He could have arrived
sooner, but prudence did not allow him to enter the populous
suburbs of the town till the darkness guarded him from notice.
The gates of the city were no longer shut at sunset, as they had
used to be in the days when Duke Michael was governor, and Rudolf
passed them without difficulty. Fortunately the night, fine where
we were, was wet and stormy at Strelsau; thus there were few
people in the streets, and he was able to gain the door of my
house still unremarked. Here, of course, a danger presented
itself. None of my servants were in the secret; only my wife, in
whom the queen herself had confided, knew Rudolf, and she did not
expect to see him, since she was ignorant of the recent course of
events. Rudolf was quite alive to the peril, and regretted the
absence of his faithful attendant, who could have cleared the way
for him. The pouring rain gave him an excuse for twisting a scarf
about his face and pulling his coat-collar up to his ears, while
the gusts of wind made the cramming of his hat low down over his
eyes no more than a natural precaution against its loss. Thus
masked from curious eyes, he drew rein before my door, and,
having dismounted, rang the bell.
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