Villa Eden had hitherto been surrounded by a mysterious magic. Fear and envy had given rise to the report that there was something wrong about the inmates; about Herr Sonnenkamp, whom everybody saw, and Frau Ceres, whom scarcely anybody saw. The threats of spring-guns and man-traps posted upon the walls imbued the ignorant people in the neighborhood with an almost superstitious fear. It was even said that Herr Sonnenkamp had smeared the trap with a poison for which there was no antidote. The servants of the house affected somewhat the reserve of their superiors; they had little intercourse with others, and were hardly saluted by them. But the mysterious dragon, which, no one knew how or where, kept secret watch over the villa, seemed nothing but a scarecrow after this robbery; the beautiful white house was stripped of its charm; it was as if all the bolts were thrown back. Quickly the report gained ground that the house-servants had committed the robbery.
The people on the roads and in the villages through which the carriage passed looked up and nodded to Eric, Roland, and Pranken, as they drove swiftly by. The few who raised their caps did it hesitatingly, as if they, like the rest, would say, It is all up now with your master; the officers will soon find out what has been going on among you.
The three men found everything in confusion at the villa when they arrived.
The porter at once expressed conviction that the robbery had been committed by persons belonging to the house, because all the doors had been closely fastened, and not a dog had barked; showing that the thieves must have been familiar with the house, and well known to the dogs.
The officers were already on the spot. Sonnenkamp's work-room had been entered, and treasures stolen whose value could not be estimated, among them a dagger with a jewelled handle. The thieves had even tried to force the fire-proof safe, but in vain. Great goblets of gold and silver which stood upon the sideboard in the dressing-room had disappeared, as well as Roland's gold watch, which, when he went to Wolfsgarten, he had left on the table beside his bed. His pillow had also been taken, but was afterwards found on the wall, where it had served to make a smooth and easy passage over the broken glass which had been intended to make the wall insurmountable.
Two footprints were discovered in the park and behind the hot-house. The thieves must have stumbled among the heaps of garden mould, for on one of these was plainly visible the impression of a human body; one of the thieves had evidently fallen there. Here was also found a pair of the dwarfs old boots, which, on being compared with the footprints in the garden, were found exactly to correspond. Thus a clue was gained, though a very uncertain one. The dwarf just then came by, on his way to his accustomed work, and listened in astonishment to an account of what had happened. He was allowed to work on undisturbed.
The officer who had charge of the investigation, and his assistants, the burgomaster of the village, and some of the chief men, were assembled in the balcony-room, examining the various servants. Roland stood apart, his eyes fixed upon the pillow which had been stolen and made use of by the thieves in climbing the wall. He grew very pale, as he stood there listening to the questions that were asked of one man after another, in the hope of extorting something from each.
The dwarf appeared, and said that a pair of boots had been stolen from him.
"Yes," replied the officer at once, "the theft was committed in your boots."
The dwarfs face wore a simple expression, as if he had not understood what was meant.
The officer ordered his instant arrest. He complained piteously that the innocent were always the ones to be suspected, and Roland begged that the poor creature might be allowed to go free.
"I will throttle any one who touches me," cried the dwarf, his excitement seeming to make a different being of him.
At a sign from the officer, two men quietly bound the poor creature's hands behind his back.
Eric led Roland away. Why should he see this night-side of human nature?
Happily the Major appeared at this moment, and Eric delivered Roland to him.
"Here is a lesson for you, young man," said the Major. "Everything can be stolen from you, except your heart, when in the right place, and except what you have in your head; they can never be stolen from you. Mark that."
The officer had the servants brought before him, and questioned them as to the persons who had lately visited the villa. They mentioned the names of many, but the porter said,—
"The Herr Captain took the huntsman by himself over the whole house, and when he left he said to me, 'You guard the rich man's money and treasures, when it would be better to throw the doors wide open, and to scatter it abroad in the world.'"
Eric could not deny that the huntsman had observed everything very closely, and had talked in a confused way about the distinction of rich and poor; yet he thought he could answer for the man's honesty.
The officer made no answer, but despatched two of his men to search the house of Claus.
The huntsman smiled and shrugged his shoulders, when he saw what their intention was. Nothing was found, but in a kennel was chained a dog that barked incessantly.
"Unfasten the dog's chain," said one of the men to Claus, who had followed them through all the rooms and into the court, saying nothing, but keeping his lips moving all the time.
"What for?"
"Because I bid you; if you don't do it at once, I shall shoot the dog through the head."
Upon the dog being set free, the kennel was searched, and in it, under the straw, were found Roland's watch and the jewel-hilted dagger. Claus was immediately bound and put under arrest, in spite of his earnest protestations of innocence. On the way from his house to the villa he kept raising his chains, as if to show them appealingly to the fields, the vineyards, and the heavens.
