diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 32442-8.txt | 7276 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 32442-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 125168 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 32442-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 1104764 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 32442-h/32442-h.htm | 8537 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 32442-h/images/007.png | bin | 0 -> 165623 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 32442-h/images/053.png | bin | 0 -> 125488 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 32442-h/images/100.png | bin | 0 -> 104532 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 32442-h/images/144.png | bin | 0 -> 134020 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 32442-h/images/175.png | bin | 0 -> 165088 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 32442-h/images/203.png | bin | 0 -> 110157 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 32442-h/images/220.png | bin | 0 -> 166309 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 32442.txt | 7276 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 32442.zip | bin | 0 -> 125122 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
16 files changed, 23105 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/32442-8.txt b/32442-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6140f38 --- /dev/null +++ b/32442-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7276 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Gertrude's Marriage, by W. Heimburg + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Gertrude's Marriage + +Author: W. Heimburg + +Translator: J. W. Davis + +Release Date: May 19, 2010 [EBook #32442] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERTRUDE'S MARRIAGE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + +Transcriber's notes: +1. Page scan source: + http://www.archive.org/details/gertrudesmarria00heimgoog +2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. + + + + + + + + + + + GERTRUDE'S MARRIAGE + + + W. HEIMBURG + + TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN + + BY MRS. J. W. DAVIS + + + + ILLUSTRATED + + + NEW YORK + WORTHINGTON CO., 747 BROADWAY + 1889 + + + + + + + COPYRIGHT 1889 BY + WORTHINGTON COMPANY + + + + + + + GERTRUDE'S MARRIAGE. + + + CHAPTER I. + + +"Really, Frank, if I were in your place I shouldn't know whether to +laugh or cry. It has always been the height of my ambition to have a +fortune left me, but as with everything in this earthly existence, I +should have my preferences. + +"Upon my word, Frank, I am sorry for you. Here you are with an +inheritance fallen into your lap that you never even dreamed of, a sort +of an estate, a few hundred acres and meadows, a little woodland, a +garden run wild, a neglected dwelling-house, and for stock four +spavined Andalusians, six dried-up old cows, and above all an old aunt +who apparently unites the attributes of both horses and cows in her own +person. Boy, at least wring your hands or scold or do something of the +sort, but don't stand there the very picture of mute despair!" + +Judge Weishaupt spoke thus in comic wrath to his friend Assessor +Linden, who sat opposite him. Before them on the table stood a bottle +of Rhine wine with glasses, and the eyes of the person thus addressed +rested on the empty bottle with a thoughtful expression, as if he could +read an answer on the label. + +It was a large room in which they were sitting, a sort of garden-hall, +furnished very simply and in an old-fashioned style, with two birchen +corner-cupboards, which in our grandmother's time served the purpose of +the present elegant buffets, and which, instead of costly majolica, +displayed painted and gold-rimmed cups behind their glass doors; +with a large sofa, whose black horse-hair covering never for a +moment suggested the possibility of soft luxurious repose; with +six simply-constructed cane-seated chairs grouped about the large +table, and finally, with several dubious family portraits, among +which especially to be noted was the pastel portrait of a youthful +fair-haired beauty, whose impossibly small mouth wore an embarrassed +smile as if to say: "I beg you to believe that I did not really look so +silly as this!" And over all this bright orange-colored curtains shed a +peculiarly unpleasant light. + +The door of the room was open and as if in compensation for all this +want of taste, a wonderful prospect spread itself out before the eye. +Lofty wooded mountain tops, covered with rich foliage which the autumn +frosts had already turned into brilliant colors, formed the background; +close by, the neglected garden, picturesque enough in its wild state, +and shimmering through the trees, the red pointed roofs of the village; +the whole veiled with the soft haze of an October morning, which the +rays of the sun had not yet dispersed. The regular strokes of the +flails on the threshing floors of the estate had a pleasant sound in +the clear morning air. + +The young man's dark eyes strayed away from the wine-bottle; he started +up suddenly and went to the door. + +"And in spite of all that, Richard, it is a charming spot," he said +warmly. "I have always had a great liking for North Germany. I assure +you 'Faust' is twice as interesting here, where the Brocken looks down +upon you. Don't croak so like an old raven any more, I beg of you. I +shall never forget Frankfort, but neither shall I miss it too much--I +hope." + +"Heaven forbid!" cried the little man, still playing with the empty +wine-glass. "You don't pretend to say--" + +But Linden interrupted him. "I don't pretend anything, but I am going +to try to be a good farmer, and I am going to do this, Richard, not +only because I must, but because I really like this queer old nest; so +say no more, old fellow." + +"Well, good luck to you!" replied the other, coming up to his friend +and looking almost tenderly into the handsome, manly face. + +"I have really nothing to say against this playing at farming if +I only know how and where.--You see, Frank, if I were not such a +poverty-stricken wretch, I would say to you this minute: 'Here, my boy, +is a capital of so much; now go to work and get the moth-eaten old +place into some kind of order.' Things cannot go on as they are. +But--well, you know--" he ended, with a sigh. + +Frank Linden made no reply, but he whistled softly a lively air, as he +always did when he wished to drive away unpleasant thoughts. + +"O yes, whistle away," muttered the little man, "it is the only music +you are likely to hear, unless it is the creaking of a rusty hinge or +the concert of a highly respectable family of mice which have settled +in your room--brr--Frank! Just imagine this lonely hole in winter--snow +on the mountains, snow on the roads, snow in the garden and white +flakes in the air! Good Heavens! What will you do all the long evenings +which we used to spend in the Taunus, in the Bockenheimer Strasse, or +in the theatre? Who will play euchre with you here? For whom will you +make your much-admired poems? I am sure they won't be understood in the +village inn. Ah, when I look at you and think of you moping here alone, +and with all your cares heavy upon you!" + +He sighed. + +"I will tell you something, Frank, joking aside," he continued. "You +must marry. And I advise you in this matter not to lay so much stress +on your ideal; pass over for once the sylph-like forms, liquid eyes and +sweet faces in favor of another advantage which nothing will supply the +place of, in our prosaic age. Don't bring me a poor girl, Frank, though +she were a very pearl of women. In your position it would be perfect +folly, a sin against yourself and all who come after you. It won't make +the least difference if your fine verses don't exactly fit her. You +wouldn't always be making poetry, even to the loveliest woman. O yes, +laugh away!" + +He brushed the ashes from his cigar. "In Frankfort--if you had only +chosen--you might have done something. But you were quite dazzled by +that little Thea's lovely eyes. How often I have raged about it! When a +man has passed his twenty-fifth year he really ought to be more +sensible." + +Frank Linden was obstinately silent, and the little man knew at once +that he had as he used to say, "put his foot in it." + +"Come, Frank, don't be cross," he continued, "perhaps there are rich +girls to be had here too." + +"O to be sure, sir, to be sure," sounded behind him, "rich girls and +pretty girls; our old city has always been celebrated for them." + +[Illustration: "Both gentlemen turned toward the speaker."] + +Both gentlemen turned toward the speaker; the judge only to turn away +at once with an angry shrug, Frank Linden to greet him politely. + +"I have brought the papers you wanted," continued the new-comer, a +little man over fifty with an incredibly small pointed face over which +a sweet smile played, a sanctimonious man in every motion and gesture. + +"I am much obliged, Mr. Wolff," said Frank Linden, taking the papers. + +"If there is anything else I can do for you--Miss Rosalie will testify +that I was always ready to help your late uncle." + +"I am a perfect stranger here," replied the young squire, "it may be +that I shall require your help." + +"I shall feel highly honored, Mr. Linden--Yes, and as I said before, if +you should want to make acquaintances in the city there are the +Tubmans, the Schenks, the Meiers and the Hellbours and above all the +Baumhagens--all rich and pleasant families, Mr. Linden. You will be +received with open arms, there's always a dearth of young men in our +little city. The gentlemen of the cavalry--you know, I suppose--only +want to amuse themselves--shall be only too glad in case you--" + +The judge interrupted him with a loud clearing of his throat. + +"Frank," he said, dryly, "what tower is that up there on the hill? You +were studying the map yesterday!" + +"St. Hubert's Tower," replied the young man, going towards him. + +"Belongs to the Baron von Lobersberg," interposed Wolff. + +"That doesn't interest me in the least," muttered the judge, gazing at +the tower through his closed hand for want of a glass. + +"I have the honor to bid you good-morning," said Wolff, "must go over +to Lobersberg." + +The judge nodded curtly; Linden accompanied the agent to the door and +then came slowly back. + +"Now please explain to me," burst out his friend, "where you picked up +that fellow--that rat, I should say, who pushes himself into your +society so impudently." + +Frank Linden's dark eyes turned in astonishment to the angry +countenance of the judge. + +"Why, Richard, he was my uncle's right-hand man, his factotum, and +lastly, he has something to say about my affairs, for unhappily, he +holds a large mortgage on Niendorf." + +"That does not justify him in the impertinent manner which he displays +towards you," replied his friend. + +"O my dear little Judge," said the young man in excuse, "he looks on me +as a newcomer, an ignoramus in the sacred profession of farming. You--" + +"And I consider him a shady character! And some day, my dear boy, you +will say to me, 'Richard, God knows you were right about that man--the +fellow is a rascal.'" + +"Do you know," cried Frank Linden, between jest and earnest, "I wish I +had left you quietly in your lodging in the Goethe-Platz. You will +spoil everything here for me with your gloomy views. Come, we will take +a turn through the garden; then, unfortunately, it will be time for you +to go to the station, if you wish to catch the Express." + +He took the arm of his grumbling friend and drew him with him along the +winding path, on which already the withered leaves were lying. + +"I am sure the fellow has a matrimonial agency somewhere," muttered the +judge, grimly. + +As they turned the corner of the neglected shrubbery, they saw an old +woman slowly pacing up and down the edge of the little pond. + +"For Heaven's sake!" began the little man again, "just look at that +figure, that cap with the monstrous black bow, that astonishing dress +with the waist up under the arms, and what a picturesque fashion of +wearing a black shawl--and, goodness! she has got a red umbrella. My +son, she probably uses it to ride out on the first of May--brr--and +that is your only companion!" + +It was indeed a remarkable figure, the old woman wandering up and down +with as much dignity as if one of the faded pastel pictures in the +garden hall had suddenly come to life. + +"Shall I call her?" asked Frank Linden, smiling. + +"Heaven forbid!" cried the other. "This neighborhood of the Blocksberg +is really uncanny--your Mr. Wolff looks like Mephistopheles in person, +and this--well, I won't say what--she is really a serious charge for +you, Frank." + +The wonderful figure had long since disappeared behind the bushes, when +the young man answered, abstractedly, + +"You see things in too gloomy a light, Richard. How can this poor, +feeble old woman, almost on the verge of the grave, possibly be a +burden to me? She lives entirely shut up in her own room." + +"But I will venture to say that she will be forever wanting something +of you. When she is cold the stove will be in fault, when she has +rheumatism you will have to shoot a cat for her. She will meddle in +your affairs, she will mislay your things, and will vex you in a +thousand ways. Old aunts are only invented to torment their fellow-men. +But no matter, make your own beer and drink it all down. But I think it +must be time to go, the Express won't wait." + +Linden looked at his watch, nodded, and went hastily to the house to +order the carriage. + +His friend followed him thoughtfully; at length he muttered a +suppressed, "Confound it! Such a splendid young fellow to sit and suck +his paws in this hole of a peasant village! What sort of a figure will +he cut among the rich proprietors of this blessed country? I wish +his old uncle had chosen anybody on earth for his heir, only not +_him_--much as he pretends to like it. What a career he might have +made! And now he will just bury himself in this hole--confound +Niendorf! If I only had him at home in gay Frankfort--O--it is--" + +A quarter of an hour later the friends were rolling towards the city in +a rather old-fashioned carriage. Behind them was the quiet little Harz +village, and before them rose the many-towered city. + +They had not far to go; they reached their destination in an hour's +time, and the carriage stopped before the stately railroad station. +Silently as they had come they got the ticket and had the baggage +weighed, and Linden did not speak till they reached the platform. + +"Greet Frankfort for me, Richard, and all my friends. Write to me when +you have time. See that I get my furniture and books soon, and many +thanks for your company so far." + +The judge made a deprecating gesture. "I wish to Heaven I could take +you back with me, Frank," he said, in a softer tone. "You don't know +how I shall miss you. You know what a bad correspondent I am, you are +much better at writing than I, and you will have more time for it, +too--" + +The whistle and the rumbling of the approaching train cut him short; in +another moment he was in a _coupé_. + +"Good-bye, Frank--come nearer for a moment, old fellow--remember if you +are ever in any serious difficulty, write to me at once. If I should +not be able to help you myself--you know my sister is in good +circumstances--" + +One more hand-shake, one more look into a pair of true, manly eyes, and +Frank Linden stood alone on the platform. He turned slowly away, and +walked towards his carriage. He had his foot on the step when he +bethought himself, and ordered the coachman to drive to the hotel, for +he had something to do in town. + +He was so entirely under the influence of the uncomfortable feeling +which parting from a friend creates, that he took the road into town in +no very cheerful mood. On entering the city he turned aside and +followed a deserted path which led along the well-preserved old city +wall. He did not in the least know where he was going; he had nothing +to do here, he knew no one, but he must look about a little in the +neighboring town. It seemed, in fact, well entitled to its reputation +as an old German imperial city; the castle, with the celebrated +cathedral, towered up defiantly on the steep crags; several slender +church towers rose from out the multitude of red pointed roofs, and the +old wall, broken at regular intervals by clumsy square watch-towers, +surrounded the old town like a firm chain. + +He took delight in the beautiful picture, and as he walked on his fancy +painted the magnificent imperial city waking out of its slumber of a +thousand years. After awhile he stopped and looked up to one of the +gray towers. + +"Really it is almost like the Eschenheim Gate in Frankfort," he said +half aloud; "what wonderful springs the thoughts make!" + +Suddenly he found himself back in the present; scarcely four weeks ago +he had passed through that beautiful gate, without dreaming that he +would so soon see its companion in North Germany. Like lightning out of +blue sky this inheritance which made him possessor of Niendorf had come +upon him. How it had happened to occur to his grandfather's old brother +to select _him_ out of the multitude of his relatives for his heir +still remained an unsolved problem, and he could only refer it to the +especial liking for his mother whom the eccentric old man had always +shown a preference for. + +He had felt when he received the news as if a golden shower had fallen +into his lap; it is difficult living in a city of millionaires on the +salary of an assessor. And then--he had received a wound there in that +brilliant bewildering life, and the scar still made itself felt at +times--for instance when an elegant equipage dashed by him--black +horses with liveries of black and silver and on the light-gray cushions +a woman's figure, dark ostrich feathers waving above a face of marble +whiteness, the luxuriant gold brown hair fastened in a knot on the neck +and ah! looking so coldly at him out of her great blue eyes. After such +a meeting he felt depressed for days. "A milliner's doll, a heartless +woman," he called her bitterly, but he had once believed quite the +reverse a whole year long till one morning he saw her betrothal in the +paper. She married a banker who had often served as the butt of her +ridicule. But--he had a million! + +Ah, how gladly had he gone out of her neighborhood, how rejoiced he had +been to turn his back on the great world, with what happiness he had +written to his mother and what had he found! + +But no matter! The steward whom he had for the present seemed a capable +fellow; he would not spare himself in any respect and then--Wolff. He +could not understand what had set Weishaupt so against the man. + +He had now been wandering for some time through the busiest streets of +the town. He asked for the hotel where his coachman was to wait for +him. He now entered the marketplace in the midst of which the statue of +Roland stands. A stately Rathhaus in the style of the Renaissance stood +on the western side of the square, and lofty elegant patrician houses +with pointed gables surrounded it; some adorned with bow-windows, some +with the upper stories overhanging till it seemed as if they must lose +their balance. Only two or three buildings were of later date, and even +in these care had been taken to preserve the mediaeval character. + +Agreeably surprised, Linden stopped and his glance passed critically +over the front of the lofty building before which he had chanced to +pause. Three tall stories towered one above another; over the great +arched doorway rose a dainty bow-window which extended through all the +stories and stretched up into the blue October sky as a stately tower, +finished at the top with a weather-vane. The window in the _bel-etage_ +was divided into small diamond panes--that was an "æsthetic" dwelling, +no doubt. In the second story rich lace curtains shimmered behind large +clear panes, and a very garden of fuchsias and pinks waved and nodded +from the plants outside. If a lovely girl's face would only appear +above them now, the picture would be complete. + +But nothing of the kind was to be seen, and casting one more glance at +the artistic ironwork of the staircase, the attentive spectator turned +and crossed the market-place to the hotel in order to dine. As it was +already late he was the only guest in the spacious dining-room. He ate +his dinner with all speed, and began his wanderings through the streets +again. + +Behind the Rathhaus he plunged into a labyrinth of narrow streets and +alleys, then passing through an archway he entered unexpectedly a +square surrounded by tall linden trees half stripped of their leaves, +which, grave and solemn, seemed to be watching over a large church. It +seemed as though everybody was dead in this place; only a few children +were playing among the dry leaves, and an old woman limped into a sunny +corner, otherwise the deepest silence reigned. + +A side door of the church stood open; he crossed over and entered into +the silent twilight of the sacred place; he took off his hat, and, +surprised by the noble simplicity of the building, he gazed at the +slender but lofty columns and the rich vaulting of the choir. Then he +walked down the middle aisle between the artistically carved stalls, +brown with age. He delighted in them, for he had the greatest +admiration for the beautiful forms of the Renaissance, and he was +doubly pleased, for he had not expected to find anything of the kind +here. + +Here he suddenly stopped; there at the font, above which the white dove +soared with outspread wings, he saw three women. Two of them seemed to +be of the lower class; the elder, probably the midwife, held the child, +tossing it continually; the other, in a plain black woollen dress and +shawl, a young matron, looked at the child with eyes red with weeping; +a third had bent down towards her; the sexton, who was pouring the +water into the basin, concealed her completely for the moment and +Linden saw only the train of a dark silk dress on the stone floor. + +And now a soft flexible woman's voice sounded in his ear: "Don't cry +so, my good Johanna, you will have a great deal of comfort yet with the +little thing--don't cry! + +"Engleman, you had better call the clergyman--my sister does not seem +to come, she must have been detained; we will not wait any longer." + +The speaker turned towards the mother, and Frank Linden looked full +into the face of the young girl. It was not exactly beautiful, this +fine oval, shaded by rich golden brown hair; the complexion was too +pale, the expression too sad, the corners of the mouth too much drawn +down, but under the finely pencilled brows a pair of deep blue eyes +looked out at him, clear as those of a child, wistful and appealing, +as if imploring peace for the sacred rite. + +It might often happen that strangers entered the beautiful church and +made a disturbance--at least so Frank Linden interpreted the look. +Scarcely breathing, he leaned against one of the old stalls, and his +eyes followed every movement of the slender, girlish figure, as she +took the child in her arms and approached the clergyman. + +"Herr Pastor," sounded the soft voice, "you must be content with _one_ +sponsor, for unfortunately my sister has not come." + +The clergyman raised his head. "Then you might, Mrs. Smith--" he signed +to the elder woman. + +Frank Linden stood suddenly before the font beside the young girl; he +hardly knew himself how he got there so quickly. + +"Allow me to be the second sponsor," he said.--"I came into the church +by chance, a perfect stranger here; I should be sorry to miss the first +opportunity to perform a Christian duty in my new home." + +He had obeyed a sudden impulse and he was understood. The gray-haired +clergyman nodded, smiling. "It is a poor child, early left fatherless, +sir," he replied. "The father was killed four weeks before its +birth--you will be doing a good work--are you satisfied?" he said, +turning to the mother. "Well then--Engelman, write down the name of the +godfather in the register." + +"Carl Max Francis Linden," said the young man. + +And then they stood together before the pastor, these two who a quarter +of an hour ago had had no knowledge of one another; she held the +sleeping child in her arms; she had not looked up, the quick flush of +surprise still lingered on the delicate face, and the simple lace on +the infant's cushion trembled slightly. + +The clergyman spoke only a few words, but they sank deep into the +hearts of both. Linden looked down on the brown drooping head beside +him, the two hands rested on the infant's garments, two warm young +hands close together, and from the lips of both came a clear distinct +"Yes" in answer to the clergyman's questions. When the rite was ended, +the young girl took the child to its weeping mother and pressed a kiss +on the small red cheek, then she came up to Linden and her eyes gazed +at him with a mixture of wonder and gratitude. + +"I thank you, sir," she said, laying her small hand in his for a +moment. "I thank you in the name of the poor woman--it was so good of +you." + +Then with a proud bend of her small head she went away, the heavy silk +of her dress making a slight rustling about her as she walked. She +paused a moment at the door in the full daylight and looked back at him +as he stood motionless by the font looking after her; it seemed as if +she bent her head once more in greeting and then she disappeared. + +Frank Linden remained behind alone in the quiet church. Who could she +be who had just stood beside him? A slight jingling caused him to turn +round; the sexton was coming out of the sacristy with his great bunch +of keys. + +"You want to shut up the church, my friend?" he said. "I am going now." +Then as if he had thought of something he came back a few steps. "Who +was the young lady?" was on his lips to ask, but he could not bring it +out, he only gazed at the glowing colors in the painted glass of the +lofty window. + +"They are very fine," said the sexton, "and are always much admired; +that one is dated 1511, the Exodus of the children of Israel, a gift +from the Abbess Anna from the castle up there. They say she had a great +liking for this church, and it is the finest church far and wide too, +our St. Benedict's." + +Frank Linden nodded. + +"You may be right," he said, abstractedly. Then he gave the man a small +sum for the baby and went away. + +Soon after, his carriage was rolling away towards home. The outlines +of the mountains rose dark against the red evening sky, and the +church-tower of Niendorf came nearer and nearer. + +Nothing seemed strange to him now as it had been this morning; the +first slight happy feeling of home-coming was growing in his heart. On +the top of the hill he turned again and looked back at the city, where +the castle looked to him like an old acquaintance, and hark! The faint +sound of a bell was wafted towards him on the evening breeze; perhaps +from St. Benedict's tower? + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + +Gertrude Baumhagen had quickly crossed the quiet square, had opened a +door in the opposite wall, and was at home. She passed rapidly through +the box-edged path of the old-fashioned garden, and across a quiet +spacious court into the house. In the large vaulted hall, she found her +brother-in-law standing beside a tall velocipede. He was dressed +elegantly and according to the latest fashion, a costly diamond +sparkled on the blue cravat, while he wore another on his white hand. +He was fair-haired, with pink cheeks, and a small moustache on his +upper lip, and was perhaps about thirty. A servant was occupied in +cleaning the shining steel of the bicycle with a piece of chamois +leather. + +"Are you going for a ride, Arthur?" asked the young girl, pleasantly. + +"I am going to make off, Gertrude," he replied, peevishly. "What on +earth can I do at home? Jenny has got a ladies' tea party again to-day +by way of variety--and what am I to do? I am going with Carl Röben to +Bodenstadt--a man must look out for himself a little." + +"I am just going up to your house," said the young girl. "I am cross +with Jenny and am going to scold her." + +"You will be lucky then if you don't come off second best, my dear +sister-in-law," cried Arthur Fredericks, laughing. + +She shook her head gravely, and mounted the broad staircase, whose dark +carved balustrade harmonized well with the crimson Smyrna carpet which +covered the steps, held down by shining brass rods. Huge laurel-trees +in tubs stood on either side of the tall door, which led to the first +floor. On the left, the staircase went on to the upper story. Gertrude +Baumhagen pressed on the button of the electric bell and instantly the +door was opened by a servant-maid in a brilliantly white apron, while a +clear voice called out, + +"Yes, yes, I am at home--you have come just in time, Gertrude." + +In the large entrance hall, which was finished in old German style, a +young matron stood before a magnificent buffet, busied in taking out +all manner of silver-plate from the open cupboard. She wore a dainty +little lace cap on her light brown hair, and a house-dress of fine +light blue cashmere, richly trimmed with lace. She was very pretty, +even now when she was pouting, but there was no resemblance between the +two sisters. + +"You are not even dressed yet, Jenny?" cried the young girl. "Then I +might have waited a good while in the church. It was really very +awkward, your not coming." + +The young matron stopped and set down the great glass dish encircled by +two massive silver snakes, in dismay. Then she clapped her hands and +began to laugh heartily. + +"There now!" she cried, "this whole day I have been going about the +house with a feeling that there was something I had to do, and I +couldn't think what it was. O that is too rich! Caroline, you might +have reminded me!" she continued, turning to the maid, who was just +laying a heavy linen table-cloth on the massive oak-table in the middle +of the room. + +"Mrs. Fredericks laid down to sleep and said expressly that I was not +to wake her before four o'clock," said the maid in her own defence. + +"Well, so I did," yawned the young matron; "I was so tired, his +lordship was in a bad temper, and the baby was so frightfully noisy. It +is no great misfortune, either; I can easily make up for it by sending +her something tomorrow." + +"Why, Jenny! Have you forgotten that it was I who told Johanna that you +and I would be godmothers? I thought it was our _duty_--the man was +killed in our factory." + +"O fiddle-dedee, pet," interposed Mrs. Jenny, "I hate that everlasting +god mothering! I have already three round dozens of godchildren as +surely as I stand here---_poor_ people are not required for that +purpose, I assure you. Come, I have finished here now, we will go to +the nursery for awhile, or"--casting a glance at the old-fashioned +clock--"still better, mamma has had some patterns for evening-dresses +sent her--wait a minute and I will come up with you; the company won't +come yet for an hour and a half." + +She turned round gracefully once more as if to survey her work. The +buffet shone with silver dishes, a bright fire burned in the open +fireplace, the heavy chandelier as well as the sconces before the tall +glass were filled with dark red twisted candles, and as Caroline drew +back the heavy embroidered _portière_, a room almost too luxuriously +furnished became visible--a room all crimson; even through the stained +glass of the bow-window the evening light sent red reflections in the +labyrinth of chairs and sofas, lounges and tables, while white marble +statues stood out against the dark green of costly greenhouse plants. + +"It looks pleasant, doesn't it, Gertrude?" said the young wife. "I have +not opened the great drawing-room because there will be only a few +ladies. The wife of the Home Minister has accepted. Are you coming in +for an hour?" + +"No, thanks," replied the young girl, mounting the stairs with her +sister to her mother's apartment. "Send me the baby for awhile, I like +so much to have him." + +"Oh, yes, the young gentleman shall make his appearance," nodded Mrs. +Jenny, "provided he doesn't sleep like a little dormouse." + +"Do you go in to mamma," said Gertrude. "I will change my dress and +then come." + +The rooms were the same as in the lower story, also richly furnished, +though not in the new "aesthetic" style, yet they were not less elegant +and comfortable. The sisters separated in the ante-room, and Gertrude +Baumhagen went to her own room. She occupied the room with the +bow-window, but here the daylight was not broken by costly stained +glass: it came in, unhindered, in floods through the clear panes, +before which outside, numberless flowers waved in the soft breeze. +Directly opposite were the gables of the Rathhaus; like airy lace-work, +the rich ornamentation of the towers was marked out against the glowing +evening sky. + +This bow-window was a delightful place; here stood her work-table, and +behind it on an easel, the portrait of the late Mr. Baumhagen. The +resemblance between the father and daughter was visible at a glance; +there was the same light brown hair, the intellectual brow, the small, +fine nose, and the eyes too were the same. She had always been his +darling, and it was her care that fresh flowers should always be placed +in the gold network of the frame. And where she sat at work her hands +would sometimes rest in her lap and her eyes would turn to the picture. +"My dear, good papa!" she would whisper then, as if he must understand. + +To-day also, she walked quickly towards the bow-window and looked long +at the picture. "You would have done that too," she said, softly, +"wouldn't you, papa!" An earnest expression came suddenly into the +young eyes, something like inexpressible longing. "No, every one is not +like mamma and Jenny; there are warm human hearts, there are hearts +that feel compassion for a stranger's needs, for whom the detested--" +she stopped suddenly her small hands had clenched themselves and her +eyes filled with tears. + +She began to pace up and down the room. The soft, thick carpet deadened +the sound of her footsteps, but the heavy silk rustled after her with +an anxious sound. + +What humiliations she had to endure daily and hourly from the fact of +being a rich girl! She owed everything to the circumstance of having a +fortune. Jenny had just now declared to her again that she had only +been godmother, because--Ah, no matter, she knew better. Johanna was +too modest. But she had not yet recovered from that other blow. A week +ago there had been man[oe]uvres in the neighborhood, and the colonel +with his adjutant had had his quarters for two days in the Baumhagen +house. She could not really remember that she had spoken more than a +few commonplace words to the adjutant, and twenty-four hours after the +troops had left the city--yesterday--a letter lay before her filled +with the most ardent protestations of love and an entreaty for her +hand. She had taken the letter and gone to her mother with it, with the +words: "Here is some one who wishes to marry my money. Will you write +the answer, mamma? I cannot." + +Now she was dreading the mention of this letter. She was not afraid +that her mother would try to persuade her. No, no, she had always been +independent enough not to order her life according to the will of +another, but the matter would be discussed and the division between +mother and daughter would only be made wider than ever. + +She started; the door opened and her sister's voice called: "Do come, +Gertrude, I can't make up my mind about that new red." + +The young girl crossed the hall and a moment after stood in her +mother's drawing-room, before her mother, a small woman with almost too +rosy cheeks, and an exceedingly obstinate expression about the full +mouth. She sat on the sofa beneath the large Swiss landscape, the work +of a celebrated Düsseldorf master--Mrs. Baumhagen was fond of relating +that she had paid five hundred dollars for it--and tossed about with +her small hands, covered with diamonds, a mass of dress patterns. + +"Gertrude," she cried, "this would do for you." And she held out a bit +of blue silk. "It is a pity you are so different, it is so nice for two +sisters to dress alike." + +"What is suitable for a married woman, is not fit for a girl," declared +Mrs. Jenny. "Gertrude ought to get married, she is twenty years old." + +"Ah! that reminds me,"--the mother had been turning over the patterns +during the conversation,--"there is that letter from your last admirer, +I must answer it. What am I to write him?-- + +"See here, Jenny, this brown ground with the blue spots is pretty, +isn't it?--It is really a great bore to answer letters like that; why +don't you do it yourself?" + +"I am afraid my answer would not be dispassionate enough," replied the +girl, calmly. + +"Do you like him?" asked her sister. + +The young girl ignored the question. + +"I am afraid I might be bitter, and nothing is required but a purely +business-like answer, as the question was purely one of business." + +"You are delicious!" laughed the young wife. "O what a pity you had not +lived in the middle ages, when the knights were obliged to go through +so long a probation! Little goose, you must learn to take the world as +it is. Do you suppose Arthur would have married _me_ if I had had +nothing? I assure you he would never have thought of it! And do you +suppose I would have taken _him_ if I had not known he was in good +circumstances? Never! And what would you have more from us? we are a +comparatively happy couple." + +Gertrude looked at her sister in surprise, with a questioning look in +her blue eyes. + +"Comparatively happy?" she repeated in a low tone. + +"Good gracious, yes, he has his whims--one has to put up with them," +declared her sister, + +"Pray don't quarrel to-day," said Mrs. Baumhagen, taking her eye-glass +from her snub-nose; "besides I will write the letter. It is for that I +am your mother." She sighed. + +"But in this matter I think Jenny is right. Gertrude, you take far too +ideal views of the world. We have all seen to what such ideas lead." +Another sigh. "I will not try to persuade you, I did not say anything +to influence Jenny; you both know that very well. For my own part I +have nothing against this Mr. Mr.--Mr.--" the name did not occur to her +at once. + +The young girl laughed, but her eyes looked scornful. "His address is +given with great distinctness in the letter," she said. + +"There is no great hurry, I suppose," continued her mother. "I have my +whist-party this evening; if I am not there punctually I must pay a +fine; besides, I don't feel like writing." She yawned slightly. + +"The evenings are getting very long now--did you know, Jenny, that an +opera troupe is coming here?" + +Jenny answered in the affirmative, and added that she must go and +dress. + +"Good night," she cried, merrily, from the door; "we shall not meet +again to-day." + +"Good night, mamma," said Gertrude also. + +"Are you going down to Jenny?" asked Mrs. Baumhagen. + +The girl shook her head. + +"What are you going to do all the evening?" + +"I don't know, mamma. I have all sorts of things to do. Perhaps I shall +read." + +"Ah! Well, good night, my child." + +She waved her hand and Gertrude went away. She took off her silk dress +when she reached her room and exchanged it for a soft cashmere, then +she went into her pretty sitting-room. It was already twilight and +the lamps were being lighted in the street below. She stood in the +bow-window and watched one flame leap out after the other and the +windows of the houses brighten. Even the old apple-woman, under the +shelter of the statue of Roland, hung out her lantern under her +gigantic white umbrella. Gertrude knew all this so well; it had been +just the same when she was a tiny girl, and there was no change--only +here inside it was all so different--so utterly different. + +Where were those happy evenings when she had sat here beside her +father--where was the old comfort and happiness? They must have hidden +themselves away in his coffin, for ever since that dreadful day when +they had carried her father away, it had been cold and empty in the +house and in the young girl's heart. He had been so ill, so melancholy; +it was fortunate that it had happened, so people said to the widow, who +was almost wild in her passionate grief, but she had gone on a journey +at once with Jenny, and had spent the winter in Nice. Gertrude would +not go with them on any account. Her eyes, which had looked on such +misery, could not look out upon God's laughing world,--her shattered +nerves could not bear the gay whirl of such a life. She had stayed +behind with an old aunt--Aunt Louise slept almost all day, when she was +not eating or drinking coffee, and the young girl had learned all the +horrors of loneliness. She had been ill in body and mind, and when her +mother and sister had returned, she learned that one may be lonely even +in company, and lonely she had remained until the present day. + +Urged by a longing for affection, she had again and again tried to find +excuses for her mother, and to adapt herself to her mode of life. She +had allowed herself to be drawn into the whirl of pleasure into which +the pleasure-loving woman had plunged so soon as her time of mourning +was over. She had tried to persuade herself that concerts, balls, and +all the gayeties of society really gave her pleasure and satisfied her. +But her sense of right rebelled against this self-deception. She +began to ponder on the vacuity of all about her, on this and that +conversation, on the whole whirl around her, and she grew less able to +comprehend it. She could not understand how people could find so much +amusement in things that seemed to her not worth a thought. The art of +fluttering through life, skimming the cream of all its excitements as +Jenny did, she did not understand. To wear the most elegant costume at +a ball, to stay at the dearest hotels on a journey, to be celebrated +for giving the finest dinners--all that was not worth thinking about. +Once she had asked if she might not read aloud in the evenings they +spent alone, as she used to do when her father was alive. After +receiving permission she had come in with a radiant face, bringing +"Ekkehard," the last book which her father had given her. With flushed +cheeks and sparkling eyes, she had read on and on, but as she chanced +to look up there sat Jenny, looking through the last number of the +"Journal of Fashion," while her mother was sound asleep. She did not +say a word but she never read aloud again. + +The large tears ran suddenly down her cheeks. One of those moments had +suddenly come over her again, when she stretched out her arms +despairingly after some human soul that would understand her, that +would love her a little, only a little, for herself alone. She had +grown so distrustful that she ascribed all kindness from strangers to +her wealth and the position which her family held in society. She was +quite conscious that she was repellent and unamiable, designedly so--no +one should know how poor she really felt. It was not necessary for them +to know that she wrung her hands and asked, "What shall I do? What do I +live for?" She had inherited from her father a delight in work, a need +for being of use--every responsible person feels a desire to be happy +and to make others happy--but she felt her life so great a burden, it +was so shallow, so distasteful, so full of petty interests. + +She quickly dried her tears and turned; the door had opened and an old +servant entered. + +"You are forgetting your tea again, Miss Gertrude," she began, +reproachfully. "It is all ready in the dining-room. I have brought in +the tea so it will cool a little, but you must come now." + +The young girl thanked her pleasantly and followed her. She returned in +a very short time, nothing tasted good when she was so alone. She +lighted the lamp and took a book and read. It had grown still gradually +outside in the street, quarter after quarter struck from St. Benedict's +tower, until it was eleven o'clock. A carriage drove up--her mother was +coming home. + +Gertrude closed her book, it was bedtime. The hall-door closed, steps +went past Gertrude's door--but no, some one was coming in. + +Mrs. Baumhagen still wore her black Spanish lace mantilla over her +head. She only wished to ask her daughter what all this was about the +christening this afternoon. The pastor's wife had told her a story of a +curious kind of godfather; the pastor had come home full of it. + +"Jenny did not come," explained the young girl, "and a strange +gentleman offered to stand." + +"But how horribly pushing," cried the excited little woman. "You should +have drawn back, child--who knows what sort of a person he may be." + +"I don't know him, mamma. But whoever he may be, he was so very +good; he never supposed, I am sure, that his kindness could be +misunderstood." + +"There," cried Mrs. Baumhagen, "you see it is always so with you--you +are so easily imposed upon by that sort of thing, Gertrude,--really I +get very anxious about you. Did you know that Baron von Lowenberg--I +remember the name now--is a distant connection of the ducal house of +A.? Mrs. von S---- knows the whole family, they are charming people. +But I will not influence you, I am only telling you this by the way. +Sophie tells me an invitation has come from the Stadträthin for +to-morrow. One never has a day to one's self. You will come too? It is +about the Society festival; you young girls will have something to do. + +"Jenny had a light still," she continued, without noticing her +daughter's silence. "Arthur brought home Carl Röben, who came for his +young wife, and Lina was just coming up out of the cellar with +champagne.--I beg you will not tell any one about that scene in the +church to-day; I have asked the pastor's wife to be silent too. + +"Good night, my child. Of course the tea wasn't fit to drink at Mrs. +S---- as usual." + +"Good-night, mamma," replied Gertrude. She took the lamp and looked at +her father's picture once more, then she went to bed. She awoke +suddenly out of a half-slumber; she had heard the voice so distinctly +that she had heard in the church to-day for the first time. She sat up +with her heart beating quickly. No, what she had experienced today had +been no dream. Like a ray of sunshine fell that friendly act of the +unknown into this world of egotism and heartlessness. And then she +staid long awake. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + +The storms of late autumn came on among the mountains, heavy showers of +rain came down from the gray flying clouds and beat upon the dead +leaves of the forest and against the windows of the dwelling-houses. +Frank Linden sat at his writing-table in the room he had fitted up for +himself in the second story, and his eyes wandered from the denuded +branches in the garden to the mountains opposite. His surroundings were +as comfortable as it is possible for a bachelor's room to be--books and +weapons, a bright fire in the stove, good pictures on the walls, the +delicate perfume of a fine cigar, and yet in spite of all this the +expression on his handsome face was by no means a contented one. + +He thrust aside a great sheet full of figures and took up instead a +sheet of writing-paper, on which he began rapidly to write:-- + +"My Dear Old Judge: + +"How you would scoff at me if you could see me in my present downcast +mood. It is raining outside, and inside a flood of vexatious thoughts +is streaming over me. I have found out that playing at farming is a +pleasure only when one has a large purse that he can call his own. The +expenses are getting too much for me; everything has to be repaired or +renewed. Well, all this is true, but I do not complain, for in other +ways I have the greatest pleasure out of it. I cannot describe to you +how really poetic a walk through these autumn woods is, which I manage +to take almost daily with old Juno, thanks to the permission of the +royal forester, with whom I have made friends. + +"And how delightful is the home coming beneath my own roof! + +"But you, most prosaic of all mortals, are probably thinking only about +venison steaks or broiled field-fares, and you only know the mood of +the wild huntsman from hearsay. + +"But I wanted to tell you how right you were when you declared of +Wolff: '_Hic niger est!_ Be on your guard against this man--he is a +scoundrel!' Perhaps that would be saying too much, but at any rate he +is troublesome. He sent me yesterday a ticket to a concert and wrote on +a bit of paper: 'Seats 38 to 40 taken by the Baumhagen family--I got +No. 37.' Then he added that the Baumhagens were the most distinguished +and the wealthiest of the patricians in the city--evidently those who +play first fiddle there. + +"You know what my opinion is concerning millionaires--anything to +escape their neighborhood. + +"Well, in short, I was vexed and sent him back the ticket with the +remark that I was the most unmusical person in the world. He has +already made several attacks of that nature on me, so I suppose there +must be a daughter. + +"And now to come at length to the aim of this letter--you know that +Wolff has a heavy mortgage on Niendorf, at a very high rate of +interest. I simply cannot pay it, and wish to take up the mortgage; +would your sister be willing to take it at a moderate rate? I am ready +to give you any information. + +"And what more shall I tell you? By the way, the old aunt--you did her +great injustice; I never saw a more inoffensive, more contented +creature than this old woman. A niece who comes to Niendorf every year +on a visit, and whom she seems very fond of, her tame goldfinch, and +her artificial flowers make up her whole world. She asked quite +anxiously if I would let her have her room here till she died. I +promised it faithfully. She has been telling me a good many things +about my uncle's last years. He must have been very eccentric. Wolff +was with him every day, playing euchre with him and the schoolmaster. +He died at the card-table, so to speak. The old lady told me in a +sepulchral voice that he actually died with clubs and diamonds in his +hands. He had just played out the ace and said, 'There is a bomb for +you!' and it was all over. I believe she felt a little horror of this +endings herself. I am going now into the city in spite of wind and rain +to make a few calls. I have got to do it sooner or later. I shall take +the steward with me; he will bring home a pair of farm-horses that he +bought the other day. Perhaps I may happen to stumble on my unknown +little godmother that I wrote you about the other day; so far luck has +not favored me." + + +He added greetings and his signature, and half an hour later he was on +his way to the city in faultless visiting costume. + +Arrived in the hotel he inquired for a number of addresses, then began +with a sigh to do his duty according to that extraordinary custom which +Mrs. Grundy prescribes as necessary in "good society," that is, to call +upon perfect strangers at mid-day and exchange a few shallow phrases +and then to escape as quickly as possible. Thank Heaven! No one was at +home to-day although it was raining in torrents. From a sort of natural +opposition he left the Baumhagens to the last; he belonged to that +class to whom it is only necessary to praise a thing greatly in order +to create a strong dislike to it. + +Just as he was on the point of making this visit, he met Mr. Wolff. +"You are going to the Baumhagens?" he asked, evidently agreeably +surprised. "There--there, that house with the bow-window. I wish you +good luck, Mr. Linden!" + +Frank had a sharp answer on his lips but the little man had +disappeared. But a woman's figure stepped back hastily from the +bow-window above him. + +"Very sorry," said the old servant-maid. "Mrs. Baumhagen is not at +home." He received the same answer in the lower story although he heard +the sounds of a Chopin waltz. + +He heard an explanation of this in the hotel at dinner. A great ball +was to take place that evening, and such a festival naturally required +the most extensive preparations on the part of the feminine portion of +society; on such a day neither matron nor maiden was visible. Nothing +else was spoken of but this ball, and some of the gentlemen kindly +invited him to be present; he would find some pretty girls there. + +"I am curious to know if the little Baumhagen will be there," said an +officer of Hussars. + +"She may stay away for all I care," responded a very blond Referendary. +"She has a way of condescending to one that I can't endure. She is +perfectly eaten up with pride." + +"She has just refused another offer, as I heard from Arthur +Fredericks," cried another. + +"She is probably waiting for a prince," snarled a fourth. + +"I don't care," said Colonel von Brelow, "you may say what you like, +she is a magnificent creature without a particle of provincialism about +her. There is race in the girl." + +Frank Linden had listened with an interest which had almost awakened a +desire in him to take part in the ball. He half promised to appear, +took the address of a glove-shop and sat for a couple of hours in +lively conversation. After the lonely weeks he had been spending it +interested him more than he was willing to confess. + +"I am really stooping to gossip," he said, amused at himself. When he +went out into the street, darkness had already come down on the short +November day, the gas-lamps were reflected back from the pools in the +street, the shop-windows were brilliantly lighted, and five long +strokes sounded from the tower of St. Benedict's. + +He went round the corner of the hotel into the next street, and walked +slowly along on the narrow sidewalk, looking at the shops which were +all adorned with everything gay and brilliant for the approaching +Christmas holidays. + +"Good-evening!" said suddenly a timid voice behind him. He turned +round. For a moment he could not remember the woman who stood timidly +before him, with a yoke on her shoulder from which hung two shining +pails. Then he recognized her--it was Johanna. + +"I only wanted to thank you so very much," she began, "the sexton +brought me the present for the baby." + +"And is my little godchild well?" he asked, walking beside the woman +and suddenly resolving to learn something about "her" at any price. + +"Oh, thank you, Mr. Linden; it is but a weakly thing--trouble hasn't +been good for him. But if the gentleman would like to see him--it isn't +so very far and I'm going straight home now." + +"Of course I should," he said, and learned as he went along, that she +carried milk twice a day for a farmer's wife. + +"Does the young lady come to see her godson sometimes?" + +"Ay, to be sure!" replied the woman. "She comes and the baby hasn't a +frock or a petticoat that she hasn't given him. She is so good, Miss +Gertrude. We were confirmed together," she added, with pride. + +So her name was Gertrude. + +They had still some distance to go, through narrow streets and alleys, +before the woman announced that they had reached her house. "There is a +light inside--perhaps it is mother, the child waked up I suppose. My +mother lives up stairs," she explained, "my father is a shoemaker." + +The window was so low that a child might have looked in easily, so he +could overlook the whole room without difficulty. + +"Stay," he whispered, holding Johanna's arm. + +"O goodness! it is the young lady," she cried, "I hope she won't be +angry." + +But Frank Linden did not reply. He saw only the slender girlish figure, +as she walked up and down with the crying child in her arms, talking to +him, dancing him till at last he stopped crying, looked solemnly in her +face for awhile and then began to crow. + +"Now you see, you silly little goosie," sounded the clear girl's voice +in his ears, "you see who comes to take care of you when, you were +lying here all alone and all crumpled up, while your mother has to go +out from house to house through all the wind and rain;--you naughty +baby, you little rogue, do you know your name yet? Let's see. +Frank,--Frankie? O such a big boy! Now come here and don't cry a bit +more and you shall have on your warm little frock when your mother +comes." And she sat down before the stove and began to take off the +little red flannel frock. + +[Illustration: "She sat down before the stove and began to take off the +little red flannel frock."] + +"Ask if I may come in, Johanna," said Linden. And the next moment he +had entered behind the woman. + +A flush of embarrassment came over the young girl's face, but she +frankly extended her hand. "I am glad to see you, Mr. Linden--mamma was +very sorry that she could not receive you this afternoon. You--" + +He bowed. Then she belonged to one of the houses where he had called +to-day. But to which one? + +"Do you know, I never knew till to-day that you were living in the +neighborhood," she continued brightly. "I was standing in our +bow-window when you came across the square, and saw you inquiring for +our house." + +"Then I have the honor to see Miss Baumhagen?" he asked, somewhat +disturbed by this information. + +"Gertrude Baumhagen," she replied. "Why do you look so surprised?" + +With these words she took her cloak from the nearest chair, put a small +fur cap on her brown hair and took up her muff. + +"I must go now, Johanna, but I will send the doctor to-morrow for the +baby. You must not let things go so,--you must take better care or else +he may have weak eyes all his life." + +"Will you allow me to accompany you?" asked Linden, unable to take his +eyes off the graceful form. And that was Gertrude Baumhagen! + +She assented. "I am not afraid for myself, but I am sure you would +never find your way out of this maze of streets into which my good +Johanna has enticed you. This part about here is quite the oldest part +of the town. You cannot see it this evening, but by daylight a walk +through this quarter would well repay you. I like this neighborhood, +though only people of the lower class live here," she continued, +walking with a firm step on the slippery pavement. + +"Do you see down there on the corner that house with the great stone +steps in front and the bench under the tree? My grandmother was born in +that house, and the tree is a Spanish lilac. Grandfather fell in love +with her as she sat one evening under the tree rocking her youngest +brother. She has often told me about it. The lilac was in blossom and +she was just eighteen. Isn't it a perfect little poem?" + +Then she laughed softly. "But I am telling you all this and I don't +know in the least what you think of such things." + +They were just opposite the small house with the lilac tree. He stopped +and looked up. She perceived it and said: "I can never go by without +having happy thoughts and pleasant memories. Never was there a dearer +grandmother, she was so simple and so good." And as he was silent she +added, as if in explanation, "She was a granddaughter of the foreman in +grandpapa's factory." + +Still nothing occurred to him to say and he could not utter a merely +conventional phrase. + +She too remained silent for a while. "May I ask you," she then began, +"not to give too many presents to the baby--they are simple people who +might be easily spoiled." + +He assented. "A man like me is so unpractical," he said, by way of +excuse. "I did not exactly know what was expected of me after I had +offered myself as godfather in such an intrusive manner." + +"That was no intrusion, that was a feeling of humanity, Mr. Linden." + +"I was afraid I might have seemed to you, too impulsive--too--" he +stopped. + +"O no, no," she interrupted earnestly. "What can you think of me? I can +easily tell the true from the false--I was really very glad," she +added, with some hesitation. + +"I thank you," he said. + +And then they walked on in silence through the streets;--Gertrude +Baumhagen stopped before a flower-store behind whose great glass panes +a wealth of roses, violets and camellias glowed. + +"Our ways separate here," she said, as she gave him her hand. "I have +something to do in here. Good-bye, Mr.--Godfather." + +He had lifted his hat and taken her hand. "Good-bye, Miss Baumhagen." +And hesitatingly he asked--"Shall you be at the ball to-night?" + +"Yes," she nodded, "at the request of the higher powers," and her blue +eyes rested quietly on his face. There was nothing of youthful pleasure +and joyful expectation to be read in them. "Mamma would have been in +despair if I had declined. Good-night, Mr. Linden." + +The young man stood outside as she disappeared into the shop. He stood +still for a moment, then he went on his way. + +So that was Gertrude Baumhagen! He really regretted that that was her +name, for he had taken a prejudice against the name, which he had +associated with vulgar purse-pride. The conversation at the hotel table +recurred to him. He had figured to himself a supercilious blonde who +used her privileges as a Baumhagen and the richest girl in the city, to +subject her admirers to all manner of caprices. And he had found the +Gertrude of the church, a lovely, slender girl, with a simple unspoiled +nature, possessing no other pride than that of a noble woman. + +Involuntarily he walked faster. He would accept the kind invitation to +the ball. But when he reached the hotel he had changed his mind again. +He did not care to see her as a modern society woman, he would not +efface that lovely picture he had seen through the window of that poor +little house. He could not have borne it if she had met him in the +brilliant ball-room, with that air of condescension with which he had +heard her reproached to-day. He decided to dine at home. + +With this thought he had walked down the street again till he reached +the flower-shop. On a sudden impulse he entered and asked for a simple +bouquet. + +The woman had an immense bouquet in her hand at the moment, resembling +a cart-wheel surrounded by rich lace, which she was just giving to the +errand-boy. + +"For Miss Baumhagen," she said, "here is the card." + +Frank Linden saw a coat-of-arms over the name. He stepped back a +moment, undecided what to do. Then the shopwoman turned towards him. + +"A simple bouquet," he repeated. There was none ready, but they could +make up one immediately. The young man himself chose the flowers from +the wet sand and gave them to her. It must have been a pleasant +occupation for he was constantly putting back a rose and substituting a +finer one for it. At last it was finished, a graceful bouquet of white +roses just tinted with pink, like a maiden's blush, interspersed with +maiden-hair and delicate ferns. He looked at the dainty blossoms once +more, then paid for it and went back to the hotel. Then he laid the +bouquet on the table, called for ink and paper, took a visiting-card +and wrote. Suddenly he stopped and smiled, "What nonsense!" he said, +half aloud, "she is sure to carry the big bouquet." Then he began again +and read it over. It was a little verse asking if the godfather might +at this late hour send to the godmother the flowers which according to +ancient custom he ought to have offered at the christening, and +modestly hoping she would honor them by carrying them to the ball that +night. He smiled again, put it into the envelope and gave the bouquet +and letter to a messenger with instructions to carry both to Miss +Baumhagen. And then a thought struck him--the ball began at eight +o'clock--that would be in ten minutes--he would see Gertrude Baumhagen, +see--if his bouquet--nonsense! Very likely! But then he would wait. "It +is well the judge does not see me now!" he whispered to himself. He +felt like a child at Christmas time, so happy was he and so full of +expectation as he wandered up and down the square in front of the +hotel. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + +The clock struck eight. Gentlemen on foot had already been coming to +the hotel for some time, then ladies arrived, and at length the first +carriage containing guests for the ball rolled up, dainty feet tripped +up the steps, and rich silks rustled as they walked. Carriage followed +carriage; now came an elegant equipage with magnificent gray horses, a +charming slight woman's figure in a light blue dress covered with +delicate lace, bent forward, and a silvery laugh sounded in Linden's +ear. "It is Mrs. Fredericks," he heard the people murmur behind him. + +So that was her sister! + +The beautiful young wife swept up the steps like a lovely fairy, +followed by her husband in a faultless black dress-coat, carrying her +fan and bouquet. + +The carriage dashed across the marketplace again, to return in less +than five minutes. + +"Gertrude!" whispered Linden, drawing involuntarily further back into +the shadow. A short stout lady in a light gray dress descended from the +carriage, then she glided out and stood beside her mother, slender and +graceful in her shimmering white silk, her beautiful shoulders lightly +covered, and in her hand a well-known bouquet of pale roses. But this +was not the girl of a few hours back. The small head was bent back as +if the massive light brown braids were too heavy for it, and an +expression of proud reserve which he had not before perceived, rested +on the open countenance. + +Two gentlemen started forward to greet the ladies; the first gallantly +offered his arm to the mother, the other approached the young girl. She +thanked him proudly, scarcely touching his arm with her finger-tips. +Then suddenly this figure from which he could not take his eyes, +vanished like a beautiful vision. + +The encounter had left him in a mood of intense excitement. He bestowed +a dollar on a poor woman who stood beside him with a miserable child in +her arms, and he ordered out so big a glass of hot wine for old +Summerfeld, his coachman, that the old man was alarmed and hoped "they +should get home all right." + +"What folly it is," said Linden to himself. And when a moment later his +carriage drove up, and at the same moment the notes of a Strauss waltz +struck his ear, he began to hum the air of "The Rose of the South." +Then the carriage rattled over the market-place out on the dark country +road, and sooner than usual he was at home in his quiet little room, +taking a thousand pleasant thoughts with him. + +In the manor-house at Niendorf there was one room in which roses +bloomed in masses; not only in the boxes between the double windows or +in the pots on the sill according to the season, but in the room +itself, thousands of earth's fairest flowers were wreathed about the +pictures and furniture. It had a strange effect, especially when +instead of the sleeping beauty one might have expected to find here, +one perceived a very old woman in an arm chair by the window, +unweariedly engaged in cutting leaves and petals out of colored silk +paper, shaping and putting them together so that at length a rose +trembled on its wire stem, looking as natural from a little distance as +if it had just been cut from the bush. Aunt Rosalie could not live +without making roses; she lavished half her modest income on silk +paper, and every one whom she wished well, received a wreath of roses +as a present, red, pink, white and yellow blossoms tastefully +intermixed. All the village beauties wore roses of Aunt Rosalie's +manufacture in their well-oiled hair at the village dances. The graves +in the church-yard displayed masses of white and crimson roses from the +same store, torn and faded by wind and sun. The little church was +lavishly decked every year by Aunt Rosalie, with these witnesses to her +skill. + +She was known therefore throughout the village to young and old as +"Aunt Rose" or "Miss Rose," and not seldom was she followed in her +walks by a crowd of children, especially little girls, with the +petition "a rose for me too!" And "Aunt Rose" was always prepared for +them; the less successful specimens were kept entirely for this purpose +and were distributed from her capacious reticule with a lavish hand. + +Frank Linden had long been accustomed to spend an occasional hour in +the old lady's society. At the sight of her something of the atmosphere +of peace which surrounded her seemed to descend upon him and calmed and +soothed him. She would sit calm and still at her little table, her +small withered hands busied in forming the "symbols of a well-rounded +life." By degrees she had related to him in a quaintly solemn tone, +stories of the lives which had passed under the pointed gables of this +roof. There was little light and much shade among them, much guilt, and +error, a dark bit of life-history. A married pair who did not agree, an +only child idolized by both, and this only son covered himself and his +parents with disgrace and fled to America, where he died. The parents +were left behind without hope or comfort in the world, each reproaching +the other for the failure in their son's training. Then the wife died +of grief, and now began an endless term of loneliness for the elderly +man under a ban of misanthropy and scorn of his kind; loving no one but +his dog, associating with no one except with Wolff, who brought the +news and gossip of the town, and treating even him with a disdain +bordering on insult. + +"But you see, my dear nephew," the old aunt had added, "there are men +who are more like hounds than the hounds themselves,--dogs will cry out +when they are trodden upon, but the sort to which he belongs will smile +humbly at the hardest kick--and William found such a man necessary to +him." + +It was snowing; the mountains were all white, the garden lay shrouded +under a shining white coverlid, and white snow-flakes were dancing in +the air. Frank Linden had come back from hunting with the steward, and +after dinner he went into Aunt Rosalie's room. She rose as he entered +and came towards him. + +"There you see, my dear nephew, what happens when you go out for a day. +You have had a visit, such a splendid fashionable visitor in a +magnificent sleigh. I was just taking my walk in the corridor as he +came up the stairs and here is his card,"--she searched in her +reticule--"which he left for you." + +Frank took the card and read. "Arthur Fredericks." "Oh, I am sorry," he +said, really regretting his loss. "When was he here?" + +"Oh, just at noon precisely, when most Christians are eating their +dinner," she replied. "And the postman has been here too and brought a +letter for you. Oh, dear, where is it now? Where could I have put it?" +And she turned about and began to look for it, first on the table among +the pieces of silk paper and then on the floor, assisted by the young +man. + +"What did the letter look like, dearest Aunt?" + +"Blue--or gray--blue, I think," she replied, all out of breath, turning +out the contents of her red silk reticule. She brought out a mass of +rose-buds and an immense handkerchief edged with lace, but nothing +else. + +"Was the letter small or large?" he inquired from behind the sofa. + +"Large and thick," gasped Aunt Rosalie. "Such a thing never happened to +me before in my life--it is really dreadful." And with astounding +agility she turned over the things on the consumptive little piano and +tossed the antique sheets of music about. + +"Perhaps it got into the stove, Auntie." + +"No, no, it has not been unscrewed since this morning." + +Frank Linden went to the bell and rung. "Don't take any more trouble +about it, Auntie, the letter is sure to turn up; let the maid look for +it." + +Dorothy came and looked, and looked behind all the furniture, and +shaking out all the curtains--but in vain. + +"Well, we will give it up," declared Linden at length--"I suppose it is +a letter from my mother or from the Judge--I can ask them what they had +to say. Let us drink our coffee. Auntie." + +"I shan't sleep the whole night," declared the little old lady in much +excitement. + +"O don't think any more about it," he begged her, good-humoredly. "I am +sure there was nothing of any great importance in it. Tell me some of +your old stories now, they will just suit this weather." + +But the wrinkled face under the great cap still wore an anxious look, +and the dim eyes kept straying away from the coffee cups searchingly +round the room, lingering thoughtfully on the green lamp-shade. +Evidently there was no hope of a conversation with her. After awhile +the young man rose to go to his own room. + +"Yes, go, go," she said, relieved, "and then I can think where I could +have put that letter. Oh, my memory! my memory! I am growing so old." + +He walked along the corridor and mounted the staircase into the second +story. The twilight of the short winter day had already darkened all +the comers. It was painfully still in the house, only the echo of his +own footsteps sounding in his ear. It was such a day as his friend had +predicted for him--horribly lonely and empty, it seemed to rest like a +heavy weight on this world-remote house. One cannot always read, cannot +always be busy, especially when the thoughts stray uneasily out over +forest and meadow to a distinct goal, and always return anxious and +doubting. + +He stood in his room at the window and watched the snow flakes +fluttering down in the darkening air, and fell into a dream as he had +done every day for the last week. He gave himself up to it so entirely +that he fancied he could distinctly hear a light step behind him on the +carpet, and the soft tones of a woman's voice, saying, "Frank, +Frankie!" He turned and gazed into the dusky room. What if she were to +open the door now,--what if she should come in with the child in her +arms? Why should it not be, why could it not be? Were these walls not +strong enough, these rooms not cosy and homelike enough to hold such +happiness? + +He began to walk up and down. Folly! Nonsense! What was he thinking of? +Oh, if he had never come here, or better still if she were only the +daughter of the foreman like her grandmother, and sat on the bench +before the little house under the lilac tree, then everything would be +so simple. He would not for the world enter that mad race for Gertrude +Baumhagen's money-bags, in which so many had already come to grief. But +her sweet friendship?-- + +And then he fell helpless again before the charm of her eyes. + +He was suffering from those doubts, from those alternating fears and +hopes that torment every man who is in love. And Frank Linden in his +loneliness had long since acknowledged to himself that he only wanted +Gertrude Baumhagen to complete his happiness. + +His was by no means a shy or retiring nature. On the contrary, he +possessed that modest boldness which seems so natural to some people on +whom society looks with favor. If he were owner of a large estate +instead of this "hole"--as the Judge designated Niendorf--he would +rather have asked to-day than to-morrow if she would be his wife, +without too great a shyness of the money-bags. But as it was, he could +not, he must make his way a little first, and before he could do that, +who could tell what might have happened to Gertrude Baumhagen? + +He bit his lip at the thought--the result was always the same. But was +a true heart nothing then, and a strong will? If the Judge were only +here so he could ask him-- + +During these thoughts he had lighted the lamp. There lay the card on +the table, which Aunt Rosalie had given him. "Arthur Fredericks." He +smiled as he thought of the little insignificant man to whom her sister +had given her heart, and he could not think of Gertrude as belonging to +him in any way. At last a return visit from him! And there were some +half effaced words written with a pencil. + +"Very sorry not to have met you; hope you will come to a little supper +at our house the day after Christmas." + +It was the first invitation to Gertrude's house. He wrote an acceptance +at once. Then he remembered that he had ordered the sleigh to go to the +city to do some errands there. He would send the hotel porter across +with the card. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + +Christmas had passed and the last of the holidays had come with rain +and thaw; it stripped off the brilliant white snowy coverlid from the +earth as if it had been only a festal decoration, and the black earth +was good enough for ordinary days. + +Mrs. Baumhagen was sitting in a peevish mood at the window in her room +looking out over the market-place. She had a slight headache, and +besides--there was nothing at all to do to-day, no theatre, no party, +not even the whist club, and yesterday at Jenny's it had been very +dull. Finally she was vexed with Gertrude who, contrary to all custom, +had talked eagerly to her neighbor at dinner, that stranger who had run +after her in the church that time. + +It was foolish of the children to have placed him beside her. + +"A letter, Mrs. Baumhagen." Sophie brought in a simple white envelope. + +"Without any post-mark? Who left it?" she asked, looking at the +handwriting which was quite unknown to her. + +"An old servant or coachman, I did not know him." + +Mrs. Baumhagen shook her head as she took the letter and read it. + +She rose suddenly, with a deep flush on her face, and called: + +"Gertrude! Gertrude!" + +The young girl came at once. + +The active little woman had already rung the bell and said to Sophie as +she entered: + +"Call Mrs. Fredericks and my son-in-law, tell them to come quickly, +quickly!--Gertrude, I must have an explanation of this. But I must +collect myself first, must--" + +"Mamma," entreated the young girl, turning slightly pale, "let us +discuss the matter alone--why should Jenny and Arthur--?" + +"Do you know then what is in this letter?" cried the excited mother. + +"Yes," replied Gertrude, firmly, coming up to the arm chair into which +her mother had thrown herself. + +"With your consent, child?--Gertrude?" + +"With my consent, mamma," repeated the young girl, a clear, bright +crimson staining the beautiful face. + +Mrs. Baumhagen said not another word, but began to cry bitterly. + +"When did you permit him to write to me?" she asked, after a long +pause, drying her eyes. + +"Yesterday, mamma." + +At this moment Jenny thrust her pretty blonde head in at the door. + +"Jenny!" cried the mother, the tears again starting to her eyes, and +the obstinate lines about the mouth coming out more distinctly. + +"For Heaven's sake, what is the matter?" cried the young wife. + +"Jenny, child! Gertrude is engaged!" + +Mrs. Jenny recovered her composure at once. "Well," she cried, lightly, +"is that so great a misfortune?" + +"But, to whom, to whom!" cried the mother. + +"Well?" inquired Jenny. + +"To that--that--yesterday--Linden is his name, Frank Linden. Here it is +down in black and white,--a man that I have hardly seen three times!" + +Jenny turned her large and wondering eyes upon Gertrude, who was still +standing behind her mother's chair. + +"Good gracious, Gertrude," she cried, "what possessed you to think of +him?" + +"What possessed you to think of Arthur?" asked the young girl, +straightening herself up. "How do people ever think of each other? I +don't know, I only know that I love him, and I have pledged him my +word." + +"When, I should like to know?" + +"Last evening, in your red room, Jenny,--if you think the _when_ has +anything to do with the matter." + +"But, so suddenly, without any preparation. What guarantee have you +that he--?" + +"As good a guarantee at least," interrupted Gertrude, now pale to the +lips, "as I should have had if I had accepted Lieutenant von +Lowenberg's proposal the other day." + +"Yes, yes, she is right there, mamma," said Jenny. + +"Oh, of course!" was the reply, "I am to say yes and amen at once. But +I must speak to Arthur first and to Aunt Pauline and Uncle Henry. I +will not take the responsibility of such a step on myself alone in any +case." + +"Mamma, you will not go asking the whole neighborhood," said the young +girl, in a trembling voice. "It only concerns you and me, and--" she +drew a long breath--"I shall hardly change my mind in consequence of +any representations." + +"But Arthur could make inquiries about him," interrupted Jenny. + +"Thank you, Jenny, I beg you will spare yourself the trouble. My heart +speaks loudly enough for him. If I had not known my own mind weeks ago, +I should not be standing before you as I am now." + +"You are an ungrateful and heartless child," sobbed her mother. "You +think you will conquer me by your obstinacy. Your father used to drive +me wild with just that same calmness. It makes me tremble all over only +just to see those firmly closed lips and those calm eyes. It is +dreadful!" + +Gertrude remained standing a few minutes, then without a word of reply +she left the room. + +"It is a speculation on his part," said Mrs. Jenny, carelessly, "there +is no doubt of that." + +"And she believes all he tells her," sobbed the mother. "That unlucky +christening was the cause of it all. She is so impressed by anything of +that sort." + +Jenny nodded. + +"And now she will just settle down forever at that wretched Niendorf, +for there is no turning her when she has once made up her mind." + +"Heaven forgive me, she has the Baumhagen obstinacy in full measure; I +know what I have suffered from it." + +"This Linden is handsome," remarked Jenny, taking no notice of the +violent weeping. "Goodness, what a stir it will make through the town! +She might have taken some one else. But did I not always tell you, +mamma, that she was sure to do something foolish?" + +"Arthur!" she cried to her husband who had just come in, "just fancy, +Gertrude has engaged herself to that--Linden." + +"The devil she has!" escaped Arthur Fredericks' lips. + +"Tell me, my dear son, what do you know about him? You must have heard +something at the Club, or--" + +Mrs. Baumhagen had let her handkerchief fall, and was gazing with a +look of woe at her son-in-law. + +"Oh, he is a nice fellow enough, but poor as a church mouse. He knows +what he is about when he makes up to Gertrude. Confound it! If I had +known what he was up to, I would never have asked him here." + +"Yes, and she declares she will not give him up," said Jenny. + +"I believe that, without any assurances from you; she is your sister. +When you have once got a thing into your head--well, I know what +happens." + +"Arthur!" sobbed the elder lady, reproachfully. + +"I must beg, Arthur, that you will not always be charging me with spite +and obstinacy," pouted the younger. + +"But, my dear child, it is perfectly true--" + +"Don't be always contradicting!" cried Mrs. Jenny, energetically, +stamping her foot and taking out her handkerchief, ready to cry at a +moment's notice. He knew this man[oe]uvre of old and drew his hand +hastily through his hair. + +"Very well then, what am I to do about it?" he asked. "What do you want +of me?" + +"Your advice, Arthur," groaned the mother-in-law. + +"My advice? Well then--say yes." + +"But he is so entirely without means, as I heard the other day," +interposed Mrs. Baumhagen. + +He shrugged his shoulders. "Bah! Gertrude can afford to marry a poor +man. Besides--I don't know much about Niendorf, but I should think +something might be made of it under good management. He seems to be the +man for the place, and Wolff was telling me the other day that Linden +was going to raise sheep on a large scale." + +"That last bit of information of course settles the matter," remarked +Jenny, ironically. + +"No, no," cried the mother, sobbing again, "you none of you take it +seriously enough. I cannot bring myself to consent, I have hardly +exchanged half a dozen words with this Linden. Oh, what unheard-of +presumption!" She rose from her chair, and crimson with excitement +threw herself on the lounge. + +"Now look out for hysterics," whispered Arthur, indifferently, taking +out a cigar. + +Jenny answered only by a look, but that was blighting. She took her +train in her hand and swept past her astonished husband. + +"Take me with you," he said, gayly. + +"Jenny, stay with me," cried her mother, "don't leave me now." + +And the young wife turned back, met her husband at the door, and passed +him with her nose in the air to sit down beside her mother. + +Oh, he had a long account to settle with her; she would have her +revenge yet for his disagreeable remarks at the breakfast-table when +she quite innocently praised Colonel von Brelow. He was not expecting +anything pleasant either; she could see that at once, but only let him +wait a little! + +"How, mamma?" she inquired, "did you think I had anything to say to +Arthur? Bah! He is an Othello--a blind one--they are always the worst." + +"Ah, Jenny, that unhappy child--Gertrude." + +"Oh, yes, to be sure," assented the young wife, "that stupid nonsense +of Gertrude's--" + +In the meantime the young girl was standing before her father's +picture, her whole being in a tumult between happiness and pain. She +had not closed her eyes the night before since she had shyly given him +her hand with a scarcely whispered, "yes." + +She knew he loved her; she had fancied a hundred times what it would be +when he should tell her of it, and now it had come so suddenly, so +unexpectedly. She had loved him long already, ever since she had seen +him that first time; and since then she had escaped none of the joy and +pain of a secret attachment. + +She took nothing lightly, did nothing by halves, and she had given +herself up wholly to this fascination. Whoever should try to take him +from her now, must tear her heart out of her breast. + +As she stood there the tears ran down over her pale face in great +drops, but a smile lingered about the small pouting mouth. + +"I know it very well," she whispered, nodding at her father's picture, +"you would be sure to like him, papa!" And a happy memory of the words +he had spoken yesterday came back to her, of his lonely house, of his +longing for her, and that he could offer her nothing but that modest +home and a faithful heart. + +His only wealth at present was a multitude of cares. + +"Let me bear the cares with you, no happiness on earth would be greater +than this," she wished to say, but she had only drooped her eyes and +given him her hand--the words would not pass her lips. + +It was as if she had been walking in the deepest shadow and had +suddenly come out into the warm, life-giving sunshine. "It is too much, +too much happiness!" she had thought this morning when she got up. She +thought so still, and it seemed to her that the tears she shed were +only a just tribute to her overpowering happiness. If her mother had +consented at once, if she had said, "He shall be like a beloved son to +me, bring him to me at once," that would have been too much, but this +refusal, this distrust seemed to be meant to tone down her bliss a +little. It was like the snow-storm in spring, which covers the early +leaves and blossoms,--but when it is past do they not bloom out in +double beauty? + +The conversation in the next room grew more eager. Gertrude heard the +complaining voice of her mother more clearly than before. It had a +painful effect upon her and she cast a glance involuntarily at her +father's picture, as if he could still hear what had been the torture +of his life. Gertrude could recall so many scenes of complaint and +crying in that very room. How often had her father's authoritative +voice penetrated to her ear: "Very well, Ottilie, you shall have your +way, but--spare me!" And how often had a pallid man entered through +that door and thrown himself silently on the sofa as if he found a +refuge here with his child. Ah, and it had been so too on that day, +that dreadful day, when afterwards it had grown so still, so deathly +still. + +And there it was again, the loud weeping, the complaints against Heaven +that had made her the most miserable of women, and now was punishing +her through her children. Then there was an opening and shutting of +doors, a running about of servants; Gertrude even fancied she could +perceive the penetrating odor of valerian which Mrs. Baumhagen was +accustomed to take for her nervous attacks. And then the door flew open +and Jenny came in. + +"Mamma is quite miserable," she said, reproachfully; "I had to send for +the doctor, and Sophie is putting wet compresses on her head. A lovely +day, I must say!" + +"I am so sorry, Jenny," said the young girl. + +"Oh, yes, but it was a very sudden blow. I must honestly confess that I +cannot understand you, Gertrude. You must have refused more than ten +good offers, you were always so fastidious, and now you have taken the +first best that offered." + +"The best certainly," thought Gertrude, but she was silent. + +The young wife mistakenly considered this as the effect of her words. + +"Now just consider, child," she continued, "think it over again, you--" + +"Stop, Jenny," cried the young girl in a firm voice. "What gives you +the right to speak so to me? Have I ever uttered a word about your +choice? Did I not welcome Arthur kindly? What advantages has he over +Linden? I alone have to judge as to the wisdom of this step, for I +alone must bear the consequences. It is not right to try to influence a +person in a matter that is so individual, that so entirely concerns +that person alone." + +"Good gracious, don't get so excited about it!" cried Jenny. "We do not +consider him an eligible _parti_, because he is entirely without +fortune." + +A deep shadow passed over Gertrude's pale face. "Oh, put aside the +question of money," she entreated; "do not disturb the sweetest dream +of my life--don't speak of it, Jenny." + +But Jenny continued--"No, I will not keep silent, for you live in +dreamland, and you must look a little at the realities of life that you +may not fall too suddenly out of your fancied heaven. Perhaps you +imagine that Frank Linden would have shown such haste if you had not +been Gertrude Baumhagen? Most certainly he would not! I consider +it my duty to tell you that mamma, as well as Arthur and I, are +of the opinion that his first thought was of the capital our good +father--" She stopped, for Gertrude stood before her, tall and +threatening. + +"You may comfort yourself, Jenny," she gasped out. "I believe in him, +and I shall speak no word in his defence. You and the others may think +what you please, I cannot prevent it, cannot even resent it, you--" She +stopped, she would not utter the bitter words.--"Be so kind as to tell +mamma that I will not break my word to him." She added, more calmly, "I +shall be so grateful to you, Jenny--if any one can do anything with her +it is you--her darling!" + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + +The young wife left her sister's room almost in consternation. She +could find nothing to say to Gertrude's unexpected reliance upon her. +The sisters had never understood each other. Jenny could not comprehend +now how any one could be so blinded and so unwise, and she was startled +as if by something pure and lofty as the clear girlish eyes rested on +her, which could still discover poetry amid all the dusty prose of +life. She sat down again beside the sofa. + +"Mamma," she whispered, after a pause, during which she balanced +her small slipper thoughtfully on the tip of her toe, "Mamma, I +really believe you can't help it--will you have a little eau de +cologne?--Gertrude is so madly in love with him. I am sure you will +have to give your consent, notwithstanding it is so great a +disappointment." + +Gertrude remained standing in the middle of the room looking after her +sister. She felt sorry for her. It must be dreadful when one could no +longer believe in love and disinterestedness, and the image of Frank +Linden's true eyes rose up before her as clear as his pure heart +itself. Can a man look like that with ulterior motives? can a man speak +so with a lie in his heart? She could have laughed aloud in her +blissful certainty. Even though she were poor, a beggar indeed, he +would still love her. + +In the afternoon a great conference was held. At twelve o'clock an +order was suddenly given from the sofa to have the drawing-room heated, +the Dresden coffee service taken out, and some cakes sent for from the +confectioner's. Madame Ottilie would hold a family counsel. + +The aroma of Sophie's celebrated coffee penetrated even to Gertrude's +lonely room. She could hear the doors open and shut, and now and then +the voice of Aunt Pauline, and Uncle Henry's comfortable laugh. The day +drew near its close and still no conclusion seemed to have been arrived +at, but Gertrude sat calmly in her bow-window and waited. He would be +calm too, she was sure of that--he had her word. Steps at last--that +must be her uncle. + +"Well, Miss Gertrude!" he called out into the dusky room--"he came, he +saw, he conquered--eh? Fine doings, these. Your mother is in a pretty +temper over the presumption of the bold youth. He will need all his +fascinations to gain her favor as a mother-in-law. Well, come in now, +and thank me for her consent." + +"I knew it, uncle," she said, pleasantly. "I was sure you would stand +by me." + +He was a little old gentleman with a little round body, which he always +fed well in his splendid bachelor dinners; always in good humor, +especially after a good glass of wine. And as he knew what an agreeable +effect this always had upon him, he never failed for the benefit of +mankind, to make use of this means of making himself amiable and merry. +He now took the tall, slender girl laughingly by the hand as if she +were a child, and led her towards the door. + +"Live and let live, Gertrude!" he cried. "It is out of pure egotism +that I made such a commotion about it. You need not thank me, I was +only joking. You see, I can stand anything but a scene and a woman's +tears, and your mother understands that sort of thing to a T. That +always upsets me you know. 'Don't make a fuss, Ottilie,' I said. 'Why +shouldn't the little one marry that handsome young fellow? You +Baumhagen girls are lucky enough to be able to take a man simply +because you like him.' Ta, ta! Here comes the bride!" he called out, +letting Gertrude pass before him into the lighted room. + +She walked with a light step and a grave face up to her mother, who was +reclining in the corner of the sofa as if she were entirely worn out by +the important discussion. By her side sat the thin aunt in a black silk +dress, her blond cap reposing on her brown false front, in full +consciousness of her dignity. Jenny sat near her while Arthur was +standing by the stove. The ladies had been drinking coffee, the +gentlemen wine. The violet velvet curtains were drawn and everything +looked cosy and comfortable. + +"I thank you, mamma," said Gertrude. + +Mrs. Baumhagen nodded slightly and touched her daughter's lips with +hers. "May you never repent this step," she said, faintly; "it is not +without great anxiety that I give my consent, and I have yielded only +in consequence of my knowledge of your unbending--yes, I must say it +now--passionate character--and for the sake of peace." + +A bitter smile played about Gertrude's mouth. + +"I thank you, mamma," she repeated. + +"My dear Gertrude," began her aunt, solemnly, "take from me too--" + +"Oh, come," interposed Uncle Henry, very ungallantly, "do have +compassion, in the first place on me, but next on that languishing +youth in Niendorf, and send him his answer. It has happened before now +that dreadful consequences have followed such suspense; I could tell +you some blood-curdling stories about it, I assure you. Come, we will +write out a telegram," he continued, drawing a notebook from his pocket +and tearing out a leaf, while he borrowed a pencil from his dear nephew +Arthur. + +"Well, what shall it be, Gertrude?" he inquired, when he was ready to +write. "'Come to my arms!' or 'Thine forever!' or 'Speak to my mother,' +or--ha! ha! I have it--'My mother will see you; come to-morrow and get +her consent. Gertrude Baumhagen.' 'And get her consent,'" he spelt out +as he wrote. + +"Thanks, uncle," said the young girl; "I would rather write it myself +in my room; his coachman is waiting at the hotel opposite." + +She could hear her uncle's hearty laugh over the poor fellow who had +been sighing in suspense from eleven o'clock this morning till now, and +then she shut her door. With a trembling hand she lighted her lamp and +wrote: "Mamma has consented; I shall expect you to-morrow. Your +Gertrude." + +The old Sophie, who had been a servant in the Baumhagen house before +the master was married, took the note. "I will carry it across myself, +Miss Gertrude," she said, "and if it was pouring harder than it is, and +if I got my rheumatism back for it, I would go all the same. I have the +fate of two people in my hand in this little bit of paper. God grant +that it may bring joy to you both. Miss Gertrude." + +Gertrude pressed her hand and then went to the bow-window and looked +through the glass to watch Sophie as she crossed the square. Her white +apron fluttered now under the street-lamp near the old apple-woman, and +then under the swinging lamp before the hotel. If the old man would +only drive as fast as his horses could carry him! Every minute of +waiting seemed too long to her now. + +Then the white apron appeared again under the hotel lamp, but there was +somebody before it. Gertrude pressed her hands suddenly against her +beating heart. "Frank!" she gasped, and her limbs almost refused to +support her as she tried to make a few steps; He had waited for the +answer himself! + +"There he is, there he is, my bridegroom!" escaped from the quivering +lips. The whole sacred signification of that blessed word overpowered +her. Then Sophie opened the door softly and he crossed the threshold of +the dainty maiden's boudoir, and shut the door as softly behind him. +The faithful old servant could only see how her proud young mistress +nestled into his arms and mutely received his kisses--"Oh, what a +wonderful thing this love is!" she said, smiling to herself. + +Then she turned towards the drawing-room, but when she reached the door +she turned away with a shake of her head. They would all be rushing in +and she would not shorten these blessed minutes for Gertrude. It would +be time enough to go to "madam" in a quarter of an hour. And she busied +herself in the corridor in order to be at hand at the right moment, in +case they should both forget all about the mother in the multiplicity +of things they had to say. + +It was midnight before Linden finally drove home. The jovial uncle had +gotten up a little celebration of the betrothal on the spur of the +moment, and made a long speech himself. Then Mrs. Jenny had been very +gay and had laughed and jested with her brother-in-law _in spe_. But +Mrs. Baumhagen, after a private interview of half an hour with the +young man, remained silent and grave, and played out her role of +anxious mother to the end. She scarcely touched her lips to the glass +of champagne when the company drank to the health of the young +betrothed. + +Frank Linden, however, had not taken offence at her coldness. She knew +him so slightly, and he had come like a hungry wolf to rob her of her +one little lamb. + +It must be dreadful to give up a daughter, he thought, and especially +such a daughter as Gertrude. He was touched to the heart; he thought of +his own old mother, he thought how gloomy the future had looked to him +only a few weeks ago and how sunny it was now; and all these sunny rays +shone out from a pair of blue eyes in a sweet, pale, girlish face. He +did not know himself how he had happened to speak to her so quickly of +his love. He saw again that brilliantly lighted crimson room of +yesterday, and the dim twilight in the bow-window room; there she stood +in the wonderful light, a mingled moonlight and candle-light. The +Christmas tree was lighted in the next room and the voices and laughter +of the company floated to his ears. She had turned as he approached her +and he had seen tears on her cheeks. But she laughed as she perceived +his dismay. + +"Ah, it is because Christmas always reminds me of papa. He has been +dead seven years yesterday." + +One word had led to another and at length they had found their hands +clasped together. + +"I would gladly have held this little hand fast that time in the +church. Would you have been angry, Gertrude?" and she had shaken her +head and looked up at him, smiling through her tears, trusting and +sweet, this proud young creature--his bride, soon to be his wife! + +He started up out of his dream. The carriage stopped at the steps and +the house rose dark above him--only behind Aunt Rosa's windows was a +light still shining. He went up the steps as if in a dream and entered +the garden hall. He looked round as if he had entered the room for the +first time, so strange it looked, so changed, so bare and cold. And he +thought of the time when someone would be waiting for him here. He +could not imagine such happiness. + +The door opened softly behind him and as he turned he saw Aunt Rosa +appearing like a ghost. + +"I have been waiting for you, my dear nephew," she cried out in her +shrill voice; "I have found that letter at last, thank Heaven! It is +upstairs in your room, and it has taken a weight off my mind, I assure +you, Frank." She nodded kindly at him from under her enormous cap. "You +are late getting home. I am tired and am going to bed now. Goodnight, +good-night!" + +And she moved lightly like a ghost to the door. + +"Auntie!" cried a voice behind her so loud and gay that she turned +round in amazement. But then he was beside her and had clasped her in +both arms, and before she knew what was happening to her, the shy old +maiden lady felt a resounding kiss on her cheek. + +"What on earth, Frank Linden--have you gone out of your mind?" + +"O, auntie, I can't keep it to myself, I shall choke if I do. So don't +be cross. If I had my old mother here, I should kiss the old lady to +death for pure bliss. You must congratulate me. Gertrude Baumhagen will +be my wife." + +Aunt Rosa's half-shocked, half-vexed countenance grew rigid. "Is it +possible," she whispered, in amazement, "she will marry into our old +house? And the family have consented?" + +"A Baumhagen--yes! And she will marry into this old house and the +family have consented. Aunt Rosa." + +"God's blessing on you! God's richest blessing!" she whispered, but she +shook her head and looked at him incredulously. "I shan't sleep a bit +to-night," she continued. "I am glad, I rejoice with all my heart, but +you might have told me to-morrow. It is done now. Good night, Frank. I +am glad indeed; this old house needs a mistress. God grant that she may +be a good one." And she pressed his hand as she left him. + +He too went to his room. The lamp was burning on the round table and a +letter lay beneath it. Ah, true! the long-lost letter! He took it up +abstractedly--it was in Wolff's handwriting. He put it down again; what +could he want? Some business of course. Should he spoil this happy +hour with unpleasant, perhaps care-bringing news? No, let the letter +wait--till--but he had already taken it up and broken the seal. + +[Illustration: "But he had already taken it up and broken the seal."] + +It was a long letter and as he read, he bit his lips hard. "Pitiful +scoundrel!" he said at length, aloud, "it is well this letter did not +reach me sooner, or things would not have happened as they have." And +as if shrinking with disgust from the very touch of the paper, he flung +it into the nearest drawer of his writing-table. + +"Vile wretches, who make the most sacred things a matter of traffic!" + +He sat for a long time lost in thought, and a deep furrow marked itself +out between his brows. Then he wrote a long letter to his friend, the +judge, and gradually his face cleared again--he was telling him about +Gertrude. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + +"Good morning, Uncle Henry," said Gertrude, who was sitting at her +work-table in the bow-window. She rose as she spoke and went to meet +the stout little gentleman as he entered. + +"Well, it is lucky that one of you at least is at home," he replied, +rubbing his glasses with his red handkerchief, after giving Gertrude's +hand a hearty shake. "I wonder if one of the women-kind except you +could possibly stay at home for a day. Mrs. Jenny is making calls, Mrs. +Ottilie is gone to a coffee party--it is easy to see that a strong hand +to hold the reins is wanting here." + +Gertrude smiled. + +"Uncle, don't scold, but come and sit down," she said. "You come just +in time for me; I had just written a little note to you to ask you to +come and see me. I need your advice." + +"Oh! but not immediately, child, not immediately! I have just had my +dinner," he explained, "and nothing can be more dangerous than hard +thinking just after a meal. Ta, ta! There, this is comfortable; now +tell me something pleasant, child--about your lover; for instance, how +many kisses did he give you yesterday? Honestly now, Gertrude." + +He had stretched himself out comfortably in an arm-chair, and his young +niece pushed a footstool under his feet and put an afghan over his +knees. + +"None at all, uncle," she said, gravely; "people do not ask about such +things either, you know. Besides I see Frank very seldom," she +hesitated. "Mamma goes out so much, and I cannot receive him when she +is not at home. And, uncle, it is about that that I wanted to speak to +you. Mamma,"--she hesitated again,--"mamma makes me so anxious by all +manner of remarks about Linden's circumstances. You know, uncle--" + +"And you think she knows all about them?" said the old gentleman. "Oh, +of course, ta, ta!" + +"Yes, uncle. You see the day before yesterday mamma went out to dine +with Jenny, and when she came back she called me into her room, and as +soon as I got there I saw that something had happened. Just fancy, +uncle, she had been in Niendorf to see, as mamma expressed it, the +place where her daughter was going to bury herself. It would be +horrible, she declared, to take a young wife to this peasant house; it +was not fit for any one to live in; she had felt as if she were in some +third-rate farm-house. Linden was sitting in a room--she could touch +the ceiling with her hand it was so low, and it was all so poor and +common. In short, I could not go there, and if I would not give up my +whim of being Mr. Linden's wife, she would have to build a house for me +first, for he--he--well, he certainly would not be able to do it, and +it would be much more convenient too, to have a snug nest made for him +by his mother-in-law. Jenny, who was present at this scene, agreed with +her in everything. Oh, uncle, I am so sorry for him, and it is all on +my account." + +"Did your mother speak to him about building?" asked Uncle Henry. + +She drew her hand across her forehead. + +"I don't know--I went away without answering. If I had made any reply, +it would have been of no use--we battle with unequal weapons, or rather +I cannot use my weapons, for she is still my mother." + +Her uncle's eyes gazed at her with unmistakable compassion--she was so +pale and she had a weary look about her mouth. + +"You poor child! I see they do not make your engagement time exactly a +Paradise to you," he thought; but he only cleared his throat and said +nothing. + +"And what can I do about it?" he asked, after a pause. + +"I am going to tell you that now," said Gertrude. "You see I have to +torment you. I am not on such terms with Arthur that he could advise me +in this. I want to ask you, uncle, to speak to Frank--I must know how +great his pecuniary difficulties are, and--" + +"Nonsense, child," interrupted the old gentleman, evidently +unpleasantly surprised,--"Why should you drag me in? Pecuniary +difficulties! What can you do about it? For the present you have +nothing to do with it--and you will find out about it soon enough." + +"You mean because we are not yet man and wife?" she asked. + +"Of course!" he nodded. + +"O, it is quite the same thing, uncle," she cried, eagerly. "From the +moment of our betrothal, I have considered myself as belonging to him +entirely, and everything of mine as his. Then why, since I can already +dispose of a part of my property as I please, should I not help him out +of what may perhaps be a very unpleasant situation?" + +"But, my dear child--" + +"Let me have my say out, uncle. You know I have ten thousand dollars +that came from my grandmother, about which no one has anything to say +but myself, and you shall pay over these ten thousand dollars to +Linden. I suppose he will have to build--he may need all sorts of +things then, and he will be fretted and worried--do this for me, uncle; +you see _I_ cannot talk to him about such things." + +"Indeed, I will not, Miss Gertrude." + +"Why?" + +"Because he would take it, finally--or he would be angry. Thanks, ever +so much." + +"But I want him to take it." + +He was silent. + +"When are you going to be married, child?" he inquired at length. + +A rosy flush passed over Gertrude's face--"Mamma has not said anything +about it yet. Frank wants it to be in April, and--I do not want to +increase his difficulties by my reception." + +"Very well, very well, he can wait as long as that," said the old +gentleman. + +She looked disappointed, but she said nothing. + +"I don't want to go against your wishes, little one," he continued, +perceiving her sorrowful looks. "I only want to do what is right in +matters of business. Now you see if you are bent on following out this +plan you will throw away a fine sum of money--in order to make your +nest a right comfortable one. _Amantes_, _amentes_--that is to say in +plain English, lovers are mad--and when you wake up to what you have +done all your fat is in the fire." + +Gertrude said nothing, but she wore a pained expression about her +mouth. _He_ too spoke so. How often lately had she heard the same +thing? Even her pleasure in the single present Linden had made her had +been spoiled by similar insulting remarks. + +"Oh, don't look so miserable about it, little one," yawned the old +gentleman; "what have I said? We men are all egotists with one another +I assure you. Why then will you confirm your lover in his egotism and +let the roasted larks fly into his mouth beforehand? Keep a tight rein +over him, Gertrude, that is the only sensible thing to do; you must not +let him be anything more than the Prince Consort--keep the reins of +government in your own little fists; confound it, I believe you can +rule too!" + +"Uncle," said the young girl, softly going up to him, "Uncle, you are a +hypocrite, you say things that you don't believe yourself. You are all +egotists? And I don't know any one in the world who has less claim to +the title than you." + +"Really, child," he declared, laughing, "I am an egotist of the purest +water." + +"Indeed? Who gives as much as you to the poor of the city? Who supports +the whole family of the poor teacher, with rent, clothes, food and +drink? _Who_ now, uncle?" + +"All selfishness, pure selfishness!" he cried. + +"Prove it, uncle, prove it logically." + +"Nothing easier. You know the story of how I got a cramp in my leg and +dragged myself into the nearest house on the Steinstrasse, and sank +down on the first chair I could find. I was just going to dinner; had +invited Gustave Seyfried and Augustus Seemann to dine with me--well, +you know they have lived in Paris and London. So there I sat in that +little low room. The people were at dinner and a dish of thin potato +soup stood on the table, that would have been hardly enough for the man +alone. Seven children--seven children, mind you, Gertrude,--stood +round, and the mother was dealing out their portions. She began with +the youngest; the oldest, a lad of fourteen, got the last of the dish. +There was not much in it, and I shall never forget the look of those +sunken hungry eyes as they rested on that empty bowl. It made me feel +so queer all at once. I asked casually, what the man's business was? +Teacher of language at twelve cents an hour! He could not get a +permanent position on account of his ill health. Good God, Gertrude! +Four hours a day would give him fifty cents and he had seven children! + +"Well, do you know, that day we had oysters before the soup, and they +were rather dear just then, so I reckoned up that each one of those +smooth little delicacies cost as much as an hour's lesson, in which the +poor man talked his poor, weak throat hoarse. They wouldn't go down my +throat in spite of their slipperiness. I couldn't swallow more than +half a dozen and that was disagreeable. At every course it was the same +story, and when Louis uncorked the champagne, every pop seemed to go +straight to my stomach. I never ate a more uncomfortable dinner--it +disagreed with me besides, and I had to take some soda water. 'Confound +it!' I said, 'this thing can't go on,' and--you know, child, that a +good dinner is the purest pleasure in the world for men of my sort. So +there was nothing for me, if I wanted to enjoy my oysters again, but to +comfort myself with the thought that the seven hungry mouths were also +busy about their dinner. So I sent John to the teacher's wife to ask +her how much money she needed a month to feed all seven, with herself +and her husband into the bargain, so they would have enough. And, good +gracious, it wasn't such an enormous sum, and so I pay her a certain +sum every month and I can enjoy my dinner again at the hotel. Now, +prove if you can that that isn't pure selfishness." + +"Oh, of course, uncle," said the young girl, with brightening eyes, +"but I like that sort of selfishness." + +"It is all one, Gertrude; I am sending Hannah into retirement now out +of selfishness; she is getting so stout that she can't get through the +door any more with the coffee tray. And I ask you if I am to keep +another servant to open the double doors for her, just for the sake of +the old asthmatic woman? That would be fine! So I said to her this +morning, 'Hannah, you can go at Easter, and I will continue your wages +as a pension.' She was delighted, because she can go to her daughter, +now." + +"Uncle, I know you very well. I can trust to you," coaxed Gertrude. +"You will speak to Frank, won't you?" + +"Oh, well, yes, yes, only don't blush so. Now you see you have spoiled +my dessert with all your talking. When does her serene highness come +home?" + +"I don't know," replied the young girl. + +"To be sure, these coffee-parties are never to be counted upon. So you +two lovers only see each other on state occasions, like Romeo and +Juliet, or when you have company yourselves?" + +Gertrude nodded silently. + +"Is it possible!" cried the little gentleman as he rose to go--"as if +the time of an engagement were not the happiest in the world. +Afterwards it is all pure prose, my child. And they are spoiling this +time for you now--well, you just wait. I must go now to my card-party. +I will look in on your mother this evening. Good bye; my love to him +when you write." + +"Good-bye, uncle. Don't forget that I shall trust to your selfishness." + +When the old gentleman had closed the door behind him, she sat down to +her desk, look out a letter and began to read it. It was his last +letter; it had come this morning and it contained some verses. + +How she delighted in these verses in her loneliness! Nothing in the +world could separate them! She would indemnify him a thousandfold by +her love for all he had to endure now. She tried by a thousand sweet, +loving words to make him forget the scorn which her friends scarcely +tried to conceal for his boldness and presumption. His manly pride must +suffer so greatly under it. More than once the blood had mounted +quickly to his forehead, and more than once had he taken leave earlier +than he need, as if he could not keep silent and for the sake of peace +took refuge in flight. + +"I wish I had you in Niendorf now, Gertrude," he had said at the last +farewell. "I cannot bear it very patiently to be looked through as if I +were only air, by your mother." + +And she had nestled closer to him, trembling with agitation. + +"Mamma does not mean anything by it, Frank," replied her lips, though +her heart knew better. And then he had pressed her passionately to him +as he said, + +"If I did not love you so much, Gertrude!" + +"But it will soon be spring, Frank." + +And to-day the verses had come with a bouquet of violets. + +She started as she heard Jenny's voice, and immediately after her +sister came in, angry and excited. + +"I must come to you for a little rest, Gertrude," she said. "Linden is +not here? Thank goodness! I can't stand it at home any longer, the baby +is so fretful and screams and cries enough to deafen one. The doctor +says he must be put to bed, so I have tucked him into his crib. There +is always something to upset and fret one." + +Gertrude started. Well at any rate he was in good hands with Caroline, +she thought. + +"Are you going to the masked ball--you and Linden?" asked the young +wife. + +"No," replied Gertrude, putting away her letter. + +"Why not?" + +"Why should we go? I do not like to dance, as you know, Jenny." + +"Has Uncle Henry been here?" + +"Yes. Is the baby really ill?" + +"Oh, nonsense! a little feverish, that is all. We are going to the +Dressels this evening. Arthur has sent to Berlin for pictures of +costumes, for our quadrille. But you don't care for that. You will bury +yourself by and by entirely in Niendorf. The Landrath said to Arthur +the other day, 'Your sister-in-law will not be in her proper position; +she ought to have married a man in such a position that she would be a +leader in society.' You would have been an ornament to any salon and +now you are going to the Niendorf cow-stalls." + +"And _how_ glad I am!" said Gertrude, her eyes shining. + +"Mrs. Fredericks, ma'am," called the pretty maid just then, "won't you +please come down? The baby is so hot and restless." + +Jenny nodded, looked hastily at a half-finished piece of embroidery and +left the room. When Gertrude followed after a short time she was told +that the baby was doing very well and that Mr. and Mrs. Fredericks were +dressing for the evening. And so she went upstairs again to her lonely +room. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + +A week later the iron-gray horses were bringing the close carriage back +from the church-yard at a sharp trot. On the back seat sat Arthur +Fredericks with Uncle Henry beside him; opposite was Linden. They wore +crape around their hats and a band of crape on the left arm. + +The winter had come back once more in full force before taking its +final departure. It was snowing, and the great flakes settled down on a +little new-made grave within the iron railings of the Baumhagen family +burial-place. Jenny's golden-haired darling was dead! + +No one in the carriage spoke a word, and when the three gentlemen got +out each went his own way after a silent handshake: Uncle Henry to take +a glass of cognac, Arthur to his desolate young wife, while Linden went +up to Gertrude. He did not find her in the drawing-room; probably she +was with her sister. Presently he heard a slight rustling. He strode +across the soft carpet and stood in the open door-way of the room with +the bay-window. + +"Gertrude!" he cried, in dismay, "for Heaven's sake, what is the +matter?" + +She was kneeling before her little sofa, her head hidden in her arms, +her whole frame, convulsed with long, tearless sobs. + +"Gertrude!" + +He put his arms round her and tried to raise her, when she lifted up +her head and stood up. + +"Tell me what has happened, Gertrude," he urged; "is it grief for the +loss of the little one? I entreat you to be calm--you will make +yourself ill." + +She had not shed any tears, she only looked deathly pale and her hands, +which rested in his, were cold as ice. + +"Come," he said, "tell me what it is?" + +And he drew her towards him. + +She clung to him as she had never done before. + +"It will be all right again," she whispered, "now I am with you." + +"Were you afraid? Has anything happened to you?" he inquired, tenderly. + +She nodded. + +"Yes," she said, hastily, "a little while ago I chanced to hear a few +words mamma was saying to Aunt Pauline--they came up from Jenny's--I +suppose they did not think I was here--I don't know. Mamma was still +crying very much about the baby and--then she said Jenny must go +away--she must have a change--this apathy was so dangerous. You know +she has not spoken a word for three days--and--I must accompany her on +a long journey--so I--" She stopped and bit her quivering lips. + +"So you might forget me if possible?" he inquired, gravely. + +He put his hand under her chin and looked into her eyes. She did not +reply, but he read the confirmation of his suspicion in her tearful +eyes. + +"Are they so anxious to be rid of me? Is their dislike so strong, +Gertrude? And you?" He felt how she trembled. + +"Oh!" she cried with a passion which made Linden start, "Oh, I--do +you know there are moments when something seems to take possession +of me with the power of a demon--I am swept away by the force of my +wrath--I--I do not know what I say and do--I am ashamed now--I ought to +have been calm--they cannot separate us, no--they cannot. Now mamma is +lying on the sofa in her room and Sophie has gone for the doctor. Ah, +Frank, I have borne it all so patiently all these long years--is it so +great a sin that my long suppressed feelings should have burst out at +last, that my self-control should have given way for once? I was +violent--I have always thought I was so calm--those words that I heard +seemed to sweep me away like a storm--I don't know what reproaches I +may have spoken against my mother. And to-day, just to-day, when they +have carried away the only sunbeam that was in this house for me!" + +"We will go to your mother, Gertrude, and beg her to pardon us for +loving each other so much--come!" + +He had said this to comfort her, and because he felt that something +must be done. His own desire would have been to take the young girl by +the hand and lead her away out of this house. + +She freed herself from him and looked at him in amazement. "Ask pardon? +And for that?" + +"Gertrude, don't misunderstand me." He felt almost embarrassed before +her great wondering eyes. + +"I meant that we should show your mother calmly and quietly that we +cannot give each other up. Say something to her in excuse for your +vehemence. Come, I will go with you." + +"No, I cannot!" she cried, "I cannot beg forgiveness when I have been +so injured in all that I hold most sacred. I cannot!" she reiterated, +going past him to the deep window. + +He followed her and took her hand; a strange feeling had come over him. +Until now he had only seen in her a calm, reasonable woman. But she +misunderstood him. + +"No!" she cried, "don't ask me, Frank. I will not do it, I cannot, I +never could! Not even when I was a child, though she shut me up for +hours in a dark room." + +"I was not going to urge you," he said; "only give me your hand, I must +know whether this is really you, Gertrude." + +She bent down and pressed a kiss on his right hand. "If _you_ were not +in the world, Frank, if I had to be here all alone!" she whispered +warmly. + +"But you have all this trouble on my account," he replied, much moved. + +She shook her head. + +"Only do not misunderstand me," she continued, "and have patience with +my faults. You will promise me that, Frank, will you not?" she urged in +an anxious tone. "You see I am so perverse when I feel injured; I get +as hard as a stone then and everything good seems to die out of me. I +could hate those people who thrust their low ideas on me! Frank, you +don't know how I have suffered from this already." + +They still stood hand in hand. The snow whirled about before the window +in the twilight of the short winter day. It was so still here inside, +so warm and cosy. + +"Frank!" she whispered. + +"My Gertrude!" + +"You are not angry with me?" + +"No, no. We will bear with each other's faults and we will try to +improve when we are all alone by our two selves." + +"You have no faults," she said, proudly, in a tone of conviction, +drawing closer to him. + +He was grave. + +"Yes, Gertrude, I am very vehement, I sometimes have terrible fits of +passion." + +"Those are not the worst men," she said, putting her arm round his +neck. + +"Are you so sure of that?" he asked, smiling into the lovely face that +looked so gentle now in the twilight. + +"Yes. My grandmother always said so," she replied. + +"The grandmother in the old time?" + +"Yes, dearest. Oh, if you had only known her! But I should like to see +your mother," she added. + +"We will go to see her, darling, as soon as we are married. When will +that be?" + +"Frank," she said, instead of answering, "don't let us go on a journey +at once; let me know first what it is to have a home where love, trust +and mutual understanding dwell together. Let me learn first what +_peace_ is." + +"Yes, my Gertrude. Would to God I could carry you off to the old house +to-morrow." + +"Gertrude!" called a shrill voice from the next room. + +She started. + +"Mamma!" she whispered. "Come!" They went together. Mrs. Baumhagen was +standing beside her writing-table. Sophie had just brought the lamp, +the light of which shone full on the mother's round flushed face, on +which rested an unusually decided expression. + +"I am glad you are here, Linden," she said to the young man, turning +down the leaf of the writing-table and taking her seat before it. + +"How much time do you require to put your house in order so that +Gertrude could live in it?" + +"Not long," he replied. "Some rooms need new carpets, and trifles of +that sort--that is all." + +"Very well--I shall be satisfied," she replied, coldly. "Then to-morrow +you will have the goodness to send your papers in to the clergyman and +have the banns published. In three weeks I shall leave for the South +with my eldest daughter, and before I go I wish to have this--this +affair arranged." + +Linden bowed. + +"I thank you, madam." + +Gertrude stood silent, white to the lips, but she did not look at him. +He knew she was suffering tortures for his sake. + +"Now I wish to settle some things with my daughter," continued Mrs. +Baumhagen, "with regard to her trousseau and the marriage contract." + +He turned to go at once, but stopped to kiss his bride's hand and +looked at her with imploring eyes. "Be calm," he whispered. + +Gertrude laid her hand on her lover's mouth. + +"I will have no marriage contract," she said aloud. + +"Then your fortune will be common property," was her mother's answer. + +"That is what I desire," she replied. "If I can give myself, I will not +keep my money from him. That would seem to me beyond measure, foolish." + +Mrs. Baumhagen shrugged her shoulders and turned away. The two were +standing close together and the bitter words died on her lips. + +"Your guardian may talk to you about that," she said. "Will you be so +kind, Linden, as to find my brother-in-law? I wish to speak with him." + +He kissed Gertrude on the forehead, took his hat and went. Thank +Heaven! he should soon be able to shelter her in his own house, this +proud young girl who loved him so. + +He walked quickly across the square. The fresh air did him good. He +felt thoroughly indignant that any one should endeavor to separate +them, putting hundreds of miles between them. How easily might a +misunderstanding arise, how easily with such a character as hers, whom +only the appearance of pettiness would suffice to arouse to scorn, +hatred and defiance! How many couples who were deeply attached to each +other had been separated in this way before now! He dared not think +what would have become of him if it had happened so with them. + +"'St!