CHAPTER VI.
A THIRD PERSON.
On the day that Eric had left Castle Wolfsgarten, an habitual visitormade his appearance there; this was the son of the eminentwine-merchant, the so-called Wine-count. He came once a week, to playchess with the count. He looked young, but he was worn out in soul, notknowing what to do in the world; he derived no satisfaction from thebusiness of his father, had money enough, had learned a variety ofthings, was something of a musician, drew a little, had very varioustalents, but no one predominant. All was wearisome to him; hollow andstale seemed that enjoyment of life which was to be decorously pursued.Wherefore should he devote himself to the restricted limits of someregular pursuit, in order to make money? That is wholly needless. Hewas a director in several railroads, and for a period it had satisfiedhim to oversee and to manage, to be saluted respectfully, and listenedto obsequiously, by the subordinates held strictly to their place; butthat too became distasteful to him. Travelling, too, proffered himnothing further, one had to drag along with himself continually such anextra weight of ennui. He turned a disgusted eye upon the world whichhad nothing to do for him, and in which he could do nothing. He hadcultivated one talent, that of chess-playing, and as Clodwig also tookgreat pleasure in the game, and was skilful in it, he came every weekto Wolfsgarten, and played with Clodwig, for it conferred upon him aspecial regard in his own eyes, and in those of others.
He had also a great reputation, among all those in the neighborhood whoprided themselves upon the same qualities as he, of being a rake, andappearing to the world as a gallant. He had a collection of lewdpictures of every kind, and one must be very intimate with him to beable to say that he had seen them all, even to the most carefullyhidden. Of course the Wine-chevalier presented a very respectableappearance before the world. No one had ever seen him intoxicated, and,in general society, he always played the part of one very condescendingand indifferent, who is yet so noble as to remain in intercourse withthese inferior people, as much as to say. One owes that much for oldacquaintance' sake. Mothers always warned their daughters of theWine-chevalier, just as one speaks to children of the wolf howlingoutside there in the fields, but the mothers themselves did not take itin bad part when he sometimes cast a languishing glance upon them, andeven when he frequently said something to them in whispers.
The Justice's daughter, Lina, was not so simple as the mother alwayssaid, for she declared that the Wine-chevalier was that transformedmanikin in the fairy-tales, who travelled to learn what shiveringmeant.
The Wine-chevalier of course kept himself fresh in his toilet and hisanecdotes, and in everything, externally and internally, that theprevailing fashion required, from year to year, living also for severalmonths in Paris. He did not, like his father, speak of his friend thisand the other ambassador, minister so and so, and prince so and so, buthe let it be known that he lived in the most inseparable intimacy withthe most famous members of the Jockey Club.
The Wine-chevalier always experienced, besides, some degree of pleasurein devoting himself to paying courteous compliments to the virtuousFrau Bella, but she looked at him to-day, as if he were not present,and as if she heard not a word of what he was saying. The count alsowas so abstracted and absent-minded; that he speedily lost all thegames, often gazing at him with wonderment, sitting there in the samechair that Eric had occupied.
A new ally to the Wine-chevalier made his appearance, but this was alsoof no avail to-day. A corpulent man dressed with fastidious nicetylikewise called at Wolfsgarten; he was formerly a famous basso, who hadmarried a rich widow from the neighboring commercial city, and settleddown here in this beautiful region. At other times he was well receivedby Bella, for he sang very agreeably with the remnant of his voice.When he perceived that his greeting to-day was not so cordial as usual,he said that he only came to make a passing call, and Bella was vexedso much the more; she did not like to have Wolfsgarten regarded as aplace for casual visits. When both had departed, Bella and Clodwigbreathed again freely.
Clodwig went into the cabinet, where he kept the collection of objectsthat had been excavated from the ground; but all here seemed changed.The urns, the vases, the lachrymatories, swords, necklaces, and manyfigures in relievo looked so very desolate, and a warrior, only half ofwhose face in burnt clay could be dug out, wore to-day such a hideousvisage.
