Directly northward, by the west coast of the gulf of Bothnia, through Gestrikland, Helsingland, Medelpat, and Angermannland, Arwed rapidly pursued his expiatory journey, until he reached the southern boundary of the province of West Bothnia, in which Nicodemus, count Gyllenstierna, the counsellor's elder brother, presided as governor. On arriving at the broad river Umea, which here empties its floods into the gulf of Bothnia, Arwed reined in his horse, and, while his groom made a signal for the ferry-boat stationed on the opposite side, reviewed the scenery which had always remained impressed upon his memory, and which now called up a thousand reminiscences of his early childhood. To the right, on the sea-shore, and at the mouth of the broad stream, lay the capital of the poor, depopulated province, the little town of Umea, to which only its harbor with its clustering masts, gave any importance. To the left arose the lofty Gyllensten, the old ancestral castle of the house of Gyllenstierna throned proudly upon its massive rocks, and bordered by a forest of dark pines. The broad plain which intervened between the higher elevations and the river, exhibited evidence of unusual fruitfulness for these northern regions. The magnificent, clear, blue arch, which, in the west rested upon Lapland's distant snow-clad mountains, and in the east upon the dark mirror of the sea, completed the picture which nature, rich even in her poverty and gorgeous in her simplicity, offered to the eye of the observer.
'My fatherland is every where beautiful!' exclaimed he with emotion; 'and this solitary nook, how well suited to my feelings! Yes, I feel that here I can again be happy!'
The ferry-boat came, and Arwed sprang upon the floating bridge. The groom carefully led up the spirited horses, which were somewhat frightened, and made a vigorous resistance when they heard the hollow sound of their footsteps upon the boards. Arwed seized the bridle of his gallant steed, caressed him into a state of quietude, and leaning upon the glossy neck of the animal, extended his view over the waves of the stream upon which the boat was now moving to Gyllensten, whose old, gothic walls and towers were every moment more and more distinctly seen between the lofty pines and rocks in the intermediate distance.
'That is the balcony,' said he to Knut, the faithful old boatman, 'from which I and my little cousin Christine used formerly to watch the ships as they entered the port. The child will be much pleased to see me again. She was always very much attached to me.'
'Thechild!' exclaimed Knut laughing. 'She was at that time eight years old, as well as yourself, major. Eleven years have passed since then. Do you think that you alone have increased in stature during that long period? The child must have become a stately young lady.'
'You are right,' said Arwed with a melancholy smile, 'I have experienced so many vicissitudes lately, that my computation of time is a little disturbed.'
Leaning his head upon his arm, and resting the latter upon his horse's saddle, he sank into a profound reverie. 'I shall find a grown up daughter in my uncle's house,' said he to himself. 'Possibly a right beauteous maiden, with whom my near relationship must bring me into familiar intercourse. Did this really enter into my father's plans? Did he hope that I should here sever old ties and form new ones? If so, he has deceived himself! But one Georgina blooms for me in this world! while she lives, lives also my hope, and the mere remembrance of her is sufficient to steel my heart against the attractions of all the women upon earth.'
The sudden shock with which the boat struck the shore aroused the youth from his contemplations. He threw himself upon his horse and briskly trotted towards Gyllensten. When he had reached its base, and was slowly riding up the steep and rocky ascent, a little flag, displaying the golden star, the escutcheon of Gyllenstierna, suddenly waved from the pinnacle of the tower. Two falconets then exploded so briskly to the right and left from the walls, that his horse made three powerful leaps; and a flourish of trumpets and kettle drums followed.
'Is it possible that this can be intended for me?'--and putting his horse to a quick gallop, he soon sprang through the high gothic arched gateway into the court of the castle. Again was heard a merry trumpet blast, a window of the castle hall was opened, and a massive silver goblet was extended towards the new comer by the old governor.
'Welcome, brave Swede!' cried he joyously to the guest below; 'welcome to Gyllensten! Down from your horse and come up and pledge me in the hall of our forefathers!'
Arwed, obeying, soon entered the long, high-vaulted, echoing knight's hall, in whose niches on either side of the worthy old Gyllenstierna, stood colossal statues, in complete armor chased in copper. The shining metal reflected upon him the last rays of the setting sun so brightly, that he was compelled to protect his eyes with his hand from their blinding red brilliancy.
Meanwhile the uncle, who Was afflicted with the gout, had trundled his movable chair toward his nephew. 'Aha!' exclaimed he, laughing, 'the old lords shine a brilliant greeting upon thee, as they should upon so worthy a descendant of their house. So is it also my duty to do; and if I do not perform it with quite so much grace, the fault must be attributed to this rascally gout, which rages in my bones as if the whole Russian army were marauding there.'
Arwed, kissing the old count's hand, protested against all ceremony; the latter, however, would not be persuaded, but slowly raised himself from his chair, suppressing the pain it gave him, until he stood upright before his nephew. His purple velvet cap, from under which his thin white locks escaped, his sharply delineated, intelligent, good humored, and withal bold face, which the lines of age and experience had but ennobled, his tall and powerful frame, set off with an ermine-lined green hunting dress, altogether gave him the appearance of one of the old Norman princes of long forgotten times, and Arwed involuntarily started back before the noble figure.
