The Sunday following St. John's day had always been a great holiday in Oberstein. The little mountain-village where Dr. Reinsfeld lived had, it is true, lost somewhat of its secluded character by the invasion of the railway in the vicinity. The labourers on the road frequented it, and some of the young engineers had their quarters in the little inn, but the place was still very humble in appearance.
The doctor's house was in no contrast to its surroundings; it was a small cottage, scantily furnished,--indeed barely provided with the necessities of life. The sexton's widow acted as the young physician's housekeeper, and her ideas of the duties of her position were primitive in the extreme. Only a nature as content and unassuming as Benno's could have long endured existence here. His predecessors had never remained long, while this was the fifth year that he had passed in this place, undaunted by its hardships, and with no present prospect of leaving it.
His study was indeed a contrast to the charming, comfortable apartments inhabited by Superintendent Elmhorst. The whitewashed walls were destitute of decoration save for a couple of portraits of Reinsfeld's parents. An old worm-eaten writing-table, with an arm-chair covered with leather which had once been black, a very hard sofa with a coarse linen cover, and a table and chairs of equal antiquity,--such was the furniture, all purchased from the former occupant, of the room in which the doctor lived, and laboured, and gave advice, and even, as on the present occasion, received visits. His cousin Albert Gersdorf was with him.
The lawyer had come from Heilborn the day before, and had found a guest already installed here, Veit Gronau, whom he also knew, and who was recovering here from the effects of his disaster on the Vulture Cliff. The painful sprain from which he was suffering was not serious, but prevented his walking. He had been with some difficulty brought as far down the mountain as Oberstein, and here Reinsfeld had offered to take charge of the patient until the sprain was cured; an offer which had been gratefully accepted.
The two cousins had not met for years, and their interchange of letters had been infrequent, so that Benno's joyful surprise was natural when Gersdorf made his unexpected appearance. He had just persuaded him to protract his stay somewhat, and said, delightedly, "So, then, that is all arranged: you will stay until the day after to-morrow; that's right; and your young wife will have no objection to being left so long with her parents in Heilborn."
"Oh, she is extremely content there," Gersdorf explained; but there was an unusual gravity in his voice and manner.
The doctor gave him a keen glance: "See here, Albert: when you arrived yesterday it struck me that something was wrong. I thought you would bring your wife. Surely you have not quarrelled?"
"No, Benno, 'tis not so bad as that. I have simply been forced to make my father- and mother-in-law understand that their untitled son-in-law is perfectly capable of maintaining his position."
"Aha! 'sits the wind in that corner?' What has happened?"
"Not much. As I told you, we promised to finish our wedding-tour by a visit to my wife's parents in Heilborn, where my mother-in-law is taking the waters. We found her there in a very exclusive circle, which graciously admitted me, although it made me quite sensible that I owed the honour to my having married a Baroness Ernsthausen. I showed but little appreciation of the amiable reception accorded me, inasmuch as I declined joining a picnic arranged for yesterday. Of course this provoked much aristocratic indignation; my respected mother-in-law declared me a tyrant, maintaining that her friends alone were fit associates for her daughter, and at last inducing Molly to be obstinate. I told her she was perfectly free to accept the invitation for herself, and she did so."
"And went without you?"
"Without me. An hour afterwards I was on my way to see you,--I meant at all events to see you before I went back to the city,--leaving behind me a brief note explaining my absence."
"It was a great piece of audacity on your part to marry into so aristocratic a family," said Benno, shaking his head. "You see marriage by no means puts an end to your troubles."
"No, but I was perfectly well aware that I should have to fight my way to independence."
"Can you be quite sure of your wife?"
Gersdorf smiled, both at the words and at the grave tone in which they were uttered: "Indeed I can. Molly is still a child, it is true,--a spoiled child who has never been trained,--but her heart is true as steel. Do you suppose I enjoyed leaving the wayward little creature? She must learn that a husband's rights are to be respected; if I had yielded to my mother-in-law on this occasion there would have been no end to her interference, and that I will not tolerate."
It was plain to see that it had not been easy for the young fellow to keep his resolution; his eyes turned longingly to the window that looked out on the road to Heilborn, while Benno sat lost in admiration of his cousin's strength of character. He himself would have made any sacrifice to a tyrannical mother-in-law rather than grieve a woman whom he loved.
They were interrupted by the entrance of Veit Gronau. He still limped, but otherwise seemed quite well, as he deposited a large package on the table.