A list was made out of the stolen articles as far as they could be described, and Roland was summoned to sign his name for the first time to an official document.
"There is no calculating the effect such a thing must produce on the boy," said Eric to the Major, who was standing by.
"It will do him no harm," replied the Major; "his heart is sound, and Fräulein Milch says, 'A young heart and a young stomach are quick digesters.'"
Fräulein Milch was mistaken this time, for at sight of Clans brought in in chains, Roland uttered a cry of distress.
A new scent was presently started. The groom, who had been in Pranken's pay as a spy, and afterwards dismissed by Sonnenkamp, had, within the last few days, been seen and recognized in the neighborhood, though he had taken great pains to disguise himself. Telegrams were immediately despatched in all directions for the arrest of the supposed thief, and also to Sonnenkamp.
The priest came, lamented what had happened, using a noble charity in speaking of the disaster, and begged Eric not to lay it too much to heart, because, devoted as he had been to learning and science, he could naturally have no proper knowledge of the wickedness of his fellow-men, and had naturally allowed himself to be taken unawares by it.
Eric was more humbled in spirit than the priest thought reasonable. He remembered having once said, that the man who consecrates himself to an idea must renounce all else; and now he was humiliated by standing in the presence of one who, in his way, acted up to this sentiment, while he himself had allowed the excitement of mental dissipation to drag him down from his high standard.
The priest repeated, that is all our plans we should take into account the wickedness of mankind; and Eric, who hardly knew what answer to make, assured him that he was well aware of the necessity, having voluntarily passed some time in a House of Correction, for the sake of restoring guilty men to their better selves. Neither Eric nor the priest, who praised him, noticed the effect which this confession produced upon Roland. He was, then, in the hands of a man who had tried to counsel criminals, who had lived in a House of Correction! A fear and repugnance took possession of the boy's soul. Eric's motive was forgotten; Roland seemed to himself humiliated. He sat a long time silently buried in thought, his face covered with his hands.
The priest approached him at last, and admonished him not to let this accident dishearten him, but only let it teach him not to place his trust in the treasures of this world, particularly in his own possessions; neither to have that so-called faith in humanity, which is a deceitful faith, exposed to daily shocks; for there was but one sure and abiding faith, that in God, the supreme being, eternal and unchanging, who never deceives.
Roland remained silent and absorbed for some time after he and Eric were left alone; finally he asked:—
"Does my father know what you once were?"
"Yes."
"Why did you not tell me?"
"Why? I had no reason for concealing it from you, or for telling you."
The boy again covered his face with his hands, and Eric, feeling that the course he was here called upon to defend was one undertaken from the purest motives, while within him he was conscious of a guilt which none but himself could upbraid him with, explained to Roland how he had felt it his duty to devote himself to the most unhappy. He spoke so touchingly that the boy suddenly raised his head, and, holding out his hand to him, exclaimed in a tone of the deepest feeling:—
"Forgive me! Ah, you are better than all."
The words smote Eric to the soul.
The officers of the law had left the villa, and even Pranken had ridden away. Roland went about the house, looking fearfully behind him, as if he had seen a ghost, an evil spirit. The stairs had been trodden by wicked men, the doors had been tried by their instruments; the house and all its treasures had been desecrated; he had lost pleasure not only in the things which had been plundered, but still more in those which could not be taken, which the thieves had been obliged to leave.
He begged Eric not to leave him for a moment, so great was his fear. At night he was unwilling to go to bed; rest seemed impossible to him in a place where the hands of robbers had taken the pillows from his bed. Eric yielded to his entreaties that he would remain by him, and said, after Roland had finally gone to bed,—
"I owe you an answer to your question,—What would Franklin have said to this robbery? I think I know. He would have had no compassion on the thieves; he would have given them up to the full penalty of the law; but at the same time he would have maintained, that the wickedness of individuals should not be allowed to rob us of our faith in humanity; for if thieves could inflict that loss upon us, they would be robbing us of more than hands can touch."
Roland nodded assent. Long after he had fallen asleep, Eric stood by the bedside, thoughtfully watching the boy, who had had to learn this lesson thus early,—Of what use is all this subtle study; of what advantage any conscious training? An invisible, irresistible power, the great current of life's experience, educates a man far more than a single human teacher can do, and in a different way.
Long did Eric stand at the window, gazing out upon the river and the vine-covered hills. We all work according to the strength that is in us; the result of our labors lies not in our hands, but in the control of that invisible, all-embracing power whose origin we know not, and which we can only call God.
Eric was deeply moved. This event could not afflict his young charge so deeply as it did him, for he was conscious of a power mightier than any effort of his own thoughts, drawing him back from the edge of an abyss. He looked into the future, and a fixed resolve was formed within him.
He was summoned away by a messenger from the officer who had conducted the examination, bringing a telegram from Sonnenkamp. It ran thus:—
"Journey to sea-shore given up; coming home; shall find thieves, under whatever title."
