From the first he doubted it: and yet how should it have got there?
Such strange rumours, like paradoxical maxims, generally include a portion of truth.

Five days had elapsed since he last spoke to Paula.
Reaching the castle he entered his own quarters as usual, and after setting the draughtsmen to work walked up and down pondering how he might best see her without making the paragraph the ground of his request for an interview; for if it were a fabrication, such a reason would wound her pride in her own honour towards him, and if it were partly true, he would certainly do better in leaving her alone than in reproaching her.

It would simply amount to a proof that Paula was an arrant coquette.
In his meditation he stood still, closely scanning one of the jamb-stones of a doorless entrance, as if to discover where the old hinge-hook had entered the stonework.

He heard a footstep behind him, and looking round saw Paula standing by.

She held a newspaper in her hand.