"What have you there?" asked Gersdorf.
"Genuine Turkish tobacco," Gronau replied; "and Herr Waltenberg sends his regards and he will come over this afternoon with the ladies from Wolkenstein, who wish to see the holiday dance. Said brought the message and this tobacco, which I asked Herr Waltenberg to send in pity for the doctor, who smokes wretched stuff, begging his pardon. Let me fill the pipes; I understand that business."
"That's true," said Benno, laughing. "You and Herr Waltenberg would smoke up my entire income in a year. I cannot afford to be fastidious."
Veit, who was entirely at home here, hobbled to a little cupboard, whence he took three pipes, which he proceeded to prepare, and the three men were soon filling the room with clouds of fragrant smoke.
Suddenly the door opened, and a most unexpected apparition appeared upon the threshold, in the person of a young lady in a very elegant travelling-dress, a veil wound about her hat, and a handsome travelling-bag in her hand. She was about to enter hastily, but paused as if petrified by the scene which was presented to her gaze. Gronau in all his length of limb lay stretched out on the sofa; the doctor, in his shirt-sleeves, was comfortably established in his arm-chair; Gersdorf sat near him astride of a chair, while the room was filled with a thick but unfortunately transparent cloud of blue tobacco-smoke.
"Herr Doctor," the voice of the old housekeeper was heard to say from the corridor behind the stranger, "a young lady has arrived, and wants----"
"I want my husband," the young lady interposed, in a resolute tone, advancing into the room, where she created a sensation indeed.
Gronau sprang up from the sofa, uttering a cry of pain as he did so, for his ankle resented the sudden motion; Benno started up in dismay and began looking for his coat, which it seemed impossible to find; and Gersdorf emerged from the cloud of smoke, exclaiming, in a tone of delighted surprise, "Molly I--is it you?"
"Yes,--it is I!" Frau Gersdorf declared in accents so annihilating that one might have supposed her husband had just been detected in the commission of a crime, and as she spoke she advanced with extreme dignity into the middle of the room, where, unfortunately, the smoke interfered with the solemnity of the occasion, for she began to cough and seemed almost ready to choke.
Poor Benno was crushed. He had privately exulted when he had learned that there was no danger of a visit from his new distinguished relative, of whom he stood in such awe that for her reception he would have donned his grandest attire, and now here she was, and he in his shirt-sleeves! In his confusion he took his pocket-handkerchief and tried to flap away the smoke, but, unfortunately, he flapped it directly into the young lady's face, at the same time sweeping his clay pipe off the table where he had laid it, and overthrowing his arm-chair, the leg of which was broken in the fall. At last Gersdorf seized him by the arm: "Pray stop, Benno, or you will make things worse," he said, kindly. "First of all let me present you to my wife. My cousin, Benno Reinsfeld, Molly dear."
Molly bestowed a most ungracious glance upon this man in his shirt-sleeves who was presented to her as a relative,--really it was exceedingly provoking.
"I regret extremely having disturbed the gentlemen," she said, with a withering look at her husband. "My husband informed me that he should pay you a visit. Dr. Reinsfeld, but no time was appointed for his return."
"Madame," stammered Benno, in great confusion, "it is a great honour--and certainly----"
"I am glad to hear it," the lady interrupted him without more ado. "My luggage is outside; pray have it brought in. I shall stay here for a while."
This was too much; the doctor was in despair. He thought of the bare little garret room which was all he had had to offer to his cousin, and now here was a Baroness Ernsthausen about to occupy it also! Suddenly his wild, wandering glances fell upon the jacket he had been looking for so anxiously: it lay on the floor beside him; he snatched it up, and vanished into the next room. Gronau, whose distaste for 'the ladies' was as decided as it was respectful, hobbled after him, closing the door, as he left the room, with a crash that shook the house.
"Have I fallen among savages?" Molly asked, indignant at this reception. "One shrieks, another runs away, and the third----!" She fairly shuddered at the thought that this third was her husband.
But Gersdorf cared not a whit for the frown upon her pretty face. Now that they were alone, he hurried towards her with outstretched arms: "And you really came, Molly?"
Molly withdrew from his embrace, retreated a step, and declared solemnly, "Albert,--you are a monster!"
"But, Molly----!"
"A monster!" she repeated, with emphasis. "Mamma says so, and she thinks I ought to requite you with scorn. That is why I came."