'My dear nephew!' said the old man with his deep and thrilling voice, and holding aloft the silver goblet with solemn dignity, 'once again I welcome thee to the castle of our ancestors, and from this goblet I drink to thy welfare and to our common lineage.'
He drank, and then handed the goblet to the youth, who, after draining it, tenderly embraced his worthy uncle. Sinking back into his chair, the old man pointed to the window, where stood a table replenished with wine and drinking cups.
Arwed wheeled him to it, and, sitting down, filled his goblet afresh.
'Now, what news do you bring, captain?' asked the uncle with a hearty shake of the hand; 'or perhaps a yet higher title--hey?'
'I am dismissed, with the rank of major,' answered Arwed, with a slight shrug of the shoulders.
'I understand,' cried the uncle. 'Punishment and reward, wound and balsam, all in a breath. One may see by this, that a woman governs in Sweden. She holds to the doctrine according to the excellent German proverb, of washing the fur without wetting it. With Charles XII you would not have escaped so easily! All that has occurred redounds to your credit, and the 'out of service,' attached to your rank of major, is as honorable to you as would be the order of the seraphim.'
'Where is cousin Christine?' asked Arwed, to interrupt his uncle's praises, which covered his cheeks with blushes.
'She rode out to meet you,' answered the old man, 'I should have accompanied her, but my gouty feet forbade it. The king's death and my anxiety for its consequences, have so pulled me down that I came this time very near going, and shall never entirely recover from the shock. I cannot imagine how the maiden could have missed you.'
'May she not have met with some accident?' cried Arwed apprehensively. 'I will mount my horse again and seek her.'
'Do not trouble yourself,' said his uncle smilingly, and holding him back. 'She is no timid maiden, who needs protection. She is a virago, who can take care of herself in every exigence. Beasts of prey and robbers fear her, not she them. Besides, she is not alone. A military comrade of your's accompanies her.'
'A military comrade of mine?' asked Arwed with astonishment. 'Who can it be?'
'That I may the better enjoy your surprise, I shall not name him to you. He is a good soldier,--so much I will say for him,--and especially valued by me as a witness of the heroism of our king. We made his acquaintance when I was at the coronation at Upsala with Christine. Appearing to feel an interest for the maiden, he has availed himself of the short truce to obtain a furlough, and will spend some weeks with us. You will be much pleased to meet him. He speaks of you with great respect, and has related to us your warlike deeds in so vivid a manner that we feel as though we had been present during their performance.'
'Singular!' said Arwed,--and at that moment the rapid footsteps of a horse resounded in the court. He hastened to the window. A slender maiden, almost as tall as Arwed himself, in a dark green riding-habit, her face partly concealed by a plumed casque, was just then reining in her foaming courser.
'Send to the wolf den in the cluster of fir-trees to the left of the road, and bring the venison which lies there,' said she to the groom who was running to meet her; then, throwing herself from the saddle with the grace of a riding-master, and with her hand wafting a greeting up to the windows of the hall, she hastened into the castle.
'You will hardly recognise the girl,' said the uncle. 'She has much changed, and not altogether according to my wishes. Men are incapable of rearing and educating women properly, as I have learned too late.'
The amazon now entered the hall. The removal of her casque, which she held in her hand, permitted a full view of a blooming face of classic beauty, which her rich golden locks surrounded like a glory. A bold spirit flashed from her magnificent blue eyes, and her cheeks glowed with the heat of violent exercise.
Without noticing Arwed she strode hastily past him, and, precipitating herself upon her father's bosom, impetuously embraced him.
'Madcap girl!' said the latter with evident pleasure, to his beautiful and lively daughter; 'do you not see who is with me in the hall?'
She drew up her beautiful form to its full height, and measured the youth with a searching glance, in which no expression, other than that of maiden pride, accompanied by a slight appearance of displeasure, was discoverable, and Arwed looked in vain for that joy with which he had expected to be received by his little cousin Christine.
'Is not this the guest whom you have been expecting, my father?' she asked, after a long pause,--and, as her father nodded assent, she turned to Arwed, saying with great coldness, 'I am happy to see you at Gyllensten, captain.'
'Shame upon you, Christine!' said the old man, angrily. 'Is that a reception for so near a kinsman, or for the playmate of your childhood? Fall directly upon his neck, give him a hearty kiss, and say, welcome cousin Arwed!'
The beauteous prude started back with a sinister expression, and, spoiled by indulgence, she suffered it to be plainly seen that she had no desire to obey the parental command.
'Do not annoy my cousin, uncle,' said Arwed, offended by her uncourteous manners. 'Christine may already have seen many fops who have availed themselves of their relationship to intrude upon ladies. Since I have not the honor to be known to her, I cannot blame her for thus taking care to insure herself against so disagreeable an occurrence at the outset.'
Christine tossed her head and bit her lips.
'You have deserved this,' said her father, 'and may congratulate yourself that your cousin has let you off with so mild a punishment. Tell us now how it was you failed to encounter him on his way to the castle.'
