Mr. Trius, with his hat lowered to the ground, stood at his post to receive them. Shining silver buttons set off a coat which plainly belonged to his gala suit. Kurt was so completely confounded by this reception that he quickly fell into line with the rest, and the procession proceeded. The first thing they saw on the terrace was a long festive table with garlands of ivy and flowers. Apollonie soon after appeared in a beautiful silk gown the Baroness had given her, and her measured movements made the occasion seem extremely solemn. She had, to all appearance, become "Castle Apollonie" again. Loneli, wearing a pretty dress and carrying a huge bouquet of flowers, stepped up to Leonore. Then she handed her the flowers and recited in a clear, impressive voice the following words which Apollonie had composed herself:
"Thrice welcome to this home of thine,Lady of Castle Wildenstein."
"Thrice welcome to this home of thine,Lady of Castle Wildenstein."
"Thrice welcome to this home of thine,Lady of Castle Wildenstein."
Leonore, rigid with surprise, first stared at Loneli, then looked at the mother.
Mrs. Maxa took Leonore's hand and led her to the Baron, who had smilingly surveyed the scene.
"I think that her uncle is going to make his little niece a speech at last," Mrs. Maxa said, placing Leonore's hand in her uncle's. Like a flash comprehension dawned on Leonore.
"Dear uncle, dear uncle!" she cried out, embracing him tenderly. "Is it really true that you are my uncle? Is this wonderful thing really true?"
"Yes, child, I am the uncle you longed to love like a father," said the Baron. "I want to be your father and I hope you can love me a little. Will you mind living with me, Leonore?"
"Oh, dear, dear uncle," Leonore repeated with renewed signs of warm affection. "It is not very hard to love you. When you told me that my uncle in Spain was sick and miserable, I wished he could be just like you. I really can't quite believe that Salo and I may live with you in this wonderful castle, where I can be so near Aunt Maxa and everybody I love. I wonder what Salo will say. May I write to him today and let him know that we shall have a home with you?"
"How do you do, Mr. Castle-Steward,"
Mäzli said that moment, thrusting a plump, round hand between Leonore's and the Baron's. Mäzli had actually made use of the first moment her hand was free.
"Now Kurt can see for himself that you and Mr. Trius are two people; can't he, Mr. Steward?"
"This certainly must be cleared up," the Baron answered, shaking Mäzli's hand. "We shall prove to them all that Mäzli knows what she has seen. Leonore, I want to meet your friends now. Won't you bring them to me?"
The children were all standing around their mother and Apollonie, who were clearing up the mystery for them. The mother had barely been able to check their violent outbreak, but could not quite quench all enthusiasm. When they heard that Leonore had come to introduce them to her uncle, they were a little scared, but Leonore understood their hesitation and declared, "Just come! You have no idea how nice he is." Pulling Mea with her, she compelled the others to follow, and arriving at her uncle's side, she immediately began, "This is Bruno, my brother's best friend, and this is Mea, my best friend. I never had a friend like her in all my life. This is Kurt—"
"Kurt is my friend," said the uncle; "I know him because he is the poet. I hope he'll make songs about us all now; I know the one about Mr. Trius."
Quite taken aback, Kurt looked at the Baron. How could he know that song? His mother had strictly forbidden him to show it to anyone, and he had only read it aloud at home. How could a stranger hear about it?
"You can say in your new song that Mr. Castle-Steward and Mr. Trius are two persons and not one; you can see that yourself," Mäzli declared aloud.
Kurt then suddenly understood that his impudent small sister had probably been the informer and he did not know what to answer.
But Leonore helped him over his embarrassment by continuing, "This is Lippo, Uncle, who has asked me to live with him when he is grown up. Isn't he a wonderful friend, Uncle? He knew I had no home."
"You have quite marvellous friends, Leonore," said the Baron; "they must visit you very often, if Mrs. Maxa will allow it."
"Gladly, and I know that their happiness will be yours, too, when you see them all wandering through the house and garden."
"Yes, all of us, and Salo, too," Leonore exclaimed. "Do you think Salo will soon be here, Uncle?"
Apollonie had approached the lively group under the pine tree, and as there happened to be a suitable pause, she announced that dinner was ready.