--'St,"--sounded behind him, and as he turned on the slippery +sidewalk he saw Uncle Henry coming down the hotel steps. He had +evidently been dining, and his jovial countenance displayed an +astonishing mixture of sadness and physical comfort. + +"I have had my dinner, Linden," he began, putting his arm through the +young man's. "I was very much cast down by this affair of this morning. +You don't misunderstand me I hope? Eh? I am not one of those who lose +their appetites when misfortune comes. I approve of our ancestors who +had funeral feasts. I assure you, Linden, that wasn't such a bad idea +as we of to-day fancy it. Give all honor to the dead, but the living +must have their rights, and to them belong eating and drinking, which +keep soul and body together. Ta, ta! A funeral always upsets me. The +poor little fellow! I was fond of him all the same, you may be sure. I +am sure you have not dined yet. Women never eat under such +circumstances, every one knows." + +"I was just going to look for you," replied Linden. "My future +mother-in-law wishes to see you. We--are going to be married in three +weeks." + +The little man in the fur coat stopped, and looked at Linden as if he +did not believe his ears. + +"How? What? She has changed her mind very suddenly--did Gertrude +improve the opportunity of her softened mood, or--?" + +"Gertrude would never do that--no, Mrs. Baumhagen wishes to travel for +some time with her eldest daughter, and--" + +"Oh, ta, ta! And Gertrude is not to go?" + +"On the contrary--but she would not." + +"Aha! Now it dawns upon me, something has happened. Her serene Highness +has been trying--now, I understand--travelling, new scenes, new +people--out of sight, out of mind. Ha! ha! she is a born diplomatist. +Well, I will come, only let us take the longest way; the fresh air does +me good. I am glad though, heartily glad--in three weeks it is to be +then?" + +The gentlemen walked on together in silence through the snow. It was +wonderfully quiet in the streets in spite of the traffic of business. +Men and carriages seemed to sweep over the white snow. The air was +mild, with a slight touch of spring, and Frank Linden thought of his +home and of the small room next his own, which would not long remain +unoccupied. + +"How do you do, my dear fellow!" said a voice beside him, and a little +man popped up in front of him, holding his hat high above his bald +head--his sharp little face beaming with friendliness. Linden bowed. +Uncle Henry carelessly touched the brim of his hat. + +"How do you come to know this Wolff?" he asked, looking after the man, +who was winding his way sinuously in and out among the crowd. "He is a +fellow who would spoil my appetite if I met him before dinner." + +"I am or rather was connected with him by business, through my old +uncle--he had money from him on a mortgage on Niendorf," explained +Linden. + +"From that cravat-manufacturer? The old man was not very wise." + +Linden did not reply. They had just turned into a quiet side-street. + +"Does he still hold the mortgage?" asked Mr. Baumhagen. + +"No, my friend's sister has taken it." + +"Indeed! Why did you not come to _me_ about it? You could have had some +of Gertrude's money--" + +Frank Linden made a gesture of refusal. + +"Oh--I promised the child; she has authorized me to put a certain +capital at your disposal," explained the old gentleman. + +"Thanks," replied Linden, shortly; "I will not have money matters mixed +up with my courtship." + +"And the new house at Niendorf?" + +"Gertrude knows that she must not expect a fairy palace. Moreover we +can live very comfortably there in the old rooms, though they are low +and small. I have a very pretty garden-hall, and as for the view from +the windows it would be hard to find another like it if you travel ever +so far." + +"Oh, the child is happy enough, but how about her serene Highness?" +chimed in Mr. Baumhagen. + +"I would far rather have her say, 'My child has gone to live in a +peasant's house,' than, '_We_ had to build first,'" remarked Linden, +drily. + +The old gentleman laughed comfortably to himself. + +"Yes, yes, that is just what she would say--and she wants to go +on a journey--it is astonishing! My dear old mother sought comfort +in occupation when my father died--that was the good old +custom--now-a-days people go on a journey. It would be better for +Jenny, poor thing, if she were to sorrow deeply here in her home. But +no, she must be dragged away so the whistle of the locomotive may drive +away her last memory of her little one's voice. Linden!" The old man +stopped and laid his hand on his shoulder. "Gertrude is not like that, +you may take my word for it. She would not go away from the little +grave out there--not now. She has her faults too, but--it is all right +with her _here_," striking his breast. "Heaven grant she may be +truly happy with you in the old nest. She has earned it by her sad +youth--through her father." + +Frank nodded. He knew it all very well, just as the old egotist told it +to him. + +"Well, now we must go," continued Uncle Henry; "my sister-in-law wants +to speak to me about the wedding, I suppose." + +"I think it is about the marriage contract," said Frank Linden, "and +I want to beg you to urge upon Gertrude to yield to her mother's +wishes--I shall like it better." + +"Hm!" said the old man, clearing his throat. "I yield, thou yieldest, +he yields, she--will _not_ yield! She is a perverse little +monkey--pardon. But it is no use mincing matters. She takes it from her +father. He was a splendid man of business, but as soon as his feelings +were concerned, away with prudence, wisdom, calculation, and what not. +Oh, ta, ta! But here we are." + +Mrs. Baumhagen received them very quietly, Gertrude was not with her. + +"She is in her room," she said to Linden, as he looked round for her. +"She expects you." + +He found her in the deep window. There was no lamp in the room, and the +light from the fire played on the carpet, "Gertrude," he said, "how can +I thank you!" And he took her hands, which burned in his like fire. + +"For what?" she asked. + +"For everything, Gertrude! You were quiet with your mother?" he added, +quietly, as she was silent. + +"Perfectly so," she replied; "I thought of you. But I am determined not +to have a marriage settlement." + +"You foolish girl. I might be unfortunate and have bad harvests and +things of that sort--then you would suffer too." + +She nodded and smiled. + +"To be sure, and I would help you with all I possess. And if we have +bad harvests and nothing, nothing will succeed, and we have nothing +more in the world, then--" she stopped and looked at him with her +happy, tear-stained eyes--"then we will starve together, won't we, you +and I?" + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + +The wedding-day came, not as such joyful days usually come. It was as +still as death in the house, which was still plunged in the deepest +mourning. + +The large suite of rooms had been opened and warmed, and over +Gertrude's door hung a garland of sober evergreen. The day before the +door-bell had had no rest, and one costly present after another had +been handed in. All the magnificence of massive silver, majolica, +Persian rugs and other costly things had been spread out on a long +table in the bow-window room. A gardener's assistant was still moving +softly about in the salon, decorating the improvised altar with orange +trees. The fine perfume of _pastilles_ lingered in the air and the +flame from the open fire was reflected in the glass drops of the +chandelier and the smooth _marqueterie_ of the floor. Outside, the +weather was treacherously mild. It was the first of March. + +Mrs. Baumhagen had been crying and groaning all the morning, and +between the arrangements for the wedding, she had been giving orders +respecting her own journey. The huge trunks stood ready packed in the +hall. The next day but one they would start for Heidelberg to see a +celebrated doctor. + +As for Gertrude's trousseau, her mother had not concerned herself about +it--she would attend to it herself. Gertrude's taste was very +extraordinary, at the best; if she liked blue Gertrude would be sure to +pronounce for red, it had always been so. Ah, this day was a dreadful +one to her, and it was only the end of weeks of torture. Since the +funeral of the baby, when her daughter had made such a scene, they had +been colder than ever to each other. Gertrude's eyes could look so +large, so wistful, as if they were always asking, "Why do you disturb +my happiness?" + +She should be glad when they had fairly started on their journey. + +At this time the ladies were all dressing; the wedding was to take +place at five o'clock. The faithful Sophie was helping Gertrude +to-day--she would not permit any one to take her place. + +Gertrude had put on her wedding-dress, and Sophie was kneeling before +her, buttoning the white satin boots. + +"Ah, Miss Gertrude," sighed the old woman, "it will be so lonely in the +house now. Little Walter dead and you away!" + +"But I shall be so happy, Sophie." The soft girlish hand stroked the +withered old face which looked up at her so sadly. + +"God grant it! God grant it!" murmured the old woman as she rose. "Now +comes the veil and the wreath, but I am too clumsy for that, Miss +Gertrude--but, ah, here is Mrs. Fredericks." + +Jenny entered through the young girl's sitting-room. She wore a dress +of deep black transparent crêpe, and a white camellia rested on the +soft light braids. She was deathly pale and her eyes were red with +weeping. + +"I will help you, Gertrude," she said, languidly, beginning to fasten +the veil on her sister's brown hair. "Do you remember how you put on my +wreath, Gertrude? Ah, if one could only know at such a time what +dreadful grief was coming!" + +"Jenny," entreated Gertrude, "don't give yourself up to your grief so. +When I came down when Walter died, and Arthur was holding you so +tenderly in his arms I thought what great comfort you had in each +other. That is after all the greatest happiness, when two people can +stand by each other, in sorrow and trial." + +"Oh," said Jenny, her lip curling disdainfully; "I assure you Arthur is +half-comforted already. He can talk of other things, he can eat and +drink and go to business, he can even play euchre. Wonderful happiness +it is indeed!" + +"Ah, Jenny, you cannot expect him to feel the grief that a mother does, +he--" + +"Oh, you will find it out too," interrupted the young wife. "Men are +all selfish." + +Gertrude rose suddenly from her chair. She was silent, but her eyes +rested reproachfully on her sister as if to say, "Is that the blessing +you give me to take with me?" + +But her lips said only, "Not all, I know better." + + +Jenny stood in some embarrassment. "I must go down to Arthur now or he +will never be ready at the right time, and then it will be time for me +to come up to receive the guests." + +The train of her dress swept over the carpet like a dark shadow as she +went. + +Gertrude sat down for a while in the deep window. The white silk fell +in shimmering folds about her beautiful figure, and the grave young +face looked out from the misty veil as from a cloud. She folded her +hands and looked at her father's picture. "I will take you with me +to-night, papa." And her thoughts flew off to the quiet country-house. +She did not know it yet. Only once, when she had driven through the +village on a picnic, had she seen a sharp-gabled roof and gray walls +rising up among the trees. Who would have thought that this would one +day be her home! + +She felt as if it were heartless in her not to feel the departure from +her father's house more. And from her mother? Ah, her mother! Papa had +loved her, very much at one time. Should she go away without one tear, +without one kind motherly word? Gertrude forgot everything in this +blissful moment; she remembered only the good, the time when she was a +happy child and her mother used to kiss her tenderly. She would not go +without a reconciliation. + +She rose, gathered up the long train of her wedding-dress and went +across the dusky hall to her mother's chamber. She knocked softly and +opened the door. + +Mrs. Baumhagen was standing before the tall mirror in a black moiré +antique, with black feathers and lace in her still brown hair. Gertrude +could see her face in the glass; it was covered thick with powder, +which she was just rubbing into her skin with a hare's foot. + +Mrs. Baumhagen looked round and gazed at her daughter. She made a +lovely bride, far more imposing than Jenny--and all for that Linden! +She said nothing, she only sighed heavily and turned back to the glass. + +"Mamma," began Gertrude, "I wanted to ask you something." + +"In a moment." + +Gertrude waited quietly till the last touch of the powder-puff had been +laid on the temples, then Mrs. Baumhagen took the long black gloves, +seated herself on a lounge at the foot of her large red-curtained bed, +and began to put them on. + +"What do you want, Gertrude?" + +"Mamma, what do I want? I wanted to say good-bye to you." She sat down +beside her mother and took her hand. + +Mrs. Baumhagen nodded to her. "Yes, we sha'nt see each other for some +time." + +"Mamma, are you still angry with me?" asked the girl, hesitatingly, her +eyes filling with tears. + +"Forgive me, now," she entreated. "I have been vehement and perverse +sometimes, but--" + +"Oh, no matter--don't bring it up now," said her mother. "I only hope +most heartily that you may be happy, and may never repent your +obstinacy and perversity." + +"Never!" cried Gertrude with perfect conviction. + +Mrs. Baumhagen continued to button her gloves. The room was stifling +with the heavy odors of lavender water and patchouly, and her heavy +silk rustled as she exerted herself to button the somewhat refractory +gloves. She made no reply. + +"May I ask one more favor, mamma?" + +"Certainly." + +The girl involuntarily folded her hands in her lap. + +"Mamma, show a little kindness to Linden--do try to like him a +little--make to-day really a day of honor to him. Oh, mamma," she +continued after a pause, "if he is offended to-day it will pierce my +heart like a knife--dear mamma--" + +The big tears trembled on her lashes. + +Once more she asked, "Will you, mamma?" + +Mrs. Baumhagen was just ready. She stretched out both her little hands, +looked at them inside and out, and said without looking up: + +"Kind?--of course--like him? One cannot force one's self to do that, my +child. I hardly know him." + +"For my sake," Gertrude would have said, but she bethought herself. The +days of her childhood had passed, and since then--? + +Mrs. Baumhagen rose. + +"It is almost five," she remarked. "Go back to your room. Linden will +be here in a moment." + +She kissed Gertrude on the forehead, then quickly on the lips. + +"Go, my child,--you know I don't like to be upset--God grant you all +happiness." Gertrude went back to her room, chilled to the heart. A +tall figure stepped hastily out of the window recess, and a strong arm +was around her. + +"It is you!" she said, drawing a long breath, while a rosy flush +overspread her face. + + * * * * * + +The little wedding-party were assembled in the salon, the mother, +Arthur, Jenny, Aunt Pauline and Uncle Henry. Two young cousins in white +tulle made the only points of light amid the gloomy black. + +"For Heaven's sake don't wear such long faces!" cried Uncle Henry, who +looked as if the wedding had upset him as much as the funeral. "It is +dismal enough as it is:--" + +The door opened and the old clergyman entered. Uncle Henry went to meet +him, greeted him loudly, and then disappeared with unusual haste to +bring in the bride and bridegroom. + +The afternoon sunshine flooded the rich salon, overpowering the light +of the candles in the chandelier and the candelabra, and its rays +rested on the young couple before the altar. + +The voice of the clergyman, sounded mild and clear. They had met for +the first time in the house of God, he said; evidently the Lord had +brought them together, and what the Lord had joined together no man +should put asunder. He spoke of love which beareth all things, hopeth +all things, endureth all things. Gertrude had chosen the text herself. + +Then they exchanged rings. They knelt for the blessing, and they rose +husband and wife. + +Then they went up to their mother. Like Gertrude, Frank Linden saw all +things in a different light in this hour. He held out his hand, and +though he could find no words, he meant to promise by this hand-shake +to guard the life just entrusted to him, as the very apple of his eye, +his whole life long. + +But Mrs. Baumhagen kissed the young wife daintily on the forehead, laid +her fingers as daintily for one moment in his extended hand, and then +turned to the clergyman who approached with his congratulations. + +The young couple looked at each other, and as he looked into her +anxious eyes he pressed her arm closer with his, and she grew calm and +almost cheerful. + +Uncle Henry had arranged the wedding-dinner, as was to be expected. + +The curtains were drawn in the dining-room, which had a northern +aspect, the lamps were lighted, and all the family silver shone and +sparkled on the table. The old gentler man understood his business. He +had had sleepless nights over it lately, it is true, but the menu was +exquisite. The only pity was that he and Aunt Pauline and Arthur were +the only ones who were capable of appreciating it, according to his +ideas. The chilling mood still rested on the company, even through +Uncle Henry's toasts, not even yielding to the champagne. The old +egotist was almost in despair. + +When the company adjourned to the drawing-room for coffee, Gertrude +went to her room. A quarter of an hour later she came into the hall in +her travelling dress. Her husband stood there waiting for her. + +From the drawing-room they could hear the murmur of the company--here +all was quiet. + +She looked round her once more and nodded to the old clock in the +corner. + +"Good-bye, Sophie," she said, as she went down the staircase on his +arm, and the old woman bent over the bannisters in a sudden burst of +tears--"Say good-bye to all of them." + +Brilliantly lighted windows shone out upon them in Niendorf when Frank +lifted her out of the carriage, and led her up the steps. The sky was +cloudy, and the fresh spring air was wonderfully soft and odorous. + +"Come in!" he cried, opening the brown old house-door. + +"Oh, what roses!" she cried with delight. + +The balustrade of the staircase, the doorways, the chains from which +the lamps swung were all lavishly adorned with roses, and by the dim +light they glowed against the green background as if they were real +blossoms. + +Kind Aunt Rosa! + +Hand in hand they mounted the staircase and walked down the corridor. +It was only plastered, but it was quite covered with odorous evergreen. +"This is our sitting-room, Gertrude, till yours is ready." + +She stood on the threshold and looked in with eager eyes. It looked +exceedingly cosy and home-like, this low room, pleasantly lighted by +the lamp; and a beautiful hunting hound sprang up, whining with joy at +sight of his master, whom he had not seen for the whole day. She +entered, still holding his hand, in a sort of trembling happiness. + +"Oh, what a beautiful dog! And there is your writing-table, and that is +the book-case, and what a dear old face that is in the gold frame. Is +it your mother, Frank? Yes, I thought she must look like that. And what +a pretty tea-table set for two! Oh, dearest!" And the proud spoiled +child of luxury lay weeping on his breast. + +[Illustration: "The proud spoiled child of luxury lay weeping in his +arms.] + +"Here--it shall remain as it is, Frank--here it is warm and bright; no +bitter word can ever be spoken here." + +"Don't think of it any more," he whispered, comfortingly. "We have left +all evil behind us. We are owners here, and we will have nothing but +peace and love in our household." + +"Yes," she said, smiling through her tears, "you are right. What have +we to do with the outer world?" + +They were standing together in front of his writing-table. A majolica +vase stood on it filled with spring flowers. + +"What an exquisite scent of violets!" she whispered, drawing in a long +breath, and freeing herself from his arms. + +A card lay among the flowers. Both hands were extended for it at once. + +_Heartiest congratulations on your marriage, from_ + + C. Wolff, Agent. + +"How did you happen to know him? _Why_ should he send that?" asked her +eyes. + +But he threw the card carelessly on the table and kissed her on the +forehead. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + +Spring is delicious when one is happy. The trees in the Niendorf garden +put out their leaves one by one, a green veil hung over the budding +forests, and violets were blooming everywhere; Gertrude's whole domain +was filled with the scent of the blue children of spring. The voice of +the young wife sounded through the old house like the note of a lark, +and when Frank returned all sunburned from the fields, a white +handkerchief waved from the shining windows upstairs, and when he +reached the court it was fluttering in her hand on the topmost step. + +"You have come at last, dearest," she would cry then. + +And the walks in the woods, the evenings when he read aloud, and then +the furnishing the house! How sweet it was to consult together, to make +selections, to buy new things and how delighted they both were when +they happened to think of the same things! + +So the house was furnished by degrees. Workmen and upholsterers did +their best. Aunt Rosa's room alone remained untouched, and the master's +cosy room, in which they had passed their first happy weeks together. + +And now everything was ready, homelike and comfortable without any +pretension. The low rooms were not suited to display costly carved +furniture, so with excellent taste they had both chosen only the +simplest things. + +"By-and-by, when we build a new house, Gertrude," he said, and she +assented. + +"First we will improve the estate, Frank--it is so pleasant in these +dear old rooms." + +The garden-hall been fitted up as a dining-room. Close by was a +drawing-room with dark curtains and soft carpets; on the walls Uncle +Henry's wedding present, two large oil paintings--a sunny landscape and +a wintry sea-coast. From behind great green palms stood out a noble +bust of Hermes. Sofas, low seats and arm-chairs everywhere, and +wherever there was the smallest space it was filled up with a vase of +fresh flowers. + +Upstairs, next to the master's room, was that of the young wife, where +her father's picture now stood behind the work-table, by the window. + +The door between the two rooms stood open, and bright striped Turkish +curtains drawn back, permitted Gertrude from her place by the window, +to see the writing-table at which he was working. And from the window +might be seen the wooded mountains beyond the green garden, and farther +away still the distant Brocken, half-hidden in the clouds. + +The young wife had cleared out all the cupboards; in the kitchen the +last new tin had been hung up on the hooks, and shone and sparkled in +the bright sunshine as if it were pure silver. In the store-room jars +and pots were all full and in order, as she turned the key with a happy +smile, and put it into the spick-and-span new key-basket on her arm. + +"Come, Frank," she said, after he had been admiring all this splendor, +"now we will go through all the rooms again." + +"There are not many of them, Gertrude," he laughed. + +"Enough for us, Frank; we do not need any more." + +And they went through the garden hall, and admired the stately buffet +and the hanging-lamp of polished brass, which swung over the great +dining-table. They went into the drawing-room, and admired the pictures +again which the sun lighted up so beautifully, and then they stopped, +looked in each other's eyes and kissed each other. + +"It is all just as I like it, Frank," said she, "plain and suitable, +but nothing sham, no imitations. I hate pretence--everything ought to +be genuine, as real and true as my love and your heart, you dear, good +fellow.--Now everything is perfect in the house," she continued, +picking up a thread from the carpet. "No one would recognize it; it is +the most charming little house for miles around. And it did not cost +nearly as much as Jenny's trousseau and wedding-journey." + +They were standing in the open hall door, and the young man looked with +brightening eyes across the garden to the outbuildings which had +exchanged their leaky roofs for new shining blue slates. + +"You are right, Gertrude, it is a pretty sight; we will sit here often. +And to-morrow they will begin to build the new barns. They must be +ready when we harvest the first rye." + +"Frank," she asked, mischievously, "do you still think as you did a +week after our wedding when we spoke about this for the first time, and +you were really childish and absolutely _would_ not take anything of +that which is yours by every right human and divine? And you would have +let the cows be rained on in their stalls and the farm-servants in +their beds." + +"No, Gertrude, not now," he replied. + +"And why, you Iron-will?" + +"Because we love each other, love each other unspeakably." + +"The adjective is not necessary," corrected she. + +"Don't you believe that one may love unspeakably?" asked he with a +smile. + +"It sounds like a figure of speech." + +He laughed aloud, and drew her out on the veranda. + +"Our home," he said; "come, let us go through the garden and a little +way into the wood." + +The next day Gertrude opened the windows of the guest-chamber, and made +everything there bright and fresh. The table in the dining-room was +gayly decked, and Frank drove to the city in the new carriage to bring +the judge from the station. + +Gertrude was glad of the opportunity of seeing him, Frank had told her +so much about his old friend. She had laughed heartily over his +droll descriptions of his friend's peculiarities, how in company when +he tried to pay a compliment he invariably managed to make it a +back-handed one, to his own infinite astonishment. + +She would take especial pains with her dress for this "jewel" of a man, +as Frank called him. She put a rosette of lace in her hair, Frank liked +that so much, it looked so matronly, almost like a little cap. When she +went up to the toilet-table with this graceful emblem of her youthful +dignity, to look at herself in the glass, she saw there a bouquet of +lilies of the valley with a paper wound round their stems. + +"From him, from Frank," she whispered, growing crimson with delight. + +He had said good-bye to her with such a merry smile. She hastily +unwound the paper from the flowers and read it. + +They were verses turning on the expression he had made use of the day +before,--"loving unspeakably," and justifying himself for using it by +pointing out that for long after he had seen and loved her he knew not +how to call her, where she dwelt, nor who she was, and so he might +literally be said to have loved her "unspeakably." + +"That is how he proves himself in the right," she murmured with +blissful looks, pressing the paper to her lips. "And he is right, +indeed, he does love me 'unspeakably.' Ah, I am a very happy woman!" + +And she put the lilies of the valley in her dress, the verses in her +pocket, took the key-basket and went to the dining-room once more on a +tour of inspection round the table, and then as she had nothing to do +for the moment, she knocked at Aunt Rosa's door, which was only +separated from the dining-room by a small entry. + +The old lady was sitting at the window making roses. There was to be a +wedding in the village at Whitsuntide. A small man was sitting opposite +her, who greeted the entrance of the young wife with a low bow. + +"Beg a thousand pardons, madam,--I wanted to speak to your +husband--I heard he had gone out and the lady here permitted me to wait +for him." + +"What does he say, Mrs. Linden?" inquired the old lady, shaking hands, +"I did not permit him to do any such thing. He came in himself--and +here he is." + +"My name is Wolff, madam," said the agent by way of introduction. + +"Must you speak to my husband to-day? It will not be convenient, for we +have company to dinner. Can't I arrange it?" inquired Gertrude. + +"O, no--no--" said he, very decidedly, bowing as he spoke. "I must +speak to Mr. Linden himself, but I can come again, there is no hurry, I +used to come here every day. Good morning, ladies." + +"What could he want, auntie?" inquired the young wife after he had +gone. + +"Well, I can tell you what he wanted of _me_--he wanted to _question_ +me. He would have liked to look through the key-hole to find out how it +looked in your house. But sit down, my dear." + +These two understood each other perfectly. Sometimes the old lady drank +coffee with Gertrude and then she had many questions to answer. In this +way it had come out quite by chance that she had been a schoolmate of +Gertrude's grandmother. + +Sometimes they went to walk together and Gertrude learned to know the +village people, found out who the poor ones were and a little of the +history of the place. Aunt Rosa's pictures were rather roughly drawn, +she did not like every one, but Linden was her idol next to a young +niece of hers. + +"He is so nice," she used to say, "he is so courteous to the old as +well as the young." + +And Gertrude returned the compliment by declaring she could not imagine +the house without Aunt Rosa. + +To-day, the young mistress of the house could not stay long quietly in +the rose-room. It was strange, but she felt anxious about her husband. +If only he had had no accident with the new horses, she thought, as she +went out on the veranda. + +The blooming garden lay quiet and still before her in the mid-day +sunshine. Suddenly a shadow came over her face--there, under the +chestnut-trees, where the sunbeams broke through the leaves in golden +flecks. There was no doubt of it--it was he, the man in Aunt Rosa's +room. How happened he to penetrate into the garden? Where had she heard +his name before? She started as if she had touched something +unpleasant. "Wolff,"--it was the name on the card that came with the +flowers on her wedding eve. Yes, to be sure. But she had _seen_ the +man, too, somewhere before--where was it? Perhaps in the factory with +Arthur, very likely. + +She raised her head and her eyes began to sparkle. There was the +carriage just turning in at the gate. _He_ was driving and on the front +seat beside the expected guest sat Uncle Henry, waving his red +handkerchief. + +The gentlemen were all in the best of humor--it was a lively meeting. + +"It looks something like here now, Frank," said the little judge, +clapping Linden on the shoulder and shaking hands with his wife. He was +so pleased that he even inquired for Aunt Rosa. + +"Do you know, child," said Uncle Henry by way of excuse for his +presence, "I should not be here so soon again, but the landlord of the +hotel died this morning--and I couldn't eat there, it was out of the +question. You have some asparagus?" + +"I shall not tell any tales out of school, uncle." + +She put her arm in that of the old gentleman and went up the steps with +her guests. At the top she turned her head and then walked quickly to +the balustrade of the veranda. + +There stood Wolff bowing before her husband, his hat in his hand, his +face covered with smiles. + +"O, ta, ta!" said Uncle Henry. + +"How comes he here, Gertrude?" + +The judge looked out from under his blue spectacles with earnest +attention at the two men. Just then Linden waved his hand shortly and +they strode along the way which led to the court and the outer gate, +Wolff still speaking eagerly. + +Gertrude bent far over the iron railing. It seemed to her that Frank +was vexed. Now they stood still. Frank opened the gate and pointed +outward with an unmistakable and very energetic gesture. + +Mr. Wolff hesitated, he began to speak again--again the mute gesture +still more energetic, and the little man disappeared like a flash. The +gate fell clanging in the lock and Frank came back, but slowly as if he +must recover himself first and deeply flushed as if from intense anger. + +Gertrude went to meet him, but said nothing. She would not ask him for +explanations before their guests. She very stealthily pressed his hand +and spoke cheerfully of her pleasure in her guests. + +"Charming!" he said, absently, "but Gertrude, pray entertain Uncle +Henry--Richard--come with me a moment--I must--I will show you your +room." And the two friends left the room together. + +"Do you know that you are going to have some more visitors this +afternoon?" asked the old gentleman, settling himself comfortably in a +chair. "Your mother and the Fredericks,--they came back yesterday +morning. Jenny looks blooming as a rose, and, thank Heaven! Arthur has +got his milk-face burned a little with the sun." + +"Yes," replied Gertrude, "he was with them at the Italian lakes +for a month." And then as if she had only just taken in his whole +meaning,--"How glad I am that mamma is coming out here at once! Ah, +uncle, if she would only get reconciled to Frank!" + +"Eh, what? Gertrude, don't distress yourself, it will all come right. +Besides he is not a man to put up with much nonsense!" + +"What could this Wolff have wanted with him?" + +"Hm! what are they about in Heaven's name?" asked her uncle, +impatiently. + +"Are you hungry?" she asked, absently. + +"Hungry? How can you use such common expressions? A dish of pork and +beans would suffice for hunger. I have an appetite, my child. O, ta, +ta, the asparagus will be spoiled if those two stay so long in their +room." + +It was a very cosy group that Mrs. Baumhagen's eyes rested on as she, +with Jenny and Arthur, mounted the veranda steps. + +They were sitting over their dessert, and Uncle Henry, with his napkin +in his buttonhole, his champagne-glass in his hand, shouted out a +stentorious "welcome!" while the young host and hostess hurried down +the steps, Gertrude with crimson cheeks. She was so proud, so happy. + +Mrs. Baumhagen looked at her daughter in amazement. The pale, quiet +girl had become as blooming as a rose. "It is the honeymoon still," she +said to herself, and her eyes never ceased to follow her youngest child +during the whole time of her stay. + +The coffee-table was set out under the chestnuts. It was a beautiful +spot. The eye glanced over the green lawn, past the magnificent trees +to the quaint old dwelling-house with its high gables and its ivy-grown +walls. The doors of the garden-hall stood open, and from the flagstaff +fluttered gayly a black-and-white flag. + +"An idyll like a picture by Voss," laughed the little judge. + +The young host gallantly escorted his mother-in-law through the garden. +Every cloud had vanished from his brow, he was cheerful and agreeable. + +"But very sure of himself," Jenny remarked, later, to her mother. "He +feels himself quite the host and master of the house." + +The uncomfortable feeling which he had always had in his +mother-in-law's presence, had disappeared. To her amazement he +permitted himself once or twice quite calmly to contradict her. Arthur +had never dared to do that. And Gertrude, how ridiculous! while she +presided over the coffee in her calm way, her eyes were continually +turning to him as soon as he spoke. "As you like, Frank,"--"What do you +think, Frank?" etc. And when her mother hoped Gertrude would not fail +to call on her Aunt Pauline on her birthday, the next day, she asked +appealingly, "Can I, Frank? Can I have the carriage?" + +"Certainly, Gertrude," was the reply. + +Then Mrs. Baumhagen put down her dainty coffee cup and leaned back in +her garden chair. The child was not in her right mind! that was too +much. But Arthur Fredericks applauded loudly. + +"Gertrude," he called out across the table, "talk to this--" he seized +the hand of his wife who angrily tried to draw it away. "What does +Katherine say as an amiable wife to her sister? Words that sound as +sweet to us as a message from a better world." + +"To be sure!" laughed Gertrude, not in the least offended by the +ironical tone. + + "Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, + Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee + And for thy maintenance; commits his body + To painful labor, both by sea and land; + To watch the night in storms, the day in cold + While thou liest warm at home secure and safe; + And craves no other tribute at thy hands + But love, fair looks and true obedience,-- + Too little payment for so great a debt." + +"You see, Arthur, I have my Shakespeare at my tongue's end." + +Mrs. Baumhagen suddenly broke up the coffee party. She seemed heated, +for she was fanning herself with her handkerchief. + +"Gertrude, you must show us the house," she exclaimed. "Come, Jenny, we +will leave the gentlemen to their cigars." + +"Gladly, mamma," said the young girl, easily. + +She led her mother and sister through the kitchen and cellar, through +the chambers, and through the whole house. In the dining-room a pretty +young woman in a spotless white apron was engaged in clearing off the +table. Gertrude gave her some orders in a low tone as she passed. + +"That is Johanna, whose husband was killed," said Jenny. + +"Yes," replied her sister, "I have engaged her as housekeeper. She is +very capable, and I like to have a familiar face about me." + +"With the child?" asked the mother, scornfully. + +"Of course," replied the young wife. "She lives in the other wing. It +is a pleasure to see how the little fellow improves in the country +air." + +"Who lives in this wing?" inquired Jenny. + +"Aunt Rosa." + +"Good gracious! A sort of mother-in-law?" cried her sister in +consternation. + +Gertrude shook her head. "No, she is quite inoffensive, she belongs to +the inventory--so to speak. But I would like Frank to have his mother +here, the old lady is so alone and she is not very well." + +Jenny laughed aloud, but Mrs. Baumhagen rustled so angrily into the +next room that all the ribbons on her rather youthful toilette +fluttered and waved in the air. + +"Gertrude!" cried Jenny, "you will not be so senseless!" + +The young wife made no reply. She opened a wardrobe door in the +corridor and said, + +"This is the linen, Jenny; we need so much in the country. That is the +chest for the finest linen and for the china, and this is my room. This +way, mamma." + +"It might have been a little less simple," remarked her mother, who had +recovered herself, though the flush of excitement still rested on her +full cheeks. + +"I did not wish to be so very unlike Frank, who kept his old furniture; +besides we are only in moderate circumstances, you know, mamma, and we +are only just beginning." + +Her mother cleared her throat and sat down in one of the small +arm-chairs. Jenny wandered about the room, looking at the pictures and +ornaments, slightly humming to herself as she did so. Gertrude stood +thoughtfully beside her mother and felt her heart grow cold as ice. It +was the old feeling of estrangement which always thrust itself between +her and her mother and sister--they had nothing in common. She grieved +over it as she had always done, but she no longer felt the bitter pain +of former days. Slowly her hand sought the pocket of her dress, and +touched lightly a rustling paper--"Thou art unspeakably beloved." Ah, +that was compensation enough for anything, and she lifted her head with +a happy smile. + +"But you have not told me anything about your delightful journey yet, +and your letters were so very short." + +"O, yes," said Jenny, yawning as she took up a terra cotta figure and +gazed at it on all sides, "it was perfectly delightful in Nice. Now +that I am back again, I begin to feel what a provincial little circle +it is that we vegetate in here." + +"We will go again, next year, Providence permitting," added Mrs. +Baumhagen. "Only I must beg to be excused from Arthur's company. He was +really just as childish as your father used to be in his time. Jenny +must not do this and Jenny should not do that, mustn't go here and +mustn't stand there, in short he was a perfect torment, as if we women +did not know ourselves what it is proper to do." + +Jenny seated herself too. + +"Never mind, mamma, he is still suffering for his folly. I have not +allowed him to forget the scene he made for us at Monte Carlo yet." + +"O yes, Heaven knows you are a very happy couple," exclaimed her +mother. + +"But I think it is time for us to be going home," she continued, taking +her costly watch from her belt. "We will go and get your husband. +Come." + +The three ladies went back to the garden to the table where the +gentlemen were comfortably chatting over their cigars. Frank was in +earnest conversation with Aunt Rosa, who in her best array, sat +enthroned in the seat Mrs. Baumhagen had left only a short time before. +Gertrude hastened to introduce her mother and sister to the old lady. +There was no help for it--they were obliged to sit down again for a +short time out of politeness. Mrs. Baumhagen, with a bored look, Jenny +with scarcely concealed amusement at the wonderful little old lady. + +"Gertrude," began Frank, "Aunt Rosa came to tell us that she expects +company." + +"I hope it won't put you out," said the old lady, turning to Gertrude. +"My niece always visits me every year at this time. You have heard me +say that the child is passionately fond of the woods and mountains and +she cheers me up a little." + +"Is it that pretty little girl you have told us about so often, Aunt +Rosa?" asked Gertrude, kindly; and as the former nodded, she continued, + +"Oh, she will be heartily welcome, won't she, Frank? When is she +coming, and what is her name?" + +"I expect her in a day or two, and her name is Adelaide Strom," replied +Aunt Rosa. "I always call her Addie." + +[Illustration: "Gertrude hastened to introduce her mother and sister to +the old lady."] + +Then she began to explain the relationship which had the result of +making all the company dizzy. + +"My mother's sister married a Strom, and her step-son is the cousin of +Adelaide's grandfather--" + +Here Mrs. Baumhagen rose with great rustling. "I must go home," she +said, interrupting the explanation. "It is high time we were gone." + +Jenny, who was standing behind her husband's chair, laid her hand on +his shoulder. + +"Please order the carriage." + +"Why, what do you mean, child?" said he in a tone of vexation. "We have +only just come!" + +"But mamma wishes it." + +"Mamma? But why?" he asked, shortly. "We are having a delightful talk." + +"Won't you stay till evening, Mrs. Baumhagen?" asked Frank, +courteously. + +"My head aches a little," was the reply. + +Arthur ran his hand despairingly through his hair. This "headache" was +the weapon with which every reasonable argument was overthrown. + +"Very well, then, do you go," he muttered, grimly. "I will come home +with Uncle Henry." + +"Yes, to be sure, my dear fellow," cried the old gentleman, much +pleased. "I shall be very glad of your company; we will try the +Moselle, eh, Frank?" + +"Uncle Henry filled up the cellar for our wedding-present," explained +the young host as he rose to order the carriage. + +"And so richly," added Gertrude. + +"Oh, ta, ta!" + +The old gentleman had risen and was helping his sister-in-law on with +her cloak, with somewhat asthmatic politeness. + +"It was pure selfishness, Ottilie. Only that a man might get a drop fit +to drink when one arrived here, weary and thirsty." + +"Gertrude," whispered Jenny, taking her sister a little aside, "how can +you be so foolish as to allow a young girl to be brought into the +house? I tell you it is really dreadful; they are always in the way, +they _always_ want to be admired, they are always wanting to help and +never fail to pay most touching attentions to the host. It is really +inconsiderate of the old lady to impose her on you. Invent some excuse +for keeping her away. I speak from experience, my love. Arthur invited +a cousin once, you remember, I nearly died of vexation." + +Gertrude laughed. + +"Ah, Jenny," she said, shaking her head. The she hastened after her +mother, who was already seated in the carriage. + +"Come again soon," she said cordially, when Jenny had taken her seat +also. + +"I shall expect a visit from you next," was the reply. "You must be +making a few calls in town some time." + +"We haven't thought about it yet," cried Gertrude, gayly. + +"Pray do see that Arthur gets home before the small hours. Uncle Henry +never knows when to go," cried Jenny in a tone of vexation. + +And the carriage rolled away. + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + +It was late before Uncle Henry and Arthur set out for home and late +when the little judge went to his room. They had all three sat for a +good while in Frank's study, talking of past and present times. + +"We shall be very gay," said Frank, "when Aunt Rosa's niece comes. You +will not be so much alone then, Gertrude, when I am away in the +fields." + +"I am never lonely," she replied, quietly. "I have never had a +girl-friend, and now it seems superfluous to me." And she looked at him +with her grave deep eyes. + +"Madam," inquired the judge, putting the end of his cigar in a +meerschaum mouthpiece, "has he written poetry to you too?" And he +pointed to Frank with a sly laugh. + +Gertrude flushed. + +"Of course," she replied. + +"Ah, he can't help writing verses," said the little man, teasingly, +clapping his friend on the shoulder. + +"I tell you, Mrs. Linden, sometimes it seizes upon him like a perfect +fever; and the things that a fellow like that finds to write about! +Poets really are born liars. At the moment when the sweet verses flow +out on the paper, they actually believe every word they write--it is +really touching!" + +"Spare me, Richard, I beg of you," laughed the young host, half +angrily. + +"Isn't it true?" asked the judge. "Only think of your celebrated poem +on the gypsy girl. I was there when you saw the brown maiden on the +Römerberg, and in the evening it was already written down in your +note-book that she wandered through the streets with winged feet, with +straying hair, and shy black eyes in which a longing for the moorland +lay and for the wind which through the reed-grass sweeps--and so on. +Ha, ha! And she really came from the Jew's quarter and went begging +from house to house for old rags." + +They all three laughed, Gertrude the most heartily; then she became +suddenly grave. + +"You are a malicious fellow," declared Frank, rising to light a candle. +"It is late, Richard, and we are early risers here." + +As the friends bade each other good-night at the door of the +guest-chamber, the judge said, + +"Well, Frank, I congratulate you. You have won a prize--such a dear, +sensible little woman! + +"As for the _other_--my dear fellow, what did I tell you about that +man? Well, good-night! That Uncle Henry is a good old soul, too,--now +take yourself off." + +Gertrude was standing by the open window in her room, looking out into +the night. The lamplight from the next room shone in faintly. Dark +clouds were gathering, far away over the mountains there were flashes +of lightning and in the garden a chorus of nightingales was singing. + +"Gertrude," said a voice behind her. + +"Frank," she replied, leaning her head on his shoulder. + +"Hush! Listen! It is so lovely tonight." + +They stood thus for awhile in silence. This afternoon's conversation +was still lingering in Linden's mind. Uncle Henry could not understand +why he should not cut his timber from his own woods. But the Niendorf +woods had been greatly thinned out and no new plantations made. + +"Tell me, Gertrude," he began, suddenly, "where is your villa +'Waldruhe?'" + +His young wife started as if a snake had stung her. "Our--my villa?" +she gasped, "how did you know--who told you about the villa?" + +He was silent. "I cannot remember who," he said after a pause, "but +some one must have told me that there is a little wood belonging to it. +But, Gertrude, what is the matter?" he inquired. "You are trembling!" + +"Ah, Frank, who told you about _that_?" she reiterated, "and _what_?" + +Her voice had so sad a ring in it that he perceived at once that he had +hurt her. + +"Gertrude, have I hurt you? I beg your pardon a thousand times; I was +only thinking of cheaper timber which I might have cut there this +winter." + +"Timber? There? It is only a park. Ah, Frank--" + +"But what is it pray?" he asked with a little impatience. "I cannot +possibly know--" + +"No, you cannot know," she assented. "It was only the shock--I ought to +have told you long ago, only it is so frightfully hard for me to speak +of it. You ought to know about it too, but--tell me who told you about +it?" + +"But when I assure you, my child, that I cannot remember." + +"Frank," said his young wife, in a low, hesitating tone, "out there--in +'Waldruhe,' my poor father died--" + +"My little wife!" he said, comfortingly. + +"It was there--he--he killed himself." Her voice was scarcely audible. + +He bent down over her, greatly shocked. "My poor child, I did not know +that, or I would not have spoken of it." + +"And I found him, Frank. He built 'Waldruhe' when I was but a child, +and he used to go and stay there for weeks together. It is so hard to +talk of it--he was not happy, Frank. Ah, we will not dwell on it. Mamma +did not understand him, and it was the day after Christmas and I knew +they had had a dispute; that is not the right word for it either, for +papa never contradicted her, and he bore so patiently all her crying +and complaining. After awhile I heard the carriage drive away. It was +in the morning--and I had such a strange feeling of anxiety and dread +and after dinner I put on my hat and cloak and ran out of the Bergedorf +gate along the high road, on and on till I came to 'Waldruhe.' I was +surprised to see that the blinds were shut in his room, but I saw the +fresh wheel-tracks in front of the house. The gardener's wife, who +lives in a little cottage on the place, said he was upstairs. He _was_ +upstairs--yes--but he was dead!" + +[Illustration: "He _was_ up stairs--yes--but he was dead."] + +She stood close beside him, encircled by his arm, as she told her +story. He could feel how she trembled and how cold her hands were. + +"Don't speak of it any more, my darling," he entreated, "you will make +yourself ill." + +"Yes, I was ill, Frank, for a whole year," she said. "It was a fearful +time; I could not forgive my mother. From that moment the gulf arose +which parts us to-day, and nothing can bridge it over. I was so +horribly lonely, Frank, before I found you. But the villa?--Yes, it +belongs to me; papa destined it for me when he built it. I have had +some very pleasant days with him there, but now the very thought of it +is dreadful to me. It is empty and deserted. I have never been there +since. It is so horrible to find a person whom one has so honored and +loved--to find him so--" + +"Forgive me, Gertrude," he said, gently. + +"You could not know, Frank. No one knows it but ourselves." And as if +to turn his thoughts to something else she continued hurriedly, "Thank +you so much, love, for that lovely poem, 'Thou art unspeakably +beloved.'" + +And she stroked his hand and pressed it to her lips. + +"My poor little Gertrude!" + +They stood thus together for awhile wrapped about with the sweet +atmosphere of spring. + +"A thunder-shower is coming up," he said at length; and she freed +herself from his arms and left the room. Frank could hear her going +softly about the corridor here and there, shutting the doors and +windows, and jingling her keys. She was looking to see if everything +was in order for the night. + +He put his hand to his forehead and tried to recall who had spoken to +him of the villa. He passed on into his lighted room as if he could +think better there. After awhile the young wife came back, with her +key-basket on her arm. The sweet face was lifted up to him. + +"Frank," said she, "what did the agent want of you to-day?" + +He stared at her as if a flash of lightning had struck him. + +"That is it! that is it!" And he struck his forehead as if something he +had been seeking for in vain had suddenly occurred to him. + +"What did he want? Oh, nothing, Gertrude, nothing of any consequence." + +She looked at him in surprise, but she said nothing. It was not her way +to ask a second time when she got no answer. It really was of no +consequence. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + +It had rained heavily in the night, with thunder and lightning, but +nature seemed to have no mind to-day to carry out her coquettish love +of contrasts; she did not laugh, as usual, with redoubled gayety in +blue sky and golden sunshine on forest and field: gloomily she spread a +gray curtain over the landscape, so uniformly gray that the sun could +not find the smallest cleft through which to send down a friendly +greeting, and it rained unceasingly, a perfect country rain. + +Frank came back from the fields rejoicing over the weather, and +Gertrude waved her handkerchief to him out of the window as she did +every morning. + +"All the flowers are ruined, Frank," she cried down to him, "what a +pity!" + +He came up in high good humor. "No money could pay for this rain, +darling," he said; "I am a real farmer now, my mood varies according to +the weather." + +"And mine too!" remarked his wife. "Such a gray day makes me +melancholy." + +He went towards her as she sat at her writing-table turning over books +and papers. + +"Just look, Frank," as she held out to him a packet daintily tied up +with blue ribbons; "these are all verses of yours, arranged according +to order. When we have our silver wedding I shall have them printed and +bound. These on cream-colored paper were written during our engagement, +and these different scraps, white and blue and gray, were written since +our marriage, when you take anything that comes, thinking I suppose +that it is good enough for _Mrs._ Gertrude." + +She looked up at him with a smile. He bent down over her, + +"And now I shall buy a very special kind of paper for my next verses, +Gertrude." + +"Why?" + +"Bright, like the little bundles the storks carry under their wings. +And I shall write on it--" + +She grew crimson. "A cradle-song," she finished softly. + +He nodded and put her hand to his lips. But she threw both arms round +his neck. "Then it would be sweet and home-like, Frank. Then we should +love each other better than ever--if that were possible." + +"Here, little wife, I wrote this for you today in the field in the +rain." He took out his note-book from his pocket and put it in her +hand. + +"I will just go and see what the judge is about, the rascal," he called +back from the door. + +And she sat still and read, her face as grave and earnest as if she +were reading in the Bible. + +She was startled from her reading by the snapping of a whip before the +window. She looked out quickly--there stood the Baumhagen carriage; the +coachman in his white rubber coat and the cover drawn over his hat, the +iron-gray horses black with the drenching rain. She opened the window +to see if any one got out. Johanna came out and the coachman gave her a +letter with which she ran quickly back into the house. + +Gertrude was startled. An accident at home? She flew to the door. + +"A letter, ma'am." + +She hastily tore it open. + + +"Come at once--I must speak to you without delay. + + "YOUR MOTHER." + +Such were the oracularly brief contents of the note. + +"Bring me my things, Johanna, and tell my husband." + +"Frank," she cried, as he entered, hurriedly, "something must have +happened." + +"Don't be alarmed," he besought her, though unable quite to conceal his +own uneasiness. + +"Yes, yes. Oh, if I only knew what it was! I feel so anxious." + +He took her things from the servant and put the cloak round Gertrude's +shoulders. + +"I hope it has nothing to do with Arthur and Jenny. They were very +strange to each other, yesterday." + +Gertrude looked at him and shook her head. "No, no, they were always +like that." + +"Then I am surprised that he did not run away long ago," he said, +drily. + +"Or she," retorted Gertrude tying her bonnet. + +"I could not stand such everlasting complaints, Gertrude," said he, +buttoning her left glove. + +"Nor I, Frank. Good-bye. You must make my excuses at dinner. God grant +it is nothing very bad." + +She looked round the room once more, then went quickly up to her +work-table and thrust the note-book into her pocket. + +When a few minutes later the landau passed out of the great iron gate +she put her head out of the window. He stood on the steps looking after +her. As she turned he took off his hat and waved it. + +How handsome he was, how stately and how good! + +She leaned back on the cushions. She felt a vague alarm--it was the +first time she had left the house without him. Strange thoughts came +over her--how dreadful it would be if she should not find him again, or +even--if she should lose him utterly. Could she go on living then? +Live--yes--but how? + +It would be frightful to be a widow! Still more frightful if they were +to part--one here, the other there, hating each other, or indifferent! + +Could Arthur and Jenny, really--? Oh, God in Heaven preserve us from +such woe! + +She looked out of the window. The coachman was driving at a dizzy pace. +There lay the city before her in the mist. Again her thoughts wandered, +faster than the horses went. She took the note-book out of her pocket +to read the verses, but the letters danced before her eyes, and she put +it away again. + +In the attic at home stood the old cradle in which her father had been +rocked, and Jenny, and she herself. The grandmother in the narrow +street had had it as part of her outfit. She would get it out for +herself if God should ever fulfil her wish. Jenny's darling had lain in +another bed, the clumsy old cradle did not seem suitable in the elegant +chamber of the young mother, but in the modest room at Niendorf, where +the vines crept about the windows and the big old stove looked so cosy +and comfortable, it would be quite in place, just between the stove and +the wardrobe in a cosy corner by itself. She smiled like a happy child. +She could not believe that her life could be so beautiful, so rich. + +The carriage was now rattling through the city gate; she would be at +home in a minute now, and her heart began to beat loudly. If she only +knew what it was. + +The porter opened the carriage door and she got out and ran up the +stairs to Jenny's apartment. The entrance door of her mother's +apartment stood open. No one was to be seen and she entered the hall. +How dear and familiar everything looked! Even the tall clock lifted up +its voice, and struck the quarter before two. She took off her cloak +and went to her mother's room. Here, too, the door was ajar. Just as +she was going to enter she suddenly drew back her hand. + +"And I tell you, Ottilie, it will be the worst act of your life, if you +fling all this in the child's face without the slightest preparation. +Whether it is true or false why should you destroy her young happiness? +There are other ways and means." + +It was Uncle Henry. He spoke in a tone of the deepest vexation. + +"Shall she hear it from strangers?" cried the voice of her weeping +mother; "the whole town is ringing with it, and is she to go about as +if she were blind and deaf?" + +"I am trembling all over," Gertrude now heard Jenny say; "it is +outrageous, we are made forever ridiculous. It was only last +evening that I said to Mrs. S----, 'You can't imagine what an idyllic +Arcadian happiness has its dwelling out there in Niendorf.'" + +"Confound your logic! I tell you--" cried the little man angrily. But +he stopped suddenly, for there on the threshold stood Gertrude Linden. + +"Are you talking of us?" she asked, her terrified eyes wandering over +the group and resting at length on her mother, who at sight of her had +sunk back weeping in her chair. + +"Yes, child." + +The old man hastened towards her and tried to draw her away. + +"It's a thoughtless whim of your mother to send for you here; nothing +at all has happened; really, it is only some stupid gossip, a +misunderstanding perfectly absurd. Come across to the other room and I +will explain it all." + +"No, no, uncle, I must know it, must know it all." + +She withdrew her hand from his and went up to her mother. + +"Here I am, mamma; now tell me everything, but quickly, I entreat you." + +She looked down on the weeping woman with a face that was deathly pale, +standing motionless before her in her light summer costume. Only the +strings of her bonnet, which were tied on the side in a simple bow, +rose and fell quickly, and bore witness to her great agitation. + +"I can't tell her," sobbed Mrs. Baumhagen, "you tell her, Jenny." + +Gertrude turned to her sister at once. She cast down her eyes and wound +the black velvet ribbon of her morning-dress nervously round her +finger. + +"Your husband is in a very unpleasant situation," she began in a low +tone. + +"In what respect?" asked Gertrude. + +"It is a disagreeable affair, but nothing to make such solemn faces +over," burst out the old gentleman, who was standing at the window. + +"He had--" Jenny hesitated again, "a conversation with Wolff +yesterday." + +"I know it," replied Gertrude. + +"Wolff had a claim on him which your husband will not recognize and--" + +"For Heaven's sake, make an end of it!" The old gentleman brought his +fist down angrily on the window-sill. "Do you want to give her the +poison drop by drop?" + +He took Gertrude's hand again, and tried to find words to explain. + +"You see, Gertrude, it is not so bad; it often happens, and this Wolff +may have thrust himself forward, in short--he is a sort of a walking +encyclopædia, knows everybody hereabouts, and whenever any one wants to +know anything he is sure to be able to tell him. So your husband--well, +how shall I excuse it?--he inquired about your circumstances, do you +understand?--before he offered himself to you--_voilà tout_. It happens +hundreds of times, child, and you are reasonable, Gertrude, aren't +you?" + +The young wife stood motionless as a statue. Only gradually the color +came to her cheeks. + +"That is a lie!" she cried, drawing a long breath. "Did you bring me +here for _that_?" + +"But Wolff was here," moaned Mrs. Baumhagen, "asking for my +intervention." + +"No, he came to _us_," corrected Jenny, "early this morning; he wanted +to speak to Arthur, but Arthur--" she hesitated, "last evening +Arthur--" + +"You may as well say that Arthur started off suddenly on a journey in +the night," interposed Mrs. Baumhagen sharply, "I am very fortunate in +my children's marriages!" + +"Well, I can't help it if he gets angry at every little thing," laughed +the young wife, quite undisturbed. "Besides we are very happy." + +"A pretty kind of happiness," grumbled the old gentleman to himself, so +low that no one but Gertrude could hear it. Then he added aloud, "A +hurried journey on business, we will call it, a sudden journey on +business, preceded by a little curtain lecture." + +"Oh, to be sure, a journey on business," said Mrs. Baumhagen in a tone +of pique, "to Manchester." + +"What has that got to do with Gertrude's affairs?" asked Uncle Henry, +"It is enough that Arthur was not there, and the gentleman went up +another flight and spoke to your mother, my child. It is not worth +mentioning--if I had only been here sooner. It is very disagreeable +that you should have heard of it, but believe me, my child, they all do +it now-a-days." + +The good-natured little man clapped her kindly on the shoulder. + +Mrs. Baumhagen, however, started up like an angry lioness. + +"Don't talk such nonsense! How can you smooth it over? It was nothing +but a common swindle. I hope Gertrude has enough sense of dignity to +tell Mr. Linden that--" + +"Not another word!" + +The young wife stood almost threatening before her in the middle of the +room. + +"But for mercy's sake! It will be the most scandalous case that was +ever known," sobbed the excited lady. "He is going to sue Linden--you +will both have to appear in court." + +Gertrude did not utter a syllable. + +"Have the kindness to order a carriage, uncle," she entreated. + +"No, you must not go away so! you look shockingly," was the anxious cry +of her mother and sister. + +"Do listen to reason, Gertrude," said Jenny in a complaining tone. + +"We must silence Wolff--uncle can inquire how much he asks for his +services, and--" + +"And you will come to us again," sobbed her mother. "Gertrude, +Gertrude, my poor unhappy child, did I not foresee this?" + +"This is too much!" growled the old gentleman. "Confound these women! +Don't let them talk you into anything, child," he cried, forcibly; +"settle it with your husband alone." + +"A carriage, uncle," reiterated the young wife. + +"Wait a while at least," entreated Jenny, "till mamma's lawyer--" + +"Oh," groaned Uncle Henry, "if Arthur had only been here, this +confounded affair wouldn't have been left in the women's hands. I will +get you a carriage, Gertrude. Your nags are at the factory, Jenny? Very +well. Excuse me a moment." + +Gertrude was standing in the window like one stunned; she had as yet no +clear understanding of the matter. "The whole city is talking about +it," she heard her mother sob. Of what then? She tried forcibly to +collect her thoughts, but in vain. Only one thing: it is not true! went +over and over in her mind. + +She clenched her little hand in its leather glove. "A lie! A lie!" fell +again from her lips. But this lie had spread itself like a heavy mist +over her young happiness, bringing so much vague alarm that her breath +came thick and fast. + +"Shall I go with you?" asked Jenny. The carriage was just coming across +the square. + +"No, thank you. I require no third person between my husband and +myself." + +Her words sounded cold and hard. + +"You look so miserable," groaned her mother. + +"Then the sooner I get home the better." + +"At least send back a messenger at once." + +"Perhaps you think he beats me too?" she inquired, ironically, turning +to go. + +"Child! child!" cried Mrs. Baumhagen, stretching out her arms towards +her, "be reasonable, don't be so blind where facts speak so loudly." + +But she did not turn back. Calmly she took down her mantle from the +hat-stand. Sophie gazed anxiously into the pale, still face of the +young wife, who quite forgot to say a pleasant word to the old servant. +At the carriage-door stood Uncle Henry. + +"Let me go with you, Gertrude," he entreated. + +She shook her head. + +"It is only out of pure selfishness, Gertrude," he continued. "If I +don't know how it is going with you I shall be ill." + +"No, uncle. We two require no one; we shall get on better alone." + +"Don't break the staff at once, child," he said, gently, + +"I do not need to do that, Uncle Henry." + +He lifted his hat from his bald head. There was a reverent expression +in his eyes. + +"Good-bye, Gertrude, little Gertrude. If I had had my way, you would +not have heard a word of it." + +She bent her head gravely. + +"It is best so, uncle." + +Then she went back the way she had come. + +The rain beat against the rattling panes and dashed against the leather +top of the carriage, and they went so slowly. The young wife gazed out +into the misty landscape. The splendor of the blossoms had vanished, +the white petals were swimming in the pools in the streets. + +"Oh, only one sunbeam!" she thought, the weather oppressed and weighed +her down so. + +Absurd! How could any one be so influenced by foolish gossip! Mamma +always looked on the dark side of everything--and even if she always +told the truth, she had been imposed upon by this story. Poor Frank! +Now there would be vexation--the first! She would tell him of it +playfully--after dinner, when they were alone together, then she would +say, "Frank, I must tell you something that will make you laugh. Just +fancy, you have a very bitter enemy, and his revenge is so absurd, he +declares"--she was smiling now herself--"Yes, that is the way it shall +be." + +She was just passing the old watch tower. What was she thinking of as +she passed this place a few hours before? Oh yes--a crimson flush +spread over her countenance--of the cradle in the attic. She could see +the old cradle so plainly before her; two red roses were painted on one +end, in the middle a golden star, and beneath it stood written: "Happy +are they who are happy in their children." + +She put her hand in her pocket and took out the note-book--the carriage +was crawling so slowly up the hill--she could not remember it all yet, +she must read the verses again. + +It was a vision he had had of her kneeling before a cradle, singing a +cradle-song about the father bringing something home to his son from +the green wood. + +She let the paper fall. She knew what song he meant--the old nursery +song that she had been singing to her godchild when he had heard her +from the window outside. He had told her about it and that in that +moment he had come quite under her spell. + +She pressed the book to her lips. Ah, how far beneath her seemed envy +and spite! how powerless they seemed before the expectation of such +happiness! + +Just then a piece of paper fell down, a piece of blue writing-paper. +She picked it up; it was part of a letter on the blank side of which +was written in Frank's handwriting: + +"Half a hundred-weight grass-seed, mixed," with the address of a +manufactory of farming utensils. + +She turned it over, looked at it carelessly, then suddenly every trace +of color left her face. She raised her eyes with a scared expression in +them, then looked down again--yes, there it was! + + +"----Besides the above-mentioned property Miss Gertrude Baumhagen owns +a villa near Bergedorf. A massive building, splendidly furnished, with +stables, gardener's house and a garden-lot of ten acres, partly wood, +enclosed by a massive wall. + +"The property is recorded in the name of the young lady, being valued +at twenty-four thousand dollars. + +"For any further details I am quite at your service, + + "Very respectfully yours, + + "C. Wolff, Agent. +D. 21 Dec. 1882." + +Gertrude tried to read it again, but her hand trembled so violently +that the letters danced before her eyes. She had seen it, however, +distinctly enough; it would not change read it as often as she might. +With pitiless certainty the conviction forced itself upon her: it is +the truth, the horrible truth! and every word of his had been a lie. + +She had been bought and sold like a piece of merchandise--she, _she_ +had been caught in such a snare! + +She had taken _that_ for love which had been only the commonest +mercenary speculation. + +Ah, the humiliation was nothing to the dreadful feeling that stole over +her and chilled her to the heart--the pain of wounded pride and with it +the old bitter perversity. She had not felt it lately, she had been +good, happiness makes one so good--and now? and now? + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + +The carriage rolled quickly down the hill to Niendorf and stopped +before the house. Half-unconsciously the young wife descended and stood +in the rain on the steps of the veranda. It seemed to her as if she +were here for the first time; the small windows, the gray old walls +with the pointed roof--how ugly they were, how strange! All the flowers +in the garden beaten down by the rain--the charm that love gives fled, +only bare, sober, sad reality! and on the threshold crouched the demon +of selfishness, of cold calculation. + +She passed through the garden hall and up the stairs to her room. In +the corridor Johanna met her. + +"The master went away in the carriage directly after breakfast," she +announced. "He laid a note on your work-table, ma'am." + +"I have a headache, Johanna, don't disturb me now," she said, faintly. + +When she reached her own room she bolted first the door behind her and +then that which opened into his room. And then she read the note. + + +"The barometer has risen and the judge insists on going up the Brocken, +I go with him to Ille. I have something to do there and I shall not be +very late home--Thine, + FRANK." + + +And below a postscript from the guest: + +"Don't be angry, Mrs. Linden. I belong to that class of persons who +cannot see a mountain without feeling an irresistible desire to ascend +it. I take the Brocken first, so when the weather clears again I can +bear the sight of it from my window with equanimity. I will send your +Frank home again soon, safe and sound." + + +Thank Heaven, he would not be back so very soon--but what was to be +done now? She sat motionless before her work-table, gazing out into the +garden without seeing anything there. Hour after hour passed. Once or +twice she passed her hand across her eyes--they were dry and hot, and +about the mouth was graven a deep line of scorn and contempt. Towards +evening there was a knock at the door. She did not turn her head. + +"Mrs. Linden!" called the servant. No answer and the steps died away +outside. + +Gertrude Linden got up then and went to her writing-desk. Calmly she +opened the pretty blotting-book, drew up a chair, grasped a pen and +seated herself to write. She had thought of it long enough; without +hesitation the words flowed from her pen: + + +"I will beg Uncle Henry to explain everything to you as gently as +possible. I cannot speak of it myself--it is the most painful +disappointment of my whole life. I only ask you at present to confirm +my own declaration that I must live in retirement for some time on +account of my health. It will not take long to decide upon something. +GERTRUDE." + + +She sealed the note and put it on the writing table in her husband's +room. She put the packet of poems beside it and the note-book also. +What should she do with it? The poem was nothing to her--it was only an +old habit of his to write verses; the judge had let that out yesterday. +He had only made use of it in this case as a useful means for making +the deception complete. A man who writes tender verses while at the +same time he is privately acquainting himself with the amount of the +lady's fortune through an agent--that was a tragi-comedy indeed, that +would make a good plot for a farce--and _she_ was to be the heroine! + +She kept the fragment of that dreadful letter. Then she wrote a note to +her mother and one to Uncle Henry, then took out her watch and looked +for a time-table. + +Whither? The Berlin express which connected them with all the outer +world was already gone. Then she must wait until tomorrow--and then? +Somewhere she must go--she must be alone! Only not with mamma and +Jenny, somewhere far away from here. + +She suddenly sprang up with startled eyes, she heard a voice, his +voice. + +"Has my wife come back?" + +Then a merry whistle, a few bars from "Boccaccio" and hasty steps in +the corridor. Now his hand was on the door-knob. It was locked. + +"Gertrude!" he called. + +She was standing in the middle of the room, her lips pressed together, +her eyes stretched wide open, but she did not stir. + +He supposed she was not there and went quietly into his own room. She +heard him open the door of the bedroom. + +"Gertrude!" he called again. + +Back into his own room; he spoke to the dog, whistled a few bars of his +opera-air again, moved about here and there and then stopped--now he +was tearing a paper--now he was reading her note. + +"Gertrude, Gertrude, I know you are in your room. Open the door!" + +His voice sounded calm and kind, but she stood still as a statue. + +"Please open the door!" now sounded authoritatively. + +"No," she answered loudly. + +"You are laboring under some horrible mistake! Some one has been +telling you something--let me speak to you, child!" + +She came a step nearer. + +"I cannot," she said. + +"I must entreat you to open the door. Even a criminal is heard before +he is condemned." + +"No," she declared, and went to the window, where she remained. + +"Confound your--obstinacy," sounded in her ears. + +[Illustration: "There was a crash and a splitting of wood and the door +was burst open."] + +Then a crash, a splitting of wood--the door was burst open and Frank +Linden stood on the threshold. + +"Now I demand an explanation," he said angrily, the swollen veins +standing out on his white forehead, which formed a strange contrast to +his brown face. + +She did not turn towards him. + +"Uncle Henry will tell you what there is to tell," she replied, coldly. + +He strode up to her and laid his hand on her shoulder, but she drew +back, and the blue eyes, usually so soft, looked at him so coldly and +strangely that he started back, deeply shocked. + +"I have deceived you, Gertrude? you, Gertrude?" he asked, "what have I +done? What is my crime?" + +"Nothing--" + +"That is no answer, Gertrude." + +"Oh, it is only such a trifle--I cannot talk to you about it." + +"Very well! Then I will go to Uncle Henry at once." + +She made no answer. + +"And you wish to go away? To leave me alone?" he inquired again. + +She hesitated a moment. + +"Yes, yes," she then said, hastily, "away from here." + +"Why do you keep up this farce, Gertrude." + +"Farce?" She laughed shortly. + +"Gertrude, you hurt me." + +"Not more than you have hurt me." + +"But, confound it, I ask you--how?" he cried in fierce anger. + +She had drawn back a little and looked at him with dignity. + +"Pray, order the carriage and go to Uncle Henry," she replied, coldly. + +"Yes, by Heaven, you are right," he cried, quite beside himself, "you +are more than perverse!" + +"I told you so before; it is my character." + +"Gertrude," he began, "I am easily aroused, and nothing angers me so +much as passive opposition. It is our duty to have trust in one +another--tell me what troubles you; it _can_ be explained. I am +conscious of no wrong done to you." + +"That is a matter of opinion," said she. + +"Very well. I declare to you that I am not in the least curious--and I +give you time to reconsider." + +He turned to go. + +"That is certainly the most convenient thing to do in this matter," she +retorted, bitterly. + +He hesitated, but he went nevertheless, closed the broken door behind +him as well as he could and began to walk up and down his room. + +She pressed her forehead against the window-pane and gazed out into the +garden. It had stopped raining; the clouds were lifting in the west and +displaying gleams of the setting sun. Then the heavy masses of fog +broke away and at the same moment the landscape blazed out in brilliant +sunshine like a beautiful woman laughing through her tears. + +If _she_ could only weep! They who have a capacity for tears are +favored. Weeping makes the heart light, the mood softer--but there were +no tears for her. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + +In the late twilight the iron-gray horses stopped before the door and +Jenny got out of the carriage. + +She ran lightly as a cat up the veranda steps and suddenly stood in the +garden-hall before Frank Linden, who sat at the table alone. Gertrude's +plate was untouched. + +"So late, Jenny?" he asked. + +"I want to speak to Gertrude." + +"You will find my--wife in her room." + +Jenny cast a quick glance at him from her bright eyes. Had the blow +fallen? She had nearly died of anxiety at home. + +"Is not Gertrude well?" she inquired, innocently. + +He hesitated a moment. + +"She seems rather excited and tired. I think something has happened to +disturb her in the course of the day." + +"Ah, indeed!" said Mrs. Fredericks. "Well, I will go and see her +myself." + +She passed through the hall. The lamp was not yet lighted and in the +darkness she stumbled over something and nearly fell. As she uttered a +slight cry, Johanna hastened in with a light. + +"Oh, I beg your pardon, ma'am, it is the young lady's trunk, who +arrived about a quarter of an hour ago. Dora forgot to carry it to her +room." + +Jenny cast an angry glance at the modest box, ran up the stairs and +knocked at her sister's door. + +"It is I, Gertrude," she called out in her clear ringing voice. She +heard light footsteps and the bolt was gently drawn back and the door +opened. + +"You, Jenny?" inquired Gertrude, just as Frank had said a few minutes +before, "you, Jenny?" + +It was almost dark in the room; Jenny could not see her sister's face. + +"Why do you sit here in the dark, Gertrude? I beg of you tell me quick +all that has happened. Mamma and I are dying of anxiety." + +"You need have no anxiety," replied Gertrude. "It is all right." + +"All right?" asked Jenny in surprise. "You cannot make me believe that, +_He_ alone at the table and _you_ up here with your door locked--come +confess, child, that you have not made it up." + +"Please take a seat, Jenny," said the young wife, wearily. + +Jenny sat down on the lounge, and Gertrude took up her position at the +window again. It was still as death in the room and in the whole house. + +"It would have been wiser if you had not married at all, Gertrude," +began her sister, with a sigh. + +"But, it can't be helped--you are tied fast--oh, yes! You must put up +with everything, you must not even have an opinion of your own, I am +quite ill too from the vexation I had last evening. At last I ran up to +mamma. She was dreadfully frightened when she saw me standing before +her bed in my night-dress. I cried all night long. This morning I +waited. I thought he would come up for me, he was usually so +remorseful--but he didn't come and as I was taking breakfast with mamma +Sophie brought me a card from him in which he very coolly informed me +that he had gone to Manchester for a fortnight. Well--I wish him a +happy journey!" + +Gertrude made no reply. + +"You must not take it so dreadfully to heart, child," continued the +young matron. "Good gracious, it is well it is no worse. All women have +something to put up with and sometimes it is far worse than this." + +"Have they?" asked Gertrude, in a low voice. + +"Yes, of course!" cried Jenny, in surprise. + +"Do you think a woman can take up her bundle and march off? Bah! Then +no woman would stay with her husband a moment. No, no,--people get +reconciled to one another and they just take the first opportunity to +pay each other off. That is always great fun for me. Just you see, pet, +how good Arthur will be when he comes back; for a whole month he will +be the nicest husband in the world." + +"That would be an impossibility for me," cried Gertrude, clearly and +firmly. "To-day bitter as death, to-morrow fondly loving; it is simply +shameful." + +Jenny was silent. + +"Good gracious," she said at length, yawning, "one is as good as the +other! If I were to separate from Arthur,--who knows but I might get a +worse one! For of course I should marry again, what else can a woman +do? By the way, mamma spoke to the lawyer--he urgently advised her to +hush up the matter as well as possible. Mamma thought differently, but +Mr. Sneider declared--you see now, one _can't_ get away even if one +wants to--that there were no grounds for a divorce, and I said to mamma +too, 'Gertrude,' said I, 'leave him? Incredible! She is dead in love +with the man. He might have murdered somebody, I really believe, and +she would still find excuses for him.' Was I right?" + +Gertrude suffered tortures. She wrung her hands in silence and her eyes +were fixed on the dark sky above her in which the evening star was now +sparkling with a greenish light. Jenny yawned again. + +"Ah, just think," she continued, "you don't know what we quarrelled +about, Arthur and I. He reproached me with spending too much on my +dress; of course that was only a pretext to give vent to his ill +temper--there were business letters very likely containing bad news. I +replied that did not concern him, I did not inquire into his expenses. +Then he was cross and declared that I had tried in Nice to copy the +dresses of the elegant French women. But it is not true, for I only +bought two dresses there. Gracious, yes, they were rather dearer than +if my dressmaker in Berlin had made them. Of course I said again, 'That +is not your affair, for I pay for them.' Then he talked in a very moral +strain about honorable women and German women who helped to increase +the prosperity of a house. Other fortunes besides ours had been thrown +away and when the truth was known it was always the fault of 'Madame.' +He found fault with mamma for making herself so ridiculous with her +youthful costumes, and at last he declared we owed some duty to our +future children--Heaven preserve me! I have had to give up my poor +sweet little Walter, and I will have no more. The pain of losing him +was too great; I should die of anxiety. In short, he played the part of +a real provincial Philistine, and finally even that of Othello, for he +declared Col. von Brelow always had such a confidential air with me. +That was too much for my patience. I proposed that we should separate +then. You understand I only said so--for he is pretty obedient +generally, when I hold the reins tight. And as I said before one can't +get free for nothing. 'I will go at once!' I cried, and then I ran up +to mamma." + +"Stop, I beg of you," cried Gertrude, hastily rising. She rang for a +light and when Johanna brought the lamp it lighted up a feverish face, +and eyes swollen as if with burning tears, and yet Gertrude had not +wept. + +"How you look, child," remarked Jenny. "Well, and what is to be done +now? I must tell mamma something, it was for that I came." + +She cast a glance at the dainty time-piece above the writing-table. + +"Five minutes to nine--I must be going home. Do tell me how you mean to +arrange matters?" + +"You shall hear to-morrow--the day after to-morrow--I don't know yet," +stammered the young wife, pressing her hand on her aching head. + +"Only don't make a scandal, Gertrude," and Jenny took up her gray cloak +with its red silk lining and tied the lace strings of her hat. + +"If the affair is settled as Mr. Sneider advises, it is the best you +can do. By the way, how does Frank take it? Has he confessed it? To be +sure, what else could he do? Well, let me hear to-morrow then, at +latest. By the way, child, it has just occurred to me--that day that +Linden called on us the first time, that fellow, that Wolff, came with +him across the square to our house. I was sitting in the bay-window and +I was surprised to see how confidentially Wolff clapped him on the +shoulder." + +Gertrude stood motionless. Ah, she had seen the same thing; she +recalled it so clearly at this moment. + +"Yes, yes," she stammered. + +"The lawyer says he does a great deal of that sort of business. But now +good-night, my pet--will you send in word or shall we send some one out +in the morning?" + +"I will send word," replied Gertrude. + +She did not go out with her sister, she stood still in her place, her +head gunk on her breast, her arms hanging nerveless by her side. This +conversation with Jenny had opened an abyss before her eyes; she no +longer knew what she should do, only one thing was clear, she could not +stay with him; she could not endure a life of indifference by his side, +and--any other life would never again be possible to them. "Never!" she +said aloud with decision, "Never!" + +She heard his steps now in the next room; then the steps went away +again and presently she heard them on the gravel-walk in the garden +till they finally died away. She was so tired and it was so cold, and +she could not realize that there had ever been a time when it had been +different,--when she had been happy--she seemed to herself so degraded. + +She had that fatal letter still in her hand, where it burnt like +glowing coals. She knew an old maid, the daughter of a poor official, +who was soured and embittered. For thirteen years she had been engaged +to a poor referendary, and finally they had recognized the fact that +they never would be rich enough to marry. She had remained lonely and +pitied by all who knew her history. + +Ah, if she could only have exchanged with her, who had been loved for +her own sake! And even if she could forgive him for not having loved +her, the lie, the hypocrisy she could never forgive--never, never. Her +faith in him was gone. + +Half unconsciously she had wandered out into the corridor, and felt a +little refreshed by the cooler air. She ran quickly down the steps into +the garden. From the kitchen came the sounds of talking and laughing; +the gardener was talking nonsense to the maids--the mistress' eye was +wanting. + +There was no light in the garden-hall, but Aunt Rosa's windows were +unusually brilliant and a youthful shadow was marked out on the white +curtain. That must be the expected niece. + +Gertrude walked on in the gravel-walks; the nightingales were singing +and there were sounds of singing in the steward's room, a deep +sympathetic tenor and a sorrowful melody. + +On and on she went in the fragrant garden. Then she cried out suddenly, + +"Frank!" + +She had come upon him suddenly at a turning of the path. + +"Gertrude!" returned he, trying to take her hand. + +"Don't touch me!" she cried. "I was not looking for you, but as we have +met, I will ask you for something." + +In order to support herself she clutched the branches of a lilac-bush +with her little hand. + +"With all my heart, Gertrude," he replied gently. "Forgive my violence, +anger catches me unawares sometimes. I promise you it shall not happen +again." + +He stopped, waiting to hear her request. For a while they stood there +in silence, then she spoke slowly, almost unintelligibly in her great +agitation. "Give me my freedom again--it is impossible any longer to--" + +"I do not understand you," he replied, coldly, "what do you mean?" + +"I will leave you everything, everything--only give me my freedom! We +cannot live together any longer, don't you see that?" she cried quite +beside herself. + +"Speak lower!" he commanded, stamping angrily with his foot. + +"Say yes!" entreated the young wife with a voice nearly choked with +emotion. + +"I say no!" was the answer. "Take my arm and come." + +"I will _not_! I will not!" she cried, snatching away her hand which he +had taken. + +"You are greatly excited this evening, you will come now into the house +with me; tomorrow we will talk further on the subject and in the clear +daylight you can tell me what reasons you have for thinking our living +together impossible." + +"Now, at once, if you wish it!" she gasped out. "Because two things are +wanting, two little trifling things only,--trust and esteem! I will not +speak of love--you have not been true to me, Frank, you have deceived +me and lost my confidence. Let me go, I entreat you, for the love of +Heaven--let me go!" + +As he made no reply, she went on rapidly, her words almost stumbling +over each other so fast they came. "I know that I have no right in law; +people would laugh at a woman who demanded her freedom on no better +grounds than that she had been lied to once. So I come as a suppliant; +be so very good as to let me go, I cannot bear to live with you in +mistrust and--and--" + +"Come, Gertrude," he said, gently, "you are ill. Come into the house +now and let us talk it over in our room--come!" + +"Ill--yes! I wish I might die," she murmured. + +Then she suddenly grew calm and went back into the house with him. He +opened the door of his room and she went in, but she passed quickly +through into her own, threw herself on her lounge, drew the soft +coverlid over her and closed her eyes. Frank stood helpless before her. + +"I will have a cup of tea made for you," said the young man, kindly. + +She looked unspeakably wretched, as she lay there, the long black +lashes resting like dark shadows on her white cheeks. She must have +suffered frightfully. + +"Go to bed, Gertrude," he begged anxiously, "it will be better for you +and tomorrow we will talk about this." + +"I shall stay here," she replied decisively, turning her head away. + +Then he lost patience. + +"Confound your silly obstinacy!" he cried angrily. "Do you think I am a +foolish boy? I will show you how naughty children ought to be treated!" + +Then he turned and banging the door after him he went away. + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + +The first rays of the morning sun were resting like reddish gold on the +tips of the forest trees which crowded close up to the white villa-like +house. Magnificent oaks, like giant sentinels, stood on the lawn before +the massive wall. A narrow, little-used path wound in between them, +such as are to be found in places not intended to be walked upon. The +great trees gave out little shade as yet, the oak-tree is late in +getting its leaves; those that had already appeared looked young and +shrivelled against the knotted branches, and formed a delightful +contrast to the dark green of the evergreens on the other side of the +garden wall, mingled with the tender misty foliage of the birches. +"Waldruhe" lay as if dreaming in this early stillness. The green +jalousies were all closed, like sleepy eyelids; on the roof a row of +bright-feathered pigeons were sunning themselves. The lawn before the +house was like a wilderness, the grass-grown paths scarcely +distinguishable, which led from the great iron gate to the veranda +steps. From a side-building a little smoke rose up to the blue sky, and +a cat sat crouched on the wooden bench beside the hall-door. There was +no sound except the joyful trills of the larks as they soared out of +sight in the blue sky. + +[Illustration: "She leaned with her ungloved hands against the misty +bars of the gate."] + +From under the oaks a slender woman's figure drew near. She walked +slowly, and her eyes glanced now to the left over the green wheat +fields to the open country, and now rested on the trees beside her. She +must have come a long way, for the delicate face looked worn and weary, +dark shadows were under her eyes, and the bottom of her dress was damp +as were also the small shoes which peeped out under the gray woollen +robe. She went straight up to the iron gate, clasped the rusty bars +with her ungloved hands and looked at the house somewhat in the +attitude of an curious child, but her eyes were too grave for that. +Beside her stood a brown dog wagging his tail, raising inquiringly his +shrewd eyes to her face, but she took no heed of the animal that had +followed her so faithfully. Her thoughts took only one direction. + +She had never been here since that day when she had run hither in +desperate fear, to arrive--only too late. Everything was the same now +as then--just as lonely and deserted. She pulled the bell, how hard it +pulled! Ah, no hand had touched it since! + +It is true Sophie came here conscientiously every spring and every +autumn to beat the furniture and air the rooms, but no one else. Mrs. +Baumhagen had from the first declared this idyllic whim of her +husband's an absurdity, and Jenny always called the country house "Whim +Hall." She had been here once but would never come again, "one would +die of ennui among those stupid trees." + +At length the bell gave out a faint tinkle. Thereupon arose a fierce +barking in the side-building and a woman of some fifty years in a +wadded petticoat and a red-flannel bed-gown came out of the house. She +stared at the young lady in amazement, then she clapped her hands +together and ran back into the house with her slippers flapping at each +step, returning presently with a bunch of keys. + +"Merciful powers!" cried she as she opened the door, "I can't believe +my own eyes--Mrs. Linden! Have you been taking a morning walk, ma'am? +I've always wondered if you wouldn't come here some day with your +husband--and now here you are--and that is a pleasure to be sure!" And +she ran before, opening the doors. + +"It is all in order, Mrs. Linden--my man always insists upon +that--'Just you see,' he says, 'some day some of the ladies will be +popping in on you.'" And the square little body ran on again to open a +door. "It is all as it used to be--there is your bed and there are the +books, only the evergreens and the beeches have grown taller." + +The young wife nodded. + +"Bring me a little hot milk," she said, shivering, "as soon as you can, +Mrs. Rode." + +"This very minute!" And the old woman hurried away. Gertrude could hear +the clatter of her slippers on the stairs and the shutting of the hall +door. At last she was alone. + +A cool green twilight reigned in the room from the branches of the +beeches which pressed close up to the pane. It was not so dark here +that last summer she had spent in "Waldruhe." Otherwise--the woman was +right--everything was as it had been then, the mirror in its pear-wood +frame still displayed the Centaurs drawing their bows in the yellow +and black ground of the upper part; above the small old-fashioned +writing-table still hung the engraving, "Paul and Virginia" under the +palm trees; the green curtains of the great canopied bed were not in +the least faded, the sofa was as uncomfortable as ever, and the table +stood before it with the same plush cover. She had passed so many +pleasant hours here, in the sweet spring evenings at the open window, +and on stormy autumn evenings when the clouds were flying in the sky, +the storm came down from the mountains and beat against the lonely house. +The rain pattered against the panes, and the woods began to rustle with +a melancholy sound. Then the curtains were drawn, the fire burned +brightly in the fireplace, and opposite in the cosy sitting-room her +father sat at a game of cards. She was the hostess here in "Waldruhe," +and she felt so proud of going into the kitchen with her white apron on +and of going down into the cellar, and then at dinner all the old +gentlemen complimented her on the success of her venison pie. The dear +old friends--there was only Uncle Henry left now. + +There on that bed they had laid the fainting girl when they had found +her by her father's death-bed. + +The young wife shivered suddenly. "He died of his unhappy marriage," +she had once heard Uncle Henry say--in a low tone, but she had +understood him nevertheless. + +Mamma did not love him, she had loved another man, and she had told him +so once, when they were quarreling about some trifle. + +"I should have been happier with the other one--I liked him at any +rate, but--he was poor." + +Gertrude understood it all now; she had her father's character, she was +proud, too. Oh, those gloomy years when she was growing to understand +what sunshine was wanting in the house! + +"If it were not for the children," he had said once, angrily, "I would +have put an end to it long ago." + +O what a torture it is when two people are bound together by the law of +God and man who would yet gladly put a whole world between them! +Unworthy? Immoral? + +Had not her father done well when he went voluntarily? But ah, how hard +was the going when one loves! How then? Love and esteem belong +together--ah, it was imagination, all imagination! + +She grew suddenly a shade paler; she thought how her father had loved +her and she thought of the little cradle in the attic at home. Thank +God, it was only a dream, a wish, a nothing, and yet--Oh, this +sickening dread! + +She went towards the bed, she was so tired; she nestled her head in the +pillow, drew up the coverlid and closed her eyes. And then she seemed +to be always seeing and hearing the words that she had written to-day +to leave on his writing-table. And she murmured, "Have compassion on +me, let me go! Do not follow me, leave me the only place that belongs +to me!" + +The housekeeper brought some hot milk and she drank it. She would go to +sleep, she said, but she could not sleep. She was always listening; she +thought she heard horses' hoofs and carriage wheels. Ah, not that, not +that! + +Hour after hour passed and still she lay motionless; she had no longer +the strength to move. Why can one not die when one will? + +The noon-day bell was ringing in the village when a carriage drove up +and soon after steps came up the stairs. + +Thank God, it was not he! + +Uncle Henry put his troubled face in at the door. + +"Really," he said, "you are here then! But why, child, why?" + +She had risen hastily and now stood before the little old gentleman. + +"You bring me an answer, uncle?" + +"Yes, to be sure. But I would rather far do something else. How happens +it that your precious set should choose me for your amiable messenger?" + +He threw himself down on the sofa with such force that it fairly +groaned under his weight. + +"Have you any cognac here?" he inquired, "I am quite upset." + +She shook her head without speaking and only gazed at him with gloomy +eyes. + +"No, I suppose not," grumbled Uncle Henry. "Well then, he says if it +amuses you to stay here you are quite welcome to do so." + +She started perceptibly, + +"Oh, ta, ta! That is the upshot of it--about that," he continued, +wiping his forehead with his handkerchief. + +"Linden did not say much," he went on, "he was in a silent rage over +your flight--however, he kept himself well in hand. He would not keep +you, he said, nor would he drag you back to his house by force. He will +send Johanna to wait on you, and hopes to be able to fulfil any other +desire of yours. He will arrange everything--and it is to be hoped you +will soon see your error. And," wound up Uncle Henry, "now that we have +got so far, I should be glad to learn from you what is to happen, when +you, with your well known obstinacy, do not feel inclined to own +yourself wrong?" + +She was silent. + +"As for the rest, Frank utterly denies having had any connection with +Wolff. And, I should like to know, Gertrude--you were always a +reasonable woman--why have you taken it into your head to believe that +old ass who was always known as a scoundrel, rather than your husband?" + +Gertrude quickly put her hand in her pocket and grasped the +letter--there was her proof. She made a motion to give it to him--but +no, she could not do it, she could not bring out the small hand that +had closed tightly over the fatal paper. + +"You ought both of you to give way a little, I think," said Uncle Henry +after awhile. "You are married now, and--_au fond_--what if he did +inquire about your fortune?" + +Her frowning glance stopped him. + +"Now-a-days it is not such a wonderful thing if a man--" he stammered +on. + +"It is not that, it is not that, uncle! Stop, I beg of you!" cried +Gertrude. + +"Oh yes, I understand, women are more sensitive in such matters, and +justly too," assented Uncle Henry. "Well, I fear the name of Baumhagen +will be the talk of the town again for the next six months. Goodbye, +Gertrude. I can't exactly say I have enjoyed my visit. Don't be too +lonely." + +At the door he turned back again. + +"You know it will come before the courts. Frank refuses to recognize +the claims of the fellow Wolff." + +She shook her head. + +"He will not refuse," she answered, calmly, "but I wish you would take +the matter in hand, uncle, and pay Wolff for his trouble." + +Her eyes filled suddenly with angry tears. + +"Oh, ta, ta! Why should I meddle with the matter?" + +The old gentleman was deeply moved. + +"I ask it of you, uncle, before it becomes the talk of the town." + +A sob choked her words. + +"Ah, do you think, my child, it is not already whispered about? +Hm!--Well I will do it, but entirely from selfish motives, you know. Do +you think it isn't disagreeable to me, too? Oh, ta, ta! What big drops +those were! But will you promise me then to let well enough alone! +What? You cannot leave him!" + +The tears seemed frozen in her eyes. + +"No," she replied, "but we shall agree upon a separation." + +"Are you mad, child?" cried the old gentleman with a crimson face. + +She turned her eyes slowly away. + +"He only wanted my money; let him keep it," was her murmured reply, +"_I_ was only a necessary incumbrance,--_I_!" + +"Oh, that is only your sensitiveness," said her uncle soothingly. + +"Do you know me so little?" she inquired, drawing herself up to her full +height. Her swollen eyes looked into his with an expression of cold +decision. + +The little man hastily shut the door behind him. It was exactly as if +his dead brother were looking at him. In a most uncomfortable frame of +mind, he got into his carriage. Confound it! here he was plunged into +difficulties again by his good nature. + +Gertrude remained alone. For one moment she looked after him and then +she covered her face with her hands despairingly, threw herself on the +little sofa and wept. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + +It was towards evening. Frank Linden mounted the steps, stood on the +terrace and whistled shrilly out into the garden. He waited awhile and +then shook his head. "The brute has gone with her," he said in a low +voice; "even an animal like that takes part against me." He went back +into the dining-room and stumbled over Johanna, who was busy at the +side-board. + +"You will go over to 'Waldruhe' in an hour," he said, looking past her. +"Take what clothes are necessary for my wife with you. Whatever else +she may desire is at her disposal at any moment." + +Johanna glanced at him shyly, the face that was usually so glowing +looked so ashy pale in the evening light. + +"If I could have half an hour more, Mr. Linden--I want to show the +young lady something about the milk cellar." + +"The young lady? ah--yes--" + +"Yes, the young lady who came to visit Miss Rosa yesterday. She offered +her services, sir, when she heard that Mrs. Linden had gone away. I +don't know how I can manage without her either, Dora is so stupid and +she has so much to do besides." + +Before he could reply, the door opened softly and behind Aunt Rosa's +wonderful figure appeared a dark girl with red cheeks and shining eyes, +who when she perceived him made a rather awkward curtsy, and was at +once introduced as Addie Strom. + +Frank bowed to the ladies, stammered out a few civil words, and asked +to be excused for leaving them as he had letters to write. + +"I am so sorry," said Aunt. Rosa, "that Mrs. Linden is not at home." + +He nodded impatiently. + +"She will soon be back," he replied as he went out. + +"If Addie can help about the house a little--" sounded the shrill tones +of the old lady behind him. + +"Don't give yourself any trouble," was his reply. + +"I should be glad to do it," said Adelaide, timidly. + +Another silent bow from him and then he went out with great strides. +That too! + +He ran hastily down the steps into the garden. He took the letter out +of his pocket once more which he had found lying on his writing-table +that morning, and read it through. The writing was not as dainty as +usual--the letters were hard and firm and large and yet unsteady, as if +written, in great excitement. + +The blood rushed in a hot wave to his heart. "It will come right." He +put away the letter and took another from his pocketbook which had +been brought half an hour before by an express messenger. + +"I have just come from Wolff, with whom I intended to make an +arrangement of this fatal affair. The scoundrel, unfortunately, was +taken ill of typhus fever yesterday, and nothing is to be done with him +at present. I can only regret that you should have consulted this man +of all others, and I do not understand why you have not satisfied him. +As soon as the gentleman is _au fait_ again I shall take the liberty, +in the interest of my family and especially of my niece, to settle the +matter quietly, and beg you not to make the matter worse by any +imprudence on your part. You must have some consideration for the +family. + +"May an old man give you a little advice? I am a very tolerant judge in +this matter, but a woman thinks differently about it. Acknowledge the +truth openly to your insulted little wife--with a person of her +character it is the only way to gain her pardon. I will gladly do all +in my power to set this foolish affair before her in the mildest +light--" + +"Consideration!" he murmured, "consideration for the family!" + +Then he laughed aloud and went on more quickly into the deepening +twilight. What should he do in the house, in the empty rooms, at the +inhospitable table with his heart full of bitterness? Childish, foolish +obstinacy it was in her--and no trust in him! How had he deserved that +she should give him up at once without even hearing him? Well, she +would get over it, she would come again, but--the spell was broken, the +bloom, the freshness was gone. + +He must have his rights without regard to the Baumhagen family, or to +her on whom he would not have permitted the winds of heaven to blow too +roughly. She could not have hurt him more, than by giving more credence +to that scoundrel than to him--she who usually was so calm--calm? + +He could see her eyes before him now, those eyes in which strong +passion glowed. He had seen them blaze with anger more than once, he +had heard her agitating sobs, her voice husky with emotion as she spoke +of her father. He saw her again as she had been the evening before +their marriage when she pressed his hands passionately to her lips, a +mute eloquent gesture, a thanksgiving for the refuge of his breast. And +now? It had already burned out this passionate love, had failed before +the first trial. + +It was already dark when he returned from his walk. Johanna was gone. +The maid whom he met in the corridor told him she had taken her child +and a trunk full of clothing and the books which had been sent to Mrs. +Linden yesterday. + +He went to her room; the sweet scent of violets of which she was so +fond pervaded the atmosphere, the afghan on the lounge lay just as it +had fallen when she threw it off as she rose. He could not stay---a +longing for her seized upon him so powerfully that it well-nigh +unmanned him, and he went back to the dining-room. He opened the door +half-unconsciously--there sat the judge at the table, dusty and +dishevelled from his Brocken tour, but contented to his inmost soul. +But--how came this stranger here doing the honors? + +The rosy little brunette was just setting the table. She had put on a +white apron over her dark dress, the bib fastened smoothly across her +full bust. She was just depositing with her round arm half-uncovered by +the elbow-sleeve, a plate of cold meat by the judge's place, placing +the bottle of beer beside it. And as she did so she laughed at the +weary little man so that all her white teeth were displayed. + +And this must he bear too, to make his comfort complete! Let them eat +who would! Soon he was sitting upstairs in the corner of the sofa in +his own room; outside the darkness of a spring night came down, and a +girl's voice was singing as if in emulation of the nightingales; that +must be the little brunette, Adelaide. At last he heard it sounding up +from the depths of the garden. + +He did not stir until the judge stood before him. + +"Now, I should really like to know, Frank--are you bewitched or +am I? What is the matter? Where is madame? The little black thing +downstairs, who seems to have fallen out of the clouds, says she is +'gone.'--Gone? What does it mean?" + +"Gone!" repeated Frank Linden. It sounded so strange that his friend +started. + +"Something has happened, Frank,--that old woman, the mother-in-law, has +done it. Oh, these women!" + +"No, no, it is that affair with Wolff." + +The judge gave vent to a long whistle, then he sat down beside Linden +and clapped him on the shoulder. + +"We'll manage _him_, Frank," he said, comfortingly, "and _she_ will +come back, she _must_ come back; you will not even need to ask her. But +it was the most foolish thing she could do to run away." + +And he began to describe a case that had come up in Frankfort a short +time before on the ground of wilful desertion. + +Linden sprang up. + +"Spare me your law cases," he said roughly. "Do you suppose I would +bring her back by force?" + +"And what if she will not come of herself, Frank?" + +"She will come," he replied, shortly. + +"And that scoundrel Wolff?" + +Frank Linden gave his friend a cigar and took one himself, though he +did not light it, and as he sat down again he said: + +"You can ask that? Have I been in the habit of putting up with +imposition, Richard?" + +"No, but on what does the man found his claim?" + +Frank shrugged his shoulders. "I told you before, that he declared when +I turned him out, that he would know how to secure his rights. He is +ill now, however," he added. + +"Oh, that is fatal!" lamented the judge. He was silent, for just then +the full, deep girl's voice came up from the garden: + + "Du hast mir viel gegeben, + Du schenktest mir dein Herz, + Du nahmst mir Alles wieder, + Und liessest mir den Schmerz." + +"It must be very hard, Frank," murmured his friend after a few moments +of deep silence. "Very hard--I mean, to go the right way to work with a +woman. How will you act? With sternness, or with gentleness? Will you +write her a harsh letter, or will you send her some verses? In such an +evening as this, I think I could almost write poetry myself. I say, +Frank, light the lamp and let us read the paper." + +"Richard," said the young man as he rose, "if you will give me your +advice in regard to this affair of Wolff's, I shall be grateful to you, +but leave my wife out of the question altogether; that is my affair +alone." + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + +Mrs. Baumhagen had conquered her aversion to "Waldruhe" and had come to +see her youngest daughter. Something must be done--at any rate she +could not any longer endure the sympathetic inquiries for the health of +the young Mrs. Linden. Something _must_ be done. + +Gertrude was sitting at the window reading in her cool dusky room, at +least she held a book in her hand; at her feet lay Linden's dog. She +started in dismay as she heard footsteps in the corridor and for one +moment a deep flush spread over her face. + +"Ah, mamma," she said, wearily, as Mrs. Baumhagen rustled in in a light +gray toilet, her hat lavishly adorned with violets as being appropriate +to half-mourning, the round face more deeply flushed than usual with +the heat of the spring sun and her excitement. + +"This can't go on any longer, child," she began, kissing her daughter +tenderly on the forehead. "How you look, and how cold it is here! Jenny +sent her love; she went to Paris this morning to meet Arthur. Why +didn't you go too, as I proposed?" + +"I did not feel well enough," replied Gertrude. + +"You look pale, and it is no wonder. I never could bear such want of +consideration, either." + +Gertrude sat down again in her old place. + +"Has Uncle Henry been here?" inquired Mrs. Baumhagen. + +"He was here yesterday." + +"Well, then, you know that Linden has forbidden him any interference +with Wolff?" + +"Yes, mamma." + +"And that this Mr. Wolff has been at the point of death for three days? +His death would be the best thing that could happen, for of course +everything would come to an end then. I don't know whether the people +in the city have any idea of the true state of the case, but they +suspect something and they overwhelm me with inquiries about you." + +Gertrude nodded slightly, she knew all that already from her uncle. + +"And hasn't he been here? Did he not ask your pardon, has he not tried +to get you back?" asked Mrs. Baumhagen, breathlessly. + +"No," was the half-choked reply. + +"Poor child!" + +The mother pressed her cambric handkerchief to her eyes. + +"It is brutal, really brutal! Thank God that your eyes have been opened +so soon. But you cannot stay here the whole time before the +separation?" + +Gertrude started and looked at her mother with wide eyes. She herself +had thought of nothing but a separation. But when she heard the +dreadful word spoken, it fell on her like a thunderbolt. + +"Yes," she said at length, wringing her hands nervously, "where should +I stay?" + +"And for pity's sake, what do you do here from morning till night?" + +"I read and go to walk, and--" I grieve, she would have added, but she +was silent. What did her mother know of grief! + +"My poor child!" + +Mrs. Baumhagen was really crying now. This atmosphere weighed on her +nerves. There was something oppressive in the air, and they really had +a dreadful time before them. What if he should not consent to a +separation? Why had God given the child such an unbending will which +had brought her into this misery! If she had only followed her mother's +advice. Mrs. Baumhagen had taken an aversion to the man from the first +moment. + +"I think I must go home, my headache--" she stammered, unscrewing her +bottle of smelling salts. + +"If you want anything, Gertrude, write or send to me. Do you want a +piano or books? I have Daudet's latest novel. Ah, child, there are many +trials in life and especially in married life. You haven't experienced +the worst of it yet." + +"Thank you, mamma." + +The young wife followed the mother down the corridor and down the +stairs to the hall door. Mrs. Baumhagen said good-bye with a cheerful +smile--the coachman need not know everything. + +"I hope you will soon be better, Gertrude," she said, loudly. "Be +persevering in your water-cure." + +Gertrude, left alone, went on into the garden. At the end of the wall +where the path curved was a little summer-house, with a roof of bark +shaped like a mushroom. Here she stopped and looked out into the +country which lay before her in all the glow and fragrance of the +evening light. Behind the wooded hills of the Thurmberg stood the dear, +cosy little house. She walked in spirit through all its rooms, but she +forced her thoughts past one door, the room with the old mahogany +furniture into which she had gone first on her wedding eve. And she +leaned more firmly against the wall and gazed out at the setting sun +which stood in the sky like a fiery red ball, till the tears streamed +from her eyes, and her heart ached with mortification and humiliation. +Why did that day always come back to her so, and that evening, the +first in that room? The evening when she had slipped from his arms, +down to his very feet, hiding her face in his hands, overwhelmed with +her deep gratitude. Must he not have smiled to himself at the foolish, +passionate, blindly credulous woman? And angry tears fell from her eyes +down over her pale cheeks, her hands trembled, and her pride grew +stronger every minute. + +She turned and went back to the house, the dog still following, and +when she reached her room she sat down on the ground like a child and +put her arms round her brown companion's neck. She could weep now, she +could cry aloud and no one would hear. Johanna had gone to Niendorf to +get some books and all sorts of necessary things. + +When Johanna came back at length, Gertrude sat in the corner of the +sofa as quiet as ever. The lamp was lighted and she was reading. +Johanna brought out a timid "Good evening!" which was acknowledged by a +silent nod. She laid a few rosebuds down beside the book. "The first +from the Niendorf garden, ma'am." + +And when no answer came, she went on talking as she took the clothes +out of the basket and packed them away in the wardrobe. + +"Dora is gone, Mrs. Linden. She could not get on with Miss Adelaide, +and the master packed her off. He is so angry. Mr. Baumhagen, who has +just been there, complained bitterly of the dinner to-day. I was in the +kitchen when he came in and said he had never eaten such miserable peas +in his life and the ham was cut the wrong way. Then Miss Adelaide cried +and complained, and declared she did it all only out of good-nature. +And the judge tried to comfort her and said it was a pity to spoil her +beautiful eyes.