All looked so forlorn, as if these thousand things, brought out of thedarkness under ground into the light, were making their moan toClodwig: What then are we here for? There is something wanting tous,--a piece to each. And if Clodwig had been able to exhibit his soulwith all its emotions, he, the well-regulated, would have had nothingbut potsherds to show. Something was wanting to him since Eric rodeoff.
With closed lips, and restless eyes that seemed to be in search ofsomething, he went all day long through house and park. Bella succeededat last, in bringing him to say that the ideal of his whole life mighthave been realized, but that he had strangely wanted the requisiteenergy. He complained, for the first time, of feeling the hesitancy andtimidity of age. He made a pause, hoping that Bella would complete thesuggestion, but she kept silence; and in a very roundabout way, heexplained that people indulged in many luxuries, and yet not the rightones. Finally he came directly to the point, that he considered itwrong to have permitted Eric to depart, he had long wished for such aman, and he might venture perhaps to say, that he would also contributeto the advancement of the young scholar with the Apollo-form.
The upper lip of Bella quivered, and she said,--
"The captain"--she was going to say, the captain in Goethe's "ElectiveAffinities," and stumbling over this thought, she continued:--"Thecaptain,--I mean, the doctor,--would certainly consider himself veryfortunate. But--we ought surely to speak openly. I have the happinessof a firmly established good name, and we do not ask what people say--"
"Speak out direct," Clodwig said encouragingly, and Bella continuedafter she had passed a fine pocket-handkerchief over her face:--
"Do you not think that this young man--would often--how shall I expressit?"
"Put us into an awkward position?" suggested Clodwig. Bella nodded, butClodwig had already thought that matter over, and he combated thenotion, dwelling upon the consideration of how great an enslavement itwould be of the good, if they must omit doing what was noble becausethe bad committed the basest things under the cloak of deceit.
Bella now advised her husband to send a messenger to Eric immediately,so that he might not enter into any engagement. Clodwig pressed herhand, and went into his study, with an elastic step not often seen inhim. He began to write there, but soon came to Bella and said that hecould not write, and the simplest thing to do was to order the carriageand drive over at once to Villa Eden.
Clodwig avoided, as a general thing, all immediate connection withSonnenkamp and his family, so far as it was possible with the intimacyof his brother-in-law there, but to-day nothing was said of this, andthey drove off in good spirits.
Frau Bella often drew her veil down over her face and raised it again;she was very uneasy, for she thought over a great many things, and whenshe noticed the quick beating of her heart, she grasped hastily herhusband's hand, saying,--
"Ah! you are so good, so angel-pure! I could never have believed that Ishould be continually discovering new excellencies in you."
With the utterance of these words aloud, she silenced in some degreethe voice speaking within her what she was not willing to acknowledgeto herself,--yes, she consciously disowned it. It is anincomprehensible whim, a freak--not of passion, no--how could Bellaconfess that of herself? It was the freak of an evil spirit! This youngman must possess some incomprehensible, bewildering, magic influence!Bella hated him, for he had disturbed the quiet of her husband, and nowwas attempting to do the same with her. He should atone for that! Shestraightened herself back; she was resolved to interrupt the childish,enthusiastic plan of her husband by the very means of her going withhim, and
if Eric did not perceive her opposition, she would acknowledgeit in so many words, and thereby induce him to decline.
Entertaining this thought, she looked up again in a cheerful mood, andClodwig, perceiving it, settled upon a room for Eric, and laid out thenew household arrangement.
A new member of the family too was to be added for Bella, as she was toinvite Eric's mother to visit them. It was fortunate that Bella hadalready known her for some time before, and held her in high esteem.Clodwig informed her that the Dournays also were really of thenobility, and their appellation was Dournay de Saint Mort, and thatthey had dropped the title only at the expulsion of the Huguenots fromFrance, and he would see to it, in case Eric made a suitable marriage,that his title was renewed,--yes, he could probably do more in hisbehalf.