"I really ought to invite my dear friend, Mrs. Maxa, to come to the tablewith me; I shall ask, however, who is going to take me?" said the Baron.
All the children immediately cried, "I," "I," "I," "I," "I," "I," and hands caught hold of the back and both sides of the Baron's chair.
"I am driving in a coach and six to-day! How things have changed for me!" the gentleman said smilingly. The meal Apollonie had planned was a great success and the open air on the terrace added to the children's enjoyment.
When the fruit course, which consisted of yellow plums, was eaten, the Baron gave the young birds, as he called the children, permission to fly freely about. It seemed to crown all the preceding pleasures to be able to roam without restraint in the woods and meadows. First of all they ran towards the adjoining woods, where their need for an outlet could be gratified.
"Long years to you, Leonore!" Bruno cried. "Now you and Salo are going to have a wonderful home quite near to us. Isn't it splendid! When Salo comes, we shall be together."
"Long live the Baron!" Kurt screamed now with all his might. "Hurrah for Castle Wildenstein, the wonderful new home! Long live Apollonie! But where is Loneli?" he suddenly interrupted himself in the midst of his outburst; "she ought to be here, too."
It Seemed to Crown All the Preceding Pleasures To Roam Without Restraint in the Woods and Meadows.
It Seemed to Crown All the Preceding Pleasures To Roam Without Restraint in the Woods and Meadows.
When everybody agreed with him, Kurt dashed towards the terrace where Loneli was just helping her grandmother carry away the dishes.
"We want to have Loneli with us, Apollonie. Please let her come with me," Kurt explained his errand.
"Who wants her, do you say?" Apollonie began rather severely, despite a glad note in her voice which could not be disguised.
"Everybody does, and Leonore especially," was Kurt's sly answer.
"You can go, Loneli," said the grandmother. "You must celebrate this great day with them."
Loneli actually glowed with joy when she ran off with Kurt.
As they were sitting under the pine tree, the Baron and Mrs. Maxa were reviving memories of long ago, and he listened with great emotion when Mrs. Maxa told him how faithfully his mother had tried to send him news. Her letters had, however, miscarried, because he had changed his residence so frequently. But he had wanted him to know how constant his mother's love had been and how anxiously she was waiting his return.
"Mrs. Maxa," he said after a little pause, "I feel terribly ashamed. I came here with anger and hate in my heart against God and man, and my only hope was to die as soon as possible. I expected to be forsaken and despised, and instead of that I meet only kindness and love on every side. I never deserved such a thing! Do you think I can ever atone for all the wrong I've done?"
"We must always bear in mind that there is One who is glad to forgive us our sins, Baron, and He can deliver us from them if we sincerely beg Him to," Mrs. Maxa answered.
As the Baron remained silent, Mrs. Maxa added, "Will you let me say something to you on the strength of our old friendship, Baron Bruno?"
"Certainly. I can trust my dear Maxa to say only what is right," he replied.
"I have noticed that you have evaded mentioning the name Salo, that you seemed reluctant to answer Leonore's questions concerning his possible coming. I know that bitter memories are connected with the name, but I also want you to know that you will deprive yourself of a great blessing if you banish the boy who bears that name."
"Please let him come here, if only for a little while," Mrs. Maxa begged, yet more strongly, "so that you can see him. If you can't willingly see him who may be the pride and joy of your life, then open the door of his home because, before God, it is right, which you must feel as fully as I."
The Baron was silent, then finally said, "Salo may come."
Mrs. Maxa's face shone with joy and gratitude. Many things had still to be discussed, and the two old friends remained sitting under the pine tree till the last rays of the setting sun were throwing a rosy light over the gray castle. The children were at last returning from their walk across the meadows. They looked like a full-blown garden when they approached the Baron's chair, for they were covered with garlands of poppies, ivy and cornflowers. Now supper was announced, and the Baron was escorted to the terrace as before. It was a true triumphal march this time, when he, throned in his chair with the lion-skin on his knees, was pushed along by the gaily decked children. The Baron told them how much he would enjoy taking a similar ride into the fields some day.
When Mrs. Maxa gave the sign for parting after the merry supper party, no sign of grief was shown because the Baron had already told them that Leonore was to move up into the castle in a few days. They were all to be present then. After that there would be no end to their visits.
