Upon his writing table in thehotel garnithat he inhabited with his wife and sisters-in-law, Professor Reising found a delicate, perfumed little note in disguised handwriting, which invited him to arendezvousin a confectioner's shop by the Castle lake.
He read it through carefully, pushed it all crumpled up into his pocket, and gave himself up to meditation as grave as if he had to decipher the most difficult passages in the Hegelian logic.
He was so convinced of his personal charms that he did not deem it at all impossible that he should have inflamed some female heart.
Rose-coloured paper--disguised writing---what could this tiny sheet signify, that might have been wafted into his room through the air?
All philosophers are inquisitive; is not all study of philosophy one great piece of inquisitiveness that peeps behind the scenes of the world, in order to convince itself by what means they are pushed and turned, and how the comedy of life is prepared.
Euphrasia was allowing the dreams of an afternoon nap to float around her. The sisters-in-law were in her room. Reising brushed his hat and repaired to the confectioner's shop.
It was situated by the Castle lake, and contained a suite of small rooms, which opened into a large hall looking towards the lake.
Reising passed from one room into another and cast questioning glances at several members of the fair sex, who, here or there, were sitting alone.
But these questions met with no other response excepting that of an unmeaning stare.
Several rattled their newspapers angrily, in the perusal of which they had been absorbed.
At last he seated himself in the open hall, and gazed discontentedly at the lake. Had any one ventured to play a practical joke on him? Otherwise he would not have been displeased at a little adventure, although until now he had never thought of such a thing.
His imagination, whenever it did picture any particularly delightful event, had always let a torchlight procession in his honour float before him, and in idle moments he had even surprised himself in the effort to express in well-chosen words his thanks for that honour which his pupils vouchsafed to him.
Now the play of his imagination had discovered fresh food, for, indeed, there lay an exciting charm in such expectation and tension; because, even while he was looking at the lake he listened at the same time with quickened ears whether the door did not open, whether any little tripping foot or rustling silken gown did not intimate the approaching surprise.
At last--a veiled lady appeared--she threw back the veil--it was Cäcilie von Dornau.
Reising had always thought her pretty and clever, and he felt particularly flattered that she should have invited him to atête-à-tête. But how dangerous was this meeting! Not only was Cäcilie said to be engaged to Herr von Wegen, but she also possessed a passionate admirer in Dr. Kuhl, and now--he to be the third in the game! The girl was, indeed, enterprising!
Cäcilie seemed to be embarrassed when she perceived him. The Professor was so really. He did not quite know how to adapt himself to his good fortune, and how he should behave on so unusual an occasion.
He stood there, turning his hat round in his hand. Should he request her to sit down beside him?
Cäcilie meanwhile had seated herself at another table. Reising went up to her and gazed at her with most speaking looks. He was waiting for her to address him, and with reason--a pink note has its duties!
"It is very cool to-day," said Cäcilie, wrapping herself more closely in her cloak.
"You have been spoiled in Italy," said Reising.
"It is cold enough there, too. I stayed a year and a half with a friend in Florence and Rome, and have only recently returned home. I assure you I have been as nearly frozen on the Arno and the Tiber as one can be on a Polar expedition. Italy in the winter is a delusion."
"In summer, also--at least for many."
"But surely not for you?"
"In many respects, yes; especially as far as the Italian women are concerned. In pictures, indeed, or national costume, such as those of Rovert, or in Olympic ones, as those of Titian, there are beauties, but in reality it is different. In Milan, thin fair women, of Lombard blood, with black veils; in Genoa, well-nourished Italian Hanseatic ones, in white veils; in Rome, beautifully moulded heads upon a plump body! And then those masculine voices; if one does not look narrowly one often imagines it is a non-commissioned officer who speaks; they are wanting in everything soft and womanly. How different with us! Oh, how different!"
"Why do you look so strangely at me?"
"I thought, I would--"
These questions caused Reising to become confused. Plainly Cäcilie would not open the confidential interview.
Was he, as the recipient of such a mysterious note, that shed forth the perfumes of every scent of a toilet table, bound to break the seal of the secret?
He mustered his resolution and said--
"You wished to speak to me here, my Fräulein. I am happy that you repose a confidence in me that I shall never misuse."
At these almost whispered words he looked at her with a doubtful glance. He hoped for encouragement, so as to be able then to open his eyes more boldly and to let them rest upon the charming young lady.
"You are mistaken," said Cäcilie coldly. "I am glad to see you here, but I did not invite you."
"I beg your pardon, but I believed the pink note--"
"Oh, oh, Herr Professor," replied Cäcilie, raising her forefinger warningly.
"Certainly without signature; but when you entered--"
"I always considered you to be a Dr. Faust, who studies the books of his nostradamus Hegel, and bathes his bosom assiduously in the morning dawn; but I did not know that you had already tasted the magic drink, and saw a Helen in every woman. And now it strikes me, surely you are married--and scented pink notes, assignations--ah, ah, Herr Professor! Surely I was mistaken in the address, and took you for a Faust, while you are but a Don Juan."
Reising experienced the humiliating consciousness of having behaved very awkwardly. Of what use was all his philosophy with so little worldly wisdom.
Besides, Cäcilie assumed a very triumphant air; she had the wicked intention of making the most of her triumph, and of keeping him as long as possible upon the rack; for this astute young lady, with her lizard-like suppleness and slimness, was a dangerous opponent.
And if now actually the authoress of the pink note were to enter, the whole secret would be betrayed. He therefore resolved to take refuge in another room, but Cäcilie in her good-tempered malice addressed one question after another to him, so that he, without being rude, could not break off the conversation very quickly.
Then the door was opened again, and in elegant attire, her mocking little face enframed in the ribbons of a pink bonnet, upon which was perched a small garden of roses, his sister-in-law Lori entered.
Reising believed himself to have gone out of the frying-pan into the fire.
The two ladies greeted one another pleasantly; then Cäcilie said, with meaning emphasis--
"But I fear I am disturbing you; my sister whom I expect, will seek me here; I will go to meet her."
And she took leave with a polite smile.
"It is outrageous!" cried Reising.
"What, in the world?"
"She believes--no, I cannot say it!"
"Surely it is nothing dreadful."
"Dreadful enough! She thinks--it is as absurd as possible, but what does the world not believe--that you have made an assignation with me here!"
"An assignation; how so?" asked Lori, with a roguish smile.
Reising now held the trumps in his hand; he would not play the pink note yet.
"Why should she have left us alone?"
"Well, a brother and sister-in-law have surely much to say that is not meant for any third person. Is it not so?"