--The judge sent his compliments too, and said he would +come to say good-bye to you, ma'am. He is going away in a few days. Mr. +Baumhagen sent greetings too, and Miss Rosa and little Miss Adelaide--" + +"Pray get the tea, Johanna," said the young lady, interrupting the +stream of words. + +"The milk was sour, too, ma'am, and it is so cool too. Ah, you ought to +see the milk-cellar! Everything is going to ruin--it would really be +better if you would only agree that Miss Adelaide should come here and +let me go to the master." + +"You will stay here," replied Gertrude, bending her eyes on her book. + +"The master looks so pale," proceeded the chattering woman. "Mr. +Baumhagen was telling him in the garden-hall today that Wolff is dying, +and he struck his hand on the table till all the dishes rattled and +said, 'Everything goes against me in this matter!'" + +Gertrude looked up. The color came back into her pale cheek, and she +drew a long breath. + +"Dying?" she asked. + +"Yes. I heard Mr. Baumhagen trying to soothe him--saying it was all for +the best and he hoped everything might be comfortably settled now." + +"What was my uncle doing there?" inquired Gertrude. + +Johanna was embarrassed. + +"I don't know, Mrs. Linden, but if I am not mistaken, he was trying to +persuade Mr. Linden to--that--ah, ma'am!"--Johanna came and stood +before the table which she had set so daintily. + +"What is between you and Mr. Linden I don't know, and it is none of my +business to ask. But you see, ma'am, I have had a husband too, that I +loved dearly--and life is so short, and I think we shouldn't make even +one hour of it bitter, ma'am; the dead never come back again. But if I +could know that my Fritz was still in the world and was sitting over +there behind the hills, not so very far away from me--good Lord, how I +would run to him even if he was ever so cross with me! I would fall on +his neck and say, 'Fritz, you may scold me and beat me, it is all one +to me so long as I have you!'" + +And the young widow forgot the respect due to her mistress and threw a +corner of her apron over her eyes and began to cry bitterly. + +"Don't cry, Johanna," said Gertrude. "You don't understand--I too would +rather it were so than that--" She stopped, overpowered by a feeling of +choking anguish. + +Johanna shook her head. + +"'Taint right," she said, as she went out. + +And Gertrude left the table and seated herself at the window, laying +her forehead against the cool pane. Are not some words as powerful as +if God himself had spoken them? + +When some time after, Johanna entered the room again, she found it +empty, and the table untouched. And as she began to remove the simple +dishes, Gertrude entered and put a key down on the table. She had been +in her father's room and the pale face with its frame of brown hair, +looked as if turned to stone. + +"If visitors come to-morrow, or at any time, I cannot receive them," +she said, "unless it be my Uncle Henry." + +And she took up her book again and began to read. + +The house had long been quiet, when she put down the book for a moment +and gazed into space. + +"No!" she murmured, "no!" + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Three days later the Niendorf carriage stopped before the gate of +"Waldruhe," and waited there a quarter of an hour in the blazing heat +of the mid-day sun, so that the gardener's children could gaze to their +heart's content on the brilliant coloring of Aunt Rosa's violet parasol +and the red ostrich feathers which adorned Adelaide's summer hat, +mingling effectively with the dark curly hair which hung in a fringe +over the youthful forehead. This sight must have been an agreeable +one to the judge also, for he did not take his eyes off his pretty +_vis-à-vis_. + +"Mrs. Linden regrets that she is not well enough to receive visitors," +announced Johanna with her eyes cast down. + +Two of the occupants of the carriage looked disappointed, while the +judge felt in his pocket for his card-case. + +"There!" He gave the servant the turned-down card. + +"And here is a letter, an _important letter_--do you understand, +Johanna? My compliments, and I trust she will soon recover." + +"So do I," said the young girl, timidly. + +Aunt Rosa, however, was silent, and when they looked at her more +closely they saw she was asleep, the wrinkled old face nodding absurdly +above the enormous bow under her chin. + +"Burmann, drive slowly, when we get to the wood," whispered the judge, +"Miss Rosa is asleep." + +The coachman made a clucking sound with his tongue and drove +noiselessly over the soft grass-grown road. Johanna could see that the +judge moved over from the middle of the seat opposite the young lady +and that she glowed suddenly like the feathers on her hat. + +Johanna went back into the house with her card and letter and gave them +to Gertrude. + +"A letter?" inquired the young wife. + +"The judge gave it to me," replied Johanna, as she left the room in +which, in spite of the outside heat, the air was always damp and cold. + +Gertrude slowly opened the letter. It was in his handwriting--she had +expected it. Her heart beat so quickly she could scarcely breathe, and +the letters danced before her eyes. It was some time before she could +read it: + +"GERTRUDE--Wolff died last evening. It is no longer possible to call +him to account on earth; it is no longer possible to expose his guilt. +He has gone to his grave without having cleared me from his calumny. I +remain before you as a guilty person, and I can do nothing more than +declare once more that we--you and I, are the victims of a scoundrel. I +have never spoken with Wolff of your fortune nor called in his +intervention in any way. I leave the rest to you and to your +consideration. I shall never force you to return to me, neither shall I +ever consent to a divorce. Come home, Gertrude, come soon and all shall +be forgotten. The house is empty, and my heart is still more so--have +faith in me again. Your FRANK."' + +She had just finished reading these words when Uncle Henry came in. +The little gentleman had evidently dined well--his face shone with +good-humor. + +"Still here?" he cried. And as she did not reply he looked at her more +closely. "Well, you are not angry again?" + +But the young wife swayed suddenly and Uncle Henry sprang towards her +only just in time to keep her from falling, and called anxiously for +Johanna. They laid the slender figure on the sofa and bathed her +temples with cold water. + +"Speak to me, child!" he cried, "speak to me!" and he repeated it till +she opened her eyes. + +"I cannot," she said after awhile. + +"What?" asked the asthmatic old gentleman. + +"Go to him I _can_not! Must I?" + +"Merciful Heavens!" groaned Uncle Henry, "do be reasonable! Of course +you must unless you want him to be ruined." + +"I must?" she repeated, adding as if for her own comfort, "No, I must +not! I cannot force myself to have confidence in him, I cannot pretend +what I do not feel. No, I must not!" + +And she sprang up and ran through the room to the door, trembling with +excitement. + +"Oh, ta, ta!" The old man ran his hands through his hair. "Then stay +here! Let your house and home go to ruin, and the husband to whom you +have pledged your faith into the bargain." + +"Yes, yes," she murmured, "you are right, but I cannot!" + +And she grasped the little purse in her pocket which held that fatal +letter. + +It seemed as if this brought her back at once to herself. She grew +quiet, she lay back on her lounge and rested her head on the cushion. + +"Pardon me, uncle--I know what I am doing." + +"That is exactly what you don't know," he muttered. + +"Yes, I do," was the pettish reply. "Or do you think I ought to go +there and beg him with folded hands to take me back into favor again?" +And something like scorn curved her lips. + +"It would be the most sensible thing you could do," replied Uncle +Henry, rather angrily. + +She bent back her head proudly. + +"No!" came from her lips, "not if I were still more miserable than I +am! I can forgive him, but--fawn upon him like--like a hound--no!" + +"God forgive me, but it is nothing but the purest arrogance that +animates you," cried the old man. "Who gave you the right to set +yourself so high above him? He was a poor man who could not marry +without money--is it a crime that he should have asked a question as to +this matter? It happens to every princess. You are stern and unloving +and unjust. Have you never done anything wrong?" + +She had started at his first reproachful words like a frightened child, +now she sprang up and as she knelt down before him her eyes looked up +at him imploringly. + +"Uncle, do you know how I loved him? Do you know how a woman can love? +I looked up to him as to the noblest being on earth, so lofty, so great +he seemed to me. I have lain at his feet, and at night I folded my +hands and thanked God that he had given me this man for my husband. I +thought he was the only one who did not look on me only as a rich girl, +and he has told me so a hundred times. Uncle, you have been always +alone, you don't know how people can love! And then to come down and +see in him only a common man, a man who does not disdain to tell a +lie--O, I would rather have died!" And she hid her face in her +trembling hands. "And there, where I have been so happy, shall I +satisfy myself with the coldest duty? I must be his wife and know that +it was not love that brought me to his side? I shall hear his tender +words and not think, 'He does not mean them?' He will say something to +me and I shall torment myself with doubts whether he really means it? +Oh, hell itself could not be more dreadful, for I loved him!" + +Tears stood in the old man's eyes. He stroked Gertrude's smooth hair in +some embarrassment. + +"Stand up, Gertrude," he said, gently; and after a pause he added, "The +Bible says we shall forgive." + +"Yes, with all my heart," she murmured. "And if you see him tell him +so. Ah, if he had come and had said--'Forgive me'--but so--" + +An idea came into Uncle Henry's head. + +"Then would you give in, child?" he inquired. + +"Yes," she stammered, "hard as it would be." + +The old egotist knew then what he had to do. He led the weeping +Gertrude to her little sofa, asked Johanna for a glass of wine and then +drove to Niendorf. As he went he could see always before him the +beautiful tear-stained face, and could hear her sad voice. As he ran up +the steps to the garden-hall rather hastily he saw through the glass +door the little brunette Adelaide sitting at the table with the judge, +who was just uncorking a wine-bottle. Both were so deeply engaged in +gazing at each other and blushing and gazing again that they were not +conscious of the presence of the old spy outside. + +"Really, this is a pretty time to be carousing in this house," thought +Uncle Baumhagen. As he entered he brought the couple back to the bald +present with a gruff "Good morning," and the judge began at once a +lament over the horrible ill-luck of this Wolff's dying six months too +soon. + +"What is going on here?" asked Uncle Henry, inhaling the fragrance of +the wood-ruff. + +"The parting _mai-trank_ for the judge," replied Miss Adelaide. + +"Oh, ta, ta! You are going away?" + +"I must," replied the little man with a regretful look at the young +girl. "Besides, my dear sir, since this dreadful wifeless time has +begun it is melancholy in Niendorf. Linden has been as overwhelmed, +since the news of the death came last evening, as if his dearest friend +had gone down into the grave with that limb of Satan. Heaven knows he +could not have been more anxious about a near relation, and his horses +have nearly run their legs off with making inquiries about the fellow's +health. I really believe he would have given the doctor of this +distinguished citizen a premium for preserving his precious life." + +Uncle Henry grumbled something which sounded almost like a curse. +"Where is Linden?" he inquired. + +"Upstairs!" replied Miss Adelaide. "He has been there ever since this +morning, at least we--" indicating the judge and herself--"dined alone +with auntie, then we went to 'Waldruhe' but we did not get in, and now +it is out of sheer desperation that we made a bowl of _mai-trank_. But +won't you taste a little of it, Mr. Baumhagen?" + +She had filled a glass and offered it to the old gentleman with +laughing eyes. + +Uncle Henry cast a half-angry, half-eager glance at the glass in the +small hand. + +"Witch!" he growled, and marched out of the room as haughtily as a +Spaniard. He was in too serious a mood to enter into their "chatter." +But a clear laugh sounded behind him. + +"I wish the judge would pack that little monkey in his trunk and send +her off to Frankfort or to Guinea for all I care." + +He found the young master of the house at his writing-table. "Linden," +he began, without sitting down, "the carriage is waiting down-stairs, +come with me to your little wife; if you will only beg her forgiveness, +everything will be all right again." + +Frank Linden looked at him calmly. + +"Do you know what I should be doing?" he asked--"I should acknowledge a +wrong of which I have never been guilty." + +"Ah, nonsense! Never mind that! This is the question now, will you have +your wife back again or not?" + +"Is that the condition on which my wife will return to me?" + +"Why, of course. Oh, ta, ta! I am sure at least that she would come +then." + +"I am sorry, but I cannot do it," replied the young man, growing a +shade paler. "It is not for me to beg pardon." + +"You are an obstinate set, and that is all there is about it," +thundered Uncle Henry. "We are glad that the scoundrel is dead, and now +here we are in just the same place as we were before." + +"The scoundrel's death is a very unfortunate event for me, uncle." + +"You will not?" asked the old gentleman again. + +"Ask her pardon--no!" + +"Then good-bye!" And Uncle Henry put on his hat and hastily left the +room and the house. + +"Allow me to accompany you down," said Frank, following the little man, +who jumped into the carriage as if he were fleeing from some one. + +But before the horses started he bent forward and an expression of +intense anxiety rested on his honest old face. + +"See here, Frank," he whispered, "it is a foolish pride of yours. +Women have their little whims and caprices. It is true I never had a +wife--thank Heaven for that!--but I know them very well for all that. +They have such ideas, they must all be worshipped, and the little one +is particularly sharp about it. She is like her father, my good old +Lebrecht, a little romantic--I always said the child read too much. Now +do you be the wise one to give in. You have not been so hurt either, +and--besides she is a charming little woman." + +"As soon as Gertrude comes back everything shall be forgotten," replied +Linden, shutting the carriage door. + +"But she won't come so, my boy. Don't you know the Baumhagen obstinacy +yet?" cried Uncle Henry in despair. + +He shrugged his shoulders and stepped back. + +"To Waldruhe!" shouted the old man angrily to the coachman, and away he +went. + +"My young gentleman is playing a dangerous game as injured innocence," +he growled, pounding his cane on the bottom of the carriage. The nearer +he came to the villa, the redder grew his angry round face. When he +reached "Waldruhe" he did not have to go upstairs. Gertrude was in the +park. She was standing at the end of a shady alley and perceiving her +uncle she came towards him, in her simple white summer dress. + +"Uncle," she gasped out, and two anxious eyes sought to read his face. + +"Come," said the old man, taking her hand, "let us walk along this +path. It will do me good. I shall have a stroke if I stand still. To +make my story short, child--he will not." + +"Uncle, what have you done?" cried Gertrude, a flush of mortification +covering her face. "You have been to him?" + +"'Yes,' I said, 'go and ask her forgiveness and everything will come +right--women are like that!' and he--" + +She pressed her hand on her heart. + +"Uncle!" she cried. + +"And he said: No! That would be owning a fault which he had not +committed. There, my child! I have tried once more to play the part of +peace-maker, but--now I wash my hands of it all. You must do it for +yourselves now. Anger is bad for me, as you know, and I have had enough +now to last me a month. Good-bye, Gertrude!" + +"Good-bye, uncle, I thank you." + +He had gone a few steps when the old egotist looked round once more. +She was leaning against the trunk of a beech-tree like one who has +received a blow. Her eyes were cast down, a strange smile played about +her mouth. + +"Poor child!" he stammered out, taking his hat from his burning +forehead, and then he went back to her. + +"Come now, you must keep your spirits up," he said kindly. "Over there +in Niendorf that black little monkey was making a _mai-trank_ for the +judge who is going away. What do you say, Gertrude, shall we go and +have some? Come, I will take you over quite quietly. You see we would +go so softly into the dining-room, and I am not an egotist if you are +not--one--two--three--in each others' arms--you will cry 'Frank!' he +will say 'Gertrude!' and all will be forgotten. Gertrude, my good +little Gertrude, do be reasonable. Is life so very blissful that one +dares fling away the golden days of youth and happiness? Come, come, +take my advice just this once." + +He had grasped her slender wrist, but she freed herself hastily and her +face grew rigid. "No, no, that is all over!" she said in a hard +distinct tone. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + +The summer had come; the yellowing grain waved in the soft breezes, and +the cherry-trees in the orchards and along the high roads had all been +robbed of their fruit. The sky was cloudless and the first grain had +been harvested in Niendorf. + +From the cities every one had fled to the watering-places or into the +mountains. The corner-house in the market-place was shut up from top to +bottom. Mrs. Baumhagen was in Switzerland, Mr. and Mrs. Fredericks in +Baden-Baden. Uncle Henry had gone to Heligoland, because nowhere can +one get such good breakfasts as on the dunes of that rocky island. + +Only the two sat still in their nests; separated by a small extent of +wood and meadow, they could not have been further apart if the ocean +had rolled between. There was no crossing the gulf between them. + +In Niendorf everything was irregular and in disorder. How should the +little Adelaide know anything about the management of a farm? She was +on her feet all day, she took a hundred unnecessary steps, and in the +evening she complained that the two dainty little feet in the pointed +high-heeled shoes hurt her so, and that the servants had no respect for +her. Aunt Rosa was in a bad temper, for she found herself in her old +age condemned to the life of a lady-in-waiting. Adelaide could not +possibly dine alone with Linden, and she must always be there. So at +twelve o'clock every day, the old lady put on her best cap, and sat, +the picture of misery, opposite Linden, in Gertrude's vacant place. The +meals were desperately melancholy. After awhile Adelaide also became +silent, since she very rarely got any reply to her remarks. So they ate +their dinner in silence and separated as soon as possible afterwards. + +Frank, however, had work to do at least, he could not _always_ think +and brood and look at the locked door which led into Gertrude's room. +That happened in the evening in his quiet room when little Adelaide was +singing all manner of melancholy songs about love and longing +down-stairs. And at midnight when it was quite quiet, when every one +was asleep in the house and only some faint barking of a dog sounded +from the tillage, he wandered up and down the room till the lamp grew +dim and went out, and even then he did not stop. + +He no longer expected her to come, though he had done so for days and +weeks. At first he had gone to the very walls of her garden with a +gnawing desire to see her; he would be there when she came out of the +gate, and he would go to meet her at the very first step. In vain, she +did not come. + +Once the servants had seen him when his eyes were strangely red. "The +master is crying for the mistress," was the report in the kitchen. + +"Why doesn't he go and get her?" said the coachman, "I wouldn't cry a +drop; I should know very well how to get back an obstinate wife," +making an unmistakable gesture. "Brute!" cried the maids, and thereupon +all the women turned their backs on him. + +It was long since there had been such a harvest; the barns could +scarcely contain all the grain. The fragrance of the hay came over from +the meadows and mingled with that of the thousand roses in the garden; +the great linden bloomed in the court-yard and a happy hen-mother led +out to walk a legion of yellow little chickens. + +In the stork's nest on the barn the young ones were growing apace; the +homely old house lay almost buried in luxuriant greenery; the clematis +climbed up to the windows and peeped in at the empty rooms, and the +swallows which were building under the roof, went crying through the +country and the city, "She has gone away from him! She has gone away +from him!" + +Yes, everybody knew the sad story by this time. Gertrude Baumhagen was +separated from her husband. In the coffee parties one whispered to +the other, people spoke of it at the cafés and at dinner-parties, +and at the table d'hôte in the hotel it was the standing topic of +conversation. No one knew exactly why this had happened. There were a +thousand reports of a most wonderful nature. + +"He did something disagreeable about his wife's dowry--" + +"She went away because he lifted his hand to strike her--" + +"The mother-in-law made mischief between them--" + +"Nonsense! She was jealous--there is a little brown cousin in the +house--" + +"No, it was not that--she heard that before they were engaged he +consulted an agent about her fortune. It is not so very unusual +now-a-days." + +"Ah, bah, no woman would run away for that!" + +"That shows that you don't know Gertrude Baumhagen very well. It is a +fact that she has gone away." + +Yes, it was a fact, and Gertrude sat in her lonely house like one +buried alive in that ever gloomy room. She could no longer read; it +seemed as if she slept with open eyes. Sometimes Johanna brought her +her child, and the young wife's eyes mechanically followed the little +creature as it crept awkwardly over the floor or tried to raise +itself by a chair, but she would not touch it even when it fell and +cried.--Towards evening, however, the same unaccountable restlessness +always came over her; then she walked hurriedly up and down the garden +for a long time till she reached the top of the little hill; there she +would remain for hours, gazing at the Thurmberg till her hair and dress +were wet with dew. + +"Believe me," she said to Johanna, "I shall be ill--here," and she +pointed to her head. + +"I do believe it," assented the other, "it is easy to make one's self +ill--" + +It was a day at the end of July; a frightful sultry heat brooded over +the earth, and the young wife suffered greatly from it even in her cool +room. After dinner she lay motionless in her chair by the window; a +severe headache tortured her as was so often the case lately. + +Johanna placed her cupful of strong black coffee on the table and put +the book beside it which had been opened at the same page for the last +three days. + +"Here is a letter too," she added. + +Gertrude had acquired a great dread of letters lately. She overcame her +aversion however and opened it. It was in Jenny's pointed handwriting, +and Jenny only wrote surface gossip; one glance at the letter would +suffice. Two sheets fell out. + +"It is a long time since we heard anything from you," she read, "so +that we are very anxious about you--are you still in 'Waldruhe?'" + +"I met Judge K. yesterday at a reception, the same who, in the +celebrated divorce case of the Duke of P. with Countess Y., was the +counsel of the latter. I asked him playfully if a woman could separate +from her lord and master if she found that he had had more thought of +her worldly goods than of herself, described the situation pretty +plainly and spoke of a friend of mine who was in such a position. He +replied, 'Tell your friend she had better go quietly back to her +husband, for she is sure to get the worst of it.' His real expression +was a much rougher one, for he is well known as a brute. + +"Well, there you have the opinion of an authority in such matters. Make +an end of the matter, for you may have so bitterly to repent a longer +delay as you are quite unable to realize in your present magnificent +scorn. If I am not much mistaken you really love him. Well, there are +things--but it is hard to write about such things. Read the enclosed +letter, which mamma sent me a few days ago. Perhaps you will guess what +I wanted to say. + +"I wish you had been with me in Paris or were here now in Baden-Baden. +You would see how we German women, with our thick-skinned housewifely +virtues and our cobwebby romance, make our lives unnecessarily hard. I +am convinced a French woman would hold her sides for laughing if she +should hear the cause of your conjugal strife. + +"Arthur is very amiable, and obeys at a word. He surprised me with a +Paris dress for the reception yesterday. As soon as he gets out of our +little nest he is like another man. Good-bye, don't take this affair +too tragically. + + "YOUR SISTER." + + +Slowly the young wife took up the other letter; it was in Aunt +Pauline's pointed handwriting and was addressed to Mrs. Baumhagen. + + +"DEAREST OTTILIE: + +"Everything here goes on as usual. I was at your house yesterday; +Sophie is there and had a great moth-hunt yesterday. Your parrot had a +bad eye but it is all right again now. I have heard nothing of +Gertrude; she will let nobody in. I suppose you have heard from her. +There are all sorts of reports about Niendorf going about. Last +evening my husband came home from the club--they say there is a cousin +there who manages the house. Mr. Hanke has seen her in Linden's +carriage--very dark, rather original, and very much dressed. Well, of +course, you know how people will talk, but I will not pour oil on the +fire. I saw Linden too, once, and I hardly knew him; he was coming from +the bank. The man's hair is growing gray about the temples; he looked +like another person, so--how shall I describe it--so run down." + +Gertrude dropped the letter and then she sprang up--she shook and +trembled in every limb. + +With a powerful effort she forced herself to be calm and to be +reasonable. What did she wish? She had separated from him forever. But +her heart! her heart hurt her so all at once, and it beat so loudly in +the deathly stillness which surrounded her that she thought she could +hear it. + +"Johanna!" she shrieked, but no one replied; she was probably out in +the garden or in the kitchen at work. + +And what good could she do her? "No, not that, only not that!" + +She sat down again in her chair by the window and looked out among the +trees. What would she not give if the woods and the hills would +disappear so that she could look across into that house--into that +room! "A gay little thing is that brown little girl," Johanna had said +the other day. And Gertrude saw her in her mind's eye tripping about +the house, now in the garden-hall, now up the steps, those dear old +worn-out steps. Tap, tap, now in the corridor, the high-heeled shoes +tapped so firmly and daintily on the hard floor; and now at a brown +door--his door. + +Might she enter? Ah, his room, that dear old room! And Gertrude wrung +her hands in bitter envy. "Go!" she cried, half-aloud, "go! That +threshold is sacred--I--I crossed it on the happiest day of my life--on +his arm!" + +And she could see him sitting at his writing-table in his gray jacket +and his high boots just as he had come in from the fields; his white +forehead stood out in sharp contrast to his brown face. She had always +liked that. + +And gray hair on his temples? Ah, he had none a few weeks ago! And +again a dainty little figure fluttered before her eyes going towards +him. Ah, she would like to know that one thing--if he could ever forget +her for another--for this girl perhaps? But of what use was all this? + +She got up and went out of the room across the corridor to her father's +room. What her father had done thousands had done before him, and +thousands would do it--a man need not live! + +On the table by the bed stood the glass with his monogram, out of which +he had drunk that dreadful potion. The servants had washed it and put +it back there. She walked a few steps toward the window and started +suddenly. Ah yes, it was only her image in the glass. She walked +quickly up to the shining glass and looked in--there was a wonderful +bluish shimmer in it and her face, pale as death, looked out at her +from it. The deep shadows under the eyes spread far down on her cheeks. +Shuddering, she turned away; there was something ghostly about her own +face. + +And again she stood still and thought. What was left for her in life? +Everything was gone with him, everything! + +"Mrs. Linden," said a voice behind her, "Judge Schmidt." + +She nodded. + +"In my room." + +Ah, yes, she had forgotten that she had sent for him. He came to-day, +and she had only written yesterday. But it was just as well, she must +make a beginning. + +She turned back again; let him wait, she could not go just yet. She +went to the window and saw how the heavy leaden clouds were spreading +over the sky; a storm was brewing in the west. Courage, now, courage! +When it was past the sun would shine again; sometimes a broken branch +could not lift itself again. So much the better! There would be no more +of this quiet, this deadly calm. + +Only something to do--even if-- + +"Ma'am!" called the voice once more, and then she composed herself and +went. + +She knew him very well, the old gentleman who came towards her with a +kind smile, but she could not speak a word to him. She could only wave +her hand silently towards the nearest chair. He knew what the matter +was, let him begin the dreadful conversation. + +"You wish for my advice, Mrs. Linden, in this difficult matter?" + +"Yes, I wish you to act for me," she said, looking past him into the +corner of the room, "and I wish above all that Mr. Linden should be +informed of the decision I have come to. I will leave him in possession +of my whole fortune with the exception of this house, and the capital +that is invested in my brother-in-law's factory." + +She said the words hurriedly, as if she had learned them by heart. + +"Are you quite in earnest about it then?" asked the old man. + +Her eyes blazed out at him. + +"Do you think I would jest on such a sorrowful subject?" + +"And you think your husband will agree?" + +"It is _your_ affair, Mr. Schmidt, to arrange this." + +He bowed without speaking. She too was silent. An oppressive stillness +reigned in the room, in the whole house. It seemed to Gertrude as if +she had just heard her sentence of death. + +"There will be a bad storm to-day," said the judge after awhile. "I +must leave you now, madam, and as I am half-way to Niendorf now, I will +just drive over, to arrange the matter with your husband in person." + +"To-day?" She was startled into saying it. + +He hesitated and looked at her. + +"You are right, to-morrow will suit me better too--let us say the day +after to-morrow." + +"No," she replied, hastily, "go at once, it will be better, much +better." + +She got up in some confusion; her headache, the consciousness that she +had now set the ball rolling nearly overwhelmed her. She accompanied +the lawyer mechanically to the head of the stairs; then she remained +standing in the corridor, her hand pressing her throbbing temples, half +unconscious. + +She could hear Johanna in the kitchen, and as if she could bear the +loneliness no longer she went in and sat down on a chair beside the +white scoured table. Johanna was standing before it, choosing between +ivy-leaves and cypress-twigs. Her eyes were red with crying, and large +drops fell now and then on the hands which were making a wreath. The +whole kitchen smelled of death and funerals. + +"What are you doing there?" asked Gertrude. + +Johanna looked away and suppressed a sob. + +"It will be a year to-morrow," she replied in a choked voice, "since +they brought him home to me dead." + +"Ah, true." + +The two women looked deep into each other's sorrowful eyes, each with +the thought that she was the most unhappy. Ah, but there stood the +little carriage with the sleeping child, and that belonged to Johanna, +and Johanna could think of _him_ without other sorrow and heartache +than that for his loss. To lose a loved one by death, is not half so +hard as to lose him in life. Gertrude could find no word of sympathy. + +"Oh, how could I live through it!" sobbed the young widow. "So fresh +and strong as he went across the threshold, I think I can see him now +striding up the street. And the very night before, we had a little +quarrel for the first time and I thought, 'Just you wait, you will have +to beg for a pleasant word from me.' And I went to bed without saying +good night, and the next morning I wouldn't make his coffee. + +"I heard him moving about in the room and I was glad to think that he +would have to go without his breakfast. He came to my bed once and +looked in my face and I pretended to be asleep. But as soon as he had +shut the outside door behind him, I jumped up and ran to the window and +looked after him--I was so proud of him. It was the last time; it +wasn't two hours later when they brought him home, and day and night I +was on my knees before him, shrieking, and asking if he was angry with +me still. And I prayed to God that He would let him open his eyes just +once, only once, so I could say, 'Good-bye, Fritz, come home safe, +Fritz.' But it was all of no use; he never heard me any more." + +Gertrude sprang up suddenly and left the kitchen. O God! She felt sick +unto death. Everything seemed to whirl round and round in her brain, as +if her mind were unsettled. She could no longer follow out a train of +thought to its end, and an idea which had seized upon her five minutes +ago in the most horrible clearness, she was now unable to recall; try +as hard as she might, nothing remained to her but a dull dread of +something dreadful hanging over her. + +It was no doubt the heavy air, the oppressive stillness of nature +before a storm that had so excited her nerves. + +She rang for ice-water. When Johanna set the glass before her she +turned her head away. + +"Johanna, do you happen to know how long the--young lady is going to +stay at Niendorf?" + +"I think the whole summer, ma'am," was the reply. "A good thing, too. +What could they do without her over there?" + +Gertrude bit her lip; she felt ashamed. What right had _she_ to ask +about it? + +"Did you want anything more, ma'am?" + +"Nothing, thanks." + +And she remained alone in her room as she had been so many days before. +She could hear the gnawing of the moths in the old wood-work, and now +and then the steps of the servant in the corridor. With burning eyes +she gazed at the ever-darkening sky; her hands grasped the slender arm +of her chair as if they must have an outward support at least. + +Gradually it began to grow dark; the approaching evening and the black +storm-clouds together soon made it quite dusk, while now and then sharp +flashes of lightning brought the dark trees into full relief. Close by +Johanna was closing the windows of the sleeping-room. + +"Shall I bring a lamp?" she asked, looking through the half-opened +door. + +"No, thanks." + +"But you oughtn't to sit so near the window, ma'am, it looks so +dreadful out there." + +Gertrude did not move and the tear-stained face disappeared. A sudden +gust of wind swept through the trees, the branches were tossed wildly +about as if in a fierce struggle with brute force; the slender branches +were bent down to the ground only to rise again as quickly, and a +fierce blast whirling about gravel, leaves and small stones dashed them +against the rattling panes. Then followed a dazzling flash of +lightning, thunder that made the house shake, and at the same time a +sudden deluge of rain mingled with the peculiar pattering of large +hail-stones. + +Johanna, with her child in her arms, came anxiously into her mistress' +room. + +"Oh, mercy!" she shrieked, falling on her knees before the nearest +chair. Another flash filled the room for a moment with a dazzling red +light, and the thunder crashed after it like a thousand cannon. + +"That struck, Mrs. Linden, that struck!" cried she in terror. + +Gertrude had stepped back from the window; she was standing in the +middle of the room. By the light of the constant flashes the servant +could see her pale, rigid face with perfect distinctness. She rested +her hands on the table and looked towards the window as if it did not +concern her in the least. And still the storm raged more fiercely, +while the world seemed to be standing in a perfect sea of fire. It +seemed to have endured for hours. But gradually the flashes grew less +frequent, the crashes of thunder grew more distant, and at last only a +light rain dripped on the trees and the storm died away in a distant +low grumbling. + +Gertrude opened the window and bent far out; a wonderfully sweet air +blew upon her face, soft and aromatic, refreshing and invigorating, and +above in the sky the clouds had parted and a brilliant star sparkled +down upon her. Then she started back. From the high-road there came a +sound of hurried movements; a sound of wheels, the cracking of whips, +the cries of men--what did it mean? It was usually as quiet as the +grave here at this hour. + +"Fire!" Had she heard aright? She could not see the street but she +leaned far out and listened to the uproar. Her heart beat loud and +fast. The gardener's wife ran hastily up in her clattering wooden +shoes, and her shrill voice came up to Gertrude's ears. + +"David, hurry, hurry, hurry, it has been burning in Niendorf for the +last half-hour--the engine has just gone by--hurry!" + +"Clang, clang, clang!" clashed out the church bell now. In Gertrude's +ears it sounded like a death-knell. Clang, clang, clang! Why did she +stand still there, her hands clasping the window-sill as if they were +nailed there? She heard doors banging, and voices and shouts, she heard +the gardener rushing out of his house--and still she stood there as if +there was a spell upon her. + +Again clashed out the warning notes of the bell! And at length she +roused herself as if from a heavy dream, and now she was quite alive +once more. She flew like an arrow out of the room, snatched a shawl +from the wall of the corridor and rushed past Johanna, who was standing +at the gate with the gardener's wife and children,--away out over the +half-flooded high-road. + +"Mrs. Linden! For the love of Heaven!" screamed Johanna behind her. But +she paid no heed to the cry. Like a murmured prayer came from her +lips--"On! on!" + +The road before her was dark and lonely; the men who had hastened to +the rescue, were out of sight long ago. + +She actually flew; she felt no fear in the gloomy wood; she saw nothing +but the dear old burning house, and a pair of manly eyes--once, ah, +once so inexpressibly dear. Something came pattering behind her. Ah, +yes--the dog. + +"Come," she murmured, and hurried on, the sagacious animal close behind +her. + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + + +It was a long way to Niendorf, but Gertrude flew as if she had wings. + +"Good Heavens!" she groaned as she reached the top of the hill and saw +the red glow in the sky. Faster and faster she rushed down the hill; at +the next turn she must see Niendorf--and at last she stood there, +breathing quick and loud, her eyes gazing with terror into the valley. +Thank God! The red smoke was still rising into the sky, the flames +still shot up here and there, but the force of the fire was broken. It +is true, shouts and cries still sounded in her ears, but already she +met men who were going home. + +She moved aside into the deepest shadow and gazed down into the valley; +the old house stood there safe and sound, the red light of the dying +flames played about its green ivy-wreathed gables and lighted up the +shrubs in the garden. The barns were in ruins to be sure, but what +mattered that? As she stood there gazing at the house with insatiable +eyes, a light suddenly shone out behind two of the windows, gazing at +her like a pair of friendly eyes. The windows were his. But the young +wife found nothing reassuring in them. The terrible anxiety which had +left her at the sight of the uninjured house, suddenly leaped up with +renewed force. How happened it that there should be lights in his room +when the fire was still smouldering down there? He in the house when +his presence below was so necessary? + +No, never--or he must-- + +On--on--only to see--only to see from a distance, whether he lived and +was well! + +"Life hangs on the merest thread," Johanna's words sounded in her ears. +"God in Heaven, have mercy, do not punish me _so_!" + +At the garden-gate she stopped. What should she do here? Her ambassador +had come here only to-day and had offered him money for her freedom. +Ah, freedom! + +Of what use is it when the heart is still held fast in chains and +bands? And she ran in under the dark trees of the garden, round the +little pond, on the surface of which a faint rosy shimmer of the dying +fire still played, and she sank exhausted on a garden-chair under the +chestnuts; just in front of her, only across the gravel walk was the +house and a dim light shone out of the garden-hall. + +Upstairs, the bright light was gone from his windows; shouts and voices +of men still came up from the court, carriages were being pulled about, +horses taken out, all mingled with the sharp hissing sound of the hose. +Gertrude shivered; a great weakness had come over her, her temples +throbbed, the smell of the fire nearly took her breath away. + +Here she sat motionless, gazing at the steps which led to the +garden-hall. Her eyes sought out step after step and at last lingered +in the door. "Up there! In there!" she thought, her heart beating wildly, +but pride and shame held her fast as with iron chains. + +It gradually grew quieter in the court, then steps approached, firm, +elastic steps. Gertrude quickly seized the dog by the collar. "Down, +Diana!" she cried, hoarse with terror, and then a figure passed the +bright light of the window, and brushing close by her went into the +house. + +Frank! He was alive--thank God! But he was hurt, he kept his arm +pressed so closely to his side. Ah, but he was alive! and now, now she +could go again quietly and unperceived as she had come. There were +plenty of hands in there to bind up his wounds, to-- + +She shivered again as if in fever. + +"Come," she said to the whining dog, and she got up and turned away +towards the darker paths, but the dog pressed eagerly toward the house, +and almost as if she knew not what she was doing she suffered herself +to be dragged forward by him. + +At length she reached the steps and in another moment she was mounting +them. Only one look inside, only to see if he really was suffering, if +he really was alive! And holding the impatient animal still more firmly +she passed noiselessly across the stone terrace; then she leaned +against the door-post and peeped through the glass, trembling with +emotion, timorous as a thief, full of longing as a child on Christmas +Eve. + +The room looked just as usual, the carpets, the pictures, all just as +she had left it; within were people hurrying busily to and fro, and by +the table near the lamp he was sitting, his face, pale and drawn with +pain, turned full towards the door. And beside him, bending over him, +and binding up his arm with all the charming grace of an anxious and +tender wife, was the agile little creature in a black dress and white +apron, her bunch of keys stuck in her girdle. How skilfully she laid on +the bandage! With what supple, tapering fingers she fastened it! How +nearly her dark hair touched his face! + +And this must be done by other hands than these that she was wringing +so here outside! + +A joyful bark sounded beside her, and the dog broke away from her +trembling fingers with a sudden spring and bounded against the door so +that it shook. She started to flee in terror, but her strength failed +her; the ground seemed to sway under her feet, half-unconscious she +could still hear the door hastily torn open, and then she lost +consciousness altogether. + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + +Gertrude awoke, just as the day began to dawn, from a deep dreamless +sleep. She was not ill, and she knew perfectly well what had happened +to her the evening before. She was lying on the sofa in Aunt Rosa's +room; above her smiled down the ancestress with the powdered hair, and +the whole wonderful rose-wreathed room was in the full glow of the +morning sunshine. + +At the foot of the bed on a low footstool sat a young girl in a black +dress and a white apron; the dark head had fallen against the arm of +the sofa--Adelaide was sound asleep. + +The young wife got up softly. Her drenched clothing had been taken off +the night before and her own dressing-gown put on; there was still a +large part of her wardrobe in Niendorf; she even found, her dainty +slippers standing before the sofa, which she was accustomed to put on +when she got up. She was very quick and very careful not to wake the +young girl. But as she softly opened the door, the sleeper sprang up, +and a pair of wondering dark eyes gazed up at Gertrude. + +"Where are you going?" asked the clear voice. + +Gertrude stopped, undecided. + +"Mr. Linden went to bed so very late," continued Adelaide Strom; "he +sat here beside you till about an hour ago. You will not wake him? It +is not four o'clock yet." + +A pair of firm little hands drew the young wife away from the door +towards the sofa, and in contradiction to the childish words a pair of +grave eyes looked at her, saying plainly, "Do what you will--I shall +not let you go." + +Gertrude sat down again on the improvised bed and bit her lips till +they bled, but the young girl busied herself at a side-table, and +presently a fragrant odor of coffee filled the room. + +"Here," she said, offering the young wife a cup of the hot beverage, +"take it, it will do you good. I made some coffee for Mr. Linden too, +in the night: only drink it quietly, it is _his_ cup and no one else +has ever touched it." + +And as Gertrude made no reply and only held the cup in her trembling +hand without drinking, Adelaide continued without taking any +notice--"Ah, yesterday was a dreadful day. The frightful storm and that +dreadful thunderbolt, and the great barn was in flames in a moment, and +before any help came the other was burning, and it was with the +greatest difficulty the animals were saved. If Mr. Linden had not been +so calm and had so much presence of mind, it would have been frightful. +But he went into the horses' stable just as if the flames were not +darting in after him, and he put the harness on the horses and they +followed him out through the flames like lambs, though no one could get +them out before. And only think, when the uproar was the greatest, and +the fire was sending showers of sparks into the air, as if they were +rockets, something began to howl and cry so loud from the very top of +the barn, and we found it was Lora, the great St. Bernard dog, who had +puppies up there. + +"And how that poor dumb creature did cry out for help! I could hear +from my window that no one would go up after her,--'Being a dog,' they +all said. And all at once I saw a ladder, and one--two--three--a figure +disappeared up there in the flames. What do you think, Mr. Linden +brought them all down, the old dog and her young ones--all of them." + +The little girl's eyes sparkled with tears. + +"But he has a mark of it on his arm to be sure," she added, "and +it was only a dog after all. What was it in comparison with a man's +life?--Aunt Rosa was so angry with him and said, when he came down here +pale and suffering with the pain, he might have lost his life. Then he +said that such a stupid thing as his life wasn't worth a straw! And +just as he had said it, Diana began to scratch so furiously at the +door, and he rushed out at such a rate that I thought the lightning +must have struck again, and as I ran out behind him, he had you already +in his well arm, and declared that he knew you would come." + +Gertrude got up at this point, and walked to the door. But here she met +another obstacle. This was Aunt Rosa, who was just coming out of her +bedroom in the most astonishing morning array and the most enormous +white nightcap that a lady ever wore. She nodded to Gertrude, and laid +her small withered hand on her shoulder. + +"The dear God always opens a way for the hard heart to soften," said +the ancient dame, "Yes, in hour of need, the heart has wings on which +it is lifted above all the petty foolishness of pride and perversity. +It was just before the closing of the door, too, my dear child, for +yesterday afternoon, after a certain man had had an interview with him, +I folded my hands and prayed to God to give him strength to bear the +blow--I was afraid he would never get over it." + +Adelaide Strom now went softly out of the door and the old woman +remained standing before the young wife, and the tall form seemed +almost to shrink beneath her thin transparent hand. But neither spoke. +The eastern sky grew redder, and then the first rays of the sun played +on Gertrude's brown hair. + +Suddenly she covered her face with her hands. "My happiness is over, I +can never be anything more to him!" she gasped. + +"Say rather 'I _will_ never be anything more to him!'" + +"Ah, and even if I would!" she cried, "I am so wretched!" + +"He who will not do a thing willingly and gladly would do better to +leave it undone, and he who cares not to pray, should not fold his +hands." And Aunt Rosa turned away to the window, sat down in her easy +chair and took up her prayer-book. She left Gertrude to herself and +read her morning chapter half aloud. + +The words struck the ear of the struggling girl with a wonderful force. + +"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not +charity--" sounded through the room. + +"Charity suffereth long and is kind; beareth all things, believeth all +things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." + +Had she no charity then, no true love? Ah, faith--love--how should they +remain when one has been so cruelly deceived! And her house came back +to her mind, that sad, lonely house on the edge of the wood, and her +life in the last few weeks, so frightfully bare and desolate. + +And--"charity beareth all things--" it said. + +"Amen!" said Aunt Rosa, aloud. And Adelaide came in, and the young wife +suddenly felt her hands drawn down and through her tears she saw +Adelaide, smilingly unlocking the bunch of keys from her own belt and +holding it out to her. + +"I kept things in order as well as I knew how," she said, "it is not in +the most perfect order I know, but you must not scold me." + +She felt the keys put into her nerveless hand--had she not been bowed +down into the dust? + +"Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity vaunteth not itself," said +something in her heart. + +"I will forgive him," said the young wife aloud. But her face was pale +and rigid. + +"Forgive, with _those_ eyes?" asked Aunt Rosa. "And for what? For +believing him less than an acknowledged--well, he is dead, God forgive +him--than a man who was a perfect stranger to you? No, my little woman, +take heart and go up to your Frank and--" + +"_I_ go to _him_?" she cried in cutting tones,--"_I_?" The bunch of +keys fell clanging on the floor; with trembling hands she snatched up +the dress she had worn the day before, and took the purse out of the +pocket,--the purse which contained that fatal scrap of paper. For +awhile she held the piece of paper in her hand, then she gave it to the +old lady. + +"I will not seem to you so childishly perverse," she said. + +Aunt Rosa put on her glasses and read it. She started, and then a smile +spread over her face. In great confusion she looked into Gertrude's +face. + +"Addie," she said, "you can bear witness that I have always been a most +orderly person my whole life long." + +"Yes, auntie, the most envious person must allow you that virtue." + +"And yet last Christmas it happened to me to mislay a letter. It was to +Linden from Wolff; for four whole days we searched for it. Let me see, +that was the twenty-second of December--the letter was lost, and on the +twenty-sixth, I happened to lift up my window-cushion and there was the +thing. No one could have been gladder than I. I stayed up till late at +night--Linden had gone to a party at the Baumhagens--and when at last +he came home I gave him the letter and he put it carelessly in his +pocket and said, 'Aunt Rosa, you shall hear it first, I have just been +getting engaged.' And in the joy of his heart he took me in his arms as +if I were still only eighteen. You see, and that"--she struck the bit +of paper with her right hand--"that is a scrap of the letter, my little +woman, and the date coincides exactly." + +Gertrude was already by her side. "Is that true?" escaped from her +trembling lips. + +The old lady nodded. "Perfectly true," she declared. "Ask Dora. She +searched for the letter with me, and thereby got a great knock on the +head when she was trying to move the wardrobe." + +But Gertrude declined this. She stood for awhile in silence, her head +bent down, her color changing rapidly from red to white, then she moved +towards the door and in another moment she had disappeared. + +Lightly she mounted the stairs, and the old worn boards seemed to +understand why the little feet stepped so carefully and did not as +usual, crack and snap. + +It was still as death in the whole house; the corridor was still dusky +and the old pictures on the wall looked sleepily down on the young +wife. The tall clock kept on its solemn tick-tack, tick-tack. It +sounded so strangely in Gertrude's ears, as she stood hesitating before +the brown door and grasped the knob. + +Tick-tack, tick-tack! How the time flies! One should not hesitate a +moment when one has a fault to repair--every minute is so much taken +from him--quick, quick! + +Softly she opened the door and slipped in. She had drawn her dress +close about her, so the train should not rustle. Two large eyes gazed +anxiously out of the pale face round the room, which was glowing in the +morning sunshine. Now her heart seemed to stop beating for a moment, +now it throbbed wildly: there in the large chair--he had not gone to +bed, but sleep had overtaken him. There he sat, his wounded arm rested +on the arm of the chair, the other supported his head. He wore still +the soiled, singed coat he had on the day before, and ah, he looked so +pale, so changed! + +The dog, which lay at his feet, lifted up his head and wagged his tail. +Then she went towards him. "Make way for me," she murmured, "_I_ must +take that place!" + +And she knelt down before her husband, and taking the shrinking injured +hand put it to her lips. + +"Gertrude, what are you doing?" + +"Forgive me, Frank, forgive me?" she whispered, weeping, resisting his +endeavors to raise her. + +"No, Frank, no, let me stay here, it should be so--" + +"Forgive you? There is no question of that. Thank God you are here +again!" + +But before she got up she tore a bit of paper into shreds, then she ran +to the window and opened her hand and they danced away in the air like +snowflakes. And when she turned back again she looked into his grave +eyes. + +"What was that?" he asked, drawing her towards him. + +She threw her arms round his neck and hid her streaming eyes on his +breast. They stood thus together at the open window, in the clear rays +of the morning sun. The twittering swallows flew past them over the +tops of the trees up into the blue sky. + +"Back again! Back again!" was the burden of their song. + +Gradually the house woke up. The little brunette laid the table in the +garden-hall. + +"Two cups, two plates, and a bunch of roses in the middle--for the last +time," said she, "then she can do it for herself again." + +Then she stood thinking for a moment. + +"He doesn't in the least realize how fortunate he is to get such a +yielding, lamb-like wife as I am," she murmured. "To be sure, I _could_ +not possibly fancy that he married me for my money." + +She laughed a clear ringing laugh. + +"I shall have a nice little trousseau if Aunt Rosa gets it." + +And she opened the garden door and ran out into the green shrubbery. + +The world was so beautiful, the sun so golden and Adelaide was so fond +of the little judge. + +She was engaged, secretly engaged, for the good fellow would not come +before his friend in all his bridegroom's bliss, when his happiness was +so utterly shattered. So they had plighted their troth secretly--after +the bowl of _mai-trank_ on that last day. Aunt Rosa was no check +upon them, for she slept placidly in the corner of the sofa, and +Frank--Heaven alone knew when he had gone. + +But now--she looked at her pretty little hands; yes, there were +ink-stains on them; she had sent off the news at once to Frankfort: +"Great fire, great anxiety, great reconciliation." + +She found herself suddenly before a stout little man in a gray summer +overcoat and a white straw hat. + +"Oh, ta, ta! little one, don't run over me!" + +He was very cross, this good Uncle Henry. + +"Pretty state of affairs! A man comes from Hamburg, travelling all +night, and hardly is he out of the train when some one comes: 'Mr. +Baumhagen, did you know there had been a great fire in Niendorf?' Tired +as a dog as I was, I must needs get into a carriage and drive out +here--a man can't sleep after such a piece of news as that. For mercy's +sake, you are smiling as if it was Christmas eve!" + +"All the crops are burnt," announced Adelaide in as joyful a tone as if +she had said, "We have won a great prize." + +"The poor fellow has ill-luck," muttered Uncle Henry. "Has some one +gone over to--" He would not speak her name--"to--well, to 'Waldruhe?' +Or has the announcement of the joyful news been left for me again?" + +"No one has been there," replied Adelaide, mischievously. + +Uncle Henry looked at her more sharply. + +"Well, what's up then, you witch? Something has happened." + +"I am engaged," burst out the happy little bride. Thank Heaven, that +she could tell it at last. + +"You unhappy child!" cried Uncle Henry, by way of congratulation. But +she ran laughing away into the house. + +"Breakfast is ready!" she cried from the terrace. "Coffee, tea, ham and +eggs." + +The old gentleman, who was going out to view the wreck, turned sharply +round and followed her. + +"It is true," he remarked, "I shall be better for having something to +eat, I am quite upset by the journey." + +And Uncle Henry went puffing up the steps and grasped the door-knob. + +Good Heavens!--did his eyes not deceive him? There sat Linden, his arm +in a sling, and beside him--surely he knew that thick brown knot of +hair and that slender figure which was bending, down to cut up his +meat. Now she raises her head and kisses him on the forehead before she +quietly resumes her own place. + +"Angels and ministers of grace defend us! A man has only to take a +journey--!" + +Uncle Henry drops the door-knob. He has such a queer sensation--he does +not like emotion--and he does not like to disturb other people. He +would gladly get out of the way if he could--perhaps he may manage it +yet. + +But no. Gertrude herself opens the door. + +"Uncle Henry," she said, pleadingly. + +And he comes in and behaves exactly as if nothing had ever happened. It +is the purest selfishness on his part. Scenes don't agree with him. + +"I wanted just to see how you were--you seem to have had a nice little +fire," he begins. + +"Thank God! No lives were lost," said Linden, "and no cattle were +burnt; the crops are all destroyed, it is true; but in place of that a +new life has risen out of the ashes." And he held out his sound hand to +Gertrude. + +"Oh, ta, ta!" murmured Uncle Henry, helping himself hurriedly to ham +and to butter. "I tell you, children, travelling is a great deal too +hard work, and if it were not for the lobsters in Heligoland and the +eel-soup in Hamburg, then--but, Gertrude, you are laughing and crying +at the same time! Well, well, I am glad to be home again; there is +nothing like home, after all, and with your permission, I will drink +this glass of good port wine to your health and to the peace and +prosperity of your household." + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gertrude's Marriage, by W. Heimburg + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERTRUDE'S MARRIAGE *** + +***** This file should be named 32442-8.txt or 32442-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/4/4/32442/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/32442-8.zip b/32442-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..718e4b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/32442-8.zip diff --git a/32442-h.zip b/32442-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c86d04 --- /dev/null +++ b/32442-h.zip diff --git a/32442-h/32442-h.htm b/32442-h/32442-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0d6572a --- /dev/null +++ b/32442-h/32442-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8537 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>Gertrude's Marriage.</title> +<meta name="Author" content="W. Heimburg (pseudonym of Bertha Behrens"> +<meta name="Publisher" content="Worthington Co."> +<meta name="Date" content="1889"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +body {margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; background-color:#FFFFFF;} + +p.normal {text-indent:.25in; text-align: justify;} +p.center {text-align:center; margin-top:9pt;} + + +p.section {letter-spacing:1em; text-align:center; margin-top:24pt; margin-bottom:24pt;} +p.right {text-align:right; margin-right:15%;} + +p.continue {text-indent: 0in; margin-top:9pt;} + +.quote {font-size:90%} + + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5 {text-align: center;} + +span.sc {font-variant: small-caps;} +span.space {letter-spacing: 1em; } + + +hr.W10 {width:10%; margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt; + color:black;} + +hr.W20 {width:20%; margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt; + color:black;} + +hr.W50 {width:50%; margin-top:12pt; color:black;} + + +p.hang1 {margin-left:3em; text-indent:-3em;} +p.hang2 {margin-left:3em; text-indent:0;} + +.poem { + margin-top : 24pt; + margin-left : 25%; + margin-right : 10%; + text-align : left; + margin-bottom : 24pt + } + .poem .stanza { + margin : 1em 0; + margin-top:24pt; + } + .poem p { + margin : 0; + padding-left : 3em; + text-indent : -3em; + } + .poem p.i0 { + margin-left : 0em; + } + .poem p.i4 { + margin-left : 2em; + } + .poem p.i6 { + margin-left : 3em; + } + .poem p.i8 { + margin-left : 4em; + } + .poem p.i10 { + margin-left : 5em; +} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Gertrude's Marriage, by W. Heimburg + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Gertrude's Marriage + +Author: W. Heimburg + +Translator: J. W. Davis + +Release Date: May 19, 2010 [EBook #32442] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERTRUDE'S MARRIAGE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<p class="continue">Transcriber's notes:</p> +<p class="hang1">1. Page scan source:<br> +http://www.archive.org/details/gertrudesmarria00heimgoog</p> + + +<br> + +<br> + + + +<br> + +<br> + +<h1>GERTRUDE'S MARRIAGE</h1> +<br> +<h2>W. HEIMBURG</h2> +<br> +<h4>TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN</h4> + +<h3>BY MRS. J. W. DAVIS</h3> + +<br> +<hr class="W10"> +<h3>ILLUSTRATED</h3> +<hr class="W10"> +<br> +<br> +<h3>NEW YORK</h3> +<h2>WORTHINGTON CO., 747 <span class="sc">Broadway</span></h2> +<h3>1889</h3> + + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3><span class="sc">COPYRIGHT 1889 BY</span><br> +WORTHINGTON COMPANY</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>GERTRUDE'S MARRIAGE.</h1> +<br> +<hr class="W10"> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class="normal">"Really, Frank, if I were in your place I shouldn't know +whether to +laugh or cry. It has always been the height of my ambition to have a +fortune left me, but as with everything in this earthly existence, I +should have my preferences.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Upon my word, Frank, I am sorry for you. Here you are with an +inheritance fallen into your lap that you never even dreamed of, a sort +of an estate, a few hundred acres and meadows, a little woodland, a +garden run wild, a neglected dwelling-house, and for stock four +spavined Andalusians, six dried-up old cows, and above all an old aunt +who apparently unites the attributes of both horses and cows in her own +person. Boy, at least wring your hands or scold or do something of the +sort, but don't stand there the very picture of mute despair!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Judge Weishaupt spoke thus in comic wrath to his friend +Assessor +Linden, who sat opposite him. Before them on the table stood a bottle +of Rhine wine with glasses, and the eyes of the person thus addressed +rested on the empty bottle with a thoughtful expression, as if he could +read an answer on the label.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a large room in which they were sitting, a sort of +garden-hall, +furnished very simply and in an old-fashioned style, with two birchen +corner-cupboards, which in our grandmother's time served the purpose of +the present elegant buffets, and which, instead of costly majolica, +displayed painted and gold-rimmed cups behind their glass doors; +with a large sofa, whose black horse-hair covering never for a +moment suggested the possibility of soft luxurious repose; with +six simply-constructed cane-seated chairs grouped about the large +table, and finally, with several dubious family portraits, among +which especially to be noted was the pastel portrait of a youthful +fair-haired beauty, whose impossibly small mouth wore an embarrassed +smile as if to say: "I beg you to believe that I did not really look so +silly as this!" And over all this bright orange-colored curtains shed a +peculiarly unpleasant light.</p> + +<p class="normal">The door of the room was open and as if in compensation for +all this +want of taste, a wonderful prospect spread itself out before the eye. +Lofty wooded mountain tops, covered with rich foliage which the autumn +frosts had already turned into brilliant colors, formed the background; +close by, the neglected garden, picturesque enough in its wild state, +and shimmering through the trees, the red pointed roofs of the village; +the whole veiled with the soft haze of an October morning, which the +rays of the sun had not yet dispersed. The regular strokes of the +flails on the threshing floors of the estate had a pleasant sound in +the clear morning air.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young man's dark eyes strayed away from the wine-bottle; +he started +up suddenly and went to the door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And in spite of all that, Richard, it is a charming spot," he +said +warmly. "I have always had a great liking for North Germany. I assure +you 'Faust' is twice as interesting here, where the Brocken looks down +upon you. Don't croak so like an old raven any more, I beg of you. I +shall never forget Frankfort, but neither shall I miss it too much--I +hope."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Heaven forbid!" cried the little man, still playing with the +empty +wine-glass. "You don't pretend to say--"</p> + +<p class="normal">But Linden interrupted him. "I don't pretend anything, but I +am going +to try to be a good farmer, and I am going to do this, Richard, not +only because I must, but because I really like this queer old nest; so +say no more, old fellow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, good luck to you!" replied the other, coming up to his +friend +and looking almost tenderly into the handsome, manly face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have really nothing to say against this playing at farming +if +I only know how and where.--You see, Frank, if I were not such a +poverty-stricken wretch, I would say to you this minute: 'Here, my boy, +is a capital of so much; now go to work and get the moth-eaten old +place into some kind of order.' Things cannot go on as they are. +But--well, you know--" he ended, with a sigh.</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden made no reply, but he whistled softly a lively +air, as he +always did when he wished to drive away unpleasant thoughts.</p> + +<p class="normal">"O yes, whistle away," muttered the little man, "it is the +only music +you are likely to hear, unless it is the creaking of a rusty hinge or +the concert of a highly respectable family of mice which have settled +in your room--brr--Frank! Just imagine this lonely hole in winter--snow +on the mountains, snow on the roads, snow in the garden and white +flakes in the air! Good Heavens! What will you do all the long evenings +which we used to spend in the Taunus, in the Bockenheimer Strasse, or +in the theatre? Who will play euchre with you here? For whom will you +make your much-admired poems? I am sure they won't be understood in the +village inn. Ah, when I look at you and think of you moping here alone, +and with all your cares heavy upon you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He sighed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will tell you something, Frank, joking aside," he +continued. "You +must marry. And I advise you in this matter not to lay so much stress +on your ideal; pass over for once the sylph-like forms, liquid eyes and +sweet faces in favor of another advantage which nothing will supply the +place of, in our prosaic age. Don't bring me a poor girl, Frank, though +she were a very pearl of women. In your position it would be perfect +folly, a sin against yourself and all who come after you. It won't make +the least difference if your fine verses don't exactly fit her. You +wouldn't always be making poetry, even to the loveliest woman. O yes, +laugh away!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He brushed the ashes from his cigar. "In Frankfort--if you had +only +chosen--you might have done something. But you were quite dazzled by +that little Thea's lovely eyes. How often I have raged about it! When a +man has passed his twenty-fifth year he really ought to be more +sensible."</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden was obstinately silent, and the little man knew +at once +that he had as he used to say, "put his foot in it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come, Frank, don't be cross," he continued, "perhaps there +are rich +girls to be had here too."</p> + +<p class="normal">"O to be sure, sir, to be sure," sounded behind him, "rich +girls and +pretty girls; our old city has always been celebrated for them."</p> + +<p class="center"><img src="images/007.png" alt="Both gentlemen turned toward the speaker"></p> + + +<h3>"<span class="sc">Both gentlemen turned toward the speaker.</span>"</h3> + +<p class="normal">Both gentlemen turned toward the speaker; the judge only to +turn away +at once with an angry shrug, Frank Linden to greet him politely.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have brought the papers you wanted," continued the +new-comer, a +little man over fifty with an incredibly small pointed face over which +a sweet smile played, a sanctimonious man in every motion and gesture.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am much obliged, Mr. Wolff," said Frank Linden, taking the +papers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If there is anything else I can do for you--Miss Rosalie will +testify +that I was always ready to help your late uncle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am a perfect stranger here," replied the young squire, "it +may be +that I shall require your help."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall feel highly honored, Mr. Linden--Yes, and as I said +before, if +you should want to make acquaintances in the city there are the +Tubmans, the Schenks, the Meiers and the Hellbours and above all the +Baumhagens--all rich and pleasant families, Mr. Linden. You will be +received with open arms, there's always a dearth of young men in our +little city. The gentlemen of the cavalry--you know, I suppose--only +want to amuse themselves--shall be only too glad in case you--"</p> + +<p class="normal">The judge interrupted him with a loud clearing of his throat.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Frank," he said, dryly, "what tower is that up there on the +hill? You +were studying the map yesterday!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"St. Hubert's Tower," replied the young man, going towards +him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Belongs to the Baron von Lobersberg," interposed Wolff.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That doesn't interest me in the least," muttered the judge, +gazing at +the tower through his closed hand for want of a glass.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have the honor to bid you good-morning," said Wolff, "must +go over +to Lobersberg."</p> + +<p class="normal">The judge nodded curtly; Linden accompanied the agent to the +door and +then came slowly back.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now please explain to me," burst out his friend, "where you +picked up +that fellow--that rat, I should say, who pushes himself into your +society so impudently."</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden's dark eyes turned in astonishment to the angry +countenance of the judge.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, Richard, he was my uncle's right-hand man, his factotum, +and +lastly, he has something to say about my affairs, for unhappily, he +holds a large mortgage on Niendorf."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That does not justify him in the impertinent manner which he +displays +towards you," replied his friend.</p> + +<p class="normal">"O my dear little Judge," said the young man in excuse, "he +looks on me +as a newcomer, an ignoramus in the sacred profession of farming. You--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I consider him a shady character! And some day, my dear +boy, you +will say to me, 'Richard, God knows you were right about that man--the +fellow is a rascal.'"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know," cried Frank Linden, between jest and earnest, +"I wish I +had left you quietly in your lodging in the Goethe-Platz. You will +spoil everything here for me with your gloomy views. Come, we will take +a turn through the garden; then, unfortunately, it will be time for you +to go to the station, if you wish to catch the Express."</p> + +<p class="normal">He took the arm of his grumbling friend and drew him with him +along the +winding path, on which already the withered leaves were lying.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am sure the fellow has a matrimonial agency somewhere," +muttered the +judge, grimly.</p> + +<p class="normal">As they turned the corner of the neglected shrubbery, they saw +an old +woman slowly pacing up and down the edge of the little pond.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For Heaven's sake!" began the little man again, "just look at +that +figure, that cap with the monstrous black bow, that astonishing dress +with the waist up under the arms, and what a picturesque fashion of +wearing a black shawl--and, goodness! she has got a red umbrella. My +son, she probably uses it to ride out on the first of May--brr--and +that is your only companion!"</p> + +<p class="normal">It was indeed a remarkable figure, the old woman wandering up +and down +with as much dignity as if one of the faded pastel pictures in the +garden hall had suddenly come to life.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall I call her?" asked Frank Linden, smiling.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Heaven forbid!" cried the other. "This neighborhood of the +Blocksberg +is really uncanny--your Mr. Wolff looks like Mephistopheles in person, +and this--well, I won't say what--she is really a serious charge for +you, Frank."</p> + +<p class="normal">The wonderful figure had long since disappeared behind the +bushes, when +the young man answered, abstractedly,</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see things in too gloomy a light, Richard. How can this +poor, +feeble old woman, almost on the verge of the grave, possibly be a +burden to me? She lives entirely shut up in her own room."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I will venture to say that she will be forever wanting +something +of you. When she is cold the stove will be in fault, when she has +rheumatism you will have to shoot a cat for her. She will meddle in +your affairs, she will mislay your things, and will vex you in a +thousand ways. Old aunts are only invented to torment their fellow-men. +But no matter, make your own beer and drink it all down. But I think it +must be time to go, the Express won't wait."</p> + +<p class="normal">Linden looked at his watch, nodded, and went hastily to the +house to +order the carriage.</p> + +<p class="normal">His friend followed him thoughtfully; at length he muttered a +suppressed, "Confound it! Such a splendid young fellow to sit and suck +his paws in this hole of a peasant village! What sort of a figure will +he cut among the rich proprietors of this blessed country? I wish +his old uncle had chosen anybody on earth for his heir, only not +<i>him</i>--much as he pretends to like it. What a career he might have +made! And now he will just bury himself in this hole--confound +Niendorf! If I only had him at home in gay Frankfort--O--it is--"</p> + +<p class="normal">A quarter of an hour later the friends were rolling towards +the city in +a rather old-fashioned carriage. Behind them was the quiet little Harz +village, and before them rose the many-towered city.</p> + +<p class="normal">They had not far to go; they reached their destination in an +hour's +time, and the carriage stopped before the stately railroad station. +Silently as they had come they got the ticket and had the baggage +weighed, and Linden did not speak till they reached the platform.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Greet Frankfort for me, Richard, and all my friends. Write to +me when +you have time. See that I get my furniture and books soon, and many +thanks for your company so far."</p> + +<p class="normal">The judge made a deprecating gesture. "I wish to Heaven I +could take +you back with me, Frank," he said, in a softer tone. "You don't know +how I shall miss you. You know what a bad correspondent I am, you are +much better at writing than I, and you will have more time for it, +too--"</p> + +<p class="normal">The whistle and the rumbling of the approaching train cut him +short; in +another moment he was in a <i>coupé</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-bye, Frank--come nearer for a moment, old +fellow--remember if you +are ever in any serious difficulty, write to me at once. If I should +not be able to help you myself--you know my sister is in good +circumstances--"</p> + +<p class="normal">One more hand-shake, one more look into a pair of true, manly +eyes, and +Frank Linden stood alone on the platform. He turned slowly away, and +walked towards his carriage. He had his foot on the step when he +bethought himself, and ordered the coachman to drive to the hotel, for +he had something to do in town.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was so entirely under the influence of the uncomfortable +feeling +which parting from a friend creates, that he took the road into town in +no very cheerful mood. On entering the city he turned aside and +followed a deserted path which led along the well-preserved old city +wall. He did not in the least know where he was going; he had nothing +to do here, he knew no one, but he must look about a little in the +neighboring town. It seemed, in fact, well entitled to its reputation +as an old German imperial city; the castle, with the celebrated +cathedral, towered up defiantly on the steep crags; several slender +church towers rose from out the multitude of red pointed roofs, and the +old wall, broken at regular intervals by clumsy square watch-towers, +surrounded the old town like a firm chain.</p> + +<p class="normal">He took delight in the beautiful picture, and as he walked on +his fancy +painted the magnificent imperial city waking out of its slumber of a +thousand years. After awhile he stopped and looked up to one of the +gray towers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really it is almost like the Eschenheim Gate in Frankfort," +he said +half aloud; "what wonderful springs the thoughts make!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Suddenly he found himself back in the present; scarcely four +weeks ago +he had passed through that beautiful gate, without dreaming that he +would so soon see its companion in North Germany. Like lightning out of +blue sky this inheritance which made him possessor of Niendorf had come +upon him. How it had happened to occur to his grandfather's old brother +to select <i>him</i> out of the multitude of his relatives for his heir +still remained an unsolved problem, and he could only refer it to the +especial liking for his mother whom the eccentric old man had always +shown a preference for.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had felt when he received the news as if a golden shower +had fallen +into his lap; it is difficult living in a city of millionaires on the +salary of an assessor. And then--he had received a wound there in that +brilliant bewildering life, and the scar still made itself felt at +times--for instance when an elegant equipage dashed by him--black +horses with liveries of black and silver and on the light-gray cushions +a woman's figure, dark ostrich feathers waving above a face of marble +whiteness, the luxuriant gold brown hair fastened in a knot on the neck +and ah! looking so coldly at him out of her great blue eyes. After such +a meeting he felt depressed for days. "A milliner's doll, a heartless +woman," he called her bitterly, but he had once believed quite the +reverse a whole year long till one morning he saw her betrothal in the +paper. She married a banker who had often served as the butt of her +ridicule. But--he had a million!</p> + +<p class="normal">Ah, how gladly had he gone out of her neighborhood, how +rejoiced he had +been to turn his back on the great world, with what happiness he had +written to his mother and what had he found!</p> + +<p class="normal">But no matter! The steward whom he had for the present seemed +a capable +fellow; he would not spare himself in any respect and then--Wolff. He +could not understand what had set Weishaupt so against the man.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had now been wandering for some time through the busiest +streets of +the town. He asked for the hotel where his coachman was to wait for +him. He now entered the marketplace in the midst of which the statue of +Roland stands. A stately Rathhaus in the style of the Renaissance stood +on the western side of the square, and lofty elegant patrician houses +with pointed gables surrounded it; some adorned with bow-windows, some +with the upper stories overhanging till it seemed as if they must lose +their balance. Only two or three buildings were of later date, and even +in these care had been taken to preserve the mediaeval character.</p> + +<p class="normal">Agreeably surprised, Linden stopped and his glance passed +critically +over the front of the lofty building before which he had chanced to +pause. Three tall stories towered one above another; over the great +arched doorway rose a dainty bow-window which extended through all the +stories and stretched up into the blue October sky as a stately tower, +finished at the top with a weather-vane. The window in the <i>bel-etage</i> +was divided into small diamond panes--that was an "æsthetic" dwelling, +no doubt. In the second story rich lace curtains shimmered behind large +clear panes, and a very garden of fuchsias and pinks waved and nodded +from the plants outside. If a lovely girl's face would only appear +above them now, the picture would be complete.</p> + +<p class="normal">But nothing of the kind was to be seen, and casting one more +glance at +the artistic ironwork of the staircase, the attentive spectator turned +and crossed the market-place to the hotel in order to dine. As it was +already late he was the only guest in the spacious dining-room. He ate +his dinner with all speed, and began his wanderings through the streets +again.</p> + +<p class="normal">Behind the Rathhaus he plunged into a labyrinth of narrow +streets and +alleys, then passing through an archway he entered unexpectedly a +square surrounded by tall linden trees half stripped of their leaves, +which, grave and solemn, seemed to be watching over a large church. It +seemed as though everybody was dead in this place; only a few children +were playing among the dry leaves, and an old woman limped into a sunny +corner, otherwise the deepest silence reigned.</p> + +<p class="normal">A side door of the church stood open; he crossed over and +entered into +the silent twilight of the sacred place; he took off his hat, and, +surprised by the noble simplicity of the building, he gazed at the +slender but lofty columns and the rich vaulting of the choir. Then he +walked down the middle aisle between the artistically carved stalls, +brown with age. He delighted in them, for he had the greatest +admiration for the beautiful forms of the Renaissance, and he was +doubly pleased, for he had not expected to find anything of the kind +here.</p> + +<p class="normal">Here he suddenly stopped; there at the font, above which the +white dove +soared with outspread wings, he saw three women. Two of them seemed to +be of the lower class; the elder, probably the midwife, held the child, +tossing it continually; the other, in a plain black woollen dress and +shawl, a young matron, looked at the child with eyes red with weeping; +a third had bent down towards her; the sexton, who was pouring the +water into the basin, concealed her completely for the moment and +Linden saw only the train of a dark silk dress on the stone floor.</p> + +<p class="normal">And now a soft flexible woman's voice sounded in his ear: +"Don't cry +so, my good Johanna, you will have a great deal of comfort yet with the +little thing--don't cry!</p> + +<p class="normal">"Engleman, you had better call the clergyman--my sister does +not seem +to come, she must have been detained; we will not wait any longer."</p> + +<p class="normal">The speaker turned towards the mother, and Frank Linden looked +full +into the face of the young girl. It was not exactly beautiful, this +fine oval, shaded by rich golden brown hair; the complexion was too +pale, the expression too sad, the corners of the mouth too much drawn +down, but under the finely pencilled brows a pair of deep blue eyes +looked out at him, clear as those of a child, wistful and appealing, +as if imploring peace for the sacred rite.</p> + +<p class="normal">It might often happen that strangers entered the beautiful +church and +made a disturbance--at least so Frank Linden interpreted the look. +Scarcely breathing, he leaned against one of the old stalls, and his +eyes followed every movement of the slender, girlish figure, as she +took the child in her arms and approached the clergyman.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Herr Pastor," sounded the soft voice, "you must be content +with <i>one</i> +sponsor, for unfortunately my sister has not come."</p> + +<p class="normal">The clergyman raised his head. "Then you might, Mrs. Smith--" +he signed +to the elder woman.</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden stood suddenly before the font beside the young +girl; he +hardly knew himself how he got there so quickly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Allow me to be the second sponsor," he said.--"I came into +the church +by chance, a perfect stranger here; I should be sorry to miss the first +opportunity to perform a Christian duty in my new home."</p> + +<p class="normal">He had obeyed a sudden impulse and he was understood. The +gray-haired +clergyman nodded, smiling. "It is a poor child, early left fatherless, +sir," he replied. "The father was killed four weeks before its +birth--you will be doing a good work--are you satisfied?" he said, +turning to the mother. "Well then--Engelman, write down the name of the +godfather in the register."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Carl Max Francis Linden," said the young man.</p> + +<p class="normal">And then they stood together before the pastor, these two who +a quarter +of an hour ago had had no knowledge of one another; she held the +sleeping child in her arms; she had not looked up, the quick flush of +surprise still lingered on the delicate face, and the simple lace on +the infant's cushion trembled slightly.</p> + +<p class="normal">The clergyman spoke only a few words, but they sank deep into +the +hearts of both. Linden looked down on the brown drooping head beside +him, the two hands rested on the infant's garments, two warm young +hands close together, and from the lips of both came a clear distinct +"Yes" in answer to the clergyman's questions. When the rite was ended, +the young girl took the child to its weeping mother and pressed a kiss +on the small red cheek, then she came up to Linden and her eyes gazed +at him with a mixture of wonder and gratitude.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thank you, sir," she said, laying her small hand in his for +a +moment. "I thank you in the name of the poor woman--it was so good of +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then with a proud bend of her small head she went away, the +heavy silk +of her dress making a slight rustling about her as she walked. She +paused a moment at the door in the full daylight and looked back at him +as he stood motionless by the font looking after her; it seemed as if +she bent her head once more in greeting and then she disappeared.</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden remained behind alone in the quiet church. Who +could she +be who had just stood beside him? A slight jingling caused him to turn +round; the sexton was coming out of the sacristy with his great bunch +of keys.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You want to shut up the church, my friend?" he said. "I am +going now." +Then as if he had thought of something he came back a few steps. "Who +was the young lady?" was on his lips to ask, but he could not bring it +out, he only gazed at the glowing colors in the painted glass of the +lofty window.</p> + +<p class="normal">"They are very fine," said the sexton, "and are always much +admired; +that one is dated 1511, the Exodus of the children of Israel, a gift +from the Abbess Anna from the castle up there. They say she had a great +liking for this church, and it is the finest church far and wide too, +our St. Benedict's."</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden nodded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You may be right," he said, abstractedly. Then he gave the +man a small +sum for the baby and went away.</p> + +<p class="normal">Soon after, his carriage was rolling away towards home. The +outlines +of the mountains rose dark against the red evening sky, and the +church-tower of Niendorf came nearer and nearer.</p> + +<p class="normal">Nothing seemed strange to him now as it had been this morning; +the +first slight happy feeling of home-coming was growing in his heart. On +the top of the hill he turned again and looked back at the city, where +the castle looked to him like an old acquaintance, and hark! The faint +sound of a bell was wafted towards him on the evening breeze; perhaps +from St. Benedict's tower?</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude Baumhagen had quickly crossed the quiet square, had +opened a +door in the opposite wall, and was at home. She passed rapidly through +the box-edged path of the old-fashioned garden, and across a quiet +spacious court into the house. In the large vaulted hall, she found her +brother-in-law standing beside a tall velocipede. He was dressed +elegantly and according to the latest fashion, a costly diamond +sparkled on the blue cravat, while he wore another on his white hand. +He was fair-haired, with pink cheeks, and a small moustache on his +upper lip, and was perhaps about thirty. A servant was occupied in +cleaning the shining steel of the bicycle with a piece of chamois +leather.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you going for a ride, Arthur?" asked the young girl, +pleasantly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am going to make off, Gertrude," he replied, peevishly. +"What on +earth can I do at home? Jenny has got a ladies' tea party again to-day +by way of variety--and what am I to do? I am going with Carl Röben to +Bodenstadt--a man must look out for himself a little."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am just going up to your house," said the young girl. "I am +cross +with Jenny and am going to scold her."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will be lucky then if you don't come off second best, my +dear +sister-in-law," cried Arthur Fredericks, laughing.</p> + +<p class="normal">She shook her head gravely, and mounted the broad staircase, +whose dark +carved balustrade harmonized well with the crimson Smyrna carpet which +covered the steps, held down by shining brass rods. Huge laurel-trees +in tubs stood on either side of the tall door, which led to the first +floor. On the left, the staircase went on to the upper story. Gertrude +Baumhagen pressed on the button of the electric bell and instantly the +door was opened by a servant-maid in a brilliantly white apron, while a +clear voice called out,</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, yes, I am at home--you have come just in time, +Gertrude."</p> + +<p class="normal">In the large entrance hall, which was finished in old German +style, a +young matron stood before a magnificent buffet, busied in taking out +all manner of silver-plate from the open cupboard. She wore a dainty +little lace cap on her light brown hair, and a house-dress of fine +light blue cashmere, richly trimmed with lace. She was very pretty, +even now when she was pouting, but there was no resemblance between the +two sisters.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are not even dressed yet, Jenny?" cried the young girl. +"Then I +might have waited a good while in the church. It was really very +awkward, your not coming."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young matron stopped and set down the great glass dish +encircled by +two massive silver snakes, in dismay. Then she clapped her hands and +began to laugh heartily.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There now!" she cried, "this whole day I have been going +about the +house with a feeling that there was something I had to do, and I +couldn't think what it was. O that is too rich! Caroline, you might +have reminded me!" she continued, turning to the maid, who was just +laying a heavy linen table-cloth on the massive oak-table in the middle +of the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs. Fredericks laid down to sleep and said expressly that I +was not +to wake her before four o'clock," said the maid in her own defence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, so I did," yawned the young matron; "I was so tired, +his +lordship was in a bad temper, and the baby was so frightfully noisy. It +is no great misfortune, either; I can easily make up for it by sending +her something tomorrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, Jenny! Have you forgotten that it was I who told Johanna +that you +and I would be godmothers? I thought it was our <i>duty</i>--the man was +killed in our factory."</p> + +<p class="normal">"O fiddle-dedee, pet," interposed Mrs. Jenny, "I hate that +everlasting +god mothering! I have already three round dozens of godchildren as +surely as I stand here---<i>poor</i> people are not required for that +purpose, I assure you. Come, I have finished here now, we will go to +the nursery for awhile, or"--casting a glance at the old-fashioned +clock--"still better, mamma has had some patterns for evening-dresses +sent her--wait a minute and I will come up with you; the company won't +come yet for an hour and a half."</p> + +<p class="normal">She turned round gracefully once more as if to survey her +work. The +buffet shone with silver dishes, a bright fire burned in the open +fireplace, the heavy chandelier as well as the sconces before the tall +glass were filled with dark red twisted candles, and as Caroline drew +back the heavy embroidered <i>portière</i>, a room almost too luxuriously +furnished became visible--a room all crimson; even through the stained +glass of the bow-window the evening light sent red reflections in the +labyrinth of chairs and sofas, lounges and tables, while white marble +statues stood out against the dark green of costly greenhouse plants.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It looks pleasant, doesn't it, Gertrude?" said the young +wife. "I have +not opened the great drawing-room because there will be only a few +ladies. The wife of the Home Minister has accepted. Are you coming in +for an hour?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, thanks," replied the young girl, mounting the stairs with +her +sister to her mother's apartment. "Send me the baby for awhile, I like +so much to have him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, yes, the young gentleman shall make his appearance," +nodded Mrs. +Jenny, "provided he doesn't sleep like a little dormouse."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you go in to mamma," said Gertrude. "I will change my +dress and +then come."</p> + +<p class="normal">The rooms were the same as in the lower story, also richly +furnished, +though not in the new "aesthetic" style, yet they were not less elegant +and comfortable. The sisters separated in the ante-room, and Gertrude +Baumhagen went to her own room. She occupied the room with the +bow-window, but here the daylight was not broken by costly stained +glass: it came in, unhindered, in floods through the clear panes, +before which outside, numberless flowers waved in the soft breeze. +Directly opposite were the gables of the Rathhaus; like airy lace-work, +the rich ornamentation of the towers was marked out against the glowing +evening sky.</p> + +<p class="normal">This bow-window was a delightful place; here stood her +work-table, and +behind it on an easel, the portrait of the late Mr. Baumhagen. The +resemblance between the father and daughter was visible at a glance; +there was the same light brown hair, the intellectual brow, the small, +fine nose, and the eyes too were the same. She had always been his +darling, and it was her care that fresh flowers should always be placed +in the gold network of the frame. And where she sat at work her hands +would sometimes rest in her lap and her eyes would turn to the picture. +"My dear, good papa!" she would whisper then, as if he must understand.</p> + +<p class="normal">To-day also, she walked quickly towards the bow-window and +looked long +at the picture. "You would have done that too," she said, softly, +"wouldn't you, papa!" An earnest expression came suddenly into the +young eyes, something like inexpressible longing. "No, every one is not +like mamma and Jenny; there are warm human hearts, there are hearts +that feel compassion for a stranger's needs, for whom the detested--" +she stopped suddenly her small hands had clenched themselves and her +eyes filled with tears.</p> + +<p class="normal">She began to pace up and down the room. The soft, thick carpet +deadened +the sound of her footsteps, but the heavy silk rustled after her with +an anxious sound.</p> + +<p class="normal">What humiliations she had to endure daily and hourly from the +fact of +being a rich girl! She owed everything to the circumstance of having a +fortune. Jenny had just now declared to her again that she had only +been godmother, because--Ah, no matter, she knew better. Johanna was +too modest. But she had not yet recovered from that other blow. A week +ago there had been manœuvres in the neighborhood, and the colonel +with his adjutant had had his quarters for two days in the Baumhagen +house. She could not really remember that she had spoken more than a +few commonplace words to the adjutant, and twenty-four hours after the +troops had left the city--yesterday--a letter lay before her filled +with the most ardent protestations of love and an entreaty for her +hand. She had taken the letter and gone to her mother with it, with the +words: "Here is some one who wishes to marry my money. Will you write +the answer, mamma? I cannot."</p> + +<p class="normal">Now she was dreading the mention of this letter. She was not +afraid +that her mother would try to persuade her. No, no, she had always been +independent enough not to order her life according to the will of +another, but the matter would be discussed and the division between +mother and daughter would only be made wider than ever.</p> + +<p class="normal">She started; the door opened and her sister's voice called: +"Do come, +Gertrude, I can't make up my mind about that new red."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young girl crossed the hall and a moment after stood in +her +mother's drawing-room, before her mother, a small woman with almost too +rosy cheeks, and an exceedingly obstinate expression about the full +mouth. She sat on the sofa beneath the large Swiss landscape, the work +of a celebrated Düsseldorf master--Mrs. Baumhagen was fond of relating +that she had paid five hundred dollars for it--and tossed about with +her small hands, covered with diamonds, a mass of dress patterns.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude," she cried, "this would do for you." And she held +out a bit +of blue silk. "It is a pity you are so different, it is so nice for two +sisters to dress alike."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is suitable for a married woman, is not fit for a girl," +declared +Mrs. Jenny. "Gertrude ought to get married, she is twenty years old."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah! that reminds me,"--the mother had been turning over the +patterns +during the conversation,--"there is that letter from your last admirer, +I must answer it. What am I to write him?--</p> + +<p class="normal">"See here, Jenny, this brown ground with the blue spots is +pretty, +isn't it?--It is really a great bore to answer letters like that; why +don't you do it yourself?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am afraid my answer would not be dispassionate enough," +replied the +girl, calmly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you like him?" asked her sister.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young girl ignored the question.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am afraid I might be bitter, and nothing is required but a +purely +business-like answer, as the question was purely one of business."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are delicious!" laughed the young wife. "O what a pity +you had not +lived in the middle ages, when the knights were obliged to go through +so long a probation! Little goose, you must learn to take the world as +it is. Do you suppose Arthur would have married <i>me</i> if I had had +nothing? I assure you he would never have thought of it! And do you +suppose I would have taken <i>him</i> if I had not known he was in good +circumstances? Never! And what would you have more from us? we are a +comparatively happy couple."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude looked at her sister in surprise, with a questioning +look in +her blue eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Comparatively happy?" she repeated in a low tone.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good gracious, yes, he has his whims--one has to put up with +them," +declared her sister,</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pray don't quarrel to-day," said Mrs. Baumhagen, taking her +eye-glass +from her snub-nose; "besides I will write the letter. It is for that I +am your mother." She sighed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But in this matter I think Jenny is right. Gertrude, you take +far too +ideal views of the world. We have all seen to what such ideas lead." +Another sigh. "I will not try to persuade you, I did not say anything +to influence Jenny; you both know that very well. For my own part I +have nothing against this Mr. Mr.--Mr.--" the name did not occur to her +at once.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young girl laughed, but her eyes looked scornful. "His +address is +given with great distinctness in the letter," she said.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There is no great hurry, I suppose," continued her mother. "I +have my +whist-party this evening; if I am not there punctually I must pay a +fine; besides, I don't feel like writing." She yawned slightly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The evenings are getting very long now--did you know, Jenny, +that an +opera troupe is coming here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny answered in the affirmative, and added that she must go +and +dress.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good night," she cried, merrily, from the door; "we shall not +meet +again to-day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good night, mamma," said Gertrude also.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you going down to Jenny?" asked Mrs. Baumhagen.</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl shook her head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What are you going to do all the evening?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know, mamma. I have all sorts of things to do. +Perhaps I shall +read."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah! Well, good night, my child."</p> + +<p class="normal">She waved her hand and Gertrude went away. She took off her +silk dress +when she reached her room and exchanged it for a soft cashmere, then +she went into her pretty sitting-room. It was already twilight and +the lamps were being lighted in the street below. She stood in the +bow-window and watched one flame leap out after the other and the +windows of the houses brighten. Even the old apple-woman, under the +shelter of the statue of Roland, hung out her lantern under her +gigantic white umbrella. Gertrude knew all this so well; it had been +just the same when she was a tiny girl, and there was no change--only +here inside it was all so different--so utterly different.</p> + +<p class="normal">Where were those happy evenings when she had sat here beside +her +father--where was the old comfort and happiness? They must have hidden +themselves away in his coffin, for ever since that dreadful day when +they had carried her father away, it had been cold and empty in the +house and in the young girl's heart. He had been so ill, so melancholy; +it was fortunate that it had happened, so people said to the widow, who +was almost wild in her passionate grief, but she had gone on a journey +at once with Jenny, and had spent the winter in Nice. Gertrude would +not go with them on any account. Her eyes, which had looked on such +misery, could not look out upon God's laughing world,--her shattered +nerves could not bear the gay whirl of such a life. She had stayed +behind with an old aunt--Aunt Louise slept almost all day, when she was +not eating or drinking coffee, and the young girl had learned all the +horrors of loneliness. She had been ill in body and mind, and when her +mother and sister had returned, she learned that one may be lonely even +in company, and lonely she had remained until the present day.</p> + +<p class="normal">Urged by a longing for affection, she had again and again +tried to find +excuses for her mother, and to adapt herself to her mode of life. She +had allowed herself to be drawn into the whirl of pleasure into which +the pleasure-loving woman had plunged so soon as her time of mourning +was over. She had tried to persuade herself that concerts, balls, and +all the gayeties of society really gave her pleasure and satisfied her. +But her sense of right rebelled against this self-deception. She +began to ponder on the vacuity of all about her, on this and that +conversation, on the whole whirl around her, and she grew less able to +comprehend it. She could not understand how people could find so much +amusement in things that seemed to her not worth a thought. The art of +fluttering through life, skimming the cream of all its excitements as +Jenny did, she did not understand. To wear the most elegant costume at +a ball, to stay at the dearest hotels on a journey, to be celebrated +for giving the finest dinners--all that was not worth thinking about. +Once she had asked if she might not read aloud in the evenings they +spent alone, as she used to do when her father was alive. After +receiving permission she had come in with a radiant face, bringing +"Ekkehard," the last book which her father had given her. With flushed +cheeks and sparkling eyes, she had read on and on, but as she chanced +to look up there sat Jenny, looking through the last number of the +"Journal of Fashion," while her mother was sound asleep. She did not +say a word but she never read aloud again.</p> + +<p class="normal">The large tears ran suddenly down her cheeks. One of those +moments had +suddenly come over her again, when she stretched out her arms +despairingly after some human soul that would understand her, that +would love her a little, only a little, for herself alone. She had +grown so distrustful that she ascribed all kindness from strangers to +her wealth and the position which her family held in society. She was +quite conscious that she was repellent and unamiable, designedly so--no +one should know how poor she really felt. It was not necessary for them +to know that she wrung her hands and asked, "What shall I do? What do I +live for?" She had inherited from her father a delight in work, a need +for being of use--every responsible person feels a desire to be happy +and to make others happy--but she felt her life so great a burden, it +was so shallow, so distasteful, so full of petty interests.</p> + +<p class="normal">She quickly dried her tears and turned; the door had opened +and an old +servant entered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are forgetting your tea again, Miss Gertrude," she began, +reproachfully. "It is all ready in the dining-room. I have brought in +the tea so it will cool a little, but you must come now."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young girl thanked her pleasantly and followed her. She +returned in +a very short time, nothing tasted good when she was so alone. She +lighted the lamp and took a book and read. It had grown still gradually +outside in the street, quarter after quarter struck from St. Benedict's +tower, until it was eleven o'clock. A carriage drove up--her mother was +coming home.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude closed her book, it was bedtime. The hall-door +closed, steps +went past Gertrude's door--but no, some one was coming in.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen still wore her black Spanish lace mantilla over +her +head. She only wished to ask her daughter what all this was about the +christening this afternoon. The pastor's wife had told her a story of a +curious kind of godfather; the pastor had come home full of it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Jenny did not come," explained the young girl, "and a strange +gentleman offered to stand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But how horribly pushing," cried the excited little woman. +"You should +have drawn back, child--who knows what sort of a person he may be."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know him, mamma. But whoever he may be, he was so +very +good; he never supposed, I am sure, that his kindness could be +misunderstood."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There," cried Mrs. Baumhagen, "you see it is always so with +you--you +are so easily imposed upon by that sort of thing, Gertrude,--really I +get very anxious about you. Did you know that Baron von Lowenberg--I +remember the name now--is a distant connection of the ducal house of +A.? Mrs. von S---- knows the whole family, they are charming people. +But I will not influence you, I am only telling you this by the way. +Sophie tells me an invitation has come from the Stadträthin for +to-morrow. One never has a day to one's self. You will come too? It is +about the Society festival; you young girls will have something to do.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Jenny had a light still," she continued, without noticing her +daughter's silence. "Arthur brought home Carl Röben, who came for his +young wife, and Lina was just coming up out of the cellar with +champagne.--I beg you will not tell any one about that scene in the +church to-day; I have asked the pastor's wife to be silent too.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good night, my child. Of course the tea wasn't fit to drink +at Mrs. +S---- as usual."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-night, mamma," replied Gertrude. She took the lamp and +looked at +her father's picture once more, then she went to bed. She awoke +suddenly out of a half-slumber; she had heard the voice so distinctly +that she had heard in the church to-day for the first time. She sat up +with her heart beating quickly. No, what she had experienced today had +been no dream. Like a ray of sunshine fell that friendly act of the +unknown into this world of egotism and heartlessness. And then she +staid long awake.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The storms of late autumn came on among the mountains, heavy +showers of +rain came down from the gray flying clouds and beat upon the dead +leaves of the forest and against the windows of the dwelling-houses. +Frank Linden sat at his writing-table in the room he had fitted up for +himself in the second story, and his eyes wandered from the denuded +branches in the garden to the mountains opposite. His surroundings were +as comfortable as it is possible for a bachelor's room to be--books and +weapons, a bright fire in the stove, good pictures on the walls, the +delicate perfume of a fine cigar, and yet in spite of all this the +expression on his handsome face was by no means a contented one.</p> + +<p class="normal">He thrust aside a great sheet full of figures and took up +instead a +sheet of writing-paper, on which he began rapidly to write:--</p> +<div class="quote"> +<p class="continue">"<span class="sc">My Dear Old Judge</span>:</p> + +<p class="normal">"How you would scoff at me if you could see me in my present +downcast +mood. It is raining outside, and inside a flood of vexatious thoughts +is streaming over me. I have found out that playing at farming is a +pleasure only when one has a large purse that he can call his own. The +expenses are getting too much for me; everything has to be repaired or +renewed. Well, all this is true, but I do not complain, for in other +ways I have the greatest pleasure out of it. I cannot describe to you +how really poetic a walk through these autumn woods is, which I manage +to take almost daily with old Juno, thanks to the permission of the +royal forester, with whom I have made friends.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And how delightful is the home coming beneath my own roof!</p> + +<p class="normal">"But you, most prosaic of all mortals, are probably thinking +only about +venison steaks or broiled field-fares, and you only know the mood of +the wild huntsman from hearsay.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I wanted to tell you how right you were when you declared +of +Wolff: '<i>Hic niger est!</i> Be on your guard against this man--he is a +scoundrel!' Perhaps that would be saying too much, but at any rate he +is troublesome. He sent me yesterday a ticket to a concert and wrote on +a bit of paper: 'Seats 38 to 40 taken by the Baumhagen family--I got +No. 37.' Then he added that the Baumhagens were the most distinguished +and the wealthiest of the patricians in the city--evidently those who +play first fiddle there.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know what my opinion is concerning millionaires--anything +to +escape their neighborhood.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, in short, I was vexed and sent him back the ticket with +the +remark that I was the most unmusical person in the world. He has +already made several attacks of that nature on me, so I suppose there +must be a daughter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And now to come at length to the aim of this letter--you know +that +Wolff has a heavy mortgage on Niendorf, at a very high rate of +interest. I simply cannot pay it, and wish to take up the mortgage; +would your sister be willing to take it at a moderate rate? I am ready +to give you any information.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And what more shall I tell you? By the way, the old aunt--you +did her +great injustice; I never saw a more inoffensive, more contented +creature than this old woman. A niece who comes to Niendorf every year +on a visit, and whom she seems very fond of, her tame goldfinch, and +her artificial flowers make up her whole world. She asked quite +anxiously if I would let her have her room here till she died. I +promised it faithfully. She has been telling me a good many things +about my uncle's last years. He must have been very eccentric. Wolff +was with him every day, playing euchre with him and the schoolmaster. +He died at the card-table, so to speak. The old lady told me in a +sepulchral voice that he actually died with clubs and diamonds in his +hands. He had just played out the ace and said, 'There is a bomb for +you!' and it was all over. I believe she felt a little horror of this +endings herself. I am going now into the city in spite of wind and rain +to make a few calls. I have got to do it sooner or later. I shall take +the steward with me; he will bring home a pair of farm-horses that he +bought the other day. Perhaps I may happen to stumble on my unknown +little godmother that I wrote you about the other day; so far luck has +not favored me."</p> +</div> +<p class="normal">He added greetings and his signature, and half an hour later +he was on +his way to the city in faultless visiting costume.</p> + +<p class="normal">Arrived in the hotel he inquired for a number of addresses, +then began +with a sigh to do his duty according to that extraordinary custom which +Mrs. Grundy prescribes as necessary in "good society," that is, to call +upon perfect strangers at mid-day and exchange a few shallow phrases +and then to escape as quickly as possible. Thank Heaven! No one was at +home to-day although it was raining in torrents. From a sort of natural +opposition he left the Baumhagens to the last; he belonged to that +class to whom it is only necessary to praise a thing greatly in order +to create a strong dislike to it.</p> + +<p class="normal">Just as he was on the point of making this visit, he met Mr. +Wolff. +"You are going to the Baumhagens?" he asked, evidently agreeably +surprised. "There--there, that house with the bow-window. I wish you +good luck, Mr. Linden!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank had a sharp answer on his lips but the little man had +disappeared. But a woman's figure stepped back hastily from the +bow-window above him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very sorry," said the old servant-maid. "Mrs. Baumhagen is +not at +home." He received the same answer in the lower story although he heard +the sounds of a Chopin waltz.</p> + +<p class="normal">He heard an explanation of this in the hotel at dinner. A +great ball +was to take place that evening, and such a festival naturally required +the most extensive preparations on the part of the feminine portion of +society; on such a day neither matron nor maiden was visible. Nothing +else was spoken of but this ball, and some of the gentlemen kindly +invited him to be present; he would find some pretty girls there.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am curious to know if the little Baumhagen will be there," +said an +officer of Hussars.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She may stay away for all I care," responded a very blond +Referendary. +"She has a way of condescending to one that I can't endure. She is +perfectly eaten up with pride."</p> + +<p class="normal">"She has just refused another offer, as I heard from Arthur +Fredericks," cried another.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She is probably waiting for a prince," snarled a fourth.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't care," said Colonel von Brelow, "you may say what you +like, +she is a magnificent creature without a particle of provincialism about +her. There is race in the girl."</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden had listened with an interest which had almost +awakened a +desire in him to take part in the ball. He half promised to appear, +took the address of a glove-shop and sat for a couple of hours in +lively conversation. After the lonely weeks he had been spending it +interested him more than he was willing to confess.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am really stooping to gossip," he said, amused at himself. +When he +went out into the street, darkness had already come down on the short +November day, the gas-lamps were reflected back from the pools in the +street, the shop-windows were brilliantly lighted, and five long +strokes sounded from the tower of St. Benedict's.</p> + +<p class="normal">He went round the corner of the hotel into the next street, +and walked +slowly along on the narrow sidewalk, looking at the shops which were +all adorned with everything gay and brilliant for the approaching +Christmas holidays.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-evening!" said suddenly a timid voice behind him. He +turned +round. For a moment he could not remember the woman who stood timidly +before him, with a yoke on her shoulder from which hung two shining +pails. Then he recognized her--it was Johanna.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I only wanted to thank you so very much," she began, "the +sexton +brought me the present for the baby."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And is my little godchild well?" he asked, walking beside the +woman +and suddenly resolving to learn something about "her" at any price.