When the Baron shook Mäzli's hand at parting, he said, "You came to see me first, Mäzli, so you shall always be my special friend."
"Yes, I'll be your friend," Mäzli said firmly.
When Leonore tenderly took leave of her uncle she whispered in his ear, "May Salo come soon, Uncle?"
This time the answer was a clear affirmative, and the child's heart was filled with rapture.
"Oh, Aunt Maxa," he cried aloud, "Can't we sing our evening song up here? I should love to sing the song my mother used to sing."
When consent was given, they grouped themselves about the Baron's chair and sang:
God, Who disposes all things well,I want but what Thou givest me.Oh how can we Thine acts foretell,When Thou are far more wise than we?
God, Who disposes all things well,I want but what Thou givest me.Oh how can we Thine acts foretell,When Thou are far more wise than we?
God, Who disposes all things well,I want but what Thou givest me.Oh how can we Thine acts foretell,When Thou are far more wise than we?
All the way home the children kept looking back at the castle, for their day had been too marvellous.
The next day three letters were sent to Salo, one from Bruno and one from Leonore, both full of enthusiasm about the great event of the day before; and one from Mrs. Maxa. The last thrilled Salo most, because it contained a summons for him to come to his new home.
The news that Baron Bruno had come back and that Apollonie had resumed her old post at the castle had spread all over the neighborhood. Everybody had heard that Loneli also was living at the castle, that Baron Salo's daughter had come, and his son was soon to be there. The report that Mrs. Rector Bergmann's whole family had spent a day at the castle was reported, too, and everybody talked about the intimate friendship of the two families.
A few days after the celebration at the castle the district attorney's wife came to call on Mrs. Maxa. She lost no time in telling her hostess that she counted on Baron Salo's son joining the other three lads in town and that her husband had agreed to look up another room for him. She had no doubt that the sons of the three most important families of Nolla ought naturally to live and study together, and she knew that every effort would be made to find Salo a suitable room, even if the application came rather late. Mrs. Maxa did not need to mind these annoying negotiations now, but calmly replied that the Baron would send his nephew to the high school in the city and would undoubtedly make his own arrangements. Mrs. Knippel, after remarking that her husband counted on seeing the Baron himself, withdrew. A moment after she left Loneli came into the house to see Mea.
"Just think, Mea," the peace-loving Loneli said to her, "I have a message for you from Elvira; she wants you to know that she is willing to forgive you on condition that she may meet Leonore. She wants to be her friend and sit beside her in school."
"It's too late now, and it won't help her. I don't care whether she wants to make up with me or not," Mea said placidly. "Neither Leonore nor I are going to school. You won't have to go either, Loneli, because a lady is coming to the castle to teach us all. Baron Wallerstätten and mama have settled it, so I know it."
Loneli could hardly believe her ears, the surprise seemed too great. "Then I shan't have to sit on the shame-bench any more," she said with a beaming face, for a heavy trouble was removed from her heart.
"You can ask Leonore if she wants to meet Elvira," said Mea, for Leonore had stepped up to them.
But Loneli's message held no interest whatever for Leonore, who wished for no new acquaintances. She only desired to give the time she was not spending with her uncle to Mea and her brothers and sisters. Least of all she wished to meet a girl who had been so disagreeable to her beloved Mea.
Uncle Philip had been away on a business trip. On his arrival home he received the following note from his sister: "If you still want to see Leonore with us, come as soon as possible. She is going to live with her uncle at the castle in a very few days. I shall tell you all about it when you come."
He arrived the very next morning, and as soon as he met his sister, he exploded: "I was quite sure, Maxa, that you would immediately deliver the little dove into the vulture's claws. I wish I had never put her in your care!"
"Come in, Philip and sit down," Mrs. Maxa said composedly. "We are going to have dinner in a moment, and then you will have the chance to ask the dove herself what she thinks of the vulture's claws."
Uncle Philip opened the door and found the children absolutely immersed in the recent events. The instant he stepped over the threshold they rushed up to him and fairly flooded him with news. Their speeches came thick and fast, and he heard nothing but manifestations of love for the dear, good Baron, Leonore's charming uncle, the good, kind Castle-Steward. Mäzli had not given up this title even now.
