Das landhaus am Rhein. English

by Berthold Auerbach

  CHAPTER XI.

  THE FIRST NIGHT OF A BARONESS.

  "Yes, it's all very nice for him, he goes off on his pleasure, andleaves me here alone! What am I to do now?"

  Thus Frau Ceres was complaining to Fraeulein Perini, when Sonnenkamp,Pranken, and Roland were gone. With the hurry and restlessness of fevershe was walking up and down the room, every now and then asking whetherthere was nothing to be done, and begging Fraeulein Perini to tell herwhat she ought to do. The latter urged her to be composed, and askedher to sit down by her side, and fill out the ground at the other endof her embroidery.

  "Yes," exclaimed Frau Ceres suddenly, "now I have it. I'll do somethingthat will please him too; I'll embroider a sofa-cushion with ourcoat-of-arms. Besides, I have seen hassocks in the church withcoats-of-arms embroidered on them; we'll have those too."

  Fraeulein Perini nodded.

  "And something else yet!" said she.

  "Really? Do you know of something else?" exclaimed Frau Ceres.

  "Yes, it will be something well befitting your pious mind. You havealready thought of it, only you have forgotten about it."

  "What? what have I forgotten?"

  "You intended, when the title was obtained, to embroider an altar-clothat once."

  "Yes, so we will. Did I ever say so? Ah! I forget everything. Ah, dearmadame, stay with me always, advise me in everything. Have you a large,frame? Let us begin at once."

  Fraeulein Perini had everything ready, silk, worsted, gold-thread andsilver-thread, frame and patterns. Frau Ceres actually made a fewstitches, but then stopped and said:--

  "I am trembling to-day; but I have commenced the altar-cloth, and nowwe will work on at it. You will help me, will you not?"

  Fraeulein Perini assented; she knew that she would have to do the wholeherself, but Frau Ceres had now become somewhat calmer.

  "Will you not send for the Priest, or hadn't we better go and visit himourselves?"

  "As you see fit."

  "No, we had better be alone. Where is Manna, I wonder? She ought tocome, she ought to be with her mother."

  She rang and sent for Manna; but received for answer, that she had justgone to rest; she begged her mother to excuse her, she was very tired.

  "But where is the Professorin? Oughtn't she to come and congratulateme?"

  "She was with Fraeulein Manna, and went home again," answered FraeuleinPerini.

  "She was in the house, and didn't come to see me?" said Frau Ceres, inan angry tone; "she shall come at once--this very moment. Send for her.I am the Mother, to me is honor first due, then to the daughter. Sendfor her, she must come at once."

  Fraeulein Perini had to gratify her, but with great caution, sheimpressed upon Frau Ceres the necessity of being quite composed anddignified in her manner toward the learned court-lady, who must notsuppose that people would have to learn from her, at the outset, how tocomport themselves in elevated positions.

  "You should be rather quiet in your manner, Frau Baroness."

  "Frau Baroness! Am I to expect that the Professorin will address meso?"

  "Certainly, she is perfectly well bred."

  Frau Ceres began once more to walk restlessly up and down the room.Every once in a while, she would stand still before the large mirror,and make a courtesy before some imaginary personage. The courtesy wasvery successful; she would lay her left hand upon her heart, her righthanging down naturally, and bend very low. On both sides of the mirrorfour branched candlesticks stood lighted, and once in a while FrauCeres would put her hand to her brow.

  "He has promised me a five-pointed coronet; it will become me, will itnot?"

  With an exceedingly gracious smile she bowed once more before themirror.

  Fraeulein Perini heard outside the arrival of the Professorin; she wentto meet her, and begged her to be very forbearing and circumspect withthe much agitated Frau Ceres, and not call her anything but FrauBaroness.

  "Why did you send me word that she was ill, and call me out in themiddle of the night on that account?"

  "I beg your pardon; you know that there are sick people who do not goto bed."

  The Professorin understood how matters were.

  When she entered, Frau Ceres, with her face still turned to the mirror,exclaimed:--

  "Ah, that's good! It was gracious in you to come, my dear Professorin,very friendly--very kind. I am a good friend of yours, too."

  She then turned round and held out her hand to the new-comer.

  The Professorin did not congratulate her, nor did she call her FrauBaroness.

  Frau Ceres now wished to know what her husband--but she correctedherself quickly and said: "I should say the Baron now; well--what hasthe Baron to do in town; must he pass a Knight's examination, and willhe be knighted before the assembled multitude?"

  The Professorin replied that there was nothing of the kind now, therewould be simply a parchment patent delivered to him.

