But Maezli got her out of this trying
situation. Full of confidence she announced that they would return the
next day with everything necessary.
The gentleman now asked Leonore where she came from and where she lived.
She related that she had been living in a boarding school for several
years, ever since the death of her great-aunt, with whom both she and her
brother had found a home.
"Have you no other relations?" the gentleman asked, keenly observing her
the while.
"No, none at all, except an uncle who has been living in Spain for many
years. My aunt told us that he won't ever come back and that no one
knows where he is. If we knew where he is, we should have written to him
long ago. Salo would go to Spain as soon as he was allowed to and I
should go to him in any case."
"Why?" the gentleman asked.
"Because he is our father's brother," she replied, "and we could love him
like a father, too. He is the only person in the whole world to whom we
could belong. We have wished many and many a time a chance to look for
him, because we might live with him."
"No, you couldn't do that. I know him, I have been in Spain," the
Castle-Steward said curtly.
A light spread over Leonore's face, as if her heart had been suddenly
flooded with hope.
"Oh, do you really know our uncle? Do you know where he is living?" she
cried out, while her cheeks flushed with happiness. "Oh, please tell me
what you know about him.
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