"You mean that the copy which she sent of the Archbishop's letter was
fraudulent? I cannot believe it."

"Not fraudulent. So far as it went her copy was word perfect. She
neglected to add, however, a final sentence, and rather than make it
public forfeited her rightful claim to great possessions. Of the
Archbishop's communications to her there remains in our archives a copy
of this last epistle written in his own hand. I cannot imagine why he
added the final clauses to what was in essence an important business
communication. The premonition he admits may have set his thoughts upon
things not of this world, but undoubtedly he believed that he would live
long enough to conquer the rebels of Linz, and restore to the Countess
her property. This is what he wrote, and she refused to publish:

"'Matilda, I feel that my days are numbered, and that their number is
scant. To all the world my life seems to have been successful beyond the
wishes of mortal man, but to me it is a dismal failure, in that I die
bachelor Archbishop of Cologne, and you are the spinster Countess von
Sayn.'"




VI

TO BE KEPT SECRET FROM THE COUNTESS


There are few favored spots occupied by blue water and greensward over