She offered him her hand, which he grasped warmly.
"But indeed, dear brother, what brings you here at this unwonted hour?"
"I expect a friend, a young doctor--you do not know him, but he seems to have left me in the lurch. But what brings you here, then, my sister?"
"I also have invited a friend to meet me."
"Whom in the world, then?"
"Well, dear brother, no one but yourself."
"But for heaven's sake, Lori--the pink note?"
"Came from me!"
"It is an unseemly jest," said Reising, angrily, "and it has already caused me disagreeable embarrassment!"
"It is no joke."
"But we can talk much more comfortably at home."
"That is just what we cannot do; Euphrasia listens to every word."
"She is indeed jealous!"
"No, you do my good sister injustice. She is not at all jealous, only avaricious, uncommonly avaricious. That alone is why she peeps through the keyholes, and listens at every door; she is afraid you might in an unguarded moment open your sesame, and that your treasures might also some day give pleasures to others."
Lori looked charming at that moment; she smiled so roguishly. Reising could not resist squeezing her hand heartily once more.
"I invited you to come here for this reason, that I have an important request to make to you. You must go with me now at once to Fräulein Sohle's boarding school; it is only a few houses distant from here."
"And what shall I do there?"
"Fräulein Sohle is about to retire, to give up her school and boarding house to some one else, and--I will be that some one."
"You, Lori, you would leave us?"
"With a heavy heart, but it must be; you have known my wish for long, but I could never talk it over quietly with you. I require some money for the good-will, about three thousand dollars, not given, oh, on no account--only lent upon ordinary interest, and for this money I was about to ask you."
Reising was not at all unwilling, but he feared the opposition of his wife, who held the portfolio of the minister of financial affairs with sovereign power.
"Euphrasia need know nothing about it," said Lori; "there are plenty of ways and means. Only a guarantee from you; any banker would give me the money. Euphrasia may continue to rattle the keys of her cash-box just as usual. Is it not true, dear Ferdinand?"
Lori deemed the moment suitable for making the utmost use of the rights which their relationship permitted them; she stroked her brother-in-law's bristly hair, and after a keen scrutinising survey of the lonely hall and a rapid glance at the door, she even pressed a hasty kiss upon his lips.
Reising's mood was such--that for the charming girl he would have even bought Fräulein Sohle also, had she been a marketable commodity. A heretical thought took possession of him; he rejected it as worthy of damnation, but still it arose again and again, even although in pale colours. Had he, then, been blind in those days by the seaside? Could Dr. Kuhl not give him better counsel? Was Lori not more graceful, more clever than Euphrasia? At that time he had the choice of the seven girls. He had then thought her too piquante for the wife of a future professor; how foolish! Such tediousness reigns in a University lecture rooms and in the drawing-rooms, that strong spices are needed to make life in any degree palatable. Lori was so piquante, so charming; but--too late!
Reising passed his hand across his brow in order to chase away the impious dreams. Euphrasia once for all was his wife--and the great master said: "Everything real is reasonable!" If only those diabolical sparks in Lori's eyes did not flash with such peculiar fire!
"We will do a piece of business together," said she, "and therefore we must proceed in a business-like manner. You shall convince yourself that the institution flourishes; you shall learn her conditions personally from Fräulein Sohle."
"But what will Euphrasia say if I remain away so long?"
"Nothing, and she usually says nothing, even when she seems to say anything. I mean when she reproaches you, she does not mean it seriously. You can indulge in much greater freedom than formerly; she will gladly reconcile herself to it, only you must leave her in the belief that not a penny disappears from your funds without her knowledge. You will come, will you not?"
"If you insist upon it."
"And then we will return here; we will have ink and paper brought to us, and you will write the guarantee, will you not, dear, good friend?"
She clung to his arm, and he sealed the agreement with a brother-in-law's kiss.
Fräulein Sohle had rented twoétagesof a large house for her educational establishment; in the upper storey were the boarders' rooms, in the lower one the schoolrooms, the reception and conference apartments.
Several teachers and pupils were going out and in. Reising remarkeden passantthat Lori returned their greetings with a certain condescension, and these greetings were very polite--she was already looked upon as future mistress, and felt herself to be such. The little creature could assume very dictatorial manners.
Fräulein Sohle received her and Reising in her drawing-room. She was a lady of imposing stature, but astoundingly thin and so short-sighted that without very strong spectacles she should have mistaken all her pupils when quite close to her. Lori's principal object was by means of her brother-in-law, who was known to be rich, to represent herself to Fräulein Sohle as a lady of fortune. Fräulein Sohle respected that motive, and received her to-day with peculiar politeness.
"I will conduct you through all the apartments, but the spirit of my institution you must also learn. The rooms are a little confined; one must do the best one can in a town. But as far as the spirit is concerned, I may surely say that on the wings of freedom it soars above the commonplace into the atmosphere of most refined cultivation. Look at the daughters of the educated classes in our town; they quite fulfil the name which it enjoys as the beacon of the East. And this, to a great extent, is my humble merit. My pupils interest themselves in every question of life; I have awakened the feeling for it within them. Enlightenment--no obscurity--is my watchword. There must be no veil for the mind."
The mistress commenced her round with her guests. At that moment one of the lower classes was rushing out for a few moments to enjoy the fresh air in the garden, which consisted of a small patch of gravel and an arbour.
It was a wild troop that clattered down the stairs, and did not allow itself to be disturbed by Fräulein Sohle's cries.
"I will keep better order," said Lori softly, but with decision, to her companion.
First the rooms of the pupils were subjected to inspection; they were not inelegantly furnished, but small, and considerable disorder reigned within them. Several of the elder fair creatures had used their beds for a short afternoon nap; cushions and coverlets were therefore in a chaotic condition, and the emblems of future rule, the little slippers, lay isolated about the room, just as they had been thrown from the tiny feet.
Here and there upon writing tables lay open books, which were treated by Fräulein Sohle with much discretion, while Lori cast her eyes coolly upon the essays, and pretended to discover from the superscriptions of letters which were begun, that there must be several cousins in the school, who were on friendly terms with absent ones, and she was touched at the assurances of affection that prevailed between these loving relatives.
Upon one table Lori even espied a glove, which upon most scientific examination and measurement she pronounced to be a gentleman's which had come there by some mistake. Any lady at least to whom such a glove belonged might have exhibited herself amongst female giants at a fair. All these discoveries she imparted confidentially to her brother-in-law.
Fräulein Sohle extolled the improving private reading of her young ladies, and pointed to Schiller, Herder and the "Hours of Devotion," which looked down, in elegant bindings, from small, hanging book-shelves.