Herr Sonnenkamp returned to his villa like a ruler to his castle where a mutiny has lately broken out. Every step in his house, every glance at a servant, said, I am here again, and with me authority and order.
Eric did not lay upon Pranken the blame of what had happened, but confessed that he himself had been guilty of neglect of duty. Sonnenkamp seemed to take pleasure in seeing Eric humbled. He was one of those who love to rule others. With enough humanity in him to make him prefer a willing obedience, he yet had no rest, when that proved impossible, till his man was subdued and brought to his feet; then, and not till then, was he willing to raise him up, for not till then was he sure of the mastery. This self-reliant Captain-doctor had assumed a demeanor that was unbecoming in him; now he was humbled, and would have to be grateful for every act of kindness and friendliness done him. Sonnenkamp had no suspicion of the satisfaction Eric took in his humiliation, or of his motives for it; he regarded this humble submission as a triumph of his authority, while to Eric himself it was a confession of weakness in having been tempted by the magic of Bella's charms to forget the strict watchfulness which was his duty.
Sonnenkamp soon perceived that the amount of the robbery was insignificant. He said, with a certain malicious pleasure:—
"The knaves stole my jewelled dagger; it has a poisoned point, which is death to whomsoever it scratches."
Eric had hardly power left to tell that the dagger was already in possession of the officers of justice, so great a horror thrilled him. Why should this man keep a poisoned dagger?
Pranken and the Major soon appeared, and Pranken was honest enough to take the whole responsibility upon himself. He could not refrain from saying, however, that Eric had previously left the villa to go to a musical festival, and had won a surprising reputation there. Sonnenkamp said, with a smile:—
"You kept Roland at home instead of letting him go to the Baths, in order to keep him free from excitement; have you preserved him from it?"
Eric was prevented from answering by the arrival of the priest, to whom Sonnenkamp, who had never made any gift to the church, announced his intention of presenting to it the gold and silver vessels which had been taken from the sideboard. As if involuntarily, he added:—
"I don't want them any more in my house. You, reverend sir, will give them a fresh consecration."
Eric expressed in a whisper to the Major, who stood by him, his pleasure at this arrangement, and his belief that it would exert a salutary influence on Roland, whose peace of mind had been in a great measure destroyed by the robbery. Sonnenkamp heard his words, though spoken in so low a tone, and said:—
"My highly honored Herr Captain, let me tell you honestly that I have nothing to do with sentimentalities, and that I desire Roland should early acquire a knowledge of these so-called well-disposed lower classes, and learn that they are nothing but a mass of conspiracy against the holders of property, awaiting the first favorable opportunity to break out, or rather to break in."
Sonnenkamp was in the highest degree animated and cheerful. His only cause of regret was, that there should have been so much talk made about the affair in the neighborhood, and that so much valuable time had to be lost in the processes of law. Frau Ceres said not a word about the robbery; it almost seemed as if she had not heard of it. She only rejoiced that Roland had grown so much during her absence. She told Eric that she had met at the Baths a most aristocratic and amiable lady, a relation of his mother, who had spoken of her with great enthusiasm.
The very first evening after the return of Sonnenkamp and his family, a carriage drove up in which were Bella and Clodwig. Eric was delighted to greet his friends, but was somewhat shy of Bella.
"We have come to protect you from this savage," she whispered to him behind her fan; "we will show him that you belong to us. And now you will leave everything and come to us, will you not?"
The words thrilled Eric; he could only bow his thanks.
Bella observed her husband's embarrassment as he stood with Sonnenkamp. His fine and sensitive nature could never overcome a feeling of timidity, of terror, whenever he found himself confronted with this herculean shape. Bella helped him out of the difficulty by saying jestingly, "Herr Sonnenkamp, you must have seen many strange things in your life; did you ever happen to fall in with thieves who openly confessed they had stolen, or were proposing to steal?"
Sonnenkamp looked at her in amazement.
"We are such thieves, in broad daylight," she cried, laughing, and turning to her husband she continued:—
"Now do you speak, dear Clodwig."
Clodwig hesitatingly expressed his wish to have Eric live with him. Sonnenkamp's sharp glance fell upon Bella. The forefinger of his left hand was already raised in playful menace against her, and he was on the point of saying, "I understand you," when he checked himself, and, laying his finger on his lips, said:—
"I am glad to see that our Herr Eric"—with a peculiar emphasis on the word "our"—"that our Herr Eric stands so high in your good graces."
Eric was struck by the peculiar stress laid upon the word "our." He seemed to have become a piece of property. Still more surprised was he at Sonnenkamp's offering him his hand the next moment and saying:—
"You remain ours, do you not?"
Eric bowed.