Bella asked jokingly, whether he might not desire to adopt him as ason. Clodwig declared that he was not disinclined to do so. With abitter smile, but to all appearance very lively, Bella answered that itwould seem very strange for her to have a son only a few years youngerthan she was herself.
Now the disentombed antiquities danced joyously before the eyes ofClodwig, and indulged in all sorts of antics. Frau Bella, on the otherhand, was exceedingly out of humor; it was a perpetual astonishment toher, that her husband felt so deep an interest in these matters. Shehad not used deception when, the winter before their betrothal, she hadappeared to be a cultivated nature, recognizing the more serious depthsof existence, and had manifested an interest in the art-productions ofthe classic age, in the sciences, and in the higher realities of life;she had, in fact, not wilfully misled him, for she had always supposedthat every one regarded these as conversational topics, proper subjectsfor small-talk. And in regard to the study of the historicaldevelopment of the past and the present, it appeared to her as atacitly conventional pastime.
She was terror-stricken to perceive that these great thoughtsconstituted her husband's very life, that he sorrowed and rejoiced inall that related to the world's progress as in family occurrences, andmoreover that he was even religious. He did not speak, as she did, ofthe dear God, but he would remain in devout contemplation at everymanifestation of the Eternal Providence, and wherever a contradiction,a riddle, presented itself, he experienced even a degree of feverishdisturbance.
Bella did not confess to herself that the whole appeared to herhorribly pedantic, like a preacher or a pedagogue; she had not thoughtthat she was to marry a pedantic professor, instead of a live man.
But whether avowed or not, this whole matter of cherishing a so-calledhigher interest was extremely wearisome to her. Every one plays onlyhis part in life, and who is to regard it in serious earnest? Thosepoor devils, the scholars and the philanthropists, may do so, if theyplease, but not a man of a higher station. Now it appeared that Clodwigwas ready to break up a regular routine existence, tedious indeed, butyet tranquil and honorable, by the sudden introduction of a stranger.It was pure calumny, when they said of Bella that she had married thecount in the hope of becoming soon a rich and attractive widow. The oldHead-equerry had looked out for a good marriage settlement, and acertain part of the income of the great estate was retained andinvested yearly, which did not go to the heir by the collateral line.As I have said, it was unmitigated slander that Bella had gone to thealtar cherishing a hope of widowhood, but to her alarm--she covered itup whenever she became conscious of it--she found herself growingprematurely old by the side of her husband, who was old enough to beher father.
And who knows how much money Clodwig will spend upon this adventurer,Dournay, who has no regular occupation, and besides, is not in favor atcourt! But the worst is, that this young man, with his confidentexpectation of success, will wholly withdraw from her the attention ofher husband. They will study with one another, and make explorations,whilst thou wilt be sitting all alone, thou, the young and fresh heartthat has devoted itself so nobly, so truly, so self-forgetting, to thecare of the old man!
Bella was sorely vexed at Eric, because he made her entertain evilthoughts, and suddenly, while looking at her husband, she cried,--
"In God's name! Your lips are white. What is the matter?"
Were her evil thoughts suddenly to be realized? But Clodwig answered,--
"It's nothing. Look! There he stands. What a wonderful form! I fullybelieve that he is occupied with thoughts of deepest moment, as hestands there dreamily, gazing down at the grass."
The carriage rolled on. Eric heard his name called, and looked inamazement at the husband and wife, who gave him a cordial greeting. Hewas made to take a seat in the carriage, and Clodwig's glance to hiswife said, "Hast thou ever seen a nobler specimen of a human form?"
Eric was asked whether he had accepted definitely the situation, andwhen he replied in the negative, Clodwig extended his hand to him, andsaid,--
"You will find a welcome with me."
Nothing farther could be said, for just then Sonnenkamp trotted up onhis black horse, and he was extremely glad to be able to salute suchvisitors; he was very much surprised, however, to see Eric on suchintimate terms with them. He rode up to the coach-door, and veryjoyfully and respectfully welcomed the guests to the villa.
Hardly had they left the carriage, when another drove into the court,and the physician got out.
Das landhaus am Rhein. English Page 32