"Fénélon," too, and other French writings of honourable renown, stood side by side. But Lori, with her talent for research, that would have especially qualified her for archaeological unearthings, discovered amongst some fine needlework and knitting materials less elegant books from a circulating library. Amongst them were "The Sorrows of a Prince's Aspasia," "The Student and the Pin," "The Fatal Wanderings of Knight Hugo von Schauerthal."
One young lady, who studied French with peculiar zeal, had a volume of "Paul de Kock" lying beside "George Sand" under her embroidery frame, upon which a Madonna with the Holy Child was being laboriously worked in many wools.
Only in one single room did the greatest cleanliness and order prevail. While in the others isolated articles of the wardrobe, both those which were destined for the brilliance of publicity as well as many for the comfort of cosynegligé, had fled from the cupboards to various nails upon the walls, no such deserter was bunched out here on door and wall, barring the passage; slippers stood side by side as if united in holy bonds, only select classics occupied the book-shelves, no forbidden wares were littered upon those tables.
Lori was annoyed at orderliness with which she could find no fault, and only regained her composure upon hearing Fräulein Sohle's explanation that this was her own private room.
The class and schoolrooms were next visited. In the first one the German essays were given back; a moustachioed master, who belonged to that dubious class of so-called handsome men, praised the patriotic spirit with which the pupils had executed the somewhat whimsical theme, "A Maiden's Thoughts on seeing a Hussar Officer."
Iduna especially had entered into the subject with her wonted intensity of feeling, and sketched a life-like picture of Theodore Körner.
Upon this the tutor cast a friendly glance at Iduna, which she reciprocated with glowing enthusiasm.
Lori could not perceive anything particularly intellectual in Iduna, a tall maiden with large features. She said to Reising that she should consider the girl more likely to display the talent of an Odaliske than of a Sappho.
Meanwhile the teacher poured out all the vials of his wrath upon a nice little girl, who listened to the lecture with tears in her eyes.
Sophie had totally misinterpreted the theme. No thoughts had filled her mind at the sight of that lieutenant whom the master had depicted as a marked out enemy, in order to exercise his pupils in manœuvring; she had only described his cloak, his entire uniform with sword and carbine; for the rest of the portrait the tutor himself had sat, and she had not neglected to expatiate upon the warlike fire that flashed in the eye of the officer and his imposing moustache.
Sophie was sharply reprimanded on account of that unseemly representation! she had gained no elevating ideas from the Lieutenant, and, besides, had described him in very clumsy style. It was, said the master, a veritable hurdle-race, over fences and ditches, in which the German language must break its legs and arms.
The master pleased Lori. She should not dismiss him on any account. By means of this very fanciful theme that he had selected, he would bring the pupils to a clear consciousness of a feeling of propriety.
History was being taught in the second class; the teacher was a girl not much older than her pupils, with a face like painted china, and full of painfully stiff dignity.
She was examining the girls about the Seven Years' War, and utter strategic embarrassment was displayed. The Austrians were beaten at Rossbach, the French at Zorndorf. As regards the dates hopeless confusion prevailed, which was shared by the teacher, who was deprived of her self-possession by the visitors, and at last it was unanimously decided, with her silent consent, to transpose the peace of Hubertusburg to a period in which Frederick the Great was only preparing for war.
Fräulein Sohle considered it advisable to interfere so as to reduce Frederick the Great's affairs to something like order. However, she could not even provide any proper place for the battle of Kunersdorf, and wandered vainly from one date to another.
The third class was in a state of complete anarchy; the teacher had been obliged to send an apology for her absence on account of violent toothache, but that message had not reached Fräulein Sohle.
Miss Sourland, a little English girl, had assumed the lecturer's seat, and parodied the teacher's English in so comical a manner that all the girls crowded round her with peals of laughter; she was at that moment engaged in uttering some guttural tones when Fräulein Sohle's appearance interrupted the merry fun.
This lady inflicted some punishment task upon the class, but then let it return home.
Lori made a note of the name of the principal culprit; she considered a black book indispensable, so that the mistress of a school could at once detect the black sheep in every class.
At heart, nevertheless, she felt sympathy with the girl, and acknowledged to herself that in a similar case she should have been just as wild as the red-haired islander.
They inspected the lower classes, where the young curly-headed creatures were struggling with the alphabet and the four first rules of arithmetic, and at the same indulged in various surreptitious acts of naughtiness, which did not escape Lori's sharp vision. In the fifth they were alarmed by a window blind descending impetuously; the young teacher complained of this often recurring mishap, which was so trying to her nerves; Fräulein Sohle promised her intervention, but Lori had immediately perceived that it was owing to no chance but to some misdemeanour, and that the little wild creatures fastened the string so loosely before the commencement of the lesson, that by the least shake, the monster should rattle down with its heavy rod.
The head of the establishment expatiated upon all its advantages once more in the conference-room--she drew attention to the proper behaviour of the young ladies in the upper classes, which was peculiarly her work; all were fitted to appear at Court, and would pass brilliantly through the ordeal. Etiquette, indeed, was the principal thing; the whole world rests upon it; remove it, and we should see what is left. People would do away with the laced bodice--how foolish! Without it there would be no truly seemly carriage. She would not permit one of her young ladies to come without it. A sensation of control is necessary to all mankind, but especially to all young girls; it is the guarantee of propriety. Decorum is a species of control; it is much more comfortable not to be decorous; and also as to French, she still maintained the old views, although she was a good German. But girls are born without logic, they must learn to think in succinct manner. The French language teaches this, tolerating no fancifulness. Besides it is the language for what is unavoidable, for what in German would be a stumbling block can be glided over easily in French.
After this exposition, Fräulein Sohle brought out her books, went over her affairs, her incomings and outgoings, and stated her terms. Lori examined all; Professor Reising yawned, at last all was found to be acceptable. Lori conducted her brother-in-law back to the confectioner's, where he signed the guarantee, but after that he could endure it no longer, and hastened home, where doubtlessly Euphrasia had been already long expecting him.
Lori in the consciousness of a triumph gained, enjoyed supreme complacency; she drank iced punch, and eat cakes andmarzipanto her heart's content; she felt raised above the storms of life; she had attained a desired object, but malicious chance ordained that the two gentlemen, Von Blanden and Wegen, should enter at that moment. Lori's exalted frame of mind collapsed suddenly, a new but unattained and perhaps unattainable aim stood before her. This made her sad, all human efforts possess a sad false flavour. All the worry of the school suddenly rose before her--how different if she made a rich match, married a Herr von Blanden! How the whole grand establishment with the golden-haired English girl, and the attractive moustachioed master, faded before this prospect! The paper in her hand, her brother-in-law's guarantee, suddenly lost all charm; she crumpled the note while indulging in idle thought.
