The wedding-day was approaching.Soon the sun of 1st June, the date definitively fixed, would rise over the horizon of Ragz.

I realised, not without real satisfaction, that Myra, impressionable though she was, did not seem to have remembered those inexplicable incidents.Admittedly the name of Wilhelm Storitz had never been pronounced either before her or before her mother.

I was her confidant.She told me about her plans for the future, without being too certain that they would be carried out.Would she and Marc go and settle down in France?Yes, but not at once.To be separated from her parents would cause her too much sorrow.

‘But, 'she added, ‘for the time being, it's only a question of going to spend a few weeks in Paris, where you'll come with us, won't you?'

‘By all means!Unless you don't really want me, that is.'

‘Well, two newly-weds make rather awkward travelling companions.'

‘I'll try to put up with it.'I said in resigned tones.

The Doctor quite approved of their going away.To leave Ragz for a month or two, that would be best from all points of view.Madame Roderich would no doubt be very distressed at the absence of her daughter, but she would make the best of it.

For his part, during the time he spent with Myra, Marc forgot, or rather he tried to forget.When he was with me, on the other hand, he was again seized by those fears which I sought to dissipate.

He always asked me, ‘You don't know anything fresh, Henri?'

‘Nothing, my dear Marc, 'I always replied, and this indeed was the truth.

One day he thought fit to add, ‘If you heard anything, if, in the town, or from M.Stepark, you heard it mentioned……'

‘I should warn you, Marc.'

‘I don't want you to hide it from me, whatever it may be.'

‘I won't hide it from you, you may be certain.But I assure you that nobody's giving it any more thought.The town has never been quieter.Some are minding their own business, others their own pleasures, and the market-rates are rising.'

‘You're joking, Henri……'

‘That's only to show you that I've no fears at all.'

‘And yet, 'Marc's face darkened, ‘if that man……'

‘Bah!He isn't such a fool.He must know quite well that he'll be arrested if he sets foot on Austro-Hungarian territory, and there are plenty of fairs in Germany where he could find scope for his talents as a juggler.'

‘So, those powers that he's spoken of……'

‘That would be all right for children, that would!'

‘You don't believe in them?'

‘No more than you do yourself.So, my dear Marc, confine yourself to counting the hours, counting the very minutes, that separate you from the great day.You can't do anything better when you've finished than to start counting again.'

‘Oh, my friend!'Marc exclaimed sadly.

‘You aren't being reasonable, Marc.Myra's more reasonable than you are.'

‘That's because she doesn't know what I know.'

‘What do you know?What you know is that the personage in question is no longer in Ragz, that he can't come back, that we'll never see him again, as you must realise!If that isn't enough to reassure you……'

‘What do you expect, Henri, I've got a presentiment……It seems to me.'

‘That's senseless, my poor Marc!Look here!The best thing you can do is to go back to Myra, believe me.That will make you see things in a new light.'

‘Yes, you're quite right.I ought not to leave her, not for a moment!'

My poor brother!It hurt me to look at him, even to hear him.His fears increased as the wedding-day drew nearer.And for myself, I was awaiting that day with involuntary anxiety.

But though I could count upon Myra's influence to calm my brother, I did not know what to do for Captain Haralan.

The moment he heard that Wilhelm Storitz was in Spremberg, it was only with the greatest difficulty that I succeeded in preventing his going there.The place was only two hundred leagues away, and the distance could be covered in four days.At last we had managed to keep him back, but despite the arguments which his father and I pressed upon him, in spite of the plain desirability of letting the affair drop into oblivion, he kept reverting to his plan, and I was afraid that he would elude us.When one morning he came to find me I realised right from the outset that he had decided to go.

‘You mustn't do it, my dear Haralan, 'I told him, ‘you mustn't do it.For you to meet that Prussian is impossible.I implore you not to leave Ragz.'

‘My dear Vidal, 'the Captain spoke in tones which showed a firm resolution, ‘that wretch has got to be punished.'

‘And he will be sooner or later, never doubt it!'I exclaimed.‘But the only hand which ought to fall upon him is that of the police.'

The Captain felt that I was right, but he did not wish to give in.

