reover,
nothing whatever can be said against the tenant of the Nameless Castle.
He is a quiet and inoffensive gentleman."

"Is he alone? Has he no family?"

"That the Herr Justice is better able to tell your ladyship than am I."

"Ah! Then, _Herr Hofrichter_," inquired the lady of the manor, turning
toward the justice, "what do _you_ know about this mysterious personage?
Has he a wife?"

"It seems as if he had a wife, your ladyship; but I really cannot say
for certain if he has one."

"Well, I confess my curiosity is aroused! How is it possible not to know
whether the man is married or not? Are the people invisible?"

"Invisible? By no means, your ladyship. The nameless count and a lady
drive out every morning at ten o'clock. They drive as far as the
neighboring village, where they turn and come back to the castle. But
the lady wears such a heavy veil that one can't tell if she be old or
young."

"If they drive out they certainly have a coachman; and one might easily
learn from a servant what are the relations between his master and
mistress."

"Yes, so one might. The coachman comes often to the village, and he can
speak German, too. There is a fat cook, who never leaves the castle,
because she can't walk. Then, there are two more servants, Schmidt and
his wife; but they live in a cottage near the castle. Every morning at
five o'clock they go to the castle gate, where they receive from some
one, through the wicket, orders for the day. At nine o'clock they
return to the gate, where a basket has been placed for the things they
have bought. But they never speak of the lady, because they have never
seen her face, either."

"What sort of a man is the groom?"

"The people about here call him the man with the iron mouth. It is
believed the fat cook is his wife, because he never even looks at the
girls in the village. He will not answer any questions; only once he
condescended to say that his mistress was a penniless orphan, who had
nothing, yet who got everything she wanted."

"Does no one visit them?"

"If any one goes to the castle, the count alone receives the visitor;
the lady never appears; and no one has yet had courage enough to ask for
her. But that they are Christians, one may know from their kitchen:
there is always a lamb for dinner on Easter; and the usual _heiligen
Stritzel_ on All Saints'. But they never go to church, nor is the pastor
ever received at the castle."

"What reason can they have fo