Herr von Blanden could not overlook her; a transfiguring radiance from her pink hat was shed throughout the confectioner's room; any one who saw her must remember the verse by Rückert--
"When the rose adorns herself,Then she eke adorns the garden."
"When the rose adorns herself,Then she eke adorns the garden."
In truth Herr von Blanden had recognised and gone up to her; she manifested all her sweetness in order to attract him.
"Do you ever attend the theatre, Herr von Blanden? Signora Bollini--not bad, only her voice is a littlepassée."
Wegen, who had also drawn near, smiled awkwardly.
"But sit down, gentlemen! She is beautiful, that one must allow; but it is a different kind of beauty from that which grows wild with us. Do you like that sun-burnt complexion, those dark eyes, that excessively brunette appearance? The profile has been stolen out of the picture galleries of the Capitol, it is fitted for an atelier."
Wegen concurred entirely, while Blanden sat there lost in thought; Lori found the blockade ineffectual, she opened her guns.
"One knows your taste, Herr von Blanden. You are more inclined to Germanic beauty, if they--are clever; clever--that is the principal thing! Can an Italian possess intellect?Chi la sa!I believe the climate is too hot, their days are spent in a perpetualsiesta, but German girls have all kinds of minds, roguish, playful, fiery, thoughtfully intellectual; yes, all these qualities are often even to be found in one person---as in the bottle out of which the conjuror can, as is desired, pour red or white wine, Hungarian, Madeira, champagne, into the glasses--and in addition, they have blue eyes and a warm heart. You see I am not speaking of myself--my eyes are brown."
"I know intellectual and passionate Italian women also," interposed Blanden.
"Passionate? Yes, I believe it, that means using the stiletto. Signora Bollini may be dangerous too. But how do you like our opera? I must say 'our' because I hope to remain here."
Blanden could not avoid expressing his pleasure thereat, but it was done moderately enough, despite the winning proofs of her sweetness which the young lady had given him.
"I consider the company intolerable," continued Lori, unabashed and triumphantly, "the bass voice possesses an original power of bass, like the drunken Schmerbauch, with the bald pate, in Auerbach's cellar; the tenor lives on chronic bad terms with his high notes, he always jumps into the air as it were at them, like a dog at a bone; thesoubretteis so terribly pretty, that her little voice even seems to chirp! and the management--did you see the Wolfs-schlucht lately in the 'Freischütz?' Is there a sweeter bit of country in which fire-works can be let off?"
"You exercise sharp criticism, my Fräulein," said Herr von Wegen.
Blanden observed strict silence, the fortress was now fired upon with red-hot balls.
"My brother-in-law is very sorry that you do not visit him, Herr von Blanden, and my sister also; she takes a lively interest in you, as we all do. Besides we owe you some social return, for we were all your guests. You will come to see us soon, will you not?"
Blanden promised pleasantly; Lori rose triumphantly to go to the banker, although the sunny prospect of another future disclosed itself already to her mind. To-day she appeared, to herself, so intellectually superior, could it be difficult for her to enchain an interesting man? What had Eva been? The ocean is her grave: only good must be said of her, but she had not much mind.
The two friends remained alone, they had much to impart to one another. Wegen came from the Province, he brought the intelligence with him that some farm at Kulmitten had been burned down. Blanden must return home, arrangements must be made to alleviate the want of the farm people. This would have been supremely disagreeable for him had Signora Giulia not informed him in a few lines that she was suddenly summoned to Riga to take a stranger's part, and should only return here in some few weeks' time then to remain during the entire season.
"It is perhaps well," said Blanden to Wegen, whom he had initiated into the secret of his newly awakened passion, "that I have leisure, far aloof from the bustle which pervades the town and theatrical life, to examine in perfect quiet whether the new charm to which I have succumbed could be prejudicial to me? I am taking up an old adventure, it is the world which I cannot cast off. At any rate, it is not innocence which I can for a second time drag to a fearful doom."
"And are you in earnest about it?" asked Wegen.
"If I shall not bury myself in my solitude, if I would live again, it must be, or become earnest with me. First I will examine my own feelings, and then the love and character of the beautiful woman who once again with her snares enters into my life."
"I advise you to examine all carefully," said Wegen.
"That will I, but without social prejudice; my happiness does not depend upon the world; but how are you getting on? Cäcilie has returned from her Italian journey; I have just seen her."
Wegen looked at his cup of chocolate with a certain amount of embarrassment.
"You have surely been refused?" said Blanden.
"Oh, no, not so, but--" said Wegen, disconsolately.
"Well, at least you have had time to consider it well."
"You know that previously to the Italian journey, Cäcilie was with a friend, a lady who owns property in our neighbourhood. I visited her frequently, my mother and sister also made her acquaintance. She was considered to be a marvel of cleverness, with whom every lady in the district felt uncomfortable; they could not be cordial to her, she had no feelings. That was the commencement, my mother and sister joined in the verdict. I stood alone with my good opinion of the girl."
"Which you defended stoutly, though?"
"Oh yes, I did not allow myself to be intimidated; but it became much worse. Reports arrived of Cäcilie's connection with Dr. Kuhl, who it is to be hoped is better than his reputation--you know from personal experience how lively imagination is in the Province, and how busy it is with everything unusual. That which it must forego it paints in glowing colours. Cäcilie appeared in a light, as though she were sitting amidst infernal sulphurous vapour. In several places, on her account, people broke off their acquaintance with her friend, my mother and sister would not know her either; if at first they had only counselled me against her, now they condemned my affection; I appeared like the prodigal son, a part for which I possess but little talent."
"I pity you, your happy mood had disappeared at that time; I noticed it, but you never told me the cause."
"I was so uncertain myself, that I spoke to no one about it. Cäcilie's friend meanwhile travelled to Italy, a journey which her doctor had recommended to her. Cäcilie accompanied her. Now after eighteen months she has returned."
"And now you have had time enough for reflection."
"Yes, if reflection only made one wiser! Sometimes one becomes more stupid from it; I know as little to-day, as I did a year and a half ago, what I shall do or leave undone."
"Do you love Cäcilie?"
"I almost believe it would be hard for me to live without her. As to her culinary knowledge, certainly I have some hesitation."
