I was not so unreasonable as to be prejudiced against the duke's keeper
because he disliked my complexion; and if I had been, his most civil and
obliging conduct (as it seemed to me to be) next morning would have disarmed
me. Hearing that I was bound for Strelsau, he came to see me while I was
breakfasting, and told me that a sister of his who had married a well-to-do
tradesman and lived in the capital, had invited him to occupy a room in her
house. He had gladly accepted, but now found that his duties would not permit
of his absence. He begged therefore that, if such humble (though, as he added,
clean and comfortable) lodgings would satisfy me, I would take his place. He
pledged his sister's acquiescence, and urged the inconvenience and crowding to
which I should be subject in my journeys to and from Strelsau the next day. I
accepted his offer without a moment's hesitation, and he went off to telegraph
to his sister, while I packed up and prepared to take the next train. But I
still hankered after the forest and
the hunting-lodge, and when my little maid told me that I could, by walking ten
miles or so through the forest, hit the railway at a roadside station, I
decided to send my luggage direct to the address which Johann had given, take
my walk, and follow to Strelsau myself. Johann had gone off and was not aware
of the change in my plans; but, as its only effect was to delay my arrival at
his sister's for a few hours, there was no reason for troubling to inform him
of it. Doubtless the good lady would waste no anxiety on my account.
I took an early luncheon, and, having bidden my kind entertainers
farewell, promising to return to them on my way home, I set out to climb the
hill that led to the Castle, and thence to the forest of Zenda. Half an hour's
leisurely walking brought me to the Castle. It had been a fortress in old days,
and the ancient keep was still in
good preservation and very imposing.
Behind it stood another portion of the original castle, and behind that
again, and separated from it by a deep and broad moat, which ran all round the old buildings, was a handsome modern chateau, erected by the last king, and
now forming the country residence of the Duke of Strelsau. The old and the new
portions were connected by a drawbridge, and this indirect mode of access
formed the only passage between the old building and the outer world; but
leading to the modern chateau there was a broad and handsome avenue. It was an
ideal residence: when "Black Michael" desired company, he could dwell
in his chateau; if a fit of misanthropy
seized him, he had merely to cross the bridge and draw it up after him (it ran
on rollers), and nothing short of a regiment and a train of artillery could
fetch him out. I went on my way, glad that poor Black Michael, though he could
not have the throne or the princess, had, at least, as fine a residence as any
prince in Europe.
Soon I entered the forest, and walked on for an hour or more in its cool
sombre shade. The great trees enlaced with one another over my head, and the
sunshine stole through in patches as bright as diamonds, and hardly bigger. I
was enchanted with the place, and, finding a felled tree-trunk, propped my back
against it, and stretching my legs out gave myself up to undisturbed
contemplation of the solemn beauty of the woods and to the comfort of a good
cigar. And when the cigar was finished and I had (I suppose) inhaled as much
beauty as I could, I went off into the most delightful sleep, regardless of my
train to Strelsau and of the fast-waning afternoon. To remember a train in such
a spot would have been rank sacrilege. Instead of that, I fell to dreaming that
I was married to the Princess Flavia and dwelt in the Castle of Zenda, and beguiled whole days with my love in the
glades of the forest—which made a very pleasant dream. In fact, I was just
impressing a fervent kiss on the charming lips of the princess, when I heard
(and the voice seemed at first a part of the dream) someone exclaim, in rough
strident tones.
"Why, the devil's in it! Shave him, and he'd be the King!"
The idea seemed whimsical
enough for a dream: by the sacrifice of my heavy moustache and carefully
pointed imperial, I was to be
transformed into a monarch! I was about to kiss the princess again, when I
arrived (very reluctantly) at the conclusion that I was awake.
Vocabulario:
Hankered:deseaba
Keep:
torre
Moat:
fosa
Chateau: residencia
Misanthropy: odio hacia el ser humano
Beguiled:
engañaba
Whimsical:
inusual
Imperial:
barba
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