"Ah, indeed, is that why?" said Albert, relieving her of her travelling-bag. She allowed this attention, but maintained her dignified attitude.
"You have deserted me,--me, your lawful wedded wife,--deserted me shamefully, and upon our wedding-tour!"
"Pardon me, my child, you deserted me," Gersdorf protested. "You drove off with the picnic-party----"
"For a few hours! And when I returned you were gone,--gone to the wilderness,--for this Oberstein is no less,--and now here you sit in this detestable tobacco-smoke, smoking and laughing and joking. Don't deny it, Albert, you were laughing. I heard your voice plainly from outside."
"I certainly was laughing, but that is no crime."
"When your wife was away!" Molly exclaimed, angrily,--"when your deeply-injured wife was at that very moment bewailing the fate that has fettered her to a heartless husband! Oh, how could you!"
She sobbed aloud, and in her despair threw herself upon the sofa; bouncing up again instantly, however, in dismay at its extreme hardness.
"Molly," her husband said, seriously, as he approached her, "you knew why I wished to avoid those people, and I thought my wife would have stood by me. I was very sorry to find myself mistaken."
The reproof went home; Molly cast down her eyes and replied, meekly "I care nothing for all those stupid people; but mamma thought I ought not to allow myself to be tyrannized over."
"And you complied with your mother's request rather than with mine, and preferred to mine the company of strangers."
"You did so too," sobbed Molly; "you drove away without a thought of your poor wife consumed with grief and longing!"
Albert put his arm around her caressingly, as he said, tenderly, "And were you really unhappy, my little Molly? So was I."
His young wife looked up at him through her tears, and nestled close to him: "When were you coming back?" she asked.
"The day after to-morrow, if I could have managed to stay away so long."
"And I came to-day. Is not that enough for you?"
"Yes, my darling, quite enough!" said Gersdorf. "And if you choose we will return to Heilborn this very day."
"No, we will not," said Molly, resolutely. "I have quarrelled with mamma, and with papa too; they did not want me to come. I have brought our luggage, and now we will stay here."
"So much the better," said Albert, much relieved. "I went to Heilborn solely for your sake, and here we are really in the midst of the mountains. I am only afraid that we must try to find some other quarters; the doctor's house can hardly hold you with all your trunks."
The little lady turned up her nose as she surveyed the room, where the smoke still lingered and the broken pipe and the three-legged chair encumbered the floor.
"Yes, this seems a detestable bachelor establishment. You would grow careless enough with this cousin of yours, who rushes away like a madman if a lady makes her appearance. Has he no manners at all?"
"Poor Benno was so terribly embarrassed," Albert said, by way of excuse. "He completely lost his head. Be kind to him, Molly, I pray you, for he is the best fellow in the world. And now let me go look after your luggage."
He went, and Frau Gersdorf took her seat upon the sofa, with more caution than before. In a few moments another door was softly and timidly opened, and the master of the house appeared. He had employed the time of his absence in arranging his dress, and he now approached his guest with much humility. At first she seemed scarcely inclined to be as amiable as her husband had entreated her to be; on the contrary, she eyed her new cousin with judicial severity.
"Madame," he began, with hesitation, "pray pardon me that, upon your unexpected arrival--I was very sorry for it, very sorry----"
"For my arrival?" Molly interrupted him, indignantly.
"God forbid, no!" exclaimed Benno. "I only meant--I wished to observe that I am a bachelor."
"Unfortunately," said Molly, still ungraciously. "It is very sad to be a bachelor. Why do you not marry?"
"I?" cried Benno, dismayed at the question.
"Certainly; you must marry as soon as possible."
The words sounded so dictatorial that the doctor did not venture to contradict them; he merely bowed so profoundly that Frau Molly began to feel her irritation evaporate, and she added, in a milder tone,--
"Albert is married and likes it extremely. Do you doubt it?"
"Oh, no, assuredly not," poor Benno hastened to reply; "but I----"
"Well, you, Herr Doctor?" his new relative persisted.
"I am not accustomed to ladies' society, and my manners are very rude," he said, sadly,--"very rude, madame,--and that unfits me for social enjoyment."
This confession found favour with Molly. A man who felt his deficiencies so profoundly deserved sympathy. She laid aside her air of severity and rejoined, kindly,--
"They can easily be improved. Come, sit down, Herr Doctor, and let us discuss the matter."