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, thank you, Mr. Linden; it is but a weakly thing--trouble +hasn't +been good for him. But if the gentleman would like to see him--it isn't +so very far and I'm going straight home now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course I should," he said, and learned as he went along, +that she +carried milk twice a day for a farmer's wife.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Does the young lady come to see her godson sometimes?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ay, to be sure!" replied the woman. "She comes and the baby +hasn't a +frock or a petticoat that she hasn't given him. She is so good, Miss +Gertrude. We were confirmed together," she added, with pride.</p> + +<p class="normal">So her name was Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">They had still some distance to go, through narrow streets and +alleys, +before the woman announced that they had reached her house. "There is a +light inside--perhaps it is mother, the child waked up I suppose. My +mother lives up stairs," she explained, "my father is a shoemaker."</p> + +<p class="normal">The window was so low that a child might have looked in +easily, so he +could overlook the whole room without difficulty.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stay," he whispered, holding Johanna's arm.</p> + +<p class="normal">"O goodness! it is the young lady," she cried, "I hope she +won't be +angry."</p> + +<p class="normal">But Frank Linden did not reply. He saw only the slender +girlish figure, +as she walked up and down with the crying child in her arms, talking to +him, dancing him till at last he stopped crying, looked solemnly in her +face for awhile and then began to crow.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now you see, you silly little goosie," sounded the clear +girl's voice +in his ears, "you see who comes to take care of you when, you were +lying here all alone and all crumpled up, while your mother has to go +out from house to house through all the wind and rain;--you naughty +baby, you little rogue, do you know your name yet? Let's see. +Frank,--Frankie? O such a big boy! Now come here and don't cry a bit +more and you shall have on your warm little frock when your mother +comes." And she sat down before the stove and began to take off the +little red flannel frock.</p> + +<p class="center"><img border="0" src="images/053.png" alt="She sat down before the stove and began to +take off the little red flannel frock."></p> +<h3>"<span class="sc">She sat down before the stove and began to +take off the<br> +little red flannel frock.</span>"</h3> + +<p class="normal">"Ask if I may come in, Johanna," said Linden. And the next +moment he +had entered behind the woman.</p> + +<p class="normal">A flush of embarrassment came over the young girl's face, but +she +frankly extended her hand. "I am glad to see you, Mr. Linden--mamma was +very sorry that she could not receive you this afternoon. You--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He bowed. Then she belonged to one of the houses where he had +called +to-day. But to which one?</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know, I never knew till to-day that you were living in +the +neighborhood," she continued brightly. "I was standing in our +bow-window when you came across the square, and saw you inquiring for +our house."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I have the honor to see Miss Baumhagen?" he asked, +somewhat +disturbed by this information.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude Baumhagen," she replied. "Why do you look so +surprised?"</p> + +<p class="normal">With these words she took her cloak from the nearest chair, +put a small +fur cap on her brown hair and took up her muff.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must go now, Johanna, but I will send the doctor to-morrow +for the +baby. You must not let things go so,--you must take better care or else +he may have weak eyes all his life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will you allow me to accompany you?" asked Linden, unable to +take his +eyes off the graceful form. And that was Gertrude Baumhagen!</p> + +<p class="normal">She assented. "I am not afraid for myself, but I am sure you +would +never find your way out of this maze of streets into which my good +Johanna has enticed you. This part about here is quite the oldest part +of the town. You cannot see it this evening, but by daylight a walk +through this quarter would well repay you. I like this neighborhood, +though only people of the lower class live here," she continued, +walking with a firm step on the slippery pavement.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you see down there on the corner that house with the great +stone +steps in front and the bench under the tree? My grandmother was born in +that house, and the tree is a Spanish lilac. Grandfather fell in love +with her as she sat one evening under the tree rocking her youngest +brother. She has often told me about it. The lilac was in blossom and +she was just eighteen. Isn't it a perfect little poem?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she laughed softly. "But I am telling you all this and I +don't +know in the least what you think of such things."</p> + +<p class="normal">They were just opposite the small house with the lilac tree. +He stopped +and looked up. She perceived it and said: "I can never go by without +having happy thoughts and pleasant memories. Never was there a dearer +grandmother, she was so simple and so good." And as he was silent she +added, as if in explanation, "She was a granddaughter of the foreman in +grandpapa's factory."</p> + +<p class="normal">Still nothing occurred to him to say and he could not utter a +merely +conventional phrase.</p> + +<p class="normal">She too remained silent for a while. "May I ask you," she then +began, +"not to give too many presents to the baby--they are simple people who +might be easily spoiled."</p> + +<p class="normal">He assented. "A man like me is so unpractical," he said, by +way of +excuse. "I did not exactly know what was expected of me after I had +offered myself as godfather in such an intrusive manner."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That was no intrusion, that was a feeling of humanity, Mr. +Linden."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was afraid I might have seemed to you, too +impulsive--too--" he +stopped.</p> + +<p class="normal">"O no, no," she interrupted earnestly. "What can you think of +me? I can +easily tell the true from the false--I was really very glad," she +added, with some hesitation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thank you," he said.</p> + +<p class="normal">And then they walked on in silence through the +streets;--Gertrude +Baumhagen stopped before a flower-store behind whose great glass panes +a wealth of roses, violets and camellias glowed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Our ways separate here," she said, as she gave him her hand. +"I have +something to do in here. Good-bye, Mr.--Godfather."</p> + +<p class="normal">He had lifted his hat and taken her hand. "Good-bye, Miss +Baumhagen." +And hesitatingly he asked--"Shall you be at the ball to-night?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes," she nodded, "at the request of the higher powers," and +her blue +eyes rested quietly on his face. There was nothing of youthful pleasure +and joyful expectation to be read in them. "Mamma would have been in +despair if I had declined. Good-night, Mr. Linden."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young man stood outside as she disappeared into the shop. +He stood +still for a moment, then he went on his way.</p> + +<p class="normal">So that was Gertrude Baumhagen! He really regretted that that +was her +name, for he had taken a prejudice against the name, which he had +associated with vulgar purse-pride. The conversation at the hotel table +recurred to him. He had figured to himself a supercilious blonde who +used her privileges as a Baumhagen and the richest girl in the city, to +subject her admirers to all manner of caprices. And he had found the +Gertrude of the church, a lovely, slender girl, with a simple unspoiled +nature, possessing no other pride than that of a noble woman.</p> + +<p class="normal">Involuntarily he walked faster. He would accept the kind +invitation to +the ball. But when he reached the hotel he had changed his mind again. +He did not care to see her as a modern society woman, he would not +efface that lovely picture he had seen through the window of that poor +little house. He could not have borne it if she had met him in the +brilliant ball-room, with that air of condescension with which he had +heard her reproached to-day. He decided to dine at home.</p> + +<p class="normal">With this thought he had walked down the street again till he +reached +the flower-shop. On a sudden impulse he entered and asked for a simple +bouquet.</p> + +<p class="normal">The woman had an immense bouquet in her hand at the moment, +resembling +a cart-wheel surrounded by rich lace, which she was just giving to the +errand-boy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For Miss Baumhagen," she said, "here is the card."</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden saw a coat-of-arms over the name. He stepped back +a +moment, undecided what to do. Then the shopwoman turned towards him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A simple bouquet," he repeated. There was none ready, but +they could +make up one immediately. The young man himself chose the flowers from +the wet sand and gave them to her. It must have been a pleasant +occupation for he was constantly putting back a rose and substituting a +finer one for it. At last it was finished, a graceful bouquet of white +roses just tinted with pink, like a maiden's blush, interspersed with +maiden-hair and delicate ferns. He looked at the dainty blossoms once +more, then paid for it and went back to the hotel. Then he laid the +bouquet on the table, called for ink and paper, took a visiting-card +and wrote. Suddenly he stopped and smiled, "What nonsense!" he said, +half aloud, "she is sure to carry the big bouquet." Then he began again +and read it over. It was a little verse asking if the godfather might +at this late hour send to the godmother the flowers which according to +ancient custom he ought to have offered at the christening, and +modestly hoping she would honor them by carrying them to the ball that +night. He smiled again, put it into the envelope and gave the bouquet +and letter to a messenger with instructions to carry both to Miss +Baumhagen. And then a thought struck him--the ball began at eight +o'clock--that would be in ten minutes--he would see Gertrude Baumhagen, +see--if his bouquet--nonsense! Very likely! But then he would wait. "It +is well the judge does not see me now!" he whispered to himself. He +felt like a child at Christmas time, so happy was he and so full of +expectation as he wandered up and down the square in front of the +hotel.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The clock struck eight. Gentlemen on foot had already been +coming to +the hotel for some time, then ladies arrived, and at length the first +carriage containing guests for the ball rolled up, dainty feet tripped +up the steps, and rich silks rustled as they walked. Carriage followed +carriage; now came an elegant equipage with magnificent gray horses, a +charming slight woman's figure in a light blue dress covered with +delicate lace, bent forward, and a silvery laugh sounded in Linden's +ear. "It is Mrs. Fredericks," he heard the people murmur behind him.</p> + +<p class="normal">So that was her sister!</p> + +<p class="normal">The beautiful young wife swept up the steps like a lovely +fairy, +followed by her husband in a faultless black dress-coat, carrying her +fan and bouquet.</p> + +<p class="normal">The carriage dashed across the marketplace again, to return in +less +than five minutes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude!" whispered Linden, drawing involuntarily further +back into +the shadow. A short stout lady in a light gray dress descended from the +carriage, then she glided out and stood beside her mother, slender and +graceful in her shimmering white silk, her beautiful shoulders lightly +covered, and in her hand a well-known bouquet of pale roses. But this +was not the girl of a few hours back. The small head was bent back as +if the massive light brown braids were too heavy for it, and an +expression of proud reserve which he had not before perceived, rested +on the open countenance.</p> + +<p class="normal">Two gentlemen started forward to greet the ladies; the first +gallantly +offered his arm to the mother, the other approached the young girl. She +thanked him proudly, scarcely touching his arm with her finger-tips. +Then suddenly this figure from which he could not take his eyes, +vanished like a beautiful vision.</p> + +<p class="normal">The encounter had left him in a mood of intense excitement. He +bestowed +a dollar on a poor woman who stood beside him with a miserable child in +her arms, and he ordered out so big a glass of hot wine for old +Summerfeld, his coachman, that the old man was alarmed and hoped "they +should get home all right."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What folly it is," said Linden to himself. And when a moment +later his +carriage drove up, and at the same moment the notes of a Strauss waltz +struck his ear, he began to hum the air of "The Rose of the South." +Then the carriage rattled over the market-place out on the dark country +road, and sooner than usual he was at home in his quiet little room, +taking a thousand pleasant thoughts with him.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the manor-house at Niendorf there was one room in which +roses +bloomed in masses; not only in the boxes between the double windows or +in the pots on the sill according to the season, but in the room +itself, thousands of earth's fairest flowers were wreathed about the +pictures and furniture. It had a strange effect, especially when +instead of the sleeping beauty one might have expected to find here, +one perceived a very old woman in an arm chair by the window, +unweariedly engaged in cutting leaves and petals out of colored silk +paper, shaping and putting them together so that at length a rose +trembled on its wire stem, looking as natural from a little distance as +if it had just been cut from the bush. Aunt Rosalie could not live +without making roses; she lavished half her modest income on silk +paper, and every one whom she wished well, received a wreath of roses +as a present, red, pink, white and yellow blossoms tastefully +intermixed. All the village beauties wore roses of Aunt Rosalie's +manufacture in their well-oiled hair at the village dances. The graves +in the church-yard displayed masses of white and crimson roses from the +same store, torn and faded by wind and sun. The little church was +lavishly decked every year by Aunt Rosalie, with these witnesses to her +skill.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was known therefore throughout the village to young and +old as +"Aunt Rose" or "Miss Rose," and not seldom was she followed in her +walks by a crowd of children, especially little girls, with the +petition "a rose for me too!" And "Aunt Rose" was always prepared for +them; the less successful specimens were kept entirely for this purpose +and were distributed from her capacious reticule with a lavish hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden had long been accustomed to spend an occasional +hour in +the old lady's society. At the sight of her something of the atmosphere +of peace which surrounded her seemed to descend upon him and calmed and +soothed him. She would sit calm and still at her little table, her +small withered hands busied in forming the "symbols of a well-rounded +life." By degrees she had related to him in a quaintly solemn tone, +stories of the lives which had passed under the pointed gables of this +roof. There was little light and much shade among them, much guilt, and +error, a dark bit of life-history. A married pair who did not agree, an +only child idolized by both, and this only son covered himself and his +parents with disgrace and fled to America, where he died. The parents +were left behind without hope or comfort in the world, each reproaching +the other for the failure in their son's training. Then the wife died +of grief, and now began an endless term of loneliness for the elderly +man under a ban of misanthropy and scorn of his kind; loving no one but +his dog, associating with no one except with Wolff, who brought the +news and gossip of the town, and treating even him with a disdain +bordering on insult.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But you see, my dear nephew," the old aunt had added, "there +are men +who are more like hounds than the hounds themselves,--dogs will cry out +when they are trodden upon, but the sort to which he belongs will smile +humbly at the hardest kick--and William found such a man necessary to +him."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was snowing; the mountains were all white, the garden lay +shrouded +under a shining white coverlid, and white snow-flakes were dancing in +the air. Frank Linden had come back from hunting with the steward, and +after dinner he went into Aunt Rosalie's room. She rose as he entered +and came towards him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There you see, my dear nephew, what happens when you go out +for a day. +You have had a visit, such a splendid fashionable visitor in a +magnificent sleigh. I was just taking my walk in the corridor as he +came up the stairs and here is his card,"--she searched in her +reticule--"which he left for you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank took the card and read. "Arthur Fredericks." "Oh, I am +sorry," he +said, really regretting his loss. "When was he here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, just at noon precisely, when most Christians are eating +their +dinner," she replied. "And the postman has been here too and brought a +letter for you. Oh, dear, where is it now? Where could I have put it?" +And she turned about and began to look for it, first on the table among +the pieces of silk paper and then on the floor, assisted by the young +man.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What did the letter look like, dearest Aunt?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Blue--or gray--blue, I think," she replied, all out of +breath, turning +out the contents of her red silk reticule. She brought out a mass of +rose-buds and an immense handkerchief edged with lace, but nothing +else.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Was the letter small or large?" he inquired from behind the +sofa.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Large and thick," gasped Aunt Rosalie. "Such a thing never +happened to +me before in my life--it is really dreadful." And with astounding +agility she turned over the things on the consumptive little piano and +tossed the antique sheets of music about.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps it got into the stove, Auntie."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, no, it has not been unscrewed since this morning."</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden went to the bell and rung. "Don't take any more +trouble +about it, Auntie, the letter is sure to turn up; let the maid look for +it."</p> + +<p class="normal">Dorothy came and looked, and looked behind all the furniture, +and +shaking out all the curtains--but in vain.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, we will give it up," declared Linden at length--"I +suppose it is +a letter from my mother or from the Judge--I can ask them what they had +to say. Let us drink our coffee. Auntie."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shan't sleep the whole night," declared the little old lady +in much +excitement.</p> + +<p class="normal">"O don't think any more about it," he begged her, +good-humoredly. "I am +sure there was nothing of any great importance in it. Tell me some of +your old stories now, they will just suit this weather."</p> + +<p class="normal">But the wrinkled face under the great cap still wore an +anxious look, +and the dim eyes kept straying away from the coffee cups searchingly +round the room, lingering thoughtfully on the green lamp-shade. +Evidently there was no hope of a conversation with her. After awhile +the young man rose to go to his own room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, go, go," she said, relieved, "and then I can think where +I could +have put that letter. Oh, my memory! my memory! I am growing so old."</p> + +<p class="normal">He walked along the corridor and mounted the staircase into +the second +story. The twilight of the short winter day had already darkened all +the comers. It was painfully still in the house, only the echo of his +own footsteps sounding in his ear. It was such a day as his friend had +predicted for him--horribly lonely and empty, it seemed to rest like a +heavy weight on this world-remote house. One cannot always read, cannot +always be busy, especially when the thoughts stray uneasily out over +forest and meadow to a distinct goal, and always return anxious and +doubting.</p> + +<p class="normal">He stood in his room at the window and watched the snow flakes +fluttering down in the darkening air, and fell into a dream as he had +done every day for the last week. He gave himself up to it so entirely +that he fancied he could distinctly hear a light step behind him on the +carpet, and the soft tones of a woman's voice, saying, "Frank, +Frankie!" He turned and gazed into the dusky room. What if she were to +open the door now,--what if she should come in with the child in her +arms? Why should it not be, why could it not be? Were these walls not +strong enough, these rooms not cosy and homelike enough to hold such +happiness?</p> + +<p class="normal">He began to walk up and down. Folly! Nonsense! What was he +thinking of? +Oh, if he had never come here, or better still if she were only the +daughter of the foreman like her grandmother, and sat on the bench +before the little house under the lilac tree, then everything would be +so simple. He would not for the world enter that mad race for Gertrude +Baumhagen's money-bags, in which so many had already come to grief. But +her sweet friendship?--</p> + +<p class="normal">And then he fell helpless again before the charm of her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was suffering from those doubts, from those alternating +fears and +hopes that torment every man who is in love. And Frank Linden in his +loneliness had long since acknowledged to himself that he only wanted +Gertrude Baumhagen to complete his happiness.</p> + +<p class="normal">His was by no means a shy or retiring nature. On the contrary, +he +possessed that modest boldness which seems so natural to some people on +whom society looks with favor. If he were owner of a large estate +instead of this "hole"--as the Judge designated Niendorf--he would +rather have asked to-day than to-morrow if she would be his wife, +without too great a shyness of the money-bags. But as it was, he could +not, he must make his way a little first, and before he could do that, +who could tell what might have happened to Gertrude Baumhagen?</p> + +<p class="normal">He bit his lip at the thought--the result was always the same. +But was +a true heart nothing then, and a strong will? If the Judge were only +here so he could ask him--</p> + +<p class="normal">During these thoughts he had lighted the lamp. There lay the +card on +the table, which Aunt Rosalie had given him. "Arthur Fredericks." He +smiled as he thought of the little insignificant man to whom her sister +had given her heart, and he could not think of Gertrude as belonging to +him in any way. At last a return visit from him! And there were some +half effaced words written with a pencil.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very sorry not to have met you; hope you will come to a +little supper +at our house the day after Christmas."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was the first invitation to Gertrude's house. He wrote an +acceptance +at once. Then he remembered that he had ordered the sleigh to go to the +city to do some errands there. He would send the hotel porter across +with the card.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p class="normal">Christmas had passed and the last of the holidays had come +with rain +and thaw; it stripped off the brilliant white snowy coverlid from the +earth as if it had been only a festal decoration, and the black earth +was good enough for ordinary days.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen was sitting in a peevish mood at the window in +her room +looking out over the market-place. She had a slight headache, and +besides--there was nothing at all to do to-day, no theatre, no party, +not even the whist club, and yesterday at Jenny's it had been very +dull. Finally she was vexed with Gertrude who, contrary to all custom, +had talked eagerly to her neighbor at dinner, that stranger who had run +after her in the church that time.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was foolish of the children to have placed him beside her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A letter, Mrs. Baumhagen." Sophie brought in a simple white +envelope.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Without any post-mark? Who left it?" she asked, looking at +the +handwriting which was quite unknown to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"An old servant or coachman, I did not know him."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen shook her head as she took the letter and read +it.</p> + +<p class="normal">She rose suddenly, with a deep flush on her face, and called:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude! Gertrude!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The young girl came at once.</p> + +<p class="normal">The active little woman had already rung the bell and said to +Sophie as +she entered:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Call Mrs. Fredericks and my son-in-law, tell them to come +quickly, +quickly!--Gertrude, I must have an explanation of this. But I must +collect myself first, must--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mamma," entreated the young girl, turning slightly pale, "let +us +discuss the matter alone--why should Jenny and Arthur--?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know then what is in this letter?" cried the excited +mother.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes," replied Gertrude, firmly, coming up to the arm chair +into which +her mother had thrown herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"With your consent, child?--Gertrude?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"With my consent, mamma," repeated the young girl, a clear, +bright +crimson staining the beautiful face.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen said not another word, but began to cry +bitterly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"When did you permit him to write to me?" she asked, after a +long +pause, drying her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yesterday, mamma."</p> + +<p class="normal">At this moment Jenny thrust her pretty blonde head in at the +door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Jenny!" cried the mother, the tears again starting to her +eyes, and +the obstinate lines about the mouth coming out more distinctly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For Heaven's sake, what is the matter?" cried the young wife.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Jenny, child! Gertrude is engaged!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Jenny recovered her composure at once. "Well," she cried, +lightly, +"is that so great a misfortune?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, to whom, to whom!" cried the mother.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well?" inquired Jenny.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To that--that--yesterday--Linden is his name, Frank Linden. +Here it is +down in black and white,--a man that I have hardly seen three times!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny turned her large and wondering eyes upon Gertrude, who +was still +standing behind her mother's chair.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good gracious, Gertrude," she cried, "what possessed you to +think of +him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What possessed you to think of Arthur?" asked the young girl, +straightening herself up. "How do people ever think of each other? I +don't know, I only know that I love him, and I have pledged him my +word."</p> + +<p class="normal">"When, I should like to know?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Last evening, in your red room, Jenny,--if you think the +<i>when</i> has +anything to do with the matter."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, so suddenly, without any preparation. What guarantee +have you +that he--?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"As good a guarantee at least," interrupted Gertrude, now pale +to the +lips, "as I should have had if I had accepted Lieutenant von +Lowenberg's proposal the other day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, yes, she is right there, mamma," said Jenny.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, of course!" was the reply, "I am to say yes and amen at +once. But +I must speak to Arthur first and to Aunt Pauline and Uncle Henry. I +will not take the responsibility of such a step on myself alone in any +case."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mamma, you will not go asking the whole neighborhood," said +the young +girl, in a trembling voice. "It only concerns you and me, and--" she +drew a long breath--"I shall hardly change my mind in consequence of +any representations."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But Arthur could make inquiries about him," interrupted +Jenny.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you, Jenny, I beg you will spare yourself the trouble. +My heart +speaks loudly enough for him. If I had not known my own mind weeks ago, +I should not be standing before you as I am now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are an ungrateful and heartless child," sobbed her +mother. "You +think you will conquer me by your obstinacy. Your father used to drive +me wild with just that same calmness. It makes me tremble all over only +just to see those firmly closed lips and those calm eyes. It is +dreadful!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude remained standing a few minutes, then without a word +of reply +she left the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is a speculation on his part," said Mrs. Jenny, +carelessly, "there +is no doubt of that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And she believes all he tells her," sobbed the mother. "That +unlucky +christening was the cause of it all. She is so impressed by anything of +that sort."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny nodded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And now she will just settle down forever at that wretched +Niendorf, +for there is no turning her when she has once made up her mind."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Heaven forgive me, she has the Baumhagen obstinacy in full +measure; I +know what I have suffered from it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"This Linden is handsome," remarked Jenny, taking no notice of +the +violent weeping. "Goodness, what a stir it will make through the town! +She might have taken some one else. But did I not always tell you, +mamma, that she was sure to do something foolish?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Arthur!" she cried to her husband who had just come in, "just +fancy, +Gertrude has engaged herself to that--Linden."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The devil she has!" escaped Arthur Fredericks' lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tell me, my dear son, what do you know about him? You must +have heard +something at the Club, or--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen had let her handkerchief fall, and was gazing +with a +look of woe at her son-in-law.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, he is a nice fellow enough, but poor as a church mouse. +He knows +what he is about when he makes up to Gertrude. Confound it! If I had +known what he was up to, I would never have asked him here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, and she declares she will not give him up," said Jenny.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe that, without any assurances from you; she is your +sister. +When you have once got a thing into your head--well, I know what +happens."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Arthur!" sobbed the elder lady, reproachfully.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must beg, Arthur, that you will not always be charging me +with spite +and obstinacy," pouted the younger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, my dear child, it is perfectly true--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't be always contradicting!" cried Mrs. Jenny, +energetically, +stamping her foot and taking out her handkerchief, ready to cry at a +moment's notice. He knew this manœuvre of old and drew his hand +hastily through his hair.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well then, what am I to do about it?" he asked. "What do +you want +of me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your advice, Arthur," groaned the mother-in-law.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My advice? Well then--say yes."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But he is so entirely without means, as I heard the other +day," +interposed Mrs. Baumhagen.</p> + +<p class="normal">He shrugged his shoulders. "Bah! Gertrude can afford to marry +a poor +man. Besides--I don't know much about Niendorf, but I should think +something might be made of it under good management. He seems to be the +man for the place, and Wolff was telling me the other day that Linden +was going to raise sheep on a large scale."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That last bit of information of course settles the matter," +remarked +Jenny, ironically.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, no," cried the mother, sobbing again, "you none of you +take it +seriously enough. I cannot bring myself to consent, I have hardly +exchanged half a dozen words with this Linden. Oh, what unheard-of +presumption!" She rose from her chair, and crimson with excitement +threw herself on the lounge.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now look out for hysterics," whispered Arthur, indifferently, +taking +out a cigar.</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny answered only by a look, but that was blighting. She +took her +train in her hand and swept past her astonished husband.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Take me with you," he said, gayly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Jenny, stay with me," cried her mother, "don't leave me now."</p> + +<p class="normal">And the young wife turned back, met her husband at the door, +and passed +him with her nose in the air to sit down beside her mother.</p> + +<p class="normal">Oh, he had a long account to settle with her; she would have +her +revenge yet for his disagreeable remarks at the breakfast-table when +she quite innocently praised Colonel von Brelow. He was not expecting +anything pleasant either; she could see that at once, but only let him +wait a little!</p> + +<p class="normal">"How, mamma?" she inquired, "did you think I had anything to +say to +Arthur? Bah! He is an Othello--a blind one--they are always the worst."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, Jenny, that unhappy child--Gertrude."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, yes, to be sure," assented the young wife, "that stupid +nonsense +of Gertrude's--"</p> + +<p class="normal">In the meantime the young girl was standing before her +father's +picture, her whole being in a tumult between happiness and pain. She +had not closed her eyes the night before since she had shyly given him +her hand with a scarcely whispered, "yes."</p> + +<p class="normal">She knew he loved her; she had fancied a hundred times what it +would be +when he should tell her of it, and now it had come so suddenly, so +unexpectedly. She had loved him long already, ever since she had seen +him that first time; and since then she had escaped none of the joy and +pain of a secret attachment.</p> + +<p class="normal">She took nothing lightly, did nothing by halves, and she had +given +herself up wholly to this fascination. Whoever should try to take him +from her now, must tear her heart out of her breast.</p> + +<p class="normal">As she stood there the tears ran down over her pale face in +great +drops, but a smile lingered about the small pouting mouth.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know it very well," she whispered, nodding at her father's +picture, +"you would be sure to like him, papa!" And a happy memory of the words +he had spoken yesterday came back to her, of his lonely house, of his +longing for her, and that he could offer her nothing but that modest +home and a faithful heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">His only wealth at present was a multitude of cares.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let me bear the cares with you, no happiness on earth would +be greater +than this," she wished to say, but she had only drooped her eyes and +given him her hand--the words would not pass her lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was as if she had been walking in the deepest shadow and +had +suddenly come out into the warm, life-giving sunshine. "It is too much, +too much happiness!" she had thought this morning when she got up. She +thought so still, and it seemed to her that the tears she shed were +only a just tribute to her overpowering happiness. If her mother had +consented at once, if she had said, "He shall be like a beloved son to +me, bring him to me at once," that would have been too much, but this +refusal, this distrust seemed to be meant to tone down her bliss a +little. It was like the snow-storm in spring, which covers the early +leaves and blossoms,--but when it is past do they not bloom out in +double beauty?</p> + +<p class="normal">The conversation in the next room grew more eager. Gertrude +heard the +complaining voice of her mother more clearly than before. It had a +painful effect upon her and she cast a glance involuntarily at her +father's picture, as if he could still hear what had been the torture +of his life. Gertrude could recall so many scenes of complaint and +crying in that very room. How often had her father's authoritative +voice penetrated to her ear: "Very well, Ottilie, you shall have your +way, but--spare me!" And how often had a pallid man entered through +that door and thrown himself silently on the sofa as if he found a +refuge here with his child. Ah, and it had been so too on that day, +that dreadful day, when afterwards it had grown so still, so deathly +still.</p> + +<p class="normal">And there it was again, the loud weeping, the complaints +against Heaven +that had made her the most miserable of women, and now was punishing +her through her children. Then there was an opening and shutting of +doors, a running about of servants; Gertrude even fancied she could +perceive the penetrating odor of valerian which Mrs. Baumhagen was +accustomed to take for her nervous attacks. And then the door flew open +and Jenny came in.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mamma is quite miserable," she said, reproachfully; "I had to +send for +the doctor, and Sophie is putting wet compresses on her head. A lovely +day, I must say!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am so sorry, Jenny," said the young girl.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, yes, but it was a very sudden blow. I must honestly +confess that I +cannot understand you, Gertrude. You must have refused more than ten +good offers, you were always so fastidious, and now you have taken the +first best that offered."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The best certainly," thought Gertrude, but she was silent.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young wife mistakenly considered this as the effect of her +words.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now just consider, child," she continued, "think it over +again, you--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stop, Jenny," cried the young girl in a firm voice. "What +gives you +the right to speak so to me? Have I ever uttered a word about your +choice? Did I not welcome Arthur kindly? What advantages has he over +Linden? I alone have to judge as to the wisdom of this step, for I +alone must bear the consequences. It is not right to try to influence a +person in a matter that is so individual, that so entirely concerns +that person alone."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good gracious, don't get so excited about it!" cried Jenny. +"We do not +consider him an eligible <i>parti</i>, because he is entirely without +fortune."</p> + +<p class="normal">A deep shadow passed over Gertrude's pale face. "Oh, put aside +the +question of money," she entreated; "do not disturb the sweetest dream +of my life--don't speak of it, Jenny."</p> + +<p class="normal">But Jenny continued--"No, I will not keep silent, for you live +in +dreamland, and you must look a little at the realities of life that you +may not fall too suddenly out of your fancied heaven. Perhaps you +imagine that Frank Linden would have shown such haste if you had not +been Gertrude Baumhagen? Most certainly he would not! I consider +it my duty to tell you that mamma, as well as Arthur and I, are +of the opinion that his first thought was of the capital our good +father--" She stopped, for Gertrude stood before her, tall and +threatening.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You may comfort yourself, Jenny," she gasped out. "I believe +in him, +and I shall speak no word in his defence. You and the others may think +what you please, I cannot prevent it, cannot even resent it, you--" She +stopped, she would not utter the bitter words.--"Be so kind as to tell +mamma that I will not break my word to him." She added, more calmly, "I +shall be so grateful to you, Jenny--if any one can do anything with her +it is you--her darling!"</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The young wife left her sister's room almost in consternation. +She +could find nothing to say to Gertrude's unexpected reliance upon her. +The sisters had never understood each other. Jenny could not comprehend +now how any one could be so blinded and so unwise, and she was startled +as if by something pure and lofty as the clear girlish eyes rested on +her, which could still discover poetry amid all the dusty prose of +life. She sat down again beside the sofa.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mamma," she whispered, after a pause, during which she +balanced +her small slipper thoughtfully on the tip of her toe, "Mamma, I +really believe you can't help it--will you have a little eau de +cologne?--Gertrude is so madly in love with him. I am sure you will +have to give your consent, notwithstanding it is so great a +disappointment."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude remained standing in the middle of the room looking +after her +sister. She felt sorry for her. It must be dreadful when one could no +longer believe in love and disinterestedness, and the image of Frank +Linden's true eyes rose up before her as clear as his pure heart +itself. Can a man look like that with ulterior motives? can a man speak +so with a lie in his heart? She could have laughed aloud in her +blissful certainty. Even though she were poor, a beggar indeed, he +would still love her.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the afternoon a great conference was held. At twelve +o'clock an +order was suddenly given from the sofa to have the drawing-room heated, +the Dresden coffee service taken out, and some cakes sent for from the +confectioner's. Madame Ottilie would hold a family counsel.</p> + +<p class="normal">The aroma of Sophie's celebrated coffee penetrated even to +Gertrude's +lonely room. She could hear the doors open and shut, and now and then +the voice of Aunt Pauline, and Uncle Henry's comfortable laugh. The day +drew near its close and still no conclusion seemed to have been arrived +at, but Gertrude sat calmly in her bow-window and waited. He would be +calm too, she was sure of that--he had her word. Steps at last--that +must be her uncle.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, Miss Gertrude!" he called out into the dusky room--"he +came, he +saw, he conquered--eh? Fine doings, these. Your mother is in a pretty +temper over the presumption of the bold youth. He will need all his +fascinations to gain her favor as a mother-in-law. Well, come in now, +and thank me for her consent."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I knew it, uncle," she said, pleasantly. "I was sure you +would stand +by me."</p> + +<p class="normal">He was a little old gentleman with a little round body, which +he always +fed well in his splendid bachelor dinners; always in good humor, +especially after a good glass of wine. And as he knew what an agreeable +effect this always had upon him, he never failed for the benefit of +mankind, to make use of this means of making himself amiable and merry. +He now took the tall, slender girl laughingly by the hand as if she +were a child, and led her towards the door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Live and let live, Gertrude!" he cried. "It is out of pure +egotism +that I made such a commotion about it. You need not thank me, I was +only joking. You see, I can stand anything but a scene and a woman's +tears, and your mother understands that sort of thing to a T. That +always upsets me you know. 'Don't make a fuss, Ottilie,' I said. 'Why +shouldn't the little one marry that handsome young fellow? You +Baumhagen girls are lucky enough to be able to take a man simply +because you like him.' Ta, ta! Here comes the bride!" he called out, +letting Gertrude pass before him into the lighted room.</p> + +<p class="normal">She walked with a light step and a grave face up to her +mother, who was +reclining in the corner of the sofa as if she were entirely worn out by +the important discussion. By her side sat the thin aunt in a black silk +dress, her blond cap reposing on her brown false front, in full +consciousness of her dignity. Jenny sat near her while Arthur was +standing by the stove. The ladies had been drinking coffee, the +gentlemen wine. The violet velvet curtains were drawn and everything +looked cosy and comfortable.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thank you, mamma," said Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen nodded slightly and touched her daughter's lips +with +hers. "May you never repent this step," she said, faintly; "it is not +without great anxiety that I give my consent, and I have yielded only +in consequence of my knowledge of your unbending--yes, I must say it +now--passionate character--and for the sake of peace."</p> + +<p class="normal">A bitter smile played about Gertrude's mouth.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thank you, mamma," she repeated.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My dear Gertrude," began her aunt, solemnly, "take from me +too--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, come," interposed Uncle Henry, very ungallantly, "do have +compassion, in the first place on me, but next on that languishing +youth in Niendorf, and send him his answer. It has happened before now +that dreadful consequences have followed such suspense; I could tell +you some blood-curdling stories about it, I assure you. Come, we will +write out a telegram," he continued, drawing a notebook from his pocket +and tearing out a leaf, while he borrowed a pencil from his dear nephew +Arthur.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, what shall it be, Gertrude?" he inquired, when he was +ready to +write. "'Come to my arms!' or 'Thine forever!' or 'Speak to my mother,' +or--ha! ha! I have it--'My mother will see you; come to-morrow and get +her consent. Gertrude Baumhagen.' 'And get her consent,'" he spelt out +as he wrote.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thanks, uncle," said the young girl; "I would rather write it +myself +in my room; his coachman is waiting at the hotel opposite."</p> + +<p class="normal">She could hear her uncle's hearty laugh over the poor fellow +who had +been sighing in suspense from eleven o'clock this morning till now, and +then she shut her door. With a trembling hand she lighted her lamp and +wrote: "Mamma has consented; I shall expect you to-morrow. Your +Gertrude."</p> + +<p class="normal">The old Sophie, who had been a servant in the Baumhagen house +before +the master was married, took the note. "I will carry it across myself, +Miss Gertrude," she said, "and if it was pouring harder than it is, and +if I got my rheumatism back for it, I would go all the same. I have the +fate of two people in my hand in this little bit of paper. God grant +that it may bring joy to you both. Miss Gertrude."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude pressed her hand and then went to the bow-window and +looked +through the glass to watch Sophie as she crossed the square. Her white +apron fluttered now under the street-lamp near the old apple-woman, and +then under the swinging lamp before the hotel. If the old man would +only drive as fast as his horses could carry him! Every minute of +waiting seemed too long to her now.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then the white apron appeared again under the hotel lamp, but +there was +somebody before it. Gertrude pressed her hands suddenly against her +beating heart. "Frank!" she gasped, and her limbs almost refused to +support her as she tried to make a few steps; He had waited for the +answer himself!</p> + +<p class="normal">"There he is, there he is, my bridegroom!" escaped from the +quivering +lips. The whole sacred signification of that blessed word overpowered +her. Then Sophie opened the door softly and he crossed the threshold of +the dainty maiden's boudoir, and shut the door as softly behind him. +The faithful old servant could only see how her proud young mistress +nestled into his arms and mutely received his kisses--"Oh, what a +wonderful thing this love is!" she said, smiling to herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she turned towards the drawing-room, but when she reached +the door +she turned away with a shake of her head. They would all be rushing in +and she would not shorten these blessed minutes for Gertrude. It would +be time enough to go to "madam" in a quarter of an hour. And she busied +herself in the corridor in order to be at hand at the right moment, in +case they should both forget all about the mother in the multiplicity +of things they had to say.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was midnight before Linden finally drove home. The jovial +uncle had +gotten up a little celebration of the betrothal on the spur of the +moment, and made a long speech himself. Then Mrs. Jenny had been very +gay and had laughed and jested with her brother-in-law <i>in spe</i>. But +Mrs. Baumhagen, after a private interview of half an hour with the +young man, remained silent and grave, and played out her role of +anxious mother to the end. She scarcely touched her lips to the glass +of champagne when the company drank to the health of the young +betrothed.</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden, however, had not taken offence at her coldness. +She knew +him so slightly, and he had come like a hungry wolf to rob her of her +one little lamb.</p> + +<p class="normal">It must be dreadful to give up a daughter, he thought, and +especially +such a daughter as Gertrude. He was touched to the heart; he thought of +his own old mother, he thought how gloomy the future had looked to him +only a few weeks ago and how sunny it was now; and all these sunny rays +shone out from a pair of blue eyes in a sweet, pale, girlish face. He +did not know himself how he had happened to speak to her so quickly of +his love. He saw again that brilliantly lighted crimson room of +yesterday, and the dim twilight in the bow-window room; there she stood +in the wonderful light, a mingled moonlight and candle-light. The +Christmas tree was lighted in the next room and the voices and laughter +of the company floated to his ears. She had turned as he approached her +and he had seen tears on her cheeks. But she laughed as she perceived +his dismay.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, it is because Christmas always reminds me of papa. He has +been +dead seven years yesterday."</p> + +<p class="normal">One word had led to another and at length they had found their +hands +clasped together.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I would gladly have held this little hand fast that time in +the +church. Would you have been angry, Gertrude?" and she had shaken her +head and looked up at him, smiling through her tears, trusting and +sweet, this proud young creature--his bride, soon to be his wife!</p> + +<p class="normal">He started up out of his dream. The carriage stopped at the +steps and +the house rose dark above him--only behind Aunt Rosa's windows was a +light still shining. He went up the steps as if in a dream and entered +the garden hall. He looked round as if he had entered the room for the +first time, so strange it looked, so changed, so bare and cold. And he +thought of the time when someone would be waiting for him here. He +could not imagine such happiness.</p> + +<p class="normal">The door opened softly behind him and as he turned he saw Aunt +Rosa +appearing like a ghost.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have been waiting for you, my dear nephew," she cried out +in her +shrill voice; "I have found that letter at last, thank Heaven! It is +upstairs in your room, and it has taken a weight off my mind, I assure +you, Frank." She nodded kindly at him from under her enormous cap. "You +are late getting home. I am tired and am going to bed now. Goodnight, +good-night!"</p> + +<p class="normal">And she moved lightly like a ghost to the door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Auntie!" cried a voice behind her so loud and gay that she +turned +round in amazement. But then he was beside her and had clasped her in +both arms, and before she knew what was happening to her, the shy old +maiden lady felt a resounding kiss on her cheek.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What on earth, Frank Linden--have you gone out of your mind?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"O, auntie, I can't keep it to myself, I shall choke if I do. +So don't +be cross. If I had my old mother here, I should kiss the old lady to +death for pure bliss. You must congratulate me. Gertrude Baumhagen will +be my wife."</p> + +<p class="normal">Aunt Rosa's half-shocked, half-vexed countenance grew rigid. +"Is it +possible," she whispered, in amazement, "she will marry into our old +house? And the family have consented?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"A Baumhagen--yes! And she will marry into this old house and +the +family have consented. Aunt Rosa."</p> + +<p class="normal">"God's blessing on you! God's richest blessing!" she +whispered, but she +shook her head and looked at him incredulously. "I shan't sleep a bit +to-night," she continued. "I am glad, I rejoice with all my heart, but +you might have told me to-morrow. It is done now. Good night, Frank. I +am glad indeed; this old house needs a mistress. God grant that she may +be a good one." And she pressed his hand as she left him.</p> + +<p class="normal">He too went to his room. The lamp was burning on the round +table and a +letter lay beneath it. Ah, true! the long-lost letter! He took it up +abstractedly--it was in Wolff's handwriting. He put it down again; what +could he want? Some business of course. Should he spoil this happy +hour with unpleasant, perhaps care-bringing news? No, let the letter +wait--till--but he had already taken it up and broken the seal.</p> + +<p class="center"><img src="images/100.png" alt="But he had already taken it up and broken the seal."></p> +<h3>"<span class="sc">But he had already taken it up and broken the seal.</span>"</h3> + + +<p class="normal">It was a long letter and as he read, he bit his lips hard. +"Pitiful +scoundrel!" he said at length, aloud, "it is well this letter did not +reach me sooner, or things would not have happened as they have." And +as if shrinking with disgust from the very touch of the paper, he flung +it into the nearest drawer of his writing-table.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Vile wretches, who make the most sacred things a matter of +traffic!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He sat for a long time lost in thought, and a deep furrow +marked itself +out between his brows. Then he wrote a long letter to his friend, the +judge, and gradually his face cleared again--he was telling him about +Gertrude.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">"Good morning, Uncle Henry," said Gertrude, who was sitting at +her +work-table in the bow-window. She rose as she spoke and went to meet +the stout little gentleman as he entered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, it is lucky that one of you at least is at home," he +replied, +rubbing his glasses with his red handkerchief, after giving Gertrude's +hand a hearty shake. "I wonder if one of the women-kind except you +could possibly stay at home for a day. Mrs. Jenny is making calls, Mrs. +Ottilie is gone to a coffee party--it is easy to see that a strong hand +to hold the reins is wanting here."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude smiled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Uncle, don't scold, but come and sit down," she said. "You +come just +in time for me; I had just written a little note to you to ask you to +come and see me. I need your advice."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh! but not immediately, child, not immediately! I have just +had my +dinner," he explained, "and nothing can be more dangerous than hard +thinking just after a meal. Ta, ta! There, this is comfortable; now +tell me something pleasant, child--about your lover; for instance, how +many kisses did he give you yesterday? Honestly now, Gertrude."</p> + +<p class="normal">He had stretched himself out comfortably in an arm-chair, and +his young +niece pushed a footstool under his feet and put an afghan over his +knees.</p> + +<p class="normal">"None at all, uncle," she said, gravely; "people do not ask +about such +things either, you know. Besides I see Frank very seldom," she +hesitated. "Mamma goes out so much, and I cannot receive him when she +is not at home. And, uncle, it is about that that I wanted to speak to +you. Mamma,"--she hesitated again,--"mamma makes me so anxious by all +manner of remarks about Linden's circumstances. You know, uncle--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you think she knows all about them?" said the old +gentleman. "Oh, +of course, ta, ta!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, uncle. You see the day before yesterday mamma went out +to dine +with Jenny, and when she came back she called me into her room, and as +soon as I got there I saw that something had happened. Just fancy, +uncle, she had been in Niendorf to see, as mamma expressed it, the +place where her daughter was going to bury herself. It would be +horrible, she declared, to take a young wife to this peasant house; it +was not fit for any one to live in; she had felt as if she were in some +third-rate farm-house. Linden was sitting in a room--she could touch +the ceiling with her hand it was so low, and it was all so poor and +common. In short, I could not go there, and if I would not give up my +whim of being Mr. Linden's wife, she would have to build a house for me +first, for he--he--well, he certainly would not be able to do it, and +it would be much more convenient too, to have a snug nest made for him +by his mother-in-law. Jenny, who was present at this scene, agreed with +her in everything. Oh, uncle, I am so sorry for him, and it is all on +my account."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did your mother speak to him about building?" asked Uncle +Henry.</p> + +<p class="normal">She drew her hand across her forehead.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know--I went away without answering. If I had made +any reply, +it would have been of no use--we battle with unequal weapons, or rather +I cannot use my weapons, for she is still my mother."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her uncle's eyes gazed at her with unmistakable +compassion--she was so +pale and she had a weary look about her mouth.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You poor child! I see they do not make your engagement time +exactly a +Paradise to you," he thought; but he only cleared his throat and said +nothing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And what can I do about it?" he asked, after a pause.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am going to tell you that now," said Gertrude. "You see I +have to +torment you. I am not on such terms with Arthur that he could advise me +in this. I want to ask you, uncle, to speak to Frank--I must know how +great his pecuniary difficulties are, and--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nonsense, child," interrupted the old gentleman, evidently +unpleasantly surprised,--"Why should you drag me in? Pecuniary +difficulties! What can you do about it? For the present you have +nothing to do with it--and you will find out about it soon enough."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You mean because we are not yet man and wife?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course!" he nodded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"O, it is quite the same thing, uncle," she cried, eagerly. +"From the +moment of our betrothal, I have considered myself as belonging to him +entirely, and everything of mine as his. Then why, since I can already +dispose of a part of my property as I please, should I not help him out +of what may perhaps be a very unpleasant situation?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, my dear child--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let me have my say out, uncle. You know I have ten thousand +dollars +that came from my grandmother, about which no one has anything to say +but myself, and you shall pay over these ten thousand dollars to +Linden. I suppose he will have to build--he may need all sorts of +things then, and he will be fretted and worried--do this for me, uncle; +you see <i>I</i> cannot talk to him about such things."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed, I will not, Miss Gertrude."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because he would take it, finally--or he would be angry. +Thanks, ever +so much."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I want him to take it."</p> + +<p class="normal">He was silent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"When are you going to be married, child?" he inquired at +length.</p> + +<p class="normal">A rosy flush passed over Gertrude's face--"Mamma has not said +anything +about it yet. Frank wants it to be in April, and--I do not want to +increase his difficulties by my reception."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well, very well, he can wait as long as that," said the +old +gentleman.</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked disappointed, but she said nothing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't want to go against your wishes, little one," he +continued, +perceiving her sorrowful looks. "I only want to do what is right in +matters of business. Now you see if you are bent on following out this +plan you will throw away a fine sum of money--in order to make your +nest a right comfortable one. <i>Amantes</i>, <i>amentes</i>--that is to say in +plain English, lovers are mad--and when you wake up to what you have +done all your fat is in the fire."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude said nothing, but she wore a pained expression about +her +mouth. <i>He</i> too spoke so. How often lately had she heard the same +thing? Even her pleasure in the single present Linden had made her had +been spoiled by similar insulting remarks.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, don't look so miserable about it, little one," yawned the +old +gentleman; "what have I said? We men are all egotists with one another +I assure you. Why then will you confirm your lover in his egotism and +let the roasted larks fly into his mouth beforehand? Keep a tight rein +over him, Gertrude, that is the only sensible thing to do; you must not +let him be anything more than the Prince Consort--keep the reins of +government in your own little fists; confound it, I believe you can +rule too!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Uncle," said the young girl, softly going up to him, "Uncle, +you are a +hypocrite, you say things that you don't believe yourself. You are all +egotists? And I don't know any one in the world who has less claim to +the title than you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really, child," he declared, laughing, "I am an egotist of +the purest +water."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed? Who gives as much as you to the poor of the city? Who +supports +the whole family of the poor teacher, with rent, clothes, food and +drink? <i>Who</i> now, uncle?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"All selfishness, pure selfishness!" he cried.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Prove it, uncle, prove it logically."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing easier. You know the story of how I got a cramp in my +leg and +dragged myself into the nearest house on the Steinstrasse, and sank +down on the first chair I could find. I was just going to dinner; had +invited Gustave Seyfried and Augustus Seemann to dine with me--well, +you know they have lived in Paris and London. So there I sat in that +little low room. The people were at dinner and a dish of thin potato +soup stood on the table, that would have been hardly enough for the man +alone. Seven children--seven children, mind you, Gertrude,--stood +round, and the mother was dealing out their portions. She began with +the youngest; the oldest, a lad of fourteen, got the last of the dish. +There was not much in it, and I shall never forget the look of those +sunken hungry eyes as they rested on that empty bowl. It made me feel +so queer all at once. I asked casually, what the man's business was? +Teacher of language at twelve cents an hour! He could not get a +permanent position on account of his ill health. Good God, Gertrude! +Four hours a day would give him fifty cents and he had seven children!</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, do you know, that day we had oysters before the soup, +and they +were rather dear just then, so I reckoned up that each one of those +smooth little delicacies cost as much as an hour's lesson, in which the +poor man talked his poor, weak throat hoarse. They wouldn't go down my +throat in spite of their slipperiness. I couldn't swallow more than +half a dozen and that was disagreeable. At every course it was the same +story, and when Louis uncorked the champagne, every pop seemed to go +straight to my stomach. I never ate a more uncomfortable dinner--it +disagreed with me besides, and I had to take some soda water. 'Confound +it!' I said, 'this thing can't go on,' and--you know, child, that a +good dinner is the purest pleasure in the world for men of my sort. So +there was nothing for me, if I wanted to enjoy my oysters again, but to +comfort myself with the thought that the seven hungry mouths were also +busy about their dinner. So I sent John to the teacher's wife to ask +her how much money she needed a month to feed all seven, with herself +and her husband into the bargain, so they would have enough. And, good +gracious, it wasn't such an enormous sum, and so I pay her a certain +sum every month and I can enjoy my dinner again at the hotel. Now, +prove if you can that that isn't pure selfishness."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, of course, uncle," said the young girl, with brightening +eyes, +"but I like that sort of selfishness."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is all one, Gertrude; I am sending Hannah into retirement +now out +of selfishness; she is getting so stout that she can't get through the +door any more with the coffee tray. And I ask you if I am to keep +another servant to open the double doors for her, just for the sake of +the old asthmatic woman? That would be fine! So I said to her this +morning, 'Hannah, you can go at Easter, and I will continue your wages +as a pension.' She was delighted, because she can go to her daughter, +now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Uncle, I know you very well. I can trust to you," coaxed +Gertrude. +"You will speak to Frank, won't you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, well, yes, yes, only don't blush so. Now you see you have +spoiled +my dessert with all your talking. When does her serene highness come +home?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know," replied the young girl.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To be sure, these coffee-parties are never to be counted +upon. So you +two lovers only see each other on state occasions, like Romeo and +Juliet, or when you have company yourselves?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude nodded silently.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it possible!" cried the little gentleman as he rose to +go--"as if +the time of an engagement were not the happiest in the world. +Afterwards it is all pure prose, my child. And they are spoiling this +time for you now--well, you just wait. I must go now to my card-party. +I will look in on your mother this evening. Good bye; my love to him +when you write."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-bye, uncle. Don't forget that I shall trust to your +selfishness."</p> + +<p class="normal">When the old gentleman had closed the door behind him, she sat +down to +her desk, look out a letter and began to read it. It was his last +letter; it had come this morning and it contained some verses.</p> + +<p class="normal">How she delighted in these verses in her loneliness! Nothing +in the +world could separate them! She would indemnify him a thousandfold by +her love for all he had to endure now. She tried by a thousand sweet, +loving words to make him forget the scorn which her friends scarcely +tried to conceal for his boldness and presumption. His manly pride must +suffer so greatly under it. More than once the blood had mounted +quickly to his forehead, and more than once had he taken leave earlier +than he need, as if he could not keep silent and for the sake of peace +took refuge in flight.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish I had you in Niendorf now, Gertrude," he had said at +the last +farewell. "I cannot bear it very patiently to be looked through as if I +were only air, by your mother."</p> + +<p class="normal">And she had nestled closer to him, trembling with agitation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mamma does not mean anything by it, Frank," replied her lips, +though +her heart knew better. And then he had pressed her passionately to him +as he said,</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I did not love you so much, Gertrude!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But it will soon be spring, Frank."</p> + +<p class="normal">And to-day the verses had come with a bouquet of violets.</p> + +<p class="normal">She started as she heard Jenny's voice, and immediately after +her +sister came in, angry and excited.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must come to you for a little rest, Gertrude," she said. +"Linden is +not here? Thank goodness! I can't stand it at home any longer, the baby +is so fretful and screams and cries enough to deafen one. The doctor +says he must be put to bed, so I have tucked him into his crib. There +is always something to upset and fret one."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude started. Well at any rate he was in good hands with +Caroline, +she thought.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you going to the masked ball--you and Linden?" asked the +young +wife.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No," replied Gertrude, putting away her letter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why not?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why should we go? I do not like to dance, as you know, +Jenny."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Has Uncle Henry been here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes. Is the baby really ill?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, nonsense! a little feverish, that is all. We are going to +the +Dressels this evening. Arthur has sent to Berlin for pictures of +costumes, for our quadrille. But you don't care for that. You will bury +yourself by and by entirely in Niendorf. The Landrath said to Arthur +the other day, 'Your sister-in-law will not be in her proper position; +she ought to have married a man in such a position that she would be a +leader in society.' You would have been an ornament to any salon and +now you are going to the Niendorf cow-stalls."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And <i>how</i> glad I am!" said Gertrude, her eyes shining.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs. Fredericks, ma'am," called the pretty maid just then, +"won't you +please come down? The baby is so hot and restless."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny nodded, looked hastily at a half-finished piece of +embroidery and +left the room. When Gertrude followed after a short time she was told +that the baby was doing very well and that Mr. and Mrs. Fredericks were +dressing for the evening. And so she went upstairs again to her lonely +room.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">A week later the iron-gray horses were bringing the close +carriage back +from the church-yard at a sharp trot. On the back seat sat Arthur +Fredericks with Uncle Henry beside him; opposite was Linden. They wore +crape around their hats and a band of crape on the left arm.</p> + +<p class="normal">The winter had come back once more in full force before taking +its +final departure. It was snowing, and the great flakes settled down on a +little new-made grave within the iron railings of the Baumhagen family +burial-place. Jenny's golden-haired darling was dead!</p> + +<p class="normal">No one in the carriage spoke a word, and when the three +gentlemen got +out each went his own way after a silent handshake: Uncle Henry to take +a glass of cognac, Arthur to his desolate young wife, while Linden went +up to Gertrude. He did not find her in the drawing-room; probably she +was with her sister. Presently he heard a slight rustling. He strode +across the soft carpet and stood in the open door-way of the room with +the bay-window.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude!" he cried, in dismay, "for Heaven's sake, what is +the +matter?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She was kneeling before her little sofa, her head hidden in +her arms, +her whole frame, convulsed with long, tearless sobs.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He put his arms round her and tried to raise her, when she +lifted up +her head and stood up.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tell me what has happened, Gertrude," he urged; "is it grief +for the +loss of the little one? I entreat you to be calm--you will make +yourself ill."</p> + +<p class="normal">She had not shed any tears, she only looked deathly pale and +her hands, +which rested in his, were cold as ice.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come," he said, "tell me what it is?"</p> + +<p class="normal">And he drew her towards him.</p> + +<p class="normal">She clung to him as she had never done before.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It will be all right again," she whispered, "now I am with +you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Were you afraid? Has anything happened to you?" he inquired, +tenderly.</p> + +<p class="normal">She nodded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes," she said, hastily, "a little while ago I chanced to +hear a few +words mamma was saying to Aunt Pauline--they came up from Jenny's--I +suppose they did not think I was here--I don't know. Mamma was still +crying very much about the baby and--then she said Jenny must go +away--she must have a change--this apathy was so dangerous. You know +she has not spoken a word for three days--and--I must accompany her on +a long journey--so I--" She stopped and bit her quivering lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So you might forget me if possible?" he inquired, gravely.</p> + +<p class="normal">He put his hand under her chin and looked into her eyes. She +did not +reply, but he read the confirmation of his suspicion in her tearful +eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are they so anxious to be rid of me? Is their dislike so +strong, +Gertrude? And you?" He felt how she trembled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh!" she cried with a passion which made Linden start, "Oh, +I--do +you know there are moments when something seems to take possession +of me with the power of a demon--I am swept away by the force of my +wrath--I--I do not know what I say and do--I am ashamed now--I ought to +have been calm--they cannot separate us, no--they cannot. Now mamma is +lying on the sofa in her room and Sophie has gone for the doctor. Ah, +Frank, I have borne it all so patiently all these long years--is it so +great a sin that my long suppressed feelings should have burst out at +last, that my self-control should have given way for once? I was +violent--I have always thought I was so calm--those words that I heard +seemed to sweep me away like a storm--I don't know what reproaches I +may have spoken against my mother. And to-day, just to-day, when they +have carried away the only sunbeam that was in this house for me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"We will go to your mother, Gertrude, and beg her to pardon us +for +loving each other so much--come!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He had said this to comfort her, and because he felt that +something +must be done. His own desire would have been to take the young girl by +the hand and lead her away out of this house.</p> + +<p class="normal">She freed herself from him and looked at him in amazement. +"Ask pardon? +And for that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude, don't misunderstand me." He felt almost embarrassed +before +her great wondering eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I meant that we should show your mother calmly and quietly +that we +cannot give each other up. Say something to her in excuse for your +vehemence. Come, I will go with you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, I cannot!" she cried, "I cannot beg forgiveness when I +have been +so injured in all that I hold most sacred. I cannot!" she reiterated, +going past him to the deep window.</p> + +<p class="normal">He followed her and took her hand; a strange feeling had come +over him. +Until now he had only seen in her a calm, reasonable woman. But she +misunderstood him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No!" she cried, "don't ask me, Frank. I will not do it, I +cannot, I +never could! Not even when I was a child, though she shut me up for +hours in a dark room."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was not going to urge you," he said; "only give me your +hand, I must +know whether this is really you, Gertrude."</p> + +<p class="normal">She bent down and pressed a kiss on his right hand. "If <i>you</i> +were not +in the world, Frank, if I had to be here all alone!" she whispered +warmly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But you have all this trouble on my account," he replied, +much moved.</p> + +<p class="normal">She shook her head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Only do not misunderstand me," she continued, "and have +patience with +my faults. You will promise me that, Frank, will you not?" she urged in +an anxious tone. "You see I am so perverse when I feel injured; I get +as hard as a stone then and everything good seems to die out of me. I +could hate those people who thrust their low ideas on me! Frank, you +don't know how I have suffered from this already."</p> + +<p class="normal">They still stood hand in hand. The snow whirled about before +the window +in the twilight of the short winter day. It was so still here inside, +so warm and cosy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Frank!" she whispered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My Gertrude!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are not angry with me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, no. We will bear with each other's faults and we will try +to +improve when we are all alone by our two selves."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have no faults," she said, proudly, in a tone of +conviction, +drawing closer to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was grave.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, Gertrude, I am very vehement, I sometimes have terrible +fits of +passion."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Those are not the worst men," she said, putting her arm round +his +neck.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you so sure of that?" he asked, smiling into the lovely +face that +looked so gentle now in the twilight.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes. My grandmother always said so," she replied.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The grandmother in the old time?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, dearest. Oh, if you had only known her! But I should +like to see +your mother," she added.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We will go to see her, darling, as soon as we are married. +When will +that be?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Frank," she said, instead of answering, "don't let us go on a +journey +at once; let me know first what it is to have a home where love, trust +and mutual understanding dwell together. Let me learn first what +<i>peace</i> is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, my Gertrude. Would to God I could carry you off to the +old house +to-morrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude!" called a shrill voice from the next room.</p> + +<p class="normal">She started.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mamma!" she whispered. "Come!" They went together. Mrs. +Baumhagen was +standing beside her writing-table. Sophie had just brought the lamp, +the light of which shone full on the mother's round flushed face, on +which rested an unusually decided expression.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am glad you are here, Linden," she said to the young man, +turning +down the leaf of the writing-table and taking her seat before it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How much time do you require to put your house in order so +that +Gertrude could live in it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not long," he replied. "Some rooms need new carpets, and +trifles of +that sort--that is all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well--I shall be satisfied," she replied, coldly. "Then +to-morrow +you will have the goodness to send your papers in to the clergyman and +have the banns published. In three weeks I shall leave for the South +with my eldest daughter, and before I go I wish to have this--this +affair arranged."</p> + +<p class="normal">Linden bowed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thank you, madam."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude stood silent, white to the lips, but she did not look +at him. +He knew she was suffering tortures for his sake.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now I wish to settle some things with my daughter," continued +Mrs. +Baumhagen, "with regard to her trousseau and the marriage contract."</p> + +<p class="normal">He turned to go at once, but stopped to kiss his bride's hand +and +looked at her with imploring eyes. "Be calm," he whispered.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude laid her hand on her lover's mouth.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will have no marriage contract," she said aloud.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then your fortune will be common property," was her mother's +answer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is what I desire," she replied. "If I can give myself, I +will not +keep my money from him. That would seem to me beyond measure, foolish."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen shrugged her shoulders and turned away. The two +were +standing close together and the bitter words died on her lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your guardian may talk to you about that," she said. "Will +you be so +kind, Linden, as to find my brother-in-law? I wish to speak with him."</p> + +<p class="normal">He kissed Gertrude on the forehead, took his hat and went. +Thank +Heaven! he should soon be able to shelter her in his own house, this +proud young girl who loved him so.</p> + +<p class="normal">He walked quickly across the square. The fresh air did him +good. He +felt thoroughly indignant that any one should endeavor to separate +them, putting hundreds of miles between them. How easily might a +misunderstanding arise, how easily with such a character as hers, whom +only the appearance of pettiness would suffice to arouse to scorn, +hatred and defiance! How many couples who were deeply attached to each +other had been separated in this way before now! He dared not think +what would have become of him if it had happened so with them.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'St!--'St,"--sounded behind him, and as he turned on the +slippery +sidewalk he saw Uncle Henry coming down the hotel steps. He had +evidently been dining, and his jovial countenance displayed an +astonishing mixture of sadness and physical comfort.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have had my dinner, Linden," he began, putting his arm +through the +young man's. "I was very much cast down by this affair of this morning. +You don't misunderstand me I hope? Eh? I am not one of those who lose +their appetites when misfortune comes. I approve of our ancestors who +had funeral feasts. I assure you, Linden, that wasn't such a bad idea +as we of to-day fancy it. Give all honor to the dead, but the living +must have their rights, and to them belong eating and drinking, which +keep soul and body together. Ta, ta! A funeral always upsets me. The +poor little fellow! I was fond of him all the same, you may be sure. I +am sure you have not dined yet. Women never eat under such +circumstances, every one knows."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was just going to look for you," replied Linden. "My future +mother-in-law wishes to see you. We--are going to be married in three +weeks."</p> + +<p class="normal">The little man in the fur coat stopped, and looked at Linden +as if he +did not believe his ears.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How? What? She has changed her mind very suddenly--did +Gertrude +improve the opportunity of her softened mood, or--?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude would never do that--no, Mrs. Baumhagen wishes to +travel for +some time with her eldest daughter, and--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, ta, ta! And Gertrude is not to go?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"On the contrary--but she would not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aha! Now it dawns upon me, something has happened. Her serene +Highness +has been trying--now, I understand--travelling, new scenes, new +people--out of sight, out of mind. Ha! ha! she is a born diplomatist. +Well, I will come, only let us take the longest way; the fresh air does +me good. I am glad though, heartily glad--in three weeks it is to be +then?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The gentlemen walked on together in silence through the snow. +It was +wonderfully quiet in the streets in spite of the traffic of business. +Men and carriages seemed to sweep over the white snow. The air was +mild, with a slight touch of spring, and Frank Linden thought of his +home and of the small room next his own, which would not long remain +unoccupied.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do you do, my dear fellow!" said a voice beside him, and +a little +man popped up in front of him, holding his hat high above his bald +head--his sharp little face beaming with friendliness. Linden bowed. +Uncle Henry carelessly touched the brim of his hat.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How do you come to know this Wolff?" he asked, looking after +the man, +who was winding his way sinuously in and out among the crowd. "He is a +fellow who would spoil my appetite if I met him before dinner."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am or rather was connected with him by business, through my +old +uncle--he had money from him on a mortgage on Niendorf," explained +Linden.</p> + +<p class="normal">"From that cravat-manufacturer? The old man was not very +wise."</p> + +<p class="normal">Linden did not reply. They had just turned into a quiet +side-street.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Does he still hold the mortgage?" asked Mr. Baumhagen.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, my friend's sister has taken it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed! Why did you not come to <i>me</i> about it? You could have +had some +of Gertrude's money--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden made a gesture of refusal.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh--I promised the child; she has authorized me to put a +certain +capital at your disposal," explained the old gentleman.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thanks," replied Linden, shortly; "I will not have money +matters mixed +up with my courtship."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And the new house at Niendorf?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude knows that she must not expect a fairy palace. +Moreover we +can live very comfortably there in the old rooms, though they are low +and small. I have a very pretty garden-hall, and as for the view from +the windows it would be hard to find another like it if you travel ever +so far."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, the child is happy enough, but how about her serene +Highness?" +chimed in Mr. Baumhagen.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I would far rather have her say, 'My child has gone to live +in a +peasant's house,' than, '<i>We</i> had to build first,'" remarked Linden, +drily.</p> + +<p class="normal">The old gentleman laughed comfortably to himself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, yes, that is just what she would say--and she wants to +go +on a journey--it is astonishing! My dear old mother sought comfort +in occupation when my father died--that was the good old +custom--now-a-days people go on a journey. It would be better for +Jenny, poor thing, if she were to sorrow deeply here in her home. But +no, she must be dragged away so the whistle of the locomotive may drive +away her last memory of her little one's voice. Linden!" The old man +stopped and laid his hand on his shoulder. "Gertrude is not like that, +you may take my word for it. She would not go away from the little +grave out there--not now. She has her faults too, but--it is all right +with her <i>here</i>," striking his breast. "Heaven grant she may be +truly happy with you in the old nest. She has earned it by her sad +youth--through her father."</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank nodded. He knew it all very well, just as the old +egotist told it +to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, now we must go," continued Uncle Henry; "my +sister-in-law wants +to speak to me about the wedding, I suppose."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think it is about the marriage contract," said Frank +Linden, "and +I want to beg you to urge upon Gertrude to yield to her mother's +wishes--I shall like it better."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hm!" said the old man, clearing his throat. "I yield, thou +yieldest, +he yields, she--will <i>not</i> yield! She is a perverse little +monkey--pardon. But it is no use mincing matters. She takes it from her +father. He was a splendid man of business, but as soon as his feelings +were concerned, away with prudence, wisdom, calculation, and what not. +Oh, ta, ta! But here we are."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen received them very quietly, Gertrude was not +with her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She is in her room," she said to Linden, as he looked round +for her. +"She expects you."</p> + +<p class="normal">He found her in the deep window. There was no lamp in the +room, and the +light from the fire played on the carpet, "Gertrude," he said, "how can +I thank you!" And he took her hands, which burned in his like fire.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For what?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For everything, Gertrude! You were quiet with your mother?" +he added, +quietly, as she was silent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perfectly so," she replied; "I thought of you. But I am +determined not +to have a marriage settlement."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You foolish girl. I might be unfortunate and have bad +harvests and +things of that sort--then you would suffer too."</p> + +<p class="normal">She nodded and smiled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To be sure, and I would help you with all I possess. And if +we have +bad harvests and nothing, nothing will succeed, and we have nothing +more in the world, then--" she stopped and looked at him with her +happy, tear-stained eyes--"then we will starve together, won't we, you +and I?"</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The wedding-day came, not as such joyful days usually come. It +was as +still as death in the house, which was still plunged in the deepest +mourning.</p> + +<p class="normal">The large suite of rooms had been opened and warmed, and over +Gertrude's door hung a garland of sober evergreen. The day before the +door-bell had had no rest, and one costly present after another had +been handed in. All the magnificence of massive silver, majolica, +Persian rugs and other costly things had been spread out on a long +table in the bow-window room. A gardener's assistant was still moving +softly about in the salon, decorating the improvised altar with orange +trees. The fine perfume of <i>pastilles</i> lingered in the air and the +flame from the open fire was reflected in the glass drops of the +chandelier and the smooth <i>marqueterie</i> of the floor. Outside, the +weather was treacherously mild. It was the first of March.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen had been crying and groaning all the morning, +and +between the arrangements for the wedding, she had been giving orders +respecting her own journey. The huge trunks stood ready packed in the +hall. The next day but one they would start for Heidelberg to see a +celebrated doctor.</p> + +<p class="normal">As for Gertrude's trousseau, her mother had not concerned +herself about +it--she would attend to it herself. Gertrude's taste was very +extraordinary, at the best; if she liked blue Gertrude would be sure to +pronounce for red, it had always been so. Ah, this day was a dreadful +one to her, and it was only the end of weeks of torture. Since the +funeral of the baby, when her daughter had made such a scene, they had +been colder than ever to each other. Gertrude's eyes could look so +large, so wistful, as if they were always asking, "Why do you disturb +my happiness?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She should be glad when they had fairly started on their +journey.</p> + +<p class="normal">At this time the ladies were all dressing; the wedding was to +take +place at five o'clock. The faithful Sophie was helping Gertrude +to-day--she would not permit any one to take her place.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude had put on her wedding-dress, and Sophie was kneeling +before +her, buttoning the white satin boots.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, Miss Gertrude," sighed the old woman, "it will be so +lonely in the +house now. Little Walter dead and you away!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I shall be so happy, Sophie." The soft girlish hand +stroked the +withered old face which looked up at her so sadly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"God grant it! God grant it!" murmured the old woman as she +rose. "Now +comes the veil and the wreath, but I am too clumsy for that, Miss +Gertrude--but, ah, here is Mrs. Fredericks."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny entered through the young girl's sitting-room. She wore +a dress +of deep black transparent crêpe, and a white camellia rested on the +soft light braids. She was deathly pale and her eyes were red with +weeping.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will help you, Gertrude," she said, languidly, beginning to +fasten +the veil on her sister's brown hair. "Do you remember how you put on my +wreath, Gertrude? Ah, if one could only know at such a time what +dreadful grief was coming!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Jenny," entreated Gertrude, "don't give yourself up to your +grief so. +When I came down when Walter died, and Arthur was holding you so +tenderly in his arms I thought what great comfort you had in each +other. That is after all the greatest happiness, when two people can +stand by each other, in sorrow and trial."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh," said Jenny, her lip curling disdainfully; "I assure you +Arthur is +half-comforted already. He can talk of other things, he can eat and +drink and go to business, he can even play euchre. Wonderful happiness +it is indeed!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, Jenny, you cannot expect him to feel the grief that a +mother does, +he--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, you will find it out too," interrupted the young wife. +"Men are +all selfish."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude rose suddenly from her chair. She was silent, but her +eyes +rested reproachfully on her sister as if to say, "Is that the blessing +you give me to take with me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">But her lips said only, "Not all, I know better."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny stood in some embarrassment. "I must go down to Arthur +now or he +will never be ready at the right time, and then it will be time for me +to come up to receive the guests."</p> + +<p class="normal">The train of her dress swept over the carpet like a dark +shadow as she +went.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude sat down for a while in the deep window. The white +silk fell +in shimmering folds about her beautiful figure, and the grave young +face looked out from the misty veil as from a cloud. She folded her +hands and looked at her father's picture. "I will take you with me +to-night, papa." And her thoughts flew off to the quiet country-house. +She did not know it yet. Only once, when she had driven through the +village on a picnic, had she seen a sharp-gabled roof and gray walls +rising up among the trees. Who would have thought that this would one +day be her home!</p> + +<p class="normal">She felt as if it were heartless in her not to feel the +departure from +her father's house more. And from her mother? Ah, her mother! Papa had +loved her, very much at one time. Should she go away without one tear, +without one kind motherly word? Gertrude forgot everything in this +blissful moment; she remembered only the good, the time when she was a +happy child and her mother used to kiss her tenderly. She would not go +without a reconciliation.</p> + +<p class="normal">She rose, gathered up the long train of her wedding-dress and +went +across the dusky hall to her mother's chamber. She knocked softly and +opened the door.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen was standing before the tall mirror in a black +moiré +antique, with black feathers and lace in her still brown hair. Gertrude +could see her face in the glass; it was covered thick with powder, +which she was just rubbing into her skin with a hare's foot.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen looked round and gazed at her daughter. She +made a +lovely bride, far more imposing than Jenny--and all for that Linden! +She said nothing, she only sighed heavily and turned back to the glass.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mamma," began Gertrude, "I wanted to ask you something."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In a moment."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude waited quietly till the last touch of the powder-puff +had been +laid on the temples, then Mrs. Baumhagen took the long black gloves, +seated herself on a lounge at the foot of her large red-curtained bed, +and began to put them on.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What do you want, Gertrude?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mamma, what do I want? I wanted to say good-bye to you." She +sat down +beside her mother and took her hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen nodded to her. "Yes, we sha'nt see each other +for some +time."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mamma, are you still angry with me?" asked the girl, +hesitatingly, her +eyes filling with tears.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Forgive me, now," she entreated. "I have been vehement and +perverse +sometimes, but--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, no matter--don't bring it up now," said her mother. "I +only hope +most heartily that you may be happy, and may never repent your +obstinacy and perversity."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never!" cried Gertrude with perfect conviction.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen continued to button her gloves. The room was +stifling +with the heavy odors of lavender water and patchouly, and her heavy +silk rustled as she exerted herself to button the somewhat refractory +gloves. She made no reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"May I ask one more favor, mamma?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certainly."</p> + +<p class="normal">The girl involuntarily folded her hands in her lap.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mamma, show a little kindness to Linden--do try to like him a +little--make to-day really a day of honor to him. Oh, mamma," she +continued after a pause, "if he is offended to-day it will pierce my +heart like a knife--dear mamma--"</p> + +<p class="normal">The big tears trembled on her lashes.</p> + +<p class="normal">Once more she asked, "Will you, mamma?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen was just ready. She stretched out both her +little hands, +looked at them inside and out, and said without looking up:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Kind?--of course--like him? One cannot force one's self to do +that, my +child. I hardly know him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"For my sake," Gertrude would have said, but she bethought +herself. The +days of her childhood had passed, and since then--?</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen rose.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is almost five," she remarked. "Go back to your room. +Linden will +be here in a moment."</p> + +<p class="normal">She kissed Gertrude on the forehead, then quickly on the lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go, my child,--you know I don't like to be upset--God grant +you all +happiness." Gertrude went back to her room, chilled to the heart. A +tall figure stepped hastily out of the window recess, and a strong arm +was around her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is you!" she said, drawing a long breath, while a rosy +flush +overspread her face.</p> + +<hr class="W10"> + +<p class="normal">The little wedding-party were assembled in the salon, the +mother, +Arthur, Jenny, Aunt Pauline and Uncle Henry. Two young cousins in white +tulle made the only points of light amid the gloomy black.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For Heaven's sake don't wear such long faces!" cried Uncle +Henry, who +looked as if the wedding had upset him as much as the funeral. "It is +dismal enough as it is:--"</p> + +<p class="normal">The door opened and the old clergyman entered. Uncle Henry +went to meet +him, greeted him loudly, and then disappeared with unusual haste to +bring in the bride and bridegroom.</p> + +<p class="normal">The afternoon sunshine flooded the rich salon, overpowering +the light +of the candles in the chandelier and the candelabra, and its rays +rested on the young couple before the altar.</p> + +<p class="normal">The voice of the clergyman, sounded mild and clear. They had +met for +the first time in the house of God, he said; evidently the Lord had +brought them together, and what the Lord had joined together no man +should put asunder. He spoke of love which beareth all things, hopeth +all things, endureth all things. Gertrude had chosen the text herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then they exchanged rings. They knelt for the blessing, and +they rose +husband and wife.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then they went up to their mother. Like Gertrude, Frank Linden +saw all +things in a different light in this hour. He held out his hand, and +though he could find no words, he meant to promise by this hand-shake +to guard the life just entrusted to him, as the very apple of his eye, +his whole life long.</p> + +<p class="normal">But Mrs. Baumhagen kissed the young wife daintily on the +forehead, laid +her fingers as daintily for one moment in his extended hand, and then +turned to the clergyman who approached with his congratulations.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young couple looked at each other, and as he looked into +her +anxious eyes he pressed her arm closer with his, and she grew calm and +almost cheerful.</p> + +<p class="normal">Uncle Henry had arranged the wedding-dinner, as was to be +expected.</p> + +<p class="normal">The curtains were drawn in the dining-room, which had a +northern +aspect, the lamps were lighted, and all the family silver shone and +sparkled on the table. The old gentler man understood his business. He +had had sleepless nights over it lately, it is true, but the menu was +exquisite. The only pity was that he and Aunt Pauline and Arthur were +the only ones who were capable of appreciating it, according to his +ideas. The chilling mood still rested on the company, even through +Uncle Henry's toasts, not even yielding to the champagne. The old +egotist was almost in despair.</p> + +<p class="normal">When the company adjourned to the drawing-room for coffee, +Gertrude +went to her room. A quarter of an hour later she came into the hall in +her travelling dress. Her husband stood there waiting for her.</p> + +<p class="normal">From the drawing-room they could hear the murmur of the +company--here +all was quiet.</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked round her once more and nodded to the old clock in +the +corner.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-bye, Sophie," she said, as she went down the staircase +on his +arm, and the old woman bent over the bannisters in a sudden burst of +tears--"Say good-bye to all of them."</p> + +<p class="normal">Brilliantly lighted windows shone out upon them in Niendorf +when Frank +lifted her out of the carriage, and led her up the steps. The sky was +cloudy, and the fresh spring air was wonderfully soft and odorous.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come in!" he cried, opening the brown old house-door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, what roses!" she cried with delight.</p> + +<p class="normal">The balustrade of the staircase, the doorways, the chains from +which +the lamps swung were all lavishly adorned with roses, and by the dim +light they glowed against the green background as if they were real +blossoms.</p> + +<p class="normal">Kind Aunt Rosa!</p> + +<p class="normal">Hand in hand they mounted the staircase and walked down the +corridor. +It was only plastered, but it was quite covered with odorous evergreen. +"This is our sitting-room, Gertrude, till yours is ready."</p> + +<p class="normal">She stood on the threshold and looked in with eager eyes. It +looked +exceedingly cosy and home-like, this low room, pleasantly lighted by +the lamp; and a beautiful hunting hound sprang up, whining with joy at +sight of his master, whom he had not seen for the whole day. She +entered, still holding his hand, in a sort of trembling happiness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, what a beautiful dog! And there is your writing-table, +and that is +the book-case, and what a dear old face that is in the gold frame. Is +it your mother, Frank? Yes, I thought she must look like that. And what +a pretty tea-table set for two! Oh, dearest!" And the proud spoiled +child of luxury lay weeping on his breast.</p> + +<p class="center"><img src="images/144.png" alt="The proud spoiled child of luxury lay weeping +in his arms."></p> +<h3>"<span class="sc">The proud spoiled child of luxury lay weeping +in his arms.</span></h3> + +<p class="normal">"Here--it shall remain as it is, Frank--here it is warm and +bright; no +bitter word can ever be spoken here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't think of it any more," he whispered, comfortingly. "We +have left +all evil behind us. We are owners here, and we will have nothing but +peace and love in our household."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes," she said, smiling through her tears, "you are right. +What have +we to do with the outer world?"</p> + +<p class="normal">They were standing together in front of his writing-table. A +majolica +vase stood on it filled with spring flowers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What an exquisite scent of violets!" she whispered, drawing +in a long +breath, and freeing herself from his arms.</p> + +<p class="normal">A card lay among the flowers. Both hands were extended for it +at once.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Heartiest congratulations on your marriage, from</i></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="sc">C. Wolff</span>, Agent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How did you happen to know him? <i>Why</i> should he send that?" +asked her +eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">But he threw the card carelessly on the table and kissed her +on the +forehead.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p class="normal">Spring is delicious when one is happy. The trees in the +Niendorf garden +put out their leaves one by one, a green veil hung over the budding +forests, and violets were blooming everywhere; Gertrude's whole domain +was filled with the scent of the blue children of spring. The voice of +the young wife sounded through the old house like the note of a lark, +and when Frank returned all sunburned from the fields, a white +handkerchief waved from the shining windows upstairs, and when he +reached the court it was fluttering in her hand on the topmost step.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have come at last, dearest," she would cry then.</p> + +<p class="normal">And the walks in the woods, the evenings when he read aloud, +and then +the furnishing the house! How sweet it was to consult together, to make +selections, to buy new things and how delighted they both were when +they happened to think of the same things!</p> + +<p class="normal">So the house was furnished by degrees. Workmen and +upholsterers did +their best. Aunt Rosa's room alone remained untouched, and the master's +cosy room, in which they had passed their first happy weeks together.</p> + +<p class="normal">And now everything was ready, homelike and comfortable without +any +pretension. The low rooms were not suited to display costly carved +furniture, so with excellent taste they had both chosen only the +simplest things.</p> + +<p class="normal">"By-and-by, when we build a new house, Gertrude," he said, and +she +assented.</p> + +<p class="normal">"First we will improve the estate, Frank--it is so pleasant in +these +dear old rooms."</p> + +<p class="normal">The garden-hall been fitted up as a dining-room. Close by was +a +drawing-room with dark curtains and soft carpets; on the walls Uncle +Henry's wedding present, two large oil paintings--a sunny landscape and +a wintry sea-coast. From behind great green palms stood out a noble +bust of Hermes. Sofas, low seats and arm-chairs everywhere, and +wherever there was the smallest space it was filled up with a vase of +fresh flowers.</p> + +<p class="normal">Upstairs, next to the master's room, was that of the young +wife, where +her father's picture now stood behind the work-table, by the window.</p> + +<p class="normal">The door between the two rooms stood open, and bright striped +Turkish +curtains drawn back, permitted Gertrude from her place by the window, +to see the writing-table at which he was working. And from the window +might be seen the wooded mountains beyond the green garden, and farther +away still the distant Brocken, half-hidden in the clouds.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young wife had cleared out all the cupboards; in the +kitchen the +last new tin had been hung up on the hooks, and shone and sparkled in +the bright sunshine as if it were pure silver. In the store-room jars +and pots were all full and in order, as she turned the key with a happy +smile, and put it into the spick-and-span new key-basket on her arm.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come, Frank," she said, after he had been admiring all this +splendor, +"now we will go through all the rooms again."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There are not many of them, Gertrude," he laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Enough for us, Frank; we do not need any more."</p> + +<p class="normal">And they went through the garden hall, and admired the stately +buffet +and the hanging-lamp of polished brass, which swung over the great +dining-table. They went into the drawing-room, and admired the pictures +again which the sun lighted up so beautifully, and then they stopped, +looked in each other's eyes and kissed each other.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is all just as I like it, Frank," said she, "plain and +suitable, +but nothing sham, no imitations. I hate pretence--everything ought to +be genuine, as real and true as my love and your heart, you dear, good +fellow.--Now everything is perfect in the house," she continued, +picking up a thread from the carpet. "No one would recognize it; it is +the most charming little house for miles around. And it did not cost +nearly as much as Jenny's trousseau and wedding-journey."</p> + +<p class="normal">They were standing in the open hall door, and the young man +looked with +brightening eyes across the garden to the outbuildings which had +exchanged their leaky roofs for new shining blue slates.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right, Gertrude, it is a pretty sight; we will sit +here often. +And to-morrow they will begin to build the new barns. They must be +ready when we harvest the first rye."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Frank," she asked, mischievously, "do you still think as you +did a +week after our wedding when we spoke about this for the first time, and +you were really childish and absolutely <i>would</i> not take anything of +that which is yours by every right human and divine? And you would have +let the cows be rained on in their stalls and the farm-servants in +their beds."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, Gertrude, not now," he replied.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And why, you Iron-will?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Because we love each other, love each other unspeakably."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The adjective is not necessary," corrected she.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't you believe that one may love unspeakably?" asked he +with a +smile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It sounds like a figure of speech."</p> + +<p class="normal">He laughed aloud, and drew her out on the veranda.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Our home," he said; "come, let us go through the garden and a +little +way into the wood."</p> + +<p class="normal">The next day Gertrude opened the windows of the guest-chamber, +and made +everything there bright and fresh. The table in the dining-room was +gayly decked, and Frank drove to the city in the new carriage to bring +the judge from the station.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude was glad of the opportunity of seeing him, Frank had +told her +so much about his old friend. She had laughed heartily over his +droll descriptions of his friend's peculiarities, how in company when +he tried to pay a compliment he invariably managed to make it a +back-handed one, to his own infinite astonishment.</p> + +<p class="normal">She would take especial pains with her dress for this "jewel" +of a man, +as Frank called him. She put a rosette of lace in her hair, Frank liked +that so much, it looked so matronly, almost like a little cap. When she +went up to the toilet-table with this graceful emblem of her youthful +dignity, to look at herself in the glass, she saw there a bouquet of +lilies of the valley with a paper wound round their stems.</p> + +<p class="normal">"From him, from Frank," she whispered, growing crimson with +delight.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had said good-bye to her with such a merry smile. She +hastily +unwound the paper from the flowers and read it.</p> + +<p class="normal">They were verses turning on the expression he had made use of +the day +before,--"loving unspeakably," and justifying himself for using it by +pointing out that for long after he had seen and loved her he knew not +how to call her, where she dwelt, nor who she was, and so he might +literally be said to have loved her "unspeakably."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is how he proves himself in the right," she murmured +with +blissful looks, pressing the paper to her lips. "And he is right, +indeed, he does love me 'unspeakably.' Ah, I am a very happy woman!"</p> + +<p class="normal">And she put the lilies of the valley in her dress, the verses +in her +pocket, took the key-basket and went to the dining-room once more on a +tour of inspection round the table, and then as she had nothing to do +for the moment, she knocked at Aunt Rosa's door, which was only +separated from the dining-room by a small entry.</p> + +<p class="normal">The old lady was sitting at the window making roses. There was +to be a +wedding in the village at Whitsuntide. A small man was sitting opposite +her, who greeted the entrance of the young wife with a low bow.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Beg a thousand pardons, madam,--I wanted to speak to your +husband--I heard he had gone out and the lady here permitted me to wait +for him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What does he say, Mrs. Linden?" inquired the old lady, +shaking hands, +"I did not permit him to do any such thing. He came in himself--and +here he is."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My name is Wolff, madam," said the agent by way of +introduction.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Must you speak to my husband to-day? It will not be +convenient, for we +have company to dinner. Can't I arrange it?" inquired Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">"O, no--no--" said he, very decidedly, bowing as he spoke. "I +must +speak to Mr. Linden himself, but I can come again, there is no hurry, I +used to come here every day. Good morning, ladies."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What could he want, auntie?" inquired the young wife after he +had +gone.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, I can tell you what he wanted of <i>me</i>--he wanted to +<i>question</i> +me. He would have liked to look through the key-hole to find out how it +looked in your house. But sit down, my dear."</p> + +<p class="normal">These two understood each other perfectly. Sometimes the old +lady drank +coffee with Gertrude and then she had many questions to answer. In this +way it had come out quite by chance that she had been a schoolmate of +Gertrude's grandmother.</p> + +<p class="normal">Sometimes they went to walk together and Gertrude learned to +know the +village people, found out who the poor ones were and a little of the +history of the place. Aunt Rosa's pictures were rather roughly drawn, +she did not like every one, but Linden was her idol next to a young +niece of hers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He is so nice," she used to say, "he is so courteous to the +old as +well as the young."