I had just
finished my seventeenth and Leonore her eighteenth year when a summer
came which was to bring grave changes. We did not expect Philip home for
the holidays. Through the Baroness' help he was already filling the post
of manager of an estate in the far north. The young barons had also
completed their studies and were expected to come home and to consult
with their mother about their plans for the future. She fully expected
them to travel before settling down, and after that she hoped sincerely
that one of them would come to live at home with her; this would mean
that he would take the care of the estate on his shoulders with its
troubles and responsibilities. Soon after their arrival the sons seemed
to have had an interview with their mother which clearly worried her, for
she went about silently, refusing to answer any questions. Bruno strode
up and down the terrace with flaming eyes whole hours at a time, without
saying a word. Salo was the only sociable one left, and sometimes he
would come and sit down beside us; but if we questioned him about their
apparent feud, he remained silent. How different this was from our
former gay days! But this painful situation did not last long. On the
fifth or sixth day after their arrival the brothers did not appear for
breakfast. The Baroness immediately inquired in great anxiety if they
had left the castle, but nobody seemed to have noticed them. Apollonie
was the only one who had seen them going upstairs together in the early
morning, so she was sent up to look for them in the tower rooms.
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