"What! Marriage?" Benno asked, in renewed dismay. This seemed like an immediate settlement of his future life, and he was naturally startled.
"Oh, no: only your manners, for the present. You are anxious to learn, I can see; all you want is some one to advise and train you. I will do it!"
"Oh, madame, how kind you are!" said the doctor, with so touching an expression of gratitude that his instructor of eighteen was entirely won over.
"I am your cousin, and my name is Molly," she rejoined. "We must call each other by our first names; so, Benno, come and sit down by me."
He complied with her invitation rather shyly, but the little lady soon put him entirely at his ease. She questioned him closely, and he soon grew very confidential; he told her about his awkwardness at the Nordheim villa, his consequent mortification, and his desperate but fruitless attempts to attain some degree of ease of manner. As he went on, all his awkwardness vanished and he showed himself as he was, frank, true, intelligent, and kindly. When Gersdorf returned at the end of a quarter of an hour, he found his wife and his cousin talking together like the best of friends.
"I have had the luggage brought here for the present," he said, "and I have sent to know if we can have rooms at the inn."
"Not at all necessary," said Molly; "we can stay here. I am sure Benno will make room for us; will you not, Benno?"
"Of course I will," the doctor exclaimed, eagerly. "I shall move out. Gronau and I can move into the garret, and you can have the lower rooms, Molly. I will go and have it arranged immediately."
He sprang up, and hurried out to do as he said.
"Benno?--Molly? You seem to have made astonishing progress in a few minutes!"
"Albert, your cousin is a very superior man," Molly declared. "We must befriend the young fellow; it is our duty as his relatives."
Her husband burst out laughing: "The young fellow? Allow me to observe, madame, that he is just twelve years your senior."
"I am a married woman," was the dignified reply, "and he, unfortunately, is a bachelor. But it is not his fault, and I shall have him married as soon as possible."
"Good heavens!" exclaimed Gersdorf, "you have scarcely seen poor Benno, and you are already scheming to marry him? I beg you----"
He got no further, for his wife confronted him with an indignant air: "'Poor,' do you call him, because he is to be married? You think marriage a misfortune, then. Is it because your own is unhappy? Albert, what can you mean by such words?"
But Albert only laughed the more; undismayed by his wife's impressive manner, he clasped her in his arms, and said, "I mean that there is only one little woman in the world who can make her husband as happy as I am. Does this explanation content you?"
And Frau Gersdorf was content.
The afternoon sun shone merrily down upon the gay assemblage on the green before the inn at Oberstein. Insignificant as the place was, it was a gathering-point for the inhabitants of all the scattered hamlets and farms in the country round, and all who could had come to the festival, which began with the service in church in the morning, while the afternoon was given over to the usual holiday enjoyments.
The St. John's dance, which, in accordance with ancient custom, was always danced in the open air, had been going on for some time upon the improvised dancing-floor in front of the inn. The young peasants, both men and maidens, were engaged in it, while their elders were seated at small tables with their beer-glasses. The country musicians fiddled away unweariedly, and the children played hide-and-seek and ran hither and thither among the happy crowd. It was a lively, merry scene, and its charm was much enhanced by the picturesque holiday costumes of the mountaineers.
The presence of the 'city folk,' who had just appeared, did not in the least disturb the festivities, for the young engineers quartered in Oberstein joined in the dance, and the two swarthy servants brought by the foreign gentleman from Heilborn were objects of admiring wonder for the peasants.
Waltenberg and the Nordheim ladies were seated at a table in the little garden on one side of the inn, and here Herr Gersdorf and his wife joined them. Greatly pleased by this meeting, the entire party was in a very merry mood, with the exception of Frau von Lasberg.
She took no pleasure in any peasant festivities, even as a spectator, and she had, besides, had a slight headache, so she had resolved to decline joining the party. Elmhorst, however, had sent word that it would be impossible for him to escort his betrothed on this occasion, as there had been some damage caused to the lower portion of the railway by a freshet, and he was obliged to drive down to inspect it. Upon this the old lady had resolved to sacrifice her comfort to her sense of propriety, which would not allow her to leave the two young ladies to be escorted only by Waltenberg, who was not as yet Erna's declared lover. She drove up the mountain with them, suffering an increase of headache in consequence, and now here was Molly, who had been in deep disgrace with the old lady since her marriage.
