“Oh!  Sir Prince,” broke in Elsa hurriedly, for her cavalier’s ardour was somewhat embarrassing, “you are telling the story wrong; the tale I mean did not go on like that at all.  Don’t you remember?  The hero rescued the lady and handed her over—­to—­to—­her father.”

“Of whom I think he came to claim her afterwards,” replied Adrian with another languishing glance, and a smile of conscious vanity at the neatness of his answer.  Their glances met, and suddenly Adrian became aware that Elsa’s face had undergone a complete change.  The piquante, half-amused smile had passed out of it; it was strained and hard and the eyes were frightened.

“Oh! now I understand the shadow—­how strange,” she exclaimed in a new voice.

“What is the matter?  What is strange?” he asked.

“Oh!—­only that your face reminded me so much of a man of whom I am terrified.  No, no, I am foolish, it is nothing, those footpads have upset me.  Praise be to God that we are out of that dreadful wood!  Look, neighbour Broekhoven, here is Leyden before us.  Are not those red roofs pretty in the twilight, and how big the churches seem.  See, too, there is water all round the walls; it must be a very strong town.  I should think that even the Spaniards could not take it, and oh!  I am sure that it would be a good thing if we might find a city which we were quite, quite certain the Spaniards could never take—­all, all of us,” and she sighed heavily.

“If I were a Spanish general with a proper army,” began Adrian pompously, “I would take Leyden easily enough.  Only this afternoon I studied its weak spots, and made a plan of attack which could scarcely fail, seeing that the place would only be defended by a mob of untrained, half-armed burghers.”

Again that curious look returned into Elsa’s eyes.

“If you were a Spanish general,” she said slowly.  “How can you jest about such a thing as the sacking of a town by Spaniards?  Do you know what it means?  That is how they talk; I have heard them,” and she shuddered, then went on:  “You are not a Spaniard, are you, sir, that you can speak like that?” And without waiting for an answer Elsa urged her mule forward, leaving him a little behind.

Presently as they passed through the Witte Poort, he was at her side again and chatting to her, but although she replied courteously enough, he felt that an invisible barrier had arisen between them.  Yes, she had read his secret heart; it was as though she had been a party to his thoughts when he stood by the bridge this afternoon designing plans for the taking of Leyden, and half wishing that he might share in its capture.  She mistrusted him, and was half afraid of him, and Adrian knew that it was so.