'We saw a wolf in a thicket,' answered Christine, 'and I could not deny myself the pleasure of hunting him.'
'Only two of you--without hounds?' said the father with asperity. 'That was another of those hazardous undertakings to which you have accustomed me.'
'He appeared to be hungry and made a stand,' said Christine, by way of excuse. 'My saddle pistols were ready loaded, and I hit him directly in the head.'
'You know I do not like these Nimrod tricks,' murmured the old man. 'Why hazard your life in a contest with such an animal?'
'What would life be, father,' cried Christine with thoughtless levity, 'if one never dared gaily and joyfully to hazard it?'
'I would willingly hear such a sentiment from Arwed,' answered her father, shaking his head; 'but it does not sound well from your lips. What has become of your companion?'
'On our way back, he offered me a wager,' said Christine, laughing, 'as to which of us would be first at Gyllensten; I gave my horse a loose rein, and have not seen the good colonel since.'
'You ought to have been a Cossack,' said the old man chidingly; and at that moment a Swedish officer entered the now darkening hall.
'Megret!' exclaimed Arwed with amazement.
'You have lost, colonel!' cried Christine, to the new comer.
'A second Thalestris,' answered Megret, gallantly kissing her hand. 'I yield myself in disgrace to your mercy. Once have I ridden with you upon a wager, but never will I again! Though, at all events, I know how to ride, I have never yet learned to fly.'
'I have the pleasure to present my nephew to you, colonel,' said the governor, interrupting them.
'What a happy encounter!' said Megret, pretending to derive much pleasure from the meeting, and embracing the youth. 'How delightful it is to me, to greet my dear brother in arms, in a kinsman of this dear family!'
A sensation of the deepest disgust oppressed Arwed's bosom at the embrace of the insincere and suspected man. He could not so far control himself as to repay the dissembler in the same coin, and only answered with a silent bow.
'As we shall probably have the pleasure of seeing you here for a long time, my worthy friend,' said Megret, jestingly, and familiarly pointing to Christine, 'you will consider it the friendly service of a true knight when I warn you against this lady.'
'How so?' asked Arwed, and Christine satirically added, 'the colonel probably wishes to inform you, how inexhaustible is his fund of sweet phrases, which mean nothing and which he himself does not believe.'
'How beautiful she is,' continued Megret gaily, 'I need not remark to a blooming youth like you. Her mind, nourished by the manna of the old classics, is a giant that would find its pleasure in storming heaven, and yet she does not lack the graces. Whenever she is in the humor to be amiable, she is irresistible. In short she has every quality requisite to set a man's heart in a flame, and yet I advise every brave man to guard against her, watchfully, as against something which is at the same time the most beautiful and dangerous in all the three kingdoms of nature,--for one all-important quality she lacks!'
'Now this is enough!' suddenly exclaimed Christine, in a tone of great irritation.
'She lacks a heart!' continued Megret, laughing and without suffering himself to be interrupted. 'She can onlywound, notheal. She is a female Charles the XIIth. She holds the amiable weakness of loving in utter detestation, and if Hymen does not perform a miracle upon her, the epitaph must some day be inscribed upon her grave-stone, which England's Elizabeth desired for herself--Here rests the virgin....'
'Shameful!' exclaimed Christine in anger, and striking a heavy blow upon Megret's cheek, the amazon disappeared.
'The girl is mad!' exclaimed the governor. 'Excuse the impropriety, colonel; you shall receive full satisfaction.'
'Never mind, governor,' answered Megret with a courtly smile and rubbing his cheek. 'A cavalier must be content to receive the like from a lady's hand. I shall occasionally take opportunities to revenge myself upon the little savage.'
'The table is served,' announced the steward, and two huntsmen placed themselves behind the wheeled chair of the lord of the castle. 'Follow me, dear gentlemen and friends,' cried the old man, and then, commanding his men to move him forward, he led the way to the dining room.
Megret, however, remained behind, still rubbing his flaming cheek, and conceitedly smiling at his own reflections.
'I am glad you take the ill-behaviour of my cousin so lightly,' said Arwed; 'but I wonder at it, almost as much as at the blow itself, struck so suddenly, and without sufficient cause.'
'It is even that,' said Megret, interrupting him, 'which makes me so tolerant. An entirely indifferent person would not have caused so violent, a passion. A girl like her must be allowed to behave somewhat rudely when she is angry. That is perfectly as it should be. If she supposed that my penetration had discovered her feelings, my jest must have been considered by her as a bitter mockery. Under these circumstances I take the angry blow as a declaration according to the custom of the country, and have only to regret that the ladies of the north have such heavy hands.'
He proceeded towards the dining-room. 'Happy self-conceit!' cried Arwed, following him; 'to what may not thy genius give a favorable construction!'
In the dining room, innumerable dishes were already smoking upon the supper table as Megret and Arwed entered; yet the governor was sitting at the sideboard, in accordance with an old Norman custom, amusing himself with the favorite Swedish preliminary to a good meal, knakebrod and whiskey. Occasionally he cast an impatient glance towards the door. 'Where is my daughter?' asked he of a servant, who had just entered.