‘My dear Vidal, 'he replied in tones which left me no hope, ‘we don't see things, we can't see things the same way.My family, which is to be your brother's, has been outraged, and am I not to take vengeance?'

‘No, it's for justice to do that.'

‘But how is that to be done if the man doesn't return?This very morning the Governor signed an expulsion order which will make it impossible for Storitz to return.So I must go where he is, or where he ought to be at any rate, to Spremberg.'

‘Agreed, 'I replied, ‘in the the last resort, but at least wait for your sister's wedding.A few more days'patience, and I'll be the first to advise you to go.I'll even come to Spremberg with you.’

I pressed this view so warmly that our conversation ended with a formal promise that he would wait, on the understanding that when the wedding had been celebrated I would no longer oppose him, and that I should go with him.

They seemed interminable, the hours which separated us from the 1st June.For indeed, though I felt it my duty to reassure the others, I was not without a certain uneasiness myself.So it often happened that I went up or down the Boulevard Tékéli, urged on by I don’t know what presentiment.

The Storitz dwelling was still just as the police had left it after their swoop, the doors closed and the windows shut, the yard and garden deserted.On the Boulevard were a handful of policemen whose surveillance extended to the“parapet of the old fortification and the open country.No attempt to get back into the house had been made either by master or servant.And yet, like an obsession, in spite of everything I said to Marc and Captain Haralan, in spite of everything I said to myself, if I had seen a wisp of smoke rising from the laboratory chimney, a face appearing behind the windows of the Belvedere, I should not have been surprised.

Although the people of Ragz had recovered from their first fright and no longer mentioned those strange happenings, it was really Dr.Roderich, it was really my brother, it was really Captain Haralan, it was really myself, who were haunted by the ghost of Wilhelm Storitz.

That day, 30th May, to get some relaxation during the afternoon I had gone along the banks of the Danube, and I happened to pass the landing-stage just as a lighter was arriving from further up-stream.

Then flashed back into my memory the incidents of my own journey, my meeting with that German, his insulting behaviour, the feeling of antipathy which he inspired in me at first sight;then, when I thought he had gone ashore, the words which he had uttered.Yes, it was certainly he who had uttered those menacing words.I had recognised his voice in Dr.Roderich's drawing-room.The same articulation, the same harshness, the same Teutonic insolence.

Obsessed by these thoughts, I looked, one after the other, at all the passengers who were stopping at Ragz.I was looking for the pale face, the strange eyes, the diabolical expression of that person.But, as they say, I got nothing for my trouble.

At six I went, as usual, to take my place at the family table.Madame Roderich seemed much better, and was almost in control of her feelings.My brother forgot everything when he was beside Myra, only two evenings before the day on which he was to make her his wife.Even Captain Haralan seemed calmer, although somewhat gloomy.

I had made up my mind to do the impossible to enliven that little world and to banish the last clouds of those memories.I was ably seconded by Myra;she was the charm and delight of the evening, which lasted until quite late.Without being asked, she sat down at the clavichord, and we sang the old Magyar songs, as though to efface that abominable Hymn of Hate which had resounded through the room.

Just as we were about to retire she said with a smile.

‘Don't forget, Monsieur Henri, that tomorrow……'

‘Forget, Madmoiselle?'I replied in similar tones.

‘Yes, don't forget that it's the day when we seek audience with the Governor, to get his authority for……'

‘Yes, of course!It's tomorrow!'

‘And that you're one of the witnesses for your brother.'

‘You're quite right to remind me, Mademoiselle Myra.Witness for my brother!I'd forgotten it already.'

‘That doesn't surprise me.I've noticed that you've seemed preoccupied lately.'

‘I must plead guilty, but I shan't be tomorrow, I promise you.And so long as Marc isn't either……'

‘I'll answer for him.So at four o'clock exactly.'

‘Four o'clock, Mademoiselle Myra?And there was I thinking that it was an half-past five!So don't worry.I shall be there at ten minutes to four.'

‘Good evening!Good evening to Marc's brother, who's so soon going to become mine.'

‘Good evening, Mademoiselle Myra, goodevening!'

