Page 109 of Weighed in the Balance (William Monk 7)

“Can she have been unaware of Count Lansdorff’s purpose in coming to Wellborough Hall?” Rathbone asked.

“I cannot imagine so,” Zorah said frankly. “She has never been a foolish woman. She is as aware as any of us of the political situation in Felzburg and the rest of Germany. She lives in Venice, and Italy is also on the brink of a struggle for unification and independence from Austria.”

“We have heard that she is uninterested in politics,” Rathbone pointed out.

Zorah looked at him with ill-concealed impatience.

“To be uninterested in politics in general is not at all the same thing as being unaware of something that is going on which may affect your own survival,” she pointed out. “She has never been uninterested in what may ruin her.”

There was a murmur in the gallery. One of the jurors leaned forward.

“Ruin her?” Rathbone raised his eyebrows.

Zorah leaned a little forward. “If Friedrich had returned to Felzburg without her, she would be a divorced wife, publicly set aside, and have only the worldly means he chose to give her. And even that might not lie entirely within his power to decide. His personal fortune comes from royal lands at home. Many of them are on the Prussian borders. If there were a war to retain independence, Klaus von Seidlitz would not be the only one to lose the majority of his possessions. She was always aware of that.”

A chilly smile crossed her face. “Just because a person spends her life in the pursuit of pleasure, dresses sublimely, collects jewels, mixes with the rich and the idle, does not mean she is unaware of the source of the money or does not keep a very sharp mind to its continuing flow.”

Again there was the rumble from the gallery, and a man raised his voice in ugly comment.

“Is that deduction, Countess Rostova?” Rathbone inquired, ignoring the crowd. “Or do you know this of your own observation?”

“I have heard Friedrich mention it in her presence. She did not wish to know details, but she is very far from naive. The reasoning is inescapable.”

“And yet she was happy—in fact, eager—that Friedrich should spend time alone in conversation with Count Lansdorff?”

Zorah looked puzzled, as if she herself did not understand it, even in hindsight.

“Yes. She instructed him to.”

“And did he?”

“Of course.”

The gallery was silent now, listening.

“Do you know the outcome of their discussion?”

“Count Lansdorff told me Friedrich would return only on condition he could bring Gisela with him as his wife, and in time as his queen.”

One of the jurors let out a sigh.

“Did Count Lansdorff hold out any hope that he could be prevailed upon to change his mind?” Rathbone pressed.

“Very little.”

“But he intended to try?”

“Naturally.”

“To your knowledge, did he succeed?”

“No, he did not. At the time of the accident Friedrich was adamant. He always believed the country would have them both back. He believed that all his life. Of course, it was not true.?

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“Did he express any belief that Count Lansdorff would yield?”

“Not that I heard. He simply said that he would not consider going without Gisela, whatever the country’s need or anybody’s conception of his duty. He thought he could face the issue.” She said it with little expression in her voice, but her face was twisted with contempt and it was beyond her control to hide it.