"If you love, do not trouble yourself either about her cooking powers or the gossip of your neighbours; that is my well-meant advice. Only one thing weigh well, she is a very clever girl, clever in all excepting her own affairs, otherwise she would not have been so reckless of her reputation. But a clever woman is always dangerous. If you are not afraid of one, take your hat and propose to her--you have my blessing."
Blanden went to prepare for his homeward journey. Wegen remained behind, his head resting upon his hand, overcome with conflicting thoughts and resolutions.
The two Fräulein Dornau, with their mother, occupied the first floor of a small house in the suburbs; it was a very modest dwelling, cramped, with low windows. The paper in the reception-room, whose silver had gradually faded completely, while some of the showy purple strips which gave a gorgeous appearance to the tiny space between ceiling and floor, had become loose above or below, and played about freely in any chance current of air.
The sofa had enveloped itself shamefacedly in the sister's artistic crochet work, seat back and side cushions were covered with every variety of imaginary figures and arabesques. The venerable piece of furniture beneath would have disclosed a most deteriorated colour to the light of the sun, and the marvellous pliability of its stuffing inspired all who were obliged to seat themselves upon the place of honour with sudden terror.
The pride of the room was a writing desk of mahogany. It is well known that that wood possesses the same quality as good wine and good poetry, that its merits increase the older it becomes. Thesecretairedid indeed gleam in darkest brilliancy, it was only to be regretted that the effect of this show piece was sadly dimmed by several cracks in the wood, by one foot which had thoughtlessly loosened its connection with the organism of the whole, and from its crooked posture had given a sloping inclination to the desk, and by several ornamentations being broken off, which instead of forming the crown of the work, lay in melancholy ruins upon its summit.
The Dornau family was not blind to the shady side of its domestic arrangements; for many years these had been the subject of daily conversation; the necessity to send for the cabinet-maker and paperer was often discussed over the morning coffee, but always forgotten again under the pressure of circumstances. Sometimes the condition of their financial affairs did not permit of any extraordinary outlay.
The reception-room was merely divided by a curtain from the young ladies'boudoir, which left nothing to be wished for as regards cosiness, and only contained one little arm chair and two book shelves. The owners were therefore generally to be found in the front or reception-room, which served also as dining and work-room.
Thus they sat again to-day at a work-table, and looked into the street. Frau Dornau was busy in the kitchen.
"You have told me but little of Italy so far," said Olga. "You are very sparing with your communications."
"Everything can be found in guide-books," replied Cäcilie.
"But where were you after you left Nice? Our correspondence at that time came to a standstill for several months."
"Everywhere, in Florence, Rome and Naples."
"Did you see the Pope, and eat maccaroni?"
"The Pope, yes, at the feast ofCorpus Christi, when he bears upon his back a gigantic sun which shines upon his mountedguardia nobile."
"And the maccaroni?"
"A horrible thing! Wearisome as is everything interminable! It is difficult to eat it gracefully."
After a pause, Olga said--
"Poor Wegen! He must have wearied for you? Have you not written to one another?"
"No," replied Cäcilie, coolly. "I do not believe in his love; daily it became more timid--any true lover has courage. He let himself be bullied by his aunts and cousins, whom I pleased but little."
"Such a good match," said Olga; "a pleasant, good-hearted man. It would be a pity!"
"You would like to have me married," said Cäcilie, while she threaded a needle. "You have your reasons for it."
"But, sister--"
"It is the best plan to get me out of the way; you, meanwhile, have had time to gain Paul's heart exclusively for yourself."
"That is not the case! Why, you know his theories."
"Theories? Dear child! you do not escape me thus! People are consistent in theory, but inconsistent in practice. Theories are for holidays, but for work-days a compromise exists. Men would be great thinkers, original geniuses; everything in the world has been thought of once already; people seek for a truth, which at least appears to be new, and prosecute it to the uttermost. This daring fills one with horror. In the world, however, provision is made against trees growing into the sky, and the lords of creation are not so stupid as to let their cleverness cause them to do anything inconvenient. They declare the impossible to be the law of the universe; in life they content themselves with the most practicable possibilities. Our mutual friend also is merely a Titan in his hours of leisure; when he cannot storm heaven with his hundred arms, he contents himself with two, with which to caress one single sweetheart."
"But we do not need to complain that he has become faithless to his theories."
"Towards me he was cool enough at our last meeting; a temperature in which at most the snowdrops of friendship flourish. The hot-house warmth for the marvellous flowers of passion he seems to reserve for you."
"But I can assure you, sister, he is just as he was."
"But only towards you he is so; I was foolish to remain so long away. I know, though, you are a coquette."
"Sister," cried Olga, while she gave an angry push to the work-table, so that it threatened to lose its equilibrium.
"I do not reproach you; it lies in your nature. You are an elementary being; you need life and pleasure, like a hundred thousand creatures between heaven and earth. Wherever you scent anything of the kind, you make bigger eyes than you possess naturally, and force aside everything that obstructs your path."
"I am no longer so foolish as I was formerly. Paul has lent me many books; I have educated myself, and you need not assume a tone of superiority towards me. Talk to me of what you will, of the Saint Simonites, of the nature of Christianity, of George Sand, of Lælia and Pulcheria, of National Assemblies--I am ready. 'I think slowly,' says Paul, 'but I retain all firmly.' And you believe that I am still such a child of nature as formerly! But I am not coquettish, only ask Paul; he thinks I am too little so. I always show myself as I am; I am a nature clear as crystal, but too transparent. You call me coquettish? It is dreadful!"
Cäcilie sought to appease her sister--
"But, dear child, it is no insult! Who would not be coquettish? I am so! We only wish to please; it is required of us. We are forced to wish it. Without coquettishness we should be left sitting still at balls and through life, and we should not even be enabled to fulfil those serious duties of which so much is said to us."
Olga was soon pacified; the sisters kissed each other across the work-table, and glances of mutual affection passed between them.
Then the door bell was rung; Frau von Dornau, in her cooking apron and nightcap, which she thought was indispensable as a protection against the draught of the kitchen, rushed in to announce Herr von Wegen, who wished to speak to Cäcilie. Frau von Dornau was in a state of great perturbation; she was ashamed of the costume in which she had been surprised, and the strange gentleman looked so festive. If her sight had not deceived her, he carried a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Olga disappeared behind theportière; her mother, who had hastily thrown on a bright-coloured shawl, admitted the gentleman, and then repaired to her cooking utensils. Herr von Wegen appeared, smiling pleasantly; he had summoned all the graces to his toilet, his fair little moustache was daintily curled, the colour in his cheeks seemed fresher than usual, even his hair, the contemplation of which in the mirror had filled him with well justified melancholy, was so artistically arranged and disposed, that a superficial glance did not perceive the sad deficiency which was concealed beneath the adroit grouping of the meagre supply.