Bella dwelt, with intentional emphasis, upon the particulars of her visit to Eric's mother in the University-town. She evidently desired to let Herr Sonnenkamp know that a man of Eric's rank and position was not to be crushed on account of a trifling act of neglect. Sonnenkamp whistled to himself inaudibly, as if some plan were ripening in him.
Bella contrived again to be alone with Eric, and expressed to him her satisfaction at the success of her little plot. She knew, she said, that Sonnenkamp would not let him go, but she also knew that he would humble him on account of the neglect he had been guilty of, and therefore persuaded Clodwig to drive over at once. Eric was full of gratitude.
"Did you notice," she asked in a low voice, "what a look Herr Sonnenkamp gave me, and how he raised his finger at me? This man imagines that our friendship is something more than friendship; to the impure nothing is pure. I think you will not misunderstand me, if I sometimes intentionally slight you in the presence of this spying knave."
She gave Eric her hand, and held his long and tightly pressed. Neither suspected that from behind a bush two eyes were fixed upon them, and a sharp ear heard their every word. When they had passed on, Sonnenkamp drew a deep breath as a relief from the long constraint he had put upon himself.
The next morning came the tidings that the groom whom Sonnenkamp had dismissed shortly before his journey, suspecting him of being a spy of Pranken's, had been arrested in the capital in the very act of offering for sale a large silver goblet. Roland brought the news to Eric, and this was only one of the many interruptions liable at any moment to break in upon the hours of study and thought, in consequence of this robbery. Of what use were lessons when the mind was thus excited? What lasting impression could be made? At one time Eric thought of going hunting more frequently with Roland, in order to amuse him and let him gain fresh elasticity and powers of observation by the pursuit of new objects. But he finally decided on the opposite course, that of helping his pupil not by amusement, but by closer application to his studies. Great was his satisfaction, therefore, at having Roland say to him,—
"Let us forget all else and quietly go on with our work."
The boy's love of study had received an impulse which made every interruption distasteful to him, and led him to look for his best pleasures in his books.
Roland soon became conscious of a fresh energy in Eric, without being able to conjecture its cause; it was the exaltation that follows a danger escaped, escaped by one's own effort. Whenever Eric thought of the days at Wolfsgarten, and his trifling with those feelings which should be the finest of the human heart, he seemed to himself a thief. He had recklessly staked the entire capital which he had so laboriously won; he had allowed himself, under a pretended interchange of noble thoughts, to toy with Bella: to flirt, as he called it in plain language, with Clodwig's wife. To his mind, he had violated a sanctuary; how small, how infinitely small in comparison, seemed the offence of these poor people! He felt deeply humbled in his own eyes. How gladly would he have made a pilgrimage with Roland to some temple where he could purify himself, and where Roland could gain new strength! Whither should he turn?
It is easier for one wearied in the exciting race of life, and burdened in conscience, to enter into the invisible temple built with hands than into the visible temple of science; yet Eric succeeded in doing this. What he would with difficulty have accomplished for himself, perhaps would have failed to accomplish, he did from duty to another. He lost himself in the love of knowledge, and everything became clearer and more intelligible. As an experienced swimmer delights in the onward rush of the waves, dives below the surface to rise again to the light, and with vigorous arms divides the waters; so Eric plunged into science, and felt his heart swell with joy when the mighty waves roared towards him. Gone were all petty fears and anxieties, all self-contest.
In Roland, too, deep currents were stirred. He often went about as in a dream. The ground beneath him, which he now knew to be in constant motion, swam before his eyes: the heavens were no longer there; the old world was dissolved and a new one revealed; while mingling with all this new life within him was the thought that all private property would be abolished, and poverty and riches divided equally among men. Eric observed this excitement in the mind of his pupil. Roland said to him one day timidly,—
"Tell me, Eric, if there will ever come to be no more private property in the world, and consequently no more thieves."
Eric was startled to see how this strange idea had taken hold of the boy. He explained that he had only brought that up as an illustration; the thing itself was an impossibility; he had only meant to show what a radical change might be worked in the minds and lives of men.
Fresh evidences of this unaccountable tendency of the boy's thoughts were constantly appearing. One day he asked Eric to go with him to the huntsman's, to see how his wife and children were faring. He said he had met the man's son, a cooper in the service of the Wine-count, a little while ago, and had offered to shake hands with him, telling him the son was not to blame for what the father had done, even if he had done anything wrong, which he certainly had not; but that the cooper had stared at him, and instead of taking his offered hand, had drawn his hammer from his leather apron, swung it back and forth for a while, and finally walked off.
When Eric and Roland approached the huntsman's house, the birds in the cages were singing, busiest among them the blackbird, with his incessant chirp of thanksgiving, and the dogs were bounding merrily. The wife looked ill and slatternly, and was full of complaints. She told how she had wanted to let all the birds out after her husband was taken to prison, but her son, the cooper, insisted on everything being left as it was till his father came back, which was sure to be very soon; Sevenpiper had in the mean while undertaken to do part of her husband's work, and the cooper attended to the night duties, though he had to work so hard through the day. Everything should be done properly, that the place might be kept open for her husband.
