"In a room in the north angle. It is some fifty feet from the courtyard into which it looks." "Is the window barred?" "No," the girl said; "the lower windows are strongly guarded, but on this floor they are not so." "Then I take it, that, if she had a rope, you and the other maiden could easily lower her to the ground?" "We could do that easily enough, count; but were she there she would be no nearer escaping. There is always a guard at the gate, and the drawbridge is up at night; and even when across that there is the outer court to be passed." "Are there stairs to the wall near where she would alight?" "Yes, sir, there is a flight of stairs in the angle just below our window." "The next thing I have to think about is your safety. As you sleep in her room it would be clear that she could not have escaped without your knowledge and assistance, and the baron, in his fury, would be capable of slaying you both." "And he would certainly do so," the farmer said shortly. "Then it is clear that either they must escape with my sister or must hide somewhere." "But we must be found sooner or later," the girl said. "Not if my plan succeeds, Bertha. I intend that the escape shall be known as soon as it is completed, that the baron shall set out in pursuit, that we shall have an ambush prepared for him, and that he shall not return to the castle, which I, with my retainers and vassals, and your father's assistance, will then capture. "In that case it would be easy enough for us to hide," the girl said. "There are chambers in the castle that none ever enter, and we could without difficulty conceal ourselves there. We could either do that or escape with the young countess." "I will think it over," Conrad said. "Are there sentries on the walls?" "There are two on the tower over the gate, but none along the wall itself. At least, the two are there in the daytime, but I have never looked out at night." "It was only yesterday morning that you were released, so we have five days to think over our plans. By the way, would it be possible for you to descend from your room to the courtyard at night without passing through occupied rooms or otherwise attracting attention? because, if so, there would be no necessity for lowering my sister from the window." "I think so, sir. There is a staircase by which there is communication both with the floor above and that below. It is a small stone winding stair in the thickness of the wall. I have never been up or down it; it connects with our room by a short passage in which there is a door, but this is always kept closed, and at night we lock it. The young countess obtained the key from the baron, saying that, did she not have it, anyone ascending or descending could come into her room without let or hindrance."