Castle Osternau is situated in the midst of a country distinguished not for any conspicuous or unique beauty of natural scenery, but for luxuriance of cultivation. The undulating landscape forbids an extended view, it is only from the summit of some of the larger hills that the long range of the Riesengebirge can be discerned in the distance. All sight of this range is shut off from Castle Osternau itself by low hills.
Nevertheless, the country about the castle is by no means wanting in charm. The richly-cultured fields waving with golden grain, the luxuriant, flowery meadows, which lie like broad green ribbons among them, the dark forests which bound the horizon do not it is true combine to form a scene of majestic magnificence, but the landscape is full of a tender, benignant beauty, and in the eyes of Herr von Osternau, who was agriculturist to his very heart's core, there was in all Silesia no more beautiful spot than his dear Osternau. A field of wheat was far more lovely in his eyes than the most picturesque bare rocks. The steep mountains, available only for the cultivation of timber and inaccessible for the plough, where the peasant toiled laboriously to earn a scanty subsistence, were odious to him. An extensive, level, cultured plain was his ideal of beauty. It was hardly attained in the gently-undulating fields of Osternau, but, so far as luxuriance of cultivation was concerned, they left nothing to be desired.
All the lords of Osternau had been capable, practical agriculturists. The love of agriculture had descended for centuries from father to son with the entailed estate. Its proprietors had successively, from time immemorial, resided at Castle Osternau and personally superintended the management of its extensive lands, the younger sons only had devoted themselves to a diplomatic career, and, for the most part, not for long. So soon as they could lay claim to a pension from the government they had followed their natural bent, resigned their positions, and retired to Castle Osternau, where they had loyally assisted the elder brother in the management of his estates. But few of these younger brothers had ever married, most of them had died bachelors. Thus the male descendants of the Osternau line had never been numerous. At present there were but three of them. The head of the house, Friedrich von Osternau, had but one son, a boy six years of age, and only one male relative, a cousin, Albrecht von Osternau by name, who had for a long time considered himself the heir-at-law, since the marriage of Friedrich von Osternau had been blessed for some years with a daughter only. When this daughter, however, had reached the age of eleven, the birth of a son had blasted the young man's hopes of succeeding to the estates.
Albrecht von Osternau was a young, pleasure-loving officer. As the future possessor of Osternau, he had cared very little for the fact that he had gambled away and squandered his patrimony in a few years. His credit was good, for it was supposed by the Berlin money-lenders that the present owner of Osternau was consumptive and could live but a few months longer at the furthest. But the victim of consumption lived not only months, but years, and just when his death was predicted with great certainty, he astonished the world with the news that a son and heir was born to him.
It was a fearful blow for Lieutenant Albrecht von Osternau when he suddenly learned, in a very kind letter from his cousin, that his expectations in life had crumbled to ruins. With his prospects of inheritance his credit also vanished. His creditors, hitherto most patient, besieged him, and in one case, where he had imprudently given his note of hand, he was threatened with a complaint to be lodged with his commanding officer. Until now the lieutenant had never found any difficulty in covering one debt with another; this was no longer possible. The money-lenders, who had formerly considered it an honour to accommodate the Herr Lieutenant, rudely refused compliance with his wishes.
In his great need, Albrecht von Osternau decided to apply to his only relative, the head of the house, although until now he had had but little intercourse with him. He paid a visit to Castle Osternau, where he was received with open arms. The good-natured Friedrich considered it a duty to indemnify his only relative, in some measure at least, for his shattered hopes. He recognized the severity of the law of entail which cuts off all the younger branches of a family from a share in the wealth which is lavished upon the heir, and he thought it quite natural that Albrecht should have heretofore ordered his life upon a scale commensurate with his expectations.
Since the state of his own health had prevented him from leading any but the simple life of a country gentleman, he was in the habit of yearly laying aside considerable sums, which were usually, however, expended in the improvement of the estates, wherefore his private property was not very large. Nevertheless, he gladly sacrificed a considerable amount of money in paying his cousin's debts.
Amply provided with means, Albrecht returned from Osternau to Berlin. He arrived there a day too late. His merciless creditor had already sent to the colonel of the regiment a notice of the note that was due. Upon the payment of his claim he would gladly have recalled it, but, since the colonel had received it, the latter was obliged to advise the young officer to send in his resignation from the service.
Albrecht's military career was ended. It must shortly have terminated at all events, for with his expensive tastes and habits he could not possibly have maintained his position as cavalry officer of the guards without loading himself with debt. What was he to do? At the age of twenty-four, in the very flower of his youth, he found himself without a future.
Once more he found a kind and ready friend in his cousin, to whom he confided his misfortune. Baron Friedrich invited him to come to Osternau, there to follow the traditions of the family in devoting himself to agriculture.
The luxurious young officer, accustomed to the delights of the capital, unused to work of any description, after living a careless life of pleasure among his wealthy comrades, was to bury himself in a lonely castle, where, in the society of an invalid cousin and his simple-hearted wife, he must spend his weary days in a pursuit that was odious to him. He who had been free as a bird of the air after the easy duties of his daily service were over, must now be his cousin's slave, condemned to constant occupation, obedient to command, assuming the part of an upper superintendent upon the very estates which he had been wont to consider as his own in the future. Could the munificent compensation offered him by his cousin atone to him for what he relinquished, for the delights he must resign? He felt no gratitude towards his generous relative; he hated him as he had always envied him. For years he had set all his hopes upon the death of the man whom he had believed a prey to consumption. These hopes were now annihilated, and he felt almost inclined to reproach his cousin for still living, and for being blessed with a direct heir. How could he be grateful to the hated relative whose subordinate, whose slave he was doomed to be? The thought was intolerable; and yet, hard as this lot was, no choice was left for the ruined officer. Again and again he destroyed the letter in which he had tried to accept his cousin's offer with thanks. He ground his teeth as he wrote out the hollow expressions of his gratitude, but there was no help for it, he had to write them, and when the letter was finally finished he paced the floor of his room in a frenzy of envy and disgust.