</p> + +<p class="normal">And Gertrude returned the compliment by declaring she could +not imagine +the house without Aunt Rosa.</p> + +<p class="normal">To-day, the young mistress of the house could not stay long +quietly in +the rose-room. It was strange, but she felt anxious about her husband. +If only he had had no accident with the new horses, she thought, as she +went out on the veranda.</p> + +<p class="normal">The blooming garden lay quiet and still before her in the +mid-day +sunshine. Suddenly a shadow came over her face--there, under the +chestnut-trees, where the sunbeams broke through the leaves in golden +flecks. There was no doubt of it--it was he, the man in Aunt Rosa's +room. How happened he to penetrate into the garden? Where had she heard +his name before? She started as if she had touched something +unpleasant. "Wolff,"--it was the name on the card that came with the +flowers on her wedding eve. Yes, to be sure. But she had <i>seen</i> the +man, too, somewhere before--where was it? Perhaps in the factory with +Arthur, very likely.</p> + +<p class="normal">She raised her head and her eyes began to sparkle. There was +the +carriage just turning in at the gate. <i>He</i> was driving and on the front +seat beside the expected guest sat Uncle Henry, waving his red +handkerchief.</p> + +<p class="normal">The gentlemen were all in the best of humor--it was a lively +meeting.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It looks something like here now, Frank," said the little +judge, +clapping Linden on the shoulder and shaking hands with his wife. He was +so pleased that he even inquired for Aunt Rosa.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know, child," said Uncle Henry by way of excuse for +his +presence, "I should not be here so soon again, but the landlord of the +hotel died this morning--and I couldn't eat there, it was out of the +question. You have some asparagus?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall not tell any tales out of school, uncle."</p> + +<p class="normal">She put her arm in that of the old gentleman and went up the +steps with +her guests. At the top she turned her head and then walked quickly to +the balustrade of the veranda.</p> + +<p class="normal">There stood Wolff bowing before her husband, his hat in his +hand, his +face covered with smiles.</p> + +<p class="normal">"O, ta, ta!" said Uncle Henry.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How comes he here, Gertrude?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The judge looked out from under his blue spectacles with +earnest +attention at the two men. Just then Linden waved his hand shortly and +they strode along the way which led to the court and the outer gate, +Wolff still speaking eagerly.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude bent far over the iron railing. It seemed to her that +Frank +was vexed. Now they stood still. Frank opened the gate and pointed +outward with an unmistakable and very energetic gesture.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mr. Wolff hesitated, he began to speak again--again the mute +gesture +still more energetic, and the little man disappeared like a flash. The +gate fell clanging in the lock and Frank came back, but slowly as if he +must recover himself first and deeply flushed as if from intense anger.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude went to meet him, but said nothing. She would not ask +him for +explanations before their guests. She very stealthily pressed his hand +and spoke cheerfully of her pleasure in her guests.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Charming!" he said, absently, "but Gertrude, pray entertain +Uncle +Henry--Richard--come with me a moment--I must--I will show you your +room." And the two friends left the room together.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know that you are going to have some more visitors +this +afternoon?" asked the old gentleman, settling himself comfortably in a +chair. "Your mother and the Fredericks,--they came back yesterday +morning. Jenny looks blooming as a rose, and, thank Heaven! Arthur has +got his milk-face burned a little with the sun."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes," replied Gertrude, "he was with them at the Italian +lakes +for a month." And then as if she had only just taken in his whole +meaning,--"How glad I am that mamma is coming out here at once! Ah, +uncle, if she would only get reconciled to Frank!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Eh, what? Gertrude, don't distress yourself, it will all come +right. +Besides he is not a man to put up with much nonsense!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What could this Wolff have wanted with him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hm! what are they about in Heaven's name?" asked her uncle, +impatiently.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you hungry?" she asked, absently.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hungry? How can you use such common expressions? A dish of +pork and +beans would suffice for hunger. I have an appetite, my child. O, ta, +ta, the asparagus will be spoiled if those two stay so long in their +room."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a very cosy group that Mrs. Baumhagen's eyes rested on +as she, +with Jenny and Arthur, mounted the veranda steps.</p> + +<p class="normal">They were sitting over their dessert, and Uncle Henry, with +his napkin +in his buttonhole, his champagne-glass in his hand, shouted out a +stentorious "welcome!" while the young host and hostess hurried down +the steps, Gertrude with crimson cheeks. She was so proud, so happy.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen looked at her daughter in amazement. The pale, +quiet +girl had become as blooming as a rose. "It is the honeymoon still," she +said to herself, and her eyes never ceased to follow her youngest child +during the whole time of her stay.</p> + +<p class="normal">The coffee-table was set out under the chestnuts. It was a +beautiful +spot. The eye glanced over the green lawn, past the magnificent trees +to the quaint old dwelling-house with its high gables and its ivy-grown +walls. The doors of the garden-hall stood open, and from the flagstaff +fluttered gayly a black-and-white flag.</p> + +<p class="normal">"An idyll like a picture by Voss," laughed the little judge.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young host gallantly escorted his mother-in-law through +the garden. +Every cloud had vanished from his brow, he was cheerful and agreeable.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But very sure of himself," Jenny remarked, later, to her +mother. "He +feels himself quite the host and master of the house."</p> + +<p class="normal">The uncomfortable feeling which he had always had in his +mother-in-law's presence, had disappeared. To her amazement he +permitted himself once or twice quite calmly to contradict her. Arthur +had never dared to do that. And Gertrude, how ridiculous! while she +presided over the coffee in her calm way, her eyes were continually +turning to him as soon as he spoke. "As you like, Frank,"--"What do you +think, Frank?" etc. And when her mother hoped Gertrude would not fail +to call on her Aunt Pauline on her birthday, the next day, she asked +appealingly, "Can I, Frank? Can I have the carriage?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certainly, Gertrude," was the reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then Mrs. Baumhagen put down her dainty coffee cup and leaned +back in +her garden chair. The child was not in her right mind! that was too +much. But Arthur Fredericks applauded loudly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude," he called out across the table, "talk to this--" +he seized +the hand of his wife who angrily tried to draw it away. "What does +Katherine say as an amiable wife to her sister? Words that sound as +sweet to us as a message from a better world."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To be sure!" laughed Gertrude, not in the least offended by +the +ironical tone.</p> +<br> +<p class="continue" style="font-size:90%">"Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,<br> +Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee<br> +And for thy maintenance; commits his body<br> +To painful labor, both by sea and land; +To watch the night in storms, the day in cold<br> +While thou liest warm at home secure and safe;<br> +And craves no other tribute at thy hands<br> +But love, fair looks and true obedience,--<br> +Too little payment for so great a debt."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">"You see, Arthur, I have my Shakespeare at my tongue's end."</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen suddenly broke up the coffee party. She seemed +heated, +for she was fanning herself with her handkerchief.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude, you must show us the house," she exclaimed. "Come, +Jenny, we +will leave the gentlemen to their cigars."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gladly, mamma," said the young girl, easily.</p> + +<p class="normal">She led her mother and sister through the kitchen and cellar, +through +the chambers, and through the whole house. In the dining-room a pretty +young woman in a spotless white apron was engaged in clearing off the +table. Gertrude gave her some orders in a low tone as she passed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is Johanna, whose husband was killed," said Jenny.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes," replied her sister, "I have engaged her as housekeeper. +She is +very capable, and I like to have a familiar face about me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"With the child?" asked the mother, scornfully.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course," replied the young wife. "She lives in the other +wing. It +is a pleasure to see how the little fellow improves in the country +air."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who lives in this wing?" inquired Jenny.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aunt Rosa."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good gracious! A sort of mother-in-law?" cried her sister in +consternation.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude shook her head. "No, she is quite inoffensive, she +belongs to +the inventory--so to speak. But I would like Frank to have his mother +here, the old lady is so alone and she is not very well."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny laughed aloud, but Mrs. Baumhagen rustled so angrily +into the +next room that all the ribbons on her rather youthful toilette +fluttered and waved in the air.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude!" cried Jenny, "you will not be so senseless!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The young wife made no reply. She opened a wardrobe door in +the +corridor and said,</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is the linen, Jenny; we need so much in the country. +That is the +chest for the finest linen and for the china, and this is my room. This +way, mamma."</p> + +<p class="normal">"It might have been a little less simple," remarked her +mother, who had +recovered herself, though the flush of excitement still rested on her +full cheeks.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I did not wish to be so very unlike Frank, who kept his old +furniture; +besides we are only in moderate circumstances, you know, mamma, and we +are only just beginning."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her mother cleared her throat and sat down in one of the small +arm-chairs. Jenny wandered about the room, looking at the pictures and +ornaments, slightly humming to herself as she did so. Gertrude stood +thoughtfully beside her mother and felt her heart grow cold as ice. It +was the old feeling of estrangement which always thrust itself between +her and her mother and sister--they had nothing in common. She grieved +over it as she had always done, but she no longer felt the bitter pain +of former days. Slowly her hand sought the pocket of her dress, and +touched lightly a rustling paper--"Thou art unspeakably beloved." Ah, +that was compensation enough for anything, and she lifted her head with +a happy smile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But you have not told me anything about your delightful +journey yet, +and your letters were so very short."</p> + +<p class="normal">"O, yes," said Jenny, yawning as she took up a terra cotta +figure and +gazed at it on all sides, "it was perfectly delightful in Nice. Now +that I am back again, I begin to feel what a provincial little circle +it is that we vegetate in here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We will go again, next year, Providence permitting," added +Mrs. +Baumhagen. "Only I must beg to be excused from Arthur's company. He was +really just as childish as your father used to be in his time. Jenny +must not do this and Jenny should not do that, mustn't go here and +mustn't stand there, in short he was a perfect torment, as if we women +did not know ourselves what it is proper to do."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny seated herself too.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Never mind, mamma, he is still suffering for his folly. I +have not +allowed him to forget the scene he made for us at Monte Carlo yet."</p> + +<p class="normal">"O yes, Heaven knows you are a very happy couple," exclaimed +her +mother.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I think it is time for us to be going home," she +continued, taking +her costly watch from her belt. "We will go and get your husband. +Come."</p> + +<p class="normal">The three ladies went back to the garden to the table where +the +gentlemen were comfortably chatting over their cigars. Frank was in +earnest conversation with Aunt Rosa, who in her best array, sat +enthroned in the seat Mrs. Baumhagen had left only a short time before. +Gertrude hastened to introduce her mother and sister to the old lady. +There was no help for it--they were obliged to sit down again for a +short time out of politeness. Mrs. Baumhagen, with a bored look, Jenny +with scarcely concealed amusement at the wonderful little old lady.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude," began Frank, "Aunt Rosa came to tell us that she +expects +company."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope it won't put you out," said the old lady, turning to +Gertrude. +"My niece always visits me every year at this time. You have heard me +say that the child is passionately fond of the woods and mountains and +she cheers me up a little."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is it that pretty little girl you have told us about so +often, Aunt +Rosa?" asked Gertrude, kindly; and as the former nodded, she continued,</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, she will be heartily welcome, won't she, Frank? When is +she +coming, and what is her name?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I expect her in a day or two, and her name is Adelaide +Strom," replied +Aunt Rosa. "I always call her Addie."</p> + +<p class="center">[Illustration: "Gertrude hastened to introduce her mother and +sister to +the old lady."]</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she began to explain the relationship which had the +result of +making all the company dizzy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My mother's sister married a Strom, and her step-son is the +cousin of +Adelaide's grandfather--"</p> + +<p class="normal">Here Mrs. Baumhagen rose with great rustling. "I must go +home," she +said, interrupting the explanation. "It is high time we were gone."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny, who was standing behind her husband's chair, laid her +hand on +his shoulder.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Please order the carriage."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, what do you mean, child?" said he in a tone of vexation. +"We have +only just come!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But mamma wishes it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mamma? But why?" he asked, shortly. "We are having a +delightful talk."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Won't you stay till evening, Mrs. Baumhagen?" asked Frank, +courteously.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My head aches a little," was the reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">Arthur ran his hand despairingly through his hair. This +"headache" was +the weapon with which every reasonable argument was overthrown.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well, then, do you go," he muttered, grimly. "I will +come home +with Uncle Henry."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, to be sure, my dear fellow," cried the old gentleman, +much +pleased. "I shall be very glad of your company; we will try the +Moselle, eh, Frank?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Uncle Henry filled up the cellar for our wedding-present," +explained +the young host as he rose to order the carriage.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And so richly," added Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, ta, ta!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The old gentleman had risen and was helping his sister-in-law +on with +her cloak, with somewhat asthmatic politeness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was pure selfishness, Ottilie. Only that a man might get a +drop fit +to drink when one arrived here, weary and thirsty."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude," whispered Jenny, taking her sister a little aside, +"how can +you be so foolish as to allow a young girl to be brought into the +house? I tell you it is really dreadful; they are always in the way, +they <i>always</i> want to be admired, they are always wanting to help and +never fail to pay most touching attentions to the host. It is really +inconsiderate of the old lady to impose her on you. Invent some excuse +for keeping her away. I speak from experience, my love. Arthur invited +a cousin once, you remember, I nearly died of vexation."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, Jenny," she said, shaking her head. The she hastened +after her +mother, who was already seated in the carriage.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come again soon," she said cordially, when Jenny had taken +her seat +also.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall expect a visit from you next," was the reply. "You +must be +making a few calls in town some time."</p> + +<p class="normal">"We haven't thought about it yet," cried Gertrude, gayly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pray do see that Arthur gets home before the small hours. +Uncle Henry +never knows when to go," cried Jenny in a tone of vexation.</p> + +<p class="normal">And the carriage rolled away.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<p class="normal">It was late before Uncle Henry and Arthur set out for home and +late +when the little judge went to his room. They had all three sat for a +good while in Frank's study, talking of past and present times.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We shall be very gay," said Frank, "when Aunt Rosa's niece +comes. You +will not be so much alone then, Gertrude, when I am away in the +fields."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am never lonely," she replied, quietly. "I have never had a +girl-friend, and now it seems superfluous to me." And she looked at him +with her grave deep eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Madam," inquired the judge, putting the end of his cigar in a +meerschaum mouthpiece, "has he written poetry to you too?" And he +pointed to Frank with a sly laugh.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude flushed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of course," she replied.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, he can't help writing verses," said the little man, +teasingly, +clapping his friend on the shoulder.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I tell you, Mrs. Linden, sometimes it seizes upon him like a +perfect +fever; and the things that a fellow like that finds to write about! +Poets really are born liars. At the moment when the sweet verses flow +out on the paper, they actually believe every word they write--it is +really touching!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Spare me, Richard, I beg of you," laughed the young host, +half +angrily.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Isn't it true?" asked the judge. "Only think of your +celebrated poem +on the gypsy girl. I was there when you saw the brown maiden on the +Römerberg, and in the evening it was already written down in your +note-book that she wandered through the streets with winged feet, with +straying hair, and shy black eyes in which a longing for the moorland +lay and for the wind which through the reed-grass sweeps--and so on. +Ha, ha! And she really came from the Jew's quarter and went begging +from house to house for old rags."</p> + +<p class="normal">They all three laughed, Gertrude the most heartily; then she +became +suddenly grave.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are a malicious fellow," declared Frank, rising to light +a candle. +"It is late, Richard, and we are early risers here."</p> + +<p class="normal">As the friends bade each other good-night at the door of the +guest-chamber, the judge said,</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, Frank, I congratulate you. You have won a prize--such a +dear, +sensible little woman!</p> + +<p class="normal">"As for the <i>other</i>--my dear fellow, what did I tell you about +that +man? Well, good-night! That Uncle Henry is a good old soul, too,--now +take yourself off."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude was standing by the open window in her room, looking +out into +the night. The lamplight from the next room shone in faintly. Dark +clouds were gathering, far away over the mountains there were flashes +of lightning and in the garden a chorus of nightingales was singing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude," said a voice behind her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Frank," she replied, leaning her head on his shoulder.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hush! Listen! It is so lovely tonight."</p> + +<p class="normal">They stood thus for awhile in silence. This afternoon's +conversation +was still lingering in Linden's mind. Uncle Henry could not understand +why he should not cut his timber from his own woods. But the Niendorf +woods had been greatly thinned out and no new plantations made.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tell me, Gertrude," he began, suddenly, "where is your villa +'Waldruhe?'"</p> + +<p class="normal">His young wife started as if a snake had stung her. "Our--my +villa?" +she gasped, "how did you know--who told you about the villa?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He was silent. "I cannot remember who," he said after a pause, +"but +some one must have told me that there is a little wood belonging to it. +But, Gertrude, what is the matter?" he inquired. "You are trembling!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, Frank, who told you about <i>that</i>?" she reiterated, "and +<i>what</i>?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her voice had so sad a ring in it that he perceived at once +that he had +hurt her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude, have I hurt you? I beg your pardon a thousand +times; I was +only thinking of cheaper timber which I might have cut there this +winter."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Timber? There? It is only a park. Ah, Frank--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But what is it pray?" he asked with a little impatience. "I +cannot +possibly know--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, you cannot know," she assented. "It was only the shock--I +ought to +have told you long ago, only it is so frightfully hard for me to speak +of it. You ought to know about it too, but--tell me who told you about +it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But when I assure you, my child, that I cannot remember."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Frank," said his young wife, in a low, hesitating tone, "out +there--in +'Waldruhe,' my poor father died--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My little wife!" he said, comfortingly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was there--he--he killed himself." Her voice was scarcely +audible.</p> + +<p class="normal">He bent down over her, greatly shocked. "My poor child, I did +not know +that, or I would not have spoken of it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I found him, Frank. He built 'Waldruhe' when I was but a +child, +and he used to go and stay there for weeks together. It is so hard to +talk of it--he was not happy, Frank. Ah, we will not dwell on it. Mamma +did not understand him, and it was the day after Christmas and I knew +they had had a dispute; that is not the right word for it either, for +papa never contradicted her, and he bore so patiently all her crying +and complaining. After awhile I heard the carriage drive away. It was +in the morning--and I had such a strange feeling of anxiety and dread +and after dinner I put on my hat and cloak and ran out of the Bergedorf +gate along the high road, on and on till I came to 'Waldruhe.' I was +surprised to see that the blinds were shut in his room, but I saw the +fresh wheel-tracks in front of the house. The gardener's wife, who +lives in a little cottage on the place, said he was upstairs. He <i>was</i> +upstairs--yes--but he was dead!"</p> + +<p class="center"><img border="0" src="images/175.png" alt="He was up stairs--yes--but he was dead."></p> +<h3>"<span class="sc">He <i>was</i> up stairs--yes--but he was dead.</span>"</h3> + +<p class="normal">She stood close beside him, encircled by his arm, as she told +her +story. He could feel how she trembled and how cold her hands were.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't speak of it any more, my darling," he entreated, "you +will make +yourself ill."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, I was ill, Frank, for a whole year," she said. "It was a +fearful +time; I could not forgive my mother. From that moment the gulf arose +which parts us to-day, and nothing can bridge it over. I was so +horribly lonely, Frank, before I found you. But the villa?--Yes, it +belongs to me; papa destined it for me when he built it. I have had +some very pleasant days with him there, but now the very thought of it +is dreadful to me. It is empty and deserted. I have never been there +since. It is so horrible to find a person whom one has so honored and +loved--to find him so--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Forgive me, Gertrude," he said, gently.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You could not know, Frank. No one knows it but ourselves." +And as if +to turn his thoughts to something else she continued hurriedly, "Thank +you so much, love, for that lovely poem, 'Thou art unspeakably +beloved.'"</p> + +<p class="normal">And she stroked his hand and pressed it to her lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My poor little Gertrude!"</p> + +<p class="normal">They stood thus together for awhile wrapped about with the +sweet +atmosphere of spring.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A thunder-shower is coming up," he said at length; and she +freed +herself from his arms and left the room. Frank could hear her going +softly about the corridor here and there, shutting the doors and +windows, and jingling her keys. She was looking to see if everything +was in order for the night.</p> + +<p class="normal">He put his hand to his forehead and tried to recall who had +spoken to +him of the villa. He passed on into his lighted room as if he could +think better there. After awhile the young wife came back, with her +key-basket on her arm. The sweet face was lifted up to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Frank," said she, "what did the agent want of you to-day?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He stared at her as if a flash of lightning had struck him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is it! that is it!" And he struck his forehead as if +something he +had been seeking for in vain had suddenly occurred to him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What did he want? Oh, nothing, Gertrude, nothing of any +consequence."</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked at him in surprise, but she said nothing. It was +not her way +to ask a second time when she got no answer. It really was of no +consequence.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">It had rained heavily in the night, with thunder and +lightning, but +nature seemed to have no mind to-day to carry out her coquettish love +of contrasts; she did not laugh, as usual, with redoubled gayety in +blue sky and golden sunshine on forest and field: gloomily she spread a +gray curtain over the landscape, so uniformly gray that the sun could +not find the smallest cleft through which to send down a friendly +greeting, and it rained unceasingly, a perfect country rain.</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank came back from the fields rejoicing over the weather, +and +Gertrude waved her handkerchief to him out of the window as she did +every morning.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All the flowers are ruined, Frank," she cried down to him, +"what a +pity!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He came up in high good humor. "No money could pay for this +rain, +darling," he said; "I am a real farmer now, my mood varies according to +the weather."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And mine too!" remarked his wife. "Such a gray day makes me +melancholy."</p> + +<p class="normal">He went towards her as she sat at her writing-table turning +over books +and papers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Just look, Frank," as she held out to him a packet daintily +tied up +with blue ribbons; "these are all verses of yours, arranged according +to order. When we have our silver wedding I shall have them printed and +bound. These on cream-colored paper were written during our engagement, +and these different scraps, white and blue and gray, were written since +our marriage, when you take anything that comes, thinking I suppose +that it is good enough for <i>Mrs.</i> Gertrude."</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked up at him with a smile. He bent down over her,</p> + +<p class="normal">"And now I shall buy a very special kind of paper for my next +verses, +Gertrude."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Bright, like the little bundles the storks carry under their +wings. +And I shall write on it--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She grew crimson. "A cradle-song," she finished softly.</p> + +<p class="normal">He nodded and put her hand to his lips. But she threw both +arms round +his neck. "Then it would be sweet and home-like, Frank. Then we should +love each other better than ever--if that were possible."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here, little wife, I wrote this for you today in the field in +the +rain." He took out his note-book from his pocket and put it in her +hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will just go and see what the judge is about, the rascal," +he called +back from the door.</p> + +<p class="normal">And she sat still and read, her face as grave and earnest as +if she +were reading in the Bible.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was startled from her reading by the snapping of a whip +before the +window. She looked out quickly--there stood the Baumhagen carriage; the +coachman in his white rubber coat and the cover drawn over his hat, the +iron-gray horses black with the drenching rain. She opened the window +to see if any one got out. Johanna came out and the coachman gave her a +letter with which she ran quickly back into the house.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude was startled. An accident at home? She flew to the +door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A letter, ma'am."</p> + +<p class="normal">She hastily tore it open.</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">"Come at once--I must speak to you without delay.</p> + +<p style="margin-left:50%">"<span class="sc">Your Mother</span>."</p> +<br> +<p class="normal">Such were the oracularly brief contents of the note.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Bring me my things, Johanna, and tell my husband."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Frank," she cried, as he entered, hurriedly, "something must +have +happened."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't be alarmed," he besought her, though unable quite to +conceal his +own uneasiness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, yes. Oh, if I only knew what it was! I feel so anxious."</p> + +<p class="normal">He took her things from the servant and put the cloak round +Gertrude's +shoulders.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope it has nothing to do with Arthur and Jenny. They were +very +strange to each other, yesterday."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude looked at him and shook her head. "No, no, they were +always +like that."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I am surprised that he did not run away long ago," he +said, +drily.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Or she," retorted Gertrude tying her bonnet.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I could not stand such everlasting complaints, Gertrude," +said he, +buttoning her left glove.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nor I, Frank. Good-bye. You must make my excuses at dinner. +God grant +it is nothing very bad."</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked round the room once more, then went quickly up to +her +work-table and thrust the note-book into her pocket.</p> + +<p class="normal">When a few minutes later the landau passed out of the great +iron gate +she put her head out of the window. He stood on the steps looking after +her. As she turned he took off his hat and waved it.</p> + +<p class="normal">How handsome he was, how stately and how good!</p> + +<p class="normal">She leaned back on the cushions. She felt a vague alarm--it +was the +first time she had left the house without him. Strange thoughts came +over her--how dreadful it would be if she should not find him again, or +even--if she should lose him utterly. Could she go on living then? +Live--yes--but how?</p> + +<p class="normal">It would be frightful to be a widow! Still more frightful if +they were +to part--one here, the other there, hating each other, or indifferent!</p> + +<p class="normal">Could Arthur and Jenny, really--? Oh, God in Heaven preserve +us from +such woe!</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked out of the window. The coachman was driving at a +dizzy pace. +There lay the city before her in the mist. Again her thoughts wandered, +faster than the horses went. She took the note-book out of her pocket +to read the verses, but the letters danced before her eyes, and she put +it away again.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the attic at home stood the old cradle in which her father +had been +rocked, and Jenny, and she herself. The grandmother in the narrow +street had had it as part of her outfit. She would get it out for +herself if God should ever fulfil her wish. Jenny's darling had lain in +another bed, the clumsy old cradle did not seem suitable in the elegant +chamber of the young mother, but in the modest room at Niendorf, where +the vines crept about the windows and the big old stove looked so cosy +and comfortable, it would be quite in place, just between the stove and +the wardrobe in a cosy corner by itself. She smiled like a happy child. +She could not believe that her life could be so beautiful, so rich.</p> + +<p class="normal">The carriage was now rattling through the city gate; she would +be at +home in a minute now, and her heart began to beat loudly. If she only +knew what it was.</p> + +<p class="normal">The porter opened the carriage door and she got out and ran up +the +stairs to Jenny's apartment. The entrance door of her mother's +apartment stood open. No one was to be seen and she entered the hall. +How dear and familiar everything looked! Even the tall clock lifted up +its voice, and struck the quarter before two. She took off her cloak +and went to her mother's room. Here, too, the door was ajar. Just as +she was going to enter she suddenly drew back her hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And I tell you, Ottilie, it will be the worst act of your +life, if you +fling all this in the child's face without the slightest preparation. +Whether it is true or false why should you destroy her young happiness? +There are other ways and means."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was Uncle Henry. He spoke in a tone of the deepest +vexation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall she hear it from strangers?" cried the voice of her +weeping +mother; "the whole town is ringing with it, and is she to go about as +if she were blind and deaf?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am trembling all over," Gertrude now heard Jenny say; "it +is +outrageous, we are made forever ridiculous. It was only last +evening that I said to Mrs. S----, 'You can't imagine what an idyllic +Arcadian happiness has its dwelling out there in Niendorf.'"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Confound your logic! I tell you--" cried the little man +angrily. But +he stopped suddenly, for there on the threshold stood Gertrude Linden.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you talking of us?" she asked, her terrified eyes +wandering over +the group and resting at length on her mother, who at sight of her had +sunk back weeping in her chair.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, child."</p> + +<p class="normal">The old man hastened towards her and tried to draw her away.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It's a thoughtless whim of your mother to send for you here; +nothing +at all has happened; really, it is only some stupid gossip, a +misunderstanding perfectly absurd. Come across to the other room and I +will explain it all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, no, uncle, I must know it, must know it all."</p> + +<p class="normal">She withdrew her hand from his and went up to her mother.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here I am, mamma; now tell me everything, but quickly, I +entreat you."</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked down on the weeping woman with a face that was +deathly pale, +standing motionless before her in her light summer costume. Only the +strings of her bonnet, which were tied on the side in a simple bow, +rose and fell quickly, and bore witness to her great agitation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I can't tell her," sobbed Mrs. Baumhagen, "you tell her, +Jenny."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude turned to her sister at once. She cast down her eyes +and wound +the black velvet ribbon of her morning-dress nervously round her +finger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your husband is in a very unpleasant situation," she began in +a low +tone.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In what respect?" asked Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is a disagreeable affair, but nothing to make such solemn +faces +over," burst out the old gentleman, who was standing at the window.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He had--" Jenny hesitated again, "a conversation with Wolff +yesterday."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know it," replied Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wolff had a claim on him which your husband will not +recognize and--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"For Heaven's sake, make an end of it!" The old gentleman +brought his +fist down angrily on the window-sill. "Do you want to give her the +poison drop by drop?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He took Gertrude's hand again, and tried to find words to +explain.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see, Gertrude, it is not so bad; it often happens, and +this Wolff +may have thrust himself forward, in short--he is a sort of a walking +encyclopædia, knows everybody hereabouts, and whenever any one wants to +know anything he is sure to be able to tell him. So your husband--well, +how shall I excuse it?--he inquired about your circumstances, do you +understand?--before he offered himself to you--<i>voilà tout</i>. It happens +hundreds of times, child, and you are reasonable, Gertrude, aren't +you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The young wife stood motionless as a statue. Only gradually +the color +came to her cheeks.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is a lie!" she cried, drawing a long breath. "Did you +bring me +here for <i>that</i>?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But Wolff was here," moaned Mrs. Baumhagen, "asking for my +intervention."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, he came to <i>us</i>," corrected Jenny, "early this morning; +he wanted +to speak to Arthur, but Arthur--" she hesitated, "last evening +Arthur--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You may as well say that Arthur started off suddenly on a +journey in +the night," interposed Mrs. Baumhagen sharply, "I am very fortunate in +my children's marriages!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, I can't help it if he gets angry at every little +thing," laughed +the young wife, quite undisturbed. "Besides we are very happy."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A pretty kind of happiness," grumbled the old gentleman to +himself, so +low that no one but Gertrude could hear it. Then he added aloud, "A +hurried journey on business, we will call it, a sudden journey on +business, preceded by a little curtain lecture."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, to be sure, a journey on business," said Mrs. Baumhagen +in a tone +of pique, "to Manchester."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What has that got to do with Gertrude's affairs?" asked Uncle +Henry, +"It is enough that Arthur was not there, and the gentleman went up +another flight and spoke to your mother, my child. It is not worth +mentioning--if I had only been here sooner. It is very disagreeable +that you should have heard of it, but believe me, my child, they all do +it now-a-days."</p> + +<p class="normal">The good-natured little man clapped her kindly on the +shoulder.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen, however, started up like an angry lioness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't talk such nonsense! How can you smooth it over? It was +nothing +but a common swindle. I hope Gertrude has enough sense of dignity to +tell Mr. Linden that--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not another word!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The young wife stood almost threatening before her in the +middle of the +room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But for mercy's sake! It will be the most scandalous case +that was +ever known," sobbed the excited lady. "He is going to sue Linden--you +will both have to appear in court."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude did not utter a syllable.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have the kindness to order a carriage, uncle," she entreated.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, you must not go away so! you look shockingly," was the +anxious cry +of her mother and sister.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do listen to reason, Gertrude," said Jenny in a complaining +tone.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We must silence Wolff--uncle can inquire how much he asks for +his +services, and--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you will come to us again," sobbed her mother. "Gertrude, +Gertrude, my poor unhappy child, did I not foresee this?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"This is too much!" growled the old gentleman. "Confound these +women! +Don't let them talk you into anything, child," he cried, forcibly; +"settle it with your husband alone."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A carriage, uncle," reiterated the young wife.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Wait a while at least," entreated Jenny, "till mamma's +lawyer--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh," groaned Uncle Henry, "if Arthur had only been here, this +confounded affair wouldn't have been left in the women's hands. I will +get you a carriage, Gertrude. Your nags are at the factory, Jenny? Very +well. Excuse me a moment."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude was standing in the window like one stunned; she had +as yet no +clear understanding of the matter. "The whole city is talking about +it," she heard her mother sob. Of what then? She tried forcibly to +collect her thoughts, but in vain. Only one thing: it is not true! went +over and over in her mind.</p> + +<p class="normal">She clenched her little hand in its leather glove. "A lie! A +lie!" fell +again from her lips. But this lie had spread itself like a heavy mist +over her young happiness, bringing so much vague alarm that her breath +came thick and fast.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall I go with you?" asked Jenny. The carriage was just +coming across +the square.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, thank you. I require no third person between my husband +and +myself."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her words sounded cold and hard.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You look so miserable," groaned her mother.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then the sooner I get home the better."</p> + +<p class="normal">"At least send back a messenger at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps you think he beats me too?" she inquired, ironically, +turning +to go.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Child! child!" cried Mrs. Baumhagen, stretching out her arms +towards +her, "be reasonable, don't be so blind where facts speak so loudly."</p> + +<p class="normal">But she did not turn back. Calmly she took down her mantle +from the +hat-stand. Sophie gazed anxiously into the pale, still face of the +young wife, who quite forgot to say a pleasant word to the old servant. +At the carriage-door stood Uncle Henry.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let me go with you, Gertrude," he entreated.</p> + +<p class="normal">She shook her head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is only out of pure selfishness, Gertrude," he continued. +"If I +don't know how it is going with you I shall be ill."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, uncle. We two require no one; we shall get on better +alone."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't break the staff at once, child," he said, gently,</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do not need to do that, Uncle Henry."</p> + +<p class="normal">He lifted his hat from his bald head. There was a reverent +expression +in his eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-bye, Gertrude, little Gertrude. If I had had my way, you +would +not have heard a word of it."</p> + +<p class="normal">She bent her head gravely.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is best so, uncle."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she went back the way she had come.</p> + +<p class="normal">The rain beat against the rattling panes and dashed against +the leather +top of the carriage, and they went so slowly. The young wife gazed out +into the misty landscape. The splendor of the blossoms had vanished, +the white petals were swimming in the pools in the streets.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, only one sunbeam!" she thought, the weather oppressed and +weighed +her down so.</p> + +<p class="normal">Absurd! How could any one be so influenced by foolish gossip! +Mamma +always looked on the dark side of everything--and even if she always +told the truth, she had been imposed upon by this story. Poor Frank! +Now there would be vexation--the first! She would tell him of it +playfully--after dinner, when they were alone together, then she would +say, "Frank, I must tell you something that will make you laugh. Just +fancy, you have a very bitter enemy, and his revenge is so absurd, he +declares"--she was smiling now herself--"Yes, that is the way it shall +be."</p> + +<p class="normal">She was just passing the old watch tower. What was she +thinking of as +she passed this place a few hours before? Oh yes--a crimson flush +spread over her countenance--of the cradle in the attic. She could see +the old cradle so plainly before her; two red roses were painted on one +end, in the middle a golden star, and beneath it stood written: "Happy +are they who are happy in their children."</p> + +<p class="normal">She put her hand in her pocket and took out the note-book--the +carriage +was crawling so slowly up the hill--she could not remember it all yet, +she must read the verses again.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a vision he had had of her kneeling before a cradle, +singing a +cradle-song about the father bringing something home to his son from +the green wood.</p> + +<p class="normal">She let the paper fall. She knew what song he meant--the old +nursery +song that she had been singing to her godchild when he had heard her +from the window outside. He had told her about it and that in that +moment he had come quite under her spell.</p> + +<p class="normal">She pressed the book to her lips. Ah, how far beneath her +seemed envy +and spite! how powerless they seemed before the expectation of such +happiness!</p> + +<p class="normal">Just then a piece of paper fell down, a piece of blue +writing-paper. +She picked it up; it was part of a letter on the blank side of which +was written in Frank's handwriting:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Half a hundred-weight grass-seed, mixed," with the address of +a +manufactory of farming utensils.</p> + +<p class="normal">She turned it over, looked at it carelessly, then suddenly +every trace +of color left her face. She raised her eyes with a scared expression in +them, then looked down again--yes, there it was!</p> +<div class="quote"> +<p class="normal">"----Besides the above-mentioned property Miss Gertrude +Baumhagen owns +a villa near Bergedorf. A massive building, splendidly furnished, with +stables, gardener's house and a garden-lot of ten acres, partly wood, +enclosed by a massive wall.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The property is recorded in the name of the young lady, being +valued +at twenty-four thousand dollars.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For any further details I am quite at your service,</p> + +<p style="margin-left:30%">"Very respectfully yours,</p> + +<p style="margin-left:40%">"<span class="sc">C. Wolff</span>, Agent.</p> +<p class="normal">D. 21 Dec. 1882."</p> +</div> +<p class="normal">Gertrude tried to read it again, but her hand trembled so +violently +that the letters danced before her eyes. She had seen it, however, +distinctly enough; it would not change read it as often as she might. +With pitiless certainty the conviction forced itself upon her: it is +the truth, the horrible truth! and every word of his had been a lie.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had been bought and sold like a piece of merchandise--she, +<i>she</i> +had been caught in such a snare!</p> + +<p class="normal">She had taken <i>that</i> for love which had been only the +commonest +mercenary speculation.</p> + +<p class="normal">Ah, the humiliation was nothing to the dreadful feeling that +stole over +her and chilled her to the heart--the pain of wounded pride and with it +the old bitter perversity. She had not felt it lately, she had been +good, happiness makes one so good--and now? and now?</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The carriage rolled quickly down the hill to Niendorf and +stopped +before the house. Half-unconsciously the young wife descended and stood +in the rain on the steps of the veranda. It seemed to her as if she +were here for the first time; the small windows, the gray old walls +with the pointed roof--how ugly they were, how strange! All the flowers +in the garden beaten down by the rain--the charm that love gives fled, +only bare, sober, sad reality! and on the threshold crouched the demon +of selfishness, of cold calculation.</p> + +<p class="normal">She passed through the garden hall and up the stairs to her +room. In +the corridor Johanna met her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The master went away in the carriage directly after +breakfast," she +announced. "He laid a note on your work-table, ma'am."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have a headache, Johanna, don't disturb me now," she said, +faintly.</p> + +<p class="normal">When she reached her own room she bolted first the door behind +her and +then that which opened into his room. And then she read the note.</p> +<div class="quote"> +<p class="normal">"The barometer has risen and the judge insists on going up the +Brocken, +I go with him to Ille. I have something to do there and I shall not be +very late home--Thine,</p> +<p class="right"><span class="sc">Frank</span>."</p> +</div> +<p class="normal">And below a postscript from the guest:</p> +<div class="quote"> +<p class="normal">"Don't be angry, Mrs. Linden. I belong to that class of +persons who +cannot see a mountain without feeling an irresistible desire to ascend +it. I take the Brocken first, so when the weather clears again I can +bear the sight of it from my window with equanimity. I will send your +Frank home again soon, safe and sound."</p> +</div> +<p class="normal">Thank Heaven, he would not be back so very soon--but what was +to be +done now? She sat motionless before her work-table, gazing out into the +garden without seeing anything there. Hour after hour passed. Once or +twice she passed her hand across her eyes--they were dry and hot, and +about the mouth was graven a deep line of scorn and contempt. Towards +evening there was a knock at the door. She did not turn her head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs. Linden!" called the servant. No answer and the steps +died away +outside.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude Linden got up then and went to her writing-desk. +Calmly she +opened the pretty blotting-book, drew up a chair, grasped a pen and +seated herself to write. She had thought of it long enough; without +hesitation the words flowed from her pen:</p> +<div class="quote"> +<p class="normal">"I will beg Uncle Henry to explain everything to you as gently +as +possible. I cannot speak of it myself--it is the most painful +disappointment of my whole life. I only ask you at present to confirm +my own declaration that I must live in retirement for some time on +account of my health. It will not take long to decide upon something.</p> +<p class="right"><span class="sc">Gertrude</span>."</p> +</div> +<p class="normal">She sealed the note and put it on the writing table in her +husband's +room. She put the packet of poems beside it and the note-book also. +What should she do with it? The poem was nothing to her--it was only an +old habit of his to write verses; the judge had let that out yesterday. +He had only made use of it in this case as a useful means for making +the deception complete. A man who writes tender verses while at the +same time he is privately acquainting himself with the amount of the +lady's fortune through an agent--that was a tragi-comedy indeed, that +would make a good plot for a farce--and <i>she</i> was to be the heroine!</p> + +<p class="normal">She kept the fragment of that dreadful letter. Then she wrote +a note to +her mother and one to Uncle Henry, then took out her watch and looked +for a time-table.</p> + +<p class="normal">Whither? The Berlin express which connected them with all the +outer +world was already gone. Then she must wait until tomorrow--and then? +Somewhere she must go--she must be alone! Only not with mamma and +Jenny, somewhere far away from here.</p> + +<p class="normal">She suddenly sprang up with startled eyes, she heard a voice, +his +voice.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Has my wife come back?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Then a merry whistle, a few bars from "Boccaccio" and hasty +steps in +the corridor. Now his hand was on the door-knob. It was locked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude!" he called.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was standing in the middle of the room, her lips pressed +together, +her eyes stretched wide open, but she did not stir.</p> + +<p class="normal">He supposed she was not there and went quietly into his own +room. She +heard him open the door of the bedroom.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude!" he called again.</p> + +<p class="normal">Back into his own room; he spoke to the dog, whistled a few +bars of his +opera-air again, moved about here and there and then stopped--now he +was tearing a paper--now he was reading her note.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude, Gertrude, I know you are in your room. Open the +door!"</p> + +<p class="normal">His voice sounded calm and kind, but she stood still as a +statue.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Please open the door!" now sounded authoritatively.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No," she answered loudly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are laboring under some horrible mistake! Some one has +been +telling you something--let me speak to you, child!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She came a step nearer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I cannot," she said.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must entreat you to open the door. Even a criminal is heard +before +he is condemned."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No," she declared, and went to the window, where she +remained.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Confound your--obstinacy," sounded in her ears.</p> + +<p class="center"><img src="images/203.png" alt="There was a crash and a splitting of wood and the door was burst open."></p> +<h3>"<span class="sc">There was a crash and a splitting of wood and the door<br> was burst open.</span>"</h3> + +<p class="normal">Then a crash, a splitting of wood--the door was burst open and +Frank +Linden stood on the threshold.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now I demand an explanation," he said angrily, the swollen +veins +standing out on his white forehead, which formed a strange contrast to +his brown face.</p> + +<p class="normal">She did not turn towards him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Uncle Henry will tell you what there is to tell," she +replied, coldly.</p> + +<p class="normal">He strode up to her and laid his hand on her shoulder, but she +drew +back, and the blue eyes, usually so soft, looked at him so coldly and +strangely that he started back, deeply shocked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have deceived you, Gertrude? you, Gertrude?" he asked, +"what have I +done? What is my crime?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is no answer, Gertrude."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, it is only such a trifle--I cannot talk to you about it."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well! Then I will go to Uncle Henry at once."</p> + +<p class="normal">She made no answer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you wish to go away? To leave me alone?" he inquired +again.</p> + +<p class="normal">She hesitated a moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, yes," she then said, hastily, "away from here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why do you keep up this farce, Gertrude."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Farce?" She laughed shortly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude, you hurt me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not more than you have hurt me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, confound it, I ask you--how?" he cried in fierce anger.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had drawn back a little and looked at him with dignity.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pray, order the carriage and go to Uncle Henry," she replied, +coldly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, by Heaven, you are right," he cried, quite beside +himself, "you +are more than perverse!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I told you so before; it is my character."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude," he began, "I am easily aroused, and nothing angers +me so +much as passive opposition. It is our duty to have trust in one +another--tell me what troubles you; it <i>can</i> be explained. I am +conscious of no wrong done to you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is a matter of opinion," said she.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Very well. I declare to you that I am not in the least +curious--and I +give you time to reconsider."</p> + +<p class="normal">He turned to go.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is certainly the most convenient thing to do in this +matter," she +retorted, bitterly.</p> + +<p class="normal">He hesitated, but he went nevertheless, closed the broken door +behind +him as well as he could and began to walk up and down his room.</p> + +<p class="normal">She pressed her forehead against the window-pane and gazed out +into the +garden. It had stopped raining; the clouds were lifting in the west and +displaying gleams of the setting sun. Then the heavy masses of fog +broke away and at the same moment the landscape blazed out in brilliant +sunshine like a beautiful woman laughing through her tears.</p> + +<p class="normal">If <i>she</i> could only weep! They who have a capacity for tears +are +favored. Weeping makes the heart light, the mood softer--but there were +no tears for her.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<p class="normal">In the late twilight the iron-gray horses stopped before the +door and +Jenny got out of the carriage.</p> + +<p class="normal">She ran lightly as a cat up the veranda steps and suddenly +stood in the +garden-hall before Frank Linden, who sat at the table alone. Gertrude's +plate was untouched.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So late, Jenny?" he asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I want to speak to Gertrude."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will find my--wife in her room."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny cast a quick glance at him from her bright eyes. Had the +blow +fallen? She had nearly died of anxiety at home.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is not Gertrude well?" she inquired, innocently.</p> + +<p class="normal">He hesitated a moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She seems rather excited and tired. I think something has +happened to +disturb her in the course of the day."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, indeed!" said Mrs. Fredericks. "Well, I will go and see +her +myself."</p> + +<p class="normal">She passed through the hall. The lamp was not yet lighted and +in the +darkness she stumbled over something and nearly fell. As she uttered a +slight cry, Johanna hastened in with a light.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, I beg your pardon, ma'am, it is the young lady's trunk, +who +arrived about a quarter of an hour ago. Dora forgot to carry it to her +room."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny cast an angry glance at the modest box, ran up the +stairs and +knocked at her sister's door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is I, Gertrude," she called out in her clear ringing +voice. She +heard light footsteps and the bolt was gently drawn back and the door +opened.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You, Jenny?" inquired Gertrude, just as Frank had said a few +minutes +before, "you, Jenny?"</p> + +<p class="normal">It was almost dark in the room; Jenny could not see her +sister's face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why do you sit here in the dark, Gertrude? I beg of you tell +me quick +all that has happened. Mamma and I are dying of anxiety."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You need have no anxiety," replied Gertrude. "It is all +right."</p> + +<p class="normal">"All right?" asked Jenny in surprise. "You cannot make me +believe that, +<i>He</i> alone at the table and <i>you</i> up here with your door locked--come +confess, child, that you have not made it up."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Please take a seat, Jenny," said the young wife, wearily.</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny sat down on the lounge, and Gertrude took up her +position at the +window again. It was still as death in the room and in the whole house.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It would have been wiser if you had not married at all, +Gertrude," +began her sister, with a sigh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, it can't be helped--you are tied fast--oh, yes! You must +put up +with everything, you must not even have an opinion of your own, I am +quite ill too from the vexation I had last evening. At last I ran up to +mamma. She was dreadfully frightened when she saw me standing before +her bed in my night-dress. I cried all night long. This morning I +waited. I thought he would come up for me, he was usually so +remorseful--but he didn't come and as I was taking breakfast with mamma +Sophie brought me a card from him in which he very coolly informed me +that he had gone to Manchester for a fortnight. Well--I wish him a +happy journey!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude made no reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must not take it so dreadfully to heart, child," +continued the +young matron. "Good gracious, it is well it is no worse. All women have +something to put up with and sometimes it is far worse than this."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have they?" asked Gertrude, in a low voice.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, of course!" cried Jenny, in surprise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think a woman can take up her bundle and march off? +Bah! Then +no woman would stay with her husband a moment. No, no,--people get +reconciled to one another and they just take the first opportunity to +pay each other off. That is always great fun for me. Just you see, pet, +how good Arthur will be when he comes back; for a whole month he will +be the nicest husband in the world."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That would be an impossibility for me," cried Gertrude, +clearly and +firmly. "To-day bitter as death, to-morrow fondly loving; it is simply +shameful."</p> + +<p class="normal">Jenny was silent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good gracious," she said at length, yawning, "one is as good +as the +other! If I were to separate from Arthur,--who knows but I might get a +worse one! For of course I should marry again, what else can a woman +do? By the way, mamma spoke to the lawyer--he urgently advised her to +hush up the matter as well as possible. Mamma thought differently, but +Mr. Sneider declared--you see now, one <i>can't</i> get away even if one +wants to--that there were no grounds for a divorce, and I said to mamma +too, 'Gertrude,' said I, 'leave him? Incredible! She is dead in love +with the man. He might have murdered somebody, I really believe, and +she would still find excuses for him.' Was I right?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude suffered tortures. She wrung her hands in silence and +her eyes +were fixed on the dark sky above her in which the evening star was now +sparkling with a greenish light. Jenny yawned again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, just think," she continued, "you don't know what we +quarrelled +about, Arthur and I. He reproached me with spending too much on my +dress; of course that was only a pretext to give vent to his ill +temper--there were business letters very likely containing bad news. I +replied that did not concern him, I did not inquire into his expenses. +Then he was cross and declared that I had tried in Nice to copy the +dresses of the elegant French women. But it is not true, for I only +bought two dresses there. Gracious, yes, they were rather dearer than +if my dressmaker in Berlin had made them. Of course I said again, 'That +is not your affair, for I pay for them.' Then he talked in a very moral +strain about honorable women and German women who helped to increase +the prosperity of a house. Other fortunes besides ours had been thrown +away and when the truth was known it was always the fault of 'Madame.' +He found fault with mamma for making herself so ridiculous with her +youthful costumes, and at last he declared we owed some duty to our +future children--Heaven preserve me! I have had to give up my poor +sweet little Walter, and I will have no more. The pain of losing him +was too great; I should die of anxiety. In short, he played the part of +a real provincial Philistine, and finally even that of Othello, for he +declared Col. von Brelow always had such a confidential air with me. +That was too much for my patience. I proposed that we should separate +then. You understand I only said so--for he is pretty obedient +generally, when I hold the reins tight. And as I said before one can't +get free for nothing. 'I will go at once!' I cried, and then I ran up +to mamma."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stop, I beg of you," cried Gertrude, hastily rising. She rang +for a +light and when Johanna brought the lamp it lighted up a feverish face, +and eyes swollen as if with burning tears, and yet Gertrude had not +wept.</p> + +<p class="normal">"How you look, child," remarked Jenny. "Well, and what is to +be done +now? I must tell mamma something, it was for that I came."</p> + +<p class="normal">She cast a glance at the dainty time-piece above the +writing-table.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Five minutes to nine--I must be going home. Do tell me how +you mean to +arrange matters?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You shall hear to-morrow--the day after to-morrow--I don't +know yet," +stammered the young wife, pressing her hand on her aching head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Only don't make a scandal, Gertrude," and Jenny took up her +gray cloak +with its red silk lining and tied the lace strings of her hat.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If the affair is settled as Mr. Sneider advises, it is the +best you +can do. By the way, how does Frank take it? Has he confessed it? To be +sure, what else could he do? Well, let me hear to-morrow then, at +latest. By the way, child, it has just occurred to me--that day that +Linden called on us the first time, that fellow, that Wolff, came with +him across the square to our house. I was sitting in the bay-window and +I was surprised to see how confidentially Wolff clapped him on the +shoulder."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude stood motionless. Ah, she had seen the same thing; +she +recalled it so clearly at this moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, yes," she stammered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The lawyer says he does a great deal of that sort of +business. But now +good-night, my pet--will you send in word or shall we send some one out +in the morning?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will send word," replied Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">She did not go out with her sister, she stood still in her +place, her +head gunk on her breast, her arms hanging nerveless by her side. This +conversation with Jenny had opened an abyss before her eyes; she no +longer knew what she should do, only one thing was clear, she could not +stay with him; she could not endure a life of indifference by his side, +and--any other life would never again be possible to them. "Never!" she +said aloud with decision, "Never!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She heard his steps now in the next room; then the steps went +away +again and presently she heard them on the gravel-walk in the garden +till they finally died away. She was so tired and it was so cold, and +she could not realize that there had ever been a time when it had been +different,--when she had been happy--she seemed to herself so degraded.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had that fatal letter still in her hand, where it burnt +like +glowing coals. She knew an old maid, the daughter of a poor official, +who was soured and embittered. For thirteen years she had been engaged +to a poor referendary, and finally they had recognized the fact that +they never would be rich enough to marry. She had remained lonely and +pitied by all who knew her history.</p> + +<p class="normal">Ah, if she could only have exchanged with her, who had been +loved for +her own sake! And even if she could forgive him for not having loved +her, the lie, the hypocrisy she could never forgive--never, never. Her +faith in him was gone.</p> + +<p class="normal">Half unconsciously she had wandered out into the corridor, and +felt a +little refreshed by the cooler air. She ran quickly down the steps into +the garden. From the kitchen came the sounds of talking and laughing; +the gardener was talking nonsense to the maids--the mistress' eye was +wanting.</p> + +<p class="normal">There was no light in the garden-hall, but Aunt Rosa's windows +were +unusually brilliant and a youthful shadow was marked out on the white +curtain. That must be the expected niece.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude walked on in the gravel-walks; the nightingales were +singing +and there were sounds of singing in the steward's room, a deep +sympathetic tenor and a sorrowful melody.</p> + +<p class="normal">On and on she went in the fragrant garden. Then she cried out +suddenly,</p> + +<p class="normal">"Frank!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She had come upon him suddenly at a turning of the path.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude!" returned he, trying to take her hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't touch me!" she cried. "I was not looking for you, but +as we have +met, I will ask you for something."</p> + +<p class="normal">In order to support herself she clutched the branches of a +lilac-bush +with her little hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"With all my heart, Gertrude," he replied gently. "Forgive my +violence, +anger catches me unawares sometimes. I promise you it shall not happen +again."</p> + +<p class="normal">He stopped, waiting to hear her request. For a while they +stood there +in silence, then she spoke slowly, almost unintelligibly in her great +agitation. "Give me my freedom again--it is impossible any longer to--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do not understand you," he replied, coldly, "what do you +mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will leave you everything, everything--only give me my +freedom! We +cannot live together any longer, don't you see that?" she cried quite +beside herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Speak lower!" he commanded, stamping angrily with his foot.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Say yes!" entreated the young wife with a voice nearly choked +with +emotion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I say no!" was the answer. "Take my arm and come."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will <i>not</i>! I will not!" she cried, snatching away her hand +which he +had taken.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are greatly excited this evening, you will come now into +the house +with me; tomorrow we will talk further on the subject and in the clear +daylight you can tell me what reasons you have for thinking our living +together impossible."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, at once, if you wish it!" she gasped out. "Because two +things are +wanting, two little trifling things only,--trust and esteem! I will not +speak of love--you have not been true to me, Frank, you have deceived +me and lost my confidence. Let me go, I entreat you, for the love of +Heaven--let me go!"</p> + +<p class="normal">As he made no reply, she went on rapidly, her words almost +stumbling +over each other so fast they came. "I know that I have no right in law; +people would laugh at a woman who demanded her freedom on no better +grounds than that she had been lied to once. So I come as a suppliant; +be so very good as to let me go, I cannot bear to live with you in +mistrust and--and--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come, Gertrude," he said, gently, "you are ill. Come into the +house +now and let us talk it over in our room--come!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ill--yes! I wish I might die," she murmured.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she suddenly grew calm and went back into the house with +him. He +opened the door of his room and she went in, but she passed quickly +through into her own, threw herself on her lounge, drew the soft +coverlid over her and closed her eyes. Frank stood helpless before her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will have a cup of tea made for you," said the young man, +kindly.</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked unspeakably wretched, as she lay there, the long +black +lashes resting like dark shadows on her white cheeks. She must have +suffered frightfully.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go to bed, Gertrude," he begged anxiously, "it will be better +for you +and tomorrow we will talk about this."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall stay here," she replied decisively, turning her head +away.</p> + +<p class="normal">Then he lost patience.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Confound your silly obstinacy!" he cried angrily. "Do you +think I am a +foolish boy? I will show you how naughty children ought to be treated!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Then he turned and banging the door after him he went away.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The first rays of the morning sun were resting like reddish +gold on the +tips of the forest trees which crowded close up to the white villa-like +house. Magnificent oaks, like giant sentinels, stood on the lawn before +the massive wall. A narrow, little-used path wound in between them, +such as are to be found in places not intended to be walked upon. The +great trees gave out little shade as yet, the oak-tree is late in +getting its leaves; those that had already appeared looked young and +shrivelled against the knotted branches, and formed a delightful +contrast to the dark green of the evergreens on the other side of the +garden wall, mingled with the tender misty foliage of the birches. +"Waldruhe" lay as if dreaming in this early stillness. The green +jalousies were all closed, like sleepy eyelids; on the roof a row of +bright-feathered pigeons were sunning themselves. The lawn before the +house was like a wilderness, the grass-grown paths scarcely +distinguishable, which led from the great iron gate to the veranda +steps. From a side-building a little smoke rose up to the blue sky, and +a cat sat crouched on the wooden bench beside the hall-door. There was +no sound except the joyful trills of the larks as they soared out of +sight in the blue sky.</p> + +<p class="center"><img src="images/220.png" alt="She leaned with her ungloved hands against the +misty bars of the gate."></p> +<h3>"<span class="sc">She leaned with her ungloved hands against the +misty<br> +bars of the gate.</span>"</h3> + +<p class="normal">From under the oaks a slender woman's figure drew near. She +walked +slowly, and her eyes glanced now to the left over the green wheat +fields to the open country, and now rested on the trees beside her. She +must have come a long way, for the delicate face looked worn and weary, +dark shadows were under her eyes, and the bottom of her dress was damp +as were also the small shoes which peeped out under the gray woollen +robe. She went straight up to the iron gate, clasped the rusty bars +with her ungloved hands and looked at the house somewhat in the +attitude of an curious child, but her eyes were too grave for that. +Beside her stood a brown dog wagging his tail, raising inquiringly his +shrewd eyes to her face, but she took no heed of the animal that had +followed her so faithfully. Her thoughts took only one direction.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had never been here since that day when she had run hither +in +desperate fear, to arrive--only too late. Everything was the same now +as then--just as lonely and deserted. She pulled the bell, how hard it +pulled! Ah, no hand had touched it since!</p> + +<p class="normal">It is true Sophie came here conscientiously every spring and +every +autumn to beat the furniture and air the rooms, but no one else. Mrs. +Baumhagen had from the first declared this idyllic whim of her +husband's an absurdity, and Jenny always called the country house "Whim +Hall." She had been here once but would never come again, "one would +die of ennui among those stupid trees."</p> + +<p class="normal">At length the bell gave out a faint tinkle. Thereupon arose a +fierce +barking in the side-building and a woman of some fifty years in a +wadded petticoat and a red-flannel bed-gown came out of the house. She +stared at the young lady in amazement, then she clapped her hands +together and ran back into the house with her slippers flapping at each +step, returning presently with a bunch of keys.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Merciful powers!" cried she as she opened the door, "I can't +believe +my own eyes--Mrs. Linden! Have you been taking a morning walk, ma'am? +I've always wondered if you wouldn't come here some day with your +husband--and now here you are--and that is a pleasure to be sure!" And +she ran before, opening the doors.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is all in order, Mrs. Linden--my man always insists upon +that--'Just you see,' he says, 'some day some of the ladies will be +popping in on you.'" And the square little body ran on again to open a +door. "It is all as it used to be--there is your bed and there are the +books, only the evergreens and the beeches have grown taller."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young wife nodded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Bring me a little hot milk," she said, shivering, "as soon as +you can, +Mrs. Rode."</p> + +<p class="normal">"This very minute!" And the old woman hurried away. Gertrude +could hear +the clatter of her slippers on the stairs and the shutting of the hall +door. At last she was alone.</p> + +<p class="normal">A cool green twilight reigned in the room from the branches of +the +beeches which pressed close up to the pane. It was not so dark here +that last summer she had spent in "Waldruhe." Otherwise--the woman was +right--everything was as it had been then, the mirror in its pear-wood +frame still displayed the Centaurs drawing their bows in the yellow +and black ground of the upper part; above the small old-fashioned +writing-table still hung the engraving, "Paul and Virginia" under the +palm trees; the green curtains of the great canopied bed were not in +the least faded, the sofa was as uncomfortable as ever, and the table +stood before it with the same plush cover. She had passed so many +pleasant hours here, in the sweet spring evenings at the open window, +and on stormy autumn evenings when the clouds were flying in the sky, +the storm came down from the mountains and beat against the lonely house. +The rain pattered against the panes, and the woods began to rustle with +a melancholy sound. Then the curtains were drawn, the fire burned +brightly in the fireplace, and opposite in the cosy sitting-room her +father sat at a game of cards. She was the hostess here in "Waldruhe," +and she felt so proud of going into the kitchen with her white apron on +and of going down into the cellar, and then at dinner all the old +gentlemen complimented her on the success of her venison pie. The dear +old friends--there was only Uncle Henry left now.</p> + +<p class="normal">There on that bed they had laid the fainting girl when they +had found +her by her father's death-bed.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young wife shivered suddenly. "He died of his unhappy +marriage," +she had once heard Uncle Henry say--in a low tone, but she had +understood him nevertheless.</p> + +<p class="normal">Mamma did not love him, she had loved another man, and she had +told him +so once, when they were quarreling about some trifle.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I should have been happier with the other one--I liked him at +any +rate, but--he was poor."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude understood it all now; she had her father's +character, she was +proud, too. Oh, those gloomy years when she was growing to understand +what sunshine was wanting in the house!</p> + +<p class="normal">"If it were not for the children," he had said once, angrily, +"I would +have put an end to it long ago."</p> + +<p class="normal">O what a torture it is when two people are bound together by +the law of +God and man who would yet gladly put a whole world between them! +Unworthy? Immoral?</p> + +<p class="normal">Had not her father done well when he went voluntarily? But ah, +how hard +was the going when one loves! How then? Love and esteem belong +together--ah, it was imagination, all imagination!</p> + +<p class="normal">She grew suddenly a shade paler; she thought how her father +had loved +her and she thought of the little cradle in the attic at home. Thank +God, it was only a dream, a wish, a nothing, and yet--Oh, this +sickening dread!</p> + +<p class="normal">She went towards the bed, she was so tired; she nestled her +head in the +pillow, drew up the coverlid and closed her eyes. And then she seemed +to be always seeing and hearing the words that she had written to-day +to leave on his writing-table. And she murmured, "Have compassion on +me, let me go! Do not follow me, leave me the only place that belongs +to me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The housekeeper brought some hot milk and she drank it. She +would go to +sleep, she said, but she could not sleep. She was always listening; she +thought she heard horses' hoofs and carriage wheels. Ah, not that, not +that!</p> + +<p class="normal">Hour after hour passed and still she lay motionless; she had +no longer +the strength to move. Why can one not die when one will?</p> + +<p class="normal">The noon-day bell was ringing in the village when a carriage +drove up +and soon after steps came up the stairs.</p> + +<p class="normal">Thank God, it was not he!</p> + +<p class="normal">Uncle Henry put his troubled face in at the door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really," he said, "you are here then! But why, child, why?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She had risen hastily and now stood before the little old +gentleman.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You bring me an answer, uncle?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, to be sure. But I would rather far do something else. +How happens +it that your precious set should choose me for your amiable messenger?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He threw himself down on the sofa with such force that it +fairly +groaned under his weight.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you any cognac here?" he inquired, "I am quite upset."</p> + +<p class="normal">She shook her head without speaking and only gazed at him with +gloomy +eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, I suppose not," grumbled Uncle Henry. "Well then, he says +if it +amuses you to stay here you are quite welcome to do so."</p> + +<p class="normal">She started perceptibly,</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, ta, ta! That is the upshot of it--about that," he +continued, +wiping his forehead with his handkerchief.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Linden did not say much," he went on, "he was in a silent +rage over +your flight--however, he kept himself well in hand. He would not keep +you, he said, nor would he drag you back to his house by force. He will +send Johanna to wait on you, and hopes to be able to fulfil any other +desire of yours. He will arrange everything--and it is to be hoped you +will soon see your error. And," wound up Uncle Henry, "now that we have +got so far, I should be glad to learn from you what is to happen, when +you, with your well known obstinacy, do not feel inclined to own +yourself wrong?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She was silent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As for the rest, Frank utterly denies having had any +connection with +Wolff. And, I should like to know, Gertrude--you were always a +reasonable woman--why have you taken it into your head to believe that +old ass who was always known as a scoundrel, rather than your husband?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude quickly put her hand in her pocket and grasped the +letter--there was her proof. She made a motion to give it to him--but +no, she could not do it, she could not bring out the small hand that +had closed tightly over the fatal paper.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You ought both of you to give way a little, I think," said +Uncle Henry +after awhile. "You are married now, and--<i>au fond</i>--what if he did +inquire about your fortune?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Her frowning glance stopped him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now-a-days it is not such a wonderful thing if a man--" he +stammered +on.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is not that, it is not that, uncle! Stop, I beg of you!" +cried +Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh yes, I understand, women are more sensitive in such +matters, and +justly too," assented Uncle Henry. "Well, I fear the name of Baumhagen +will be the talk of the town again for the next six months. Goodbye, +Gertrude. I can't exactly say I have enjoyed my visit. Don't be too +lonely."</p> + +<p class="normal">At the door he turned back again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know it will come before the courts. Frank refuses to +recognize +the claims of the fellow Wolff."</p> + +<p class="normal">She shook her head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He will not refuse," she answered, calmly, "but I wish you +would take +the matter in hand, uncle, and pay Wolff for his trouble."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her eyes filled suddenly with angry tears.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, ta, ta! Why should I meddle with the matter?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The old gentleman was deeply moved.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I ask it of you, uncle, before it becomes the talk of the +town."</p> + +<p class="normal">A sob choked her words.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, do you think, my child, it is not already whispered +about? +Hm!--Well I will do it, but entirely from selfish motives, you know. Do +you think it isn't disagreeable to me, too? Oh, ta, ta! What big drops +those were! But will you promise me then to let well enough alone! +What? You cannot leave him!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The tears seemed frozen in her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No," she replied, "but we shall agree upon a separation."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you mad, child?" cried the old gentleman with a crimson +face.</p> + +<p class="normal">She turned her eyes slowly away.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He only wanted my money; let him keep it," was her murmured +reply, +"<i>I</i> was only a necessary incumbrance,--<i>I</i>!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, that is only your sensitiveness," said her uncle +soothingly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know me so little?" she inquired, drawing herself up +to her full +height. Her swollen eyes looked into his with an expression of cold +decision.</p> + +<p class="normal">The little man hastily shut the door behind him. It was +exactly as if +his dead brother were looking at him. In a most uncomfortable frame of +mind, he got into his carriage. Confound it! here he was plunged into +difficulties again by his good nature.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude remained alone. For one moment she looked after him +and then +she covered her face with her hands despairingly, threw herself on the +little sofa and wept.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<p class="normal">It was towards evening. Frank Linden mounted the steps, stood +on the +terrace and whistled shrilly out into the garden. He waited awhile and +then shook his head. "The brute has gone with her," he said in a low +voice; "even an animal like that takes part against me." He went back +into the dining-room and stumbled over Johanna, who was busy at the +side-board.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will go over to 'Waldruhe' in an hour," he said, looking +past her. +"Take what clothes are necessary for my wife with you. Whatever else +she may desire is at her disposal at any moment."</p> + +<p class="normal">Johanna glanced at him shyly, the face that was usually so +glowing +looked so ashy pale in the evening light.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I could have half an hour more, Mr. Linden--I want to show +the +young lady something about the milk cellar."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The young lady? ah--yes--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, the young lady who came to visit Miss Rosa yesterday. +She offered +her services, sir, when she heard that Mrs. Linden had gone away. I +don't know how I can manage without her either, Dora is so stupid and +she has so much to do besides."</p> + +<p class="normal">Before he could reply, the door opened softly and behind Aunt +Rosa's +wonderful figure appeared a dark girl with red cheeks and shining eyes, +who when she perceived him made a rather awkward curtsy, and was at +once introduced as Addie Strom.</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank bowed to the ladies, stammered out a few civil words, +and asked +to be excused for leaving them as he had letters to write.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am so sorry," said Aunt. Rosa, "that Mrs. Linden is not at +home."</p> + +<p class="normal">He nodded impatiently.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She will soon be back," he replied as he went out.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If Addie can help about the house a little--" sounded the +shrill tones +of the old lady behind him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't give yourself any trouble," was his reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I should be glad to do it," said Adelaide, timidly.</p> + +<p class="normal">Another silent bow from him and then he went out with great +strides. +That too!</p> + +<p class="normal">He ran hastily down the steps into the garden. He took the +letter out +of his pocket once more which he had found lying on his writing-table +that morning, and read it through. The writing was not as dainty as +usual--the letters were hard and firm and large and yet unsteady, as if +written, in great excitement.</p> + +<p class="normal">The blood rushed in a hot wave to his heart. "It will come +right." He +put away the letter and took another from his pocketbook which had +been brought half an hour before by an express messenger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have just come from Wolff, with whom I intended to make an +arrangement of this fatal affair. The scoundrel, unfortunately, was +taken ill of typhus fever yesterday, and nothing is to be done with him +at present. I can only regret that you should have consulted this man +of all others, and I do not understand why you have not satisfied him. +As soon as the gentleman is <i>au fait</i> again I shall take the liberty, +in the interest of my family and especially of my niece, to settle the +matter quietly, and beg you not to make the matter worse by any +imprudence on your part. You must have some consideration for the +family.</p> + +<p class="normal">"May an old man give you a little advice? I am a very tolerant +judge in +this matter, but a woman thinks differently about it. Acknowledge the +truth openly to your insulted little wife--with a person of her +character it is the only way to gain her pardon. I will gladly do all +in my power to set this foolish affair before her in the mildest +light--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Consideration!" he murmured, "consideration for the family!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Then he laughed aloud and went on more quickly into the +deepening +twilight. What should he do in the house, in the empty rooms, at the +inhospitable table with his heart full of bitterness? Childish, foolish +obstinacy it was in her--and no trust in him! How had he deserved that +she should give him up at once without even hearing him? Well, she +would get over it, she would come again, but--the spell was broken, the +bloom, the freshness was gone.</p> + +<p class="normal">He must have his rights without regard to the Baumhagen +family, or to +her on whom he would not have permitted the winds of heaven to blow too +roughly. She could not have hurt him more, than by giving more credence +to that scoundrel than to him--she who usually was so calm--calm?</p> + +<p class="normal">He could see her eyes before him now, those eyes in which +strong +passion glowed. He had seen them blaze with anger more than once, he +had heard her agitating sobs, her voice husky with emotion as she spoke +of her father. He saw her again as she had been the evening before +their marriage when she pressed his hands passionately to her lips, a +mute eloquent gesture, a thanksgiving for the refuge of his breast. And +now? It had already burned out this passionate love, had failed before +the first trial.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was already dark when he returned from his walk. Johanna +was gone. +The maid whom he met in the corridor told him she had taken her child +and a trunk full of clothing and the books which had been sent to Mrs. +Linden yesterday.</p> + +<p class="normal">He went to her room; the sweet scent of violets of which she +was so +fond pervaded the atmosphere, the afghan on the lounge lay just as it +had fallen when she threw it off as she rose. He could not stay---a +longing for her seized upon him so powerfully that it well-nigh +unmanned him, and he went back to the dining-room. He opened the door +half-unconsciously--there sat the judge at the table, dusty and +dishevelled from his Brocken tour, but contented to his inmost soul. +But--how came this stranger here doing the honors?</p> + +<p class="normal">The rosy little brunette was just setting the table. She had +put on a +white apron over her dark dress, the bib fastened smoothly across her +full bust. She was just depositing with her round arm half-uncovered by +the elbow-sleeve, a plate of cold meat by the judge's place, placing +the bottle of beer beside it. And as she did so she laughed at the +weary little man so that all her white teeth were displayed.</p> + +<p class="normal">And this must he bear too, to make his comfort complete! Let +them eat +who would! Soon he was sitting upstairs in the corner of the sofa in +his own room; outside the darkness of a spring night came down, and a +girl's voice was singing as if in emulation of the nightingales; that +must be the little brunette, Adelaide. At last he heard it sounding up +from the depths of the garden.</p> + +<p class="normal">He did not stir until the judge stood before him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, I should really like to know, Frank--are you bewitched +or +am I? What is the matter? Where is madame? The little black thing +downstairs, who seems to have fallen out of the clouds, says she is +'gone.'--Gone? What does it mean?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gone!" repeated Frank Linden. It sounded so strange that his +friend +started.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Something has happened, Frank,--that old woman, the +mother-in-law, has +done it. Oh, these women!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, no, it is that affair with Wolff."</p> + +<p class="normal">The judge gave vent to a long whistle, then he sat down beside +Linden +and clapped him on the shoulder.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We'll manage <i>him</i>, Frank," he said, comfortingly, "and <i>she</i> +will +come back, she <i>must</i> come back; you will not even need to ask her. But +it was the most foolish thing she could do to run away."</p> + +<p class="normal">And he began to describe a case that had come up in Frankfort +a short +time before on the ground of wilful desertion.</p> + +<p class="normal">Linden sprang up.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Spare me your law cases," he said roughly. "Do you suppose I +would +bring her back by force?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And what if she will not come of herself, Frank?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"She will come," he replied, shortly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And that scoundrel Wolff?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden gave his friend a cigar and took one himself, +though he +did not light it, and as he sat down again he said:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can ask that? Have I been in the habit of putting up with +imposition, Richard?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, but on what does the man found his claim?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank shrugged his shoulders. "I told you before, that he +declared when +I turned him out, that he would know how to secure his rights. He is +ill now, however," he added.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, that is fatal!" lamented the judge. He was silent, for +just then +the full, deep girl's voice came up from the garden:</p> +<div style="margin-left:30%;" class="quote"> +<p class="continue">"Du hast mir viel gegeben,<br> +Du schenktest mir dein Herz,<br> +Du nahmst mir Alles wieder,<br> +Und liessest mir den Schmerz."</p> +</div> +<p class="normal">"It must be very hard, Frank," murmured his friend after a few +moments +of deep silence. "Very hard--I mean, to go the right way to work with a +woman. How will you act? With sternness, or with gentleness? Will you +write her a harsh letter, or will you send her some verses? In such an +evening as this, I think I could almost write poetry myself. I say, +Frank, light the lamp and let us read the paper."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Richard," said the young man as he rose, "if you will give me +your +advice in regard to this affair of Wolff's, I shall be grateful to you, +but leave my wife out of the question altogether; that is my affair +alone."</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen had conquered her aversion to "Waldruhe" and +had come to +see her youngest daughter. Something must be done--at any rate she +could not any longer endure the sympathetic inquiries for the health of +the young Mrs. Linden. Something <i>must</i> be done.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude was sitting at the window reading in her cool dusky +room, at +least she held a book in her hand; at her feet lay Linden's dog. She +started in dismay as she heard footsteps in the corridor and for one +moment a deep flush spread over her face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, mamma," she said, wearily, as Mrs. Baumhagen rustled in +in a light +gray toilet, her hat lavishly adorned with violets as being appropriate +to half-mourning, the round face more deeply flushed than usual with +the heat of the spring sun and her excitement.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This can't go on any longer, child," she began, kissing her +daughter +tenderly on the forehead. "How you look, and how cold it is here! Jenny +sent her love; she went to Paris this morning to meet Arthur. Why +didn't you go too, as I proposed?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I did not feel well enough," replied Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You look pale, and it is no wonder. I never could bear such +want of +consideration, either."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude sat down again in her old place.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Has Uncle Henry been here?" inquired Mrs. Baumhagen.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He was here yesterday."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, then, you know that Linden has forbidden him any +interference +with Wolff?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, mamma."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And that this Mr. Wolff has been at the point of death for +three days? +His death would be the best thing that could happen, for of course +everything would come to an end then. I don't know whether the people +in the city have any idea of the true state of the case, but they +suspect something and they overwhelm me with inquiries about you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude nodded slightly, she knew all that already from her +uncle.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And hasn't he been here? Did he not ask your pardon, has he +not tried +to get you back?" asked Mrs. Baumhagen, breathlessly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No," was the half-choked reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Poor child!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The mother pressed her cambric handkerchief to her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is brutal, really brutal! Thank God that your eyes have +been opened +so soon. But you cannot stay here the whole time before the +separation?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude started and looked at her mother with wide eyes. She +herself +had thought of nothing but a separation. But when she heard the +dreadful word spoken, it fell on her like a thunderbolt.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes," she said at length, wringing her hands nervously, +"where should +I stay?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And for pity's sake, what do you do here from morning till +night?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I read and go to walk, and--" I grieve, she would have added, +but she +was silent. What did her mother know of grief!</p> + +<p class="normal">"My poor child!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Mrs. Baumhagen was really crying now. This atmosphere weighed +on her +nerves. There was something oppressive in the air, and they really had +a dreadful time before them. What if he should not consent to a +separation? Why had God given the child such an unbending will which +had brought her into this misery! If she had only followed her mother's +advice. Mrs. Baumhagen had taken an aversion to the man from the first +moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think I must go home, my headache--" she stammered, +unscrewing her +bottle of smelling salts.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you want anything, Gertrude, write or send to me. Do you +want a +piano or books? I have Daudet's latest novel. Ah, child, there are many +trials in life and especially in married life. You haven't experienced +the worst of it yet."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank you, mamma."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young wife followed the mother down the corridor and down +the +stairs to the hall door. Mrs. Baumhagen said good-bye with a cheerful +smile--the coachman need not know everything.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope you will soon be better, Gertrude," she said, loudly. +"Be +persevering in your water-cure."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude, left alone, went on into the garden. At the end of +the wall +where the path curved was a little summer-house, with a roof of bark +shaped like a mushroom. Here she stopped and looked out into the +country which lay before her in all the glow and fragrance of the +evening light. Behind the wooded hills of the Thurmberg stood the dear, +cosy little house. She walked in spirit through all its rooms, but she +forced her thoughts past one door, the room with the old mahogany +furniture into which she had gone first on her wedding eve. And she +leaned more firmly against the wall and gazed out at the setting sun +which stood in the sky like a fiery red ball, till the tears streamed +from her eyes, and her heart ached with mortification and humiliation. +Why did that day always come back to her so, and that evening, the +first in that room? The evening when she had slipped from his arms, +down to his very feet, hiding her face in his hands, overwhelmed with +her deep gratitude. Must he not have smiled to himself at the foolish, +passionate, blindly credulous woman? And angry tears fell from her eyes +down over her pale cheeks, her hands trembled, and her pride grew +stronger every minute.</p> + +<p class="normal">She turned and went back to the house, the dog still +following, and +when she reached her room she sat down on the ground like a child and +put her arms round her brown companion's neck. She could weep now, she +could cry aloud and no one would hear. Johanna had gone to Niendorf to +get some books and all sorts of necessary things.</p> + +<p class="normal">When Johanna came back at length, Gertrude sat in the corner +of the +sofa as quiet as ever. The lamp was lighted and she was reading. +Johanna brought out a timid "Good evening!" which was acknowledged by a +silent nod. She laid a few rosebuds down beside the book. "The first +from the Niendorf garden, ma'am."</p> + +<p class="normal">And when no answer came, she went on talking as she took the +clothes +out of the basket and packed them away in the wardrobe.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dora is gone, Mrs. Linden. She could not get on with Miss +Adelaide, +and the master packed her off. He is so angry. Mr. Baumhagen, who has +just been there, complained bitterly of the dinner to-day. I was in the +kitchen when he came in and said he had never eaten such miserable peas +in his life and the ham was cut the wrong way. Then Miss Adelaide cried +and complained, and declared she did it all only out of good-nature. +And the judge tried to comfort her and said it was a pity to spoil her +beautiful eyes.--The judge sent his compliments too, and said he would +come to say good-bye to you, ma'am. He is going away in a few days. Mr. +Baumhagen sent greetings too, and Miss Rosa and little Miss Adelaide--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pray get the tea, Johanna," said the young lady, interrupting +the +stream of words.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The milk was sour, too, ma'am, and it is so cool too. Ah, you +ought to +see the milk-cellar! Everything is going to ruin--it would really be +better if you would only agree that Miss Adelaide should come here and +let me go to the master."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will stay here," replied Gertrude, bending her eyes on +her book.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The master looks so pale," proceeded the chattering woman. +"Mr. +Baumhagen was telling him in the garden-hall today that Wolff is dying, +and he struck his hand on the table till all the dishes rattled and +said, 'Everything goes against me in this matter!'"</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude looked up. The color came back into her pale cheek, +and she +drew a long breath.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dying?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes. I heard Mr. Baumhagen trying to soothe him--saying it +was all for +the best and he hoped everything might be comfortably settled now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What was my uncle doing there?" inquired Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">Johanna was embarrassed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I don't know, Mrs. Linden, but if I am not mistaken, he was +trying to +persuade Mr. Linden to--that--ah, ma'am!"--Johanna came and stood +before the table which she had set so daintily.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is between you and Mr. Linden I don't know, and it is +none of my +business to ask. But you see, ma'am, I have had a husband too, that I +loved dearly--and life is so short, and I think we shouldn't make even +one hour of it bitter, ma'am; the dead never come back again. But if I +could know that my Fritz was still in the world and was sitting over +there behind the hills, not so very far away from me--good Lord, how I +would run to him even if he was ever so cross with me! I would fall on +his neck and say, 'Fritz, you may scold me and beat me, it is all one +to me so long as I have you!'"</p> + +<p class="normal">And the young widow forgot the respect due to her mistress and +threw a +corner of her apron over her eyes and began to cry bitterly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Don't cry, Johanna," said Gertrude. "You don't understand--I +too would +rather it were so than that--" She stopped, overpowered by a feeling of +choking anguish.</p> + +<p class="normal">Johanna shook her head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Taint right," she said, as she went out.</p> + +<p class="normal">And Gertrude left the table and seated herself at the window, +laying +her forehead against the cool pane. Are not some words as powerful as +if God himself had spoken them?</p> + +<p class="normal">When some time after, Johanna entered the room again, she +found it +empty, and the table untouched. And as she began to remove the simple +dishes, Gertrude entered and put a key down on the table. She had been +in her father's room and the pale face with its frame of brown hair, +looked as if turned to stone.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If visitors come to-morrow, or at any time, I cannot receive +them," +she said, "unless it be my Uncle Henry."</p> + +<p class="normal">And she took up her book again and began to read.</p> + +<p class="normal">The house had long been quiet, when she put down the book for +a moment +and gazed into space.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No!" she murmured, "no!"</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">Three days later the Niendorf carriage stopped before the gate +of +"Waldruhe," and waited there a quarter of an hour in the blazing heat +of the mid-day sun, so that the gardener's children could gaze to their +heart's content on the brilliant coloring of Aunt Rosa's violet parasol +and the red ostrich feathers which adorned Adelaide's summer hat, +mingling effectively with the dark curly hair which hung in a fringe +over the youthful forehead. This sight must have been an agreeable +one to the judge also, for he did not take his eyes off his pretty +<i>vis-à-vis</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs. Linden regrets that she is not well enough to receive +visitors," +announced Johanna with her eyes cast down.</p> + +<p class="normal">Two of the occupants of the carriage looked disappointed, +while the +judge felt in his pocket for his card-case.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There!" He gave the servant the turned-down card.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And here is a letter, an <i>important letter</i>--do you +understand, +Johanna? My compliments, and I trust she will soon recover."</p> + +<p class="normal">"So do I," said the young girl, timidly.</p> + +<p class="normal">Aunt Rosa, however, was silent, and when they looked at her +more +closely they saw she was asleep, the wrinkled old face nodding absurdly +above the enormous bow under her chin.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Burmann, drive slowly, when we get to the wood," whispered +the judge, +"Miss Rosa is asleep."</p> + +<p class="normal">The coachman made a clucking sound with his tongue and drove +noiselessly over the soft grass-grown road. Johanna could see that the +judge moved over from the middle of the seat opposite the young lady +and that she glowed suddenly like the feathers on her hat.</p> + +<p class="normal">Johanna went back into the house with her card and letter and +gave them +to Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A letter?" inquired the young wife.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The judge gave it to me," replied Johanna, as she left the +room in +which, in spite of the outside heat, the air was always damp and cold.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude slowly opened the letter. It was in his +handwriting--she had +expected it. Her heart beat so quickly she could scarcely breathe, and +the letters danced before her eyes. It was some time before she could +read it:</p> +<div class="quote"> +<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">Gertrude</span>--Wolff died last evening. It is no longer possible +to call +him to account on earth; it is no longer possible to expose his guilt. +He has gone to his grave without having cleared me from his calumny. I +remain before you as a guilty person, and I can do nothing more than +declare once more that we--you and I, are the victims of a scoundrel. I +have never spoken with Wolff of your fortune nor called in his +intervention in any way. I leave the rest to you and to your +consideration. I shall never force you to return to me, neither shall I +ever consent to a divorce. Come home, Gertrude, come soon and all shall +be forgotten. The house is empty, and my heart is still more so--have +faith in me again. <span style="letter-spacing:2em"> </span>Your <span class="sc">Frank</span>."'</p> +</div> +<p class="normal">She had just finished reading these words when Uncle Henry +came in. +The little gentleman had evidently dined well--his face shone with +good-humor.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Still here?" he cried. And as she did not reply he looked at +her more +closely. "Well, you are not angry again?"</p> + +<p class="normal">But the young wife swayed suddenly and Uncle Henry sprang +towards her +only just in time to keep her from falling, and called anxiously for +Johanna. They laid the slender figure on the sofa and bathed her +temples with cold water.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Speak to me, child!" he cried, "speak to me!" and he repeated +it till +she opened her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I cannot," she said after awhile.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What?" asked the asthmatic old gentleman.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Go to him I <i>can</i>not! Must I?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Merciful Heavens!" groaned Uncle Henry, "do be reasonable! Of +course +you must unless you want him to be ruined."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must?" she repeated, adding as if for her own comfort, "No, +I must +not! I cannot force myself to have confidence in him, I cannot pretend +what I do not feel. No, I must not!"</p> + +<p class="normal">And she sprang up and ran through the room to the door, +trembling with +excitement.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, ta, ta!" The old man ran his hands through his hair. +"Then stay +here! Let your house and home go to ruin, and the husband to whom you +have pledged your faith into the bargain."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, yes," she murmured, "you are right, but I cannot!"</p> + +<p class="normal">And she grasped the little purse in her pocket which held that +fatal +letter.</p> + +<p class="normal">It seemed as if this brought her back at once to herself. She +grew +quiet, she lay back on her lounge and rested her head on the cushion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pardon me, uncle--I know what I am doing."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is exactly what you don't know," he muttered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, I do," was the pettish reply. "Or do you think I ought +to go +there and beg him with folded hands to take me back into favor again?" +And something like scorn curved her lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It would be the most sensible thing you could do," replied +Uncle +Henry, rather angrily.</p> + +<p class="normal">She bent back her head proudly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No!" came from her lips, "not if I were still more miserable +than I +am! I can forgive him, but--fawn upon him like--like a hound--no!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"God forgive me, but it is nothing but the purest arrogance +that +animates you," cried the old man. "Who gave you the right to set +yourself so high above him? He was a poor man who could not marry +without money--is it a crime that he should have asked a question as to +this matter? It happens to every princess. You are stern and unloving +and unjust. Have you never done anything wrong?