XVII.
In the afternoon of the next day young Kozman brought a note from Cvok to Suchdol to Ledecký’s house.
Friend Cvok wished very much to hear what had been said and done at the castle the day before, and begged Ledecký to let him know the result of his interview with the baroness.
Ledecký answered plainly in a few words that he was not at liberty to tell him what he wished to know, as he had been obliged to pledge his word to the baroness not to repeat the conversation which had taken place between them to any one. Cvok got this answer just before dinner, and was so disturbed by it that he lost his appetite altogether, though Miss Naninka had prepared his favourite dish for him—peas with cucumber salad. There was, in fact, no standing him since yesterday, his housekeeper thought; and if he had gone to Suchdol that morning with a darkened brow, he came back from it in the evening as cross as he could be. Miss Naninka could not get a sensible word out of him, though she was tingling all over with curiosity, and all sorts of fears were flying about in her mind like gnats in the sunshine. They had avery uneasy, disturbed night at the priest’s house. He could not sleep himself, and Miss Naninka