In a few days he followed his letter to Castle Osternau, and from that time all the male members of the ancient family were united beneath its roof. Albrecht occupied some elegantly-furnished rooms in the third story of the castle; the windows of his sleeping-room looked out upon the court-yard, those of his other rooms upon the garden.
The head of the family himself occupied the second floor of the castle. He was so enthusiastic a farmer that he quite despised the lovely view of the castle gardens. His delight was in overlooking from the windows of his sitting-room the spacious court-yard, with its busy throng of servants and labourers. If the state of his health confined him to the house, he thus contrived still to maintain a supervision of his people. He would sit at these windows from early morning when the weather was bad, only leaving his post to repair to the dining-hall at dinner-time. From half-past two until half-past four was his only time for recreation or repose. If the weather were propitious he spent the entire remainder of the day out of doors, in the fields, on foot or on horseback, in the court-yard and stables. He took an interest in the smallest details of his extensive agricultural operations without relaxing in his strict general superintendence. The Osternau estates were regarded all through the country as a model of good management.
The castle court-yard was a huge quadrangle, one side of which was formed by the extensive structure of the castle itself. Its spacious barns were on the opposite side; to the right were long rows of stables for horses and cows, and to the left were those devoted to various breeds of sheep. In the midst of the large space thus enclosed was a pond for watering the cattle, and beside it stood a shed, beneath which was a fire-engine.
Perfect neatness and order reigned in the court-yard; the keen eye of the master of Osternau saw to it that these were always strictly maintained. He certainly was the gentlest and kindest of masters, but he could not endure the slightest disorder. Even the huge muck-heap before the cow-stables, the pride of its possessor and the ornament of the court-yard of an agricultural estate, was well kept, and gave no impression of uncleanliness; indeed, the neighboring landed proprietors regarded it with admiration when they drove past the court-yard on their way to pay a friendly visit to Herr von Osternau. They preferred to go round the narrower country road, past the court-yard, to gain the front entrance to the castle, rather than to approach it by the broader road leading directly from the highway.
Herr Fritz Von Osternau, the lord of the castle, was seated in his room at the open window looking discontentedly out upon the court-yard. In consequence of over-exertion he had suffered for some days from a violent attack of the spasmodic cough which many years previously ignorant physicians had pronounced consumption. These attacks of a chronic malady were not dangerous. The famous Mitterwurz, of Berlin, when consulted by Herr von Osternau, had assured him that with care he might regard his cough as a warrant for length of life, but care he must take. In stormy or very warm weather he must stay in the house, he must avoid violent exercise, and never ride far afield even in fair weather after an attack of coughing, as physical exertion might provoke a return of it. Since this verdict of the famous physician's, Frau von Osternau never had allowed her husband to indulge in his agricultural mania when he had coughed during the night. She would permit him to take a short walk, upon which she always accompanied him that he might not be induced to prolong it, and he was obliged to return to the castle after an hour at most of sauntering. He obeyed her at such times reluctantly, but still he obeyed, and thus he was sitting to-day at the open window instead of being where he longed to be, out in the fields superintending the harvesting. It was so tiresome to gaze out into the sunlit court-yard, where not a person was to be seen, every man and maid, as well as a host of day-labourers, being busy with the harvest.
Profound quiet reigned in the spacious quadrangle: even the poultry had retired to the barns out of the glowing sunshine and were silent. The court-yard was so lonely and deserted that its master grew tired of looking out of the window, and taking up a book he tried to read. But it would not do, his thoughts were with the harvesters, and the book did not interest him. He laid it down with a sigh of impatience.
"This sitting idly here is intolerable," he said to his wife, who was seated near him knitting diligently. "I detest laziness. Everybody is busy in the fields, and I sit here doing nothing. I cannot bear it any longer, Emma, I must go out, and besides there is no use in taking care of myself any longer, I have not coughed once for two hours."
Frau von Osternau dropped her knitting in her lap and looked at her husband with a smile. She was not beautiful, but her smile was wonderfully lovely and lent a charm to her face, revealing such simple kindness of heart that one forgot, in looking at it, its irregularity of feature, and in spite of her forty years she was still youthfully attractive. Her smile was really irresistible: it was sure to overcome any rebellion against her wishes upon her husband's part; when he would have obstinately resisted any severity of manner, he was powerless against his wife's smile.
"Dear Fritz, you forget your wretched night," she said, gently. "You coughed so terribly that neither of us slept an hour, and now you want to go out into the hot sun with the harvesters. For my sake, dear, stay quietly in your arm-chair. It will soon be noon, and the men will be back in the court-yard."
Herr von Osternau muttered some unintelligible words, but resigned himself to his fate with a sigh, and made another fruitless attempt to read.
"Emma," he said, after a pause, "do you know that to-day is the 6th of July?"
"I believe it is; but what makes you think of it?"
"You know we expected the tutor on the 6th."
"Then he will surely be here in the course of the day."
"I wish he would fail to keep his appointment. It would be a good reason for getting rid of him. I confess I cannot reconcile myself to your idea of having a tutor. We should have been wiser to engage a governess for Fritzchen. A cultivated, well-born young woman is a pleasant addition to one's household; she could easily have taught Fritzchen all he need learn for a couple of years, and it would have been well for our romp Lieschen to acknowledge a more strict control than yours."
"Do you imagine that Lieschen would have submitted to it? You know I thought at first of engaging a governess for Fritzchen, but our experiences with Lieschen's governesses were too terrible. I could not try that experiment again. If Liese drove her governess to desperation when she was a child of seven, it is hardly likely that she would be very docile as a girl of seventeen. She is too unaccustomed to control. No, no, it is better as it is. And I may as well tell you, Fritz, although I know how you will laugh at me, that when I wrote to Director Kramser I made it a stipulation that the young man whom he should send to us must be positively ugly. This I did in view of the position I wished him to occupy with regard to Liese, who is to take music-lessons of him."