"Do you see, Philip, that you can't swim against the stream?" said Mrs. Maxa when she was sitting alone with her brother after dinner. "The best thing you can do is to pay your old friend a call; that would add you to the list of his admirers, instead of your bearing him a grudge."
But Uncle Philip violently objected to this proposal.
"Baron Bruno spoke of you with a sincere feeling of attachment which you apparently don't deserve," his sister said. "He was afraid of your feeling towards him, though. Listen to what he said 'I fear that he won't wish to have anything to do with me, and I shall be powerless in that case.'"
"I won't refuse the hand of an old friend, though, Maxa," said the brother now, "if he offers it to me to reestablish peace. What is he going to do for Salo's son?"
"Salo has already been sent word that he is to have the castle of his ancestors for a home," replied Mrs. Maxa.
"I am going out for a walk," Uncle Philip said suddenly, taking down his hat from the peg, and Mrs. Maxa guessed quite well where he was going. He reappeared at supper time and sat down with merry eyes in the midst of them all.
"Leonore," he began, "as soon as you are the mistress of the castle, I shall often be your guest. Your uncle and I have just done some business together. He told me how different everything used to be in the castle grounds and that he regretted not understanding about these matters. So he asked me to take charge of things, as they were in my special field. He hoped my old attachment to the place"—at these words Uncle Philip's voice became quite hoarse suddenly—"Maxa, your plum-cake is so sweet it makes one hoarse," he said, for he would never admit that he had been overcome by deep emotion. "So I have undertaken to attend to the matter and I shall often come to the castle."
That Uncle Philip belonged to the castle, too, now awoke hearty outbursts from the children, which the mother happily joined, for it had been her greatest wish that the two should become friends again.
The last evening before Leonore was to move into the castle had come, and the children were all sitting in a little corner. They were in the most cheerful mood, busily making delightful plans for the future. Suddenly the door opened, and wild shrieks of joy burst from everybody. "Salo, Salo, Salo!" they all cried out. The boy had just arrived in time to have a last splendid evening with his friends before moving into his new home. The next day turned out more wonderful than they had ever dared to dream, and it was followed again by a succession of other days as delightful. Every time the children came together it seemed like a new party, and the Baron took great care that those parties did not end too quickly.
Kurt had soon informed Salo and Bruno that there was a large hall with weapons and armor at the ground floor of the castle. When the boys asked Apollonie to admit them, she opened a little side door for them, because Mr. Trius had hidden the other key. Salo lifted the armoured knight to his shoulders, and had the long, blue cloak draped around him. He looked like a frightful giant as he wandered up and down the big room, and Kurt recognized the ghost of Wildenstein he had seen that dreadful night.
Salo, with his charming disposition, soon entirely won over his uncle, who decided to send his nephew to the neighboring town to study, and Salo and Bruno were to spend their study-time as well as their holidays together.
When the summer holidays were over, Salo and Bruno moved into town, but even this leave-taking did not prove very hard. The children were not to be separated very long, for the boys were to spend many week-ends at home, besides all their holidays. Bruno had soon written to his mother from town that she need not worry at all about the Knippel boys, as they scarcely ever saw them.
When Mrs. Maxa cannot help recalling all her former fears and plans for the future because her son's violent temper caused her such anxiety, she said to herself with a glad heart:
Oh how can we Thine acts foretell,When Thou are far more wise than we?
Oh how can we Thine acts foretell,When Thou are far more wise than we?
Oh how can we Thine acts foretell,When Thou are far more wise than we?
Apollonie has become the real, true Castle-Apollonie of yore and manages for her master's sake to live in undisturbed peace with Mr. Trius. She is taking such good care of the Baron and his little adopted daughter that a bloom of health has spread over their cheeks. On sunny days the Baron can frequently be seen walking up and down the terrace on Leonore's arm, and his young guide is very careful of his health and looks after him tenderly. The sound of a beautiful voice can often be heard through the open castle windows, for Leonore has inherited her mother's voice, and it gives her uncle the keenest pleasure to listen to the songs she used to sing in bygone days. The people in Nolla unanimously agree that the ghost of Wildenstein has gone to his eternal rest, because peace again is reigning at the castle.