By this time the tears were running down the baroness's cheeks.

"Poor little lad!" she murmured brokenly. "Your story has affected me
deeply, Herr Pastor."

Then she summoned her steward, and bade him fill a large hamper with
sweets and pasties, and send it to Frau Schmidt for the poor little boy.
"And tell Frau Schmidt," she added, "to send the child to the manor. We
will see to it that he has some suitable clothes. I am delighted,
reverend sir, to learn that my tenant is a true nobleman."

"His deeds certainly proclaim him as such, your ladyship."

"How do _you_ explain the mystery of the veiled lady?"

"I cannot explain it, your ladyship; she is never mentioned in our
correspondence."

"She may be a prisoner, detained at the castle by force."

"That cannot be; for she has a hundred opportunities to escape, or to
ask for help."

Here the surveyor managed to express his belief that the reason the lady
wore a veil was because of the repulsiveness of her face.

At this, a voice that had not yet been heard said, at the lower end of
the table:

"But the lady is one the most beautiful creatures I ever saw--and quite