"Oh, Emma, Emma! what an extraordinary idea!" Herr von Osternau exclaimed, with a laugh.
"It is impossible to be too prudent," Frau von Osternau said, gravely. "Lieschen has an antipathy to everything ugly, there could be no danger for her in an ugly, awkward man. Director Kramser is, as you know, an old friend of mine, he used to be tutor to my brother Karl----"
"I remember him," her husband interrupted her. "I used to see him at your father's before we were married. A very unattractive, awkward young man, but in spite of that he has had a very successful career, I believe."
"He certainly is rather awkward, but very good-humoured, and as honest and good a man as ever lived. I have great confidence in him. I told him so in my letter, and frankly confessed to him the reason why I wanted an ugly tutor. I did not wish that there should be any danger for Liese in taking music-lessons of him, and I am quite sure that Kramser will have had a regard for my wishes in this respect."
"No doubt of it, so far as ugliness is concerned," her husband rejoined, with a laugh. "Speak of an angel, and you hear the rustle of his wings; there comes the tutor. Come to the window, Emma; there, I am certain, comes yourprotégéacross the court-yard. Heavens! what a scarecrow!"
Frau von Osternau hastened to her husband's side and looked out of the open window. His exclamation had made her curious; she too had a slight shock, and could not but admit that 'scarecrow' was not too strong an expression, when she saw the young man who had entered the court-yard by the gate between the barns, and was now leisurely coming towards the castle across the deserted quadrangle. He was still too far off to allow of her distinguishing his features, but his figure was certainly suggestive of a scarecrow. With his clothes hanging loosely upon his long limbs and the tails of his black coat dangling against his legs, the man looked like a caricature. His tall, rusty hat, as well as his coat, seemed the relic of a bygone age. With a shabby old travelling-bag hung over his shoulder on the end of a stick, he sauntered slowly along, casting curious glances about him. Herr von Osternau continued to stare at the strange figure as it gradually approached the castle. "Most certainly your friend has obeyed your directions with regard to the ugliness, Emma. And we are to have this scarecrow living beneath our roof and eating at our table? Why my food will choke me with that thing before my eyes!"
"He really does look almost too ugly," his wife replied, rather meekly; she began to feel that she had laid too much stress Upon ugliness in her letter to the Herr Director.
As the man came nearer, and her keen eye could distinguish his features, she thought they did not quite correspond to the impression made upon her by his figure. He could hardly be called very handsome. The nose was too large, the mouth, shaded by a large moustache, not sufficiently well formed, and the face was too pale to be pronounced very handsome; but surely the large, dark eyes might be so considered, as they looked observantly about the court-yard; and when, upon advancing sufficiently near the castle to perceive Herr and Frau von Osternau at the window, the man lifted his hat courteously, his manner of doing so was such a contradiction of his appearance that Frau von Osternau hardly knew what to think. The head from which the hat was lifted seemed by no means repulsive, the dark, expressive eyes lent it a certain interest.
Herr von Osternau's impressions with regard to the stranger were identical with his wife's. "A very odd person," he observed, as the man disappeared beneath the window. "I am really curious to see him." His wife said nothing, but looked eagerly towards the door of the sitting-room. She had not long to wait. In a moment Hildebrandt, Herr von Osternau's old personal attendant, appeared, to announce that a very odd-looking stranger had arrived with a travelling-bag; his name he said was Gottlieb Pigglewitch, and he asserted that he was the Herr Tutor whom madame expected.
Old Hildebrandt looked grave when his mistress desired him to show in the Herr Tutor immediately, and he ventured to observe that the man did not look like a respectable tutor, but like some tramp who had stolen his ill-fitting clothes; nevertheless he obeyed his mistress's reiterated order, and ushered Herr Gottlieb Pigglewitch into the sitting-room.
When the tutor appeared on the threshold of the door, which Hildebrandt held open for him, Frau von Osternau could not but be struck again by the contrast between the young man's exterior and his air and bearing. He held his shabby old hat in his hand with the careless grace of a gentleman paying a morning call, and the bow with which he greeted the mistress and master of the house was respectful but easy. As he bowed, the large, dark eyes rested keenly for an instant upon Frau von Osternau, and were then turned with the same observant glance upon her husband.
The shyness and the awkwardness which are wont to attack young men unused to society upon first meeting persons of rank were evidently unknown to Herr Gottlieb Pigglewitch. He approached Frau von Osternau, and bowing again slightly, said, "Madame, allow me to introduce myself as the Candidate Gottlieb Pigglewitch, whom Herr Director Kramser has recommended to you for a tutor. I beg to thank you for your kindness in consenting to postpone my entering upon the duties of the important post assigned me until to-day, and to assure you that I am now ready to fulfil them to the best of my ability. Yes, I confess that I greatly desire to enter upon the honest performance of them. I am eager to teach your little son what you would have him learn."
It was an odd speech, and there was certainly no trace to be found in it of the formal tone always adopted upon every special occasion by the Herr Director Kramser in his youth. Everything about the young man was different from what Frau von Osternau had expected to find it. She was not easily embarrassed, in her gentle, kindly way she was used to be equal to any emergency, but, oddly enough, she hardly knew how to treat this tutor whom she had engaged, this young man who was henceforth to occupy a superior position among the dependants of her household. She had thought it but natural and right that she should not be at all disturbed by his entrance, and should calmly proceed with her knitting, but it was laid aside, and she felt obliged to receive him as she would have done a morning visitor of her own rank, as in a few courteous words she expressed her pleasure in seeing him and motioned him towards a seat.
Herr von Osternau's sensations were of a similar kind. He too rose from his chair and left the window as the tutor entered, and when the latter took a chair near the sofa, in compliance with Frau von Osternau's invitation, her husband seated himself likewise, and felt himself impelled to continue the conversation his wife had begun.