The cross of the Order of St. John adorned his coat, and with his gloves, of the verdant colour of hope, he held a bunch of camellias, trumpet flowers and other hot-house plants, amongst which also a few half frozen asters from the autumnal beds had been mingled.
"My Fräulein," said he, "I bid you heartily welcome to your home; may these flowers, at least, remind you of the beautiful south."
Cäcilie accepted the flowers, while expressing her thanks.
"And may you, at the same time, see in them a greeting of old friendship; I cannot make a long speech, Fräulein, but I bid you welcome once more."
These effusions of Wegen's heart met with slight encouragement; the young lady, usually so loquacious, could not find a word this time, and silently awaited that which was to come.
"You know, my Fräulein, that I am your true friend; we played and danced together even in Neukuhren, those were delightful days at the sea-side. How charming, too, was the dance under the pear tree! We spoke of many things there; I have not forgotten them. And again in Masuren! How every day on which I could see and speak to you, made me glad."
"That pleasure was not shared by your people," replied Cäcilie, with cold reserve.
"You are mistaken," said Wegen, losing somewhat of his self-possession.
"Indeed, altogether, I did not feel comfortable there, people did not understand me, I felt as if I did not belong to that circle."
"That is to be regretted," said Wegen, sighing.
"Regretted? The world is large enough, Herr von Wegen, some little sunny spot can always be found. I do not love the shade, least of all that in which I am placed."
"When I said to be regretted, I was thinking of myself, of my hopes and wishes--yes, the object of my visit to-day. Indeed, Fräulein, I could wish that Masuren might become your second home, and that you should feel, not only comfortable, but also happy in it. You know the pleasant house there beneath the shade of the lime trees--no castle such as Kulmitten, but in summer buried amongst flowers--the cosy garden behind--thither I should like to conduct you, there I would prepare you a comfortable place for life, if you desire it, Cäcilie, because I love you, and beseech you to give me your hand!"
Now Wegen had become warm, tears stood in his eyes, he had risen, and with real emotion had stretched out his hand to Cäcilie, who hesitatingly and cautiously placed hers within it. Olga could not suppress a slight coughing fit behind theportière; it was a nervous cough, consequent upon sudden agitation.
"Will you be mine? I will cherish you all my life," continued Wegen, with overflowing fervour, "no one will dare to wound you; here and there they might, perhaps, gaze with unloving looks upon the strange girl who came into the country, but my wife will be respected and honoured, and all will meet her lovingly when she bears my name. That is one consideration which might make you doubtful, it is groundless, I assure you--and as regards the other, I see that you still are doubtful; well, I am no genius, no such promise was made by my cradle, I bow before your intellect, but would it not belong to me also, when we are one for life? I, however, possess sound common sense; I am a District Deputy, people have confidence in me, in my head, otherwise they would not select me for the post. Blanden, too, is my friend, and he is a genius. Tell me who your friends are--enough, that is a secondary matter! The principal one is that my heart is honest, and that I love you. They praise my model management in the district, but the real model management will then be found, not in the fields and stalls, but in my house."
"You honour me by your offer," said Cäcilie, "it comes most unexpectedly upon me. Certainly there was a time when I was more prepared for it than I am just now."
"Do not be angry with me that I hesitated formerly, that I let you go away; I never wavered in my love, because whatsoever takes root in my mind has a firm foundation. I only wavered in my belief in the happiness that I could bring to you, such contradictions hovered in the air, and I became timid simply because I loved you. It is different now; I have shaken off all doubt, I feel the power within me to make you happy. And if there be underwood that blocks our path, I shall have the whole forest thinned or cut down, so truly as my name is Wegen. Will you be mine, dear Cäcilie?"
"First take my hand in token of my thanks and true friendship. But then grant me time for reflection, even if it only be for a few days. I, too, must see all quite clearly, and in me, also, everything wavering must become firm. You are sure of my hearty affection, and to which ever decision I may come, rest assured that I shall always count this day amongst the most beautiful in my life."
Wegen asked when he might come for her answer: Cäcilie would give it him in two days' time. He rose with downcast air; he had hoped, at least, this time to receive a kiss as a trophy of victory. And how polite and amiable, but how little cordial was all that Cäcilie said to him; how differently had he painted the meeting with his beloved one, as he ascended the stairs! Then, after his declaration, she had melted into tears, she had fallen upon his neck, she, too, had told him that she had already loved him for long, and could not live without him, then, for the first time, he had been permitted to press her passionately against his heart!
The slight outlines of this imaginary picture still stood before his mind; but how totally differently this meeting had passed off! No acquiescence, no loving effusions, no moment of sweet self-forgetfulness. Friendly, but distantly she stood before him; certainly as desirable, as charming as ever! Even in the more comfortable house attire, her slender figure was so seductively displayed; the polite smile upon her lips, the animated glance of her clever eyes, that supple fascination in her whole person, Wegen would have deemed himself to be the most felicitous of mortals if it had been vouchsafed to him to receive the word of assent from that delicate fairy who seemed to glide through life with elf-like steps, the assenting word which should give her to him as his own for evermore. Instead, however, he must take up his hat and collect all his emotions in one friendly shake of the hand, but he consoled himself with the thought that it must be hard for a girl to utter the decisive word, that from shyness and shamefacedness, she would prefer to entrust it first to a little scented note, and would then be able to let the unavoidable consequences of a declaration of love flow over herself with more mental composure. It is true that an inner voice told him again and again, as he descended the stairs, that in reality Cäcilie had no girlish modesty about her--and his grounds of consolation were scattered again outside like faded leaves in a November wind.
Wegen had barely left the room before Olga stepped forth from behind the curtain, and folded her sister to her heart amid warm felicitations. The mother, too, whom Olga's powerful voice had intelligibly informed of the joyful event, was too happy at the offer.
"You dispose of me too quickly," said Cäcilie, drawing back; "it needs mature consideration first."
And she seated herself in thecauseusein her boudoir, her head propped upon her arm; sometimes gazing out upon the trees of the Philosopher's dyke, tossed about and stripped of their leaves by a ruthless north wind.
Olga and her mother did not disturb her in her silent reflections, which were, however, of a very different nature from what the former imagined. Her mother, with a heavy heart, was already thinking of the outfit. Olga was touched by the handsome man's kindliness and goodness, which were visible in every one of his words. Cäcilie was unmoved by these advantages. The language of the heart, of homely feeling, was not adapted for her; she merely looked upon Wegen as a figure upon the chess-board, with whom she could make a good move.