'The countess is ill,' he answered, 'and begs you will receive her apology for not being able to appear at the table.'
'This is another of her whims,' said the old man angrily, 'of which she has more than my Polish charger. Go again to her, Rasmus, and say, I command her to be instantly well, and to come and preside at the table.'
Megret advanced to speak a kind word in behalf of the capricious beauty--but the governor motioned him back, and the servant departed.
Christine soon made her appearance, her eyes cast down and her face glowing with displeasure. She silently took her place by her chair, and motioned to the persons present to seat themselves.
'Before we are seated,' said her father, sternly, 'the affair between you and the colonel must be adjusted. You will ask his pardon.'
'Spare me, my father!' implored Christine. 'If the colonel requires satisfaction I will exchange shots with him; but sooner may you drive me from the castle than I will ask the pardon of any man upon earth.'
'Que Dieu m'en garde!' cried Megret laughing. 'Your eyes are accustomed to hitting and wounding men's hearts, and you would have a manifest advantage over me. A blow from so beauteous a hand can as little inflict dishonor as the knight-creating stroke of a king's sword upon a victorious battle-field.'
'You have more luck than understanding,' remarked the governor, at the same time causing himself to be conveyed to the table. For the future, however, I shall expect that you will not forget the treatment which is due to thy father's worthy guests.'
The maiden submissively kissed her father's hand and took her place on his left; Megret seated himself on his right, and Christine nodded to Arwed to sit by her; but he went round the table and seated himself by Megret.
Christine observed this movement with great surprise. 'I love free conversation at the table,' whispered he smilingly to her, 'and have no helmet to protect me.'
'Insufferable!' murmured she, and in her anger at his unsparing irony, filled her father's goblet so full, that the good old burgundy overflowed and colored the exquisite damask table cloth.
Her father was again reproving her for this new impropriety, when the servant announced sir Mac Donalbain, and Christine started with a look of mingled joy and alarm.
'He is heartily welcome!' cried the governor, and a tall, well built man, about thirty years old, entered the hall. He wore a short, green overcoat with copper buttons. At his broad leather girdle, in which two pistols were inserted, hung a broad sabre, and in his hand he carried a double-barrelled gun. His sunburnt face was not regularly handsome, but the spirit and boldness which characterized it, rendered it interesting. The wild black eyes, however, which peered from under his dark brows, and a few wrinkles on his forehead and about his mouth, gave him a grim and disagreeable expression. Arwed, who glanced now at him and now at the polished Frenchman, compared the two, and came to the conclusion that he was not in the very best of company.
'Whence do you come so late, sir Mac Donalbain?' kindly asked the governor.
'I have been hunting in the Asele Lappmark,' answered the guest, laying aside his weapons and boldly seating himself near Christine. 'I had got belated, and the light of your hospitable castle shone so invitingly that I concluded to ask of you entertainment for the night.'
'This worthy Scot is in a certain sense a brother sufferer of yours, dear major, in so far as the death of our king has destroyed his prosperity as well as yours. He had the assurance of an advantageous post in our army, made a long journey to come here, found his hopes annihilated by the death of the king, and for the present lives upon his income, at Hernoesand, awaiting better times.'
'Singular!' remarked Megret, whilst the brother sufferers bowed silently to each other. 'I was lately at Hernoesand, and could hear nothing of you there, although I took particular pains to find you.'
'I reside there no longer,' answered Mac Donalbain, not without some embarrassment. 'A difficulty which I had there, induced me to remove to Arnaes.'
'A difficulty?' asked Megret, smiling. 'I am sorry for that. I hope it was not with the public authorities?'
'One readily perceives, colonel,' interfered Christine, with bitterness, 'that you are a foreigner. In hospitable Sweden, such questions are not allowable, even from the host himself, much less from one guest to another.'
'Why so excited, countess?' asked Megret with his customary cold smile. 'If sir Mac Donalbainwillnot orcannotanswer my question, I shall be content. He has my sympathy, notwithstanding; and, in my journey back to Stockholm, I should be pleased to go round by Arnaes to take personal leave of him.'
'However agreeable that might be to me,' said Mac Donalbain equivocally, 'I must yet by anticipation regret that probably you would not meet me. The amusement of the chase is my passion, and I am almost always abroad.'
'So it appears,' said Megret with a piercing glance, and, turning to the governor, he commenced a conversation with him, respecting the preparations for war making by Denmark and Russia, which threatened poor Sweden anew. Arwed who took a part in this discussion, could not forbear casting an occasional scrutinizing glance at Mac Donalbain, who had commenced a low and apparently interesting conversation with Christine. He saw how the dark eyes of the Scot flashed upon the angelic countenance of the maiden, saw how the latter regarded her wild neighbor with a mixture of fear and anger, of passion and aversion, and he thought, 'what a pity it would be, if this beautiful and innocent creature should have thrown away her heart upon such a man!'
The table was at length cleared. Megret and Mac Donalbain bade their host good night and went to their chambers. Christine kissed her father with humble tenderness, and in a low voice asked him, 'are you still angry?'