"I am glad to find you so punctual, Herr Pigglewitch," he said, with a kindly nod. "I am quite sure, from the representations of Herr Director Kramser, who is an old friend of my wife's, that you will inculcate fidelity to duty and punctuality in your teaching of my Fritz, but I must warn you upon one point. I prefer to undertake my son's training myself in all matters bearing upon religion. It is of importance to me that his views upon such subjects should agree with those of his parents."
At this explanation a smile hovered about the young man's lips. He inclined his head courteously towards the master of the house as he replied, "I thank you for relieving me of your son's religious instruction, since it is the department in which I feel myself least fitted to impart knowledge."
"That surprises me. I should have supposed the contrary from Herr Director Kramser's letter."
"Herr Director Kramser is probably disposed to judge too favourably of my capacity and acquirements. I frankly confess that I have had doubts whether I am capable of instructing and educating a boy, whether I am not wanting in conscientiousness in undertaking an office for which I may have no vocation. I decided to do so in a moment of excitement. Perhaps I should not have done so. Still, I may be able to overcome all difficulties, and accomplish my desire to do well and honestly what is required of me. I do not know whether I possess the patience, force, and talent required for the task, but I will hope so. I owe it to you to be frank with you, Herr von Osternau, and I pray you to permit a trial of my capacity,--a trial to which I concede your right to put an immediate stop provided I do not fulfil entirely to your satisfaction the duties required of me."
Herr and Frau von Osternau listened in increasing surprise to these words, which they could scarcely comprehend. They exchanged significant glances, and for a moment Herr von Osternau was doubtful whether it would not be best to dismiss Herr Gottlieb Pigglewitch at once. However, the young man's last sentence allayed his doubts. There could be no harm in making the trial of which he spoke. Therefore he replied, "I accept your proposal, although I confess myself surprised by your manner of making it. I really cannot understand how a Candidate, who has gone through the schools and passed his examination, should doubt his ability to instruct a boy of six."
"I have never been a private tutor."
"Indeed? You doubt then your success in imparting private instruction? That shows a laudable modesty. You certainly will have some difficulties to overcome. Fritzchen is an undisciplined little fellow. It will be hard to induce him to study, and as for Lieschen----"
"Lieschen? I beg your pardon. I thought my duties were confined to the instruction of a boy."
"True. But, since Herr Director Kramser wrote to my wife that you were very musical, we thought you might give some lessons weekly upon the piano to our daughter Lieschen. I am of course ready to make them an object of special remuneration."
"Not at all. You have relieved me from instruction in religion; instead I will gladly give lessons in music."
"You play the piano very well, as Herr Kramser informs me, and you have a fine voice," Frau von Osternau observed.
"So it is said, I believe."
"So Herr Director Kramser wrote me," the lady rejoined, in a tone sharper than it was her wont to use. She was aggrieved by the small degree of estimation shown in the young teacher's words for the Herr Director. "I shall be very sorry if your talent and capacity in this respect have been overrated by the Herr Director, for I laid special stress in my letter to him upon my desire that the tutor whom I engaged should be a good musician, not only because I wished that Lieschen should take lessons, but principally upon Fritzchen's account. I consider it of the first importance that a child should receive his primary instruction in music from a competent teacher."
"I cannot tell whether I shall be able to satisfy your desires in this respect, madame. I am but adilettante, and have never given lessons in music. Here also I must pray you to make trial of me, as I will also try to adjust myself to my new duties. The future must show whether I can succeed in pleasing you and in satisfying myself. Will you allow me to give you some idea now of the amount of artistic skill I possess? the fine instrument yonder invites the test. You can at least judge whether my execution and touch are satisfactory, whether my voice pleases you. One does not like to purchase an article without first examining it; why should you engage a music-teacher without first hearing him? He can, unfortunately, give you no instant proof of his ability to impart instruction, but this is the case with every kind of teacher. I know from sad experience how large is the number of musicians, whom Heaven in its wrath has allowed to teach, who bring to their calling only the merest superficial facility, without the smallest vocation for teaching."
He arose as he spoke, and, without waiting for Frau von Osternau's permission, went towards the grand piano. It was open; Frau von Osternau, no mean performer herself, had been playing an hour or two before for her husband's entertainment, and had not closed it. Herr Pigglewitch looked at the notes upon the music-desk. "Beethoven," he said. "Is your daughter then so far advanced? It is refreshing nowadays to find such music open upon a piano. Young ladies whose execution is sufficiently brilliant to play the 'Moonlight Sonata' usually prefer to exhibit in what is called drawing-room music. Cultivated taste is but little thought of nowadays. The popular performers are those who can make most noise, and rattle off the greatest number of notes in a given time. I abhor such mere execution as I do the sentimental stuff so popular with the ladies of the present day."
Very admirable sentiments these, but in their ease and freedom of expression so very different from anything that Frau von Osternau had expected to hear from the tutor recommended by Director Kramser, that she looked in wide-eyed wonder at the singular person who, turning over the music and talking thus, appeared to have forgotten for the moment the purpose for which he had gone to the piano.
She believed herself exalted far above any aristocratic prejudice of rank; she prided herself upon the humanity and kindness of her treatment of inferiors, even of servants. The Inspectors of the estate and the various governesses she had employed had been treated almost like members of the family, she never had required of them the servile respect customary among people employed in such capacities by many families of rank, but the negligent ease of Gottlieb Pigglewitch's manner and address seemed to her scarcely permissible. She was tempted to recall him to a sense of his position, but while she was pondering upon how this could best be done, the young man had seated himself at the piano, his fingers were wandering over the keys, and in another moment Frau von Osternau had completely forgotten that she had wished to reprove, so intense was her enjoyment of the man's wonderful playing.