Towards evening Olga announced that she should visit her friend Minna, the daughter of the Kanzleirath; half-an-hour later Cäcilie informed her mother that she wished to breathe the fresh air, and should enquire after Major Bern's youngest child, who was seriously ill.
That evening Dr. Kuhl was sitting in his laboratory, a vaulted apartment with barred windows, only one door communicating between it and his study. His mother, a widow of ample means, owned the house, and, after his father's death, he had fitted it up comfortably in his own way. His mother allowed him perfect liberty, she humoured all his whims and fancies, even when she did not approve of them and when they could not be brought into unison with social forms. To conduct an intrigue for her Paul, in perfect secrecy, gave her intense satisfaction, and it was not to be wondered at that her son, by means of these principles of education, attained such singularity that he was brought, more or less, into evil repute in every circle.
There he sat now, amidst crucibles, retorts, bottles and tubes; here were covered utensils, heated over little lamps, there others stood open, so that he might watch the process of decomposition which the oxygen in the air calls forth in its contact with other gases.
The Doctor had just blown into the blowpipe, and laid it aside. The blow-pipe, thought he to himself, plays a still greater part in the world than it does here in the laboratory. How many flames, which burned upwards to the sky, has it not blown back, until they crept away upon the ground! And in all ages the sycophants of a State, and the false teachers of mankind, have blown their ruinous breath upon nations through the blow-pipe of egotism.
He went up to a retort and observed how in the process of heating two matters lost the unity of their elements, exchanged their constitutional parts with one another, so that, in consequence of this flow and dissolution, two other quite different combinations ensued.
"Those fatal elective affinities," said he to himself, "what evil have they not caused in the world! How can one apply the laws of dead nature to the human heart? As if two were the decisive numbers for it; although, however, Hindoostan's gods already formed a triune Trimurti, as if, at the accession of a third, the one must fly this, the other that way, instead of remaining together in one beautiful league. What does it matter to us if chloride and lead, hydrogen and oxygen, seek and find one another, whether they meet as oxyde of lead and chlorate of hydrogen? How can any one wish to rule the human heart according to this freak of nature? Our great poets are the most dangerous enemies of freedom of the heart, and of a glorious love in common."
Then the Doctor watched two utensils, in which, by a peculiar process, he sought to condense and harden carbon; he flattered himself with the hope of being able thus to obtain diamonds; but never was the result attained which his experiments should have given him. He consoled himself with a general observation. The hard coal becomes a diamond; strength of character alone creates great men, the sparkling jewels of mankind, but how seldom this process succeeds. Coal remains coal--with it the furnace only can be lighted.
"While contemplating the immature diamonds, with a hopeless gaze, he heard his mother's voice in the study--
"Where is the youngster, then?" and she soon entered the laboratory, leading Olga by the hand. "Here is a lady visitor, dear Paul! Entertain Olga a short time, I will prepare a little supper for our dear guest."
Fräulein von Dornau ventured boldly into the chemicalatelier, where everywhere, right and left, as upon the Pharsalian fields in the classical Walpurgis night, little flames glowed, certainly not fairy-like will-o'-the-wisps, but little altar flames in the sacred temple of knowledge.
Paul greeted her warmly, causing a glass to lose its balance and be scattered in pieces.
"Sit down, Olga," said Paul, "we can talk here a little."
And he cleared a place for her upon a bench.
"Do not be afraid of this chattering workshop that talks of all the secrets of Nature. Do not be afraid of that which the elements tell, and if the gases and vapours of this witch's kitchen are not so sweet as the aromatic forest perfumes, it is yet just as much the breath of mother Nature, who here inhales it in somewhat deeper draughts than without in wood and field."
Olga coughed slightly, because the sulphurous vapour oppressed her chest.
"I have only to produce ozone out of these fugitive oils. Ozone--I rave about it; it is the genus of oxygen. Where it refuses the power of attraction to the latter, ozone can still work. That is the higher spirit or life! All passion is ozone; it is my element!"
Olga, who had noticed that Paul was fond of imparting instruction, enquired as to the origin and nature of ozone, and in return, after a lengthy explanation, received praise for her daily augmenting thirst for knowledge.
After the close of the lecture, and when several more experiments had taken place, Kuhl conducted his visitor into the study.
"I have something important to tell you," said Olga, able to breathe once more in the airy room, the walls of which were covered with high bookcases reaching to the ceiling.
"Go on," replied Paul, "one knows beforehand what seems important to you women; as a rule, they are the most insignificant matters in the world."
"Not this--it concerns us all--you, too."
"Tell it me, then."
"Cäcilie, my sister Cäcilie--"
"What about her?"
"She is going to be married."
"Impossible!"
"It has become very possible since this morning, yes, almost certain."
Kuhl sprang from the sofa and walked up and down the room several times.
"She is a faithless woman--I have known it for long--a calculating nature! She is not capable of grasping life in the spirit and in truth; she is a Philistine maiden, a Dalilah, and betrays me to the Philistines! Her home is there where cooking pots bubble on the domestic hearth; it is a pity, with such a mind! Of what use is the pure flame of oxygen when it only serves to make old iron rusty? But why do I wonder? Is it not an old tale; all I have to do is to enquire the name of the happy man."
"Herr Baron von Wegen has asked her hand to-day."
"And she has accepted?"
"Not quite irrevocably as yet; but she will--accept--I do not doubt it! And why should she hesitate? He is an honourable, handsome man; one's heart opens when one hears him speak. He is wealthy and a man of position, and I believe that Cäcilie thinks something of belonging to the nobility--it is a matter of indifference to me."
The Doctor had seated himself beside her. She looked so meaningly at him with her large eyes, that at the last words he started up as if he had been stung by a spiteful insect.
"She, too, only thinks of marrying," said he to himself; "I perceive it in every word. Therefore, she brings me this news so quickly; Cäcilie no longer stands in her way. Now she flatters herself she shall be sole sovereign of my heart."
And he cast hostile glances at the proud beauty who sought to soothe him, drawing nearer to him, and raising her Juno-like eyes, in which her love was written in German characters.
What should he do? He scolded her on account of her want of understanding; yet she always renounced her heresies at once. Proper guidance was only needed, and as all theory is grey as the uncertain future, and all practice green as the fresh present, he deemed it best not to trouble himself about her farseeing plans, held his forefinger up menacingly and pressed a kiss upon her full lips.
