Short Stories From Austria- Ferdinand Von Saar

by Ferdinand Ludwig Adam

  Suddenly the shrill sound of a bell sounded in the distance.

  “How quickly time passes!” Exclaimed Klothilde. “You are already ringing at the table.”

  “Frankly, not entirely undesirable to me,” said the Freiherr, rising. “I already feel the effects of the country air.”

  So they left the little house and walked leisurely, choosing the shadiest passages, toward the castle.

  “If it pleases you,” said Klothilde, hanging affectionately on his arm, “we'll make our first trip into the woods in the afternoon. How long have we not entered him? Do you want?”

  “Certainly,” he replied. “Everything you want.”

  Soon after, they entered the dining room on the ground floor. It was a cool, wide arched room, where the couple was a bit lonely. A dignified-looking valet handed the dishes ceremoniously.

  After the baron held the usual siesta, they set out for the forest that lay behind the castle. A small wicker gate in the perimeter wall of the park, which the Baron unlocked, first led out to a field where the ears, already shining with red poppies, had already turned a yellowish tint. They passed it on a narrow path, then they entered the fragrant area of the softwood. Slowly they moved up the hill until they finally reached a forest, where an old, broad-bred pine was rising. A bench was in front of it, and a picture could be seen on the reddish gray trunk: the beautiful, painful countenance of a mater dolorosa. Klothilde herself copied it to an older master a few years ago and attached it to her favorite tree. Despite a protective canopy, the gouache colors had already suffered, and Klothilde decided to take her paint box with her and repair the damage.

  The sun was already low when they returned to the castle. After a short break, they found each other again in the salon. Outside, the corridors were already shrouded in twilight, the light of the rising moon shining slightly through them. Soon the lamps were brought and they took the tea, whereupon Klothilde sat down at the piano and began to play the Moonlight Sonata. Enchantingly, the sounds rose under their hands and penetrated through the open old door into the silent landscape, which was illuminated by the soft silver star ever brighter. And when, later on, the two spouses were standing on the balcony, looking up into the azure night, the sky, with its countless stars, really arched over two happy people.

  II.

  Three weeks had passed by the inhabitants of the castle in such a way with gentle uniformity. The summer had now risen to its true height, and the scent of the flowering linden trees was floating in the air. The baron now spent the sunlit hours of the day in his study to the north, where he had already collected all sorts of material for his memoirs; but his wife then stayed in her summer house, where she led a kind of busy dream life. She sat at the little easel, gracefully twining her ideal landscape, and when it became too humid in the lower rooms, she took one of her favorite books and settled herself beneath the shady birch tops, sometimes with a wistful eye following the flight of the swallows, which zigzagged across the meadow, or the shout the cuckoo, listening, who came over from the forest.

  One day, when the couple had just taken off, the chamberlain brought with the coffee a sealed letter intended for the baron. It contained the message of the mayor that Marktflecken had to be quartered. The staff and the first division of a dragoon regiment, to which the local district was dependent as a cantonment station. Of course, it is not too difficult for the place to accommodate the officers and men; However, with regard to the horses, there were great difficulties, so that one had to ask the baron to make available the well-known stable rooms of the castle. One would count on about thirty horses. Of course, then the riders in question would be included, but they could live in the stables themselves. Also, one would be very grateful if His Excellency were to be so gracious as to accommodate one or two of the gentlemen's officers, among whom, some learned, were of the high nobility. Of course, we do not intend any compulsion in this regard, but please inform us as soon as possible, as the troops will move in here tomorrow.

  The Freiherr had read the letter with growing frown and hesitated to announce the contents to his wife. But as she had to find out, he handed her the paper, which she dropped on the table after they quickly flew over it. “Soldiers!” She exclaimed as a deep blush gradually appeared in her face.

  “Yes, soldiers!” He replied in a forcefully resolute tone. “War people and country plague,” he added jokingly, quoting Heine. “Our quiet courtyard will be like a noisy camp tomorrow.”

  “And must we submit to the commission?” She asked, looking at him anxiously.

  “However, my child,” he answered after a brief silence. “We have to bear our share of the common burdens without argument. Nor can it be denied that our stables are empty, since the entire field economy is leased. So we have to accept the people.”

  “And the officers?” She hesitantly continued. “We have not been obliged to do anything in this regard.”

  “Certainly. But well considered, we can not dismiss this request. It would seem disloyal - at least strange. It can not be agreeable to me, you understand that. If it were still officers, things would become simpler; but, as we read in the sheet, they are also among those of the high nobility, and one will not fail to send these up to us. That is fatal. You know that I have always been an aristocrat, not only because of my views, but also as an upstart, although it meant that I had to associate with the people as far as was necessary. But since there is no other way, they should come in the name of God!”

  “And where will we house her?”

  “There will also be advice for that. The small extension of the left wing, in which the royal court and reveille office used to be, is completely empty. It contains two very comfortable apartments, which, I believe, are also in need of care; You can also get a lot over there. And so, “continued the baron, rising and resolutely stepping up and down went down, “so the matter is settled. We are not obliged to social intercourse; The gentlemen, who like to remain informally under their own steam, usually take care of themselves.”

  She did not reply and remained absorbed in uneasy reflections.

  He stepped toward her and laid a reassuring hand on her head. “Do not take this incident so tragically, Clothilde,” he said. “He will pass like many other things. Of course, “he continued with a slight sigh,” it is not a good omen that the idyllic condition we were in was so quickly disturbed. The uneventful days, as they have been so comfortable in former times, are over. Burning political issues, meaningful social issues are to be resolved, and the history of states may soon be on the verge of far-reaching change. Already, it seems, the negotiations with Prussia are taking on a more serious character, and the regiment expected for tomorrow is not the only one to be pushed to the frontier; I think,

  She had listened to him with the expression of quiet desperation. “But what do we have to do with it, Alfons?” She called. “That's none of your business anymore!”

