The Bohemian hastened toward the young lady, knelt upon one knee and kissed the hem of her dress, but she paid no attention to it; only when she heard the reply of the old knight she turned her head from the fireplace to the darker side of the room, and only after a while, as if having forgotten that it was necessary to salute the Bohemian, she said: "The name of Jesus Christ be praised!"
"Forever and ever," replied Macko.
Then she observed the kneeling Bohemian at her feet and bent toward him.
"From my soul I am glad to see you, Hlawa, but why did you leave your master behind?"
"He sent me away, most gracious lady."
"What were his orders?"
"He ordered me to go to Bogdaniec."
"To Bogdaniec?... What else?"
"He sent me to get counsel.... He also sends his compliments and good wishes."
"To Bogdaniec? Very well, then. But where is he himself?"
"He left for Malborg, and is now among the Knights of the Cross."
Jagienka's face again assumed an expression of alarm.
"Why, is he tired of life?"
"He is in quest, gracious lady, of that which he will not be able to find."
"I believe he will not find it," interrupted Macko. "Just as one cannot drive a nail without a hammer, so are man's wishes without the will of God."
"What are you talking about?" cried Jagienka. But Macko replied with another query.
"Did he say to you that Zbyszko went for Jurandowna? It seems to me that he did."
Jagienka at first did not reply, and only after awhile, catching her breath, she replied: "Ay! He said! But what hindered him telling?"
"Well, then, now I can talk freely."
And he began to tell to her all that he had heard from the Bohemian. He wondered at himself why his words came haltingly and with difficulty, but being a clever man, he tried to avoid any expression that might irritate Jagienka, and he dwelt strongly upon what he himself believed, that Zbyszko was never the husband of Danusia in reality and that she was already lost to him forever.
The Bohemian confirmed Macko's words now and then, sometimes by nodding his head in approval, sometimes repeating "By God, true, as I live," or: "It is so, not otherwise!" The young lady listened, with eyelashes lowered till they touched her cheeks; she asked no more questions, and was so quiet that her silence alarmed Macko.