Next morning Marc had several visits to make.I thought he had regained his calm, and I let him go alone.

Meanwhile, by an excess of prudence, and to make sure, if possible, that Wilhelm Storitz had not been seen in Ragz, I went to the Town Hall.At once ushered in to M.Stepark, I asked if he had any news.

‘No, M.Vidal, 'he told me, ‘you can be certain that our man hasn't been seen in Ragz.'

‘Is he still in Spremberg?'

‘All I can say is that he was still there four days ago.'

‘You've had notice of that?'

‘Yes, by a messenger from the German police, who's confirmed it.'

‘That's reassuring.'

‘And I find it boring, Monsieur Vidal.That devil of a man—and devil is the very word—doesn't seem much inclined to cross the frontier.'

‘So much the better, M.Stepark!'

‘So much the better for you, but as a policeman I'd have preferred to get my hand on his collar, and to shut up this sorcerer fellow within four walls!Wall, later, perhaps.'

‘Oh, later, after the wedding, as much as you like, Monsieur Stepark.'And after expressing my thanks I retired.

At four in the afternoon we were all back at Dr.Roderich's.Two coaches were waiting in the Boulevard Tékéli—one for Myra, with her father and mother and a friend of the family, Judge Neuman;and the other for Marc, Captain Haralan, one of his comrades, Lieut.Armgard, and myself.M.Neuman and Captain Haralan were the bride’s witnesses, Lieut.Armgard and myself were Marc’s.

The young fiancée was wearing a charming gown in the bast of taste;Madame Roderich’s toilet was quite simple though very costly.The Doctor and the Judge, like my brother and myself, wore court dress, and the two officers were in full-dress uniform.

A few people were waiting for the vehicles to emerge on to the Boulevard;they were mostly women and girls, whom a wedding always makes excited and inquisitive.But it was most likely that next day there would be a large crowd at the Cathedral, an homage justly due to the Roderich family.

The two coaches left the main door of the mansion, and made their way towards the Governor's Palace.

The sightseers were most numerous on the square and in the Palace courtyard.Perhaps, after all, a recollection of the previous incidents had attracted them.Perhaps they were wondering if some new phenomena were going to take place.

The vehicles entered the yard of honour and drew up before the steps.

An instant later Myra on her father's arm, Madame Roderich on that of M.Neuman, then Marc, Captain Haralan, Lieut.Armgard and I, took our places in the Festival Hall, lit by tall stained-glass windows and walled with costly carved panels.In the centre a large table bore two splendid baskets of flowers.

In their capacity as father and mother, Dr.and Madame Roderich sat down on each side of the armchairs reserved for the engaged couple.Behind them the four witnesses took their places, M.Neuman and Captain Haralan on the left, Lieut.Armgard and myself on the right.

The master of ceremonies announced the Governor.Everybody rose as he entered.

Having taken his place on his throne, he asked the parents if they consented to the marriage of their daughter to Marc Vidal.It was then to the young people themselves that the Governor put the usual quesions.

‘Marc Vidal, do you promise to take Myra Roderich as your wife?'

‘I swear it, 'my brother replied;he had been properly instructed.

‘Myra Roderich, do you promise to take Marc Vidal as your husband?'

‘I swear it, 'replied Mademoiselle Myra.

‘We, Governor of Ragz, ”his Excellency announced, in virtue of the powers conferred upon us by the Queen-Empress, and conformably to the age-old franchises of the town of Ragz, we grant licence for the marriage of Marc Vidal to Myra Roderich.It is our will and order that the said marriage should be celebrated tomorrow, in due form, in the Cathedral Church of the town.'

Thus everything had gone off as simply as usual.No wonder had disturbed those who took part in it, and, although that idea had crossed my mind for a moment, the document on which we had placed our signatures had not been torn to pieces, nor the pens wrenched from the hand of the engaged couple or the witnesses.

Certainly Wilhelm Storitz must be at Spremberg—he could stay there for the delight of his compatriots!—or, if he were in Ragz, his power must be exhausted.

Now, whether that overrated sorcerer wished it or not, Myra Roderich would either be the wife of Marc Vidal, or else she would be that of nobody.