'Amend yourself, perverse girl,' said the old man; and gently parting the golden locks from her fair forehead, impressed upon it an affectionate parental kiss.
'My kind, kind father! indeed I do not deserve so much love,' cried the maiden, with deep emotion, pressing his hand to her heaving bosom. She then arose and departed, giving an unfriendly glance and a slighting nod as she passed Arwed. He also wished to seek his bed; but his uncle drew him into a chair near him and filled his goblet again.
'You must help me finish the last bottle, major,' said he. 'I have not at all enjoyed your company yet, and must say to you once more, now we are alone, how dear you are to me. Truly you have come to my house in a good hour! and I hope at some future time to have much to thank you for.'
'How mean you that, dear uncle?' asked Arwed, with some surprise, and partly anticipating the point to which the old man was leading.
'Why should I dissemble with you?' burst forth the old man. 'Your father, indeed, gave me long and broad instructions at Upsala, how I should conduct myself toward you; but this spying and tacking and managing may be all very proper in the royal council, and yet not with so clear and honorable a Swedish mind as yours. Therefore, short and round, you are the right man for my Christine,--you or none.'
'I, dear uncle!' answered Arwed, laughing. 'The commencement of our renewed acquaintance did not seem like it.'
'That indeed, I observed with regret,' confessed the uncle. 'But who regards women's humors, which change as quickly as the fashion of their garments. Bucephalus was a wild and vicious horse, and yet he found his man who knew how to manage him.'
'That was the great Alexander, however,' replied Arwed, continuing the jest. 'I have not vanity enough to put myself on a par with that hero; and, even if I were compelled to attempt the one or the other, I should rather undertake the taming of Bucephalus than of my fair cousin.'
'She is headstrong,' sighed the uncle; 'that, alas! I must myself acknowledge; I, her father, who have permitted her to grow up without proper restraints. But, nevertheless, I believe you would succeed in rendering her submissive. You have, to-day, said such things to her as she has not been accustomed to hear. Because she is handsome, every one who has seen has flattered and indulged her caprices, and, in that way, she has been spoiled. You will let nothing pass without its just comment, I see plainly. She will consequently at first fear, and then respect you, and, after that, between people of your stamp, love will find its way of itself.'
'It occasions me much regret,' said Arwed with sudden earnestness, 'that I am compelled to interpose an insurmountable obstacle to the accomplishment of a hope which, in the fulness of parental love, you so feelingly express. But, in this case, unreserved candor is the holiest duty. My heart is no longer free, good uncle, and my choice is made for life.'
'Your father has already made me acquainted with that affair,' answered the uncle fretfully; 'but I did not suppose that foolish passion, which can hardly endure long, could reasonably interpose any obstacle. The daughter of an executed criminal....'
'An innocent offering at the shrine of contemptible party interests,' said Arwed, with great vehemence, interrupting him; 'truly a martyr to his honesty and to the gigantic plans of his king.'
'And as your father says,' continued the uncle, 'the maiden has herself given you up and bidden an eternal farewell to Sweden.'
'She was compelled by the necessity of satisfying her own conscience; but that cannot releasemefrom the performance of my duty. So long as Georgina lives, so long shall I continue to hope, and truly will I keep my troth.'
'Such troth is senseless,' answered the uncle, suppressing his emotion. 'However, there is something in your constancy which pleases me. Do as you will. I hope at any rate, you will place so much confidence in me as to believe that I would not urge my daughter upon you, in opposition to your feelings. I am firmly persuaded, however, that the affair will gradually work itself right. Rank, figure, affinity, wealth, all fitting. By heaven! you were created for each other or no couple ever were. Sleep before you determine. As for the rest, what has been said upon these matters must remain within the walls of this room--to that promise give me your hand.'
Arwed gave the required pledge. The governor rang for his attendants, bade Arwed good night, and was rolled to his sleeping room.
'This is a strange entanglement in which I shall henceforth be obliged to act!' said Arwed to himself, while the servants were waiting at the door, with branched silver candlesticks, to show him to his room; 'Georgina and myself--I and my uncle, and Christine--and Christine and Megret--and Mac Donalbain and Christine!--and this Megret and Mac Donalbain, who again appear to stand in hostile constellations; and I, who, as I already foresee, shall at some future time be compelled to encounter both of them--this Mac Donalbain who spears to me like the serpent in paradise endeavoring to seduce the poor innocent, foolish mother of mankind. This Megret!--ah, this Megret! I will go to bed. God preserve me from wicked dreams.'
The hunting bugle-call and the baying of hounds awoke Arwed from his morning slumbers. As he opened his eyes they were greeted by the imaged orb with which the rays of the morning sun announced its rising, glowingly and tremblingly reflected from the bosom of the sea. Arwed sprang from his bed, threw his cloak over his shoulders, and raised the window to enjoy the beauty of awakening nature. In the court below, the huntsmen, horses and hounds were moving about with loud and joyous tumult, and old Knut, who had saddled Arwed's black charger, was now leading him from the stable.
'By whose command is this?' asked Arwed of the man below.