Molly knew this perfectly well, and took no pains to regain the lost favour. She expressed an ardent desire to join in the dance, declared that the elegant seclusion of the garden was a great bore, and finally proposed to mingle with the peasantry; in short, she nearly drove poor Frau von Lasberg to desperation.
"And if Benno comes, I shall dance with him although it should make Albert jealous," she said, with a glance towards her husband, who was standing with Erna and Waltenberg at the picket-fence looking on at the merriment on the green. "The poor doctor never has a moment's pleasure; just as we were setting out he was called to a patient, fortunately here in Oberstein, so he promised to follow us in half an hour. Alice, I hear that you are now under Benno's care."
The young lady nodded assent, and Frau von Lasberg remarked, condescendingly, "Alice conforms to the wishes of her betrothed, but I greatly fear that Herr Elmhorst over-estimates his friend when he attaches more value to his diagnosis than to that of our first medical authorities. And there is, at all events, great risk in intrusting his betrothed to the care of a young physician who, by his own confession, has practised almost exclusively among peasants."
"I think Herr Elmhorst perfectly right," Molly declared, with dignity. "Our cousin can easily compete with the 'first medical authorities,' I assure you, madame."
Baroness Lasberg smiled rather contemptuously: "Ah, excuse me! I really forgot that Dr. Reinsfeld is now a relative of yours, my dear Baroness."
"Frau Gersdorf, if you please," Molly corrected her. "I am very proud of my husband's name, and of my dignity as a married woman."
"So I perceive!" the old lady remarked, with an indignant glance at the young wife who so paraded her matrimonial satisfaction, and who, nothing daunted, chattered on merrily,--
"What did you think of Benno, Alice? He was perfectly inconsolable for his awkwardness on that first visit. Were you really as annoyed by it as he thinks you were?"
"Your cousin's deportment was certainly not calculated to inspire confidence, Frau Gersdorf," the Baroness remarked, emphasizing the plebeian name; but to her immense surprise she here encountered opposition from her usually passive charge. Alice raised her head, and said, with unwonted decision, "Dr. Reinsfeld made a very agreeable impression upon me, and I entirely share Wolfgang's confidence in him."
Molly glanced triumphantly at the old lady, and was about to launch forth in praise of her 'relative,' when the man himself made his appearance.
To-day Benno was clad in his trim Sunday costume, which differed but little from that of the mountaineers of the district, and was generally adopted by gentlemen among the mountains. The gray jacket braided with green and the dark-green hat with its chamois beard became him admirably, setting off his powerful, well-knit frame to the best advantage; and here where all around him was familiar he almost lost his shyness. He greeted his relatives and Erna cordially, and received Waltenberg courteously; even his bow to Frau von Lasberg was quite correct. It was only when he turned to Alice that the composure hitherto so bravely maintained forsook him; he blushed, and stammered, and cast down his eyes. At first he hardly understood what she said to him, hearing only the sweet, gentle voice, as kind in its tone as it had been before in 'fairy-land.' He partially recovered his self-control only when she spoke of her companion. "Poor Baroness Lasberg is suffering from a violent headache, and it has been worse since she sacrificed herself by driving up here with us. Can you suggest a remedy?"
Frau von Lasberg, who was sniffing at her vinaigrette, looked dismayed; she had no idea of intrusting her precious health to this peasant doctor. Reinsfeld modestly suggested that the pain had been increased by the broad sunshine and the noise, and proposed that she should retire for an hour to some cool, quiet room in the inn. He hurried away to call the hostess, who came immediately and conducted the old lady, who really felt quite ill and saw the advisability of taking the rest suggested, to a quiet room on the side of the house that looked away from the revellers.
"Thank heaven, now we are left to ourselves, and can go to the dance!" said Molly, rising to lead the way.
"What! among the peasants?" Alice asked, in alarm.
"In their very midst," the young wife undauntedly replied. "Do not look so horrified. You ought to thank God that your duenna has the headache, for else she never would have let you go. Benno, offer your arm to Fräulein Nordheim."
Benno looked equally horrified at this command; but Molly had taken possession of her husband, and Waltenberg had given his arm to Erna, so there was nothing for it but to obey.
"Fräulein Nordheim,--will you allow me?" he asked, timidly.
Alice hesitated a moment, but then, either tempted by the gaiety outside, or induced by the timid address, she smiled, and took the offered arm, to follow the others, who had already left the garden.