He had taken his place at the instrument to give some proof of his musical ability, but no sooner did his fingers touch the keys than this was quite forgotten, He had not played for weeks, he had even felt a kind of dislike of music, to the charm of which he had so often yielded involuntarily. In the melancholy in which he had been plunged life appeared to him so shallow and wearisome that he could not spur himself to the exertion of extricating himself from its cheerless misery. But now, when the first tones of the piano responded to his touch, they awakened within him memories of hours in which he had lost himself and revelled in the world of melody and harmony, music cast its spell around him once more, life dawned upon him afresh, and he gave expression in his playing to this feeling. He improvised so wondrously that Frau von Osternau was profoundly touched, and her husband forgot to look out into the court-yard, where the men were returning from the fields, he forgot all else save the music, to which he listened with head bent and clasped hands.
The last chord died away, the player dropped his hands from the keys upon which his gaze had rested dreamily, and turned to Frau von Osternau with a smile.
"Pardon me, madame," he said, "I forgot myself, and have given you my own wild fancies. I could not resist the impulse of the moment, it is my misfortune that I lack self-control. But I will try to improve, and will make an instant beginning by praying you to suggest something you would like to hear, only begging you not to ask to-day for what is mere technique. We will postpone that to another hour."
Frau von Osternau's eyes were moist as she replied,--
"You must play no more at present. I would not have the pleasure you have just given me disturbed by a single other note. You are an artist, a divinely-inspired artist, Herr----" She hesitated; she could not bear at the moment to pronounce the ridiculous name Pigglewitch, but it had to be done, nevertheless, and as she uttered it the spell that had held her was broken. The man's name recalled her to prosaic reality; again she was aware of the ugly, old-fashioned coat with its long pointed tails that hung down behind the music-stool and reached to the ground. There sat before her no longer the artist who had transported her to 'a purer ether,' but the Candidate Gottlieb Pigglewitch, awaiting her further commands.
"There is no need, Herr Pigglewitch," she continued, "that I should hear anything more to be sure that you are capable of giving my children instruction in music, the future must show whether to teach is your vocation in life. Let us make the trial, and discover whether you are fitted for the situation, and whether you can be comfortable in fulfilling its duties. I frankly confess to you that I have my misgivings. You do not at all answer to the idea I had formed of the tutor recommended to me by the Herr Director Kramser, but then reality seldom corresponds to the representations of our imagination. With your consent, Fritz," she added, turning to her husband, "I beg Herr Pigglewitch to consider himself from this time our children's teacher."
"I give it with all my heart," Herr von Osternau replied, with a nod, offering his hand to the young man, who had left his seat and approached him. "There's my hand, Herr Pigglewitch, we will all put this matter honestly to the test. If we are unsuccessful, we can part friends, but I hope we shall succeed. From this moment the castle is your home, and I pray you to consider it such. My old Hildebrandt will show you to the rooms that have been prepared for you, and I will send Fritz to you that you may make acquaintance with your pupil. We dine at three, you can use the time until then in establishing yourself in your new quarters. At table and while coffee is being served we can perhaps discuss some plan of instruction. We will detain you no longer at present."
Pigglewitch, upon whom Herr von Osternau's kindly manner made a most agreeable impression, thanked his employers courteously, and when old Hildebrandt appeared in answer to a touch upon a silver bell on the table beside his master, the young man followed him after a graceful bow to the lord and lady of the castle.
Silence reigned for many minutes in the room he had left. Frau von Osternau had taken up her knitting, the needles clicked incessantly as they always did when the lady was lost in thought. Her husband was the first to speak. "Tell me frankly, Emma, how you like yourprotégé."
"I really do not know. I cannot make up my mind."
"Nor can I. A very strange fellow! He attracts and repels me. I called him a scarecrow when I saw him coming across the court-yard, but as he sat playing at the piano, and his dark eyes fairly shone, I thought him really handsome."
"So did I. What are we to think? But indeed since my good old friend Kramser has recommended him, we need be under no anxiety."
"It is odd though. I never should have imagined that so prosaic, commonplace a man as Kramser would have recommended so singular a person. How can the young fellow have been led to adopt teaching as a vocation? Will he, do you think, ever tame down the spirit that sparkles in those eyes to the dull routine of every-day life? If he does, we shall have cause for gratitude to your friend Kramser for many an hour of enjoyment. You were right when you called him a divinely-gifted artist."
"Beg pardon, Herr Candidate, I must request you to follow me."
Old Hildebrandt bowed as he spoke these words, and proceeded to conduct Herr Gottlieb Pigglewitch to his apartments. In a corner of the hall lay the ancient travelling-bag. Pigglewitch would have picked it up to carry it to his room himself, but this Hildebrandt would by no means allow. "I will call a servant," he said, taking the bag from the young man's hand, and in answer to his twice-repeated call of "Johann!" a footman appeared, who was taken to task for his dilatoriness and ordered instantly to carry the Herr Candidate's portmanteau to his room.
Johann scanned the figure of the stranger contemptuously, mentally comparing the threadbare coat of the latter with his own well-kept livery. It was really quite derogatory to his dignity to carry such a fellow's luggage up the stairs. "It's not my place to fetch and carry forhim!" he was mentally ejaculating, when he suddenly encountered the glance of the stranger's eye, and what he saw there was in such contrast to his shabby exterior that he meekly took the bag and obeyed Hildebrandt's directions.
The old servant led the way up the broad staircase and along a wide corridor, at the end of which he threw open a door with "This is your sitting-room, Herr Candidate."
Pigglewitch was most agreeably surprised by the appearance of the apartment into which he was ushered,--a large, comfortably-furnished room, lighted by two broad windows. The low, chintz-covered sofa, with its large pillows, the big arm-chairs, the piano in one corner, the well-filled book-shelves, the study-table, all gave the place a refined air of comfort which gratified the young man's taste. He was especially pleased to find a piano here,--his dormant love of music had suddenly revived. Formerly his piano had been his best friend, he greeted it once more with joy.
He went to the window, which looked out upon a charming old-fashioned garden filled with bloom, and an extent of close-shaven lawn.
