“ThelettersW。V。B。arealsobrandedverydistinctlyonhisforehead。”interruptedasecondequerry，“Isupposedthem，ofcourse，tobetheinitialsofWilhelmVonBerlifitzing-butallatthecastlearepositiveindenyinganyknowledgeofthehorse。”
“Extremelysingular！”saidtheyoungBaron，withamusingair，andapparentlyunconsciousofthemeaningofhiswords。“Heis，asyousay，aremarkablehorse-aprodigioushorse！although，asyouveryjustlyobserve，ofasuspiciousanduntractablecharacter，lethimbemine，however。”headded，afterapause，“perhapsariderlikeFrederickofMetzengerstein，maytameeventhedevilfromthestablesofBerlifitzing。”
“Youaremistaken，mylord；thehorse，asIthinkwementioned，is_not_fromthestablesoftheCount。Ifsuchhadbeenthecase，weknowourdutybetterthantobringhimintothepresenceofanobleofyourfamily。”
“True！”observedtheBaron，dryly，andatthatinstantapageofthebedchambercamefromthepalacewithaheightenedcolor，andaprecipitatestep。Hewhisperedintohismaster’searanaccountofthesuddendisappearanceofasmallportionofthetapestry，inanapartmentwhichhedesignated；entering，atthesametime，intoparticularsofaminuteandcircumstantialcharacter；butfromthelowtoneofvoiceinwhichtheselatterwerecommunicated，nothingescapedtogratifytheexcitedcuriosityoftheequerries。
TheyoungFrederick，duringtheconference，seemedagitatedbyavarietyofemotions。Hesoon，however，recoveredhiscomposure，andanexpressionofdeterminedmalignancysettleduponhiscountenance，ashegaveperemptoryordersthatacertainchambershouldbeimmediatelylockedup，andthekeyplacedinhisownpossession。