'The countess Christine!' cried Knut.
'Lead him back to his stall and take the saddle off,' commanded Arwed. 'I shall not ride this morning.'
Shaking his head, the faithful servant obeyed, and at same moment the door was thrown open and his beautiful cousin, whose fresh charms almost outshone the morning's splendor, entered his room in her hunting dress.
'I am going upon a bear hunt,' said she in a more friendly manner than on the preceding evening. 'Will you accompany me, cousin Arwed?'
'I am much obliged to you,' answered Arwed, 'but I prefer remaining in the house.'
Christine started, apparently surprised and perplexed by a cold refusal which she had not anticipated as possible, 'Perhaps you are not fond of this kind of chase?' she satirically asked.
'Yes!' answered Arwed, quietly; 'but not in your company, cousin.'
'Now, I confess!'--cried Christine, making a powerful effort to suppress the last part of the sentence which was at her tongue's end, 'May one venture to ask, wherefore, major?'
'Oh yes, one may venture, countess,' answered Arwed, 'and I will most willingly respond to the question. I do not like to see women pursuing employments unsuited to their sex. The riding and hunting and baiting and shooting of ladies, always excites in me intolerable displeasure.'
'That is nothing but the quite common pride and selfishness of your sex,' said Christine with bitterness, 'which would have our's always feeble that you may the more easily keep us under the yoke.'
'Woe to you, poor women,' exclaimed Arwed, laughing, 'if you had no better defence against our imperiousness than your physical strength; you would every where come off the worse. Nevertheless, countess, your sex is more powerful than you believe it. Your most powerful talisman is your womanhood; and it is a bad exchange, when you give it up for the fame of a rifleman or hussar.'
'Give it up?' repeated Christine with great excitement.
'Nothing less,' answered Arwed. 'To override horses, to chase and kill animals, is a rough business. A man may pursue it without suffering in his character, for nature has destined him forcibly to oppose its hostile powers by contending with them for his safety and his food,--and, in doing so, he but fulfills his destiny. More tender and delicate woman has other duties. God created women to be the protegés, the tender companions of men, to soften and ennoble their fierce and intractable natures, and to be the loving mothers and guardians of their children.'
'Silence!' cried Christine, angrily.
'All the peculiar qualities, however, which naturally belong to you,' continued Arwed pleasantly, seizing Christine's hands and holding them fast, as if he feared Megret's fate, 'all, and they are the noblest which adorn your sex, must be lost in the masculine woman, and she will be very fortunate if she preserve the purity of her soul, which is in great danger, when the restraint of modest, maidenly customs is once thrown off.'
Christine started with a sudden shudder. Tears burst from her beautiful eyes, and she withdrew her hands from his.
'What is the matter, cousin?' he exclaimed, with deep sympathy.
'You despise me, Arwed!' sobbed the maiden.
'What an unfortunate idea!' answered Arwed. 'Whoever fears the contempt of another, feels that he deserves it, and that can never be the case with the countess Christine.'
'You are right!' exclaimed Christine, with a firm tone, applying her handkerchief to her eyes to remove all traces of her tears, and proceeding to the window to cool her flushed face in the morning air.
'You will not accompany me to the chase, then?' she finally asked, as if nothing had occurred between them.
'No!' answered Arwed.
'Then I will also remain at home,' said she; and, calling to the servants from the window, she directed them to give over their preparations, as she was indisposed; after which she threw herself into a seat opposite Arwed.
'This chase was in reality only devised to obtain an opportunity for an undisturbed conversation with you,' said she, 'and that object can be attained as well here. My father has had a bad night and now sleeps soundly.'
'Well, speak on!' answered Arwed, placing himself in a listening attitude. 'If what you wish to say be something good, it will give me great pleasure to hear it.'
'Not altogether good,' said Christine, casting her eyes upon the floor in great embarrassment.
'So I should imagine,' answered Arwed. 'The feelings you have manifested toward me since my arrival have not been of the most friendly kind.'
'By heaven, Arwed, you do me injustice!' exclaimed. Christine, springing up and holding out her beautiful hand to him. 'My feelings are as kind toward you now as formerly, when we, two joyous children, sought shells together on the beach; and I would be on yet better terms with you; only you appear not to desire it.'
'How do you mean?' asked the ingenuous Arwed, who understood his cousin but too well.
'In one word,' she suddenly exclaimed, 'my father destines my hand for you, and I shall be compelled to oppose his determination.'
'That is indeed no very flattering communication,' said Arwed. 'It explains the unmannerly reception you gave me, however. It was nothing but your fear of my tenderness; but as you know your father's intentions, so you should also know the impediments, on my side, in the way of their accomplishment. I love another maiden.'
'That I knew,' said Christine, 'but I was afraid....'
'That your cousin's truth would not be able to withstand these powerful attractions,' said Arwed completing the sentence for her. 'You are either very vain of your charms, beauteous cousin, or have made acquaintance with very bad specimens of our sex.'
A deep sigh escaped from the oppressed bosom of Christine.