The old servant allowed the young man time to observe the prospect, and then remarked, "This door leads into your bedroom, Herr Candidate, where you will find your wardrobe and conveniences for washing, and where Johann has left your bag. The family dines at three o'clock punctually, and Herr von Osternau likes to have every one in the dining-hall as the clock begins to strike. It would be well if you would set your watch by the castle clock so as to be dressed by five minutes of three, when I shall with your permission show you the way to the dining-room. Madame likes to have every one dress for dinner; the Herr Lieutenant always does so, and when the Herr Inspectors are too busy to do so they dine in the Inspector's room and do not appear at table."
"You wish me to dress, then?" Pigglewitch asked, with a smile.
"If you please, Herr Candidate; I do not mean to presume, but you will like to know the custom of the household. Should you require anything further, you will be good enough to pull your bell three times in succession; the Herr Lieutenant rings twice and Herr von Osternau and madame once only. Johann will obey your summons immediately."
He bowed and left the room, leaving its occupant gazing thoughtfully out of the window. He looked across the blooming flower-beds, the velvet lawn, the luxuriant shrubbery, his eyes sought the distant horizon while his thoughts took shape in a half-muttered soliloquy: "The first step in the new life is taken, and everything differs utterly from my anticipations. Where is the haughty aristocrat, the scornful lady, whom I hoped to inspire with horror by my appearance? What has become of the struggle with arrogant self-assertion to which I looked forward? Positively my ill luck, the tiresome good fortune which has been lavished upon me ever since I was a child, pursues me here also, my irresponsible folly has introduced me to a household where any man save myself would be perfectly happy. Was it worth while to don Pigglewitch's ridiculous attire to be pursued here too by my fate? And, besides, how can I answer it to my conscience to deceive these worthy, unsuspicious people? If they were what I imagined them, arrogant, brutal, looking down with contempt upon the man whose services they had hired, there would have been some amusement in bringing their pride low in a contention with them. Such a struggle would have been worth a couple more weeks of existence. But now? Well, why not? I have something very different here from the eternal monotony of a fashionable society life. This one may be as tiresome, but variety will make it endurable for a time. I am already refreshed and enlivened by the idea of attempting to conform myself to new conditions of existence. But have I a right to play with these kindly people, to deceive them, for the gratification of a whim of the moment? Pshaw! It can do no harm to assume therôleof a Candidate Pigglewitch for a few days. I have acknowledged frankly that this is but a trial, that I mistrusted my own qualifications for the position; what more could be desired? And, besides, if myalter ego, the real Pigglewitch, had come to them, would they have been any better off? They ought to thank me for ridding them of him. The farce is begun; it must be carried out until--until it grows too tiresome, and then the sham Pigglewitch can go the same way that the real Pigglewitch was so near going but lately."
He paused. His thoughts were diverted from their course by the clear, joyous voice of a child in the garden below his windows.
A handsome little fellow, with fair close curls, broke forth from the shrubbery on the farther side of the lawn, and a few steps behind him came running, still faster, a girl hardly more than a child. She tried to catch the boy, he slipped from her but only for a moment. She caught him, lifted him in her arms, kissed him, and then putting him down with "Now catch me, Fritzchen!" she vanished again among the bushes. It was a charming picture. The graceful, girlish figure had glided like a fairy over the lawn, seeming to the spectator rather to fly than to run. With all her tender grace how strong and healthy she looked! Pigglewitch had but one fleeting glimpse of her face, when she lifted the boy and kissed him. It seemed to him wonderfully lovely, but the next instant she had disappeared in the shrubbery, and the boy followed her with a shout.
"Herr Fritzchen! Fräulein! Fräulein Lieschen!"
Old Hildebrandt was standing in the gravel-path that ran through the garden, calling in stentorian tones.
"Yes, yes!" came from the shrubbery, and immediately afterwards the brother and sister appeared, hand in hand, running swiftly. As they crossed the lawn, however, they slackened their pace, so that Pigglewitch could observe them at his ease. They were extremely alike, both handsome, but the maidenly charm of the young girl was indescribably attractive.
"What is it? Why are you calling us, Hildebrandt?" she asked, from a distance. The tone of her voice delighted the ear of the listener at the window. It was rich, clear, and melodious.
"Madame your mother sent me. The Herr Tutor has come. Fritzchen is to go to him in his room immediately."
"The new tutor? Oh, I must see him too!" was Lieschen's reply, and hand in hand with her little brother she ran so swiftly towards the castle that her golden curls were blown backward by the wind.
Pigglewitch turned from the window and looked towards the door in expectation of the visit. That beautiful boy was to be his charge, that charming fairy his pupil in music. Here was another surprise. Would fortune never tire of showering her favours upon him? This time, however, her gifts did not strike him as tiresome. If he had ever hesitated as to whether he should carry out his mad scheme of remaining as tutor in Castle Osternau, all such hesitation was now at an end.
He waited but a few moments before light, tripping steps were heard in the corridor, then came a low, melodious laugh, and then a knock at his door.
"Come in!"
The door opened, and on the threshold there appeared, still hand in hand, the beautiful boy and the golden-haired fairy. The girl looked around the room with an air of arch curiosity, but no sooner did her eyes encounter Pigglewitch's figure than she burst into a laugh, which she vainly tried to suppress. She blushed, her efforts at self-control were evident, but they were of no use. One glance towards the new tutor was enough to provoke her merriment afresh. Thus, still laughing, she advanced into the room with Fritzchen, who looked in shy amazement at the stranger.
The young lady's unbridled mirth aroused in Pigglewitch, who guessed its cause, a very disagreeable sensation. On the day previous, and on this very morning, he had contemplated his image in his hand-glass with much complacency, congratulating himself upon the impression his slouching, bedraggled figure would make upon the aristocratic inmates of Castle Osternau. His expectations had been fulfilled, and were being fulfilled at this moment, but he was not enjoying himself. The prolonged laughter of the young girl vexed him, and as she sank into an arm-chair, and seemed entirely unable to regain her composure, he bit his lip and gave utterance to his annoyance by observing, sharply, "May I inquire the cause of your amiable merriment, Fräulein?"
