of the Empire, Landhofmeisterin of Wirtemberg, and none
but my superior can arrest me, Monsieur. Also, this house of mine is on
free territory, subject only to the authority of the Emperor. I refuse to
be arrested, I refuse to give you admittance, and I command you to
withdraw.' She spoke perfectly calmly, with the tone given by the habit
of command, which she had wielded for nigh upon a quarter of a century.

Roeder hesitated; what she said might be true, and he greatly feared her,
but he had his orders from the Duke. He recalled his Highness's words
when he had intrusted him with the Graevenitz's arrest: 'I have not done
enough. God's vengeance is not fulfilled. The witch-woman, the
Land-despoiler is still at large in my country, and God has taken my only
son from me. I must purge my land of this sinner--punish her--break her
in atonement,' his Highness had said. The Duke was firmly persuaded that
so long as the Graevenitz remained free, God's wrath would be on
Wirtemberg, and the notion was fostered by her enemies. No one spoke of
her now save as the 'Land-despoiler,' that name which the peasantry had
called her in secret for many years.

'Madame, give yourself up peaceably, or I shall force my way in,' Roeder
called to her; but she had gone from the window, and the house was
shuttered, and with closed doors.

Then began the work of breaking into the manor of Freudenthal. Twenty
soldiers hacked in the doors with axes, while the rest stood sentry
keeping the Jews at bay, for the members of the Jewish settlement
gathered round, eager to protect their friend; but they were unarmed, and
the inherited submission of their oppressed race made them poor
protectors. The soldiers poured into the house. Roeder was received
before the Graevenitz's door by Madame de Sittmann. She implored him to
spare her sister, who, she assured him, was really ill. The door leading
from the Graevenitz's apartment was bolted from within. He knocked loudly,
but there being no response, he summoned the soldiers to break it in.

With a crash the door yielded, falling inwards. And then he saw his
quarry. She stood in the middle of the room, erect, vigorous, a very
flame of hatred burning in her eyes. She was clad in the golden gown
which she had donned in honour of joy's return; on her breast was the
order of St. Hubertus, and the jewels of Wirtemberg gleamed on her neck
and in her hair. Never had she looked more beautiful, more magnificent
than