The pair walked slowly; the doctor was a rather mute cavalier: he hardly spoke, but looked with shy admiration at the young girl beside him, who did not, however, seem to him half so unapproachable and distinguished as she had been on their first interview. She looked graceful and simple in her light-blue muslin and her flower-trimmed straw hat; it was just the frame for her face, if only the face were not so pale. She was apparently somewhat afraid of the crowd, and when loud shouting was heard from the dancing floor she paused, and looked up timidly at her escort.
"Are you afraid, Fräulein Nordheim?" he asked. "Then let us go back."
Alice shook her head, and replied, in an undertone, "I am unused to it; but I do not believe the people are really rude."
"Indeed they are not!" Benno declared. "There is nothing to fear from our Wolkensteiners,--that I can testify, having lived as long as I have among them."
"Yes, for five years, Wolfgang tells me. How have you managed it?"
The question was put in a tone of such compassion that Benno smiled: "Oh, it is not so terrible as you suppose. It is, to be sure, a lonely life, and at times a laborious one, but it has its pleasures."
"Pleasures?" Alice repeated, dubiously, raising her large brown eyes to his, which so confused the doctor that he forgot to reply.
Suddenly there was a movement among the crowd: they perceived Reinsfeld for the first time,--for on his arrival he had come through the inn,--and instantly a circle was formed about him. "The Herr Doctor! Our Herr Doctor! Here he is!" resounded from all sides, while twenty, thirty heads were bared, and as many brown hands were stretched out to the young physician. Old and young thronged about him eager for a word or a look or to bid 'God bless' him. There was an outburst of enthusiasm at sight of their 'doctor.'
Reinsfeld glanced with some anxiety at his companion,--he feared she might be annoyed by these stormy demonstrations; but Alice seemed, on the contrary, to enjoy them; she clung rather closer to his arm, but she looked unusually happy and interested.
No sooner did the doctor explain that the young lady wished to look on at the dance than all began eagerly to arrange a place for her. The entire crowd about the doctor accompanied them to the dancing-floor; the rows of spectators were ruthlessly parted asunder, a chair was brought, and a few moments later Alice was seated in the midst of all the joyous tumult of St. John's day, and the sturdy mountaineers formed a sort ofgarde d'honneuron each side of her, taking care that the whirling couples did not fly past her close enough to brush the Fräulein's skirt. There was a certain rude chivalry in the way in which they arranged the place for the companion of their doctor.
"The people seem very fond of you," said Alice. "I did not imagine that the peasantry were so devoted to their physician."
"They are not usually," was Reinsfeld's reply. "They are apt to see in him only a man who costs them money, and they try not to avail themselves of his help. But the relation between the Wolkensteiners and myself is exceptional. We have gone through some hard times together, and they give me credit for not leaving them in the lurch, and for going indiscriminately to every one who needs me, even although the poor wretch have only a 'God bless you!' by way of fee. There is a great deal of poverty among the people, and it is impossible to think only of one's self; at least I have found it so."
"Yes, that I know," Alice interposed, with unusual vivacity. "You did not think of yourself when a better position was offered you. Wolfgang mentioned that during your visit the other day."
As she referred to it Benno coloured slightly: "Do you really remember that remark of his? Yes, Wolf was very much provoked with me at the time, and I suppose he was right. The position was undoubtedly a good one, in a hospital in one of our large cities, and by a lucky chance I was preferred beyond any of my colleagues; but the condition attached was that I should report myself at the election, and enter immediately upon the duties of my office."
"And you had patients here in the village who were very ill at the time?"
"Not only here, but everywhere throughout the district. Diphtheria had broken out, and the children brought home contagion from school. One or two were lying ill in almost every house, and most of the cases were very serious, for the epidemic was particularly virulent,--and just when it was at its height the place was offered me! The nearest physician lived half a day's journey away, and my distinguished colleagues in Heilborn do not come up to the lonely farms through storm and snow,--it would cost the people too dear. I delayed my departure from day to day, and Wolfgang kept urging me, but Icouldnot go. Hansel, come here!"
He beckoned to a boy of about six who had worked his way to the front and stood looking on delightedly at the dancers. He was a sturdy little fellow, with flaxen hair and a fresh, chubby face. He obeyed the call instantly, very proud to be summoned by the doctor, and looked up confidingly at the young lady to whom he was presented.