As he looked round, Cäcilie stood before him.
Olga blushed this time, although Paul had often kissed her in her sister's presence, and Cäcilie too appeared to be disturbed by an occurrence to which usage must really have hardened her.
"Your mother sent me here," said she to Paul in a somewhat sharp tone.
"Olga, you surely did not find Kanzleirath's Minna at home?"
"And I must almost fear," replied the latter, "that Major Bern's child is dead."
"I was not needed; the child has quite recovered."
A short truce ensued between the two powers at war.
Kuhl contemplated them with folded arms and sinister countenance; were they not a living picture of that outrageous weakness of mind, the most contemptible of all passions in which jealousy finds utterance?
In vain had he preached against it for many long years; in vain had he extolled a common alliance of hearts; there lay his work in ruins. But why was Cäcilie jealous on the very day on which she had sacrificed him to another?
This vile passion surpassed even love itself.
Cäcilie, who when angry, spoke still more softly, but yet so that a hissing sound was blended with her fine, sharp tones, said to Olga--
"You have anticipated a right which does not belong to you--the right of speaking to others about the affairs of my heart, for only on this account have you deceived us and come here. You will surely grant me the right of speaking to Paul about them as undisturbedly as you have done. Frau Kuhl expects us to tea. You will have the goodness to precede us."
Olga was always accustomed to obey her sister's wishes when they were uttered in that tone of cutting decision. She therefore left the room silently, not, however, without having cast a speaking glance at the Doctor.
Cäcilie lighted herself a paper cigarette.
"Naturally, you know all; my sister has saved me a long introduction."
Kuhl remained standing with folded arms, and nodded his head gently.
"Wegen has asked for my hand; he has already paid me attention for a long time."
"But until now the outlines of his courtship were somewhat indistinct," said Kuhl, scoffingly.
"He offers me what hundreds of others would consider to be supreme happiness, and when I question myself calmly, I must confess that he is an honourable man, more goodhearted and honourable than most; that he is one of those natures in whom true devotion seems to be innate."
Kuhl laughed loudly.
"Indeed you have suddenly set up quite new ideals for yourself, new for you and us that is to say, as they can be bought by the dozen at Leipzig fair."
"You would scoff away all that is strange to you, yet it continues to exist, and to exist in honour before the world. Besides, it is only a question of a good match; my poor mother would find a new, comfortable home. I myself should no longer stand with a dark future before me, which offers nothing but loneliness to the toil and trouble and age of coming years."
The Doctor's mockery ceased at this turn; it contained too sad a truth.
"When I, therefore, ask my common sense," continued Cäcilie, while she blew a curling cloud of smoke into the air, "I receive an answer which really admits of no doubt, and the wicked world even maintains that common sense plays a preponderating part in me."
"Then the riddle is solved," said Kuhl.
"If I were to make comparisons they would certainly not all be drawn in favour of the deeply learned doctor of medicine, as he, in his self-complacency, may dream. Wegen is not so intellectual, but there is something dangerous, discomposing in intellect--and now even a chemist he would dissolve us into every variety of element; he would throw our characters into retorts, our advantages and failings into the scales, and once we are dismembered, what are we then? Wegen is not so intellectual, but neither is he paradoxical; he would not set the world upon its head. As regards beauty, well, that is a matter of taste. He is no Apollo, but a Hercules is not one either. His faults are those of his virtues, but others only possess the virtues of their faults, in short--"
"In short," interrupted Kuhl, "one does not need to be a great mathematician to see who would fare the worst in this problem. Certainly the bliss of former affection is not included in this calculation, the promises of that beautiful alliance, the recollections of happy hours, in which heart met heart, or elevated moments in which mind spoke to mind. It is the indifferent cold souls for which no past exists, when a pleasant future beckons to them."
"You do me injustice," said Cäcilie, laying her cigarette aside.
"Or," continued Kuhl, inexorably, "you are meditating treachery; you would destroy our alliance by force. It is a commercial transaction--a matter of business! I have for long already expected a decisive act--I will anticipate it. Perhaps I should be preferred to Wegen, if I would buy that privilege with the same price that he will pay."
Now Cäcilie interrupted him hastily, her eyes flashed fire, her whole body vibrated with passion.
"So little do you know me, Paul? So little do you all know me? What are the others to me, even if they possessed the crowns of princes, and the treasures of Golconda, and united all the virtues of the world within themselves? I have learned to see everything with your eyes--I should become blind if I were to lose you! If I must leave you, I should feel as if I were thrust out into an endless desert. How lonely I should feel in, the forests of Masuren--in the orange gardens of Italy! What is my life? Fire of your fire--soul of your soul!"
It was the language of unalloyed passion; in those words lay perfect truthfulness of feeling, which also ignites in her beloved one's heart; but he still stood hesitatingly, he did not dare to fold this slender girl, who so often had threatened to escape him, with perfect confidence to his heart. Cäcilie perceived his hesitation; she knew the cause, also, and what she now said, while coming insinuatingly towards him, was no longer the true meaning of her heart.
"You think that I shall make conditions, I shall insist upon the right of exclusiveness which such glowing love demands? No, no, let all remain as before. May another offer his whole life to me. Your vicinity--your love is my felicity, and I do not ask if your heart belongs to me alone! Let there be other happy ones beside me, I will learn to understand you entirely."
Now only did Kuhl believe himself justified in folding the girl unreservedly to his heart.
"And as a seal upon our newly-formed alliance, dear Paul--an alliance for which, in the eyes of the world, I have made a great sacrifice, we will take a ride together, tomorrow, but this time without Olga--you and I alone. This little distinction you owe to me."
Kuhl assented! The supper with his mother and the two Fräulein von Dornau passed off most cheerfully. Olga, as yet, knew nothing of Cäcilie's desperate resolution; she looked upon her sister as Wegen's bride, and, therefore, was in a most happy mood--the champagne stirred her blood to flow more briskly--she even made some droll remarks. But Cäcilie sparkled with intellect, and developed such bold theories, that Paul delightedly followed her dizzy flight.
On the following day, Wegen looked out of the window of his hotel. It was a cold day, but he must inhale fresh air--his heart was too full. He had put on a fur cap, and defied the rough wind that coloured his cheeks more deeply.
Suddenly the sound of horses' hoofs resounded on the pavement--a lady and gentleman riding! How proudly the slender lady sat, allowing her black horse to curvet! Wegen had at once recognised the gentleman to be Dr. Kuhl! But the lady--did his eyes deceive him? Had the wind dazzled them with the dust that was blown about? There could be no doubt--it was Cäcilie!