Eric offered her a sum of money, which she refused, saying that her son, the cooper, had forbidden her to accept anything from Sonnenkamp's family.
"If this man is innocent, as I believe he is," said Roland, when they were in the villa again, "what can make up to him for all the anxiety and distress he has had to suffer?"
Eric had no satisfactory answer to give; he could only say that this was another proof of the fact that the best things in life could not be supplied by money.
Hardly two weeks had gone by before the lessons were interrupted again. Frau Ceres, who was generally very quiet and took no interest in anything, often referred to a promise she had made to take Roland to see the Cabinetsräthin, (wife of thecabinet-minister), whose acquaintance she had formed at the Baths.
A grand excursion to the capital was decided upon, which Eric alone was not invited to join. The party set out in two carriages. Frau Ceres, Fräulein Perini, and Roland in one, and Sonnenkamp and Pranken in the other.
Pranken began at once to express his satisfaction at the friendly interest Sonnenkamp had shown in the Church; he had on his side already put things in such a train that they could count upon the co-operation of the higher clergy, who were very influential at Court, in carrying out their plan. He felt some compunctions at profiting by his frequent and intimate intercourse with the Prince-cardinal, as a piece of diplomacy; but he was vain enough to wish to pass off upon the world in general and Sonnenkamp in particular, as a stroke of worldly wisdom, the inward illumination which he secretly gloried in. He rejoiced at the relation thus easily established with the Cabinetsräthin, upon whom outside pressure could be brought to bear in a way hardly possible with her husband.
As they drove by a handsome villa, whose shutters were all barred, Pranken suggested that Herr Sonnenkamp should buy it in order to sell it again at a low price to the Cabinetsräthin, who, as he knew, had long cherished a strong desire for such a residence. Sonnenkamp consented, on the condition that it would accomplish his object. It would be one of the levers, Pranken assured him, though not the only one.
Although the two were alone together, neither of them, singularly enough, mentioned their plan by name, till Sonnenkamp said that the Cabinetsräthin had told him a title of nobility was to be conferred on the wine-merchant, and that he wished he might get one first; for he thought he had a better right to the distinction, though he was not going to marry his daughter to a dying man, but rather to the freshest and liveliest of noblemen.
Pranken smiled his thanks, but replied that this priority of the Wine-count,—it could hardly be called precedence—was rather advantageous than otherwise, as it made the conferring of titles appear not so much a matter of private negotiation.
"Your difficulties are greater than those of the Wine-count," he added: "for the Prince-cardinal stayed in his house on his last circuit, so that the Wine-count has on his side the church party, which is as discreet as it is powerful, while you, I would say we, have no party. So much the better; the victory will be all our own."
They reached the capital.
The Cabinetsräthin was delighted, and expressed to Pranken, whom she constantly treated as the head, in fact the president of the party, her great pleasure that a watering-place acquaintance should have ripened into a new friendship.
Pranken insinuatingly remarked that they might become neighbors too.
The country-house was glowingly described, and the fact cautiously yet emphatically stated, that Sonnenkamp had already bought the place for the sake of inducing some noble friends to settle there by letting them have it at a moderate sum.
The lady was delighted; she knew the house very well, it having once belonged to friends of hers whom she had been in the habit of visiting there. She quite envied the people who should live in such a home and have such noble neighbors. She had told her husband, she said, that it was a disgrace to the State that such a man as Herr Sonnenkamp should have no title.
Having thus prepared the way, Pranken disclosed his plan to the Cabinetsräthin, who assured him it could not but be a most desirable thing for society, to have a man of Herr Sonnenkamp's importance admitted to a higher rank. Sonnenkamp assumed an air of great shyness and modesty. A maiden receiving her first offer, which she was quite prepared for, could not have looked more bashfully on the ground; he actually blushed.
They drew their chairs nearer together, as if now for the first time a right friendly and confidential intercourse was established among them. The lady begged that nothing might be said to her husband upon the matter at present; she would manage that part herself; but it would be a good plan to set some other influence at work; if Count Wolfsgarten, for instance, would start the subject at court, it would be easy to play into his hands.
Pranken laid great stress upon the cordial friendship that existed between Clodwig and Sonnenkamp, but urged that a matter of this kind needed to be handled with the greatest delicacy, such as only a lady of the Cabinetsräthin's acknowledged tact was capable of.
Sonnenkamp declared that he did not ask for a title; it must be offered him; his friends must see to that. He rejoiced in the delicacy with which the Cabinetsräthin handled the matter, and he handled it in like manner; his whole demeanor said, This is something quite out of the common course.