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She had started at his first reproachful words like a +frightened child, +now she sprang up and as she knelt down before him her eyes looked up +at him imploringly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Uncle, do you know how I loved him? Do you know how a woman +can love? +I looked up to him as to the noblest being on earth, so lofty, so great +he seemed to me. I have lain at his feet, and at night I folded my +hands and thanked God that he had given me this man for my husband. I +thought he was the only one who did not look on me only as a rich girl, +and he has told me so a hundred times. Uncle, you have been always +alone, you don't know how people can love! And then to come down and +see in him only a common man, a man who does not disdain to tell a +lie--O, I would rather have died!" And she hid her face in her +trembling hands. "And there, where I have been so happy, shall I +satisfy myself with the coldest duty? I must be his wife and know that +it was not love that brought me to his side? I shall hear his tender +words and not think, 'He does not mean them?' He will say something to +me and I shall torment myself with doubts whether he really means it? +Oh, hell itself could not be more dreadful, for I loved him!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Tears stood in the old man's eyes. He stroked Gertrude's +smooth hair in +some embarrassment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stand up, Gertrude," he said, gently; and after a pause he +added, "The +Bible says we shall forgive."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, with all my heart," she murmured. "And if you see him +tell him +so. Ah, if he had come and had said--'Forgive me'--but so--"</p> + +<p class="normal">An idea came into Uncle Henry's head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then would you give in, child?" he inquired.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes," she stammered, "hard as it would be."</p> + +<p class="normal">The old egotist knew then what he had to do. He led the +weeping +Gertrude to her little sofa, asked Johanna for a glass of wine and then +drove to Niendorf. As he went he could see always before him the +beautiful tear-stained face, and could hear her sad voice. As he ran up +the steps to the garden-hall rather hastily he saw through the glass +door the little brunette Adelaide sitting at the table with the judge, +who was just uncorking a wine-bottle. Both were so deeply engaged in +gazing at each other and blushing and gazing again that they were not +conscious of the presence of the old spy outside.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Really, this is a pretty time to be carousing in this house," +thought +Uncle Baumhagen. As he entered he brought the couple back to the bald +present with a gruff "Good morning," and the judge began at once a +lament over the horrible ill-luck of this Wolff's dying six months too +soon.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is going on here?" asked Uncle Henry, inhaling the +fragrance of +the wood-ruff.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The parting <i>mai-trank</i> for the judge," replied Miss +Adelaide.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, ta, ta! You are going away?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must," replied the little man with a regretful look at the +young +girl. "Besides, my dear sir, since this dreadful wifeless time has +begun it is melancholy in Niendorf. Linden has been as overwhelmed, +since the news of the death came last evening, as if his dearest friend +had gone down into the grave with that limb of Satan. Heaven knows he +could not have been more anxious about a near relation, and his horses +have nearly run their legs off with making inquiries about the fellow's +health. I really believe he would have given the doctor of this +distinguished citizen a premium for preserving his precious life."</p> + +<p class="normal">Uncle Henry grumbled something which sounded almost like a +curse. +"Where is Linden?" he inquired.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Upstairs!" replied Miss Adelaide. "He has been there ever +since this +morning, at least we--" indicating the judge and herself--"dined alone +with auntie, then we went to 'Waldruhe' but we did not get in, and now +it is out of sheer desperation that we made a bowl of <i>mai-trank</i>. But +won't you taste a little of it, Mr. Baumhagen?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She had filled a glass and offered it to the old gentleman +with +laughing eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">Uncle Henry cast a half-angry, half-eager glance at the glass +in the +small hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Witch!" he growled, and marched out of the room as haughtily +as a +Spaniard. He was in too serious a mood to enter into their "chatter." +But a clear laugh sounded behind him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish the judge would pack that little monkey in his trunk +and send +her off to Frankfort or to Guinea for all I care."</p> + +<p class="normal">He found the young master of the house at his writing-table. +"Linden," +he began, without sitting down, "the carriage is waiting down-stairs, +come with me to your little wife; if you will only beg her forgiveness, +everything will be all right again."</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank Linden looked at him calmly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know what I should be doing?" he asked--"I should +acknowledge a +wrong of which I have never been guilty."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, nonsense! Never mind that! This is the question now, will +you have +your wife back again or not?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is that the condition on which my wife will return to me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why, of course. Oh, ta, ta! I am sure at least that she would +come +then."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am sorry, but I cannot do it," replied the young man, +growing a +shade paler. "It is not for me to beg pardon."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are an obstinate set, and that is all there is about it," +thundered Uncle Henry. "We are glad that the scoundrel is dead, and now +here we are in just the same place as we were before."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The scoundrel's death is a very unfortunate event for me, +uncle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will not?" asked the old gentleman again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ask her pardon--no!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then good-bye!" And Uncle Henry put on his hat and hastily +left the +room and the house.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Allow me to accompany you down," said Frank, following the +little man, +who jumped into the carriage as if he were fleeing from some one.</p> + +<p class="normal">But before the horses started he bent forward and an +expression of +intense anxiety rested on his honest old face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"See here, Frank," he whispered, "it is a foolish pride of +yours. +Women have their little whims and caprices. It is true I never had a +wife--thank Heaven for that!--but I know them very well for all that. +They have such ideas, they must all be worshipped, and the little one +is particularly sharp about it. She is like her father, my good old +Lebrecht, a little romantic--I always said the child read too much. Now +do you be the wise one to give in. You have not been so hurt either, +and--besides she is a charming little woman."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As soon as Gertrude comes back everything shall be +forgotten," replied +Linden, shutting the carriage door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But she won't come so, my boy. Don't you know the Baumhagen +obstinacy +yet?" cried Uncle Henry in despair.</p> + +<p class="normal">He shrugged his shoulders and stepped back.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To Waldruhe!" shouted the old man angrily to the coachman, +and away he +went.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My young gentleman is playing a dangerous game as injured +innocence," +he growled, pounding his cane on the bottom of the carriage. The nearer +he came to the villa, the redder grew his angry round face. When he +reached "Waldruhe" he did not have to go upstairs. Gertrude was in the +park. She was standing at the end of a shady alley and perceiving her +uncle she came towards him, in her simple white summer dress.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Uncle," she gasped out, and two anxious eyes sought to read +his face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come," said the old man, taking her hand, "let us walk along +this +path. It will do me good. I shall have a stroke if I stand still. To +make my story short, child--he will not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Uncle, what have you done?" cried Gertrude, a flush of +mortification +covering her face. "You have been to him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Yes,' I said, 'go and ask her forgiveness and everything +will come +right--women are like that!' and he--"</p> + +<p class="normal">She pressed her hand on her heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Uncle!" she cried.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And he said: No! That would be owning a fault which he had +not +committed. There, my child! I have tried once more to play the part of +peace-maker, but--now I wash my hands of it all. You must do it for +yourselves now. Anger is bad for me, as you know, and I have had enough +now to last me a month. Good-bye, Gertrude!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good-bye, uncle, I thank you."</p> + +<p class="normal">He had gone a few steps when the old egotist looked round once +more. +She was leaning against the trunk of a beech-tree like one who has +received a blow. Her eyes were cast down, a strange smile played about +her mouth.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Poor child!" he stammered out, taking his hat from his +burning +forehead, and then he went back to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come now, you must keep your spirits up," he said kindly. +"Over there +in Niendorf that black little monkey was making a <i>mai-trank</i> for the +judge who is going away. What do you say, Gertrude, shall we go and +have some? Come, I will take you over quite quietly. You see we would +go so softly into the dining-room, and I am not an egotist if you are +not--one--two--three--in each others' arms--you will cry 'Frank!' he +will say 'Gertrude!' and all will be forgotten. Gertrude, my good +little Gertrude, do be reasonable. Is life so very blissful that one +dares fling away the golden days of youth and happiness? Come, come, +take my advice just this once."</p> + +<p class="normal">He had grasped her slender wrist, but she freed herself +hastily and her +face grew rigid. "No, no, that is all over!" she said in a hard +distinct tone.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The summer had come; the yellowing grain waved in the soft +breezes, and +the cherry-trees in the orchards and along the high roads had all been +robbed of their fruit. The sky was cloudless and the first grain had +been harvested in Niendorf.</p> + +<p class="normal">From the cities every one had fled to the watering-places or +into the +mountains. The corner-house in the market-place was shut up from top to +bottom. Mrs. Baumhagen was in Switzerland, Mr. and Mrs. Fredericks in +Baden-Baden. Uncle Henry had gone to Heligoland, because nowhere can +one get such good breakfasts as on the dunes of that rocky island.</p> + +<p class="normal">Only the two sat still in their nests; separated by a small +extent of +wood and meadow, they could not have been further apart if the ocean +had rolled between. There was no crossing the gulf between them.</p> + +<p class="normal">In Niendorf everything was irregular and in disorder. How +should the +little Adelaide know anything about the management of a farm? She was +on her feet all day, she took a hundred unnecessary steps, and in the +evening she complained that the two dainty little feet in the pointed +high-heeled shoes hurt her so, and that the servants had no respect for +her. Aunt Rosa was in a bad temper, for she found herself in her old +age condemned to the life of a lady-in-waiting. Adelaide could not +possibly dine alone with Linden, and she must always be there. So at +twelve o'clock every day, the old lady put on her best cap, and sat, +the picture of misery, opposite Linden, in Gertrude's vacant place. The +meals were desperately melancholy. After awhile Adelaide also became +silent, since she very rarely got any reply to her remarks. So they ate +their dinner in silence and separated as soon as possible afterwards.</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank, however, had work to do at least, he could not <i>always</i> +think +and brood and look at the locked door which led into Gertrude's room. +That happened in the evening in his quiet room when little Adelaide was +singing all manner of melancholy songs about love and longing +down-stairs. And at midnight when it was quite quiet, when every one +was asleep in the house and only some faint barking of a dog sounded +from the tillage, he wandered up and down the room till the lamp grew +dim and went out, and even then he did not stop.</p> + +<p class="normal">He no longer expected her to come, though he had done so for +days and +weeks. At first he had gone to the very walls of her garden with a +gnawing desire to see her; he would be there when she came out of the +gate, and he would go to meet her at the very first step. In vain, she +did not come.</p> + +<p class="normal">Once the servants had seen him when his eyes were strangely +red. "The +master is crying for the mistress," was the report in the kitchen.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why doesn't he go and get her?" said the coachman, "I +wouldn't cry a +drop; I should know very well how to get back an obstinate wife," +making an unmistakable gesture. "Brute!" cried the maids, and thereupon +all the women turned their backs on him.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was long since there had been such a harvest; the barns +could +scarcely contain all the grain. The fragrance of the hay came over from +the meadows and mingled with that of the thousand roses in the garden; +the great linden bloomed in the court-yard and a happy hen-mother led +out to walk a legion of yellow little chickens.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the stork's nest on the barn the young ones were growing +apace; the +homely old house lay almost buried in luxuriant greenery; the clematis +climbed up to the windows and peeped in at the empty rooms, and the +swallows which were building under the roof, went crying through the +country and the city, "She has gone away from him! She has gone away +from him!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Yes, everybody knew the sad story by this time. Gertrude +Baumhagen was +separated from her husband. In the coffee parties one whispered to +the other, people spoke of it at the cafés and at dinner-parties, +and at the table d'hôte in the hotel it was the standing topic of +conversation. No one knew exactly why this had happened. There were a +thousand reports of a most wonderful nature.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He did something disagreeable about his wife's dowry--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"She went away because he lifted his hand to strike her--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The mother-in-law made mischief between them--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nonsense! She was jealous--there is a little brown cousin in +the +house--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, it was not that--she heard that before they were engaged +he +consulted an agent about her fortune. It is not so very unusual +now-a-days."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, bah, no woman would run away for that!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That shows that you don't know Gertrude Baumhagen very well. +It is a +fact that she has gone away."</p> + +<p class="normal">Yes, it was a fact, and Gertrude sat in her lonely house like +one +buried alive in that ever gloomy room. She could no longer read; it +seemed as if she slept with open eyes. Sometimes Johanna brought her +her child, and the young wife's eyes mechanically followed the little +creature as it crept awkwardly over the floor or tried to raise +itself by a chair, but she would not touch it even when it fell and +cried.--Towards evening, however, the same unaccountable restlessness +always came over her; then she walked hurriedly up and down the garden +for a long time till she reached the top of the little hill; there she +would remain for hours, gazing at the Thurmberg till her hair and dress +were wet with dew.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Believe me," she said to Johanna, "I shall be ill--here," and +she +pointed to her head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do believe it," assented the other, "it is easy to make +one's self +ill--"</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a day at the end of July; a frightful sultry heat +brooded over +the earth, and the young wife suffered greatly from it even in her cool +room. After dinner she lay motionless in her chair by the window; a +severe headache tortured her as was so often the case lately.</p> + +<p class="normal">Johanna placed her cupful of strong black coffee on the table +and put +the book beside it which had been opened at the same page for the last +three days.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here is a letter too," she added.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude had acquired a great dread of letters lately. She +overcame her +aversion however and opened it. It was in Jenny's pointed handwriting, +and Jenny only wrote surface gossip; one glance at the letter would +suffice. Two sheets fell out.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is a long time since we heard anything from you," she +read, "so +that we are very anxious about you--are you still in 'Waldruhe?'"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I met Judge K. yesterday at a reception, the same who, in the +celebrated divorce case of the Duke of P. with Countess Y., was the +counsel of the latter. I asked him playfully if a woman could separate +from her lord and master if she found that he had had more thought of +her worldly goods than of herself, described the situation pretty +plainly and spoke of a friend of mine who was in such a position. He +replied, 'Tell your friend she had better go quietly back to her +husband, for she is sure to get the worst of it.' His real expression +was a much rougher one, for he is well known as a brute.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, there you have the opinion of an authority in such +matters. Make +an end of the matter, for you may have so bitterly to repent a longer +delay as you are quite unable to realize in your present magnificent +scorn. If I am not much mistaken you really love him. Well, there are +things--but it is hard to write about such things. Read the enclosed +letter, which mamma sent me a few days ago. Perhaps you will guess what +I wanted to say.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wish you had been with me in Paris or were here now in +Baden-Baden. +You would see how we German women, with our thick-skinned housewifely +virtues and our cobwebby romance, make our lives unnecessarily hard. I +am convinced a French woman would hold her sides for laughing if she +should hear the cause of your conjugal strife.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Arthur is very amiable, and obeys at a word. He surprised me +with a +Paris dress for the reception yesterday. As soon as he gets out of our +little nest he is like another man. Good-bye, don't take this affair +too tragically.</p> + +<p style="margin-left:50%">"<span class="sc">Your Sister</span>."</p> + +<p class="normal">Slowly the young wife took up the other letter; it was in Aunt +Pauline's pointed handwriting and was addressed to Mrs. Baumhagen.</p> +<div class="quote"> +<p class="continue">"DEAREST OTTILIE:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Everything here goes on as usual. I was at your house +yesterday; +Sophie is there and had a great moth-hunt yesterday. Your parrot had a +bad eye but it is all right again now. I have heard nothing of +Gertrude; she will let nobody in. I suppose you have heard from her. +There are all sorts of reports about Niendorf going about. Last +evening my husband came home from the club--they say there is a cousin +there who manages the house. Mr. Hanke has seen her in Linden's +carriage--very dark, rather original, and very much dressed. Well, of +course, you know how people will talk, but I will not pour oil on the +fire. I saw Linden too, once, and I hardly knew him; he was coming from +the bank. The man's hair is growing gray about the temples; he looked +like another person, so--how shall I describe it--so run down."</p> +</div> +<p class="normal">Gertrude dropped the letter and then she sprang up--she shook +and +trembled in every limb.</p> + +<p class="normal">With a powerful effort she forced herself to be calm and to be +reasonable. What did she wish? She had separated from him forever. But +her heart! her heart hurt her so all at once, and it beat so loudly in +the deathly stillness which surrounded her that she thought she could +hear it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Johanna!" she shrieked, but no one replied; she was probably +out in +the garden or in the kitchen at work.</p> + +<p class="normal">And what good could she do her? "No, not that, only not that!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She sat down again in her chair by the window and looked out +among the +trees. What would she not give if the woods and the hills would +disappear so that she could look across into that house--into that +room! "A gay little thing is that brown little girl," Johanna had said +the other day. And Gertrude saw her in her mind's eye tripping about +the house, now in the garden-hall, now up the steps, those dear old +worn-out steps. Tap, tap, now in the corridor, the high-heeled shoes +tapped so firmly and daintily on the hard floor; and now at a brown +door--his door.</p> + +<p class="normal">Might she enter? Ah, his room, that dear old room! And +Gertrude wrung +her hands in bitter envy. "Go!" she cried, half-aloud, "go! That +threshold is sacred--I--I crossed it on the happiest day of my life--on +his arm!"</p> + +<p class="normal">And she could see him sitting at his writing-table in his gray +jacket +and his high boots just as he had come in from the fields; his white +forehead stood out in sharp contrast to his brown face. She had always +liked that.</p> + +<p class="normal">And gray hair on his temples? Ah, he had none a few weeks ago! +And +again a dainty little figure fluttered before her eyes going towards +him. Ah, she would like to know that one thing--if he could ever forget +her for another--for this girl perhaps? But of what use was all this?</p> + +<p class="normal">She got up and went out of the room across the corridor to her +father's +room. What her father had done thousands had done before him, and +thousands would do it--a man need not live!</p> + +<p class="normal">On the table by the bed stood the glass with his monogram, out +of which +he had drunk that dreadful potion. The servants had washed it and put +it back there. She walked a few steps toward the window and started +suddenly. Ah yes, it was only her image in the glass. She walked +quickly up to the shining glass and looked in--there was a wonderful +bluish shimmer in it and her face, pale as death, looked out at her +from it. The deep shadows under the eyes spread far down on her cheeks. +Shuddering, she turned away; there was something ghostly about her own +face.</p> + +<p class="normal">And again she stood still and thought. What was left for her +in life? +Everything was gone with him, everything!</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs. Linden," said a voice behind her, "Judge Schmidt."</p> + +<p class="normal">She nodded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In my room."</p> + +<p class="normal">Ah, yes, she had forgotten that she had sent for him. He came +to-day, +and she had only written yesterday. But it was just as well, she must +make a beginning.</p> + +<p class="normal">She turned back again; let him wait, she could not go just +yet. She +went to the window and saw how the heavy leaden clouds were spreading +over the sky; a storm was brewing in the west. Courage, now, courage! +When it was past the sun would shine again; sometimes a broken branch +could not lift itself again. So much the better! There would be no more +of this quiet, this deadly calm.</p> + +<p class="normal">Only something to do--even if--</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ma'am!" called the voice once more, and then she composed +herself and +went.</p> + +<p class="normal">She knew him very well, the old gentleman who came towards her +with a +kind smile, but she could not speak a word to him. She could only wave +her hand silently towards the nearest chair. He knew what the matter +was, let him begin the dreadful conversation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You wish for my advice, Mrs. Linden, in this difficult +matter?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, I wish you to act for me," she said, looking past him +into the +corner of the room, "and I wish above all that Mr. Linden should be +informed of the decision I have come to. I will leave him in possession +of my whole fortune with the exception of this house, and the capital +that is invested in my brother-in-law's factory."</p> + +<p class="normal">She said the words hurriedly, as if she had learned them by +heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are you quite in earnest about it then?" asked the old man.</p> + +<p class="normal">Her eyes blazed out at him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you think I would jest on such a sorrowful subject?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And you think your husband will agree?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is <i>your</i> affair, Mr. Schmidt, to arrange this."</p> + +<p class="normal">He bowed without speaking. She too was silent. An oppressive +stillness +reigned in the room, in the whole house. It seemed to Gertrude as if +she had just heard her sentence of death.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There will be a bad storm to-day," said the judge after +awhile. "I +must leave you now, madam, and as I am half-way to Niendorf now, I will +just drive over, to arrange the matter with your husband in person."</p> + +<p class="normal">"To-day?" She was startled into saying it.</p> + +<p class="normal">He hesitated and looked at her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right, to-morrow will suit me better too--let us say +the day +after to-morrow."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No," she replied, hastily, "go at once, it will be better, +much +better."</p> + +<p class="normal">She got up in some confusion; her headache, the consciousness +that she +had now set the ball rolling nearly overwhelmed her. She accompanied +the lawyer mechanically to the head of the stairs; then she remained +standing in the corridor, her hand pressing her throbbing temples, half +unconscious.</p> + +<p class="normal">She could hear Johanna in the kitchen, and as if she could +bear the +loneliness no longer she went in and sat down on a chair beside the +white scoured table. Johanna was standing before it, choosing between +ivy-leaves and cypress-twigs. Her eyes were red with crying, and large +drops fell now and then on the hands which were making a wreath. The +whole kitchen smelled of death and funerals.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What are you doing there?" asked Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">Johanna looked away and suppressed a sob.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It will be a year to-morrow," she replied in a choked voice, +"since +they brought him home to me dead."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, true."</p> + +<p class="normal">The two women looked deep into each other's sorrowful eyes, +each with +the thought that she was the most unhappy. Ah, but there stood the +little carriage with the sleeping child, and that belonged to Johanna, +and Johanna could think of <i>him</i> without other sorrow and heartache +than that for his loss. To lose a loved one by death, is not half so +hard as to lose him in life. Gertrude could find no word of sympathy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, how could I live through it!" sobbed the young widow. "So +fresh +and strong as he went across the threshold, I think I can see him now +striding up the street. And the very night before, we had a little +quarrel for the first time and I thought, 'Just you wait, you will have +to beg for a pleasant word from me.' And I went to bed without saying +good night, and the next morning I wouldn't make his coffee.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I heard him moving about in the room and I was glad to think +that he +would have to go without his breakfast. He came to my bed once and +looked in my face and I pretended to be asleep. But as soon as he had +shut the outside door behind him, I jumped up and ran to the window and +looked after him--I was so proud of him. It was the last time; it +wasn't two hours later when they brought him home, and day and night I +was on my knees before him, shrieking, and asking if he was angry with +me still. And I prayed to God that He would let him open his eyes just +once, only once, so I could say, 'Good-bye, Fritz, come home safe, +Fritz.' But it was all of no use; he never heard me any more."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude sprang up suddenly and left the kitchen. O God! She +felt sick +unto death. Everything seemed to whirl round and round in her brain, as +if her mind were unsettled. She could no longer follow out a train of +thought to its end, and an idea which had seized upon her five minutes +ago in the most horrible clearness, she was now unable to recall; try +as hard as she might, nothing remained to her but a dull dread of +something dreadful hanging over her.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was no doubt the heavy air, the oppressive stillness of +nature +before a storm that had so excited her nerves.</p> + +<p class="normal">She rang for ice-water. When Johanna set the glass before her +she +turned her head away.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Johanna, do you happen to know how long the--young lady is +going to +stay at Niendorf?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think the whole summer, ma'am," was the reply. "A good +thing, too. +What could they do without her over there?"</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude bit her lip; she felt ashamed. What right had <i>she</i> +to ask +about it?</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did you want anything more, ma'am?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Nothing, thanks."</p> + +<p class="normal">And she remained alone in her room as she had been so many +days before. +She could hear the gnawing of the moths in the old wood-work, and now +and then the steps of the servant in the corridor. With burning eyes +she gazed at the ever-darkening sky; her hands grasped the slender arm +of her chair as if they must have an outward support at least.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gradually it began to grow dark; the approaching evening and +the black +storm-clouds together soon made it quite dusk, while now and then sharp +flashes of lightning brought the dark trees into full relief. Close by +Johanna was closing the windows of the sleeping-room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Shall I bring a lamp?" she asked, looking through the +half-opened +door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, thanks."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But you oughtn't to sit so near the window, ma'am, it looks +so +dreadful out there."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude did not move and the tear-stained face disappeared. A +sudden +gust of wind swept through the trees, the branches were tossed wildly +about as if in a fierce struggle with brute force; the slender branches +were bent down to the ground only to rise again as quickly, and a +fierce blast whirling about gravel, leaves and small stones dashed them +against the rattling panes. Then followed a dazzling flash of +lightning, thunder that made the house shake, and at the same time a +sudden deluge of rain mingled with the peculiar pattering of large +hail-stones.</p> + +<p class="normal">Johanna, with her child in her arms, came anxiously into her +mistress' +room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, mercy!" she shrieked, falling on her knees before the +nearest +chair. Another flash filled the room for a moment with a dazzling red +light, and the thunder crashed after it like a thousand cannon.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That struck, Mrs. Linden, that struck!" cried she in terror.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude had stepped back from the window; she was standing in +the +middle of the room. By the light of the constant flashes the servant +could see her pale, rigid face with perfect distinctness. She rested +her hands on the table and looked towards the window as if it did not +concern her in the least. And still the storm raged more fiercely, +while the world seemed to be standing in a perfect sea of fire. It +seemed to have endured for hours. But gradually the flashes grew less +frequent, the crashes of thunder grew more distant, and at last only a +light rain dripped on the trees and the storm died away in a distant +low grumbling.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude opened the window and bent far out; a wonderfully +sweet air +blew upon her face, soft and aromatic, refreshing and invigorating, and +above in the sky the clouds had parted and a brilliant star sparkled +down upon her. Then she started back. From the high-road there came a +sound of hurried movements; a sound of wheels, the cracking of whips, +the cries of men--what did it mean? It was usually as quiet as the +grave here at this hour.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Fire!" Had she heard aright? She could not see the street but +she +leaned far out and listened to the uproar. Her heart beat loud and +fast. The gardener's wife ran hastily up in her clattering wooden +shoes, and her shrill voice came up to Gertrude's ears.</p> + +<p class="normal">"David, hurry, hurry, hurry, it has been burning in Niendorf +for the +last half-hour--the engine has just gone by--hurry!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Clang, clang, clang!" clashed out the church bell now. In +Gertrude's +ears it sounded like a death-knell. Clang, clang, clang! Why did she +stand still there, her hands clasping the window-sill as if they were +nailed there? She heard doors banging, and voices and shouts, she heard +the gardener rushing out of his house--and still she stood there as if +there was a spell upon her.</p> + +<p class="normal">Again clashed out the warning notes of the bell! And at length +she +roused herself as if from a heavy dream, and now she was quite alive +once more. She flew like an arrow out of the room, snatched a shawl +from the wall of the corridor and rushed past Johanna, who was standing +at the gate with the gardener's wife and children,--away out over the +half-flooded high-road.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mrs. Linden! For the love of Heaven!" screamed Johanna behind +her. But +she paid no heed to the cry. Like a murmured prayer came from her +lips--"On! on!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The road before her was dark and lonely; the men who had +hastened to +the rescue, were out of sight long ago.</p> + +<p class="normal">She actually flew; she felt no fear in the gloomy wood; she +saw nothing +but the dear old burning house, and a pair of manly eyes--once, ah, +once so inexpressibly dear. Something came pattering behind her. Ah, +yes--the dog.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come," she murmured, and hurried on, the sagacious animal +close behind +her.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<p class="normal">It was a long way to Niendorf, but Gertrude flew as if she had +wings.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good Heavens!" she groaned as she reached the top of the hill +and saw +the red glow in the sky. Faster and faster she rushed down the hill; at +the next turn she must see Niendorf--and at last she stood there, +breathing quick and loud, her eyes gazing with terror into the valley. +Thank God! The red smoke was still rising into the sky, the flames +still shot up here and there, but the force of the fire was broken. It +is true, shouts and cries still sounded in her ears, but already she +met men who were going home.</p> + +<p class="normal">She moved aside into the deepest shadow and gazed down into +the valley; +the old house stood there safe and sound, the red light of the dying +flames played about its green ivy-wreathed gables and lighted up the +shrubs in the garden. The barns were in ruins to be sure, but what +mattered that? As she stood there gazing at the house with insatiable +eyes, a light suddenly shone out behind two of the windows, gazing at +her like a pair of friendly eyes. The windows were his. But the young +wife found nothing reassuring in them. The terrible anxiety which had +left her at the sight of the uninjured house, suddenly leaped up with +renewed force. How happened it that there should be lights in his room +when the fire was still smouldering down there? He in the house when +his presence below was so necessary?</p> + +<p class="normal">No, never--or he must--</p> + +<p class="normal">On--on--only to see--only to see from a distance, whether he +lived and +was well!</p> + +<p class="normal">"Life hangs on the merest thread," Johanna's words sounded in +her ears. +"God in Heaven, have mercy, do not punish me <i>so</i>!"</p> + +<p class="normal">At the garden-gate she stopped. What should she do here? Her +ambassador +had come here only to-day and had offered him money for her freedom. +Ah, freedom!</p> + +<p class="normal">Of what use is it when the heart is still held fast in chains +and +bands? And she ran in under the dark trees of the garden, round the +little pond, on the surface of which a faint rosy shimmer of the dying +fire still played, and she sank exhausted on a garden-chair under the +chestnuts; just in front of her, only across the gravel walk was the +house and a dim light shone out of the garden-hall.</p> + +<p class="normal">Upstairs, the bright light was gone from his windows; shouts +and voices +of men still came up from the court, carriages were being pulled about, +horses taken out, all mingled with the sharp hissing sound of the hose. +Gertrude shivered; a great weakness had come over her, her temples +throbbed, the smell of the fire nearly took her breath away.</p> + +<p class="normal">Here she sat motionless, gazing at the steps which led to the +garden-hall. Her eyes sought out step after step and at last lingered +in the door. "Up there! In there!" she thought, her heart beating wildly, +but pride and shame held her fast as with iron chains.</p> + +<p class="normal">It gradually grew quieter in the court, then steps approached, +firm, +elastic steps. Gertrude quickly seized the dog by the collar. "Down, +Diana!" she cried, hoarse with terror, and then a figure passed the +bright light of the window, and brushing close by her went into the +house.</p> + +<p class="normal">Frank! He was alive--thank God! But he was hurt, he kept his +arm +pressed so closely to his side. Ah, but he was alive! and now, now she +could go again quietly and unperceived as she had come. There were +plenty of hands in there to bind up his wounds, to--</p> + +<p class="normal">She shivered again as if in fever.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come," she said to the whining dog, and she got up and turned +away +towards the darker paths, but the dog pressed eagerly toward the house, +and almost as if she knew not what she was doing she suffered herself +to be dragged forward by him.</p> + +<p class="normal">At length she reached the steps and in another moment she was +mounting +them. Only one look inside, only to see if he really was suffering, if +he really was alive! And holding the impatient animal still more firmly +she passed noiselessly across the stone terrace; then she leaned +against the door-post and peeped through the glass, trembling with +emotion, timorous as a thief, full of longing as a child on Christmas +Eve.</p> + +<p class="normal">The room looked just as usual, the carpets, the pictures, all +just as +she had left it; within were people hurrying busily to and fro, and by +the table near the lamp he was sitting, his face, pale and drawn with +pain, turned full towards the door. And beside him, bending over him, +and binding up his arm with all the charming grace of an anxious and +tender wife, was the agile little creature in a black dress and white +apron, her bunch of keys stuck in her girdle. How skilfully she laid on +the bandage! With what supple, tapering fingers she fastened it! How +nearly her dark hair touched his face!</p> + +<p class="normal">And this must be done by other hands than these that she was +wringing +so here outside!</p> + +<p class="normal">A joyful bark sounded beside her, and the dog broke away from +her +trembling fingers with a sudden spring and bounded against the door so +that it shook. She started to flee in terror, but her strength failed +her; the ground seemed to sway under her feet, half-unconscious she +could still hear the door hastily torn open, and then she lost +consciousness altogether.</p> + +<br> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude awoke, just as the day began to dawn, from a deep +dreamless +sleep. She was not ill, and she knew perfectly well what had happened +to her the evening before. She was lying on the sofa in Aunt Rosa's +room; above her smiled down the ancestress with the powdered hair, and +the whole wonderful rose-wreathed room was in the full glow of the +morning sunshine.</p> + +<p class="normal">At the foot of the bed on a low footstool sat a young girl in +a black +dress and a white apron; the dark head had fallen against the arm of +the sofa--Adelaide was sound asleep.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young wife got up softly. Her drenched clothing had been +taken off +the night before and her own dressing-gown put on; there was still a +large part of her wardrobe in Niendorf; she even found, her dainty +slippers standing before the sofa, which she was accustomed to put on +when she got up. She was very quick and very careful not to wake the +young girl. But as she softly opened the door, the sleeper sprang up, +and a pair of wondering dark eyes gazed up at Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where are you going?" asked the clear voice.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude stopped, undecided.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mr. Linden went to bed so very late," continued Adelaide +Strom; "he +sat here beside you till about an hour ago. You will not wake him? It +is not four o'clock yet."</p> + +<p class="normal">A pair of firm little hands drew the young wife away from the +door +towards the sofa, and in contradiction to the childish words a pair of +grave eyes looked at her, saying plainly, "Do what you will--I shall +not let you go."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude sat down again on the improvised bed and bit her lips +till +they bled, but the young girl busied herself at a side-table, and +presently a fragrant odor of coffee filled the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here," she said, offering the young wife a cup of the hot +beverage, +"take it, it will do you good. I made some coffee for Mr. Linden too, +in the night: only drink it quietly, it is <i>his</i> cup and no one else +has ever touched it."</p> + +<p class="normal">And as Gertrude made no reply and only held the cup in her +trembling +hand without drinking, Adelaide continued without taking any +notice--"Ah, yesterday was a dreadful day. The frightful storm and that +dreadful thunderbolt, and the great barn was in flames in a moment, and +before any help came the other was burning, and it was with the +greatest difficulty the animals were saved. If Mr. Linden had not been +so calm and had so much presence of mind, it would have been frightful. +But he went into the horses' stable just as if the flames were not +darting in after him, and he put the harness on the horses and they +followed him out through the flames like lambs, though no one could get +them out before. And only think, when the uproar was the greatest, and +the fire was sending showers of sparks into the air, as if they were +rockets, something began to howl and cry so loud from the very top of +the barn, and we found it was Lora, the great St. Bernard dog, who had +puppies up there.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And how that poor dumb creature did cry out for help! I could +hear +from my window that no one would go up after her,--'Being a dog,' they +all said. And all at once I saw a ladder, and one--two--three--a figure +disappeared up there in the flames. What do you think, Mr. Linden +brought them all down, the old dog and her young ones--all of them."</p> + +<p class="normal">The little girl's eyes sparkled with tears.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But he has a mark of it on his arm to be sure," she added, +"and +it was only a dog after all. What was it in comparison with a man's +life?--Aunt Rosa was so angry with him and said, when he came down here +pale and suffering with the pain, he might have lost his life. Then he +said that such a stupid thing as his life wasn't worth a straw! And +just as he had said it, Diana began to scratch so furiously at the +door, and he rushed out at such a rate that I thought the lightning +must have struck again, and as I ran out behind him, he had you already +in his well arm, and declared that he knew you would come."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude got up at this point, and walked to the door. But +here she met +another obstacle. This was Aunt Rosa, who was just coming out of her +bedroom in the most astonishing morning array and the most enormous +white nightcap that a lady ever wore. She nodded to Gertrude, and laid +her small withered hand on her shoulder.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The dear God always opens a way for the hard heart to +soften," said +the ancient dame, "Yes, in hour of need, the heart has wings on which +it is lifted above all the petty foolishness of pride and perversity. +It was just before the closing of the door, too, my dear child, for +yesterday afternoon, after a certain man had had an interview with him, +I folded my hands and prayed to God to give him strength to bear the +blow--I was afraid he would never get over it."</p> + +<p class="normal">Adelaide Strom now went softly out of the door and the old +woman +remained standing before the young wife, and the tall form seemed +almost to shrink beneath her thin transparent hand. But neither spoke. +The eastern sky grew redder, and then the first rays of the sun played +on Gertrude's brown hair.</p> + +<p class="normal">Suddenly she covered her face with her hands. "My happiness is +over, I +can never be anything more to him!" she gasped.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Say rather 'I <i>will</i> never be anything more to him!'"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ah, and even if I would!" she cried, "I am so wretched!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"He who will not do a thing willingly and gladly would do +better to +leave it undone, and he who cares not to pray, should not fold his +hands." And Aunt Rosa turned away to the window, sat down in her easy +chair and took up her prayer-book. She left Gertrude to herself and +read her morning chapter half aloud.</p> + +<p class="normal">The words struck the ear of the struggling girl with a +wonderful force.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have +not +charity--" sounded through the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Charity suffereth long and is kind; beareth all things, +believeth all +things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."</p> + +<p class="normal">Had she no charity then, no true love? Ah, faith--love--how +should they +remain when one has been so cruelly deceived! And her house came back +to her mind, that sad, lonely house on the edge of the wood, and her +life in the last few weeks, so frightfully bare and desolate.</p> + +<p class="normal">And--"charity beareth all things--" it said.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Amen!" said Aunt Rosa, aloud. And Adelaide came in, and the +young wife +suddenly felt her hands drawn down and through her tears she saw +Adelaide, smilingly unlocking the bunch of keys from her own belt and +holding it out to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I kept things in order as well as I knew how," she said, "it +is not in +the most perfect order I know, but you must not scold me."</p> + +<p class="normal">She felt the keys put into her nerveless hand--had she not +been bowed +down into the dust?</p> + +<p class="normal">"Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity vaunteth not +itself," said +something in her heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will forgive him," said the young wife aloud. But her face +was pale +and rigid.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Forgive, with <i>those</i> eyes?" asked Aunt Rosa. "And for what? +For +believing him less than an acknowledged--well, he is dead, God forgive +him--than a man who was a perfect stranger to you? No, my little woman, +take heart and go up to your Frank and--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>I</i> go to <i>him</i>?" she cried in cutting tones,--"<i>I</i>?" The +bunch of +keys fell clanging on the floor; with trembling hands she snatched up +the dress she had worn the day before, and took the purse out of the +pocket,--the purse which contained that fatal scrap of paper. For +awhile she held the piece of paper in her hand, then she gave it to the +old lady.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will not seem to you so childishly perverse," she said.</p> + +<p class="normal">Aunt Rosa put on her glasses and read it. She started, and +then a smile +spread over her face. In great confusion she looked into Gertrude's +face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Addie," she said, "you can bear witness that I have always +been a most +orderly person my whole life long."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, auntie, the most envious person must allow you that +virtue."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And yet last Christmas it happened to me to mislay a letter. +It was to +Linden from Wolff; for four whole days we searched for it. Let me see, +that was the twenty-second of December--the letter was lost, and on the +twenty-sixth, I happened to lift up my window-cushion and there was the +thing. No one could have been gladder than I. I stayed up till late at +night--Linden had gone to a party at the Baumhagens--and when at last +he came home I gave him the letter and he put it carelessly in his +pocket and said, 'Aunt Rosa, you shall hear it first, I have just been +getting engaged.' And in the joy of his heart he took me in his arms as +if I were still only eighteen. You see, and that"--she struck the bit +of paper with her right hand--"that is a scrap of the letter, my little +woman, and the date coincides exactly."</p> + +<p class="normal">Gertrude was already by her side. "Is that true?" escaped from +her +trembling lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">The old lady nodded. "Perfectly true," she declared. "Ask +Dora. She +searched for the letter with me, and thereby got a great knock on the +head when she was trying to move the wardrobe."</p> + +<p class="normal">But Gertrude declined this. She stood for awhile in silence, +her head +bent down, her color changing rapidly from red to white, then she moved +towards the door and in another moment she had disappeared.</p> + +<p class="normal">Lightly she mounted the stairs, and the old worn boards seemed +to +understand why the little feet stepped so carefully and did not as +usual, crack and snap.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was still as death in the whole house; the corridor was +still dusky +and the old pictures on the wall looked sleepily down on the young +wife. The tall clock kept on its solemn tick-tack, tick-tack. It +sounded so strangely in Gertrude's ears, as she stood hesitating before +the brown door and grasped the knob.</p> + +<p class="normal">Tick-tack, tick-tack! How the time flies! One should not +hesitate a +moment when one has a fault to repair--every minute is so much taken +from him--quick, quick!</p> + +<p class="normal">Softly she opened the door and slipped in. She had drawn her +dress +close about her, so the train should not rustle. Two large eyes gazed +anxiously out of the pale face round the room, which was glowing in the +morning sunshine. Now her heart seemed to stop beating for a moment, +now it throbbed wildly: there in the large chair--he had not gone to +bed, but sleep had overtaken him. There he sat, his wounded arm rested +on the arm of the chair, the other supported his head. He wore still +the soiled, singed coat he had on the day before, and ah, he looked so +pale, so changed!</p> + +<p class="normal">The dog, which lay at his feet, lifted up his head and wagged +his tail. +Then she went towards him. "Make way for me," she murmured, "<i>I</i> must +take that place!"</p> + +<p class="normal">And she knelt down before her husband, and taking the +shrinking injured +hand put it to her lips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Gertrude, what are you doing?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Forgive me, Frank, forgive me?" she whispered, weeping, +resisting his +endeavors to raise her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, Frank, no, let me stay here, it should be so--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Forgive you? There is no question of that. Thank God you are +here +again!"</p> + +<p class="normal">But before she got up she tore a bit of paper into shreds, +then she ran +to the window and opened her hand and they danced away in the air like +snowflakes. And when she turned back again she looked into his grave +eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What was that?" he asked, drawing her towards him.</p> + +<p class="normal">She threw her arms round his neck and hid her streaming eyes +on his +breast. They stood thus together at the open window, in the clear rays +of the morning sun. The twittering swallows flew past them over the +tops of the trees up into the blue sky.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Back again! Back again!" was the burden of their song.</p> + +<p class="normal">Gradually the house woke up. The little brunette laid the +table in the +garden-hall.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Two cups, two plates, and a bunch of roses in the middle--for +the last +time," said she, "then she can do it for herself again."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she stood thinking for a moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He doesn't in the least realize how fortunate he is to get +such a +yielding, lamb-like wife as I am," she murmured. "To be sure, I <i>could</i> +not possibly fancy that he married me for my money."</p> + +<p class="normal">She laughed a clear ringing laugh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I shall have a nice little trousseau if Aunt Rosa gets it."</p> + +<p class="normal">And she opened the garden door and ran out into the green +shrubbery.</p> + +<p class="normal">The world was so beautiful, the sun so golden and Adelaide was +so fond +of the little judge.</p> + +<p class="normal">She was engaged, secretly engaged, for the good fellow would +not come +before his friend in all his bridegroom's bliss, when his happiness was +so utterly shattered. So they had plighted their troth secretly--after +the bowl of <i>mai-trank</i> on that last day. Aunt Rosa was no check +upon them, for she slept placidly in the corner of the sofa, and +Frank--Heaven alone knew when he had gone.</p> + +<p class="normal">But now--she looked at her pretty little hands; yes, there +were +ink-stains on them; she had sent off the news at once to Frankfort: +"Great fire, great anxiety, great reconciliation."</p> + +<p class="normal">She found herself suddenly before a stout little man in a gray +summer +overcoat and a white straw hat.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, ta, ta! little one, don't run over me!"</p> + +<p class="normal">He was very cross, this good Uncle Henry.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pretty state of affairs! A man comes from Hamburg, travelling +all +night, and hardly is he out of the train when some one comes: 'Mr. +Baumhagen, did you know there had been a great fire in Niendorf?' Tired +as a dog as I was, I must needs get into a carriage and drive out +here--a man can't sleep after such a piece of news as that. For mercy's +sake, you are smiling as if it was Christmas eve!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"All the crops are burnt," announced Adelaide in as joyful a +tone as if +she had said, "We have won a great prize."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The poor fellow has ill-luck," muttered Uncle Henry. "Has +some one +gone over to--" He would not speak her name--"to--well, to 'Waldruhe?' +Or has the announcement of the joyful news been left for me again?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No one has been there," replied Adelaide, mischievously.</p> + +<p class="normal">Uncle Henry looked at her more sharply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, what's up then, you witch? Something has happened."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am engaged," burst out the happy little bride. Thank +Heaven, that +she could tell it at last.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You unhappy child!" cried Uncle Henry, by way of +congratulation. But +she ran laughing away into the house.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Breakfast is ready!" she cried from the terrace. "Coffee, +tea, ham and +eggs."</p> + +<p class="normal">The old gentleman, who was going out to view the wreck, turned +sharply +round and followed her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is true," he remarked, "I shall be better for having +something to +eat, I am quite upset by the journey."</p> + +<p class="normal">And Uncle Henry went puffing up the steps and grasped the +door-knob.</p> + +<p class="normal">Good Heavens!--did his eyes not deceive him? There sat Linden, +his arm +in a sling, and beside him--surely he knew that thick brown knot of +hair and that slender figure which was bending, down to cut up his +meat. Now she raises her head and kisses him on the forehead before she +quietly resumes her own place.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Angels and ministers of grace defend us! A man has only to +take a +journey--!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Uncle Henry drops the door-knob. He has such a queer +sensation--he does +not like emotion--and he does not like to disturb other people. He +would gladly get out of the way if he could--perhaps he may manage it +yet.</p> + +<p class="normal">But no. Gertrude herself opens the door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Uncle Henry," she said, pleadingly.</p> + +<p class="normal">And he comes in and behaves exactly as if nothing had ever +happened. It +is the purest selfishness on his part. Scenes don't agree with him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I wanted just to see how you were--you seem to have had a +nice little +fire," he begins.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thank God! No lives were lost," said Linden, "and no cattle +were +burnt; the crops are all destroyed, it is true; but in place of that a +new life has risen out of the ashes." And he held out his sound hand to +Gertrude.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, ta, ta!" murmured Uncle Henry, helping himself hurriedly +to ham +and to butter. "I tell you, children, travelling is a great deal too +hard work, and if it were not for the lobsters in Heligoland and the +eel-soup in Hamburg, then--but, Gertrude, you are laughing and crying +at the same time! Well, well, I am glad to be home again; there is +nothing like home, after all, and with your permission, I will drink +this glass of good port wine to your health and to the peace and +prosperity of your household."</p> + +<br> +<br> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gertrude's Marriage, by W. Heimburg + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERTRUDE'S MARRIAGE *** + +***** This file should be named 32442-h.htm or 32442-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/4/4/32442/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/32442-h/images/007.png b/32442-h/images/007.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5ed5106 --- /dev/null +++ b/32442-h/images/007.png diff --git a/32442-h/images/053.png b/32442-h/images/053.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2a701e2 --- /dev/null +++ b/32442-h/images/053.png diff --git a/32442-h/images/100.png b/32442-h/images/100.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6aee114 --- /dev/null +++ b/32442-h/images/100.png diff --git a/32442-h/images/144.png b/32442-h/images/144.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..39eeca5 --- /dev/null +++ b/32442-h/images/144.png diff --git a/32442-h/images/175.png b/32442-h/images/175.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bf714a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/32442-h/images/175.png diff --git a/32442-h/images/203.png b/32442-h/images/203.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..613397e --- /dev/null +++ b/32442-h/images/203.png diff --git a/32442-h/images/220.png b/32442-h/images/220.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fcc4827 --- /dev/null +++ b/32442-h/images/220.png diff --git a/32442.txt b/32442.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..becc2cf --- /dev/null +++ b/32442.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7276 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Gertrude's Marriage, by W. Heimburg + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Gertrude's Marriage + +Author: W. Heimburg + +Translator: J. W. Davis + +Release Date: May 19, 2010 [EBook #32442] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERTRUDE'S MARRIAGE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + +Transcriber's notes: +1. Page scan source: + http://www.archive.org/details/gertrudesmarria00heimgoog +2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. + + + + + + + + + + + GERTRUDE'S MARRIAGE + + + W. HEIMBURG + + TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN + + BY MRS. J. W. DAVIS + + + + ILLUSTRATED + + + NEW YORK + WORTHINGTON CO., 747 BROADWAY + 1889 + + + + + + + COPYRIGHT 1889 BY + WORTHINGTON COMPANY + + + + + + + GERTRUDE'S MARRIAGE. + + + CHAPTER I. + + +"Really, Frank, if I were in your place I shouldn't know whether to +laugh or cry. It has always been the height of my ambition to have a +fortune left me, but as with everything in this earthly existence, I +should have my preferences. + +"Upon my word, Frank, I am sorry for you. Here you are with an +inheritance fallen into your lap that you never even dreamed of, a sort +of an estate, a few hundred acres and meadows, a little woodland, a +garden run wild, a neglected dwelling-house, and for stock four +spavined Andalusians, six dried-up old cows, and above all an old aunt +who apparently unites the attributes of both horses and cows in her own +person. Boy, at least wring your hands or scold or do something of the +sort, but don't stand there the very picture of mute despair!" + +Judge Weishaupt spoke thus in comic wrath to his friend Assessor +Linden, who sat opposite him. Before them on the table stood a bottle +of Rhine wine with glasses, and the eyes of the person thus addressed +rested on the empty bottle with a thoughtful expression, as if he could +read an answer on the label. + +It was a large room in which they were sitting, a sort of garden-hall, +furnished very simply and in an old-fashioned style, with two birchen +corner-cupboards, which in our grandmother's time served the purpose of +the present elegant buffets, and which, instead of costly majolica, +displayed painted and gold-rimmed cups behind their glass doors; +with a large sofa, whose black horse-hair covering never for a +moment suggested the possibility of soft luxurious repose; with +six simply-constructed cane-seated chairs grouped about the large +table, and finally, with several dubious family portraits, among +which especially to be noted was the pastel portrait of a youthful +fair-haired beauty, whose impossibly small mouth wore an embarrassed +smile as if to say: "I beg you to believe that I did not really look so +silly as this!" And over all this bright orange-colored curtains shed a +peculiarly unpleasant light. + +The door of the room was open and as if in compensation for all this +want of taste, a wonderful prospect spread itself out before the eye. +Lofty wooded mountain tops, covered with rich foliage which the autumn +frosts had already turned into brilliant colors, formed the background; +close by, the neglected garden, picturesque enough in its wild state, +and shimmering through the trees, the red pointed roofs of the village; +the whole veiled with the soft haze of an October morning, which the +rays of the sun had not yet dispersed. The regular strokes of the +flails on the threshing floors of the estate had a pleasant sound in +the clear morning air. + +The young man's dark eyes strayed away from the wine-bottle; he started +up suddenly and went to the door. + +"And in spite of all that, Richard, it is a charming spot," he said +warmly. "I have always had a great liking for North Germany. I assure +you 'Faust' is twice as interesting here, where the Brocken looks down +upon you. Don't croak so like an old raven any more, I beg of you. I +shall never forget Frankfort, but neither shall I miss it too much--I +hope." + +"Heaven forbid!" cried the little man, still playing with the empty +wine-glass. "You don't pretend to say--" + +But Linden interrupted him. "I don't pretend anything, but I am going +to try to be a good farmer, and I am going to do this, Richard, not +only because I must, but because I really like this queer old nest; so +say no more, old fellow." + +"Well, good luck to you!" replied the other, coming up to his friend +and looking almost tenderly into the handsome, manly face. + +"I have really nothing to say against this playing at farming if +I only know how and where.--You see, Frank, if I were not such a +poverty-stricken wretch, I would say to you this minute: 'Here, my boy, +is a capital of so much; now go to work and get the moth-eaten old +place into some kind of order.' Things cannot go on as they are. +But--well, you know--" he ended, with a sigh. + +Frank Linden made no reply, but he whistled softly a lively air, as he +always did when he wished to drive away unpleasant thoughts. + +"O yes, whistle away," muttered the little man, "it is the only music +you are likely to hear, unless it is the creaking of a rusty hinge or +the concert of a highly respectable family of mice which have settled +in your room--brr--Frank! Just imagine this lonely hole in winter--snow +on the mountains, snow on the roads, snow in the garden and white +flakes in the air! Good Heavens! What will you do all the long evenings +which we used to spend in the Taunus, in the Bockenheimer Strasse, or +in the theatre? Who will play euchre with you here? For whom will you +make your much-admired poems? I am sure they won't be understood in the +village inn. Ah, when I look at you and think of you moping here alone, +and with all your cares heavy upon you!" + +He sighed. + +"I will tell you something, Frank, joking aside," he continued. "You +must marry. And I advise you in this matter not to lay so much stress +on your ideal; pass over for once the sylph-like forms, liquid eyes and +sweet faces in favor of another advantage which nothing will supply the +place of, in our prosaic age. Don't bring me a poor girl, Frank, though +she were a very pearl of women. In your position it would be perfect +folly, a sin against yourself and all who come after you. It won't make +the least difference if your fine verses don't exactly fit her. You +wouldn't always be making poetry, even to the loveliest woman. O yes, +laugh away!" + +He brushed the ashes from his cigar. "In Frankfort--if you had only +chosen--you might have done something. But you were quite dazzled by +that little Thea's lovely eyes. How often I have raged about it! When a +man has passed his twenty-fifth year he really ought to be more +sensible." + +Frank Linden was obstinately silent, and the little man knew at once +that he had as he used to say, "put his foot in it." + +"Come, Frank, don't be cross," he continued, "perhaps there are rich +girls to be had here too." + +"O to be sure, sir, to be sure," sounded behind him, "rich girls and +pretty girls; our old city has always been celebrated for them." + +[Illustration: "Both gentlemen turned toward the speaker."] + +Both gentlemen turned toward the speaker; the judge only to turn away +at once with an angry shrug, Frank Linden to greet him politely. + +"I have brought the papers you wanted," continued the new-comer, a +little man over fifty with an incredibly small pointed face over which +a sweet smile played, a sanctimonious man in every motion and gesture. + +"I am much obliged, Mr. Wolff," said Frank Linden, taking the papers. + +"If there is anything else I can do for you--Miss Rosalie will testify +that I was always ready to help your late uncle." + +"I am a perfect stranger here," replied the young squire, "it may be +that I shall require your help." + +"I shall feel highly honored, Mr. Linden--Yes, and as I said before, if +you should want to make acquaintances in the city there are the +Tubmans, the Schenks, the Meiers and the Hellbours and above all the +Baumhagens--all rich and pleasant families, Mr. Linden. You will be +received with open arms, there's always a dearth of young men in our +little city. The gentlemen of the cavalry--you know, I suppose--only +want to amuse themselves--shall be only too glad in case you--" + +The judge interrupted him with a loud clearing of his throat. + +"Frank," he said, dryly, "what tower is that up there on the hill? You +were studying the map yesterday!" + +"St. Hubert's Tower," replied the young man, going towards him. + +"Belongs to the Baron von Lobersberg," interposed Wolff. + +"That doesn't interest me in the least," muttered the judge, gazing at +the tower through his closed hand for want of a glass. + +"I have the honor to bid you good-morning," said Wolff, "must go over +to Lobersberg." + +The judge nodded curtly; Linden accompanied the agent to the door and +then came slowly back. + +"Now please explain to me," burst out his friend, "where you picked up +that fellow--that rat, I should say, who pushes himself into your +society so impudently." + +Frank Linden's dark eyes turned in astonishment to the angry +countenance of the judge. + +"Why, Richard, he was my uncle's right-hand man, his factotum, and +lastly, he has something to say about my affairs, for unhappily, he +holds a large mortgage on Niendorf." + +"That does not justify him in the impertinent manner which he displays +towards you," replied his friend. + +"O my dear little Judge," said the young man in excuse, "he looks on me +as a newcomer, an ignoramus in the sacred profession of farming. You--" + +"And I consider him a shady character! And some day, my dear boy, you +will say to me, 'Richard, God knows you were right about that man--the +fellow is a rascal.'" + +"Do you know," cried Frank Linden, between jest and earnest, "I wish I +had left you quietly in your lodging in the Goethe-Platz. You will +spoil everything here for me with your gloomy views. Come, we will take +a turn through the garden; then, unfortunately, it will be time for you +to go to the station, if you wish to catch the Express." + +He took the arm of his grumbling friend and drew him with him along the +winding path, on which already the withered leaves were lying. + +"I am sure the fellow has a matrimonial agency somewhere," muttered the +judge, grimly. + +As they turned the corner of the neglected shrubbery, they saw an old +woman slowly pacing up and down the edge of the little pond. + +"For Heaven's sake!" began the little man again, "just look at that +figure, that cap with the monstrous black bow, that astonishing dress +with the waist up under the arms, and what a picturesque fashion of +wearing a black shawl--and, goodness! she has got a red umbrella. My +son, she probably uses it to ride out on the first of May--brr--and +that is your only companion!" + +It was indeed a remarkable figure, the old woman wandering up and down +with as much dignity as if one of the faded pastel pictures in the +garden hall had suddenly come to life. + +"Shall I call her?" asked Frank Linden, smiling. + +"Heaven forbid!" cried the other. "This neighborhood of the Blocksberg +is really uncanny--your Mr. Wolff looks like Mephistopheles in person, +and this--well, I won't say what--she is really a serious charge for +you, Frank." + +The wonderful figure had long since disappeared behind the bushes, when +the young man answered, abstractedly, + +"You see things in too gloomy a light, Richard. How can this poor, +feeble old woman, almost on the verge of the grave, possibly be a +burden to me? She lives entirely shut up in her own room." + +"But I will venture to say that she will be forever wanting something +of you. When she is cold the stove will be in fault, when she has +rheumatism you will have to shoot a cat for her. She will meddle in +your affairs, she will mislay your things, and will vex you in a +thousand ways. Old aunts are only invented to torment their fellow-men. +But no matter, make your own beer and drink it all down. But I think it +must be time to go, the Express won't wait." + +Linden looked at his watch, nodded, and went hastily to the house to +order the carriage. + +His friend followed him thoughtfully; at length he muttered a +suppressed, "Confound it! Such a splendid young fellow to sit and suck +his paws in this hole of a peasant village! What sort of a figure will +he cut among the rich proprietors of this blessed country? I wish +his old uncle had chosen anybody on earth for his heir, only not +_him_--much as he pretends to like it. What a career he might have +made! And now he will just bury himself in this hole--confound +Niendorf! If I only had him at home in gay Frankfort--O--it is--" + +A quarter of an hour later the friends were rolling towards the city in +a rather old-fashioned carriage. Behind them was the quiet little Harz +village, and before them rose the many-towered city. + +They had not far to go; they reached their destination in an hour's +time, and the carriage stopped before the stately railroad station. +Silently as they had come they got the ticket and had the baggage +weighed, and Linden did not speak till they reached the platform. + +"Greet Frankfort for me, Richard, and all my friends. Write to me when +you have time. See that I get my furniture and books soon, and many +thanks for your company so far." + +The judge made a deprecating gesture. "I wish to Heaven I could take +you back with me, Frank," he said, in a softer tone. "You don't know +how I shall miss you. You know what a bad correspondent I am, you are +much better at writing than I, and you will have more time for it, +too--" + +The whistle and the rumbling of the approaching train cut him short; in +another moment he was in a _coupe_. + +"Good-bye, Frank--come nearer for a moment, old fellow--remember if you +are ever in any serious difficulty, write to me at once. If I should +not be able to help you myself--you know my sister is in good +circumstances--" + +One more hand-shake, one more look into a pair of true, manly eyes, and +Frank Linden stood alone on the platform. He turned slowly away, and +walked towards his carriage. He had his foot on the step when he +bethought himself, and ordered the coachman to drive to the hotel, for +he had something to do in town. + +He was so entirely under the influence of the uncomfortable feeling +which parting from a friend creates, that he took the road into town in +no very cheerful mood. On entering the city he turned aside and +followed a deserted path which led along the well-preserved old city +wall. He did not in the least know where he was going; he had nothing +to do here, he knew no one, but he must look about a little in the +neighboring town. It seemed, in fact, well entitled to its reputation +as an old German imperial city; the castle, with the celebrated +cathedral, towered up defiantly on the steep crags; several slender +church towers rose from out the multitude of red pointed roofs, and the +old wall, broken at regular intervals by clumsy square watch-towers, +surrounded the old town like a firm chain. + +He took delight in the beautiful picture, and as he walked on his fancy +painted the magnificent imperial city waking out of its slumber of a +thousand years. After awhile he stopped and looked up to one of the +gray towers. + +"Really it is almost like the Eschenheim Gate in Frankfort," he said +half aloud; "what wonderful springs the thoughts make!" + +Suddenly he found himself back in the present; scarcely four weeks ago +he had passed through that beautiful gate, without dreaming that he +would so soon see its companion in North Germany. Like lightning out of +blue sky this inheritance which made him possessor of Niendorf had come +upon him. How it had happened to occur to his grandfather's old brother +to select _him_ out of the multitude of his relatives for his heir +still remained an unsolved problem, and he could only refer it to the +especial liking for his mother whom the eccentric old man had always +shown a preference for. + +He had felt when he received the news as if a golden shower had fallen +into his lap; it is difficult living in a city of millionaires on the +salary of an assessor. And then--he had received a wound there in that +brilliant bewildering life, and the scar still made itself felt at +times--for instance when an elegant equipage dashed by him--black +horses with liveries of black and silver and on the light-gray cushions +a woman's figure, dark ostrich feathers waving above a face of marble +whiteness, the luxuriant gold brown hair fastened in a knot on the neck +and ah! looking so coldly at him out of her great blue eyes. After such +a meeting he felt depressed for days. "A milliner's doll, a heartless +woman," he called her bitterly, but he had once believed quite the +reverse a whole year long till one morning he saw her betrothal in the +paper. She married a banker who had often served as the butt of her +ridicule. But--he had a million! + +Ah, how gladly had he gone out of her neighborhood, how rejoiced he had +been to turn his back on the great world, with what happiness he had +written to his mother and what had he found! + +But no matter! The steward whom he had for the present seemed a capable +fellow; he would not spare himself in any respect and then--Wolff. He +could not understand what had set Weishaupt so against the man. + +He had now been wandering for some time through the busiest streets of +the town. He asked for the hotel where his coachman was to wait for +him. He now entered the marketplace in the midst of which the statue of +Roland stands. A stately Rathhaus in the style of the Renaissance stood +on the western side of the square, and lofty elegant patrician houses +with pointed gables surrounded it; some adorned with bow-windows, some +with the upper stories overhanging till it seemed as if they must lose +their balance. Only two or three buildings were of later date, and even +in these care had been taken to preserve the mediaeval character. + +Agreeably surprised, Linden stopped and his glance passed critically +over the front of the lofty building before which he had chanced to +pause. Three tall stories towered one above another; over the great +arched doorway rose a dainty bow-window which extended through all the +stories and stretched up into the blue October sky as a stately tower, +finished at the top with a weather-vane. The window in the _bel-etage_ +was divided into small diamond panes--that was an "aesthetic" dwelling, +no doubt. In the second story rich lace curtains shimmered behind large +clear panes, and a very garden of fuchsias and pinks waved and nodded +from the plants outside. If a lovely girl's face would only appear +above them now, the picture would be complete. + +But nothing of the kind was to be seen, and casting one more glance at +the artistic ironwork of the staircase, the attentive spectator turned +and crossed the market-place to the hotel in order to dine. As it was +already late he was the only guest in the spacious dining-room. He ate +his dinner with all speed, and began his wanderings through the streets +again. + +Behind the Rathhaus he plunged into a labyrinth of narrow streets and +alleys, then passing through an archway he entered unexpectedly a +square surrounded by tall linden trees half stripped of their leaves, +which, grave and solemn, seemed to be watching over a large church. It +seemed as though everybody was dead in this place; only a few children +were playing among the dry leaves, and an old woman limped into a sunny +corner, otherwise the deepest silence reigned. + +A side door of the church stood open; he crossed over and entered into +the silent twilight of the sacred place; he took off his hat, and, +surprised by the noble simplicity of the building, he gazed at the +slender but lofty columns and the rich vaulting of the choir. Then he +walked down the middle aisle between the artistically carved stalls, +brown with age. He delighted in them, for he had the greatest +admiration for the beautiful forms of the Renaissance, and he was +doubly pleased, for he had not expected to find anything of the kind +here. + +Here he suddenly stopped; there at the font, above which the white dove +soared with outspread wings, he saw three women. Two of them seemed to +be of the lower class; the elder, probably the midwife, held the child, +tossing it continually; the other, in a plain black woollen dress and +shawl, a young matron, looked at the child with eyes red with weeping; +a third had bent down towards her; the sexton, who was pouring the +water into the basin, concealed her completely for the moment and +Linden saw only the train of a dark silk dress on the stone floor. + +And now a soft flexible woman's voice sounded in his ear: "Don't cry +so, my good Johanna, you will have a great deal of comfort yet with the +little thing--don't cry! + +"Engleman, you had better call the clergyman--my sister does not seem +to come, she must have been detained; we will not wait any longer." + +The speaker turned towards the mother, and Frank Linden looked full +into the face of the young girl. It was not exactly beautiful, this +fine oval, shaded by rich golden brown hair; the complexion was too +pale, the expression too sad, the corners of the mouth too much drawn +down, but under the finely pencilled brows a pair of deep blue eyes +looked out at him, clear as those of a child, wistful and appealing, +as if imploring peace for the sacred rite. + +It might often happen that strangers entered the beautiful church and +made a disturbance--at least so Frank Linden interpreted the look. +Scarcely breathing, he leaned against one of the old stalls, and his +eyes followed every movement of the slender, girlish figure, as she +took the child in her arms and approached the clergyman. + +"Herr Pastor," sounded the soft voice, "you must be content with _one_ +sponsor, for unfortunately my sister has not come." + +The clergyman raised his head. "Then you might, Mrs. Smith--" he signed +to the elder woman. + +Frank Linden stood suddenly before the font beside the young girl; he +hardly knew himself how he got there so quickly. + +"Allow me to be the second sponsor," he said.--"I came into the church +by chance, a perfect stranger here; I should be sorry to miss the first +opportunity to perform a Christian duty in my new home." + +He had obeyed a sudden impulse and he was understood. The gray-haired +clergyman nodded, smiling. "It is a poor child, early left fatherless, +sir," he replied. "The father was killed four weeks before its +birth--you will be doing a good work--are you satisfied?" he said, +turning to the mother. "Well then--Engelman, write down the name of the +godfather in the register." + +"Carl Max Francis Linden," said the young man. + +And then they stood together before the pastor, these two who a quarter +of an hour ago had had no knowledge of one another; she held the +sleeping child in her arms; she had not looked up, the quick flush of +surprise still lingered on the delicate face, and the simple lace on +the infant's cushion trembled slightly. + +The clergyman spoke only a few words, but they sank deep into the +hearts of both. Linden looked down on the brown drooping head beside +him, the two hands rested on the infant's garments, two warm young +hands close together, and from the lips of both came a clear distinct +"Yes" in answer to the clergyman's questions. When the rite was ended, +the young girl took the child to its weeping mother and pressed a kiss +on the small red cheek, then she came up to Linden and her eyes gazed +at him with a mixture of wonder and gratitude. + +"I thank you, sir," she said, laying her small hand in his for a +moment. "I thank you in the name of the poor woman--it was so good of +you." + +Then with a proud bend of her small head she went away, the heavy silk +of her dress making a slight rustling about her as she walked. She +paused a moment at the door in the full daylight and looked back at him +as he stood motionless by the font looking after her; it seemed as if +she bent her head once more in greeting and then she disappeared. + +Frank Linden remained behind alone in the quiet church. Who could she +be who had just stood beside him? A slight jingling caused him to turn +round; the sexton was coming out of the sacristy with his great bunch +of keys. + +"You want to shut up the church, my friend?" he said. "I am going now." +Then as if he had thought of something he came back a few steps. "Who +was the young lady?" was on his lips to ask, but he could not bring it +out, he only gazed at the glowing colors in the painted glass of the +lofty window. + +"They are very fine," said the sexton, "and are always much admired; +that one is dated 1511, the Exodus of the children of Israel, a gift +from the Abbess Anna from the castle up there. They say she had a great +liking for this church, and it is the finest church far and wide too, +our St. Benedict's." + +Frank Linden nodded. + +"You may be right," he said, abstractedly. Then he gave the man a small +sum for the baby and went away. + +Soon after, his carriage was rolling away towards home. The outlines +of the mountains rose dark against the red evening sky, and the +church-tower of Niendorf came nearer and nearer. + +Nothing seemed strange to him now as it had been this morning; the +first slight happy feeling of home-coming was growing in his heart. On +the top of the hill he turned again and looked back at the city, where +the castle looked to him like an old acquaintance, and hark! The faint +sound of a bell was wafted towards him on the evening breeze; perhaps +from St. Benedict's tower? + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + +Gertrude Baumhagen had quickly crossed the quiet square, had opened a +door in the opposite wall, and was at home. She passed rapidly through +the box-edged path of the old-fashioned garden, and across a quiet +spacious court into the house. In the large vaulted hall, she found her +brother-in-law standing beside a tall velocipede. He was dressed +elegantly and according to the latest fashion, a costly diamond +sparkled on the blue cravat, while he wore another on his white hand. +He was fair-haired, with pink cheeks, and a small moustache on his +upper lip, and was perhaps about thirty. A servant was occupied in +cleaning the shining steel of the bicycle with a piece of chamois +leather. + +"Are you going for a ride, Arthur?" asked the young girl, pleasantly. + +"I am going to make off, Gertrude," he replied, peevishly. "What on +earth can I do at home? Jenny has got a ladies' tea party again to-day +by way of variety--and what am I to do? I am going with Carl Roeben to +Bodenstadt--a man must look out for himself a little." + +"I am just going up to your house," said the young girl. "I am cross +with Jenny and am going to scold her." + +"You will be lucky then if you don't come off second best, my dear +sister-in-law," cried Arthur Fredericks, laughing. + +She shook her head gravely, and mounted the broad staircase, whose dark +carved balustrade harmonized well with the crimson Smyrna carpet which +covered the steps, held down by shining brass rods. Huge laurel-trees +in tubs stood on either side of the tall door, which led to the first +floor. On the left, the staircase went on to the upper story. Gertrude +Baumhagen pressed on the button of the electric bell and instantly the +door was opened by a servant-maid in a brilliantly white apron, while a +clear voice called out, + +"Yes, yes, I am at home--you have come just in time, Gertrude." + +In the large entrance hall, which was finished in old German style, a +young matron stood before a magnificent buffet, busied in taking out +all manner of silver-plate from the open cupboard. She wore a dainty +little lace cap on her light brown hair, and a house-dress of fine +light blue cashmere, richly trimmed with lace. She was very pretty, +even now when she was pouting, but there was no resemblance between the +two sisters. + +"You are not even dressed yet, Jenny?" cried the young girl. "Then I +might have waited a good while in the church. It was really very +awkward, your not coming." + +The young matron stopped and set down the great glass dish encircled by +two massive silver snakes, in dismay. Then she clapped her hands and +began to laugh heartily. + +"There now!" she cried, "this whole day I have been going about the +house with a feeling that there was something I had to do, and I +couldn't think what it was. O that is too rich! Caroline, you might +have reminded me!" she continued, turning to the maid, who was just +laying a heavy linen table-cloth on the massive oak-table in the middle +of the room. + +"Mrs. Fredericks laid down to sleep and said expressly that I was not +to wake her before four o'clock," said the maid in her own defence. + +"Well, so I did," yawned the young matron; "I was so tired, his +lordship was in a bad temper, and the baby was so frightfully noisy. It +is no great misfortune, either; I can easily make up for it by sending +her something tomorrow." + +"Why, Jenny! Have you forgotten that it was I who told Johanna that you +and I would be godmothers? I thought it was our _duty_--the man was +killed in our factory." + +"O fiddle-dedee, pet," interposed Mrs. Jenny, "I hate that everlasting +god mothering! I have already three round dozens of godchildren as +surely as I stand here---_poor_ people are not required for that +purpose, I assure you. Come, I have finished here now, we will go to +the nursery for awhile, or"--casting a glance at the old-fashioned +clock--"still better, mamma has had some patterns for evening-dresses +sent her--wait a minute and I will come up with you; the company won't +come yet for an hour and a half." + +She turned round gracefully once more as if to survey her work. The +buffet shone with silver dishes, a bright fire burned in the open +fireplace, the heavy chandelier as well as the sconces before the tall +glass were filled with dark red twisted candles, and as Caroline drew +back the heavy embroidered _portiere_, a room almost too luxuriously +furnished became visible--a room all crimson; even through the stained +glass of the bow-window the evening light sent red reflections in the +labyrinth of chairs and sofas, lounges and tables, while white marble +statues stood out against the dark green of costly greenhouse plants. + +"It looks pleasant, doesn't it, Gertrude?" said the young wife. "I have +not opened the great drawing-room because there will be only a few +ladies. The wife of the Home Minister has accepted. Are you coming in +for an hour?" + +"No, thanks," replied the young girl, mounting the stairs with her +sister to her mother's apartment. "Send me the baby for awhile, I like +so much to have him." + +"Oh, yes, the young gentleman shall make his appearance," nodded Mrs. +Jenny, "provided he doesn't sleep like a little dormouse." + +"Do you go in to mamma," said Gertrude. "I will change my dress and +then come." + +The rooms were the same as in the lower story, also richly furnished, +though not in the new "aesthetic" style, yet they were not less elegant +and comfortable. The sisters separated in the ante-room, and Gertrude +Baumhagen went to her own room. She occupied the room with the +bow-window, but here the daylight was not broken by costly stained +glass: it came in, unhindered, in floods through the clear panes, +before which outside, numberless flowers waved in the soft breeze. +Directly opposite were the gables of the Rathhaus; like airy lace-work, +the rich ornamentation of the towers was marked out against the glowing +evening sky. + +This bow-window was a delightful place; here stood her work-table, and +behind it on an easel, the portrait of the late Mr. Baumhagen. The +resemblance between the father and daughter was visible at a glance; +there was the same light brown hair, the intellectual brow, the small, +fine nose, and the eyes too were the same. She had always been his +darling, and it was her care that fresh flowers should always be placed +in the gold network of the frame. And where she sat at work her hands +would sometimes rest in her lap and her eyes would turn to the picture. +"My dear, good papa!" she would whisper then, as if he must understand. + +To-day also, she walked quickly towards the bow-window and looked long +at the picture. "You would have done that too," she said, softly, +"wouldn't you, papa!" An earnest expression came suddenly into the +young eyes, something like inexpressible longing. "No, every one is not +like mamma and Jenny; there are warm human hearts, there are hearts +that feel compassion for a stranger's needs, for whom the detested--" +she stopped suddenly her small hands had clenched themselves and her +eyes filled with tears. + +She began to pace up and down the room. The soft, thick carpet deadened +the sound of her footsteps, but the heavy silk rustled after her with +an anxious sound. + +What humiliations she had to endure daily and hourly from the fact of +being a rich girl! She owed everything to the circumstance of having a +fortune. Jenny had just now declared to her again that she had only +been godmother, because--Ah, no matter, she knew better. Johanna was +too modest. But she had not yet recovered from that other blow. A week +ago there had been man[oe]uvres in the neighborhood, and the colonel +with his adjutant had had his quarters for two days in the Baumhagen +house. She could not really remember that she had spoken more than a +few commonplace words to the adjutant, and twenty-four hours after the +troops had left the city--yesterday--a letter lay before her filled +with the most ardent protestations of love and an entreaty for her +hand. She had taken the letter and gone to her mother with it, with the +words: "Here is some one who wishes to marry my money. Will you write +the answer, mamma? I cannot." + +Now she was dreading the mention of this letter. She was not afraid +that her mother would try to persuade her. No, no, she had always been +independent enough not to order her life according to the will of +another, but the matter would be discussed and the division between +mother and daughter would only be made wider than ever. + +She started; the door opened and her sister's voice called: "Do come, +Gertrude, I can't make up my mind about that new red." + +The young girl crossed the hall and a moment after stood in her +mother's drawing-room, before her mother, a small woman with almost too +rosy cheeks, and an exceedingly obstinate expression about the full +mouth. She sat on the sofa beneath the large Swiss landscape, the work +of a celebrated Duesseldorf master--Mrs. Baumhagen was fond of relating +that she had paid five hundred dollars for it--and tossed about with +her small hands, covered with diamonds, a mass of dress patterns. + +"Gertrude," she cried, "this would do for you." And she held out a bit +of blue silk. "It is a pity you are so different, it is so nice for two +sisters to dress alike." + +"What is suitable for a married woman, is not fit for a girl," declared +Mrs. Jenny. "Gertrude ought to get married, she is twenty years old." + +"Ah! that reminds me,"--the mother had been turning over the patterns +during the conversation,--"there is that letter from your last admirer, +I must answer it. What am I to write him?-- + +"See here, Jenny, this brown ground with the blue spots is pretty, +isn't it?--It is really a great bore to answer letters like that; why +don't you do it yourself?" + +"I am afraid my answer would not be dispassionate enough," replied the +girl, calmly. + +"Do you like him?" asked her sister. + +The young girl ignored the question. + +"I am afraid I might be bitter, and nothing is required but a purely +business-like answer, as the question was purely one of business." + +"You are delicious!" laughed the young wife. "O what a pity you had not +lived in the middle ages, when the knights were obliged to go through +so long a probation! Little goose, you must learn to take the world as +it is. Do you suppose Arthur would have married _me_ if I had had +nothing? I assure you he would never have thought of it! And do you +suppose I would have taken _him_ if I had not known he was in good +circumstances? Never! And what would you have more from us? we are a +comparatively happy couple." + +Gertrude looked at her sister in surprise, with a questioning look in +her blue eyes. + +"Comparatively happy?" she repeated in a low tone. + +"Good gracious, yes, he has his whims--one has to put up with them," +declared her sister, + +"Pray don't quarrel to-day," said Mrs. Baumhagen, taking her eye-glass +from her snub-nose; "besides I will write the letter. It is for that I +am your mother." She sighed. + +"But in this matter I think Jenny is right. Gertrude, you take far too +ideal views of the world. We have all seen to what such ideas lead." +Another sigh. "I will not try to persuade you, I did not say anything +to influence Jenny; you both know that very well. For my own part I +have nothing against this Mr. Mr.--Mr.--" the name did not occur to her +at once. + +The young girl laughed, but her eyes looked scornful. "His address is +given with great distinctness in the letter," she said. + +"There is no great hurry, I suppose," continued her mother. "I have my +whist-party this evening; if I am not there punctually I must pay a +fine; besides, I don't feel like writing." She yawned slightly. + +"The evenings are getting very long now--did you know, Jenny, that an +opera troupe is coming here?" + +Jenny answered in the affirmative, and added that she must go and +dress. + +"Good night," she cried, merrily, from the door; "we shall not meet +again to-day." + +"Good night, mamma," said Gertrude also. + +"Are you going down to Jenny?" asked Mrs. Baumhagen. + +The girl shook her head. + +"What are you going to do all the evening?" + +"I don't know, mamma. I have all sorts of things to do. Perhaps I shall +read." + +"Ah! Well, good night, my child." + +She waved her hand and Gertrude went away. She took off her silk dress +when she reached her room and exchanged it for a soft cashmere, then +she went into her pretty sitting-room. It was already twilight and +the lamps were being lighted in the street below. She stood in the +bow-window and watched one flame leap out after the other and the +windows of the houses brighten. Even the old apple-woman, under the +shelter of the statue of Roland, hung out her lantern under her +gigantic white umbrella. Gertrude knew all this so well; it had been +just the same when she was a tiny girl, and there was no change--only +here inside it was all so different--so utterly different. + +Where were those happy evenings when she had sat here beside her +father--where was the old comfort and happiness? They must have hidden +themselves away in his coffin, for ever since that dreadful day when +they had carried her father away, it had been cold and empty in the +house and in the young girl's heart. He had been so ill, so melancholy; +it was fortunate that it had happened, so people said to the widow, who +was almost wild in her passionate grief, but she had gone on a journey +at once with Jenny, and had spent the winter in Nice. Gertrude would +not go with them on any account. Her eyes, which had looked on such +misery, could not look out upon God's laughing world,--her shattered +nerves could not bear the gay whirl of such a life. She had stayed +behind with an old aunt--Aunt Louise slept almost all day, when she was +not eating or drinking coffee, and the young girl had learned all the +horrors of loneliness. She had been ill in body and mind, and when her +mother and sister had returned, she learned that one may be lonely even +in company, and lonely she had remained until the present day. + +Urged by a longing for affection, she had again and again tried to find +excuses for her mother, and to adapt herself to her mode of life. She +had allowed herself to be drawn into the whirl of pleasure into which +the pleasure-loving woman had plunged so soon as her time of mourning +was over. She had tried to persuade herself that concerts, balls, and +all the gayeties of society really gave her pleasure and satisfied her. +But her sense of right rebelled against this self-deception. She +began to ponder on the vacuity of all about her, on this and that +conversation, on the whole whirl around her, and she grew less able to +comprehend it. She could not understand how people could find so much +amusement in things that seemed to her not worth a thought. The art of +fluttering through life, skimming the cream of all its excitements as +Jenny did, she did not understand. To wear the most elegant costume at +a ball, to stay at the dearest hotels on a journey, to be celebrated +for giving the finest dinners--all that was not worth thinking about. +Once she had asked if she might not read aloud in the evenings they +spent alone, as she used to do when her father was alive. After +receiving permission she had come in with a radiant face, bringing +"Ekkehard," the last book which her father had given her. With flushed +cheeks and sparkling eyes, she had read on and on, but as she chanced +to look up there sat Jenny, looking through the last number of the +"Journal of Fashion," while her mother was sound asleep. She did not +say a word but she never read aloud again. + +The large tears ran suddenly down her cheeks. One of those moments had +suddenly come over her again, when she stretched out her arms +despairingly after some human soul that would understand her, that +would love her a little, only a little, for herself alone. She had +grown so distrustful that she ascribed all kindness from strangers to +her wealth and the position which her family held in society. She was +quite conscious that she was repellent and unamiable, designedly so--no +one should know how poor she really felt. It was not necessary for them +to know that she wrung her hands and asked, "What shall I do? What do I +live for?" She had inherited from her father a delight in work, a need +for being of use--every responsible person feels a desire to be happy +and to make others happy--but she felt her life so great a burden, it +was so shallow, so distasteful, so full of petty interests. + +She quickly dried her tears and turned; the door had opened and an old +servant entered. + +"You are forgetting your tea again, Miss Gertrude," she began, +reproachfully. "It is all ready in the dining-room. I have brought in +the tea so it will cool a little, but you must come now." + +The young girl thanked her pleasantly and followed her. She returned in +a very short time, nothing tasted good when she was so alone. She +lighted the lamp and took a book and read. It had grown still gradually +outside in the street, quarter after quarter struck from St. Benedict's +tower, until it was eleven o'clock. A carriage drove up--her mother was +coming home. + +Gertrude closed her book, it was bedtime. The hall-door closed, steps +went past Gertrude's door--but no, some one was coming in. + +Mrs. Baumhagen still wore her black Spanish lace mantilla over her +head. She only wished to ask her daughter what all this was about the +christening this afternoon. The pastor's wife had told her a story of a +curious kind of godfather; the pastor had come home full of it. + +"Jenny did not come," explained the young girl, "and a strange +gentleman offered to stand." + +"But how horribly pushing," cried the excited little woman. "You should +have drawn back, child--who knows what sort of a person he may be." + +"I don't know him, mamma. But whoever he may be, he was so very +good; he never supposed, I am sure, that his kindness could be +misunderstood." + +"There," cried Mrs. Baumhagen, "you see it is always so with you--you +are so easily imposed upon by that sort of thing, Gertrude,--really I +get very anxious about you. Did you know that Baron von Lowenberg--I +remember the name now--is a distant connection of the ducal house of +A.? Mrs. von S---- knows the whole family, they are charming people. +But I will not influence you, I am only telling you this by the way. +Sophie tells me an invitation has come from the Stadtraethin for +to-morrow. One never has a day to one's self. You will come too? It is +about the Society festival; you young girls will have something to do. + +"Jenny had a light still," she continued, without noticing her +daughter's silence. "Arthur brought home Carl Roeben, who came for his +young wife, and Lina was just coming up out of the cellar with +champagne.--I beg you will not tell any one about that scene in the +church to-day; I have asked the pastor's wife to be silent too. + +"Good night, my child. Of course the tea wasn't fit to drink at Mrs. +S---- as usual." + +"Good-night, mamma," replied Gertrude. She took the lamp and looked at +her father's picture once more, then she went to bed. She awoke +suddenly out of a half-slumber; she had heard the voice so distinctly +that she had heard in the church to-day for the first time. She sat up +with her heart beating quickly. No, what she had experienced today had +been no dream. Like a ray of sunshine fell that friendly act of the +unknown into this world of egotism and heartlessness. And then she +staid long awake. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + +The storms of late autumn came on among the mountains, heavy showers of +rain came down from the gray flying clouds and beat upon the dead +leaves of the forest and against the windows of the dwelling-houses. +Frank Linden sat at his writing-table in the room he had fitted up for +himself in the second story, and his eyes wandered from the denuded +branches in the garden to the mountains opposite. His surroundings were +as comfortable as it is possible for a bachelor's room to be--books and +weapons, a bright fire in the stove, good pictures on the walls, the +delicate perfume of a fine cigar, and yet in spite of all this the +expression on his handsome face was by no means a contented one. + +He thrust aside a great sheet full of figures and took up instead a +sheet of writing-paper, on which he began rapidly to write:-- + +"My Dear Old Judge: + +"How you would scoff at me if you could see me in my present downcast +mood. It is raining outside, and inside a flood of vexatious thoughts +is streaming over me. I have found out that playing at farming is a +pleasure only when one has a large purse that he can call his own. The +expenses are getting too much for me; everything has to be repaired or +renewed. Well, all this is true, but I do not complain, for in other +ways I have the greatest pleasure out of it. I cannot describe to you +how really poetic a walk through these autumn woods is, which I manage +to take almost daily with old Juno, thanks to the permission of the +royal forester, with whom I have made friends. + +"And how delightful is the home coming beneath my own roof! + +"But you, most prosaic of all mortals, are probably thinking only about +venison steaks or broiled field-fares, and you only know the mood of +the wild huntsman from hearsay. + +"But I wanted to tell you how right you were when you declared of +Wolff: '_Hic niger est!_ Be on your guard against this man--he is a +scoundrel!' Perhaps that would be saying too much, but at any rate he +is troublesome. He sent me yesterday a ticket to a concert and wrote on +a bit of paper: 'Seats 38 to 40 taken by the Baumhagen family--I got +No. 37.' Then he added that the Baumhagens were the most distinguished +and the wealthiest of the patricians in the city--evidently those who +play first fiddle there. + +"You know what my opinion is concerning millionaires--anything to +escape their neighborhood. + +"Well, in short, I was vexed and sent him back the ticket with the +remark that I was the most unmusical person in the world. He has +already made several attacks of that nature on me, so I suppose there +must be a daughter. + +"And now to come at length to the aim of this letter--you know that +Wolff has a heavy mortgage on Niendorf, at a very high rate of +interest. I simply cannot pay it, and wish to take up the mortgage; +would your sister be willing to take it at a moderate rate? I am ready +to give you any information. + +"And what more shall I tell you? By the way, the old aunt--you did her +great injustice; I never saw a more inoffensive, more contented +creature than this old woman. A niece who comes to Niendorf every year +on a visit, and whom she seems very fond of, her tame goldfinch, and +her artificial flowers make up her whole world. She asked quite +anxiously if I would let her have her room here till she died. I +promised it faithfully. She has been telling me a good many things +about my uncle's last years. He must have been very eccentric. Wolff +was with him every day, playing euchre with him and the schoolmaster. +He died at the card-table, so to speak. The old lady told me in a +sepulchral voice that he actually died with clubs and diamonds in his +hands. He had just played out the ace and said, 'There is a bomb for +you!' and it was all over. I believe she felt a little horror of this +endings herself. I am going now into the city in spite of wind and rain +to make a few calls. I have got to do it sooner or later. I shall take +the steward with me; he will bring home a pair of farm-horses that he +bought the other day. Perhaps I may happen to stumble on my unknown +little godmother that I wrote you about the other day; so far luck has +not favored me." + + +He added greetings and his signature, and half an hour later he was on +his way to the city in faultless visiting costume. + +Arrived in the hotel he inquired for a number of addresses, then began +with a sigh to do his duty according to that extraordinary custom which +Mrs. Grundy prescribes as necessary in "good society," that is, to call +upon perfect strangers at mid-day and exchange a few shallow phrases +and then to escape as quickly as possible. Thank Heaven! No one was at +home to-day although it was raining in torrents. From a sort of natural +opposition he left the Baumhagens to the last; he belonged to that +class to whom it is only necessary to praise a thing greatly in order +to create a strong dislike to it. + +Just as he was on the point of making this visit, he met Mr. Wolff. +"You are going to the Baumhagens?" he asked, evidently agreeably +surprised. "There--there, that house with the bow-window. I wish you +good luck, Mr. Linden!" + +Frank had a sharp answer on his lips but the little man had +disappeared. But a woman's figure stepped back hastily from the +bow-window above him. + +"Very sorry," said the old servant-maid. "Mrs. Baumhagen is not at +home." He received the same answer in the lower story although he heard +the sounds of a Chopin waltz. + +He heard an explanation of this in the hotel at dinner. A great ball +was to take place that evening, and such a festival naturally required +the most extensive preparations on the part of the feminine portion of +society; on such a day neither matron nor maiden was visible. Nothing +else was spoken of but this ball, and some of the gentlemen kindly +invited him to be present; he would find some pretty girls there. + +"I am curious to know if the little Baumhagen will be there," said an +officer of Hussars. + +"She may stay away for all I care," responded a very blond Referendary. +"She has a way of condescending to one that I can't endure. She is +perfectly eaten up with pride." + +"She has just refused another offer, as I heard from Arthur +Fredericks," cried another. + +"She is probably waiting for a prince," snarled a fourth. + +"I don't care," said Colonel von Brelow, "you may say what you like, +she is a magnificent creature without a particle of provincialism about +her. There is race in the girl." + +Frank Linden had listened with an interest which had almost awakened a +desire in him to take part in the ball. He half promised to appear, +took the address of a glove-shop and sat for a couple of hours in +lively conversation. After the lonely weeks he had been spending it +interested him more than he was willing to confess. + +"I am really stooping to gossip," he said, amused at himself. When he +went out into the street, darkness had already come down on the short +November day, the gas-lamps were reflected back from the pools in the +street, the shop-windows were brilliantly lighted, and five long +strokes sounded from the tower of St. Benedict's. + +He went round the corner of the hotel into the next street, and walked +slowly along on the narrow sidewalk, looking at the shops which were +all adorned with everything gay and brilliant for the approaching +Christmas holidays. + +"Good-evening!" said suddenly a timid voice behind him. He turned +round. For a moment he could not remember the woman who stood timidly +before him, with a yoke on her shoulder from which hung two shining +pails. Then he recognized her--it was Johanna. + +"I only wanted to thank you so very much," she began, "the sexton +brought me the present for the baby." + +"And is my little godchild well?" he asked, walking beside the woman +and suddenly resolving to learn something about "her" at any price. + +"Oh, thank you, Mr. Linden; it is but a weakly thing--trouble hasn't +been good for him. But if the gentleman would like to see him--it isn't +so very far and I'm going straight home now." + +"Of course I should," he said, and learned as he went along, that she +carried milk twice a day for a farmer's wife. + +"Does the young lady come to see her godson sometimes?" + +"Ay, to be sure!" replied the woman. "She comes and the baby hasn't a +frock or a petticoat that she hasn't given him. She is so good, Miss +Gertrude. We were confirmed together," she added, with pride. + +So her name was Gertrude. + +They had still some distance to go, through narrow streets and alleys, +before the woman announced that they had reached her house. "There is a +light inside--perhaps it is mother, the child waked up I suppose. My +mother lives up stairs," she explained, "my father is a shoemaker." + +The window was so low that a child might have looked in easily, so he +could overlook the whole room without difficulty. + +"Stay," he whispered, holding Johanna's arm. + +"O goodness! it is the young lady," she cried, "I hope she won't be +angry." + +But Frank Linden did not reply. He saw only the slender girlish figure, +as she walked up and down with the crying child in her arms, talking to +him, dancing him till at last he stopped crying, looked solemnly in her +face for awhile and then began to crow. + +"Now you see, you silly little goosie," sounded the clear girl's voice +in his ears, "you see who comes to take care of you when, you were +lying here all alone and all crumpled up, while your mother has to go +out from house to house through all the wind and rain;--you naughty +baby, you little rogue, do you know your name yet? Let's see. +Frank,--Frankie? O such a big boy! Now come here and don't cry a bit +more and you shall have on your warm little frock when your mother +comes." And she sat down before the stove and began to take off the +little red flannel frock. + +[Illustration: "She sat down before the stove and began to take off the +little red flannel frock."] + +"Ask if I may come in, Johanna," said Linden. And the next moment he +had entered behind the woman. + +A flush of embarrassment came over the young girl's face, but she +frankly extended her hand. "I am glad to see you, Mr. Linden--mamma was +very sorry that she could not receive you this afternoon. You--" + +He bowed. Then she belonged to one of the houses where he had called +to-day. But to which one? + +"Do you know, I never knew till to-day that you were living in the +neighborhood," she continued brightly. "I was standing in our +bow-window when you came across the square, and saw you inquiring for +our house." + +"Then I have the honor to see Miss Baumhagen?" he asked, somewhat +disturbed by this information. + +"Gertrude Baumhagen," she replied. "Why do you look so surprised?" + +With these words she took her cloak from the nearest chair, put a small +fur cap on her brown hair and took up her muff. + +"I must go now, Johanna, but I will send the doctor to-morrow for the +baby. You must not let things go so,--you must take better care or else +he may have weak eyes all his life." + +"Will you allow me to accompany you?" asked Linden, unable to take his +eyes off the graceful form. And that was Gertrude Baumhagen! + +She assented. "I am not afraid for myself, but I am sure you would +never find your way out of this maze of streets into which my good +Johanna has enticed you. This part about here is quite the oldest part +of the town. You cannot see it this evening, but by daylight a walk +through this quarter would well repay you. I like this neighborhood, +though only people of the lower class live here," she continued, +walking with a firm step on the slippery pavement. + +"Do you see down there on the corner that house with the great stone +steps in front and the bench under the tree? My grandmother was born in +that house, and the tree is a Spanish lilac. Grandfather fell in love +with her as she sat one evening under the tree rocking her youngest +brother. She has often told me about it. The lilac was in blossom and +she was just eighteen. Isn't it a perfect little poem?" + +Then she laughed softly. "But I am telling you all this and I don't +know in the least what you think of such things." + +They were just opposite the small house with the lilac tree. He stopped +and looked up. She perceived it and said: "I can never go by without +having happy thoughts and pleasant memories. Never was there a dearer +grandmother, she was so simple and so good." And as he was silent she +added, as if in explanation, "She was a granddaughter of the foreman in +grandpapa's factory." + +Still nothing occurred to him to say and he could not utter a merely +conventional phrase. + +She too remained silent for a while. "May I ask you," she then began, +"not to give too many presents to the baby--they are simple people who +might be easily spoiled." + +He assented. "A man like me is so unpractical," he said, by way of +excuse. "I did not exactly know what was expected of me after I had +offered myself as godfather in such an intrusive manner." + +"That was no intrusion, that was a feeling of humanity, Mr. Linden." + +"I was afraid I might have seemed to you, too impulsive--too--" he +stopped. + +"O no, no," she interrupted earnestly. "What can you think of me? I can +easily tell the true from the false--I was really very glad," she +added, with some hesitation. + +"I thank you," he said. + +And then they walked on in silence through the streets;--Gertrude +Baumhagen stopped before a flower-store behind whose great glass panes +a wealth of roses, violets and camellias glowed. + +"Our ways separate here," she said, as she gave him her hand. "I have +something to do in here. Good-bye, Mr.