"Look at this fellow, Fräulein Nordheim," Reinsfeld went on; "he does not look as if, eight months ago, he lay very nearly dying, does he? He is the grandson of old Seppel, who used to be at Wolkenstein Court, and he has a little sister who was at the point of death also. Those two decided the matter! Just as I had resolved to set out, Sepp came to me on a stormy night; the old man cried bitterly, and the mother, a young peasant-woman, wailed out, 'Do not go, Herr Doctor! If you leave us the boy will die, and the girl too.' I knew better than they did the need in which they stood of medical aid, and there were others too who needed me sorely. This poor little rogue struggled so with the frightful disease, and looked up at me with such beseeching eyes, as if I were absolutely the Almighty,--and I stayed. I could not find it in my heart to leave the poor little things to suffer just that I might feather my own nest. I sent word, to be sure, why I was obliged to delay, but the gentlemen in authority in could not wait, of course; there were many other applicants, and one of them got the position."
"And you?" Alice asked, gently.
"I? Well, Fräulein Nordheim, I never repented it, for I brought most of my little patients through, and since then the Wolkensteiners have been willing to go through fire and water to serve me."
Alice made no rejoinder; she looked up for a moment at the man who related all this so simply and as if it were quite a matter of course that he should relinquish his future, and then she drew little Hansel towards her and gently kissed the boy's rosy cheek. There was something inexpressibly tender in the act, and Benno's eyes sparkled as he was conscious of the silent recognition thus conveyed.
"Well, Benno, are you receiving the homage of the assembled populace?" cried Molly, approaching with her husband; and Gersdorf added, with a laugh,--
"Yes, it was really a triumphal procession that escorted Fräulein Nordheim and yourself to the dancing-floor. Pray allow us some share of your popularity."
Waltenberg and Erna soon joined them, and the entire party made themselves comfortable in a corner of the dancing-floor. Poor Frau von Lasberg little dreamed what were the consequences of her headache. Alice, her charge, who had been so carefully shielded from every noise, from all undesirable association,--Alice was sitting close beside the ear-splitting music of the rural orchestra, in the midst of the shouts and whoops of the dancers, whose nail-shod soles stamped out the time amid the whirling dust, and, strange to say, she was extremely well entertained. There was a faint flush on her pale cheek, her eyes had lost their weary expression and beamed with pleasure, and Benno Reinsfeld was standing beside her chair, prouder and happier than he had ever been in his life before, conducting himself like the very pink of courtesy. Verily, it was a day of signs and wonders!
The doctor's popularity, however, had its drawbacks, as was soon to appear. Little Hansel had been summoned by his mother with an air of mystery from the dancing-floor to be intrusted with an important mission. Old Sepp had brought from the Nordheim villa the intelligence that Fräulein von Thurgau and the foreign gentleman from Heilborn were either already betrothed or were going to be, and that they were only waiting for the president's return to have their betrothal publicly announced. The young peasant-woman, Seppel's daughter, who had also been a servant at Wolkenstein Court until her marriage, and still cherished a loyal allegiance to its former mistress, was quite beside herself with joy at sight of her beloved Fräulein, to whom she proudly presented her two children. Hansel was now to repeat the St. John's verse to the betrothed pair, and, accompanied by his sister, to present to them the bunch of flowers which obliged those receiving it to dance together. The Fräulein knew the old custom and would be delighted to comply with it with her 'schatz.' From the fresh bouquet of Alpine flowers which decorated the inn parlour the finest were selected, and a rehearsal hurriedly took place, in which Hansel had sustained with great credit the part which he was now to play in public.
There was a pause in the dancing, and the music was silent as Hansel again made his appearance on the floor, one hand full of Alpine flowers, while with the other he led along his little sister, who carried a nosegay equally large. With much gravity he advanced, as he had been instructed to do, towards the group of ladies and gentlemen; but the directions given him could not have been sufficiently clear, for the two children marched straight up to Alice and the doctor, and offered them the flowers, while Hansel began to recite his verse.
"Gracious, Hansel, those are not the right ones!" his mother cried in a loud whisper, but Hansel was not to be deterred. For him there was but one 'right one,' and that was the Herr Doctor, with the young lady beside him. So he went bravely through his verse, and ended with emphasis,--
"Do not refuse it,--Our offering of flowers,And midsummer's blessingsFall on you in showers."
"Do not refuse it,--
Our offering of flowers,
And midsummer's blessings
Fall on you in showers."