He moved his hand quietly, as if he were stroking the back of a very soft cat.
"Are there vineyards attached to this country-house?" suddenly asked the lady.
"To the best of my knowledge," answered Pranken, "there are three acres most favorably situated."
He winked at Sonnenkamp, as much as to say that these must of course be purchased also.
Sonnenkamp at once lost his character of modesty and bashfulness; here was a question of money; here he was master. He wanted to tell the lady that he could not deal in any other than a business-like manner; when he had fairly got his patent of nobility she should take possession of the country-house and vineyards besides; but he was afraid to say it before Pranken, and besides it seemed hardly necessary to come out with it just yet. When it came to the point, he would be man enough not to allow himself to be cheated. There was a triumphant smile upon his face.
The Cabinetsrath entered, saluted Sonnenkamp with formal politeness, and expressed his thanks for the courtesies shown his wife at Vichy.
The party went into the hall, where were Roland and the son of the house, a cadet. Roland's beauty immediately attracted all eyes, and made him the centre of the group. The Cabinetsrath congratulated him on having for a tutor such a finished scholar as Eric, although he was somewhat eccentric in his theories, and as Roland answered some question that were addressed to him by saying he should like to be an officer, advised him to enter the school of cadets as soon as possible.
Pranken said in an aside to the Cabinetsräthin that he entirely approved of Herr Sonnenkamp's plan not to let Roland enter the school till he had received a title, thus sparing him many embarrassments; for if the boy were suddenly admitted to the nobility while in the school, there would be no end to the jokes he would have to endure from his companions.
The Cabinetsrath spoke of the rebuilding of the ruins, of Sonnenkamp's well-known skill in horticulture, and of the complimentary manner in which he had often heard them spoken of in the highest circles.
Sonnenkamp craved permission to send some of his products occasionally to the royal table, especially his beautiful bananas, which were now particularly fine. Pranken thought Herr Sonnenkamp's success in grape culture the most remarkable, for he managed to have fresh grapes upon his table every month in the year.
The Cabinetsrath replied that this courtesy would no doubt be very acceptable, but he had no authority to speak in the matter. The Marshal, who was a cousin of Herr von Pranken, would unquestionably accept the offer.
Pranken at once took Herr Sonnenkamp to see the Marshal, while Roland rode out with the cadet. Frau Ceres remained with the Cabinetsräthin, and apparently caused that lady great surprise by urging her to accept the coral necklace which she wore upon her neck, and which her friend had so much admired.
The lady was obliged to accept it, but begged Frau Ceres to consider it as a token of the intimacy of their private friendship, and not to mention the gift to any one else. She repeatedly declared that she used her interest for her friends without the least motive of selfishness. She laid great stress upon this point, being convinced that Frau Ceres was a party in the plan for gaining her by presents.
Frau Ceres looked at her in amazement, and thought herself again horribly stupid; the woman was speaking of things of which she knew nothing.
The party had not proposed to spend the night in the capital, but on the minister's wife proposing an excursion to some pleasure-grounds, Pranken insisted on their remaining till the next day. It would be a great advantage to have the two open carriages, with Frau Ceres and the Cabinetsräthin in one, and Sonnenkamp, Pranken, and the Cabinetsrath in the other, drive through the streets of the capital to these pleasure-grounds, where the best and most select society would be assembled. The best society should see that Sonnenkamp was already admitted to close intimacy with Count Pranken and the Cabinetsrath.
On the way the Cabinetsräthin was seized with an idea as amiable as it was wise. Both these merits delighted her, and not less her own good-nature. She should win an ally and help a poor woman. With great condescension and pity, she spoke of Eric's mother, who had with a foolish enthusiasm sacrificed her position to a so-called ideal love. Here the Cabinetsräthin looked towards Pranken, between whom and herself so close a league was already established that she did nothing without his approval. A scarcely perceptible nod from him showing her that she might continue, she appealed to Herr Sonnenkamp to do something for Eric's mother; if possible, even to receive her into his house. Aunt Claudine also was spoken of in terms of the highest praise.
The Cabinetsräthin imagined that her relations with the Sonnenkamp household would be much more easily maintained, if the Professor's widow and the aunt formed a part of it; then her intercourse would be in a manner with them, and not with this man. In fact it would be her duty to see as much as possible of these noble women, in order to soften their position of dependence; and that advantage, with many others, would be easily secured when she had established herself in that country-house, which of course had several acres of vineyard attached to it.
Thus there was a mingling of motives, with a good and animating result.
Sonnenkamp smiled blandly, but all the while was saying to himself,—These nobles hold together more closely than a band of thieves; in fact they are thieves, for all this impoverished nobility wants to bolster itself up by me.
He acceded politely to the lady's proposition, with the inward reservation, You have not that estate yet, and the Professor's widow may sit for a while longer at her sewing-machine.
