He slowed the car and squinted, trying to focus his eyes, but with little success.

He drove on to the house, stopped, and left his engine idling. He got out… the strange lights were still there.

There were… yes—whatever was the cause, the lights were coming from across the fields at the baron’s house! Still he tried to focus, but his drunken brain could make no meaning of it.

A sudden sense of curiosity, annoyance, and anger filled him.

He jumped back into his car, ground it into gear, and roared out into the fields toward the Dortmann estate across a bumpy dirt tractor path, still glaring into the distance.

They were headlights! The headlights of a car… several cars… what was going on at the baron’s? Why were cars driving around at such an hour and in such strange places?

His alcohol-induced rage rose. He turned off his own headlights, but even as he did so he thrust down farther on the accelerator. That would be his estate before long, he thought. He had a right to know what was going on! Whatever had to do with Sabina was his business—how dare they keep such secretive goings-on from him! He always had wondered about the baron. He was up to no good!

Suddenly, with a great bumping and jerking, his car stalled and slammed to a halt, both right tires deep into the ditch on the side of the narrow dirt path.

Hardly taking note, Gustav jumped out. With indignation, he broke forward into a run… they had no right to keep secrets from him… it was his estate… it probably had to do with that American! The baron was probably an American sympathizer! That would be something to uncover… this was his chance… anything unusual or out of the ordinary… he had to get in touch with that fellow!

Suddenly the lights in front of him disappeared.

It was dark. Still he continued to run, falling down, getting back up, then tripping and falling again.

At length, exhausted and having covered only about a third of the distance between the two houses, he stopped—panting, sweating, confused, and drunk—and stood staring.

A light or two appeared on the top floor, but he was too tired and too far gone from the brandy and strong ale to later remember seeing them.

Finally he turned, then staggered back toward his own home—muddy and bewildered by everything he had seen—tracking a huge mess into the house, across the expensive entry-way carpet.

The countess was still up, though the few mumbled phrases her son uttered interested her far more than the state of his breath. After a few moments, Gustav continued up the stairs into his own room, where he fell asleep, still in his filthy clothes. The following morning he was able to recall nothing but that he had seen strange lights, and that he was supposed to do something about it.

34 Neighboring Visit

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