The question only provoked a fresh burst of laughter, after which the girl controlled herself for a moment sufficiently to reply, "I am so sorry, but indeed I cannot help it when I look at you, you do look so utterly ridiculous!"
"Your pertinent reply bears testimony to taste in dress and to love of truth rather than to good breeding on your part, Fräulein."
Lieschen suddenly grew graver; she looked him fairly in the face for the first time. Hitherto her attention had been given to the queer black coat, with its long, pointed tails. She saw now that its wearer was offended, and she said, kindly and ruefully, "I am sorry to have vexed you, but indeed I could not help it. I mean no harm, but I must laugh when I look at you." Then, suddenly altering her tone, she went on, "But why should I excuse my conduct? Have you not just called my reply pertinent and a proof of good taste? consequently you must know yourself how utterly ridiculous that old-fashioned coat is, how ugly you look in it. If you come to Castle Osternau dressed like a scarecrow, you must not complain if you are laughed at. Hildebrandt told me how odd you looked. He prepared me, and yet I could not help laughing when I saw you. How can you wear such clothes? They do not suit your face at all, and Hildebrandt says you played the piano most delightfully."
She looked him full in the face as she thus lectured him, and shook her curls with a charming air of severity.
"A poor Candidate has no means wherewith to dress himself elegantly," Pigglewitch replied, colouring in spite of himself at the girl's reproof, the truth of which he could not deny, and taking refuge in prevarication.
"I do not believe you," Lieschen replied, adding after a short pause, during which she looked at him with grave reproof in her eyes, "It shows a want of respect for papa and mamma and for all of us. If you knew no better we could not help laughing at you although we should pity you, but your words betray your consciousness of the ridiculous appearance you present, and yet you come dressed thus to Castle Osternau. Papa always dresses for dinner, although he is an old man and the head of the house. And would you teach Fritzchen and me in that coat? Then do not ask us to be serious. Oh, I cannot help laughing when I look at you!"
She leaned back among the cushions of the arm-chair as her laughter burst forth again, while little Fritz, whom awe of the new tutor had hitherto kept quiet, was emboldened by his sister's example, and also laughed aloud.
The situation was by no means an agreeable one for Pigglewitch. If the girl's reproof had only not been so just! He cursed himself for his folly in exchanging clothes with the real Pigglewitch, but the deed was past recall, and he must bear the consequences.
"You ought not to ridicule poverty, Fräulein," he observed, merely for something to say.
Lieschen grew grave again; she was charming when she laughed, but still more attractive when she spoke with her little air of serious disapproval:
"I should be ashamed of laughing at a poor man because he could not dress in the fashion. I never should laugh at you for wearing a threadbare coat, although I cannot understand how a young man who has only himself to provide for should not be able to dress decently. You must have another suit of clothes. What is there in that old travelling-bag?"
She pointed to the bag which Johann had put just inside the open door of the next room. Her question embarrassed Pigglewitch. Had he told the truth he must have replied, "I don't know." He could not possibly say this, and again he had recourse to prevarication.
"Certainly nothing in the fashion," he replied. "Since, however, you lay such stress, Fräulein, upon my dress at table and during study hours, I will take care to provide myself as soon as possible with the best clothes that can be found here in the country. Until I have done so, I will beg madame your mother to dispense with my society at meals and to relieve me of my duties as instructor, for I cannot allow my pupils to laugh at me, even although one of them be a young lady."
Lieschen looked approval, she bethought herself a moment and then said, "I have a plan to propose, Herr Candidate. It would be a great pity that you should stay away from table for several days, for it will take the tailor fully that length of time to provide you with a new suit. Herr Storting will help you. He is just your size, and his clothes will at all events fit you better than that ugly, ridiculous coat."
"Who is Herr Storting?"
"Our second inspector. He is so obliging he will surely help you if I ask him to. He never refuses me anything, and I know he has a whole wardrobe full of suits. Do you consent? Indeed you must, you cannot reject my proposal, and in return I promise you that I will not even smile, either when you come to dinner or when you give me my first lesson on the piano. Herr Storting has just come in from the fields, I saw him ride into the court-yard a moment ago. I will go and ask him, and he will be here in five minutes and will offer to do anything for you. You need not say a word. Run quickly to the inspector's office, Fritzchen, and tell Herr Storting that I wish to speak to him immediately, and that I am waiting for him in the garden in the jessamine arbour. Adieu, Herr Candidate! We have had a little quarrel, but that is no matter, it can all be made up. We shall see each other again at dinner."
She did not wait for an answer: before Pigglewitch could either accept or reject her proposal she had tripped away, with Fritzchen running before her, eager to obey her orders.
"Egon, you have made an infernal fool of yourself," Pigglewitch muttered, when the young girl had left him. He felt really humiliated by the reproof uttered by those charming lips with so much girlish dignity. A mere child had ventured first to laugh at him, then to lecture him, and finally to act as it were as a kind of guardian over him. It was rather hard, especially as he could not but be conscious that Lieschen was right. Egon von Ernau, having taken upon himself Pigglewitch's name and social standing, must submit to be treated accordingly. He could withdraw from such treatment, for he was not as yet bound even by any promise. The idea occurred to him that he had best leave Castle Osternau as quickly as possible, but it was banished almost before it had taken shape. It would be unpardonable weakness, actual cowardice, he said to himself, to end the struggle for existence which he had hardly begun, by a flight from the scene of action. Was it the struggle only that interested him? Was there not an attraction in the image of a charming child, a fairy with golden curls, her dark-blue eyes now dancing with laughter, now frankly reproachful? No, he could not leave Castle Osternau at once, this child must learn to respect him, and if he stayed it must not be to afford the fairy occasion for mirth: he must lay aside the ugly mask which he had purchased of the real Pigglewitch. Perhaps the travelling-bag, as yet unopened, would furnish more respectable apparel than that which its owner had worn when travelling.