They drove by the country-seat of the Prince, who had lately returned from America. Here everything was in perfect order, and a table, with servants in attendance, was spread in a long, narrow pavilion erected in a grove by the roadside. The sound of military music came from a public garden, and the trees were hung with bright-colored lamps. The officers of the Guard were holding a summer-fête here. Bands of music followed each other in quick succession, one beginning to play the moment the other ceased. The officers were already seated at a table spread under a great tent in the middle of the public garden; while at smaller tables near by sat the dignitaries of the capital, with their wives and daughters, in gay summer dresses.
The two carriages drawn by Sonnenkamp's noble horses' attracted great attention. Pranken quickly gave the necessary directions, and established his party at one of the best tables, towards which many eye-glasses were instantly directed. Pranken, after speaking with his comrades and shaking hands with one and another, soon returned to Sonnenkamp and his party.
The Cabinetsräthin leaned in the most friendly way on Sonnenkamp's arm; Pranken escorted Frau Ceres; Roland and the cadet shot arrows at a target, Roland always hitting the bull's eye.
Sonnenkamp was introduced to the General, and received from him a promise soon to visit Villa Eden. Pranken was glad to be able to show a new recruit in the person of Roland.
As evening came on, the bright-colored lamps were lighted. Suddenly there was a firing of cannon, a beating of drums, and a shouting of huzzas, in honor of the arrival of the Prince from his estate to grace the banquet of the officers. Both bands struck up, "Hail to the Chief," and all was rejoicing. Happiest of the whole company, perhaps, was Sonnenkamp, who had been presented to the Prince and received a few commonplace words from him. Though the words were nothing, the world had seen the Prince speak with him and give him a friendly greeting.
They drove back to the capital in a high state of delight. The colored lamps kept shining and the music sounding.
The next morning it was announced in the papers:—
"Yesterday evening the cuirassiers of the guard celebrated their annual festival on Rudolph's Hill. His Highness, Prince Leonhard, graced the entertainment with his presence. Among the guests was Herr Sonnenkamp, of Villa Eden, with his highly-respected family."
While the Sonnenkamp family was at the capital, Eric rode to Wolfsgarten. He had fought down every traitorous, unholy thought within him, or rather had prevented such from rising, and thought only of the obligation that rested on him to show his appreciation of the noble friendship which Bella had certainly manifested towards him, by speaking to her of the excellence and truly admirable elevation of her husband's character. That was his sole purpose, and with a clear and happy spirit he rode on his way.
He found Clodwig alone, Bella having driven out to make a visit. Clodwig was glad to have Eric for once all to himself; in former visits he had too often had to amuse himself with the boy, while Eric walked with Bella. Clodwig told of the son of a friend of his, the Russian Ambassador at Naples, who had come to pursue under his guidance the study of husbandry in Germany. The fact of the abolition of serfdom by the Emperor of Russia was producing a great moral and economic effect. The landowners would have to increase their own resources, as well as those of the soil; from mere landowners they must become husbandmen. The young Prince, like most other princes, had been a little wild in Paris, but there were the germs of good in him, and a power of will which encouraged the most favorable hopes. A sort of sacred zeal for self-sacrifice and devotion to the lower classes was not uncommon among the Russians, and often took such strong possession of the gay and dissipated as to recall the conversion of those saints we are told of, who, from the wildest debauchees, have suddenly been made conscious of their moral responsibilities.
"But be on your guard," he said, as if instructing Eric. "No aristocracy in the world is so eager for knowledge as that of Russia; but unhappily their zeal and aspirations run themselves out in a year or two, and they easily fall back into lazy indifference. They have a great talent for imitation, but how persevering it will be, or whether they can produce anything new, remains to be proved. Perhaps this freeing of the serfs is a great moral turning-point."
Eric thought it a glorious proof of the free spirit of the age, that this enfranchisement was the work not of the clergy, whose office it might seem peculiarly to be, but of pure and simple humanity, having no ecclesiastical stamp.
"That idea had not occurred to me," answered Clodwig, expressing his gratitude in word and tone.
The two men were still engaged in far-reaching discussions concerning the power of the spirit, and Clodwig was just expressing his pain at the power which brute force exercises over the spirit, so much greater than man is willing to acknowledge to himself, when Bella entered. Her face glowed as she greeted Eric; and her companion, an elegant but rather blasé-looking young man, gave him a gracious salutation. He was glad, he said, that Eric spoke French so fluently, for his own German was very clumsy; and he added that Eric's French descent was apparent in his accent, which was such as only a French tongue was capable of.
After separating for a short time, the party reassembled for a second breakfast in the room opening on the garden.
Clodwig must have strongly impressed upon the Russian the advantages he would derive from intercourse with Eric, for the young man addressed him at once by saying, "I should be very glad if you would let me learn something from you."