  "Parchment--parchment?" repeated Frau Ceres several times to herself."What is parchment?"

  "It is dressed skin," said the Professorin in explanation.

  "Ah, a scalp--a scalp. I understand. On it--will the patent be writtenwith ink just the same as everything else that they write?"

  She stared a long while before her, then after first shutting and againopening her eyes, she begged the Professorin to choose one of herfinest dresses for herself; angry and astonished, the Professorin rose,but she sat down again hastily, and said that she was sensible of thekindness of Frau Sonnenkamp, but she no longer wore such fine dresses.

  "Frau Sonnenkamp doesn't wear them any more either. Frau Sonnenkamp,Frau Sonnenkamp!" rejoined Frau Ceres.

  She wished to remind the Professorin that she had not called her FrauBaroness.

  "Have you ever known of the elevation of an American to the ranks ofthe nobility?" she asked all at once.

  The Professorin said no.

  When it was now mentioned that Herr Sonnenkamp had received the name ofBaron von Lichtenburg from the castle which was rebuilding, Frau Ceresexclaimed:--

  "Ah, that's it! that's it! Now I know! This very evening, this verymoment, I will visit the castle--our castle! Then I shall sleep sound.You shall both accompany me."

  She rang forthwith, and ordered the horses to be harnessed; both theladies looked at each other, terror-stricken. What would come of it?Who knows but that on the road she might suddenly become distracted andbreak out into a fit of insanity?

  The Professorin had sufficient presence of mind to say to Frau Ceres,that it would be much better to make the visit to the castle the nextmorning in the daytime; that if they went there in the night, it wouldmake a great talk in the neighborhood.

  "Why so? Is there a legend about our castle?"

  There was indeed such a legend, but the Professorin took care not totell it to her just then; she said she was ready to drive for an hourin the mild night, out on the high road with Frau Ceres; she was inhopes that it would quiet her.

  And so the three women set out together through the darkness of thatpleasant night. The Professorin had so arranged matters that there wasnot only a servant sitting beside the coachman, but also another on theback seat. She sought to provide against all contingencies. But thisprecaution was not necessary, for as soon as Frau Ceres was well seatedin the carriage, she became very quiet, nay, she began to speak of herchildhood.

  She was at an early age left an orphan, the daughter of a captain onone of Sonnenkamp's ships, who had made long and very perilousvoyages--yes, very perilous, she repeated more than once. After thedeath of her parents, Herr Sonnenkamp had taken her under his soleguardianship, and had her brought up by herself under the care of anold female servant, and of one man servant.

  "He didn't let me learn anything, not anything at all," she complainedonce more; "he told me, 'It is better for you to remain as you are.' Iwas not quite fifteen years old when he married me."

  She wept; but then, a moment after,
clapping her hands like a child,she exclaimed,--

  "It's all a story. It was another creature entirely that went throughall this, that used to lie in her hammock all day long and dream outthere, and now in Europe--but it is just as well, just as well, isn'tit?" she said, and reached out her hands affectionately to theProfessorin and Fraeulein Perini.

  "Do you think," she said, turning to the Professorin mysteriously, "doyou think that our noble rank is altogether safe and sure?"

  "After the decree is issued, everything is secure, but no one can saythat anything is certain before it comes to pass; unforeseen obstaclesmay arise at the very last moment."

  "What obstacles? what do you mean? what? what do you know? Tell meall."

  The Professorin shuddered inwardly. The restlessness and terror, thewilful, overbearing, and weak nature of Frau Ceres were now for thefirst time made clear to her; here was a woman who sought to tormenther husband by revealing to her child the father's past life.

  With entreaties and commands Frau Ceres endeavored to get a statementof the possible obstacles, and she was only quieted by the Professorinassuring her that she knew of nothing definite. In spite of thedarkness, Fraeulein Perini noticed how painfully this untruth fell fromthe lips of the Professorin; in fact she was just able to let it passher lips, because she felt herself in the situation of the physicianwho does not venture to tell his fever-stricken patient the bittertruth.

  Frau Ceres lay back in the corner of the carriage; she went to sleeplike a child that has cried itself out with temper. Fraeulein Periniearnestly begged the Professorin to call Frau Ceres 'Baroness' when shewoke up. She told the coachman to turn back; they were on their wayhome to the Villa.

  Frau Ceres was hard to wake; they put her to bed. She thanked the twoladies sincerely, and smiled pleasantly, when the Professorin said atlast,--

  "I hope you'll sleep well, Frau Baroness."