light from the
northern sky fell upon the face of a woman, who stood pale as death near
the window, and whose eyes gazed with a look of indescribable anguish at
the face of the miserable man who entered the room.
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