He said it so confidingly, and with so much of a child's submission, that Eric gave him his hand, saying,—
"I am sure I shall be able to learn something from you too."
"Except whist, which every one says I play exceedingly well, I am afraid there is nothing to be learned from me," laughed the Russian.
Then, as a man who at once looks to the producers for a knowledge of the products of a country, he said,—
"I hear that philosophy has gone out of fashion in Germany; can you tell me any reason for the fact?"
Clodwig nodded; the topic was well chosen, and the question modestly put.
Eric suggested as his opinion, without having any definite information to give on the subject, that perhaps philosophy was regarded less as a separate science, and had become the groundwork of all the sciences.
"Are you of opinion," asked the Prince, "that the categorical imperative of Kant, and the French Revolution, have tended to the same results?"
Bella laid back her head, and looked up into the blue sky. The men were entering upon themes which, in deference to her, ought to be postponed to another time, but she would be patient and listen.
Eric explained that the principle of Kant, "So act that you can wish the rule of your actions to be the rule of all human actions," established the same ideal as the French Revolution, with its equality before the law; there are to be no more privileged classes.
"But does not this equality destroy all greatness, all genius?" asked the Russian.
Bella thought this a good opportunity for breaking her silence, and quickly choosing her side, she added:—.
"I would go further, and ask if richly endowed natures do not make new laws in the intellectual and political world, as well as the æsthetic."
Clodwig smiled to hear his wife thus trotting out her hobby-horse, but Eric answered, smilingly,—"That is the miserable mistake for which Jesuitism in the Church, and frivolity in the world, are equally answerable. Peculiar natures have been granted by the world, and have come to claim for themselves, certain exceptional privileges and immunities, which, if generally allowed, would be subversive of human society. What are called superior natures have greater responsibilities than others, but no exceptional rights. Before God and the moral sense of humanity, we are all equal, as Christianity exhaustively expresses in the words, 'we are all children of God.' Children are equal before their father. But the Church grants indulgences; the State, rights of primogeniture; sophistry, moral exemptions. No single man of iron will come to establish the new kingdom of equality; the kingdom is at hand; its road is the iron rail, its horse is the steam."
"You speak well; it is a great pleasure to me to have made your acquaintance," said the Prince to Eric. "I pray you to come often to see me; or will you let me come to you?"
Eric, who, in his excitement, had said more than he intended, expressed his thanks, saying at the same time that he must consecrate his time and strength to his pupil. He was angry with himself at thus speaking out his whole heart on every occasion, instead of adopting the light conversational tone of society. He thought he knew what the young noble meant by his compliment. A beautiful way of speaking, indeed! A new dish, a new sauce, new music, charming capriccios! None but a fool would expose the treasures of his heart to them.
Eric was struck with the expression of Bella's face; it was set and hard. What have I done, she thought, that he should read me such a lesson about no one claiming exemption from the rule of morality? She was thoroughly angry, and with difficulty forced a smile to her face. She soon controlled herself, however, and managed to make the two young men enter upon a little passage of arms before her.
The Prince had the advantage of Eric in a knowledge of current events, and in practical experience of the world. Eric readily granted the victory to be on his opponent's side in many instances.
As they were walking in the garden, the Prince leaning familiarly on Eric's arm, he asked if Eric was acquainted with Herr Weidmann, to whom Clodwig intended to send him.
Eric replied that he had only seen him once or twice, but that he was universally esteemed.
"If you should happen to have any friend like yourself," said the Prince, pressing Eric's arm as he spoke, "if you should know any one whom you could recommend to be my guide and instructor, I could make provision for him for life, or—excuse the question—would you yourself perhaps—?"
Eric declined the honor, but promised to bear the subject of an instructor in mind.
Bella joined them, and Eric walked by the side of the other two, his mind agitated by a variety of emotions. He had pondered so carefully on the best way of drawing himself and Bella back from that dangerous boundary line of friendship, and here his pains had been thrown away, for another already occupied his place. His vanity was secretly wounded that this man of the world, with his prettily-dressed nothings, should at once have become a greater favorite than he with his tiresome solidities and all his historical luggage. At heart he was indignant at Bella's familiarity with the Russian, and a strange confusion of feeling arose within him. Should he be glad to think this woman nothing but a coquette, trifling now with one man and now with another? or did, Bella thus act only to make less marked her intimacy with himself, which she desired not to display before others?
His mind was harassed by opposite emotions; one moment he was glad of the lesson he had received, for now he could go back to his work with an unburdened mind; the next he was again angry with himself for his ignorance of the ways of polite society.
The Doctor's arrival changed as usual the current of the conversation. One sharp glance embraced Bella, Eric, and the Russian, and seemed to reveal to him their respective positions. Bella and the Doctor always had a little private warfare going on between them.