Alice, surprised, graciously accepted the bouquet which the little girl held out to her, but Benno, who understood the significance of the little comedy, was overwhelmed with embarrassment.
"But, my boy,--my little girl, what are you thinking of?" he exclaimed, trying to turn the children aside. Hansel, however, stood his ground sturdily and thrust his nosegay into the doctor's hand.
"Ah, take his flowers," Alice said, in entire unconsciousness. "What does it all mean?"
"It is the ancient St. John's blessing," Erna explained, smiling, "and the flowers mean that you positively must dance with the doctor, Alice; I am afraid there is no help for it."
"Oh, this is delightful!" Molly cried, clapping her hands. "Of course; Benno must dance by all means."
Poor Reinsfeld was in despair, but Waltenberg and Gersdorf laughingly insisted, and even Erna, who probably guessed, from the young peasant-wife's face, the state of the case, entered into the jest. "You need only go once round the floor, Alice," she said. "Comply with the old custom; you will offend the people if you refuse their doctor, of whom they think so much, the dance to which, in their opinion, he has a right. It would be to reject the midsummer blessing which they so kindly invoke for you."
Alice did not seem for her part to think the custom a very strange one; she merely smiled on perceiving the young physician's intense embarrassment, and, turning to him, said, in an undertone,--
"We must comply with their wish, Herr Doctor; do you not think so?"
Poor Benno, who had never danced save at these rural festivals, fairly grew giddy at these words.
"Fräulein Nordheim--would you?" he asked.
In reply Alice arose and took his arm. Those standing about, who thought it all a matter of course, made room, the music struck up, and in another moment the couple were whirling away.
Meanwhile, Frau von Lasberg was feeling much better,--the cool quiet of the secluded apartment had really done her good; she came rustling in great majesty to the door of the inn, where, to her intense annoyance, she found her egress barred by a crowd of people, among whom were Gronau with Said and Djelma, and the host and hostess. All were stretching their necks to gaze towards the dancing-floor, which could be seen very easily from the top of the inn steps, and where something remarkable seemed to be going on.
The Baroness was naturally of too refined a nature to share in such vulgar curiosity, and she was annoyed that no one seemed to perceive her; she turned to Said, who stood near her, and said, authoritatively, "Said, stand aside; are the ladies still in the garden?"
"No; on the dancing-floor," Said replied, delighted.
Frau von Lasberg was indignant; she suspected some folly of Molly's, thatenfant terrible: "And they have left Fräulein Nordheim alone?"
"No; the Fräulein is dancing with the doctor!" Said explained, showing his white teeth in a grin.
The Baroness shrugged her shoulders at the stupidity of the negro, with his broken German; but, involuntarily looking in the direction whither he pointed, she saw what almost paralyzed her,--the doctor's athletic figure with its arm about the waist of a young lady in a light summer-gown and a straw hat trimmed with flowers,--her pupil, Alice Nordheim. And they were dancing together! Fräulein Alice Nordheim dancing with the peasant doctor!
It was more than Frau von Lasberg's overtaxed nerves could endure. She very nearly fainted, and would have fallen had not Said received her in his arms, as was of course his duty; but in great embarrassment as to what was to be done with his burden, he called out, "Herr Gronau! Herr Gronau! I have got a lady!"
"Well, you had better keep her, then," said Veit, who, quite unaware of what was going on, stood at some distance and did not even turn his head. The host and hostess, however, heard the distressed exclamation and hurried to the rescue. There was a vast stir and commotion, and Djelma was running off to the dancing-floor, when Gronau detained him: "Stop! Where are you going?"
"To bring the doctor." But Veit held him fast.
"Stay where you are!" Veit ordered. "Is the poor doctor never to have any pleasure? Let him have his dance out, and then he can restore the Frau Baroness."
The crowd about the dancing-floor were quite unconscious of this episode, and the couple danced on. Benno's arm encircled the delicate waist, and his eyes rested with delight upon the lovely face, no longer pale, but tinged by the exercise a rosy pink, that was raised to his own, and as he gazed he forgot Oberstein and the entire world. Oberstein, however, was hugely delighted with the turn affairs had taken, and testified to its pleasure in unmistakable fashion: the musicians fiddled away with enthusiasm, the peasant lads and lasses shouted, Hansel and his little sister skipped about, keeping time to the waltz, and all the Wolkensteiners sang in chorus,--