The poor fellow found himself in a very disagreeable situation; if he refused to tell what he had told the strangers, the doctor would suspect matters of being worse than they really were, and yet if he informed him of all that he had said, matters were bad enough, for he had told enough to make the doctor his bitter enemy. It was very hard to give the right answer, but something must be done, and Hansel did his best, extricating himself from his dilemma with greater cunning than would have been thought possible for him. He told the doctor faithfully of all he had said to Herr Delmar about Herr von Heydeck, the life at the castle, about the first mistress, and her relations with Count Menotti. He reported also that he had spoken of the report that Herr von Heydeck was by no means sorry for his child's death, but he never hinted that he had once made mention in the narrative of the doctor or his wife. Hansel had the reputation in Tausens of being so honest and simple-minded a fellow that it never occurred to the doctor to doubt his frankness, and his mind was set at rest with regard to the extent of Hansel's revelations; not so, however, as to the stranger's motive in questioning the postmaster. It could not, the doctor was convinced, have been ordinary curiosity. What could have interested the strangers in Herr von Heydeck? Delmar's striking resemblance to Count Menotti could be no mere chance freak of nature. Such resemblances between strangers in blood do occur, it is true, but they are very exceptional, and Delmar's curiosity regarding matters connected with Castle Reifenstein showed plainly that this was not one of the exceptions. But if Delmar were related to Count Menotti, and had not come by chance to Tausens, what could he want there? A sudden suspicion flashed upon the doctor's mind, but he rejected it immediately,--it was so wild and improbable; still, Delmar's presence made him excessively uncomfortable. To conceal this discomfort from the postmaster, he talked and drank incessantly. The measure of wine was emptied and refilled several times, while the doctor's bloated face grew redder and redder, his eyes more watery, and his speech thicker. He tried to learn more of the strangers from Hansel, but in vain; the postmaster knew nothing of them except what he had heard from their guides from the Zillerthal, and this he freely imparted without in the least satisfying the other's curiosity. In his good humour the innkeeper was recounting every particular for the fourth time, although he could not conceive what interest it could have for the doctor, when he was interrupted by a message from the doctor's wife. A servant reported that her mistress was very much annoyed that the doctor was staying so long from home, and that she begged he would return thither immediately, since a message from the castle was awaiting him.