They went a little way along the path that she had come by and she saw his horse quietly eating the grass under the trees.
“I had just arrived back to The Palace,” Rudolf explained, “when one of the aides-de-camp, who is a friend of mine, told me he had learned that my father’s valet had taken you without their permission to visit the King.”
“He – sent for – me,” Zorina murmured.
“I arrived a few minutes after you had left. My father had just recovered consciousness and I then learned what had happened.”
Rudolf’s voice was hard and Zorina was aware how angry his father’s behaviour had made him.
“I went to your room to find you,” he went on, “and Hildegard told me that you were not there. But the wardrobe was open and I could see that your cape was missing.”
“You – guessed where I – h