'Now, so long as I remain here,' continued Arwed, 'it shall be my most anxious endeavor to restore my sex to your good opinion. In the first place I shall quiet your apprehensions by the assurance, that my heart is entirely filled by a distant and beloved object,--that I shall never become troublesome to you as a suitor,--and that I will decline the proposed connection with so much decision, that the anger of our parents shall fall entirely on myself. I would love you as a brother should love a sister; but I would also be allowed the brother's right to tell you the truth whenever I may think it necessary to your welfare,--would counsel you,--warn you....'
'Yes, Arwed, be my brother!' cried Christine, with a convulsive pressure of his hand. 'Ah, that you could always have been so!'
'By this, however,' said Arwed, 'I must consider myself as having acquired some claim to your sisterly confidence. I am glad to know that you can feel no other sentiment for me, as it would give me pain to be compelled to reject your heart as well as your hand. But I cannot possibly believe that your coldness extends to the whole sex. That, indeed, would be still more unnatural than your horse-racing and bear-hunting; No, no! your heart is not insensible. The glance of your eye, like the diamond, now flashing fire, and now dissolving in crystals, has already revealed it. You know what it is to love!'
'You afflict me cruelly, cousin!' cried Christine, holding her hand before her traitorous eyes.
'Confide in me,' entreated Arwed, affectionately withdrawing her hand from her face. 'Go back with me to the times of our happy childhood, when we mutually imparted all our little secrets, when we laid our hearts before each other like open books. Let me once more read in yours: who is the man of your choice?'
'Youshallread it, Arwed,' cried Christine; 'by heaven you shall read it! But not now,--only not to-day.'
'Why not now?' urged Arwed. 'The present is precisely the right moment. Your heart is now softened and open. Pour it out towards me before caprice and false shame shall again harden and close it. Name the man of your choice to me, and take my word that I will honestly do whatever I can to promote your happiness. Surely, Christine can have no reason to be ashamed of her choice!'
'Pity me!' cried she; and, again bursting into tears, she fled from the room.
'Strange!' said Arwed, looking after her. 'The maiden is not at peace with herself; that is evident from the violence and eccentricity of her behaviour. There is a wounded spot in her heart which smarts at the least touch. Pray heaven it be not Mac Donalbain! It would be a pity for so magnificent a creature.'
Arwed had soon become accustomed and reconciled to his exile at Gyllensten. Excursions among its environs under the pretext of hunting, afforded him ample enjoyment of the beauties of nature and free scope for the play of his imagination; and these, together with the business of the governor's bureau, in which, at his own request, he was permitted to take a part, occupied his days; while the evenings were employed in reading to the family circle, and in playing chess, a favorite game with his uncle. Thus, by means of constant and varied occupation, the time passed rapidly and pleasantly at the solitary castle. Meanwhile Megret, who had already obtained two extensions of his furlough, continued to besiege the heart of the fair Christine, and to submit with patient resignation to all the caprices by which that eccentric maiden chose to prove the constancy and perseverance of her adorer. He was, indeed, almost the only one at Gyllensten who had to suffer from them; for Arwed, true to the brotherly character which he had assumed, did not spare his beautiful sister, and every instance of arrogance in which the unevenness of her humor led her to indulge, was quietly though earnestly reproved, until she was oftentimes brought to despair. These little quarrels usually ended with tears and supplications on the part of Christine, which were so touching that it required all the influence of Georgina's memory and the conviction of Christine's secret love for another, to cool his youthful heart to that degree of circumspection necessary in his peculiar circumstances. Mac Donalbain's frequent visits to Gyllensten, moreover, seemed to exercise a great and unhappy influence upon the disposition of the otherwise so lovely maiden. During his presence she exhibited a constant excitement which immediately after his departure changed to a deep melancholy, out of which she emerged only to torment all who would suffer themselves to be tormented by her, with her caprices. From her father she concealed the state of her feelings as much as possible, and if it occasionally occurred to him that all was not as it should be, the business of his office, in consequence of the critical situation of the country, prevented his looking too deeply into the affairs of his household or his daughter's heart; and Arwed, though Christine still remained indebted to him for her promised confidence, could not bring himself to betray her to his uncle.
In this manner the summer had arrived, when one evening at the supper table, in Megret's and Mac Donalbain's presence, the governor asked Arwed if he had a desire to see a natural curiosity, to visit which Charles XI did not hesitate to make a long journey.
Arwed joyfully assured him that he regarded the wonders of the natural world as a spectacle, in comparison with which the greatest efforts of human ingenuity were of little value,--and that it was, indeed, one of his favorite occupations to contemplate them.
'The Tornea-Laplanders have lately made many complaints to me,' said the governor. 'They complain especially of the collectors of the royal taxes, and of the excesses of the Finlanders, attracted within their boundaries by the chase. Since my gout has left me, I will myself ride to Tornea, to examine and adjust all these affairs upon the spot; and have selected the longest day in the year for that purpose. It is their court day, and also the day of their annual fair, which collects together the inhabitants of the whole country surrounding Tornea; and we can at the same time enjoy the rare and beautiful spectacle of the sun, which on this day does not set at all, enabling the king of Sweden in a certain sense to claim the same honor of which the sovereign of Spain and the Indies makes his boast.'