--Godfather." + +He had lifted his hat and taken her hand. "Good-bye, Miss Baumhagen." +And hesitatingly he asked--"Shall you be at the ball to-night?" + +"Yes," she nodded, "at the request of the higher powers," and her blue +eyes rested quietly on his face. There was nothing of youthful pleasure +and joyful expectation to be read in them. "Mamma would have been in +despair if I had declined. Good-night, Mr. Linden." + +The young man stood outside as she disappeared into the shop. He stood +still for a moment, then he went on his way. + +So that was Gertrude Baumhagen! He really regretted that that was her +name, for he had taken a prejudice against the name, which he had +associated with vulgar purse-pride. The conversation at the hotel table +recurred to him. He had figured to himself a supercilious blonde who +used her privileges as a Baumhagen and the richest girl in the city, to +subject her admirers to all manner of caprices. And he had found the +Gertrude of the church, a lovely, slender girl, with a simple unspoiled +nature, possessing no other pride than that of a noble woman. + +Involuntarily he walked faster. He would accept the kind invitation to +the ball. But when he reached the hotel he had changed his mind again. +He did not care to see her as a modern society woman, he would not +efface that lovely picture he had seen through the window of that poor +little house. He could not have borne it if she had met him in the +brilliant ball-room, with that air of condescension with which he had +heard her reproached to-day. He decided to dine at home. + +With this thought he had walked down the street again till he reached +the flower-shop. On a sudden impulse he entered and asked for a simple +bouquet. + +The woman had an immense bouquet in her hand at the moment, resembling +a cart-wheel surrounded by rich lace, which she was just giving to the +errand-boy. + +"For Miss Baumhagen," she said, "here is the card." + +Frank Linden saw a coat-of-arms over the name. He stepped back a +moment, undecided what to do. Then the shopwoman turned towards him. + +"A simple bouquet," he repeated. There was none ready, but they could +make up one immediately. The young man himself chose the flowers from +the wet sand and gave them to her. It must have been a pleasant +occupation for he was constantly putting back a rose and substituting a +finer one for it. At last it was finished, a graceful bouquet of white +roses just tinted with pink, like a maiden's blush, interspersed with +maiden-hair and delicate ferns. He looked at the dainty blossoms once +more, then paid for it and went back to the hotel. Then he laid the +bouquet on the table, called for ink and paper, took a visiting-card +and wrote. Suddenly he stopped and smiled, "What nonsense!" he said, +half aloud, "she is sure to carry the big bouquet." Then he began again +and read it over. It was a little verse asking if the godfather might +at this late hour send to the godmother the flowers which according to +ancient custom he ought to have offered at the christening, and +modestly hoping she would honor them by carrying them to the ball that +night. He smiled again, put it into the envelope and gave the bouquet +and letter to a messenger with instructions to carry both to Miss +Baumhagen. And then a thought struck him--the ball began at eight +o'clock--that would be in ten minutes--he would see Gertrude Baumhagen, +see--if his bouquet--nonsense! Very likely! But then he would wait. "It +is well the judge does not see me now!" he whispered to himself. He +felt like a child at Christmas time, so happy was he and so full of +expectation as he wandered up and down the square in front of the +hotel. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + +The clock struck eight. Gentlemen on foot had already been coming to +the hotel for some time, then ladies arrived, and at length the first +carriage containing guests for the ball rolled up, dainty feet tripped +up the steps, and rich silks rustled as they walked. Carriage followed +carriage; now came an elegant equipage with magnificent gray horses, a +charming slight woman's figure in a light blue dress covered with +delicate lace, bent forward, and a silvery laugh sounded in Linden's +ear. "It is Mrs. Fredericks," he heard the people murmur behind him. + +So that was her sister! + +The beautiful young wife swept up the steps like a lovely fairy, +followed by her husband in a faultless black dress-coat, carrying her +fan and bouquet. + +The carriage dashed across the marketplace again, to return in less +than five minutes. + +"Gertrude!" whispered Linden, drawing involuntarily further back into +the shadow. A short stout lady in a light gray dress descended from the +carriage, then she glided out and stood beside her mother, slender and +graceful in her shimmering white silk, her beautiful shoulders lightly +covered, and in her hand a well-known bouquet of pale roses. But this +was not the girl of a few hours back. The small head was bent back as +if the massive light brown braids were too heavy for it, and an +expression of proud reserve which he had not before perceived, rested +on the open countenance. + +Two gentlemen started forward to greet the ladies; the first gallantly +offered his arm to the mother, the other approached the young girl. She +thanked him proudly, scarcely touching his arm with her finger-tips. +Then suddenly this figure from which he could not take his eyes, +vanished like a beautiful vision. + +The encounter had left him in a mood of intense excitement. He bestowed +a dollar on a poor woman who stood beside him with a miserable child in +her arms, and he ordered out so big a glass of hot wine for old +Summerfeld, his coachman, that the old man was alarmed and hoped "they +should get home all right." + +"What folly it is," said Linden to himself. And when a moment later his +carriage drove up, and at the same moment the notes of a Strauss waltz +struck his ear, he began to hum the air of "The Rose of the South." +Then the carriage rattled over the market-place out on the dark country +road, and sooner than usual he was at home in his quiet little room, +taking a thousand pleasant thoughts with him. + +In the manor-house at Niendorf there was one room in which roses +bloomed in masses; not only in the boxes between the double windows or +in the pots on the sill according to the season, but in the room +itself, thousands of earth's fairest flowers were wreathed about the +pictures and furniture. It had a strange effect, especially when +instead of the sleeping beauty one might have expected to find here, +one perceived a very old woman in an arm chair by the window, +unweariedly engaged in cutting leaves and petals out of colored silk +paper, shaping and putting them together so that at length a rose +trembled on its wire stem, looking as natural from a little distance as +if it had just been cut from the bush. Aunt Rosalie could not live +without making roses; she lavished half her modest income on silk +paper, and every one whom she wished well, received a wreath of roses +as a present, red, pink, white and yellow blossoms tastefully +intermixed. All the village beauties wore roses of Aunt Rosalie's +manufacture in their well-oiled hair at the village dances. The graves +in the church-yard displayed masses of white and crimson roses from the +same store, torn and faded by wind and sun. The little church was +lavishly decked every year by Aunt Rosalie, with these witnesses to her +skill. + +She was known therefore throughout the village to young and old as +"Aunt Rose" or "Miss Rose," and not seldom was she followed in her +walks by a crowd of children, especially little girls, with the +petition "a rose for me too!" And "Aunt Rose" was always prepared for +them; the less successful specimens were kept entirely for this purpose +and were distributed from her capacious reticule with a lavish hand. + +Frank Linden had long been accustomed to spend an occasional hour in +the old lady's society. At the sight of her something of the atmosphere +of peace which surrounded her seemed to descend upon him and calmed and +soothed him. She would sit calm and still at her little table, her +small withered hands busied in forming the "symbols of a well-rounded +life." By degrees she had related to him in a quaintly solemn tone, +stories of the lives which had passed under the pointed gables of this +roof. There was little light and much shade among them, much guilt, and +error, a dark bit of life-history. A married pair who did not agree, an +only child idolized by both, and this only son covered himself and his +parents with disgrace and fled to America, where he died. The parents +were left behind without hope or comfort in the world, each reproaching +the other for the failure in their son's training. Then the wife died +of grief, and now began an endless term of loneliness for the elderly +man under a ban of misanthropy and scorn of his kind; loving no one but +his dog, associating with no one except with Wolff, who brought the +news and gossip of the town, and treating even him with a disdain +bordering on insult. + +"But you see, my dear nephew," the old aunt had added, "there are men +who are more like hounds than the hounds themselves,--dogs will cry out +when they are trodden upon, but the sort to which he belongs will smile +humbly at the hardest kick--and William found such a man necessary to +him." + +It was snowing; the mountains were all white, the garden lay shrouded +under a shining white coverlid, and white snow-flakes were dancing in +the air. Frank Linden had come back from hunting with the steward, and +after dinner he went into Aunt Rosalie's room. She rose as he entered +and came towards him. + +"There you see, my dear nephew, what happens when you go out for a day. +You have had a visit, such a splendid fashionable visitor in a +magnificent sleigh. I was just taking my walk in the corridor as he +came up the stairs and here is his card,"--she searched in her +reticule--"which he left for you." + +Frank took the card and read. "Arthur Fredericks." "Oh, I am sorry," he +said, really regretting his loss. "When was he here?" + +"Oh, just at noon precisely, when most Christians are eating their +dinner," she replied. "And the postman has been here too and brought a +letter for you. Oh, dear, where is it now? Where could I have put it?" +And she turned about and began to look for it, first on the table among +the pieces of silk paper and then on the floor, assisted by the young +man. + +"What did the letter look like, dearest Aunt?" + +"Blue--or gray--blue, I think," she replied, all out of breath, turning +out the contents of her red silk reticule. She brought out a mass of +rose-buds and an immense handkerchief edged with lace, but nothing +else. + +"Was the letter small or large?" he inquired from behind the sofa. + +"Large and thick," gasped Aunt Rosalie. "Such a thing never happened to +me before in my life--it is really dreadful." And with astounding +agility she turned over the things on the consumptive little piano and +tossed the antique sheets of music about. + +"Perhaps it got into the stove, Auntie." + +"No, no, it has not been unscrewed since this morning." + +Frank Linden went to the bell and rung. "Don't take any more trouble +about it, Auntie, the letter is sure to turn up; let the maid look for +it." + +Dorothy came and looked, and looked behind all the furniture, and +shaking out all the curtains--but in vain. + +"Well, we will give it up," declared Linden at length--"I suppose it is +a letter from my mother or from the Judge--I can ask them what they had +to say. Let us drink our coffee. Auntie." + +"I shan't sleep the whole night," declared the little old lady in much +excitement. + +"O don't think any more about it," he begged her, good-humoredly. "I am +sure there was nothing of any great importance in it. Tell me some of +your old stories now, they will just suit this weather." + +But the wrinkled face under the great cap still wore an anxious look, +and the dim eyes kept straying away from the coffee cups searchingly +round the room, lingering thoughtfully on the green lamp-shade. +Evidently there was no hope of a conversation with her. After awhile +the young man rose to go to his own room. + +"Yes, go, go," she said, relieved, "and then I can think where I could +have put that letter. Oh, my memory! my memory! I am growing so old." + +He walked along the corridor and mounted the staircase into the second +story. The twilight of the short winter day had already darkened all +the comers. It was painfully still in the house, only the echo of his +own footsteps sounding in his ear. It was such a day as his friend had +predicted for him--horribly lonely and empty, it seemed to rest like a +heavy weight on this world-remote house. One cannot always read, cannot +always be busy, especially when the thoughts stray uneasily out over +forest and meadow to a distinct goal, and always return anxious and +doubting. + +He stood in his room at the window and watched the snow flakes +fluttering down in the darkening air, and fell into a dream as he had +done every day for the last week. He gave himself up to it so entirely +that he fancied he could distinctly hear a light step behind him on the +carpet, and the soft tones of a woman's voice, saying, "Frank, +Frankie!" He turned and gazed into the dusky room. What if she were to +open the door now,--what if she should come in with the child in her +arms? Why should it not be, why could it not be? Were these walls not +strong enough, these rooms not cosy and homelike enough to hold such +happiness? + +He began to walk up and down. Folly! Nonsense! What was he thinking of? +Oh, if he had never come here, or better still if she were only the +daughter of the foreman like her grandmother, and sat on the bench +before the little house under the lilac tree, then everything would be +so simple. He would not for the world enter that mad race for Gertrude +Baumhagen's money-bags, in which so many had already come to grief. But +her sweet friendship?-- + +And then he fell helpless again before the charm of her eyes. + +He was suffering from those doubts, from those alternating fears and +hopes that torment every man who is in love. And Frank Linden in his +loneliness had long since acknowledged to himself that he only wanted +Gertrude Baumhagen to complete his happiness. + +His was by no means a shy or retiring nature. On the contrary, he +possessed that modest boldness which seems so natural to some people on +whom society looks with favor. If he were owner of a large estate +instead of this "hole"--as the Judge designated Niendorf--he would +rather have asked to-day than to-morrow if she would be his wife, +without too great a shyness of the money-bags. But as it was, he could +not, he must make his way a little first, and before he could do that, +who could tell what might have happened to Gertrude Baumhagen? + +He bit his lip at the thought--the result was always the same. But was +a true heart nothing then, and a strong will? If the Judge were only +here so he could ask him-- + +During these thoughts he had lighted the lamp. There lay the card on +the table, which Aunt Rosalie had given him. "Arthur Fredericks." He +smiled as he thought of the little insignificant man to whom her sister +had given her heart, and he could not think of Gertrude as belonging to +him in any way. At last a return visit from him! And there were some +half effaced words written with a pencil. + +"Very sorry not to have met you; hope you will come to a little supper +at our house the day after Christmas." + +It was the first invitation to Gertrude's house. He wrote an acceptance +at once. Then he remembered that he had ordered the sleigh to go to the +city to do some errands there. He would send the hotel porter across +with the card. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + +Christmas had passed and the last of the holidays had come with rain +and thaw; it stripped off the brilliant white snowy coverlid from the +earth as if it had been only a festal decoration, and the black earth +was good enough for ordinary days. + +Mrs. Baumhagen was sitting in a peevish mood at the window in her room +looking out over the market-place. She had a slight headache, and +besides--there was nothing at all to do to-day, no theatre, no party, +not even the whist club, and yesterday at Jenny's it had been very +dull. Finally she was vexed with Gertrude who, contrary to all custom, +had talked eagerly to her neighbor at dinner, that stranger who had run +after her in the church that time. + +It was foolish of the children to have placed him beside her. + +"A letter, Mrs. Baumhagen." Sophie brought in a simple white envelope. + +"Without any post-mark? Who left it?" she asked, looking at the +handwriting which was quite unknown to her. + +"An old servant or coachman, I did not know him." + +Mrs. Baumhagen shook her head as she took the letter and read it. + +She rose suddenly, with a deep flush on her face, and called: + +"Gertrude! Gertrude!" + +The young girl came at once. + +The active little woman had already rung the bell and said to Sophie as +she entered: + +"Call Mrs. Fredericks and my son-in-law, tell them to come quickly, +quickly!--Gertrude, I must have an explanation of this. But I must +collect myself first, must--" + +"Mamma," entreated the young girl, turning slightly pale, "let us +discuss the matter alone--why should Jenny and Arthur--?" + +"Do you know then what is in this letter?" cried the excited mother. + +"Yes," replied Gertrude, firmly, coming up to the arm chair into which +her mother had thrown herself. + +"With your consent, child?--Gertrude?" + +"With my consent, mamma," repeated the young girl, a clear, bright +crimson staining the beautiful face. + +Mrs. Baumhagen said not another word, but began to cry bitterly. + +"When did you permit him to write to me?" she asked, after a long +pause, drying her eyes. + +"Yesterday, mamma." + +At this moment Jenny thrust her pretty blonde head in at the door. + +"Jenny!" cried the mother, the tears again starting to her eyes, and +the obstinate lines about the mouth coming out more distinctly. + +"For Heaven's sake, what is the matter?" cried the young wife. + +"Jenny, child! Gertrude is engaged!" + +Mrs. Jenny recovered her composure at once. "Well," she cried, lightly, +"is that so great a misfortune?" + +"But, to whom, to whom!" cried the mother. + +"Well?" inquired Jenny. + +"To that--that--yesterday--Linden is his name, Frank Linden. Here it is +down in black and white,--a man that I have hardly seen three times!" + +Jenny turned her large and wondering eyes upon Gertrude, who was still +standing behind her mother's chair. + +"Good gracious, Gertrude," she cried, "what possessed you to think of +him?" + +"What possessed you to think of Arthur?" asked the young girl, +straightening herself up. "How do people ever think of each other? I +don't know, I only know that I love him, and I have pledged him my +word." + +"When, I should like to know?" + +"Last evening, in your red room, Jenny,--if you think the _when_ has +anything to do with the matter." + +"But, so suddenly, without any preparation. What guarantee have you +that he--?" + +"As good a guarantee at least," interrupted Gertrude, now pale to the +lips, "as I should have had if I had accepted Lieutenant von +Lowenberg's proposal the other day." + +"Yes, yes, she is right there, mamma," said Jenny. + +"Oh, of course!" was the reply, "I am to say yes and amen at once. But +I must speak to Arthur first and to Aunt Pauline and Uncle Henry. I +will not take the responsibility of such a step on myself alone in any +case." + +"Mamma, you will not go asking the whole neighborhood," said the young +girl, in a trembling voice. "It only concerns you and me, and--" she +drew a long breath--"I shall hardly change my mind in consequence of +any representations." + +"But Arthur could make inquiries about him," interrupted Jenny. + +"Thank you, Jenny, I beg you will spare yourself the trouble. My heart +speaks loudly enough for him. If I had not known my own mind weeks ago, +I should not be standing before you as I am now." + +"You are an ungrateful and heartless child," sobbed her mother. "You +think you will conquer me by your obstinacy. Your father used to drive +me wild with just that same calmness. It makes me tremble all over only +just to see those firmly closed lips and those calm eyes. It is +dreadful!" + +Gertrude remained standing a few minutes, then without a word of reply +she left the room. + +"It is a speculation on his part," said Mrs. Jenny, carelessly, "there +is no doubt of that." + +"And she believes all he tells her," sobbed the mother. "That unlucky +christening was the cause of it all. She is so impressed by anything of +that sort." + +Jenny nodded. + +"And now she will just settle down forever at that wretched Niendorf, +for there is no turning her when she has once made up her mind." + +"Heaven forgive me, she has the Baumhagen obstinacy in full measure; I +know what I have suffered from it." + +"This Linden is handsome," remarked Jenny, taking no notice of the +violent weeping. "Goodness, what a stir it will make through the town! +She might have taken some one else. But did I not always tell you, +mamma, that she was sure to do something foolish?" + +"Arthur!" she cried to her husband who had just come in, "just fancy, +Gertrude has engaged herself to that--Linden." + +"The devil she has!" escaped Arthur Fredericks' lips. + +"Tell me, my dear son, what do you know about him? You must have heard +something at the Club, or--" + +Mrs. Baumhagen had let her handkerchief fall, and was gazing with a +look of woe at her son-in-law. + +"Oh, he is a nice fellow enough, but poor as a church mouse. He knows +what he is about when he makes up to Gertrude. Confound it! If I had +known what he was up to, I would never have asked him here." + +"Yes, and she declares she will not give him up," said Jenny. + +"I believe that, without any assurances from you; she is your sister. +When you have once got a thing into your head--well, I know what +happens." + +"Arthur!" sobbed the elder lady, reproachfully. + +"I must beg, Arthur, that you will not always be charging me with spite +and obstinacy," pouted the younger. + +"But, my dear child, it is perfectly true--" + +"Don't be always contradicting!" cried Mrs. Jenny, energetically, +stamping her foot and taking out her handkerchief, ready to cry at a +moment's notice. He knew this man[oe]uvre of old and drew his hand +hastily through his hair. + +"Very well then, what am I to do about it?" he asked. "What do you want +of me?" + +"Your advice, Arthur," groaned the mother-in-law. + +"My advice? Well then--say yes." + +"But he is so entirely without means, as I heard the other day," +interposed Mrs. Baumhagen. + +He shrugged his shoulders. "Bah! Gertrude can afford to marry a poor +man. Besides--I don't know much about Niendorf, but I should think +something might be made of it under good management. He seems to be the +man for the place, and Wolff was telling me the other day that Linden +was going to raise sheep on a large scale." + +"That last bit of information of course settles the matter," remarked +Jenny, ironically. + +"No, no," cried the mother, sobbing again, "you none of you take it +seriously enough. I cannot bring myself to consent, I have hardly +exchanged half a dozen words with this Linden. Oh, what unheard-of +presumption!" She rose from her chair, and crimson with excitement +threw herself on the lounge. + +"Now look out for hysterics," whispered Arthur, indifferently, taking +out a cigar. + +Jenny answered only by a look, but that was blighting. She took her +train in her hand and swept past her astonished husband. + +"Take me with you," he said, gayly. + +"Jenny, stay with me," cried her mother, "don't leave me now." + +And the young wife turned back, met her husband at the door, and passed +him with her nose in the air to sit down beside her mother. + +Oh, he had a long account to settle with her; she would have her +revenge yet for his disagreeable remarks at the breakfast-table when +she quite innocently praised Colonel von Brelow. He was not expecting +anything pleasant either; she could see that at once, but only let him +wait a little! + +"How, mamma?" she inquired, "did you think I had anything to say to +Arthur? Bah! He is an Othello--a blind one--they are always the worst." + +"Ah, Jenny, that unhappy child--Gertrude." + +"Oh, yes, to be sure," assented the young wife, "that stupid nonsense +of Gertrude's--" + +In the meantime the young girl was standing before her father's +picture, her whole being in a tumult between happiness and pain. She +had not closed her eyes the night before since she had shyly given him +her hand with a scarcely whispered, "yes." + +She knew he loved her; she had fancied a hundred times what it would be +when he should tell her of it, and now it had come so suddenly, so +unexpectedly. She had loved him long already, ever since she had seen +him that first time; and since then she had escaped none of the joy and +pain of a secret attachment. + +She took nothing lightly, did nothing by halves, and she had given +herself up wholly to this fascination. Whoever should try to take him +from her now, must tear her heart out of her breast. + +As she stood there the tears ran down over her pale face in great +drops, but a smile lingered about the small pouting mouth. + +"I know it very well," she whispered, nodding at her father's picture, +"you would be sure to like him, papa!" And a happy memory of the words +he had spoken yesterday came back to her, of his lonely house, of his +longing for her, and that he could offer her nothing but that modest +home and a faithful heart. + +His only wealth at present was a multitude of cares. + +"Let me bear the cares with you, no happiness on earth would be greater +than this," she wished to say, but she had only drooped her eyes and +given him her hand--the words would not pass her lips. + +It was as if she had been walking in the deepest shadow and had +suddenly come out into the warm, life-giving sunshine. "It is too much, +too much happiness!" she had thought this morning when she got up. She +thought so still, and it seemed to her that the tears she shed were +only a just tribute to her overpowering happiness. If her mother had +consented at once, if she had said, "He shall be like a beloved son to +me, bring him to me at once," that would have been too much, but this +refusal, this distrust seemed to be meant to tone down her bliss a +little. It was like the snow-storm in spring, which covers the early +leaves and blossoms,--but when it is past do they not bloom out in +double beauty? + +The conversation in the next room grew more eager. Gertrude heard the +complaining voice of her mother more clearly than before. It had a +painful effect upon her and she cast a glance involuntarily at her +father's picture, as if he could still hear what had been the torture +of his life. Gertrude could recall so many scenes of complaint and +crying in that very room. How often had her father's authoritative +voice penetrated to her ear: "Very well, Ottilie, you shall have your +way, but--spare me!" And how often had a pallid man entered through +that door and thrown himself silently on the sofa as if he found a +refuge here with his child. Ah, and it had been so too on that day, +that dreadful day, when afterwards it had grown so still, so deathly +still. + +And there it was again, the loud weeping, the complaints against Heaven +that had made her the most miserable of women, and now was punishing +her through her children. Then there was an opening and shutting of +doors, a running about of servants; Gertrude even fancied she could +perceive the penetrating odor of valerian which Mrs. Baumhagen was +accustomed to take for her nervous attacks. And then the door flew open +and Jenny came in. + +"Mamma is quite miserable," she said, reproachfully; "I had to send for +the doctor, and Sophie is putting wet compresses on her head. A lovely +day, I must say!" + +"I am so sorry, Jenny," said the young girl. + +"Oh, yes, but it was a very sudden blow. I must honestly confess that I +cannot understand you, Gertrude. You must have refused more than ten +good offers, you were always so fastidious, and now you have taken the +first best that offered." + +"The best certainly," thought Gertrude, but she was silent. + +The young wife mistakenly considered this as the effect of her words. + +"Now just consider, child," she continued, "think it over again, you--" + +"Stop, Jenny," cried the young girl in a firm voice. "What gives you +the right to speak so to me? Have I ever uttered a word about your +choice? Did I not welcome Arthur kindly? What advantages has he over +Linden? I alone have to judge as to the wisdom of this step, for I +alone must bear the consequences. It is not right to try to influence a +person in a matter that is so individual, that so entirely concerns +that person alone." + +"Good gracious, don't get so excited about it!" cried Jenny. "We do not +consider him an eligible _parti_, because he is entirely without +fortune." + +A deep shadow passed over Gertrude's pale face. "Oh, put aside the +question of money," she entreated; "do not disturb the sweetest dream +of my life--don't speak of it, Jenny." + +But Jenny continued--"No, I will not keep silent, for you live in +dreamland, and you must look a little at the realities of life that you +may not fall too suddenly out of your fancied heaven. Perhaps you +imagine that Frank Linden would have shown such haste if you had not +been Gertrude Baumhagen? Most certainly he would not! I consider +it my duty to tell you that mamma, as well as Arthur and I, are +of the opinion that his first thought was of the capital our good +father--" She stopped, for Gertrude stood before her, tall and +threatening. + +"You may comfort yourself, Jenny," she gasped out. "I believe in him, +and I shall speak no word in his defence. You and the others may think +what you please, I cannot prevent it, cannot even resent it, you--" She +stopped, she would not utter the bitter words.--"Be so kind as to tell +mamma that I will not break my word to him." She added, more calmly, "I +shall be so grateful to you, Jenny--if any one can do anything with her +it is you--her darling!" + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + +The young wife left her sister's room almost in consternation. She +could find nothing to say to Gertrude's unexpected reliance upon her. +The sisters had never understood each other. Jenny could not comprehend +now how any one could be so blinded and so unwise, and she was startled +as if by something pure and lofty as the clear girlish eyes rested on +her, which could still discover poetry amid all the dusty prose of +life. She sat down again beside the sofa. + +"Mamma," she whispered, after a pause, during which she balanced +her small slipper thoughtfully on the tip of her toe, "Mamma, I +really believe you can't help it--will you have a little eau de +cologne?--Gertrude is so madly in love with him. I am sure you will +have to give your consent, notwithstanding it is so great a +disappointment." + +Gertrude remained standing in the middle of the room looking after her +sister. She felt sorry for her. It must be dreadful when one could no +longer believe in love and disinterestedness, and the image of Frank +Linden's true eyes rose up before her as clear as his pure heart +itself. Can a man look like that with ulterior motives? can a man speak +so with a lie in his heart? She could have laughed aloud in her +blissful certainty. Even though she were poor, a beggar indeed, he +would still love her. + +In the afternoon a great conference was held. At twelve o'clock an +order was suddenly given from the sofa to have the drawing-room heated, +the Dresden coffee service taken out, and some cakes sent for from the +confectioner's. Madame Ottilie would hold a family counsel. + +The aroma of Sophie's celebrated coffee penetrated even to Gertrude's +lonely room. She could hear the doors open and shut, and now and then +the voice of Aunt Pauline, and Uncle Henry's comfortable laugh. The day +drew near its close and still no conclusion seemed to have been arrived +at, but Gertrude sat calmly in her bow-window and waited. He would be +calm too, she was sure of that--he had her word. Steps at last--that +must be her uncle. + +"Well, Miss Gertrude!" he called out into the dusky room--"he came, he +saw, he conquered--eh? Fine doings, these. Your mother is in a pretty +temper over the presumption of the bold youth. He will need all his +fascinations to gain her favor as a mother-in-law. Well, come in now, +and thank me for her consent." + +"I knew it, uncle," she said, pleasantly. "I was sure you would stand +by me." + +He was a little old gentleman with a little round body, which he always +fed well in his splendid bachelor dinners; always in good humor, +especially after a good glass of wine. And as he knew what an agreeable +effect this always had upon him, he never failed for the benefit of +mankind, to make use of this means of making himself amiable and merry. +He now took the tall, slender girl laughingly by the hand as if she +were a child, and led her towards the door. + +"Live and let live, Gertrude!" he cried. "It is out of pure egotism +that I made such a commotion about it. You need not thank me, I was +only joking. You see, I can stand anything but a scene and a woman's +tears, and your mother understands that sort of thing to a T. That +always upsets me you know. 'Don't make a fuss, Ottilie,' I said. 'Why +shouldn't the little one marry that handsome young fellow? You +Baumhagen girls are lucky enough to be able to take a man simply +because you like him.' Ta, ta! Here comes the bride!" he called out, +letting Gertrude pass before him into the lighted room. + +She walked with a light step and a grave face up to her mother, who was +reclining in the corner of the sofa as if she were entirely worn out by +the important discussion. By her side sat the thin aunt in a black silk +dress, her blond cap reposing on her brown false front, in full +consciousness of her dignity. Jenny sat near her while Arthur was +standing by the stove. The ladies had been drinking coffee, the +gentlemen wine. The violet velvet curtains were drawn and everything +looked cosy and comfortable. + +"I thank you, mamma," said Gertrude. + +Mrs. Baumhagen nodded slightly and touched her daughter's lips with +hers. "May you never repent this step," she said, faintly; "it is not +without great anxiety that I give my consent, and I have yielded only +in consequence of my knowledge of your unbending--yes, I must say it +now--passionate character--and for the sake of peace." + +A bitter smile played about Gertrude's mouth. + +"I thank you, mamma," she repeated. + +"My dear Gertrude," began her aunt, solemnly, "take from me too--" + +"Oh, come," interposed Uncle Henry, very ungallantly, "do have +compassion, in the first place on me, but next on that languishing +youth in Niendorf, and send him his answer. It has happened before now +that dreadful consequences have followed such suspense; I could tell +you some blood-curdling stories about it, I assure you. Come, we will +write out a telegram," he continued, drawing a notebook from his pocket +and tearing out a leaf, while he borrowed a pencil from his dear nephew +Arthur. + +"Well, what shall it be, Gertrude?" he inquired, when he was ready to +write. "'Come to my arms!' or 'Thine forever!' or 'Speak to my mother,' +or--ha! ha! I have it--'My mother will see you; come to-morrow and get +her consent. Gertrude Baumhagen.' 'And get her consent,'" he spelt out +as he wrote. + +"Thanks, uncle," said the young girl; "I would rather write it myself +in my room; his coachman is waiting at the hotel opposite." + +She could hear her uncle's hearty laugh over the poor fellow who had +been sighing in suspense from eleven o'clock this morning till now, and +then she shut her door. With a trembling hand she lighted her lamp and +wrote: "Mamma has consented; I shall expect you to-morrow. Your +Gertrude." + +The old Sophie, who had been a servant in the Baumhagen house before +the master was married, took the note. "I will carry it across myself, +Miss Gertrude," she said, "and if it was pouring harder than it is, and +if I got my rheumatism back for it, I would go all the same. I have the +fate of two people in my hand in this little bit of paper. God grant +that it may bring joy to you both. Miss Gertrude." + +Gertrude pressed her hand and then went to the bow-window and looked +through the glass to watch Sophie as she crossed the square. Her white +apron fluttered now under the street-lamp near the old apple-woman, and +then under the swinging lamp before the hotel. If the old man would +only drive as fast as his horses could carry him! Every minute of +waiting seemed too long to her now. + +Then the white apron appeared again under the hotel lamp, but there was +somebody before it. Gertrude pressed her hands suddenly against her +beating heart. "Frank!" she gasped, and her limbs almost refused to +support her as she tried to make a few steps; He had waited for the +answer himself! + +"There he is, there he is, my bridegroom!" escaped from the quivering +lips. The whole sacred signification of that blessed word overpowered +her. Then Sophie opened the door softly and he crossed the threshold of +the dainty maiden's boudoir, and shut the door as softly behind him. +The faithful old servant could only see how her proud young mistress +nestled into his arms and mutely received his kisses--"Oh, what a +wonderful thing this love is!" she said, smiling to herself. + +Then she turned towards the drawing-room, but when she reached the door +she turned away with a shake of her head. They would all be rushing in +and she would not shorten these blessed minutes for Gertrude. It would +be time enough to go to "madam" in a quarter of an hour. And she busied +herself in the corridor in order to be at hand at the right moment, in +case they should both forget all about the mother in the multiplicity +of things they had to say. + +It was midnight before Linden finally drove home. The jovial uncle had +gotten up a little celebration of the betrothal on the spur of the +moment, and made a long speech himself. Then Mrs. Jenny had been very +gay and had laughed and jested with her brother-in-law _in spe_. But +Mrs. Baumhagen, after a private interview of half an hour with the +young man, remained silent and grave, and played out her role of +anxious mother to the end. She scarcely touched her lips to the glass +of champagne when the company drank to the health of the young +betrothed. + +Frank Linden, however, had not taken offence at her coldness. She knew +him so slightly, and he had come like a hungry wolf to rob her of her +one little lamb. + +It must be dreadful to give up a daughter, he thought, and especially +such a daughter as Gertrude. He was touched to the heart; he thought of +his own old mother, he thought how gloomy the future had looked to him +only a few weeks ago and how sunny it was now; and all these sunny rays +shone out from a pair of blue eyes in a sweet, pale, girlish face. He +did not know himself how he had happened to speak to her so quickly of +his love. He saw again that brilliantly lighted crimson room of +yesterday, and the dim twilight in the bow-window room; there she stood +in the wonderful light, a mingled moonlight and candle-light. The +Christmas tree was lighted in the next room and the voices and laughter +of the company floated to his ears. She had turned as he approached her +and he had seen tears on her cheeks. But she laughed as she perceived +his dismay. + +"Ah, it is because Christmas always reminds me of papa. He has been +dead seven years yesterday." + +One word had led to another and at length they had found their hands +clasped together. + +"I would gladly have held this little hand fast that time in the +church. Would you have been angry, Gertrude?" and she had shaken her +head and looked up at him, smiling through her tears, trusting and +sweet, this proud young creature--his bride, soon to be his wife! + +He started up out of his dream. The carriage stopped at the steps and +the house rose dark above him--only behind Aunt Rosa's windows was a +light still shining. He went up the steps as if in a dream and entered +the garden hall. He looked round as if he had entered the room for the +first time, so strange it looked, so changed, so bare and cold. And he +thought of the time when someone would be waiting for him here. He +could not imagine such happiness. + +The door opened softly behind him and as he turned he saw Aunt Rosa +appearing like a ghost. + +"I have been waiting for you, my dear nephew," she cried out in her +shrill voice; "I have found that letter at last, thank Heaven! It is +upstairs in your room, and it has taken a weight off my mind, I assure +you, Frank." She nodded kindly at him from under her enormous cap. "You +are late getting home. I am tired and am going to bed now. Goodnight, +good-night!" + +And she moved lightly like a ghost to the door. + +"Auntie!" cried a voice behind her so loud and gay that she turned +round in amazement. But then he was beside her and had clasped her in +both arms, and before she knew what was happening to her, the shy old +maiden lady felt a resounding kiss on her cheek. + +"What on earth, Frank Linden--have you gone out of your mind?" + +"O, auntie, I can't keep it to myself, I shall choke if I do. So don't +be cross. If I had my old mother here, I should kiss the old lady to +death for pure bliss. You must congratulate me. Gertrude Baumhagen will +be my wife." + +Aunt Rosa's half-shocked, half-vexed countenance grew rigid. "Is it +possible," she whispered, in amazement, "she will marry into our old +house? And the family have consented?" + +"A Baumhagen--yes! And she will marry into this old house and the +family have consented. Aunt Rosa." + +"God's blessing on you! God's richest blessing!" she whispered, but she +shook her head and looked at him incredulously. "I shan't sleep a bit +to-night," she continued. "I am glad, I rejoice with all my heart, but +you might have told me to-morrow. It is done now. Good night, Frank. I +am glad indeed; this old house needs a mistress. God grant that she may +be a good one." And she pressed his hand as she left him. + +He too went to his room. The lamp was burning on the round table and a +letter lay beneath it. Ah, true! the long-lost letter! He took it up +abstractedly--it was in Wolff's handwriting. He put it down again; what +could he want? Some business of course. Should he spoil this happy +hour with unpleasant, perhaps care-bringing news? No, let the letter +wait--till--but he had already taken it up and broken the seal. + +[Illustration: "But he had already taken it up and broken the seal."] + +It was a long letter and as he read, he bit his lips hard. "Pitiful +scoundrel!" he said at length, aloud, "it is well this letter did not +reach me sooner, or things would not have happened as they have." And +as if shrinking with disgust from the very touch of the paper, he flung +it into the nearest drawer of his writing-table. + +"Vile wretches, who make the most sacred things a matter of traffic!" + +He sat for a long time lost in thought, and a deep furrow marked itself +out between his brows. Then he wrote a long letter to his friend, the +judge, and gradually his face cleared again--he was telling him about +Gertrude. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + +"Good morning, Uncle Henry," said Gertrude, who was sitting at her +work-table in the bow-window. She rose as she spoke and went to meet +the stout little gentleman as he entered. + +"Well, it is lucky that one of you at least is at home," he replied, +rubbing his glasses with his red handkerchief, after giving Gertrude's +hand a hearty shake. "I wonder if one of the women-kind except you +could possibly stay at home for a day. Mrs. Jenny is making calls, Mrs. +Ottilie is gone to a coffee party--it is easy to see that a strong hand +to hold the reins is wanting here." + +Gertrude smiled. + +"Uncle, don't scold, but come and sit down," she said. "You come just +in time for me; I had just written a little note to you to ask you to +come and see me. I need your advice." + +"Oh! but not immediately, child, not immediately! I have just had my +dinner," he explained, "and nothing can be more dangerous than hard +thinking just after a meal. Ta, ta! There, this is comfortable; now +tell me something pleasant, child--about your lover; for instance, how +many kisses did he give you yesterday? Honestly now, Gertrude." + +He had stretched himself out comfortably in an arm-chair, and his young +niece pushed a footstool under his feet and put an afghan over his +knees. + +"None at all, uncle," she said, gravely; "people do not ask about such +things either, you know. Besides I see Frank very seldom," she +hesitated. "Mamma goes out so much, and I cannot receive him when she +is not at home. And, uncle, it is about that that I wanted to speak to +you. Mamma,"--she hesitated again,--"mamma makes me so anxious by all +manner of remarks about Linden's circumstances. You know, uncle--" + +"And you think she knows all about them?" said the old gentleman. "Oh, +of course, ta, ta!" + +"Yes, uncle. You see the day before yesterday mamma went out to dine +with Jenny, and when she came back she called me into her room, and as +soon as I got there I saw that something had happened. Just fancy, +uncle, she had been in Niendorf to see, as mamma expressed it, the +place where her daughter was going to bury herself. It would be +horrible, she declared, to take a young wife to this peasant house; it +was not fit for any one to live in; she had felt as if she were in some +third-rate farm-house. Linden was sitting in a room--she could touch +the ceiling with her hand it was so low, and it was all so poor and +common. In short, I could not go there, and if I would not give up my +whim of being Mr. Linden's wife, she would have to build a house for me +first, for he--he--well, he certainly would not be able to do it, and +it would be much more convenient too, to have a snug nest made for him +by his mother-in-law. Jenny, who was present at this scene, agreed with +her in everything. Oh, uncle, I am so sorry for him, and it is all on +my account." + +"Did your mother speak to him about building?" asked Uncle Henry. + +She drew her hand across her forehead. + +"I don't know--I went away without answering. If I had made any reply, +it would have been of no use--we battle with unequal weapons, or rather +I cannot use my weapons, for she is still my mother." + +Her uncle's eyes gazed at her with unmistakable compassion--she was so +pale and she had a weary look about her mouth. + +"You poor child! I see they do not make your engagement time exactly a +Paradise to you," he thought; but he only cleared his throat and said +nothing. + +"And what can I do about it?" he asked, after a pause. + +"I am going to tell you that now," said Gertrude. "You see I have to +torment you. I am not on such terms with Arthur that he could advise me +in this. I want to ask you, uncle, to speak to Frank--I must know how +great his pecuniary difficulties are, and--" + +"Nonsense, child," interrupted the old gentleman, evidently +unpleasantly surprised,--"Why should you drag me in? Pecuniary +difficulties! What can you do about it? For the present you have +nothing to do with it--and you will find out about it soon enough." + +"You mean because we are not yet man and wife?" she asked. + +"Of course!" he nodded. + +"O, it is quite the same thing, uncle," she cried, eagerly. "From the +moment of our betrothal, I have considered myself as belonging to him +entirely, and everything of mine as his. Then why, since I can already +dispose of a part of my property as I please, should I not help him out +of what may perhaps be a very unpleasant situation?" + +"But, my dear child--" + +"Let me have my say out, uncle. You know I have ten thousand dollars +that came from my grandmother, about which no one has anything to say +but myself, and you shall pay over these ten thousand dollars to +Linden. I suppose he will have to build--he may need all sorts of +things then, and he will be fretted and worried--do this for me, uncle; +you see _I_ cannot talk to him about such things." + +"Indeed, I will not, Miss Gertrude." + +"Why?" + +"Because he would take it, finally--or he would be angry. Thanks, ever +so much." + +"But I want him to take it." + +He was silent. + +"When are you going to be married, child?" he inquired at length. + +A rosy flush passed over Gertrude's face--"Mamma has not said anything +about it yet. Frank wants it to be in April, and--I do not want to +increase his difficulties by my reception." + +"Very well, very well, he can wait as long as that," said the old +gentleman. + +She looked disappointed, but she said nothing. + +"I don't want to go against your wishes, little one," he continued, +perceiving her sorrowful looks. "I only want to do what is right in +matters of business. Now you see if you are bent on following out this +plan you will throw away a fine sum of money--in order to make your +nest a right comfortable one. _Amantes_, _amentes_--that is to say in +plain English, lovers are mad--and when you wake up to what you have +done all your fat is in the fire." + +Gertrude said nothing, but she wore a pained expression about her +mouth. _He_ too spoke so. How often lately had she heard the same +thing? Even her pleasure in the single present Linden had made her had +been spoiled by similar insulting remarks. + +"Oh, don't look so miserable about it, little one," yawned the old +gentleman; "what have I said? We men are all egotists with one another +I assure you. Why then will you confirm your lover in his egotism and +let the roasted larks fly into his mouth beforehand? Keep a tight rein +over him, Gertrude, that is the only sensible thing to do; you must not +let him be anything more than the Prince Consort--keep the reins of +government in your own little fists; confound it, I believe you can +rule too!" + +"Uncle," said the young girl, softly going up to him, "Uncle, you are a +hypocrite, you say things that you don't believe yourself. You are all +egotists? And I don't know any one in the world who has less claim to +the title than you." + +"Really, child," he declared, laughing, "I am an egotist of the purest +water." + +"Indeed? Who gives as much as you to the poor of the city? Who supports +the whole family of the poor teacher, with rent, clothes, food and +drink? _Who_ now, uncle?" + +"All selfishness, pure selfishness!" he cried. + +"Prove it, uncle, prove it logically." + +"Nothing easier. You know the story of how I got a cramp in my leg and +dragged myself into the nearest house on the Steinstrasse, and sank +down on the first chair I could find. I was just going to dinner; had +invited Gustave Seyfried and Augustus Seemann to dine with me--well, +you know they have lived in Paris and London. So there I sat in that +little low room. The people were at dinner and a dish of thin potato +soup stood on the table, that would have been hardly enough for the man +alone. Seven children--seven children, mind you, Gertrude,--stood +round, and the mother was dealing out their portions. She began with +the youngest; the oldest, a lad of fourteen, got the last of the dish. +There was not much in it, and I shall never forget the look of those +sunken hungry eyes as they rested on that empty bowl. It made me feel +so queer all at once. I asked casually, what the man's business was? +Teacher of language at twelve cents an hour! He could not get a +permanent position on account of his ill health. Good God, Gertrude! +Four hours a day would give him fifty cents and he had seven children! + +"Well, do you know, that day we had oysters before the soup, and they +were rather dear just then, so I reckoned up that each one of those +smooth little delicacies cost as much as an hour's lesson, in which the +poor man talked his poor, weak throat hoarse. They wouldn't go down my +throat in spite of their slipperiness. I couldn't swallow more than +half a dozen and that was disagreeable. At every course it was the same +story, and when Louis uncorked the champagne, every pop seemed to go +straight to my stomach. I never ate a more uncomfortable dinner--it +disagreed with me besides, and I had to take some soda water. 'Confound +it!' I said, 'this thing can't go on,' and--you know, child, that a +good dinner is the purest pleasure in the world for men of my sort. So +there was nothing for me, if I wanted to enjoy my oysters again, but to +comfort myself with the thought that the seven hungry mouths were also +busy about their dinner. So I sent John to the teacher's wife to ask +her how much money she needed a month to feed all seven, with herself +and her husband into the bargain, so they would have enough. And, good +gracious, it wasn't such an enormous sum, and so I pay her a certain +sum every month and I can enjoy my dinner again at the hotel. Now, +prove if you can that that isn't pure selfishness." + +"Oh, of course, uncle," said the young girl, with brightening eyes, +"but I like that sort of selfishness." + +"It is all one, Gertrude; I am sending Hannah into retirement now out +of selfishness; she is getting so stout that she can't get through the +door any more with the coffee tray. And I ask you if I am to keep +another servant to open the double doors for her, just for the sake of +the old asthmatic woman? That would be fine! So I said to her this +morning, 'Hannah, you can go at Easter, and I will continue your wages +as a pension.' She was delighted, because she can go to her daughter, +now." + +"Uncle, I know you very well. I can trust to you," coaxed Gertrude. +"You will speak to Frank, won't you?" + +"Oh, well, yes, yes, only don't blush so. Now you see you have spoiled +my dessert with all your talking. When does her serene highness come +home?" + +"I don't know," replied the young girl. + +"To be sure, these coffee-parties are never to be counted upon. So you +two lovers only see each other on state occasions, like Romeo and +Juliet, or when you have company yourselves?" + +Gertrude nodded silently. + +"Is it possible!" cried the little gentleman as he rose to go--"as if +the time of an engagement were not the happiest in the world. +Afterwards it is all pure prose, my child. And they are spoiling this +time for you now--well, you just wait. I must go now to my card-party. +I will look in on your mother this evening. Good bye; my love to him +when you write." + +"Good-bye, uncle. Don't forget that I shall trust to your selfishness." + +When the old gentleman had closed the door behind him, she sat down to +her desk, look out a letter and began to read it. It was his last +letter; it had come this morning and it contained some verses. + +How she delighted in these verses in her loneliness! Nothing in the +world could separate them! She would indemnify him a thousandfold by +her love for all he had to endure now. She tried by a thousand sweet, +loving words to make him forget the scorn which her friends scarcely +tried to conceal for his boldness and presumption. His manly pride must +suffer so greatly under it. More than once the blood had mounted +quickly to his forehead, and more than once had he taken leave earlier +than he need, as if he could not keep silent and for the sake of peace +took refuge in flight. + +"I wish I had you in Niendorf now, Gertrude," he had said at the last +farewell. "I cannot bear it very patiently to be looked through as if I +were only air, by your mother." + +And she had nestled closer to him, trembling with agitation. + +"Mamma does not mean anything by it, Frank," replied her lips, though +her heart knew better. And then he had pressed her passionately to him +as he said, + +"If I did not love you so much, Gertrude!" + +"But it will soon be spring, Frank." + +And to-day the verses had come with a bouquet of violets. + +She started as she heard Jenny's voice, and immediately after her +sister came in, angry and excited. + +"I must come to you for a little rest, Gertrude," she said. "Linden is +not here? Thank goodness! I can't stand it at home any longer, the baby +is so fretful and screams and cries enough to deafen one. The doctor +says he must be put to bed, so I have tucked him into his crib. There +is always something to upset and fret one." + +Gertrude started. Well at any rate he was in good hands with Caroline, +she thought. + +"Are you going to the masked ball--you and Linden?" asked the young +wife. + +"No," replied Gertrude, putting away her letter. + +"Why not?" + +"Why should we go? I do not like to dance, as you know, Jenny." + +"Has Uncle Henry been here?" + +"Yes. Is the baby really ill?" + +"Oh, nonsense! a little feverish, that is all. We are going to the +Dressels this evening. Arthur has sent to Berlin for pictures of +costumes, for our quadrille. But you don't care for that. You will bury +yourself by and by entirely in Niendorf. The Landrath said to Arthur +the other day, 'Your sister-in-law will not be in her proper position; +she ought to have married a man in such a position that she would be a +leader in society.' You would have been an ornament to any salon and +now you are going to the Niendorf cow-stalls." + +"And _how_ glad I am!" said Gertrude, her eyes shining. + +"Mrs. Fredericks, ma'am," called the pretty maid just then, "won't you +please come down? The baby is so hot and restless." + +Jenny nodded, looked hastily at a half-finished piece of embroidery and +left the room. When Gertrude followed after a short time she was told +that the baby was doing very well and that Mr. and Mrs. Fredericks were +dressing for the evening. And so she went upstairs again to her lonely +room. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + +A week later the iron-gray horses were bringing the close carriage back +from the church-yard at a sharp trot. On the back seat sat Arthur +Fredericks with Uncle Henry beside him; opposite was Linden. They wore +crape around their hats and a band of crape on the left arm. + +The winter had come back once more in full force before taking its +final departure. It was snowing, and the great flakes settled down on a +little new-made grave within the iron railings of the Baumhagen family +burial-place. Jenny's golden-haired darling was dead! + +No one in the carriage spoke a word, and when the three gentlemen got +out each went his own way after a silent handshake: Uncle Henry to take +a glass of cognac, Arthur to his desolate young wife, while Linden went +up to Gertrude. He did not find her in the drawing-room; probably she +was with her sister. Presently he heard a slight rustling. He strode +across the soft carpet and stood in the open door-way of the room with +the bay-window. + +"Gertrude!" he cried, in dismay, "for Heaven's sake, what is the +matter?" + +She was kneeling before her little sofa, her head hidden in her arms, +her whole frame, convulsed with long, tearless sobs. + +"Gertrude!" + +He put his arms round her and tried to raise her, when she lifted up +her head and stood up. + +"Tell me what has happened, Gertrude," he urged; "is it grief for the +loss of the little one? I entreat you to be calm--you will make +yourself ill." + +She had not shed any tears, she only looked deathly pale and her hands, +which rested in his, were cold as ice. + +"Come," he said, "tell me what it is?" + +And he drew her towards him. + +She clung to him as she had never done before. + +"It will be all right again," she whispered, "now I am with you." + +"Were you afraid? Has anything happened to you?" he inquired, tenderly. + +She nodded. + +"Yes," she said, hastily, "a little while ago I chanced to hear a few +words mamma was saying to Aunt Pauline--they came up from Jenny's--I +suppose they did not think I was here--I don't know. Mamma was still +crying very much about the baby and--then she said Jenny must go +away--she must have a change--this apathy was so dangerous. You know +she has not spoken a word for three days--and--I must accompany her on +a long journey--so I--" She stopped and bit her quivering lips. + +"So you might forget me if possible?" he inquired, gravely. + +He put his hand under her chin and looked into her eyes. She did not +reply, but he read the confirmation of his suspicion in her tearful +eyes. + +"Are they so anxious to be rid of me? Is their dislike so strong, +Gertrude? And you?" He felt how she trembled. + +"Oh!" she cried with a passion which made Linden start, "Oh, I--do +you know there are moments when something seems to take possession +of me with the power of a demon--I am swept away by the force of my +wrath--I--I do not know what I say and do--I am ashamed now--I ought to +have been calm--they cannot separate us, no--they cannot. Now mamma is +lying on the sofa in her room and Sophie has gone for the doctor. Ah, +Frank, I have borne it all so patiently all these long years--is it so +great a sin that my long suppressed feelings should have burst out at +last, that my self-control should have given way for once? I was +violent--I have always thought I was so calm--those words that I heard +seemed to sweep me away like a storm--I don't know what reproaches I +may have spoken against my mother. And to-day, just to-day, when they +have carried away the only sunbeam that was in this house for me!" + +"We will go to your mother, Gertrude, and beg her to pardon us for +loving each other so much--come!" + +He had said this to comfort her, and because he felt that something +must be done. His own desire would have been to take the young girl by +the hand and lead her away out of this house. + +She freed herself from him and looked at him in amazement. "Ask pardon? +And for that?" + +"Gertrude, don't misunderstand me." He felt almost embarrassed before +her great wondering eyes. + +"I meant that we should show your mother calmly and quietly that we +cannot give each other up. Say something to her in excuse for your +vehemence. Come, I will go with you." + +"No, I cannot!" she cried, "I cannot beg forgiveness when I have been +so injured in all that I hold most sacred. I cannot!" she reiterated, +going past him to the deep window. + +He followed her and took her hand; a strange feeling had come over him. +Until now he had only seen in her a calm, reasonable woman. But she +misunderstood him. + +"No!" she cried, "don't ask me, Frank. I will not do it, I cannot, I +never could! Not even when I was a child, though she shut me up for +hours in a dark room." + +"I was not going to urge you," he said; "only give me your hand, I must +know whether this is really you, Gertrude." + +She bent down and pressed a kiss on his right hand. "If _you_ were not +in the world, Frank, if I had to be here all alone!" she whispered +warmly. + +"But you have all this trouble on my account," he replied, much moved. + +She shook her head. + +"Only do not misunderstand me," she continued, "and have patience with +my faults. You will promise me that, Frank, will you not?" she urged in +an anxious tone. "You see I am so perverse when I feel injured; I get +as hard as a stone then and everything good seems to die out of me. I +could hate those people who thrust their low ideas on me! Frank, you +don't know how I have suffered from this already." + +They still stood hand in hand. The snow whirled about before the window +in the twilight of the short winter day. It was so still here inside, +so warm and cosy. + +"Frank!" she whispered. + +"My Gertrude!" + +"You are not angry with me?" + +"No, no. We will bear with each other's faults and we will try to +improve when we are all alone by our two selves." + +"You have no faults," she said, proudly, in a tone of conviction, +drawing closer to him. + +He was grave. + +"Yes, Gertrude, I am very vehement, I sometimes have terrible fits of +passion." + +"Those are not the worst men," she said, putting her arm round his +neck. + +"Are you so sure of that?" he asked, smiling into the lovely face that +looked so gentle now in the twilight. + +"Yes. My grandmother always said so," she replied. + +"The grandmother in the old time?" + +"Yes, dearest. Oh, if you had only known her! But I should like to see +your mother," she added. + +"We will go to see her, darling, as soon as we are married. When will +that be?" + +"Frank," she said, instead of answering, "don't let us go on a journey +at once; let me know first what it is to have a home where love, trust +and mutual understanding dwell together. Let me learn first what +_peace_ is." + +"Yes, my Gertrude. Would to God I could carry you off to the old house +to-morrow." + +"Gertrude!" called a shrill voice from the next room. + +She started. + +"Mamma!" she whispered. "Come!" They went together. Mrs. Baumhagen was +standing beside her writing-table. Sophie had just brought the lamp, +the light of which shone full on the mother's round flushed face, on +which rested an unusually decided expression. + +"I am glad you are here, Linden," she said to the young man, turning +down the leaf of the writing-table and taking her seat before it. + +"How much time do you require to put your house in order so that +Gertrude could live in it?" + +"Not long," he replied. "Some rooms need new carpets, and trifles of +that sort--that is all." + +"Very well--I shall be satisfied," she replied, coldly. "Then to-morrow +you will have the goodness to send your papers in to the clergyman and +have the banns published. In three weeks I shall leave for the South +with my eldest daughter, and before I go I wish to have this--this +affair arranged." + +Linden bowed. + +"I thank you, madam." + +Gertrude stood silent, white to the lips, but she did not look at him. +He knew she was suffering tortures for his sake. + +"Now I wish to settle some things with my daughter," continued Mrs. +Baumhagen, "with regard to her trousseau and the marriage contract." + +He turned to go at once, but stopped to kiss his bride's hand and +looked at her with imploring eyes. "Be calm," he whispered. + +Gertrude laid her hand on her lover's mouth. + +"I will have no marriage contract," she said aloud. + +"Then your fortune will be common property," was her mother's answer. + +"That is what I desire," she replied. "If I can give myself, I will not +keep my money from him. That would seem to me beyond measure, foolish." + +Mrs. Baumhagen shrugged her shoulders and turned away. The two were +standing close together and the bitter words died on her lips. + +"Your guardian may talk to you about that," she said. "Will you be so +kind, Linden, as to find my brother-in-law? I wish to speak with him." + +He kissed Gertrude on the forehead, took his hat and went. Thank +Heaven! he should soon be able to shelter her in his own house, this +proud young girl who loved him so. + +He walked quickly across the square. The fresh air did him good. He +felt thoroughly indignant that any one should endeavor to separate +them, putting hundreds of miles between them. How easily might a +misunderstanding arise, how easily with such a character as hers, whom +only the appearance of pettiness would suffice to arouse to scorn, +hatred and defiance! How many couples who were deeply attached to each +other had been separated in this way before now! He dared not think +what would have become of him if it had happened so with them. + +"'St!--'St,"--sounded behind him, and as he turned on the slippery +sidewalk he saw Uncle Henry coming down the hotel steps. He had +evidently been dining, and his jovial countenance displayed an +astonishing mixture of sadness and physical comfort. + +"I have had my dinner, Linden," he began, putting his arm through the +young man's. "I was very much cast down by this affair of this morning. +You don't misunderstand me I hope? Eh? I am not one of those who lose +their appetites when misfortune comes. I approve of our ancestors who +had funeral feasts. I assure you, Linden, that wasn't such a bad idea +as we of to-day fancy it. Give all honor to the dead, but the living +must have their rights, and to them belong eating and drinking, which +keep soul and body together. Ta, ta! A funeral always upsets me. The +poor little fellow! I was fond of him all the same, you may be sure. I +am sure you have not dined yet. Women never eat under such +circumstances, every one knows." + +"I was just going to look for you," replied Linden. "My future +mother-in-law wishes to see you. We--are going to be married in three +weeks." + +The little man in the fur coat stopped, and looked at Linden as if he +did not believe his ears. + +"How? What? She has changed her mind very suddenly--did Gertrude +improve the opportunity of her softened mood, or--?" + +"Gertrude would never do that--no, Mrs. Baumhagen wishes to travel for +some time with her eldest daughter, and--" + +"Oh, ta, ta! And Gertrude is not to go?" + +"On the contrary--but she would not." + +"Aha! Now it dawns upon me, something has happened. Her serene Highness +has been trying--now, I understand--travelling, new scenes, new +people--out of sight, out of mind. Ha! ha! she is a born diplomatist. +Well, I will come, only let us take the longest way; the fresh air does +me good. I am glad though, heartily glad--in three weeks it is to be +then?" + +The gentlemen walked on together in silence through the snow. It was +wonderfully quiet in the streets in spite of the traffic of business. +Men and carriages seemed to sweep over the white snow. The air was +mild, with a slight touch of spring, and Frank Linden thought of his +home and of the small room next his own, which would not long remain +unoccupied. + +"How do you do, my dear fellow!" said a voice beside him, and a little +man popped up in front of him, holding his hat high above his bald +head--his sharp little face beaming with friendliness. Linden bowed. +Uncle Henry carelessly touched the brim of his hat. + +"How do you come to know this Wolff?" he asked, looking after the man, +who was winding his way sinuously in and out among the crowd. "He is a +fellow who would spoil my appetite if I met him before dinner." + +"I am or rather was connected with him by business, through my old +uncle--he had money from him on a mortgage on Niendorf," explained +Linden. + +"From that cravat-manufacturer? The old man was not very wise." + +Linden did not reply. They had just turned into a quiet side-street. + +"Does he still hold the mortgage?" asked Mr. Baumhagen. + +"No, my friend's sister has taken it." + +"Indeed! Why did you not come to _me_ about it? You could have had some +of Gertrude's money--" + +Frank Linden made a gesture of refusal. + +"Oh--I promised the child; she has authorized me to put a certain +capital at your disposal," explained the old gentleman. + +"Thanks," replied Linden, shortly; "I will not have money matters mixed +up with my courtship." + +"And the new house at Niendorf?" + +"Gertrude knows that she must not expect a fairy palace. Moreover we +can live very comfortably there in the old rooms, though they are low +and small. I have a very pretty garden-hall, and as for the view from +the windows it would be hard to find another like it if you travel ever +so far." + +"Oh, the child is happy enough, but how about her serene Highness?" +chimed in Mr. Baumhagen. + +"I would far rather have her say, 'My child has gone to live in a +peasant's house,' than, '_We_ had to build first,'" remarked Linden, +drily. + +The old gentleman laughed comfortably to himself. + +"Yes, yes, that is just what she would say--and she wants to go +on a journey--it is astonishing! My dear old mother sought comfort +in occupation when my father died--that was the good old +custom--now-a-days people go on a journey. It would be better for +Jenny, poor thing, if she were to sorrow deeply here in her home. But +no, she must be dragged away so the whistle of the locomotive may drive +away her last memory of her little one's voice. Linden!" The old man +stopped and laid his hand on his shoulder. "Gertrude is not like that, +you may take my word for it. She would not go away from the little +grave out there--not now. She has her faults too, but--it is all right +with her _here_," striking his breast. "Heaven grant she may be +truly happy with you in the old nest. She has earned it by her sad +youth--through her father." + +Frank nodded. He knew it all very well, just as the old egotist told it +to him. + +"Well, now we must go," continued Uncle Henry; "my sister-in-law wants +to speak to me about the wedding, I suppose." + +"I think it is about the marriage contract," said Frank Linden, "and +I want to beg you to urge upon Gertrude to yield to her mother's +wishes--I shall like it better." + +"Hm!" said the old man, clearing his throat. "I yield, thou yieldest, +he yields, she--will _not_ yield! She is a perverse little +monkey--pardon. But it is no use mincing matters. She takes it from her +father. He was a splendid man of business, but as soon as his feelings +were concerned, away with prudence, wisdom, calculation, and what not. +Oh, ta, ta! But here we are." + +Mrs. Baumhagen received them very quietly, Gertrude was not with her. + +"She is in her room," she said to Linden, as he looked round for her. +"She expects you." + +He found her in the deep window. There was no lamp in the room, and the +light from the fire played on the carpet, "Gertrude," he said, "how can +I thank you!" And he took her hands, which burned in his like fire. + +"For what?" she asked. + +"For everything, Gertrude! You were quiet with your mother?" he added, +quietly, as she was silent. + +"Perfectly so," she replied; "I thought of you. But I am determined not +to have a marriage settlement." + +"You foolish girl. I might be unfortunate and have bad harvests and +things of that sort--then you would suffer too." + +She nodded and smiled. + +"To be sure, and I would help you with all I possess. And if we have +bad harvests and nothing, nothing will succeed, and we have nothing +more in the world, then--" she stopped and looked at him with her +happy, tear-stained eyes--"then we will starve together, won't we, you +and I?" + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + +The wedding-day came, not as such joyful days usually come. It was as +still as death in the house, which was still plunged in the deepest +mourning. + +The large suite of rooms had been opened and warmed, and over +Gertrude's door hung a garland of sober evergreen. The day before the +door-bell had had no rest, and one costly present after another had +been handed in. All the magnificence of massive silver, majolica, +Persian rugs and other costly things had been spread out on a long +table in the bow-window room. A gardener's assistant was still moving +softly about in the salon, decorating the improvised altar with orange +trees. The fine perfume of _pastilles_ lingered in the air and the +flame from the open fire was reflected in the glass drops of the +chandelier and the smooth _marqueterie_ of the floor. Outside, the +weather was treacherously mild. It was the first of March. + +Mrs. Baumhagen had been crying and groaning all the morning, and +between the arrangements for the wedding, she had been giving orders +respecting her own journey. The huge trunks stood ready packed in the +hall. The next day but one they would start for Heidelberg to see a +celebrated doctor. + +As for Gertrude's trousseau, her mother had not concerned herself about +it--she would attend to it herself. Gertrude's taste was very +extraordinary, at the best; if she liked blue Gertrude would be sure to +pronounce for red, it had always been so. Ah, this day was a dreadful +one to her, and it was only the end of weeks of torture. Since the +funeral of the baby, when her daughter had made such a scene, they had +been colder than ever to each other. Gertrude's eyes could look so +large, so wistful, as if they were always asking, "Why do you disturb +my happiness?" + +She should be glad when they had fairly started on their journey. + +At this time the ladies were all dressing; the wedding was to take +place at five o'clock. The faithful Sophie was helping Gertrude +to-day--she would not permit any one to take her place. + +Gertrude had put on her wedding-dress, and Sophie was kneeling before +her, buttoning the white satin boots. + +"Ah, Miss Gertrude," sighed the old woman, "it will be so lonely in the +house now. Little Walter dead and you away!" + +"But I shall be so happy, Sophie." The soft girlish hand stroked the +withered old face which looked up at her so sadly. + +"God grant it! God grant it!" murmured the old woman as she rose. "Now +comes the veil and the wreath, but I am too clumsy for that, Miss +Gertrude--but, ah, here is Mrs. Fredericks." + +Jenny entered through the young girl's sitting-room. She wore a dress +of deep black transparent crepe, and a white camellia rested on the +soft light braids. She was deathly pale and her eyes were red with +weeping. + +"I will help you, Gertrude," she said, languidly, beginning to fasten +the veil on her sister's brown hair. "Do you remember how you put on my +wreath, Gertrude? Ah, if one could only know at such a time what +dreadful grief was coming!" + +"Jenny," entreated Gertrude, "don't give yourself up to your grief so. +When I came down when Walter died, and Arthur was holding you so +tenderly in his arms I thought what great comfort you had in each +other. That is after all the greatest happiness, when two people can +stand by each other, in sorrow and trial." + +"Oh," said Jenny, her lip curling disdainfully; "I assure you Arthur is +half-comforted already. He can talk of other things, he can eat and +drink and go to business, he can even play euchre. Wonderful happiness +it is indeed!" + +"Ah, Jenny, you cannot expect him to feel the grief that a mother does, +he--" + +"Oh, you will find it out too," interrupted the young wife. "Men are +all selfish." + +Gertrude rose suddenly from her chair. She was silent, but her eyes +rested reproachfully on her sister as if to say, "Is that the blessing +you give me to take with me?" + +But her lips said only, "Not all, I know better." + + +Jenny stood in some embarrassment. "I must go down to Arthur now or he +will never be ready at the right time, and then it will be time for me +to come up to receive the guests." + +The train of her dress swept over the carpet like a dark shadow as she +went. + +Gertrude sat down for a while in the deep window. The white silk fell +in shimmering folds about her beautiful figure, and the grave young +face looked out from the misty veil as from a cloud. She folded her +hands and looked at her father's picture. "I will take you with me +to-night, papa." And her thoughts flew off to the quiet country-house. +She did not know it yet. Only once, when she had driven through the +village on a picnic, had she seen a sharp-gabled roof and gray walls +rising up among the trees. Who would have thought that this would one +day be her home! + +She felt as if it were heartless in her not to feel the departure from +her father's house more. And from her mother? Ah, her mother! Papa had +loved her, very much at one time. Should she go away without one tear, +without one kind motherly word? Gertrude forgot everything in this +blissful moment; she remembered only the good, the time when she was a +happy child and her mother used to kiss her tenderly. She would not go +without a reconciliation. + +She rose, gathered up the long train of her wedding-dress and went +across the dusky hall to her mother's chamber. She knocked softly and +opened the door. + +Mrs. Baumhagen was standing before the tall mirror in a black moire +antique, with black feathers and lace in her still brown hair. Gertrude +could see her face in the glass; it was covered thick with powder, +which she was just rubbing into her skin with a hare's foot. + +Mrs. Baumhagen looked round and gazed at her daughter. She made a +lovely bride, far more imposing than Jenny--and all for that Linden! +She said nothing, she only sighed heavily and turned back to the glass. + +"Mamma," began Gertrude, "I wanted to ask you something." + +"In a moment." + +Gertrude waited quietly till the last touch of the powder-puff had been +laid on the temples, then Mrs. Baumhagen took the long black gloves, +seated herself on a lounge at the foot of her large red-curtained bed, +and began to put them on. + +"What do you want, Gertrude?" + +"Mamma, what do I want? I wanted to say good-bye to you." She sat down +beside her mother and took her hand. + +Mrs. Baumhagen nodded to her. "Yes, we sha'nt see each other for some +time." + +"Mamma, are you still angry with me?" asked the girl, hesitatingly, her +eyes filling with tears. + +"Forgive me, now," she entreated. "I have been vehement and perverse +sometimes, but--" + +"Oh, no matter--don't bring it up now," said her mother. "I only hope +most heartily that you may be happy, and may never repent your +obstinacy and perversity." + +"Never!" cried Gertrude with perfect conviction. + +Mrs. Baumhagen continued to button her gloves. The room was stifling +with the heavy odors of lavender water and patchouly, and her heavy +silk rustled as she exerted herself to button the somewhat refractory +gloves. She made no reply. + +"May I ask one more favor, mamma?" + +"Certainly." + +The girl involuntarily folded her hands in her lap. + +"Mamma, show a little kindness to Linden--do try to like him a +little--make to-day really a day of honor to him. Oh, mamma," she +continued after a pause, "if he is offended to-day it will pierce my +heart like a knife--dear mamma--" + +The big tears trembled on her lashes. + +Once more she asked, "Will you, mamma?" + +Mrs. Baumhagen was just ready. She stretched out both her little hands, +looked at them inside and out, and said without looking up: + +"Kind?--of course--like him? One cannot force one's self to do that, my +child. I hardly know him." + +"For my sake," Gertrude would have said, but she bethought herself. The +days of her childhood had passed, and since then--? + +Mrs. Baumhagen rose. + +"It is almost five," she remarked. "Go back to your room. Linden will +be here in a moment." + +She kissed Gertrude on the forehead, then quickly on the lips. + +"Go, my child,--you know I don't like to be upset--God grant you all +happiness." Gertrude went back to her room, chilled to the heart. A +tall figure stepped hastily out of the window recess, and a strong arm +was around her. + +"It is you!" she said, drawing a long breath, while a rosy flush +overspread her face. + + * * * * * + +The little wedding-party were assembled in the salon, the mother, +Arthur, Jenny, Aunt Pauline and Uncle Henry. Two young cousins in white +tulle made the only points of light amid the gloomy black. + +"For Heaven's sake don't wear such long faces!" cried Uncle Henry, who +looked as if the wedding had upset him as much as the funeral. "It is +dismal enough as it is:--" + +The door opened and the old clergyman entered. Uncle Henry went to meet +him, greeted him loudly, and then disappeared with unusual haste to +bring in the bride and bridegroom. + +The afternoon sunshine flooded the rich salon, overpowering the light +of the candles in the chandelier and the candelabra, and its rays +rested on the young couple before the altar. + +The voice of the clergyman, sounded mild and clear. They had met for +the first time in the house of God, he said; evidently the Lord had +brought them together, and what the Lord had joined together no man +should put asunder. He spoke of love which beareth all things, hopeth +all things, endureth all things. Gertrude had chosen the text herself. + +Then they exchanged rings. They knelt for the blessing, and they rose +husband and wife. + +Then they went up to their mother. Like Gertrude, Frank Linden saw all +things in a different light in this hour. He held out his hand, and +though he could find no words, he meant to promise by this hand-shake +to guard the life just entrusted to him, as the very apple of his eye, +his whole life long. + +But Mrs. Baumhagen kissed the young wife daintily on the forehead, laid +her fingers as daintily for one moment in his extended hand, and then +turned to the clergyman who approached with his congratulations. + +The young couple looked at each other, and as he looked into her +anxious eyes he pressed her arm closer with his, and she grew calm and +almost cheerful. + +Uncle Henry had arranged the wedding-dinner, as was to be expected. + +The curtains were drawn in the dining-room, which had a northern +aspect, the lamps were lighted, and all the family silver shone and +sparkled on the table. The old gentler man understood his business. He +had had sleepless nights over it lately, it is true, but the menu was +exquisite. The only pity was that he and Aunt Pauline and Arthur were +the only ones who were capable of appreciating it, according to his +ideas. The chilling mood still rested on the company, even through +Uncle Henry's toasts, not even yielding to the champagne. The old +egotist was almost in despair. + +When the company adjourned to the drawing-room for coffee, Gertrude +went to her room. A quarter of an hour later she came into the hall in +her travelling dress. Her husband stood there waiting for her. + +From the drawing-room they could hear the murmur of the company--here +all was quiet. + +She looked round her once more and nodded to the old clock in the +corner. + +"Good-bye, Sophie," she said, as she went down the staircase on his +arm, and the old woman bent over the bannisters in a sudden burst of +tears--"Say good-bye to all of them." + +Brilliantly lighted windows shone out upon them in Niendorf when Frank +lifted her out of the carriage, and led her up the steps. The sky was +cloudy, and the fresh spring air was wonderfully soft and odorous. + +"Come in!" he cried, opening the brown old house-door. + +"Oh, what roses!" she cried with delight. + +The balustrade of the staircase, the doorways, the chains from which +the lamps swung were all lavishly adorned with roses, and by the dim +light they glowed against the green background as if they were real +blossoms. + +Kind Aunt Rosa! + +Hand in hand they mounted the staircase and walked down the corridor. +It was only plastered, but it was quite covered with odorous evergreen. +"This is our sitting-room, Gertrude, till yours is ready." + +She stood on the threshold and looked in with eager eyes. It looked +exceedingly cosy and home-like, this low room, pleasantly lighted by +the lamp; and a beautiful hunting hound sprang up, whining with joy at +sight of his master, whom he had not seen for the whole day. She +entered, still holding his hand, in a sort of trembling happiness. + +"Oh, what a beautiful dog! And there is your writing-table, and that is +the book-case, and what a dear old face that is in the gold frame. Is +it your mother, Frank? Yes, I thought she must look like that. And what +a pretty tea-table set for two! Oh, dearest!" And the proud spoiled +child of luxury lay weeping on his breast. + +[Illustration: "The proud spoiled child of luxury lay weeping in his +arms.] + +"Here--it shall remain as it is, Frank--here it is warm and bright; no +bitter word can ever be spoken here." + +"Don't think of it any more," he whispered, comfortingly. "We have left +all evil behind us. We are owners here, and we will have nothing but +peace and love in our household." + +"Yes," she said, smiling through her tears, "you are right. What have +we to do with the outer world?" + +They were standing together in front of his writing-table. A majolica +vase stood on it filled with spring flowers. + +"What an exquisite scent of violets!" she whispered, drawing in a long +breath, and freeing herself from his arms. + +A card lay among the flowers. Both hands were extended for it at once. + +_Heartiest congratulations on your marriage, from_ + + C. Wolff, Agent. + +"How did you happen to know him? _Why_ should he send that?" asked her +eyes. + +But he threw the card carelessly on the table and kissed her on the +forehead. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + +Spring is delicious when one is happy. The trees in the Niendorf garden +put out their leaves one by one, a green veil hung over the budding +forests, and violets were blooming everywhere; Gertrude's whole domain +was filled with the scent of the blue children of spring. The voice of +the young wife sounded through the old house like the note of a lark, +and when Frank returned all sunburned from the fields, a white +handkerchief waved from the shining windows upstairs, and when he +reached the court it was fluttering in her hand on the topmost step. + +"You have come at last, dearest," she would cry then. + +And the walks in the woods, the evenings when he read aloud, and then +the furnishing the house! How sweet it was to consult together, to make +selections, to buy new things and how delighted they both were when +they happened to think of the same things! + +So the house was furnished by degrees. Workmen and upholsterers did +their best. Aunt Rosa's room alone remained untouched, and the master's +cosy room, in which they had passed their first happy weeks together. + +And now everything was ready, homelike and comfortable without any +pretension. The low rooms were not suited to display costly carved +furniture, so with excellent taste they had both chosen only the +simplest things. + +"By-and-by, when we build a new house, Gertrude," he said, and she +assented. + +"First we will improve the estate, Frank--it is so pleasant in these +dear old rooms." + +The garden-hall been fitted up as a dining-room. Close by was a +drawing-room with dark curtains and soft carpets; on the walls Uncle +Henry's wedding present, two large oil paintings--a sunny landscape and +a wintry sea-coast. From behind great green palms stood out a noble +bust of Hermes. Sofas, low seats and arm-chairs everywhere, and +wherever there was the smallest space it was filled up with a vase of +fresh flowers. + +Upstairs, next to the master's room, was that of the young wife, where +her father's picture now stood behind the work-table, by the window. + +The door between the two rooms stood open, and bright striped Turkish +curtains drawn back, permitted Gertrude from her place by the window, +to see the writing-table at which he was working. And from the window +might be seen the wooded mountains beyond the green garden, and farther +away still the distant Brocken, half-hidden in the clouds. + +The young wife had cleared out all the cupboards; in the kitchen the +last new tin had been hung up on the hooks, and shone and sparkled in +the bright sunshine as if it were pure silver. In the store-room jars +and pots were all full and in order, as she turned the key with a happy +smile, and put it into the spick-and-span new key-basket on her arm. + +"Come, Frank," she said, after he had been admiring all this splendor, +"now we will go through all the rooms again." + +"There are not many of them, Gertrude," he laughed. + +"Enough for us, Frank; we do not need any more." + +And they went through the garden hall, and admired the stately buffet +and the hanging-lamp of polished brass, which swung over the great +dining-table. They went into the drawing-room, and admired the pictures +again which the sun lighted up so beautifully, and then they stopped, +looked in each other's eyes and kissed each other. + +"It is all just as I like it, Frank," said she, "plain and suitable, +but nothing sham, no imitations. I hate pretence--everything ought to +be genuine, as real and true as my love and your heart, you dear, good +fellow.--Now everything is perfect in the house," she continued, +picking up a thread from the carpet. "No one would recognize it; it is +the most charming little house for miles around. And it did not cost +nearly as much as Jenny's trousseau and wedding-journey." + +They were standing in the open hall door, and the young man looked with +brightening eyes across the garden to the outbuildings which had +exchanged their leaky roofs for new shining blue slates. + +"You are right, Gertrude, it is a pretty sight; we will sit here often. +And to-morrow they will begin to build the new barns. They must be +ready when we harvest the first rye." + +"Frank," she asked, mischievously, "do you still think as you did a +week after our wedding when we spoke about this for the first time, and +you were really childish and absolutely _would_ not take anything of +that which is yours by every right human and divine? And you would have +let the cows be rained on in their stalls and the farm-servants in +their beds." + +"No, Gertrude, not now," he replied. + +"And why, you Iron-will?" + +"Because we love each other, love each other unspeakably." + +"The adjective is not necessary," corrected she. + +"Don't you believe that one may love unspeakably?" asked he with a +smile. + +"It sounds like a figure of speech." + +He laughed aloud, and drew her out on the veranda. + +"Our home," he said; "come, let us go through the garden and a little +way into the wood." + +The next day Gertrude opened the windows of the guest-chamber, and made +everything there bright and fresh. The table in the dining-room was +gayly decked, and Frank drove to the city in the new carriage to bring +the judge from the station. + +Gertrude was glad of the opportunity of seeing him, Frank had told her +so much about his old friend. She had laughed heartily over his +droll descriptions of his friend's peculiarities, how in company when +he tried to pay a compliment he invariably managed to make it a +back-handed one, to his own infinite astonishment. + +She would take especial pains with her dress for this "jewel" of a man, +as Frank called him. She put a rosette of lace in her hair, Frank liked +that so much, it looked so matronly, almost like a little cap. When she +went up to the toilet-table with this graceful emblem of her youthful +dignity, to look at herself in the glass, she saw there a bouquet of +lilies of the valley with a paper wound round their stems. + +"From him, from Frank," she whispered, growing crimson with delight. + +He had said good-bye to her with such a merry smile. She hastily +unwound the paper from the flowers and read it. + +They were verses turning on the expression he had made use of the day +before,--"loving unspeakably," and justifying himself for using it by +pointing out that for long after he had seen and loved her he knew not +how to call her, where she dwelt, nor who she was, and so he might +literally be said to have loved her "unspeakably." + +"That is how he proves himself in the right," she murmured with +blissful looks, pressing the paper to her lips. "And he is right, +indeed, he does love me 'unspeakably.' Ah, I am a very happy woman!" + +And she put the lilies of the valley in her dress, the verses in her +pocket, took the key-basket and went to the dining-room once more on a +tour of inspection round the table, and then as she had nothing to do +for the moment, she knocked at Aunt Rosa's door, which was only +separated from the dining-room by a small entry. + +The old lady was sitting at the window making roses. There was to be a +wedding in the village at Whitsuntide. A small man was sitting opposite +her, who greeted the entrance of the young wife with a low bow. + +"Beg a thousand pardons, madam,--I wanted to speak to your +husband--I heard he had gone out and the lady here permitted me to wait +for him." + +"What does he say, Mrs. Linden?" inquired the old lady, shaking hands, +"I did not permit him to do any such thing. He came in himself--and +here he is." + +"My name is Wolff, madam," said the agent by way of introduction. + +"Must you speak to my husband to-day? It will not be convenient, for we +have company to dinner. Can't I arrange it?" inquired Gertrude. + +"O, no--no--" said he, very decidedly, bowing as he spoke. "I must +speak to Mr. Linden himself, but I can come again, there is no hurry, I +used to come here every day. Good morning, ladies." + +"What could he want, auntie?" inquired the young wife after he had +gone. + +"Well, I can tell you what he wanted of _me_--he wanted to _question_ +me. He would have liked to look through the key-hole to find out how it +looked in your house. But sit down, my dear." + +These two understood each other perfectly. Sometimes the old lady drank +coffee with Gertrude and then she had many questions to answer. In this +way it had come out quite by chance that she had been a schoolmate of +Gertrude's grandmother. + +Sometimes they went to walk together and Gertrude learned to know the +village people, found out who the poor ones were and a little of the +history of the place. Aunt Rosa's pictures were rather roughly drawn, +she did not like every one, but Linden was her idol next to a young +niece of hers. + +"He is so nice," she used to say, "he is so courteous to the old as +well as the young." + +And Gertrude returned the compliment by declaring she could not imagine +the house without Aunt Rosa. + +To-day, the young mistress of the house could not stay long quietly in +the rose-room. It was strange, but she felt anxious about her husband. +If only he had had no accident with the new horses, she thought, as she +went out on the veranda. + +The blooming garden lay quiet and still before her in the mid-day +sunshine. Suddenly a shadow came over her face--there, under the +chestnut-trees, where the sunbeams broke through the leaves in golden +flecks. There was no doubt of it--it was he, the man in Aunt Rosa's +room. How happened he to penetrate into the garden? Where had she heard +his name before? She started as if she had touched something +unpleasant. "Wolff,"--it was the name on the card that came with the +flowers on her wedding eve. Yes, to be sure. But she had _seen_ the +man, too, somewhere before--where was it? Perhaps in the factory with +Arthur, very likely. + +She raised her head and her eyes began to sparkle. There was the +carriage just turning in at the gate. _He_ was driving and on the front +seat beside the expected guest sat Uncle Henry, waving his red +handkerchief. + +The gentlemen were all in the best of humor--it was a lively meeting. + +"It looks something like here now, Frank," said the little judge, +clapping Linden on the shoulder and shaking hands with his wife. He was +so pleased that he even inquired for Aunt Rosa. + +"Do you know, child," said Uncle Henry by way of excuse for his +presence, "I should not be here so soon again, but the landlord of the +hotel died this morning--and I couldn't eat there, it was out of the +question. You have some asparagus?" + +"I shall not tell any tales out of school, uncle." + +She put her arm in that of the old gentleman and went up the steps with +her guests. At the top she turned her head and then walked quickly to +the balustrade of the veranda. + +There stood Wolff bowing before her husband, his hat in his hand, his +face covered with smiles. + +"O, ta, ta!" said Uncle Henry. + +"How comes he here, Gertrude?" + +The judge looked out from under his blue spectacles with earnest +attention at the two men. Just then Linden waved his hand shortly and +they strode along the way which led to the court and the outer gate, +Wolff still speaking eagerly. + +Gertrude bent far over the iron railing. It seemed to her that Frank +was vexed. Now they stood still. Frank opened the gate and pointed +outward with an unmistakable and very energetic gesture. + +Mr. Wolff hesitated, he began to speak again--again the mute gesture +still more energetic, and the little man disappeared like a flash. The +gate fell clanging in the lock and Frank came back, but slowly as if he +must recover himself first and deeply flushed as if from intense anger. + +Gertrude went to meet him, but said nothing. She would not ask him for +explanations before their guests. She very stealthily pressed his hand +and spoke cheerfully of her pleasure in her guests. + +"Charming!" he said, absently, "but Gertrude, pray entertain Uncle +Henry--Richard--come with me a moment--I must--I will show you your +room." And the two friends left the room together. + +"Do you know that you are going to have some more visitors this +afternoon?" asked the old gentleman, settling himself comfortably in a +chair. "Your mother and the Fredericks,--they came back yesterday +morning. Jenny looks blooming as a rose, and, thank Heaven! Arthur has +got his milk-face burned a little with the sun." + +"Yes," replied Gertrude, "he was with them at the Italian lakes +for a month." And then as if she had only just taken in his whole +meaning,--"How glad I am that mamma is coming out here at once! Ah, +uncle, if she would only get reconciled to Frank!" + +"Eh, what? Gertrude, don't distress yourself, it will all come right. +Besides he is not a man to put up with much nonsense!" + +"What could this Wolff have wanted with him?" + +"Hm! what are they about in Heaven's name?" asked her uncle, +impatiently. + +"Are you hungry?" she asked, absently. + +"Hungry? How can you use such common expressions? A dish of pork and +beans would suffice for hunger. I have an appetite, my child. O, ta, +ta, the asparagus will be spoiled if those two stay so long in their +room." + +It was a very cosy group that Mrs. Baumhagen's eyes rested on as she, +with Jenny and Arthur, mounted the veranda steps. + +They were sitting over their dessert, and Uncle Henry, with his napkin +in his buttonhole, his champagne-glass in his hand, shouted out a +stentorious "welcome!" while the young host and hostess hurried down +the steps, Gertrude with crimson cheeks. She was so proud, so happy. + +Mrs. Baumhagen looked at her daughter in amazement. The pale, quiet +girl had become as blooming as a rose. "It is the honeymoon still," she +said to herself, and her eyes never ceased to follow her youngest child +during the whole time of her stay. + +The coffee-table was set out under the chestnuts. It was a beautiful +spot. The eye glanced over the green lawn, past the magnificent trees +to the quaint old dwelling-house with its high gables and its ivy-grown +walls. The doors of the garden-hall stood open, and from the flagstaff +fluttered gayly a black-and-white flag. + +"An idyll like a picture by Voss," laughed the little judge. + +The young host gallantly escorted his mother-in-law through the garden. +Every cloud had vanished from his brow, he was cheerful and agreeable. + +"But very sure of himself," Jenny remarked, later, to her mother. "He +feels himself quite the host and master of the house." + +The uncomfortable feeling which he had always had in his +mother-in-law's presence, had disappeared. To her amazement he +permitted himself once or twice quite calmly to contradict her. Arthur +had never dared to do that. And Gertrude, how ridiculous! while she +presided over the coffee in her calm way, her eyes were continually +turning to him as soon as he spoke. "As you like, Frank,"--"What do you +think, Frank?" etc. And when her mother hoped Gertrude would not fail +to call on her Aunt Pauline on her birthday, the next day, she asked +appealingly, "Can I, Frank? Can I have the carriage?" + +"Certainly, Gertrude," was the reply. + +Then Mrs. Baumhagen put down her dainty coffee cup and leaned back in +her garden chair. The child was not in her right mind! that was too +much. But Arthur Fredericks applauded loudly. + +"Gertrude," he called out across the table, "talk to this--" he seized +the hand of his wife who angrily tried to draw it away. "What does +Katherine say as an amiable wife to her sister? Words that sound as +sweet to us as a message from a better world." + +"To be sure!" laughed Gertrude, not in the least offended by the +ironical tone. + + "Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, + Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee + And for thy maintenance; commits his body + To painful labor, both by sea and land; + To watch the night in storms, the day in cold + While thou liest warm at home secure and safe; + And craves no other tribute at thy hands + But love, fair looks and true obedience,-- + Too little payment for so great a debt." + +"You see, Arthur, I have my Shakespeare at my tongue's end." + +Mrs. Baumhagen suddenly broke up the coffee party. She seemed heated, +for she was fanning herself with her handkerchief. + +"Gertrude, you must show us the house," she exclaimed. "Come, Jenny, we +will leave the gentlemen to their cigars." + +"Gladly, mamma," said the young girl, easily. + +She led her mother and sister through the kitchen and cellar, through +the chambers, and through the whole house. In the dining-room a pretty +young woman in a spotless white apron was engaged in clearing off the +table. Gertrude gave her some orders in a low tone as she passed. + +"That is Johanna, whose husband was killed," said Jenny. + +"Yes," replied her sister, "I have engaged her as housekeeper. She is +very capable, and I like to have a familiar face about me." + +"With the child?" asked the mother, scornfully. + +"Of course," replied the young wife. "She lives in the other wing. It +is a pleasure to see how the little fellow improves in the country +air." + +"Who lives in this wing?" inquired Jenny. + +"Aunt Rosa." + +"Good gracious! A sort of mother-in-law?" cried her sister in +consternation. + +Gertrude shook her head. "No, she is quite inoffensive, she belongs to +the inventory--so to speak. But I would like Frank to have his mother +here, the old lady is so alone and she is not very well." + +Jenny laughed aloud, but Mrs. Baumhagen rustled so angrily into the +next room that all the ribbons on her rather youthful toilette +fluttered and waved in the air. + +"Gertrude!" cried Jenny, "you will not be so senseless!" + +The young wife made no reply. She opened a wardrobe door in the +corridor and said, + +"This is the linen, Jenny; we need so much in the country. That is the +chest for the finest linen and for the china, and this is my room. This +way, mamma." + +"It might have been a little less simple," remarked her mother, who had +recovered herself, though the flush of excitement still rested on her +full cheeks. + +"I did not wish to be so very unlike Frank, who kept his old furniture; +besides we are only in moderate circumstances, you know, mamma, and we +are only just beginning." + +Her mother cleared her throat and sat down in one of the small +arm-chairs. Jenny wandered about the room, looking at the pictures and +ornaments, slightly humming to herself as she did so. Gertrude stood +thoughtfully beside her mother and felt her heart grow cold as ice. It +was the old feeling of estrangement which always thrust itself between +her and her mother and sister--they had nothing in common. She grieved +over it as she had always done, but she no longer felt the bitter pain +of former days. Slowly her hand sought the pocket of her dress, and +touched lightly a rustling paper--"Thou art unspeakably beloved." Ah, +that was compensation enough for anything, and she lifted her head with +a happy smile. + +"But you have not told me anything about your delightful journey yet, +and your letters were so very short." + +"O, yes," said Jenny, yawning as she took up a terra cotta figure and +gazed at it on all sides, "it was perfectly delightful in Nice. Now +that I am back again, I begin to feel what a provincial little circle +it is that we vegetate in here." + +"We will go again, next year, Providence permitting," added Mrs. +Baumhagen. "Only I must beg to be excused from Arthur's company. He was +really just as childish as your father used to be in his time. Jenny +must not do this and Jenny should not do that, mustn't go here and +mustn't stand there, in short he was a perfect torment, as if we women +did not know ourselves what it is proper to do." + +Jenny seated herself too. + +"Never mind, mamma, he is still suffering for his folly. I have not +allowed him to forget the scene he made for us at Monte Carlo yet." + +"O yes, Heaven knows you are a very happy couple," exclaimed her +mother. + +"But I think it is time for us to be going home," she continued, taking +her costly watch from her belt. "We will go and get your husband. +Come." + +The three ladies went back to the garden to the table where the +gentlemen were comfortably chatting over their cigars. Frank was in +earnest conversation with Aunt Rosa, who in her best array, sat +enthroned in the seat Mrs. Baumhagen had left only a short time before. +Gertrude hastened to introduce her mother and sister to the old lady. +There was no help for it--they were obliged to sit down again for a +short time out of politeness. Mrs. Baumhagen, with a bored look, Jenny +with scarcely concealed amusement at the wonderful little old lady. + +"Gertrude," began Frank, "Aunt Rosa came to tell us that she expects +company." + +"I hope it won't put you out," said the old lady, turning to Gertrude. +"My niece always visits me every year at this time. You have heard me +say that the child is passionately fond of the woods and mountains and +she cheers me up a little." + +"Is it that pretty little girl you have told us about so often, Aunt +Rosa?" asked Gertrude, kindly; and as the former nodded, she continued, + +"Oh, she will be heartily welcome, won't she, Frank? When is she +coming, and what is her name?" + +"I expect her in a day or two, and her name is Adelaide Strom," replied +Aunt Rosa. "I always call her Addie." + +[Illustration: "Gertrude hastened to introduce her mother and sister to +the old lady."] + +Then she began to explain the relationship which had the result of +making all the company dizzy. + +"My mother's sister married a Strom, and her step-son is the cousin of +Adelaide's grandfather--" + +Here Mrs. Baumhagen rose with great rustling. "I must go home," she +said, interrupting the explanation. "It is high time we were gone." + +Jenny, who was standing behind her husband's chair, laid her hand on +his shoulder. + +"Please order the carriage." + +"Why, what do you mean, child?" said he in a tone of vexation. "We have +only just come!" + +"But mamma wishes it." + +"Mamma? But why?" he asked, shortly. "We are having a delightful talk." + +"Won't you stay till evening, Mrs. Baumhagen?" asked Frank, +courteously. + +"My head aches a little," was the reply. + +Arthur ran his hand despairingly through his hair. This "headache" was +the weapon with which every reasonable argument was overthrown. + +"Very well, then, do you go," he muttered, grimly. "I will come home +with Uncle Henry." + +"Yes, to be sure, my dear fellow," cried the old gentleman, much +pleased. "I shall be very glad of your company; we will try the +Moselle, eh, Frank?" + +"Uncle Henry filled up the cellar for our wedding-present," explained +the young host as he rose to order the carriage. + +"And so richly," added Gertrude. + +"Oh, ta, ta!" + +The old gentleman had risen and was helping his sister-in-law on with +her cloak, with somewhat asthmatic politeness. + +"It was pure selfishness, Ottilie. Only that a man might get a drop fit +to drink when one arrived here, weary and thirsty." + +"Gertrude," whispered Jenny, taking her sister a little aside, "how can +you be so foolish as to allow a young girl to be brought into the +house? I tell you it is really dreadful; they are always in the way, +they _always_ want to be admired, they are always wanting to help and +never fail to pay most touching attentions to the host. It is really +inconsiderate of the old lady to impose her on you. Invent some excuse +for keeping her away. I speak from experience, my love. Arthur invited +a cousin once, you remember, I nearly died of vexation." + +Gertrude laughed. + +"Ah, Jenny," she said, shaking her head. The she hastened after her +mother, who was already seated in the carriage. + +"Come again soon," she said cordially, when Jenny had taken her seat +also. + +"I shall expect a visit from you next," was the reply. "You must be +making a few calls in town some time." + +"We haven't thought about it yet," cried Gertrude, gayly. + +"Pray do see that Arthur gets home before the small hours. Uncle Henry +never knows when to go," cried Jenny in a tone of vexation. + +And the carriage rolled away. + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + +It was late before Uncle Henry and Arthur set out for home and late +when the little judge went to his room. They had all three sat for a +good while in Frank's study, talking of past and present times. + +"We shall be very gay," said Frank, "when Aunt Rosa's niece comes. You +will not be so much alone then, Gertrude, when I am away in the +fields." + +"I am never lonely," she replied, quietly. "I have never had a +girl-friend, and now it seems superfluous to me." And she looked at him +with her grave deep eyes. + +"Madam," inquired the judge, putting the end of his cigar in a +meerschaum mouthpiece, "has he written poetry to you too?" And he +pointed to Frank with a sly laugh. + +Gertrude flushed. + +"Of course," she replied. + +"Ah, he can't help writing verses," said the little man, teasingly, +clapping his friend on the shoulder. + +"I tell you, Mrs. Linden, sometimes it seizes upon him like a perfect +fever; and the things that a fellow like that finds to write about! +Poets really are born liars. At the moment when the sweet verses flow +out on the paper, they actually believe every word they write--it is +really touching!" + +"Spare me, Richard, I beg of you," laughed the young host, half +angrily. + +"Isn't it true?" asked the judge. "Only think of your celebrated poem +on the gypsy girl. I was there when you saw the brown maiden on the +Roemerberg, and in the evening it was already written down in your +note-book that she wandered through the streets with winged feet, with +straying hair, and shy black eyes in which a longing for the moorland +lay and for the wind which through the reed-grass sweeps--and so on. +Ha, ha! And she really came from the Jew's quarter and went begging +from house to house for old rags." + +They all three laughed, Gertrude the most heartily; then she became +suddenly grave. + +"You are a malicious fellow," declared Frank, rising to light a candle. +"It is late, Richard, and we are early risers here." + +As the friends bade each other good-night at the door of the +guest-chamber, the judge said, + +"Well, Frank, I congratulate you. You have won a prize--such a dear, +sensible little woman! + +"As for the _other_--my dear fellow, what did I tell you about that +man? Well, good-night! That Uncle Henry is a good old soul, too,--now +take yourself off." + +Gertrude was standing by the open window in her room, looking out into +the night. The lamplight from the next room shone in faintly. Dark +clouds were gathering, far away over the mountains there were flashes +of lightning and in the garden a chorus of nightingales was singing. + +"Gertrude," said a voice behind her. + +"Frank," she replied, leaning her head on his shoulder. + +"Hush! Listen! It is so lovely tonight." + +They stood thus for awhile in silence. This afternoon's conversation +was still lingering in Linden's mind. Uncle Henry could not understand +why he should not cut his timber from his own woods. But the Niendorf +woods had been greatly thinned out and no new plantations made. + +"Tell me, Gertrude," he began, suddenly, "where is your villa +'Waldruhe?'" + +His young wife started as if a snake had stung her. "Our--my villa?" +she gasped, "how did you know--who told you about the villa?" + +He was silent. "I cannot remember who," he said after a pause, "but +some one must have told me that there is a little wood belonging to it. +But, Gertrude, what is the matter?" he inquired. "You are trembling!" + +"Ah, Frank, who told you about _that_?" she reiterated, "and _what_?" + +Her voice had so sad a ring in it that he perceived at once that he had +hurt her. + +"Gertrude, have I hurt you? I beg your pardon a thousand times; I was +only thinking of cheaper timber which I might have cut there this +winter." + +"Timber? There? It is only a park. Ah, Frank--" + +"But what is it pray?" he asked with a little impatience. "I cannot +possibly know--" + +"No, you cannot know," she assented. "It was only the shock--I ought to +have told you long ago, only it is so frightfully hard for me to speak +of it. You ought to know about it too, but--tell me who told you about +it?" + +"But when I assure you, my child, that I cannot remember." + +"Frank," said his young wife, in a low, hesitating tone, "out there--in +'Waldruhe,' my poor father died--" + +"My little wife!" he said, comfortingly. + +"It was there--he--he killed himself." Her voice was scarcely audible. + +He bent down over her, greatly shocked. "My poor child, I did not know +that, or I would not have spoken of it." + +"And I found him, Frank. He built 'Waldruhe' when I was but a child, +and he used to go and stay there for weeks together. It is so hard to +talk of it--he was not happy, Frank. Ah, we will not dwell on it. Mamma +did not understand him, and it was the day after Christmas and I knew +they had had a dispute; that is not the right word for it either, for +papa never contradicted her, and he bore so patiently all her crying +and complaining. After awhile I heard the carriage drive away. It was +in the morning--and I had such a strange feeling of anxiety and dread +and after dinner I put on my hat and cloak and ran out of the Bergedorf +gate along the high road, on and on till I came to 'Waldruhe.' I was +surprised to see that the blinds were shut in his room, but I saw the +fresh wheel-tracks in front of the house. The gardener's wife, who +lives in a little cottage on the place, said he was upstairs. He _was_ +upstairs--yes--but he was dead!" + +[Illustration: "He _was_ up stairs--yes--but he was dead."] + +She stood close beside him, encircled by his arm, as she told her +story. He could feel how she trembled and how cold her hands were. + +"Don't speak of it any more, my darling," he entreated, "you will make +yourself ill." + +"Yes, I was ill, Frank, for a whole year," she said. "It was a fearful +time; I could not forgive my mother. From that moment the gulf arose +which parts us to-day, and nothing can bridge it over. I was so +horribly lonely, Frank, before I found you. But the villa?--Yes, it +belongs to me; papa destined it for me when he built it. I have had +some very pleasant days with him there, but now the very thought of it +is dreadful to me. It is empty and deserted. I have never been there +since. It is so horrible to find a person whom one has so honored and +loved--to find him so--" + +"Forgive me, Gertrude," he said, gently. + +"You could not know, Frank. No one knows it but ourselves." And as if +to turn his thoughts to something else she continued hurriedly, "Thank +you so much, love, for that lovely poem, 'Thou art unspeakably +beloved.'" + +And she stroked his hand and pressed it to her lips. + +"My poor little Gertrude!" + +They stood thus together for awhile wrapped about with the sweet +atmosphere of spring. + +"A thunder-shower is coming up," he said at length; and she freed +herself from his arms and left the room. Frank could hear her going +softly about the corridor here and there, shutting the doors and +windows, and jingling her keys. She was looking to see if everything +was in order for the night. + +He put his hand to his forehead and tried to recall who had spoken to +him of the villa. He passed on into his lighted room as if he could +think better there. After awhile the young wife came back, with her +key-basket on her arm. The sweet face was lifted up to him. + +"Frank," said she, "what did the agent want of you to-day?" + +He stared at her as if a flash of lightning had struck him. + +"That is it! that is it!" And he struck his forehead as if something he +had been seeking for in vain had suddenly occurred to him. + +"What did he want? Oh, nothing, Gertrude, nothing of any consequence." + +She looked at him in surprise, but she said nothing. It was not her way +to ask a second time when she got no answer. It really was of no +consequence. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + +It had rained heavily in the night, with thunder and lightning, but +nature seemed to have no mind to-day to carry out her coquettish love +of contrasts; she did not laugh, as usual, with redoubled gayety in +blue sky and golden sunshine on forest and field: gloomily she spread a +gray curtain over the landscape, so uniformly gray that the sun could +not find the smallest cleft through which to send down a friendly +greeting, and it rained unceasingly, a perfect country rain. + +Frank came back from the fields rejoicing over the weather, and +Gertrude waved her handkerchief to him out of the window as she did +every morning. + +"All the flowers are ruined, Frank," she cried down to him, "what a +pity!" + +He came up in high good humor. "No money could pay for this rain, +darling," he said; "I am a real farmer now, my mood varies according to +the weather." + +"And mine too!" remarked his wife. "Such a gray day makes me +melancholy." + +He went towards her as she sat at her writing-table turning over books +and papers. + +"Just look, Frank," as she held out to him a packet daintily tied up +with blue ribbons; "these are all verses of yours, arranged according +to order. When we have our silver wedding I shall have them printed and +bound. These on cream-colored paper were written during our engagement, +and these different scraps, white and blue and gray, were written since +our marriage, when you take anything that comes, thinking I suppose +that it is good enough for _Mrs._ Gertrude." + +She looked up at him with a smile. He bent down over her, + +"And now I shall buy a very special kind of paper for my next verses, +Gertrude." + +"Why?" + +"Bright, like the little bundles the storks carry under their wings. +And I shall write on it--" + +She grew crimson. "A cradle-song," she finished softly. + +He nodded and put her hand to his lips. But she threw both arms round +his neck. "Then it would be sweet and home-like, Frank. Then we should +love each other better than ever--if that were possible." + +"Here, little wife, I wrote this for you today in the field in the +rain." He took out his note-book from his pocket and put it in her +hand. + +"I will just go and see what the judge is about, the rascal," he called +back from the door. + +And she sat still and read, her face as grave and earnest as if she +were reading in the Bible. + +She was startled from her reading by the snapping of a whip before the +window. She looked out quickly--there stood the Baumhagen carriage; the +coachman in his white rubber coat and the cover drawn over his hat, the +iron-gray horses black with the drenching rain. She opened the window +to see if any one got out. Johanna came out and the coachman gave her a +letter with which she ran quickly back into the house. + +Gertrude was startled. An accident at home? She flew to the door. + +"A letter, ma'am." + +She hastily tore it open. + + +"Come at once--I must speak to you without delay. + + "YOUR MOTHER." + +Such were the oracularly brief contents of the note. + +"Bring me my things, Johanna, and tell my husband." + +"Frank," she cried, as he entered, hurriedly, "something must have +happened." + +"Don't be alarmed," he besought her, though unable quite to conceal his +own uneasiness. + +"Yes, yes. Oh, if I only knew what it was! I feel so anxious." + +He took her things from the servant and put the cloak round Gertrude's +shoulders. + +"I hope it has nothing to do with Arthur and Jenny. They were very +strange to each other, yesterday." + +Gertrude looked at him and shook her head. "No, no, they were always +like that." + +"Then I am surprised that he did not run away long ago," he said, +drily. + +"Or she," retorted Gertrude tying her bonnet. + +"I could not stand such everlasting complaints, Gertrude," said he, +buttoning her left glove. + +"Nor I, Frank. Good-bye. You must make my excuses at dinner. God grant +it is nothing very bad." + +She looked round the room once more, then went quickly up to her +work-table and thrust the note-book into her pocket. + +When a few minutes later the landau passed out of the great iron gate +she put her head out of the window. He stood on the steps looking after +her. As she turned he took off his hat and waved it. + +How handsome he was, how stately and how good! + +She leaned back on the cushions. She felt a vague alarm--it was the +first time she had left the house without him. Strange thoughts came +over her--how dreadful it would be if she should not find him again, or +even--if she should lose him utterly. Could she go on living then? +Live--yes--but how? + +It would be frightful to be a widow! Still more frightful if they were +to part--one here, the other there, hating each other, or indifferent! + +Could Arthur and Jenny, really--? Oh, God in Heaven preserve us from +such woe! + +She looked out of the window. The coachman was driving at a dizzy pace. +There lay the city before her in the mist. Again her thoughts wandered, +faster than the horses went. She took the note-book out of her pocket +to read the verses, but the letters danced before her eyes, and she put +it away again. + +In the attic at home stood the old cradle in which her father had been +rocked, and Jenny, and she herself. The grandmother in the narrow +street had had it as part of her outfit. She would get it out for +herself if God should ever fulfil her wish. Jenny's darling had lain in +another bed, the clumsy old cradle did not seem suitable in the elegant +chamber of the young mother, but in the modest room at Niendorf, where +the vines crept about the windows and the big old stove looked so cosy +and comfortable, it would be quite in place, just between the stove and +the wardrobe in a cosy corner by itself. She smiled like a happy child. +She could not believe that her life could be so beautiful, so rich. + +The carriage was now rattling through the city gate; she would be at +home in a minute now, and her heart began to beat loudly. If she only +knew what it was. + +The porter opened the carriage door and she got out and ran up the +stairs to Jenny's apartment. The entrance door of her mother's +apartment stood open. No one was to be seen and she entered the hall. +How dear and familiar everything looked! Even the tall clock lifted up +its voice, and struck the quarter before two. She took off her cloak +and went to her mother's room. Here, too, the door was ajar. Just as +she was going to enter she suddenly drew back her hand. + +"And I tell you, Ottilie, it will be the worst act of your life, if you +fling all this in the child's face without the slightest preparation. +Whether it is true or false why should you destroy her young happiness? +There are other ways and means." + +It was Uncle Henry. He spoke in a tone of the deepest vexation. + +"Shall she hear it from strangers?" cried the voice of her weeping +mother; "the whole town is ringing with it, and is she to go about as +if she were blind and deaf?" + +"I am trembling all over," Gertrude now heard Jenny say; "it is +outrageous, we are made forever ridiculous. It was only last +evening that I said to Mrs. S----, 'You can't imagine what an idyllic +Arcadian happiness has its dwelling out there in Niendorf.'" + +"Confound your logic! I tell you--" cried the little man angrily. But +he stopped suddenly, for there on the threshold stood Gertrude Linden. + +"Are you talking of us?" she asked, her terrified eyes wandering over +the group and resting at length on her mother, who at sight of her had +sunk back weeping in her chair. + +"Yes, child." + +The old man hastened towards her and tried to draw her away. + +"It's a thoughtless whim of your mother to send for you here; nothing +at all has happened; really, it is only some stupid gossip, a +misunderstanding perfectly absurd. Come across to the other room and I +will explain it all." + +"No, no, uncle, I must know it, must know it all." + +She withdrew her hand from his and went up to her mother. + +"Here I am, mamma; now tell me everything, but quickly, I entreat you." + +She looked down on the weeping woman with a face that was deathly pale, +standing motionless before her in her light summer costume. Only the +strings of her bonnet, which were tied on the side in a simple bow, +rose and fell quickly, and bore witness to her great agitation. + +"I can't tell her," sobbed Mrs. Baumhagen, "you tell her, Jenny." + +Gertrude turned to her sister at once. She cast down her eyes and wound +the black velvet ribbon of her morning-dress nervously round her +finger. + +"Your husband is in a very unpleasant situation," she began in a low +tone. + +"In what respect?" asked Gertrude. + +"It is a disagreeable affair, but nothing to make such solemn faces +over," burst out the old gentleman, who was standing at the window. + +"He had--" Jenny hesitated again, "a conversation with Wolff +yesterday." + +"I know it," replied Gertrude. + +"Wolff had a claim on him which your husband will not recognize and--" + +"For Heaven's sake, make an end of it!" The old gentleman brought his +fist down angrily on the window-sill. "Do you want to give her the +poison drop by drop?" + +He took Gertrude's hand again, and tried to find words to explain. + +"You see, Gertrude, it is not so bad; it often happens, and this Wolff +may have thrust himself forward, in short--he is a sort of a walking +encyclopaedia, knows everybody hereabouts, and whenever any one wants to +know anything he is sure to be able to tell him. So your husband--well, +how shall I excuse it?