Egon had felt no antipathy to exchanging clothes with Pigglewitch, but he was suddenly seized with disgust for everything belonging to the man. He had laughed when he had first looked at himself in the glass, but as he now caught sight of his reflection he was positively ashamed. "She called me a scarecrow," he muttered, "and, by Jove! she was right. No scarecrow could be a more ridiculous object than I am at this minute."
He picked up the travelling-bag: it was locked and there was no key, there was nothing for it but to force the wretched lock with his pocket-knife. When it was opened, the contents proved worse than he had imagined. He found, to be sure, another suit of clothes rather better than Pigglewitch's travelling attire, but it was made after precisely the same fashion, and when Egon put on the coat he thought he looked more like a scarecrow than before. The real Pigglewitch must have purchased his wardrobe in some old-clothes shop, with a special view to a certain bygone fashion. The newer coat being less shabby than the other could be less easily forgiven for its antique cut.
The linen which Egon discovered formed no contrast to the suit, it entirely disgusted him. What should he do until other clothes could be procured? and when could he procure these? Should he use the money in his pocket-book? He had determined not to touch it. It had been a chief part of his wild scheme to live for a while like a poor Candidate, with no other means than his salary as tutor. He had thought it interesting to try for once how life looked to a poor man, who must economize and contrive. Was he at the outset to be false to this scheme? No. Disagreeable as he might find it, he had resolved to taste, as Gottlieb Pigglewitch, the joys and sorrows of a poor Candidate, and he would carry out his intention. What would Gottlieb Pigglewitch do in his place? This was a question difficult to answer. He would hardly have been very sensitive beneath the laugh of the charming fairy. His usual dress had not been odious to him, and he would not probably have wished to exchange it for any other. In vain did Egon attempt to devise some way of procuring decent habiliments without having recourse to his pocketbook. He was pacing his room to and fro, in a very unenviable state of mind, when there was a knock at his door, and a fine-looking young man made his appearance. An involuntary smile played about his mouth at sight of Egon's peculiar attire, as, with a courteous inclination, he said, "Allow me to introduce myself to you, Herr Candidate. My name is Storting. Fräulein Lieschen sends me to you. You know the purpose of my coming, and I need not tell you how happy I shall be to serve you. My wardrobe is well supplied, and I can easily provide for you until you can make other arrangements."
The frank kindliness of the young man's offer embarrassed Egon afresh. He felt an eager desire to accept it, but was reluctant to place himself under such obligations to a stranger. Herr Storting's tall, well-made figure was like his own. Fräulein Lieschen had truly guessed that the young inspector's coat would fit him, but---- "I really do not see how I can accept your exceedingly kind offer, for which I thank you most cordially," he said, with hesitation.
"But indeed you must accept it," Storting replied, with a laugh. "It is Fräulein Lieschen's wish, and, as you will acknowledge before you have passed many days in Castle Osternau, this is a sufficient reason with every one of its inmates, from Herr von Osternau to the gardener's boy, with the exception perhaps of the Herr Lieutenant, for turning the world upside down. It is Fräulein Lieschen's wish, and to this wish you must bend. Pray come with me to my room. We shall soon be able to equip you suitably. To be honest with you, the young lady's wish is perfectly justifiable. You must not take my frankness amiss, I cannot help telling you that it would never do to appear at dinner in that coat. You would expose yourself to the derision of the servants, and compromise your position in the castle."
"I understand, but----"
"Do not hesitate to accept my offer. What harm can it do to wear a coat which I do not need myself, for a couple of days, until you have fitted yourself out?"
"Until I have fitted myself out? But when shall I be able to do this?"
"Ah! yes, I understand you. You are for the moment in some pecuniary embarrassment."
"And supposing this to be the case?"
"That can easily be arranged. We will both ask for leave of absence for to-morrow forenoon. Mirbach Station is only a quarter of a mile from the castle. We can take the first train thence to-morrow, and be in Breslau by eight o'clock. I will take you to my tailor there, who will give you credit upon my recommendation, if you will promise to make quarterly payments on account when you receive your salary. He has a large establishment of ready-made clothing, and is not too dear. For fifty thalers you can easily procure a summer outfit, and I shall be happy to be of service to you in your selection, since you are probably not familiar with the prevailing fashions. We will take with us to Breslau the suit which you have on and that other lying on the chair, and dispose of them to the best advantage, for really they are not suitable to be worn at Castle Osternau. Do you agree?"
"Assuredly, and with a thousand thanks for your courtesy," Egon replied. He might, he thought, accept this proposal, and he quite enjoyed the idea of needing a sponsor to procure him a credit of fifty thalers, and of selling the wardrobe of the worthy Pigglewitch to an old-clothes dealer. Certainly there was variety here for Egon von Ernau.
He immediately followed Herr Storting to his room, where the wardrobes were found almost too well stocked, as the young inspector remarked, for their owner's means. "But better too many clothes than too few," he added. "It is specially needful to be always well dressed in the country, where there is so much temptation to be negligent, and where one's authority among the peasants and labourers depends more than would be believed upon a certain distinction of dress. Wherefore I am grateful to Herr von Osternau for strictly requiring that we should dress for dinner. It confirms us in good habits, as you, Herr Candidate, will admit when you have been a few weeks here."
Egon made no reply to this exordium. He merely expressed his thanks again, as Herr Storting selected from a wardrobe and placed at his disposal a plain but well-made summer suit, and it was with a positive sense of relief that he stripped off Pigglewitch's habiliments. As he did so Storting observed with surprise in his tone, "You are a riddle to me, Herr Candidate. Your linen is of the finest, and of the latest and most expensive fashion, while the remainder of your attire is so inconceivably forlorn. I cannot understand it. But my coat, you see, fits you as if it were made for you. You look a different man without that swallow-tailed abomination."
The pleasure with which Egon now contemplated himself in the looking-glass was an entirely new sensation. Involuntarily he wondered whether Fräulein Lieschen would again liken him to a scarecrow.