'I thank you heartily for offering me this rare enjoyment,' said Arwed, and Christine timidly requested to be allowed to make one of the party.
'Certainly, if it will afford you pleasure, and you prefer going with us to staying at home,' answered her father significantly. 'We have for some time past become somewhat strange to each other, without my being able to guess precisely what is the cause of it.'
Christine cast a melancholy and complaining glance upon her neighbor, Mac Donalbain, and Megret eagerly begged to be added to the company.
'Your society is always agreeable to me,' answered the governor. 'How stands it with you, sir Mac Donalbain?' he kindly asked the Scot, 'will you also be of our party? Rich as your Scotland is in natural wonders, you cannot see this spectacle there. Scandinavia is the only country of Europe which exhibits it, with the exception of poor Iceland, which hardly deserves to be regarded as belonging to our part of the world.'
'I do not know when you intend to undertake the excursion,' answered Mac Donalbain with some embarrassment.
'We start to-morrow morning at day-break,' answered the governor.
'My engagements will not allow me to join the interesting expedition so soon,' said Mac Donalbain. 'It is barely possible that I may so manage my affairs as to be able to meet and pay my respects to you at Tornea.'
'It must be a strange business,' said Megret, 'which prevents your accompanying us, and at the same time permits you to meet us at the end of our journey.'
'I do not consider, colonel,' cried Mac Donalbain, with a look of deadly hate and a low bow to the scoffer, 'that I am under any obligation to account to you for my business, or the manner in which it is pursued.'
'By no means, sir Mac Donalbain,' answered Megret, returning his bow; 'I am not one of the police-officers of this province, and have no official inducement to trouble myself about your pursuits.'
'Death and hell! what mean you by that?' exclaimed Mac Donalbain, springing from his seat,--but Christine pulled him down again and anxiously whispered to him some words of entreaty.
'Forget not, gentlemen,' cried the governor in an authoritative tone of voice, 'that you are both my guests, and that it does not become you to quarrel upon my hearth, where you have both been freely welcomed. I esteem you both and would resign the society of neither, but I have a right to demand that you respect this castle, and seek a more suitable place for the indulgence of the secret enmity which you appear to bear toward each other. This time, colonel, you are in the wrong. I regret to be compelled to say to you that, if sir Mac Donalbain took your remark somewhat too sharply, yet you gave occasion therefor by the scornful tone in which it was made. Therefore you owe it to me and to him to take the first step toward a reconciliation; and you cannot be considered my friend, if you refuse to drink the health of this noble Scot, which I now propose.'
A struggle was now seen in the proud Frenchman, between the hatred he bore his enemy and the respect due from him to the father of Christine. He cast a tiger glance upon Mac Donalbain, which was met by one equally fierce, and not being able to come to a determination what to do, he waited in moody silence, neither accepting nor rejecting the goblet offered to him by the governor.
'Do you hesitate?' earnestly asked the governor. 'As yet neither of you has said any thing to the other which can be considered injurious to the honor of a gentleman. This is only a misunderstanding, which must be completely reconciled. If you refuse this, you thereby confess an intention to offend sir Mac Donalbain, and it will become my duty as host to resent it as if the offence were intended for me.'
Megret seized the goblet, 'The lord of this castle,' said he with suppressed rage to Mac Donalbain, 'calls you a noble Scot. As I have not the pleasure of an intimate acquaintance with you, I am willing to consider the statement which has so noble a voucher as true, and upon that supposition I drink your health.'
'I receive the toast and return it with as much sincerity as it was offered,' answered Mac Donalbain, emptying his glass.
The governor, observing that the anger of the two belligerents still remained, in spite of the constrained and ambiguous reconciliation, thought it prudent to give the signal for retiring.
'That we may be able to start early in the morning,' said he, rising, 'I hope my worthy guests will excuse me if I break up the sitting earlier than usual. I intend to seek my bed betimes, that I may be the better prepared for the fatigues of the journey, and therefore wish you a good night.'
'I shall have the honor to be at the door of your carriage by sunrise, ready for the journey,' said Megret, bowing and retiring.
'As I must start this evening for Arnaes,' said Mac Donalbain, 'allow me to wish you a pleasant ride. At Tornea I hope to meet you again.'
He departed with a significant glance at Christine, who followed him out, and Arwed was left alone with his uncle.
The governor remained some time in a deep reverie, rubbing the wrinkles from his forehead, which as constantly reappeared there, and finally asked Arwed: 'what think you of our two guests?'
'You must long since have observed that neither of them is particularly agreeable to me. Being your guests, I would have said nothing against them; but since you expressly ask my opinion, I will give it honestly: they appear to me like two wolves engaged tooth and nail in fighting for a noble deer. God grant that the victim may save herself during the contest, and both the monsters have an empty reckoning.'
'Your comparison appears to me to be overstrained; you may not, however be wholly wrong. As soon as I return from Tornea I will adopt different measures. I begin to think it would have been better had I done so at an earlier period. Good night.'