--he inquired about your circumstances, do you +understand?--before he offered himself to you--_voila tout_. It happens +hundreds of times, child, and you are reasonable, Gertrude, aren't +you?" + +The young wife stood motionless as a statue. Only gradually the color +came to her cheeks. + +"That is a lie!" she cried, drawing a long breath. "Did you bring me +here for _that_?" + +"But Wolff was here," moaned Mrs. Baumhagen, "asking for my +intervention." + +"No, he came to _us_," corrected Jenny, "early this morning; he wanted +to speak to Arthur, but Arthur--" she hesitated, "last evening +Arthur--" + +"You may as well say that Arthur started off suddenly on a journey in +the night," interposed Mrs. Baumhagen sharply, "I am very fortunate in +my children's marriages!" + +"Well, I can't help it if he gets angry at every little thing," laughed +the young wife, quite undisturbed. "Besides we are very happy." + +"A pretty kind of happiness," grumbled the old gentleman to himself, so +low that no one but Gertrude could hear it. Then he added aloud, "A +hurried journey on business, we will call it, a sudden journey on +business, preceded by a little curtain lecture." + +"Oh, to be sure, a journey on business," said Mrs. Baumhagen in a tone +of pique, "to Manchester." + +"What has that got to do with Gertrude's affairs?" asked Uncle Henry, +"It is enough that Arthur was not there, and the gentleman went up +another flight and spoke to your mother, my child. It is not worth +mentioning--if I had only been here sooner. It is very disagreeable +that you should have heard of it, but believe me, my child, they all do +it now-a-days." + +The good-natured little man clapped her kindly on the shoulder. + +Mrs. Baumhagen, however, started up like an angry lioness. + +"Don't talk such nonsense! How can you smooth it over? It was nothing +but a common swindle. I hope Gertrude has enough sense of dignity to +tell Mr. Linden that--" + +"Not another word!" + +The young wife stood almost threatening before her in the middle of the +room. + +"But for mercy's sake! It will be the most scandalous case that was +ever known," sobbed the excited lady. "He is going to sue Linden--you +will both have to appear in court." + +Gertrude did not utter a syllable. + +"Have the kindness to order a carriage, uncle," she entreated. + +"No, you must not go away so! you look shockingly," was the anxious cry +of her mother and sister. + +"Do listen to reason, Gertrude," said Jenny in a complaining tone. + +"We must silence Wolff--uncle can inquire how much he asks for his +services, and--" + +"And you will come to us again," sobbed her mother. "Gertrude, +Gertrude, my poor unhappy child, did I not foresee this?" + +"This is too much!" growled the old gentleman. "Confound these women! +Don't let them talk you into anything, child," he cried, forcibly; +"settle it with your husband alone." + +"A carriage, uncle," reiterated the young wife. + +"Wait a while at least," entreated Jenny, "till mamma's lawyer--" + +"Oh," groaned Uncle Henry, "if Arthur had only been here, this +confounded affair wouldn't have been left in the women's hands. I will +get you a carriage, Gertrude. Your nags are at the factory, Jenny? Very +well. Excuse me a moment." + +Gertrude was standing in the window like one stunned; she had as yet no +clear understanding of the matter. "The whole city is talking about +it," she heard her mother sob. Of what then? She tried forcibly to +collect her thoughts, but in vain. Only one thing: it is not true! went +over and over in her mind. + +She clenched her little hand in its leather glove. "A lie! A lie!" fell +again from her lips. But this lie had spread itself like a heavy mist +over her young happiness, bringing so much vague alarm that her breath +came thick and fast. + +"Shall I go with you?" asked Jenny. The carriage was just coming across +the square. + +"No, thank you. I require no third person between my husband and +myself." + +Her words sounded cold and hard. + +"You look so miserable," groaned her mother. + +"Then the sooner I get home the better." + +"At least send back a messenger at once." + +"Perhaps you think he beats me too?" she inquired, ironically, turning +to go. + +"Child! child!" cried Mrs. Baumhagen, stretching out her arms towards +her, "be reasonable, don't be so blind where facts speak so loudly." + +But she did not turn back. Calmly she took down her mantle from the +hat-stand. Sophie gazed anxiously into the pale, still face of the +young wife, who quite forgot to say a pleasant word to the old servant. +At the carriage-door stood Uncle Henry. + +"Let me go with you, Gertrude," he entreated. + +She shook her head. + +"It is only out of pure selfishness, Gertrude," he continued. "If I +don't know how it is going with you I shall be ill." + +"No, uncle. We two require no one; we shall get on better alone." + +"Don't break the staff at once, child," he said, gently, + +"I do not need to do that, Uncle Henry." + +He lifted his hat from his bald head. There was a reverent expression +in his eyes. + +"Good-bye, Gertrude, little Gertrude. If I had had my way, you would +not have heard a word of it." + +She bent her head gravely. + +"It is best so, uncle." + +Then she went back the way she had come. + +The rain beat against the rattling panes and dashed against the leather +top of the carriage, and they went so slowly. The young wife gazed out +into the misty landscape. The splendor of the blossoms had vanished, +the white petals were swimming in the pools in the streets. + +"Oh, only one sunbeam!" she thought, the weather oppressed and weighed +her down so. + +Absurd! How could any one be so influenced by foolish gossip! Mamma +always looked on the dark side of everything--and even if she always +told the truth, she had been imposed upon by this story. Poor Frank! +Now there would be vexation--the first! She would tell him of it +playfully--after dinner, when they were alone together, then she would +say, "Frank, I must tell you something that will make you laugh. Just +fancy, you have a very bitter enemy, and his revenge is so absurd, he +declares"--she was smiling now herself--"Yes, that is the way it shall +be." + +She was just passing the old watch tower. What was she thinking of as +she passed this place a few hours before? Oh yes--a crimson flush +spread over her countenance--of the cradle in the attic. She could see +the old cradle so plainly before her; two red roses were painted on one +end, in the middle a golden star, and beneath it stood written: "Happy +are they who are happy in their children." + +She put her hand in her pocket and took out the note-book--the carriage +was crawling so slowly up the hill--she could not remember it all yet, +she must read the verses again. + +It was a vision he had had of her kneeling before a cradle, singing a +cradle-song about the father bringing something home to his son from +the green wood. + +She let the paper fall. She knew what song he meant--the old nursery +song that she had been singing to her godchild when he had heard her +from the window outside. He had told her about it and that in that +moment he had come quite under her spell. + +She pressed the book to her lips. Ah, how far beneath her seemed envy +and spite! how powerless they seemed before the expectation of such +happiness! + +Just then a piece of paper fell down, a piece of blue writing-paper. +She picked it up; it was part of a letter on the blank side of which +was written in Frank's handwriting: + +"Half a hundred-weight grass-seed, mixed," with the address of a +manufactory of farming utensils. + +She turned it over, looked at it carelessly, then suddenly every trace +of color left her face. She raised her eyes with a scared expression in +them, then looked down again--yes, there it was! + + +"----Besides the above-mentioned property Miss Gertrude Baumhagen owns +a villa near Bergedorf. A massive building, splendidly furnished, with +stables, gardener's house and a garden-lot of ten acres, partly wood, +enclosed by a massive wall. + +"The property is recorded in the name of the young lady, being valued +at twenty-four thousand dollars. + +"For any further details I am quite at your service, + + "Very respectfully yours, + + "C. Wolff, Agent. +D. 21 Dec. 1882." + +Gertrude tried to read it again, but her hand trembled so violently +that the letters danced before her eyes. She had seen it, however, +distinctly enough; it would not change read it as often as she might. +With pitiless certainty the conviction forced itself upon her: it is +the truth, the horrible truth! and every word of his had been a lie. + +She had been bought and sold like a piece of merchandise--she, _she_ +had been caught in such a snare! + +She had taken _that_ for love which had been only the commonest +mercenary speculation. + +Ah, the humiliation was nothing to the dreadful feeling that stole over +her and chilled her to the heart--the pain of wounded pride and with it +the old bitter perversity. She had not felt it lately, she had been +good, happiness makes one so good--and now? and now? + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + +The carriage rolled quickly down the hill to Niendorf and stopped +before the house. Half-unconsciously the young wife descended and stood +in the rain on the steps of the veranda. It seemed to her as if she +were here for the first time; the small windows, the gray old walls +with the pointed roof--how ugly they were, how strange! All the flowers +in the garden beaten down by the rain--the charm that love gives fled, +only bare, sober, sad reality! and on the threshold crouched the demon +of selfishness, of cold calculation. + +She passed through the garden hall and up the stairs to her room. In +the corridor Johanna met her. + +"The master went away in the carriage directly after breakfast," she +announced. "He laid a note on your work-table, ma'am." + +"I have a headache, Johanna, don't disturb me now," she said, faintly. + +When she reached her own room she bolted first the door behind her and +then that which opened into his room. And then she read the note. + + +"The barometer has risen and the judge insists on going up the Brocken, +I go with him to Ille. I have something to do there and I shall not be +very late home--Thine, + FRANK." + + +And below a postscript from the guest: + +"Don't be angry, Mrs. Linden. I belong to that class of persons who +cannot see a mountain without feeling an irresistible desire to ascend +it. I take the Brocken first, so when the weather clears again I can +bear the sight of it from my window with equanimity. I will send your +Frank home again soon, safe and sound." + + +Thank Heaven, he would not be back so very soon--but what was to be +done now? She sat motionless before her work-table, gazing out into the +garden without seeing anything there. Hour after hour passed. Once or +twice she passed her hand across her eyes--they were dry and hot, and +about the mouth was graven a deep line of scorn and contempt. Towards +evening there was a knock at the door. She did not turn her head. + +"Mrs. Linden!" called the servant. No answer and the steps died away +outside. + +Gertrude Linden got up then and went to her writing-desk. Calmly she +opened the pretty blotting-book, drew up a chair, grasped a pen and +seated herself to write. She had thought of it long enough; without +hesitation the words flowed from her pen: + + +"I will beg Uncle Henry to explain everything to you as gently as +possible. I cannot speak of it myself--it is the most painful +disappointment of my whole life. I only ask you at present to confirm +my own declaration that I must live in retirement for some time on +account of my health. It will not take long to decide upon something. +GERTRUDE." + + +She sealed the note and put it on the writing table in her husband's +room. She put the packet of poems beside it and the note-book also. +What should she do with it? The poem was nothing to her--it was only an +old habit of his to write verses; the judge had let that out yesterday. +He had only made use of it in this case as a useful means for making +the deception complete. A man who writes tender verses while at the +same time he is privately acquainting himself with the amount of the +lady's fortune through an agent--that was a tragi-comedy indeed, that +would make a good plot for a farce--and _she_ was to be the heroine! + +She kept the fragment of that dreadful letter. Then she wrote a note to +her mother and one to Uncle Henry, then took out her watch and looked +for a time-table. + +Whither? The Berlin express which connected them with all the outer +world was already gone. Then she must wait until tomorrow--and then? +Somewhere she must go--she must be alone! Only not with mamma and +Jenny, somewhere far away from here. + +She suddenly sprang up with startled eyes, she heard a voice, his +voice. + +"Has my wife come back?" + +Then a merry whistle, a few bars from "Boccaccio" and hasty steps in +the corridor. Now his hand was on the door-knob. It was locked. + +"Gertrude!" he called. + +She was standing in the middle of the room, her lips pressed together, +her eyes stretched wide open, but she did not stir. + +He supposed she was not there and went quietly into his own room. She +heard him open the door of the bedroom. + +"Gertrude!" he called again. + +Back into his own room; he spoke to the dog, whistled a few bars of his +opera-air again, moved about here and there and then stopped--now he +was tearing a paper--now he was reading her note. + +"Gertrude, Gertrude, I know you are in your room. Open the door!" + +His voice sounded calm and kind, but she stood still as a statue. + +"Please open the door!" now sounded authoritatively. + +"No," she answered loudly. + +"You are laboring under some horrible mistake! Some one has been +telling you something--let me speak to you, child!" + +She came a step nearer. + +"I cannot," she said. + +"I must entreat you to open the door. Even a criminal is heard before +he is condemned." + +"No," she declared, and went to the window, where she remained. + +"Confound your--obstinacy," sounded in her ears. + +[Illustration: "There was a crash and a splitting of wood and the door +was burst open."] + +Then a crash, a splitting of wood--the door was burst open and Frank +Linden stood on the threshold. + +"Now I demand an explanation," he said angrily, the swollen veins +standing out on his white forehead, which formed a strange contrast to +his brown face. + +She did not turn towards him. + +"Uncle Henry will tell you what there is to tell," she replied, coldly. + +He strode up to her and laid his hand on her shoulder, but she drew +back, and the blue eyes, usually so soft, looked at him so coldly and +strangely that he started back, deeply shocked. + +"I have deceived you, Gertrude? you, Gertrude?" he asked, "what have I +done? What is my crime?" + +"Nothing--" + +"That is no answer, Gertrude." + +"Oh, it is only such a trifle--I cannot talk to you about it." + +"Very well! Then I will go to Uncle Henry at once." + +She made no answer. + +"And you wish to go away? To leave me alone?" he inquired again. + +She hesitated a moment. + +"Yes, yes," she then said, hastily, "away from here." + +"Why do you keep up this farce, Gertrude." + +"Farce?" She laughed shortly. + +"Gertrude, you hurt me." + +"Not more than you have hurt me." + +"But, confound it, I ask you--how?" he cried in fierce anger. + +She had drawn back a little and looked at him with dignity. + +"Pray, order the carriage and go to Uncle Henry," she replied, coldly. + +"Yes, by Heaven, you are right," he cried, quite beside himself, "you +are more than perverse!" + +"I told you so before; it is my character." + +"Gertrude," he began, "I am easily aroused, and nothing angers me so +much as passive opposition. It is our duty to have trust in one +another--tell me what troubles you; it _can_ be explained. I am +conscious of no wrong done to you." + +"That is a matter of opinion," said she. + +"Very well. I declare to you that I am not in the least curious--and I +give you time to reconsider." + +He turned to go. + +"That is certainly the most convenient thing to do in this matter," she +retorted, bitterly. + +He hesitated, but he went nevertheless, closed the broken door behind +him as well as he could and began to walk up and down his room. + +She pressed her forehead against the window-pane and gazed out into the +garden. It had stopped raining; the clouds were lifting in the west and +displaying gleams of the setting sun. Then the heavy masses of fog +broke away and at the same moment the landscape blazed out in brilliant +sunshine like a beautiful woman laughing through her tears. + +If _she_ could only weep! They who have a capacity for tears are +favored. Weeping makes the heart light, the mood softer--but there were +no tears for her. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + +In the late twilight the iron-gray horses stopped before the door and +Jenny got out of the carriage. + +She ran lightly as a cat up the veranda steps and suddenly stood in the +garden-hall before Frank Linden, who sat at the table alone. Gertrude's +plate was untouched. + +"So late, Jenny?" he asked. + +"I want to speak to Gertrude." + +"You will find my--wife in her room." + +Jenny cast a quick glance at him from her bright eyes. Had the blow +fallen? She had nearly died of anxiety at home. + +"Is not Gertrude well?" she inquired, innocently. + +He hesitated a moment. + +"She seems rather excited and tired. I think something has happened to +disturb her in the course of the day." + +"Ah, indeed!" said Mrs. Fredericks. "Well, I will go and see her +myself." + +She passed through the hall. The lamp was not yet lighted and in the +darkness she stumbled over something and nearly fell. As she uttered a +slight cry, Johanna hastened in with a light. + +"Oh, I beg your pardon, ma'am, it is the young lady's trunk, who +arrived about a quarter of an hour ago. Dora forgot to carry it to her +room." + +Jenny cast an angry glance at the modest box, ran up the stairs and +knocked at her sister's door. + +"It is I, Gertrude," she called out in her clear ringing voice. She +heard light footsteps and the bolt was gently drawn back and the door +opened. + +"You, Jenny?" inquired Gertrude, just as Frank had said a few minutes +before, "you, Jenny?" + +It was almost dark in the room; Jenny could not see her sister's face. + +"Why do you sit here in the dark, Gertrude? I beg of you tell me quick +all that has happened. Mamma and I are dying of anxiety." + +"You need have no anxiety," replied Gertrude. "It is all right." + +"All right?" asked Jenny in surprise. "You cannot make me believe that, +_He_ alone at the table and _you_ up here with your door locked--come +confess, child, that you have not made it up." + +"Please take a seat, Jenny," said the young wife, wearily. + +Jenny sat down on the lounge, and Gertrude took up her position at the +window again. It was still as death in the room and in the whole house. + +"It would have been wiser if you had not married at all, Gertrude," +began her sister, with a sigh. + +"But, it can't be helped--you are tied fast--oh, yes! You must put up +with everything, you must not even have an opinion of your own, I am +quite ill too from the vexation I had last evening. At last I ran up to +mamma. She was dreadfully frightened when she saw me standing before +her bed in my night-dress. I cried all night long. This morning I +waited. I thought he would come up for me, he was usually so +remorseful--but he didn't come and as I was taking breakfast with mamma +Sophie brought me a card from him in which he very coolly informed me +that he had gone to Manchester for a fortnight. Well--I wish him a +happy journey!" + +Gertrude made no reply. + +"You must not take it so dreadfully to heart, child," continued the +young matron. "Good gracious, it is well it is no worse. All women have +something to put up with and sometimes it is far worse than this." + +"Have they?" asked Gertrude, in a low voice. + +"Yes, of course!" cried Jenny, in surprise. + +"Do you think a woman can take up her bundle and march off? Bah! Then +no woman would stay with her husband a moment. No, no,--people get +reconciled to one another and they just take the first opportunity to +pay each other off. That is always great fun for me. Just you see, pet, +how good Arthur will be when he comes back; for a whole month he will +be the nicest husband in the world." + +"That would be an impossibility for me," cried Gertrude, clearly and +firmly. "To-day bitter as death, to-morrow fondly loving; it is simply +shameful." + +Jenny was silent. + +"Good gracious," she said at length, yawning, "one is as good as the +other! If I were to separate from Arthur,--who knows but I might get a +worse one! For of course I should marry again, what else can a woman +do? By the way, mamma spoke to the lawyer--he urgently advised her to +hush up the matter as well as possible. Mamma thought differently, but +Mr. Sneider declared--you see now, one _can't_ get away even if one +wants to--that there were no grounds for a divorce, and I said to mamma +too, 'Gertrude,' said I, 'leave him? Incredible! She is dead in love +with the man. He might have murdered somebody, I really believe, and +she would still find excuses for him.' Was I right?" + +Gertrude suffered tortures. She wrung her hands in silence and her eyes +were fixed on the dark sky above her in which the evening star was now +sparkling with a greenish light. Jenny yawned again. + +"Ah, just think," she continued, "you don't know what we quarrelled +about, Arthur and I. He reproached me with spending too much on my +dress; of course that was only a pretext to give vent to his ill +temper--there were business letters very likely containing bad news. I +replied that did not concern him, I did not inquire into his expenses. +Then he was cross and declared that I had tried in Nice to copy the +dresses of the elegant French women. But it is not true, for I only +bought two dresses there. Gracious, yes, they were rather dearer than +if my dressmaker in Berlin had made them. Of course I said again, 'That +is not your affair, for I pay for them.' Then he talked in a very moral +strain about honorable women and German women who helped to increase +the prosperity of a house. Other fortunes besides ours had been thrown +away and when the truth was known it was always the fault of 'Madame.' +He found fault with mamma for making herself so ridiculous with her +youthful costumes, and at last he declared we owed some duty to our +future children--Heaven preserve me! I have had to give up my poor +sweet little Walter, and I will have no more. The pain of losing him +was too great; I should die of anxiety. In short, he played the part of +a real provincial Philistine, and finally even that of Othello, for he +declared Col. von Brelow always had such a confidential air with me. +That was too much for my patience. I proposed that we should separate +then. You understand I only said so--for he is pretty obedient +generally, when I hold the reins tight. And as I said before one can't +get free for nothing. 'I will go at once!' I cried, and then I ran up +to mamma." + +"Stop, I beg of you," cried Gertrude, hastily rising. She rang for a +light and when Johanna brought the lamp it lighted up a feverish face, +and eyes swollen as if with burning tears, and yet Gertrude had not +wept. + +"How you look, child," remarked Jenny. "Well, and what is to be done +now? I must tell mamma something, it was for that I came." + +She cast a glance at the dainty time-piece above the writing-table. + +"Five minutes to nine--I must be going home. Do tell me how you mean to +arrange matters?" + +"You shall hear to-morrow--the day after to-morrow--I don't know yet," +stammered the young wife, pressing her hand on her aching head. + +"Only don't make a scandal, Gertrude," and Jenny took up her gray cloak +with its red silk lining and tied the lace strings of her hat. + +"If the affair is settled as Mr. Sneider advises, it is the best you +can do. By the way, how does Frank take it? Has he confessed it? To be +sure, what else could he do? Well, let me hear to-morrow then, at +latest. By the way, child, it has just occurred to me--that day that +Linden called on us the first time, that fellow, that Wolff, came with +him across the square to our house. I was sitting in the bay-window and +I was surprised to see how confidentially Wolff clapped him on the +shoulder." + +Gertrude stood motionless. Ah, she had seen the same thing; she +recalled it so clearly at this moment. + +"Yes, yes," she stammered. + +"The lawyer says he does a great deal of that sort of business. But now +good-night, my pet--will you send in word or shall we send some one out +in the morning?" + +"I will send word," replied Gertrude. + +She did not go out with her sister, she stood still in her place, her +head gunk on her breast, her arms hanging nerveless by her side. This +conversation with Jenny had opened an abyss before her eyes; she no +longer knew what she should do, only one thing was clear, she could not +stay with him; she could not endure a life of indifference by his side, +and--any other life would never again be possible to them. "Never!" she +said aloud with decision, "Never!" + +She heard his steps now in the next room; then the steps went away +again and presently she heard them on the gravel-walk in the garden +till they finally died away. She was so tired and it was so cold, and +she could not realize that there had ever been a time when it had been +different,--when she had been happy--she seemed to herself so degraded. + +She had that fatal letter still in her hand, where it burnt like +glowing coals. She knew an old maid, the daughter of a poor official, +who was soured and embittered. For thirteen years she had been engaged +to a poor referendary, and finally they had recognized the fact that +they never would be rich enough to marry. She had remained lonely and +pitied by all who knew her history. + +Ah, if she could only have exchanged with her, who had been loved for +her own sake! And even if she could forgive him for not having loved +her, the lie, the hypocrisy she could never forgive--never, never. Her +faith in him was gone. + +Half unconsciously she had wandered out into the corridor, and felt a +little refreshed by the cooler air. She ran quickly down the steps into +the garden. From the kitchen came the sounds of talking and laughing; +the gardener was talking nonsense to the maids--the mistress' eye was +wanting. + +There was no light in the garden-hall, but Aunt Rosa's windows were +unusually brilliant and a youthful shadow was marked out on the white +curtain. That must be the expected niece. + +Gertrude walked on in the gravel-walks; the nightingales were singing +and there were sounds of singing in the steward's room, a deep +sympathetic tenor and a sorrowful melody. + +On and on she went in the fragrant garden. Then she cried out suddenly, + +"Frank!" + +She had come upon him suddenly at a turning of the path. + +"Gertrude!" returned he, trying to take her hand. + +"Don't touch me!" she cried. "I was not looking for you, but as we have +met, I will ask you for something." + +In order to support herself she clutched the branches of a lilac-bush +with her little hand. + +"With all my heart, Gertrude," he replied gently. "Forgive my violence, +anger catches me unawares sometimes. I promise you it shall not happen +again." + +He stopped, waiting to hear her request. For a while they stood there +in silence, then she spoke slowly, almost unintelligibly in her great +agitation. "Give me my freedom again--it is impossible any longer to--" + +"I do not understand you," he replied, coldly, "what do you mean?" + +"I will leave you everything, everything--only give me my freedom! We +cannot live together any longer, don't you see that?" she cried quite +beside herself. + +"Speak lower!" he commanded, stamping angrily with his foot. + +"Say yes!" entreated the young wife with a voice nearly choked with +emotion. + +"I say no!" was the answer. "Take my arm and come." + +"I will _not_! I will not!" she cried, snatching away her hand which he +had taken. + +"You are greatly excited this evening, you will come now into the house +with me; tomorrow we will talk further on the subject and in the clear +daylight you can tell me what reasons you have for thinking our living +together impossible." + +"Now, at once, if you wish it!" she gasped out. "Because two things are +wanting, two little trifling things only,--trust and esteem! I will not +speak of love--you have not been true to me, Frank, you have deceived +me and lost my confidence. Let me go, I entreat you, for the love of +Heaven--let me go!" + +As he made no reply, she went on rapidly, her words almost stumbling +over each other so fast they came. "I know that I have no right in law; +people would laugh at a woman who demanded her freedom on no better +grounds than that she had been lied to once. So I come as a suppliant; +be so very good as to let me go, I cannot bear to live with you in +mistrust and--and--" + +"Come, Gertrude," he said, gently, "you are ill. Come into the house +now and let us talk it over in our room--come!" + +"Ill--yes! I wish I might die," she murmured. + +Then she suddenly grew calm and went back into the house with him. He +opened the door of his room and she went in, but she passed quickly +through into her own, threw herself on her lounge, drew the soft +coverlid over her and closed her eyes. Frank stood helpless before her. + +"I will have a cup of tea made for you," said the young man, kindly. + +She looked unspeakably wretched, as she lay there, the long black +lashes resting like dark shadows on her white cheeks. She must have +suffered frightfully. + +"Go to bed, Gertrude," he begged anxiously, "it will be better for you +and tomorrow we will talk about this." + +"I shall stay here," she replied decisively, turning her head away. + +Then he lost patience. + +"Confound your silly obstinacy!" he cried angrily. "Do you think I am a +foolish boy? I will show you how naughty children ought to be treated!" + +Then he turned and banging the door after him he went away. + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + +The first rays of the morning sun were resting like reddish gold on the +tips of the forest trees which crowded close up to the white villa-like +house. Magnificent oaks, like giant sentinels, stood on the lawn before +the massive wall. A narrow, little-used path wound in between them, +such as are to be found in places not intended to be walked upon. The +great trees gave out little shade as yet, the oak-tree is late in +getting its leaves; those that had already appeared looked young and +shrivelled against the knotted branches, and formed a delightful +contrast to the dark green of the evergreens on the other side of the +garden wall, mingled with the tender misty foliage of the birches. +"Waldruhe" lay as if dreaming in this early stillness. The green +jalousies were all closed, like sleepy eyelids; on the roof a row of +bright-feathered pigeons were sunning themselves. The lawn before the +house was like a wilderness, the grass-grown paths scarcely +distinguishable, which led from the great iron gate to the veranda +steps. From a side-building a little smoke rose up to the blue sky, and +a cat sat crouched on the wooden bench beside the hall-door. There was +no sound except the joyful trills of the larks as they soared out of +sight in the blue sky. + +[Illustration: "She leaned with her ungloved hands against the misty +bars of the gate."] + +From under the oaks a slender woman's figure drew near. She walked +slowly, and her eyes glanced now to the left over the green wheat +fields to the open country, and now rested on the trees beside her. She +must have come a long way, for the delicate face looked worn and weary, +dark shadows were under her eyes, and the bottom of her dress was damp +as were also the small shoes which peeped out under the gray woollen +robe. She went straight up to the iron gate, clasped the rusty bars +with her ungloved hands and looked at the house somewhat in the +attitude of an curious child, but her eyes were too grave for that. +Beside her stood a brown dog wagging his tail, raising inquiringly his +shrewd eyes to her face, but she took no heed of the animal that had +followed her so faithfully. Her thoughts took only one direction. + +She had never been here since that day when she had run hither in +desperate fear, to arrive--only too late. Everything was the same now +as then--just as lonely and deserted. She pulled the bell, how hard it +pulled! Ah, no hand had touched it since! + +It is true Sophie came here conscientiously every spring and every +autumn to beat the furniture and air the rooms, but no one else. Mrs. +Baumhagen had from the first declared this idyllic whim of her +husband's an absurdity, and Jenny always called the country house "Whim +Hall." She had been here once but would never come again, "one would +die of ennui among those stupid trees." + +At length the bell gave out a faint tinkle. Thereupon arose a fierce +barking in the side-building and a woman of some fifty years in a +wadded petticoat and a red-flannel bed-gown came out of the house. She +stared at the young lady in amazement, then she clapped her hands +together and ran back into the house with her slippers flapping at each +step, returning presently with a bunch of keys. + +"Merciful powers!" cried she as she opened the door, "I can't believe +my own eyes--Mrs. Linden! Have you been taking a morning walk, ma'am? +I've always wondered if you wouldn't come here some day with your +husband--and now here you are--and that is a pleasure to be sure!" And +she ran before, opening the doors. + +"It is all in order, Mrs. Linden--my man always insists upon +that--'Just you see,' he says, 'some day some of the ladies will be +popping in on you.'" And the square little body ran on again to open a +door. "It is all as it used to be--there is your bed and there are the +books, only the evergreens and the beeches have grown taller." + +The young wife nodded. + +"Bring me a little hot milk," she said, shivering, "as soon as you can, +Mrs. Rode." + +"This very minute!" And the old woman hurried away. Gertrude could hear +the clatter of her slippers on the stairs and the shutting of the hall +door. At last she was alone. + +A cool green twilight reigned in the room from the branches of the +beeches which pressed close up to the pane. It was not so dark here +that last summer she had spent in "Waldruhe." Otherwise--the woman was +right--everything was as it had been then, the mirror in its pear-wood +frame still displayed the Centaurs drawing their bows in the yellow +and black ground of the upper part; above the small old-fashioned +writing-table still hung the engraving, "Paul and Virginia" under the +palm trees; the green curtains of the great canopied bed were not in +the least faded, the sofa was as uncomfortable as ever, and the table +stood before it with the same plush cover. She had passed so many +pleasant hours here, in the sweet spring evenings at the open window, +and on stormy autumn evenings when the clouds were flying in the sky, +the storm came down from the mountains and beat against the lonely house. +The rain pattered against the panes, and the woods began to rustle with +a melancholy sound. Then the curtains were drawn, the fire burned +brightly in the fireplace, and opposite in the cosy sitting-room her +father sat at a game of cards. She was the hostess here in "Waldruhe," +and she felt so proud of going into the kitchen with her white apron on +and of going down into the cellar, and then at dinner all the old +gentlemen complimented her on the success of her venison pie. The dear +old friends--there was only Uncle Henry left now. + +There on that bed they had laid the fainting girl when they had found +her by her father's death-bed. + +The young wife shivered suddenly. "He died of his unhappy marriage," +she had once heard Uncle Henry say--in a low tone, but she had +understood him nevertheless. + +Mamma did not love him, she had loved another man, and she had told him +so once, when they were quarreling about some trifle. + +"I should have been happier with the other one--I liked him at any +rate, but--he was poor." + +Gertrude understood it all now; she had her father's character, she was +proud, too. Oh, those gloomy years when she was growing to understand +what sunshine was wanting in the house! + +"If it were not for the children," he had said once, angrily, "I would +have put an end to it long ago." + +O what a torture it is when two people are bound together by the law of +God and man who would yet gladly put a whole world between them! +Unworthy? Immoral? + +Had not her father done well when he went voluntarily? But ah, how hard +was the going when one loves! How then? Love and esteem belong +together--ah, it was imagination, all imagination! + +She grew suddenly a shade paler; she thought how her father had loved +her and she thought of the little cradle in the attic at home. Thank +God, it was only a dream, a wish, a nothing, and yet--Oh, this +sickening dread! + +She went towards the bed, she was so tired; she nestled her head in the +pillow, drew up the coverlid and closed her eyes. And then she seemed +to be always seeing and hearing the words that she had written to-day +to leave on his writing-table. And she murmured, "Have compassion on +me, let me go! Do not follow me, leave me the only place that belongs +to me!" + +The housekeeper brought some hot milk and she drank it. She would go to +sleep, she said, but she could not sleep. She was always listening; she +thought she heard horses' hoofs and carriage wheels. Ah, not that, not +that! + +Hour after hour passed and still she lay motionless; she had no longer +the strength to move. Why can one not die when one will? + +The noon-day bell was ringing in the village when a carriage drove up +and soon after steps came up the stairs. + +Thank God, it was not he! + +Uncle Henry put his troubled face in at the door. + +"Really," he said, "you are here then! But why, child, why?" + +She had risen hastily and now stood before the little old gentleman. + +"You bring me an answer, uncle?" + +"Yes, to be sure. But I would rather far do something else. How happens +it that your precious set should choose me for your amiable messenger?" + +He threw himself down on the sofa with such force that it fairly +groaned under his weight. + +"Have you any cognac here?" he inquired, "I am quite upset." + +She shook her head without speaking and only gazed at him with gloomy +eyes. + +"No, I suppose not," grumbled Uncle Henry. "Well then, he says if it +amuses you to stay here you are quite welcome to do so." + +She started perceptibly, + +"Oh, ta, ta! That is the upshot of it--about that," he continued, +wiping his forehead with his handkerchief. + +"Linden did not say much," he went on, "he was in a silent rage over +your flight--however, he kept himself well in hand. He would not keep +you, he said, nor would he drag you back to his house by force. He will +send Johanna to wait on you, and hopes to be able to fulfil any other +desire of yours. He will arrange everything--and it is to be hoped you +will soon see your error. And," wound up Uncle Henry, "now that we have +got so far, I should be glad to learn from you what is to happen, when +you, with your well known obstinacy, do not feel inclined to own +yourself wrong?" + +She was silent. + +"As for the rest, Frank utterly denies having had any connection with +Wolff. And, I should like to know, Gertrude--you were always a +reasonable woman--why have you taken it into your head to believe that +old ass who was always known as a scoundrel, rather than your husband?" + +Gertrude quickly put her hand in her pocket and grasped the +letter--there was her proof. She made a motion to give it to him--but +no, she could not do it, she could not bring out the small hand that +had closed tightly over the fatal paper. + +"You ought both of you to give way a little, I think," said Uncle Henry +after awhile. "You are married now, and--_au fond_--what if he did +inquire about your fortune?" + +Her frowning glance stopped him. + +"Now-a-days it is not such a wonderful thing if a man--" he stammered +on. + +"It is not that, it is not that, uncle! Stop, I beg of you!" cried +Gertrude. + +"Oh yes, I understand, women are more sensitive in such matters, and +justly too," assented Uncle Henry. "Well, I fear the name of Baumhagen +will be the talk of the town again for the next six months. Goodbye, +Gertrude. I can't exactly say I have enjoyed my visit. Don't be too +lonely." + +At the door he turned back again. + +"You know it will come before the courts. Frank refuses to recognize +the claims of the fellow Wolff." + +She shook her head. + +"He will not refuse," she answered, calmly, "but I wish you would take +the matter in hand, uncle, and pay Wolff for his trouble." + +Her eyes filled suddenly with angry tears. + +"Oh, ta, ta! Why should I meddle with the matter?" + +The old gentleman was deeply moved. + +"I ask it of you, uncle, before it becomes the talk of the town." + +A sob choked her words. + +"Ah, do you think, my child, it is not already whispered about? +Hm!--Well I will do it, but entirely from selfish motives, you know. Do +you think it isn't disagreeable to me, too? Oh, ta, ta! What big drops +those were! But will you promise me then to let well enough alone! +What? You cannot leave him!" + +The tears seemed frozen in her eyes. + +"No," she replied, "but we shall agree upon a separation." + +"Are you mad, child?" cried the old gentleman with a crimson face. + +She turned her eyes slowly away. + +"He only wanted my money; let him keep it," was her murmured reply, +"_I_ was only a necessary incumbrance,--_I_!" + +"Oh, that is only your sensitiveness," said her uncle soothingly. + +"Do you know me so little?" she inquired, drawing herself up to her full +height. Her swollen eyes looked into his with an expression of cold +decision. + +The little man hastily shut the door behind him. It was exactly as if +his dead brother were looking at him. In a most uncomfortable frame of +mind, he got into his carriage. Confound it! here he was plunged into +difficulties again by his good nature. + +Gertrude remained alone. For one moment she looked after him and then +she covered her face with her hands despairingly, threw herself on the +little sofa and wept. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + +It was towards evening. Frank Linden mounted the steps, stood on the +terrace and whistled shrilly out into the garden. He waited awhile and +then shook his head. "The brute has gone with her," he said in a low +voice; "even an animal like that takes part against me." He went back +into the dining-room and stumbled over Johanna, who was busy at the +side-board. + +"You will go over to 'Waldruhe' in an hour," he said, looking past her. +"Take what clothes are necessary for my wife with you. Whatever else +she may desire is at her disposal at any moment." + +Johanna glanced at him shyly, the face that was usually so glowing +looked so ashy pale in the evening light. + +"If I could have half an hour more, Mr. Linden--I want to show the +young lady something about the milk cellar." + +"The young lady? ah--yes--" + +"Yes, the young lady who came to visit Miss Rosa yesterday. She offered +her services, sir, when she heard that Mrs. Linden had gone away. I +don't know how I can manage without her either, Dora is so stupid and +she has so much to do besides." + +Before he could reply, the door opened softly and behind Aunt Rosa's +wonderful figure appeared a dark girl with red cheeks and shining eyes, +who when she perceived him made a rather awkward curtsy, and was at +once introduced as Addie Strom. + +Frank bowed to the ladies, stammered out a few civil words, and asked +to be excused for leaving them as he had letters to write. + +"I am so sorry," said Aunt. Rosa, "that Mrs. Linden is not at home." + +He nodded impatiently. + +"She will soon be back," he replied as he went out. + +"If Addie can help about the house a little--" sounded the shrill tones +of the old lady behind him. + +"Don't give yourself any trouble," was his reply. + +"I should be glad to do it," said Adelaide, timidly. + +Another silent bow from him and then he went out with great strides. +That too! + +He ran hastily down the steps into the garden. He took the letter out +of his pocket once more which he had found lying on his writing-table +that morning, and read it through. The writing was not as dainty as +usual--the letters were hard and firm and large and yet unsteady, as if +written, in great excitement. + +The blood rushed in a hot wave to his heart. "It will come right." He +put away the letter and took another from his pocketbook which had +been brought half an hour before by an express messenger. + +"I have just come from Wolff, with whom I intended to make an +arrangement of this fatal affair. The scoundrel, unfortunately, was +taken ill of typhus fever yesterday, and nothing is to be done with him +at present. I can only regret that you should have consulted this man +of all others, and I do not understand why you have not satisfied him. +As soon as the gentleman is _au fait_ again I shall take the liberty, +in the interest of my family and especially of my niece, to settle the +matter quietly, and beg you not to make the matter worse by any +imprudence on your part. You must have some consideration for the +family. + +"May an old man give you a little advice? I am a very tolerant judge in +this matter, but a woman thinks differently about it. Acknowledge the +truth openly to your insulted little wife--with a person of her +character it is the only way to gain her pardon. I will gladly do all +in my power to set this foolish affair before her in the mildest +light--" + +"Consideration!" he murmured, "consideration for the family!" + +Then he laughed aloud and went on more quickly into the deepening +twilight. What should he do in the house, in the empty rooms, at the +inhospitable table with his heart full of bitterness? Childish, foolish +obstinacy it was in her--and no trust in him! How had he deserved that +she should give him up at once without even hearing him? Well, she +would get over it, she would come again, but--the spell was broken, the +bloom, the freshness was gone. + +He must have his rights without regard to the Baumhagen family, or to +her on whom he would not have permitted the winds of heaven to blow too +roughly. She could not have hurt him more, than by giving more credence +to that scoundrel than to him--she who usually was so calm--calm? + +He could see her eyes before him now, those eyes in which strong +passion glowed. He had seen them blaze with anger more than once, he +had heard her agitating sobs, her voice husky with emotion as she spoke +of her father. He saw her again as she had been the evening before +their marriage when she pressed his hands passionately to her lips, a +mute eloquent gesture, a thanksgiving for the refuge of his breast. And +now? It had already burned out this passionate love, had failed before +the first trial. + +It was already dark when he returned from his walk. Johanna was gone. +The maid whom he met in the corridor told him she had taken her child +and a trunk full of clothing and the books which had been sent to Mrs. +Linden yesterday. + +He went to her room; the sweet scent of violets of which she was so +fond pervaded the atmosphere, the afghan on the lounge lay just as it +had fallen when she threw it off as she rose. He could not stay---a +longing for her seized upon him so powerfully that it well-nigh +unmanned him, and he went back to the dining-room. He opened the door +half-unconsciously--there sat the judge at the table, dusty and +dishevelled from his Brocken tour, but contented to his inmost soul. +But--how came this stranger here doing the honors? + +The rosy little brunette was just setting the table. She had put on a +white apron over her dark dress, the bib fastened smoothly across her +full bust. She was just depositing with her round arm half-uncovered by +the elbow-sleeve, a plate of cold meat by the judge's place, placing +the bottle of beer beside it. And as she did so she laughed at the +weary little man so that all her white teeth were displayed. + +And this must he bear too, to make his comfort complete! Let them eat +who would! Soon he was sitting upstairs in the corner of the sofa in +his own room; outside the darkness of a spring night came down, and a +girl's voice was singing as if in emulation of the nightingales; that +must be the little brunette, Adelaide. At last he heard it sounding up +from the depths of the garden. + +He did not stir until the judge stood before him. + +"Now, I should really like to know, Frank--are you bewitched or +am I? What is the matter? Where is madame? The little black thing +downstairs, who seems to have fallen out of the clouds, says she is +'gone.'--Gone? What does it mean?" + +"Gone!" repeated Frank Linden. It sounded so strange that his friend +started. + +"Something has happened, Frank,--that old woman, the mother-in-law, has +done it. Oh, these women!" + +"No, no, it is that affair with Wolff." + +The judge gave vent to a long whistle, then he sat down beside Linden +and clapped him on the shoulder. + +"We'll manage _him_, Frank," he said, comfortingly, "and _she_ will +come back, she _must_ come back; you will not even need to ask her. But +it was the most foolish thing she could do to run away." + +And he began to describe a case that had come up in Frankfort a short +time before on the ground of wilful desertion. + +Linden sprang up. + +"Spare me your law cases," he said roughly. "Do you suppose I would +bring her back by force?" + +"And what if she will not come of herself, Frank?" + +"She will come," he replied, shortly. + +"And that scoundrel Wolff?" + +Frank Linden gave his friend a cigar and took one himself, though he +did not light it, and as he sat down again he said: + +"You can ask that? Have I been in the habit of putting up with +imposition, Richard?" + +"No, but on what does the man found his claim?" + +Frank shrugged his shoulders. "I told you before, that he declared when +I turned him out, that he would know how to secure his rights. He is +ill now, however," he added. + +"Oh, that is fatal!" lamented the judge. He was silent, for just then +the full, deep girl's voice came up from the garden: + + "Du hast mir viel gegeben, + Du schenktest mir dein Herz, + Du nahmst mir Alles wieder, + Und liessest mir den Schmerz." + +"It must be very hard, Frank," murmured his friend after a few moments +of deep silence. "Very hard--I mean, to go the right way to work with a +woman. How will you act? With sternness, or with gentleness? Will you +write her a harsh letter, or will you send her some verses? In such an +evening as this, I think I could almost write poetry myself. I say, +Frank, light the lamp and let us read the paper." + +"Richard," said the young man as he rose, "if you will give me your +advice in regard to this affair of Wolff's, I shall be grateful to you, +but leave my wife out of the question altogether; that is my affair +alone." + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + +Mrs. Baumhagen had conquered her aversion to "Waldruhe" and had come to +see her youngest daughter. Something must be done--at any rate she +could not any longer endure the sympathetic inquiries for the health of +the young Mrs. Linden. Something _must_ be done. + +Gertrude was sitting at the window reading in her cool dusky room, at +least she held a book in her hand; at her feet lay Linden's dog. She +started in dismay as she heard footsteps in the corridor and for one +moment a deep flush spread over her face. + +"Ah, mamma," she said, wearily, as Mrs. Baumhagen rustled in in a light +gray toilet, her hat lavishly adorned with violets as being appropriate +to half-mourning, the round face more deeply flushed than usual with +the heat of the spring sun and her excitement. + +"This can't go on any longer, child," she began, kissing her daughter +tenderly on the forehead. "How you look, and how cold it is here! Jenny +sent her love; she went to Paris this morning to meet Arthur. Why +didn't you go too, as I proposed?" + +"I did not feel well enough," replied Gertrude. + +"You look pale, and it is no wonder. I never could bear such want of +consideration, either." + +Gertrude sat down again in her old place. + +"Has Uncle Henry been here?" inquired Mrs. Baumhagen. + +"He was here yesterday." + +"Well, then, you know that Linden has forbidden him any interference +with Wolff?" + +"Yes, mamma." + +"And that this Mr. Wolff has been at the point of death for three days? +His death would be the best thing that could happen, for of course +everything would come to an end then. I don't know whether the people +in the city have any idea of the true state of the case, but they +suspect something and they overwhelm me with inquiries about you." + +Gertrude nodded slightly, she knew all that already from her uncle. + +"And hasn't he been here? Did he not ask your pardon, has he not tried +to get you back?" asked Mrs. Baumhagen, breathlessly. + +"No," was the half-choked reply. + +"Poor child!" + +The mother pressed her cambric handkerchief to her eyes. + +"It is brutal, really brutal! Thank God that your eyes have been opened +so soon. But you cannot stay here the whole time before the +separation?" + +Gertrude started and looked at her mother with wide eyes. She herself +had thought of nothing but a separation. But when she heard the +dreadful word spoken, it fell on her like a thunderbolt. + +"Yes," she said at length, wringing her hands nervously, "where should +I stay?" + +"And for pity's sake, what do you do here from morning till night?" + +"I read and go to walk, and--" I grieve, she would have added, but she +was silent. What did her mother know of grief! + +"My poor child!" + +Mrs. Baumhagen was really crying now. This atmosphere weighed on her +nerves. There was something oppressive in the air, and they really had +a dreadful time before them. What if he should not consent to a +separation? Why had God given the child such an unbending will which +had brought her into this misery! If she had only followed her mother's +advice. Mrs. Baumhagen had taken an aversion to the man from the first +moment. + +"I think I must go home, my headache--" she stammered, unscrewing her +bottle of smelling salts. + +"If you want anything, Gertrude, write or send to me. Do you want a +piano or books? I have Daudet's latest novel. Ah, child, there are many +trials in life and especially in married life. You haven't experienced +the worst of it yet." + +"Thank you, mamma." + +The young wife followed the mother down the corridor and down the +stairs to the hall door. Mrs. Baumhagen said good-bye with a cheerful +smile--the coachman need not know everything. + +"I hope you will soon be better, Gertrude," she said, loudly. "Be +persevering in your water-cure." + +Gertrude, left alone, went on into the garden. At the end of the wall +where the path curved was a little summer-house, with a roof of bark +shaped like a mushroom. Here she stopped and looked out into the +country which lay before her in all the glow and fragrance of the +evening light. Behind the wooded hills of the Thurmberg stood the dear, +cosy little house. She walked in spirit through all its rooms, but she +forced her thoughts past one door, the room with the old mahogany +furniture into which she had gone first on her wedding eve. And she +leaned more firmly against the wall and gazed out at the setting sun +which stood in the sky like a fiery red ball, till the tears streamed +from her eyes, and her heart ached with mortification and humiliation. +Why did that day always come back to her so, and that evening, the +first in that room? The evening when she had slipped from his arms, +down to his very feet, hiding her face in his hands, overwhelmed with +her deep gratitude. Must he not have smiled to himself at the foolish, +passionate, blindly credulous woman? And angry tears fell from her eyes +down over her pale cheeks, her hands trembled, and her pride grew +stronger every minute. + +She turned and went back to the house, the dog still following, and +when she reached her room she sat down on the ground like a child and +put her arms round her brown companion's neck. She could weep now, she +could cry aloud and no one would hear. Johanna had gone to Niendorf to +get some books and all sorts of necessary things. + +When Johanna came back at length, Gertrude sat in the corner of the +sofa as quiet as ever. The lamp was lighted and she was reading. +Johanna brought out a timid "Good evening!" which was acknowledged by a +silent nod. She laid a few rosebuds down beside the book. "The first +from the Niendorf garden, ma'am." + +And when no answer came, she went on talking as she took the clothes +out of the basket and packed them away in the wardrobe. + +"Dora is gone, Mrs. Linden. She could not get on with Miss Adelaide, +and the master packed her off. He is so angry. Mr. Baumhagen, who has +just been there, complained bitterly of the dinner to-day. I was in the +kitchen when he came in and said he had never eaten such miserable peas +in his life and the ham was cut the wrong way. Then Miss Adelaide cried +and complained, and declared she did it all only out of good-nature. +And the judge tried to comfort her and said it was a pity to spoil her +beautiful eyes.--The judge sent his compliments too, and said he would +come to say good-bye to you, ma'am. He is going away in a few days. Mr. +Baumhagen sent greetings too, and Miss Rosa and little Miss Adelaide--" + +"Pray get the tea, Johanna," said the young lady, interrupting the +stream of words. + +"The milk was sour, too, ma'am, and it is so cool too. Ah, you ought to +see the milk-cellar! Everything is going to ruin--it would really be +better if you would only agree that Miss Adelaide should come here and +let me go to the master." + +"You will stay here," replied Gertrude, bending her eyes on her book. + +"The master looks so pale," proceeded the chattering woman. "Mr. +Baumhagen was telling him in the garden-hall today that Wolff is dying, +and he struck his hand on the table till all the dishes rattled and +said, 'Everything goes against me in this matter!'" + +Gertrude looked up. The color came back into her pale cheek, and she +drew a long breath. + +"Dying?" she asked. + +"Yes. I heard Mr. Baumhagen trying to soothe him--saying it was all for +the best and he hoped everything might be comfortably settled now." + +"What was my uncle doing there?" inquired Gertrude. + +Johanna was embarrassed. + +"I don't know, Mrs. Linden, but if I am not mistaken, he was trying to +persuade Mr. Linden to--that--ah, ma'am!"--Johanna came and stood +before the table which she had set so daintily. + +"What is between you and Mr. Linden I don't know, and it is none of my +business to ask. But you see, ma'am, I have had a husband too, that I +loved dearly--and life is so short, and I think we shouldn't make even +one hour of it bitter, ma'am; the dead never come back again. But if I +could know that my Fritz was still in the world and was sitting over +there behind the hills, not so very far away from me--good Lord, how I +would run to him even if he was ever so cross with me! I would fall on +his neck and say, 'Fritz, you may scold me and beat me, it is all one +to me so long as I have you!'" + +And the young widow forgot the respect due to her mistress and threw a +corner of her apron over her eyes and began to cry bitterly. + +"Don't cry, Johanna," said Gertrude. "You don't understand--I too would +rather it were so than that--" She stopped, overpowered by a feeling of +choking anguish. + +Johanna shook her head. + +"'Taint right," she said, as she went out. + +And Gertrude left the table and seated herself at the window, laying +her forehead against the cool pane. Are not some words as powerful as +if God himself had spoken them? + +When some time after, Johanna entered the room again, she found it +empty, and the table untouched. And as she began to remove the simple +dishes, Gertrude entered and put a key down on the table. She had been +in her father's room and the pale face with its frame of brown hair, +looked as if turned to stone. + +"If visitors come to-morrow, or at any time, I cannot receive them," +she said, "unless it be my Uncle Henry." + +And she took up her book again and began to read. + +The house had long been quiet, when she put down the book for a moment +and gazed into space. + +"No!" she murmured, "no!" + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Three days later the Niendorf carriage stopped before the gate of +"Waldruhe," and waited there a quarter of an hour in the blazing heat +of the mid-day sun, so that the gardener's children could gaze to their +heart's content on the brilliant coloring of Aunt Rosa's violet parasol +and the red ostrich feathers which adorned Adelaide's summer hat, +mingling effectively with the dark curly hair which hung in a fringe +over the youthful forehead. This sight must have been an agreeable +one to the judge also, for he did not take his eyes off his pretty +_vis-a-vis_. + +"Mrs. Linden regrets that she is not well enough to receive visitors," +announced Johanna with her eyes cast down. + +Two of the occupants of the carriage looked disappointed, while the +judge felt in his pocket for his card-case. + +"There!" He gave the servant the turned-down card. + +"And here is a letter, an _important letter_--do you understand, +Johanna? My compliments, and I trust she will soon recover." + +"So do I," said the young girl, timidly. + +Aunt Rosa, however, was silent, and when they looked at her more +closely they saw she was asleep, the wrinkled old face nodding absurdly +above the enormous bow under her chin. + +"Burmann, drive slowly, when we get to the wood," whispered the judge, +"Miss Rosa is asleep." + +The coachman made a clucking sound with his tongue and drove +noiselessly over the soft grass-grown road. Johanna could see that the +judge moved over from the middle of the seat opposite the young lady +and that she glowed suddenly like the feathers on her hat. + +Johanna went back into the house with her card and letter and gave them +to Gertrude. + +"A letter?" inquired the young wife. + +"The judge gave it to me," replied Johanna, as she left the room in +which, in spite of the outside heat, the air was always damp and cold. + +Gertrude slowly opened the letter. It was in his handwriting--she had +expected it. Her heart beat so quickly she could scarcely breathe, and +the letters danced before her eyes. It was some time before she could +read it: + +"GERTRUDE--Wolff died last evening. It is no longer possible to call +him to account on earth; it is no longer possible to expose his guilt. +He has gone to his grave without having cleared me from his calumny. I +remain before you as a guilty person, and I can do nothing more than +declare once more that we--you and I, are the victims of a scoundrel. I +have never spoken with Wolff of your fortune nor called in his +intervention in any way. I leave the rest to you and to your +consideration. I shall never force you to return to me, neither shall I +ever consent to a divorce. Come home, Gertrude, come soon and all shall +be forgotten. The house is empty, and my heart is still more so--have +faith in me again. Your FRANK."' + +She had just finished reading these words when Uncle Henry came in. +The little gentleman had evidently dined well--his face shone with +good-humor. + +"Still here?" he cried. And as she did not reply he looked at her more +closely. "Well, you are not angry again?" + +But the young wife swayed suddenly and Uncle Henry sprang towards her +only just in time to keep her from falling, and called anxiously for +Johanna. They laid the slender figure on the sofa and bathed her +temples with cold water. + +"Speak to me, child!" he cried, "speak to me!" and he repeated it till +she opened her eyes. + +"I cannot," she said after awhile. + +"What?" asked the asthmatic old gentleman. + +"Go to him I _can_not! Must I?" + +"Merciful Heavens!" groaned Uncle Henry, "do be reasonable! Of course +you must unless you want him to be ruined." + +"I must?" she repeated, adding as if for her own comfort, "No, I must +not! I cannot force myself to have confidence in him, I cannot pretend +what I do not feel. No, I must not!" + +And she sprang up and ran through the room to the door, trembling with +excitement. + +"Oh, ta, ta!" The old man ran his hands through his hair. "Then stay +here! Let your house and home go to ruin, and the husband to whom you +have pledged your faith into the bargain." + +"Yes, yes," she murmured, "you are right, but I cannot!" + +And she grasped the little purse in her pocket which held that fatal +letter. + +It seemed as if this brought her back at once to herself. She grew +quiet, she lay back on her lounge and rested her head on the cushion. + +"Pardon me, uncle--I know what I am doing." + +"That is exactly what you don't know," he muttered. + +"Yes, I do," was the pettish reply. "Or do you think I ought to go +there and beg him with folded hands to take me back into favor again?" +And something like scorn curved her lips. + +"It would be the most sensible thing you could do," replied Uncle +Henry, rather angrily. + +She bent back her head proudly. + +"No!" came from her lips, "not if I were still more miserable than I +am! I can forgive him, but--fawn upon him like--like a hound--no!" + +"God forgive me, but it is nothing but the purest arrogance that +animates you," cried the old man. "Who gave you the right to set +yourself so high above him? He was a poor man who could not marry +without money--is it a crime that he should have asked a question as to +this matter? It happens to every princess. You are stern and unloving +and unjust. Have you never done anything wrong?" + +She had started at his first reproachful words like a frightened child, +now she sprang up and as she knelt down before him her eyes looked up +at him imploringly. + +"Uncle, do you know how I loved him? Do you know how a woman can love? +I looked up to him as to the noblest being on earth, so lofty, so great +he seemed to me. I have lain at his feet, and at night I folded my +hands and thanked God that he had given me this man for my husband. I +thought he was the only one who did not look on me only as a rich girl, +and he has told me so a hundred times. Uncle, you have been always +alone, you don't know how people can love! And then to come down and +see in him only a common man, a man who does not disdain to tell a +lie--O, I would rather have died!" And she hid her face in her +trembling hands. "And there, where I have been so happy, shall I +satisfy myself with the coldest duty? I must be his wife and know that +it was not love that brought me to his side? I shall hear his tender +words and not think, 'He does not mean them?' He will say something to +me and I shall torment myself with doubts whether he really means it? +Oh, hell itself could not be more dreadful, for I loved him!" + +Tears stood in the old man's eyes. He stroked Gertrude's smooth hair in +some embarrassment. + +"Stand up, Gertrude," he said, gently; and after a pause he added, "The +Bible says we shall forgive." + +"Yes, with all my heart," she murmured. "And if you see him tell him +so. Ah, if he had come and had said--'Forgive me'--but so--" + +An idea came into Uncle Henry's head. + +"Then would you give in, child?" he inquired. + +"Yes," she stammered, "hard as it would be." + +The old egotist knew then what he had to do. He led the weeping +Gertrude to her little sofa, asked Johanna for a glass of wine and then +drove to Niendorf. As he went he could see always before him the +beautiful tear-stained face, and could hear her sad voice. As he ran up +the steps to the garden-hall rather hastily he saw through the glass +door the little brunette Adelaide sitting at the table with the judge, +who was just uncorking a wine-bottle. Both were so deeply engaged in +gazing at each other and blushing and gazing again that they were not +conscious of the presence of the old spy outside. + +"Really, this is a pretty time to be carousing in this house," thought +Uncle Baumhagen. As he entered he brought the couple back to the bald +present with a gruff "Good morning," and the judge began at once a +lament over the horrible ill-luck of this Wolff's dying six months too +soon. + +"What is going on here?" asked Uncle Henry, inhaling the fragrance of +the wood-ruff. + +"The parting _mai-trank_ for the judge," replied Miss Adelaide. + +"Oh, ta, ta! You are going away?" + +"I must," replied the little man with a regretful look at the young +girl. "Besides, my dear sir, since this dreadful wifeless time has +begun it is melancholy in Niendorf. Linden has been as overwhelmed, +since the news of the death came last evening, as if his dearest friend +had gone down into the grave with that limb of Satan. Heaven knows he +could not have been more anxious about a near relation, and his horses +have nearly run their legs off with making inquiries about the fellow's +health. I really believe he would have given the doctor of this +distinguished citizen a premium for preserving his precious life." + +Uncle Henry grumbled something which sounded almost like a curse. +"Where is Linden?" he inquired. + +"Upstairs!" replied Miss Adelaide. "He has been there ever since this +morning, at least we--" indicating the judge and herself--"dined alone +with auntie, then we went to 'Waldruhe' but we did not get in, and now +it is out of sheer desperation that we made a bowl of _mai-trank_. But +won't you taste a little of it, Mr. Baumhagen?" + +She had filled a glass and offered it to the old gentleman with +laughing eyes. + +Uncle Henry cast a half-angry, half-eager glance at the glass in the +small hand. + +"Witch!" he growled, and marched out of the room as haughtily as a +Spaniard. He was in too serious a mood to enter into their "chatter." +But a clear laugh sounded behind him. + +"I wish the judge would pack that little monkey in his trunk and send +her off to Frankfort or to Guinea for all I care." + +He found the young master of the house at his writing-table. "Linden," +he began, without sitting down, "the carriage is waiting down-stairs, +come with me to your little wife; if you will only beg her forgiveness, +everything will be all right again." + +Frank Linden looked at him calmly. + +"Do you know what I should be doing?" he asked--"I should acknowledge a +wrong of which I have never been guilty." + +"Ah, nonsense! Never mind that! This is the question now, will you have +your wife back again or not?" + +"Is that the condition on which my wife will return to me?" + +"Why, of course. Oh, ta, ta! I am sure at least that she would come +then." + +"I am sorry, but I cannot do it," replied the young man, growing a +shade paler. "It is not for me to beg pardon." + +"You are an obstinate set, and that is all there is about it," +thundered Uncle Henry. "We are glad that the scoundrel is dead, and now +here we are in just the same place as we were before." + +"The scoundrel's death is a very unfortunate event for me, uncle." + +"You will not?" asked the old gentleman again. + +"Ask her pardon--no!" + +"Then good-bye!" And Uncle Henry put on his hat and hastily left the +room and the house. + +"Allow me to accompany you down," said Frank, following the little man, +who jumped into the carriage as if he were fleeing from some one. + +But before the horses started he bent forward and an expression of +intense anxiety rested on his honest old face. + +"See here, Frank," he whispered, "it is a foolish pride of yours. +Women have their little whims and caprices. It is true I never had a +wife--thank Heaven for that!--but I know them very well for all that. +They have such ideas, they must all be worshipped, and the little one +is particularly sharp about it. She is like her father, my good old +Lebrecht, a little romantic--I always said the child read too much. Now +do you be the wise one to give in. You have not been so hurt either, +and--besides she is a charming little woman." + +"As soon as Gertrude comes back everything shall be forgotten," replied +Linden, shutting the carriage door. + +"But she won't come so, my boy. Don't you know the Baumhagen obstinacy +yet?" cried Uncle Henry in despair. + +He shrugged his shoulders and stepped back. + +"To Waldruhe!" shouted the old man angrily to the coachman, and away he +went. + +"My young gentleman is playing a dangerous game as injured innocence," +he growled, pounding his cane on the bottom of the carriage. The nearer +he came to the villa, the redder grew his angry round face. When he +reached "Waldruhe" he did not have to go upstairs. Gertrude was in the +park. She was standing at the end of a shady alley and perceiving her +uncle she came towards him, in her simple white summer dress. + +"Uncle," she gasped out, and two anxious eyes sought to read his face. + +"Come," said the old man, taking her hand, "let us walk along this +path. It will do me good. I shall have a stroke if I stand still. To +make my story short, child--he will not." + +"Uncle, what have you done?" cried Gertrude, a flush of mortification +covering her face. "You have been to him?" + +"'Yes,' I said, 'go and ask her forgiveness and everything will come +right--women are like that!' and he--" + +She pressed her hand on her heart. + +"Uncle!" she cried. + +"And he said: No! That would be owning a fault which he had not +committed. There, my child! I have tried once more to play the part of +peace-maker, but--now I wash my hands of it all. You must do it for +yourselves now. Anger is bad for me, as you know, and I have had enough +now to last me a month. Good-bye, Gertrude!" + +"Good-bye, uncle, I thank you." + +He had gone a few steps when the old egotist looked round once more. +She was leaning against the trunk of a beech-tree like one who has +received a blow. Her eyes were cast down, a strange smile played about +her mouth. + +"Poor child!" he stammered out, taking his hat from his burning +forehead, and then he went back to her. + +"Come now, you must keep your spirits up," he said kindly. "Over there +in Niendorf that black little monkey was making a _mai-trank_ for the +judge who is going away. What do you say, Gertrude, shall we go and +have some? Come, I will take you over quite quietly. You see we would +go so softly into the dining-room, and I am not an egotist if you are +not--one--two--three--in each others' arms--you will cry 'Frank!' he +will say 'Gertrude!' and all will be forgotten. Gertrude, my good +little Gertrude, do be reasonable. Is life so very blissful that one +dares fling away the golden days of youth and happiness? Come, come, +take my advice just this once." + +He had grasped her slender wrist, but she freed herself hastily and her +face grew rigid. "No, no, that is all over!" she said in a hard +distinct tone. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + +The summer had come; the yellowing grain waved in the soft breezes, and +the cherry-trees in the orchards and along the high roads had all been +robbed of their fruit. The sky was cloudless and the first grain had +been harvested in Niendorf. + +From the cities every one had fled to the watering-places or into the +mountains. The corner-house in the market-place was shut up from top to +bottom. Mrs. Baumhagen was in Switzerland, Mr. and Mrs. Fredericks in +Baden-Baden. Uncle Henry had gone to Heligoland, because nowhere can +one get such good breakfasts as on the dunes of that rocky island. + +Only the two sat still in their nests; separated by a small extent of +wood and meadow, they could not have been further apart if the ocean +had rolled between. There was no crossing the gulf between them. + +In Niendorf everything was irregular and in disorder. How should the +little Adelaide know anything about the management of a farm? She was +on her feet all day, she took a hundred unnecessary steps, and in the +evening she complained that the two dainty little feet in the pointed +high-heeled shoes hurt her so, and that the servants had no respect for +her. Aunt Rosa was in a bad temper, for she found herself in her old +age condemned to the life of a lady-in-waiting. Adelaide could not +possibly dine alone with Linden, and she must always be there. So at +twelve o'clock every day, the old lady put on her best cap, and sat, +the picture of misery, opposite Linden, in Gertrude's vacant place. The +meals were desperately melancholy. After awhile Adelaide also became +silent, since she very rarely got any reply to her remarks. So they ate +their dinner in silence and separated as soon as possible afterwards. + +Frank, however, had work to do at least, he could not _always_ think +and brood and look at the locked door which led into Gertrude's room. +That happened in the evening in his quiet room when little Adelaide was +singing all manner of melancholy songs about love and longing +down-stairs. And at midnight when it was quite quiet, when every one +was asleep in the house and only some faint barking of a dog sounded +from the tillage, he wandered up and down the room till the lamp grew +dim and went out, and even then he did not stop. + +He no longer expected her to come, though he had done so for days and +weeks. At first he had gone to the very walls of her garden with a +gnawing desire to see her; he would be there when she came out of the +gate, and he would go to meet her at the very first step. In vain, she +did not come. + +Once the servants had seen him when his eyes were strangely red. "The +master is crying for the mistress," was the report in the kitchen. + +"Why doesn't he go and get her?" said the coachman, "I wouldn't cry a +drop; I should know very well how to get back an obstinate wife," +making an unmistakable gesture. "Brute!" cried the maids, and thereupon +all the women turned their backs on him. + +It was long since there had been such a harvest; the barns could +scarcely contain all the grain. The fragrance of the hay came over from +the meadows and mingled with that of the thousand roses in the garden; +the great linden bloomed in the court-yard and a happy hen-mother led +out to walk a legion of yellow little chickens. + +In the stork's nest on the barn the young ones were growing apace; the +homely old house lay almost buried in luxuriant greenery; the clematis +climbed up to the windows and peeped in at the empty rooms, and the +swallows which were building under the roof, went crying through the +country and the city, "She has gone away from him! She has gone away +from him!" + +Yes, everybody knew the sad story by this time. Gertrude Baumhagen was +separated from her husband. In the coffee parties one whispered to +the other, people spoke of it at the cafes and at dinner-parties, +and at the table d'hote in the hotel it was the standing topic of +conversation. No one knew exactly why this had happened. There were a +thousand reports of a most wonderful nature. + +"He did something disagreeable about his wife's dowry--" + +"She went away because he lifted his hand to strike her--" + +"The mother-in-law made mischief between them--" + +"Nonsense! She was jealous--there is a little brown cousin in the +house--" + +"No, it was not that--she heard that before they were engaged he +consulted an agent about her fortune. It is not so very unusual +now-a-days." + +"Ah, bah, no woman would run away for that!" + +"That shows that you don't know Gertrude Baumhagen very well. It is a +fact that she has gone away." + +Yes, it was a fact, and Gertrude sat in her lonely house like one +buried alive in that ever gloomy room. She could no longer read; it +seemed as if she slept with open eyes. Sometimes Johanna brought her +her child, and the young wife's eyes mechanically followed the little +creature as it crept awkwardly over the floor or tried to raise +itself by a chair, but she would not touch it even when it fell and +cried.--Towards evening, however, the same unaccountable restlessness +always came over her; then she walked hurriedly up and down the garden +for a long time till she reached the top of the little hill; there she +would remain for hours, gazing at the Thurmberg till her hair and dress +were wet with dew. + +"Believe me," she said to Johanna, "I shall be ill--here," and she +pointed to her head. + +"I do believe it," assented the other, "it is easy to make one's self +ill--" + +It was a day at the end of July; a frightful sultry heat brooded over +the earth, and the young wife suffered greatly from it even in her cool +room. After dinner she lay motionless in her chair by the window; a +severe headache tortured her as was so often the case lately. + +Johanna placed her cupful of strong black coffee on the table and put +the book beside it which had been opened at the same page for the last +three days. + +"Here is a letter too," she added. + +Gertrude had acquired a great dread of letters lately. She overcame her +aversion however and opened it. It was in Jenny's pointed handwriting, +and Jenny only wrote surface gossip; one glance at the letter would +suffice. Two sheets fell out. + +"It is a long time since we heard anything from you," she read, "so +that we are very anxious about you--are you still in 'Waldruhe?'" + +"I met Judge K. yesterday at a reception, the same who, in the +celebrated divorce case of the Duke of P. with Countess Y., was the +counsel of the latter. I asked him playfully if a woman could separate +from her lord and master if she found that he had had more thought of +her worldly goods than of herself, described the situation pretty +plainly and spoke of a friend of mine who was in such a position. He +replied, 'Tell your friend she had better go quietly back to her +husband, for she is sure to get the worst of it.' His real expression +was a much rougher one, for he is well known as a brute. + +"Well, there you have the opinion of an authority in such matters. Make +an end of the matter, for you may have so bitterly to repent a longer +delay as you are quite unable to realize in your present magnificent +scorn. If I am not much mistaken you really love him. Well, there are +things--but it is hard to write about such things. Read the enclosed +letter, which mamma sent me a few days ago. Perhaps you will guess what +I wanted to say. + +"I wish you had been with me in Paris or were here now in Baden-Baden. +You would see how we German women, with our thick-skinned housewifely +virtues and our cobwebby romance, make our lives unnecessarily hard. I +am convinced a French woman would hold her sides for laughing if she +should hear the cause of your conjugal strife. + +"Arthur is very amiable, and obeys at a word. He surprised me with a +Paris dress for the reception yesterday. As soon as he gets out of our +little nest he is like another man. Good-bye, don't take this affair +too tragically. + + "YOUR SISTER." + + +Slowly the young wife took up the other letter; it was in Aunt +Pauline's pointed handwriting and was addressed to Mrs. Baumhagen. + + +"DEAREST OTTILIE: + +"Everything here goes on as usual. I was at your house yesterday; +Sophie is there and had a great moth-hunt yesterday. Your parrot had a +bad eye but it is all right again now. I have heard nothing of +Gertrude; she will let nobody in. I suppose you have heard from her. +There are all sorts of reports about Niendorf going about. Last +evening my husband came home from the club--they say there is a cousin +there who manages the house. Mr. Hanke has seen her in Linden's +carriage--very dark, rather original, and very much dressed. Well, of +course, you know how people will talk, but I will not pour oil on the +fire. I saw Linden too, once, and I hardly knew him; he was coming from +the bank. The man's hair is growing gray about the temples; he looked +like another person, so--how shall I describe it--so run down." + +Gertrude dropped the letter and then she sprang up--she shook and +trembled in every limb. + +With a powerful effort she forced herself to be calm and to be +reasonable. What did she wish? She had separated from him forever. But +her heart! her heart hurt her so all at once, and it beat so loudly in +the deathly stillness which surrounded her that she thought she could +hear it. + +"Johanna!" she shrieked, but no one replied; she was probably out in +the garden or in the kitchen at work. + +And what good could she do her? "No, not that, only not that!" + +She sat down again in her chair by the window and looked out among the +trees. What would she not give if the woods and the hills would +disappear so that she could look across into that house--into that +room! "A gay little thing is that brown little girl," Johanna had said +the other day. And Gertrude saw her in her mind's eye tripping about +the house, now in the garden-hall, now up the steps, those dear old +worn-out steps. Tap, tap, now in the corridor, the high-heeled shoes +tapped so firmly and daintily on the hard floor; and now at a brown +door--his door. + +Might she enter? Ah, his room, that dear old room! And Gertrude wrung +her hands in bitter envy. "Go!" she cried, half-aloud, "go! That +threshold is sacred--I--I crossed it on the happiest day of my life--on +his arm!" + +And she could see him sitting at his writing-table in his gray jacket +and his high boots just as he had come in from the fields; his white +forehead stood out in sharp contrast to his brown face. She had always +liked that. + +And gray hair on his temples? Ah, he had none a few weeks ago! And +again a dainty little figure fluttered before her eyes going towards +him. Ah, she would like to know that one thing--if he could ever forget +her for another--for this girl perhaps? But of what use was all this? + +She got up and went out of the room across the corridor to her father's +room. What her father had done thousands had done before him, and +thousands would do it--a man need not live! + +On the table by the bed stood the glass with his monogram, out of which +he had drunk that dreadful potion. The servants had washed it and put +it back there. She walked a few steps toward the window and started +suddenly. Ah yes, it was only her image in the glass. She walked +quickly up to the shining glass and looked in--there was a wonderful +bluish shimmer in it and her face, pale as death, looked out at her +from it. The deep shadows under the eyes spread far down on her cheeks. +Shuddering, she turned away; there was something ghostly about her own +face. + +And again she stood still and thought. What was left for her in life? +Everything was gone with him, everything! + +"Mrs. Linden," said a voice behind her, "Judge Schmidt." + +She nodded. + +"In my room." + +Ah, yes, she had forgotten that she had sent for him. He came to-day, +and she had only written yesterday. But it was just as well, she must +make a beginning. + +She turned back again; let him wait, she could not go just yet. She +went to the window and saw how the heavy leaden clouds were spreading +over the sky; a storm was brewing in the west. Courage, now, courage! +When it was past the sun would shine again; sometimes a broken branch +could not lift itself again. So much the better! There would be no more +of this quiet, this deadly calm. + +Only something to do--even if-- + +"Ma'am!" called the voice once more, and then she composed herself and +went. + +She knew him very well, the old gentleman who came towards her with a +kind smile, but she could not speak a word to him. She could only wave +her hand silently towards the nearest chair. He knew what the matter +was, let him begin the dreadful conversation. + +"You wish for my advice, Mrs. Linden, in this difficult matter?" + +"Yes, I wish you to act for me," she said, looking past him into the +corner of the room, "and I wish above all that Mr. Linden should be +informed of the decision I have come to. I will leave him in possession +of my whole fortune with the exception of this house, and the capital +that is invested in my brother-in-law's factory." + +She said the words hurriedly, as if she had learned them by heart. + +"Are you quite in earnest about it then?" asked the old man. + +Her eyes blazed out at him. + +"Do you think I would jest on such a sorrowful subject?" + +"And you think your husband will agree?" + +"It is _your_ affair, Mr. Schmidt, to arrange this." + +He bowed without speaking. She too was silent. An oppressive stillness +reigned in the room, in the whole house. It seemed to Gertrude as if +she had just heard her sentence of death. + +"There will be a bad storm to-day," said the judge after awhile. "I +must leave you now, madam, and as I am half-way to Niendorf now, I will +just drive over, to arrange the matter with your husband in person." + +"To-day?" She was startled into saying it. + +He hesitated and looked at her. + +"You are right, to-morrow will suit me better too--let us say the day +after to-morrow." + +"No," she replied, hastily, "go at once, it will be better, much +better." + +She got up in some confusion; her headache, the consciousness that she +had now set the ball rolling nearly overwhelmed her. She accompanied +the lawyer mechanically to the head of the stairs; then she remained +standing in the corridor, her hand pressing her throbbing temples, half +unconscious. + +She could hear Johanna in the kitchen, and as if she could bear the +loneliness no longer she went in and sat down on a chair beside the +white scoured table. Johanna was standing before it, choosing between +ivy-leaves and cypress-twigs. Her eyes were red with crying, and large +drops fell now and then on the hands which were making a wreath. The +whole kitchen smelled of death and funerals. + +"What are you doing there?" asked Gertrude. + +Johanna looked away and suppressed a sob. + +"It will be a year to-morrow," she replied in a choked voice, "since +they brought him home to me dead." + +"Ah, true." + +The two women looked deep into each other's sorrowful eyes, each with +the thought that she was the most unhappy. Ah, but there stood the +little carriage with the sleeping child, and that belonged to Johanna, +and Johanna could think of _him_ without other sorrow and heartache +than that for his loss. To lose a loved one by death, is not half so +hard as to lose him in life. Gertrude could find no word of sympathy. + +"Oh, how could I live through it!" sobbed the young widow. "So fresh +and strong as he went across the threshold, I think I can see him now +striding up the street. And the very night before, we had a little +quarrel for the first time and I thought, 'Just you wait, you will have +to beg for a pleasant word from me.' And I went to bed without saying +good night, and the next morning I wouldn't make his coffee. + +"I heard him moving about in the room and I was glad to think that he +would have to go without his breakfast. He came to my bed once and +looked in my face and I pretended to be asleep. But as soon as he had +shut the outside door behind him, I jumped up and ran to the window and +looked after him--I was so proud of him. It was the last time; it +wasn't two hours later when they brought him home, and day and night I +was on my knees before him, shrieking, and asking if he was angry with +me still. And I prayed to God that He would let him open his eyes just +once, only once, so I could say, 'Good-bye, Fritz, come home safe, +Fritz.' But it was all of no use; he never heard me any more." + +Gertrude sprang up suddenly and left the kitchen. O God! She felt sick +unto death. Everything seemed to whirl round and round in her brain, as +if her mind were unsettled. She could no longer follow out a train of +thought to its end, and an idea which had seized upon her five minutes +ago in the most horrible clearness, she was now unable to recall; try +as hard as she might, nothing remained to her but a dull dread of +something dreadful hanging over her. + +It was no doubt the heavy air, the oppressive stillness of nature +before a storm that had so excited her nerves. + +She rang for ice-water. When Johanna set the glass before her she +turned her head away. + +"Johanna, do you happen to know how long the--young lady is going to +stay at Niendorf?" + +"I think the whole summer, ma'am," was the reply. "A good thing, too. +What could they do without her over there?" + +Gertrude bit her lip; she felt ashamed. What right had _she_ to ask +about it? + +"Did you want anything more, ma'am?" + +"Nothing, thanks." + +And she remained alone in her room as she had been so many days before. +She could hear the gnawing of the moths in the old wood-work, and now +and then the steps of the servant in the corridor. With burning eyes +she gazed at the ever-darkening sky; her hands grasped the slender arm +of her chair as if they must have an outward support at least. + +Gradually it began to grow dark; the approaching evening and the black +storm-clouds together soon made it quite dusk, while now and then sharp +flashes of lightning brought the dark trees into full relief. Close by +Johanna was closing the windows of the sleeping-room. + +"Shall I bring a lamp?" she asked, looking through the half-opened +door. + +"No, thanks." + +"But you oughtn't to sit so near the window, ma'am, it looks so +dreadful out there." + +Gertrude did not move and the tear-stained face disappeared. A sudden +gust of wind swept through the trees, the branches were tossed wildly +about as if in a fierce struggle with brute force; the slender branches +were bent down to the ground only to rise again as quickly, and a +fierce blast whirling about gravel, leaves and small stones dashed them +against the rattling panes. Then followed a dazzling flash of +lightning, thunder that made the house shake, and at the same time a +sudden deluge of rain mingled with the peculiar pattering of large +hail-stones. + +Johanna, with her child in her arms, came anxiously into her mistress' +room. + +"Oh, mercy!" she shrieked, falling on her knees before the nearest +chair. Another flash filled the room for a moment with a dazzling red +light, and the thunder crashed after it like a thousand cannon. + +"That struck, Mrs. Linden, that struck!" cried she in terror. + +Gertrude had stepped back from the window; she was standing in the +middle of the room. By the light of the constant flashes the servant +could see her pale, rigid face with perfect distinctness. She rested +her hands on the table and looked towards the window as if it did not +concern her in the least. And still the storm raged more fiercely, +while the world seemed to be standing in a perfect sea of fire. It +seemed to have endured for hours. But gradually the flashes grew less +frequent, the crashes of thunder grew more distant, and at last only a +light rain dripped on the trees and the storm died away in a distant +low grumbling. + +Gertrude opened the window and bent far out; a wonderfully sweet air +blew upon her face, soft and aromatic, refreshing and invigorating, and +above in the sky the clouds had parted and a brilliant star sparkled +down upon her. Then she started back. From the high-road there came a +sound of hurried movements; a sound of wheels, the cracking of whips, +the cries of men--what did it mean? It was usually as quiet as the +grave here at this hour. + +"Fire!" Had she heard aright? She could not see the street but she +leaned far out and listened to the uproar. Her heart beat loud and +fast. The gardener's wife ran hastily up in her clattering wooden +shoes, and her shrill voice came up to Gertrude's ears. + +"David, hurry, hurry, hurry, it has been burning in Niendorf for the +last half-hour--the engine has just gone by--hurry!" + +"Clang, clang, clang!" clashed out the church bell now. In Gertrude's +ears it sounded like a death-knell. Clang, clang, clang! Why did she +stand still there, her hands clasping the window-sill as if they were +nailed there? She heard doors banging, and voices and shouts, she heard +the gardener rushing out of his house--and still she stood there as if +there was a spell upon her. + +Again clashed out the warning notes of the bell! And at length she +roused herself as if from a heavy dream, and now she was quite alive +once more. She flew like an arrow out of the room, snatched a shawl +from the wall of the corridor and rushed past Johanna, who was standing +at the gate with the gardener's wife and children,--away out over the +half-flooded high-road. + +"Mrs. Linden! For the love of Heaven!" screamed Johanna behind her. But +she paid no heed to the cry. Like a murmured prayer came from her +lips--"On! on!" + +The road before her was dark and lonely; the men who had hastened to +the rescue, were out of sight long ago. + +She actually flew; she felt no fear in the gloomy wood; she saw nothing +but the dear old burning house, and a pair of manly eyes--once, ah, +once so inexpressibly dear. Something came pattering behind her. Ah, +yes--the dog. + +"Come," she murmured, and hurried on, the sagacious animal close behind +her. + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + + +It was a long way to Niendorf, but Gertrude flew as if she had wings. + +"Good Heavens!" she groaned as she reached the top of the hill and saw +the red glow in the sky. Faster and faster she rushed down the hill; at +the next turn she must see Niendorf--and at last she stood there, +breathing quick and loud, her eyes gazing with terror into the valley. +Thank God! The red smoke was still rising into the sky, the flames +still shot up here and there, but the force of the fire was broken. It +is true, shouts and cries still sounded in her ears, but already she +met men who were going home. + +She moved aside into the deepest shadow and gazed down into the valley; +the old house stood there safe and sound, the red light of the dying +flames played about its green ivy-wreathed gables and lighted up the +shrubs in the garden. The barns were in ruins to be sure, but what +mattered that? As she stood there gazing at the house with insatiable +eyes, a light suddenly shone out behind two of the windows, gazing at +her like a pair of friendly eyes. The windows were his. But the young +wife found nothing reassuring in them. The terrible anxiety which had +left her at the sight of the uninjured house, suddenly leaped up with +renewed force. How happened it that there should be lights in his room +when the fire was still smouldering down there? He in the house when +his presence below was so necessary? + +No, never--or he must-- + +On--on--only to see--only to see from a distance, whether he lived and +was well! + +"Life hangs on the merest thread," Johanna's words sounded in her ears. +"God in Heaven, have mercy, do not punish me _so_!" + +At the garden-gate she stopped. What should she do here? Her ambassador +had come here only to-day and had offered him money for her freedom. +Ah, freedom! + +Of what use is it when the heart is still held fast in chains and +bands? And she ran in under the dark trees of the garden, round the +little pond, on the surface of which a faint rosy shimmer of the dying +fire still played, and she sank exhausted on a garden-chair under the +chestnuts; just in front of her, only across the gravel walk was the +house and a dim light shone out of the garden-hall. + +Upstairs, the bright light was gone from his windows; shouts and voices +of men still came up from the court, carriages were being pulled about, +horses taken out, all mingled with the sharp hissing sound of the hose. +Gertrude shivered; a great weakness had come over her, her temples +throbbed, the smell of the fire nearly took her breath away. + +Here she sat motionless, gazing at the steps which led to the +garden-hall. Her eyes sought out step after step and at last lingered +in the door. "Up there! In there!" she thought, her heart beating wildly, +but pride and shame held her fast as with iron chains. + +It gradually grew quieter in the court, then steps approached, firm, +elastic steps. Gertrude quickly seized the dog by the collar. "Down, +Diana!" she cried, hoarse with terror, and then a figure passed the +bright light of the window, and brushing close by her went into the +house. + +Frank! He was alive--thank God! But he was hurt, he kept his arm +pressed so closely to his side. Ah, but he was alive! and now, now she +could go again quietly and unperceived as she had come. There were +plenty of hands in there to bind up his wounds, to-- + +She shivered again as if in fever. + +"Come," she said to the whining dog, and she got up and turned away +towards the darker paths, but the dog pressed eagerly toward the house, +and almost as if she knew not what she was doing she suffered herself +to be dragged forward by him. + +At length she reached the steps and in another moment she was mounting +them. Only one look inside, only to see if he really was suffering, if +he really was alive! And holding the impatient animal still more firmly +she passed noiselessly across the stone terrace; then she leaned +against the door-post and peeped through the glass, trembling with +emotion, timorous as a thief, full of longing as a child on Christmas +Eve. + +The room looked just as usual, the carpets, the pictures, all just as +she had left it; within were people hurrying busily to and fro, and by +the table near the lamp he was sitting, his face, pale and drawn with +pain, turned full towards the door. And beside him, bending over him, +and binding up his arm with all the charming grace of an anxious and +tender wife, was the agile little creature in a black dress and white +apron, her bunch of keys stuck in her girdle. How skilfully she laid on +the bandage! With what supple, tapering fingers she fastened it! How +nearly her dark hair touched his face! + +And this must be done by other hands than these that she was wringing +so here outside! + +A joyful bark sounded beside her, and the dog broke away from her +trembling fingers with a sudden spring and bounded against the door so +that it shook. She started to flee in terror, but her strength failed +her; the ground seemed to sway under her feet, half-unconscious she +could still hear the door hastily torn open, and then she lost +consciousness altogether. + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + +Gertrude awoke, just as the day began to dawn, from a deep dreamless +sleep. She was not ill, and she knew perfectly well what had happened +to her the evening before. She was lying on the sofa in Aunt Rosa's +room; above her smiled down the ancestress with the powdered hair, and +the whole wonderful rose-wreathed room was in the full glow of the +morning sunshine. + +At the foot of the bed on a low footstool sat a young girl in a black +dress and a white apron; the dark head had fallen against the arm of +the sofa--Adelaide was sound asleep. + +The young wife got up softly. Her drenched clothing had been taken off +the night before and her own dressing-gown put on; there was still a +large part of her wardrobe in Niendorf; she even found, her dainty +slippers standing before the sofa, which she was accustomed to put on +when she got up. She was very quick and very careful not to wake the +young girl. But as she softly opened the door, the sleeper sprang up, +and a pair of wondering dark eyes gazed up at Gertrude. + +"Where are you going?" asked the clear voice. + +Gertrude stopped, undecided. + +"Mr. Linden went to bed so very late," continued Adelaide Strom; "he +sat here beside you till about an hour ago. You will not wake him? It +is not four o'clock yet." + +A pair of firm little hands drew the young wife away from the door +towards the sofa, and in contradiction to the childish words a pair of +grave eyes looked at her, saying plainly, "Do what you will--I shall +not let you go." + +Gertrude sat down again on the improvised bed and bit her lips till +they bled, but the young girl busied herself at a side-table, and +presently a fragrant odor of coffee filled the room. + +"Here," she said, offering the young wife a cup of the hot beverage, +"take it, it will do you good. I made some coffee for Mr. Linden too, +in the night: only drink it quietly, it is _his_ cup and no one else +has ever touched it." + +And as Gertrude made no reply and only held the cup in her trembling +hand without drinking, Adelaide continued without taking any +notice--"Ah, yesterday was a dreadful day. The frightful storm and that +dreadful thunderbolt, and the great barn was in flames in a moment, and +before any help came the other was burning, and it was with the +greatest difficulty the animals were saved. If Mr. Linden had not been +so calm and had so much presence of mind, it would have been frightful. +But he went into the horses' stable just as if the flames were not +darting in after him, and he put the harness on the horses and they +followed him out through the flames like lambs, though no one could get +them out before. And only think, when the uproar was the greatest, and +the fire was sending showers of sparks into the air, as if they were +rockets, something began to howl and cry so loud from the very top of +the barn, and we found it was Lora, the great St. Bernard dog, who had +puppies up there. + +"And how that poor dumb creature did cry out for help! I could hear +from my window that no one would go up after her,--'Being a dog,' they +all said. And all at once I saw a ladder, and one--two--three--a figure +disappeared up there in the flames. What do you think, Mr. Linden +brought them all down, the old dog and her young ones--all of them." + +The little girl's eyes sparkled with tears. + +"But he has a mark of it on his arm to be sure," she added, "and +it was only a dog after all. What was it in comparison with a man's +life?--Aunt Rosa was so angry with him and said, when he came down here +pale and suffering with the pain, he might have lost his life. Then he +said that such a stupid thing as his life wasn't worth a straw! And +just as he had said it, Diana began to scratch so furiously at the +door, and he rushed out at such a rate that I thought the lightning +must have struck again, and as I ran out behind him, he had you already +in his well arm, and declared that he knew you would come." + +Gertrude got up at this point, and walked to the door. But here she met +another obstacle. This was Aunt Rosa, who was just coming out of her +bedroom in the most astonishing morning array and the most enormous +white nightcap that a lady ever wore. She nodded to Gertrude, and laid +her small withered hand on her shoulder. + +"The dear God always opens a way for the hard heart to soften," said +the ancient dame, "Yes, in hour of need, the heart has wings on which +it is lifted above all the petty foolishness of pride and perversity. +It was just before the closing of the door, too, my dear child, for +yesterday afternoon, after a certain man had had an interview with him, +I folded my hands and prayed to God to give him strength to bear the +blow--I was afraid he would never get over it." + +Adelaide Strom now went softly out of the door and the old woman +remained standing before the young wife, and the tall form seemed +almost to shrink beneath her thin transparent hand. But neither spoke. +The eastern sky grew redder, and then the first rays of the sun played +on Gertrude's brown hair. + +Suddenly she covered her face with her hands. "My happiness is over, I +can never be anything more to him!" she gasped. + +"Say rather 'I _will_ never be anything more to him!'" + +"Ah, and even if I would!" she cried, "I am so wretched!" + +"He who will not do a thing willingly and gladly would do better to +leave it undone, and he who cares not to pray, should not fold his +hands." And Aunt Rosa turned away to the window, sat down in her easy +chair and took up her prayer-book. She left Gertrude to herself and +read her morning chapter half aloud. + +The words struck the ear of the struggling girl with a wonderful force. + +"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not +charity--" sounded through the room. + +"Charity suffereth long and is kind; beareth all things, believeth all +things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." + +Had she no charity then, no true love? Ah, faith--love--how should they +remain when one has been so cruelly deceived! And her house came back +to her mind, that sad, lonely house on the edge of the wood, and her +life in the last few weeks, so frightfully bare and desolate. + +And--"charity beareth all things--" it said. + +"Amen!" said Aunt Rosa, aloud. And Adelaide came in, and the young wife +suddenly felt her hands drawn down and through her tears she saw +Adelaide, smilingly unlocking the bunch of keys from her own belt and +holding it out to her. + +"I kept things in order as well as I knew how," she said, "it is not in +the most perfect order I know, but you must not scold me." + +She felt the keys put into her nerveless hand--had she not been bowed +down into the dust? + +"Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity vaunteth not itself," said +something in her heart. + +"I will forgive him," said the young wife aloud. But her face was pale +and rigid. + +"Forgive, with _those_ eyes?" asked Aunt Rosa. "And for what? For +believing him less than an acknowledged--well, he is dead, God forgive +him--than a man who was a perfect stranger to you? No, my little woman, +take heart and go up to your Frank and--" + +"_I_ go to _him_?" she cried in cutting tones,--"_I_?" The bunch of +keys fell clanging on the floor; with trembling hands she snatched up +the dress she had worn the day before, and took the purse out of the +pocket,--the purse which contained that fatal scrap of paper. For +awhile she held the piece of paper in her hand, then she gave it to the +old lady. + +"I will not seem to you so childishly perverse," she said. + +Aunt Rosa put on her glasses and read it. She started, and then a smile +spread over her face. In great confusion she looked into Gertrude's +face. + +"Addie," she said, "you can bear witness that I have always been a most +orderly person my whole life long." + +"Yes, auntie, the most envious person must allow you that virtue." + +"And yet last Christmas it happened to me to mislay a letter. It was to +Linden from Wolff; for four whole days we searched for it. Let me see, +that was the twenty-second of December--the letter was lost, and on the +twenty-sixth, I happened to lift up my window-cushion and there was the +thing. No one could have been gladder than I. I stayed up till late at +night--Linden had gone to a party at the Baumhagens--and when at last +he came home I gave him the letter and he put it carelessly in his +pocket and said, 'Aunt Rosa, you shall hear it first, I have just been +getting engaged.' And in the joy of his heart he took me in his arms as +if I were still only eighteen. You see, and that"--she struck the bit +of paper with her right hand--"that is a scrap of the letter, my little +woman, and the date coincides exactly." + +Gertrude was already by her side. "Is that true?" escaped from her +trembling lips. + +The old lady nodded. "Perfectly true," she declared. "Ask Dora. She +searched for the letter with me, and thereby got a great knock on the +head when she was trying to move the wardrobe." + +But Gertrude declined this. She stood for awhile in silence, her head +bent down, her color changing rapidly from red to white, then she moved +towards the door and in another moment she had disappeared. + +Lightly she mounted the stairs, and the old worn boards seemed to +understand why the little feet stepped so carefully and did not as +usual, crack and snap. + +It was still as death in the whole house; the corridor was still dusky +and the old pictures on the wall looked sleepily down on the young +wife. The tall clock kept on its solemn tick-tack, tick-tack. It +sounded so strangely in Gertrude's ears, as she stood hesitating before +the brown door and grasped the knob. + +Tick-tack, tick-tack! How the time flies! One should not hesitate a +moment when one has a fault to repair--every minute is so much taken +from him--quick, quick! + +Softly she opened the door and slipped in. She had drawn her dress +close about her, so the train should not rustle. Two large eyes gazed +anxiously out of the pale face round the room, which was glowing in the +morning sunshine. Now her heart seemed to stop beating for a moment, +now it throbbed wildly: there in the large chair--he had not gone to +bed, but sleep had overtaken him. There he sat, his wounded arm rested +on the arm of the chair, the other supported his head. He wore still +the soiled, singed coat he had on the day before, and ah, he looked so +pale, so changed! + +The dog, which lay at his feet, lifted up his head and wagged his tail. +Then she went towards him. "Make way for me," she murmured, "_I_ must +take that place!" + +And she knelt down before her husband, and taking the shrinking injured +hand put it to her lips. + +"Gertrude, what are you doing?" + +"Forgive me, Frank, forgive me?" she whispered, weeping, resisting his +endeavors to raise her. + +"No, Frank, no, let me stay here, it should be so--" + +"Forgive you? There is no question of that. Thank God you are here +again!" + +But before she got up she tore a bit of paper into shreds, then she ran +to the window and opened her hand and they danced away in the air like +snowflakes. And when she turned back again she looked into his grave +eyes. + +"What was that?" he asked, drawing her towards him. + +She threw her arms round his neck and hid her streaming eyes on his +breast. They stood thus together at the open window, in the clear rays +of the morning sun. The twittering swallows flew past them over the +tops of the trees up into the blue sky. + +"Back again! Back again!" was the burden of their song. + +Gradually the house woke up. The little brunette laid the table in the +garden-hall. + +"Two cups, two plates, and a bunch of roses in the middle--for the last +time," said she, "then she can do it for herself again." + +Then she stood thinking for a moment. + +"He doesn't in the least realize how fortunate he is to get such a +yielding, lamb-like wife as I am," she murmured. "To be sure, I _could_ +not possibly fancy that he married me for my money." + +She laughed a clear ringing laugh. + +"I shall have a nice little trousseau if Aunt Rosa gets it." + +And she opened the garden door and ran out into the green shrubbery. + +The world was so beautiful, the sun so golden and Adelaide was so fond +of the little judge. + +She was engaged, secretly engaged, for the good fellow would not come +before his friend in all his bridegroom's bliss, when his happiness was +so utterly shattered. So they had plighted their troth secretly--after +the bowl of _mai-trank_ on that last day. Aunt Rosa was no check +upon them, for she slept placidly in the corner of the sofa, and +Frank--Heaven alone knew when he had gone. + +But now--she looked at her pretty little hands; yes, there were +ink-stains on them; she had sent off the news at once to Frankfort: +"Great fire, great anxiety, great reconciliation." + +She found herself suddenly before a stout little man in a gray summer +overcoat and a white straw hat. + +"Oh, ta, ta! little one, don't run over me!" + +He was very cross, this good Uncle Henry. + +"Pretty state of affairs! A man comes from Hamburg, travelling all +night, and hardly is he out of the train when some one comes: 'Mr. +Baumhagen, did you know there had been a great fire in Niendorf?' Tired +as a dog as I was, I must needs get into a carriage and drive out +here--a man can't sleep after such a piece of news as that. For mercy's +sake, you are smiling as if it was Christmas eve!" + +"All the crops are burnt," announced Adelaide in as joyful a tone as if +she had said, "We have won a great prize." + +"The poor fellow has ill-luck," muttered Uncle Henry. "Has some one +gone over to--" He would not speak her name--"to--well, to 'Waldruhe?' +Or has the announcement of the joyful news been left for me again?" + +"No one has been there," replied Adelaide, mischievously. + +Uncle Henry looked at her more sharply. + +"Well, what's up then, you witch? Something has happened." + +"I am engaged," burst out the happy little bride. Thank Heaven, that +she could tell it at last. + +"You unhappy child!" cried Uncle Henry, by way of congratulation. But +she ran laughing away into the house. + +"Breakfast is ready!" she cried from the terrace. "Coffee, tea, ham and +eggs." + +The old gentleman, who was going out to view the wreck, turned sharply +round and followed her. + +"It is true," he remarked, "I shall be better for having something to +eat, I am quite upset by the journey." + +And Uncle Henry went puffing up the steps and grasped the door-knob. + +Good Heavens!--did his eyes not deceive him? There sat Linden, his arm +in a sling, and beside him--surely he knew that thick brown knot of +hair and that slender figure which was bending, down to cut up his +meat. Now she raises her head and kisses him on the forehead before she +quietly resumes her own place. + +"Angels and ministers of grace defend us! A man has only to take a +journey--!" + +Uncle Henry drops the door-knob. He has such a queer sensation--he does +not like emotion--and he does not like to disturb other people. He +would gladly get out of the way if he could--perhaps he may manage it +yet. + +But no. Gertrude herself opens the door. + +"Uncle Henry," she said, pleadingly. + +And he comes in and behaves exactly as if nothing had ever happened. It +is the purest selfishness on his part. Scenes don't agree with him. + +"I wanted just to see how you were--you seem to have had a nice little +fire," he begins. + +"Thank God! No lives were lost," said Linden, "and no cattle were +burnt; the crops are all destroyed, it is true; but in place of that a +new life has risen out of the ashes." And he held out his sound hand to +Gertrude. + +"Oh, ta, ta!" murmured Uncle Henry, helping himself hurriedly to ham +and to butter. "I tell you, children, travelling is a great deal too +hard work, and if it were not for the lobsters in Heligoland and the +eel-soup in Hamburg, then--but, Gertrude, you are laughing and crying +at the same time! Well, well, I am glad to be home again; there is +nothing like home, after all, and with your permission, I will drink +this glass of good port wine to your health and to the peace and +prosperity of your household." + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gertrude's Marriage, by W. Heimburg + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GERTRUDE'S MARRIAGE *** + +***** This file should be named 32442.txt or 32442.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/4/4/32442/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/32442.zip b/32442.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..14c0726 --- /dev/null +++ b/32442.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5b6fd0 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #32442 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32442) |
