Rojanow's eyes sank to the ground, and his dark, frowning brow grew blacker as he answered:
"I know it, but I can ask nothing of him. The duke would ask the same questions as the others. I dare not refuse him an answer, and I could not tell him the truth."
"Nor me?" asked the prince, as he stepped up to his friend and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Why do you wish to fight under the German flag?"
Hartmut drew his hand across his brow as if to smooth out something, then he answered with a gasp:
"Because it means deliverance or--death."
"You return as great a mystery as when you went away," said Egon, shaking his head. "You have avoided my questionings; can you not tell me your secret now?"
"Only get me into the army and I'll tell you everything!" cried Rojanow, feverish with excitement. "I care not under what conditions, only get me in the army. Don't speak to the duke or to any of the generals, only get me into some subordinate command. Your name, your kinship to the reigning house will make your recommendation of great value. They will not be captious when Prince Adelsberg solicits a place for a friend."
"But they'll be sure to ask me the same questions they asked you. You are a Roumanian--"
"No, no!" exclaimed Rojanow, passionately. "Have you never seen, never felt that--I am a German?"
The effect of this declaration was not so great as Hartmut had feared.
The prince looked steadily at him for a minute, then he said:
"I have thought that for some time. The man who wrote 'Arivana' never learned the German language as part of his education; it was born in him. But you bear the name of Rojanow--"
"That was my mother's name, she belonged to a Roumanian Bojarin family. My own name is--Hartmut von Falkenried."
"Falkenried? That was the name of the Prussian officer who came from Berlin with the secret despatches to the duke. Is he a kinsman of yours?"
The prince glanced sympathetically at his friend, for he saw how it wrung his very soul to make this confession. He felt that here lay hidden a family drama, and desirous to avoid all show of curiosity concerning it, he only said:
"Take your own name as the son of your father; then every regiment in Prussia will be open to you."
"No, that would close them forever--I ran away from the cadet academy over ten years ago."