  “Dear child,” he replied with gentle earnestness, “the waves of time can not escape even the farthest.”

  He had seized the bell at these words, summoning the valet. The latter was now instructed to inform the steward that the Freiherr was expecting him in his room at once. Hereupon the two spouses silently ascended the stairs to the first floor. In the vestibule, as usual, they parted at this time, and each went to his apartments.

  When Klothilde was in theirs, she sank into an armchair and surrendered to the surging sensations that beset her. Yes, even in this pure heart there were contradictions; Even in this extremely happy marriage there was a shoal which the young woman had hitherto kept secret from herself and from which now suddenly the veiling veil had been torn away!

  However much Klothilde clung to her husband, as much as she adored him and held him up: oneThere was something about him that she thought differently, that she felt differently than he did. These were his liberal principles. At first she had scarcely understood it, and put less emphasis on it, for the baron had by no means approached
his young wife with such a request. It was only after the outbreak of the March Movement that Klothilde received clear ideas and impressions, which inwardly alienated her more and more from the course of events. The first cheering processions of flags and torches, the uniforms of the National Guard, the flowing leggings of the Student Legion, seemed to them an unsubstantial masquerade, which they often quietly smiled at. But she concealed her opinion in order not to offend the husband, who took all this so high, and at no cost would she have dared to influence or change him, even then, when she later realized the dreadful seriousness of those days and experienced it with a shudder. But so it came about that she greeted the victorious troops with very different sentiments than the baron, and that her gaze was grateful and with quiet pleasure resting upon the strong figures, the weather-tanned features of the sons of Mars, who now occupied all the squares and streets of the city so richly animated. How often did she, who earlier, like most girls and women in Vienna, before every uniform felt a peculiar, often hurtful, self-proclaiming shyness, be lured to the window by a loud saber-bark, and at once, deeply blushing, before the that she greeted the victorious troops with very different sentiments than the Freiherr, and that her gaze was grateful and with quiet pleasure resting upon the powerful figures, the weather-beaten features of the sons of Mars, who now so richly animated all the squares and streets of the city. How often did she, who earlier, like most girls and women in Vienna, before every uniform felt a peculiar, often hurtful, self-proclaiming shyness, be lured to the window by a loud saber-bark, and at once, deeply blushing, before the that she greeted the victorious troops with very different sentiments than the Freiherr, and that her gaze was grateful and with quiet pleasure resting upon the powerful figures, the weather-beaten features of the sons of Mars, who now so richly animated all the squares and streets of the city. How often did she, who earlier, like most girls and women in Vienna, before every uniform felt a peculiar, often hurtful, self-proclaiming shyness, be lured to the window by a loud saber-bark, and at once, deeply blushing, before the flaming looks of temporary officers to resign. And then, for the first time in her marriage, she had discovered that she had a receptive heart, that she had to watch this heart very closely. She felt that she was already on her way to being unfaithful to her husband, and for that reason she had once again greeted the castle and its solitude with double joy. Yes, here in this blissful silence, at her easel, at her books, surrounded by noble tones, she could not approach anything confusing, she could never be unfaithful to herself, never to her duty! And now suddenly the danger was so close - so terribly close!

  It took her breath away. She got up and opened one of the windows which, to keep out the heat of the day, were closed, including the blinds. It was choking in the room. But even from outside her dull sultriness struck. She looked out. No leaf stirred, all around it brooded like a thunderstorm.

  Restless, she soon moved in the room, sometimes there, picked up a book and tried to read; but she did not succeed.

  Towards evening, the Freiherr joined her. He had given the steward the necessary orders, had now checked himself and found everything in order. “But you, poor heart, do not seem to have calmed down,” he finished his report.

  She did not reply, and only clung to his chest, seeking protection.

  “Well, I understand,” he continued. “I feel very embarrassed myself. But come on, let's go to tea now. And to celebrate the upcoming event, you can play the Eroica!”

  He had spoken this in a satirically jocular tone to cheer her up; but she stretched out her hands and shouted: “No, no, not today!”

  “Well, of course, she would not fit! So something funny! For example, a march from Vielka or a few Lanner waltzes.”

  Despite these exhilaration attempts, the mood remained depressed, and when Klothilde later sat down at the piano, she was interrupted by rolling thunder at the first notes she struck. The thunderstorm, which in fact had been slowly and hesitantly ascending, now announced its immediate proximity. A flash of light flashed through the night as a heavy gust of wind blew open the half-open glass door.

  The Freiherr rose to close it. “The first thunderstorm of the summer,” he said, looking out. “It threatens to be very bad.”

  Actually, lightning followed lightning, illuminating the landscape as bright as day; the thunder sounded ever nearer, ever more powerful, and the dark tops of the trees thumped and thudded in the storm.

  Klothilde had come to her husband's side and was watching the terribly magnificent spectacle with him, until she finally turned away, blinded by a slight tremor.

  “Come on,” he said, “let's night and let the elements let off steam with closed shops.”

  Their sleeping quarters adjoined one another. The storm howled around the castle, the rain rushed, the thunder echoed - and they stayed awake for a long time.

  III.

  The nocturnal storm had not followed a cheerful morning. A harsh north wind still whizzed through the tree-tops and drove past gloomy clouds in the sky, which erupted in violent fumes. So the day was by no means friendly to the awakened, and in silent expectation of the things to come, breakfast was taken. The horsemen, it was said, were about to enter the village at ten o'clock, and at that moment the servants did not look as bleakly as rule, for with the soldiers life and variety came up in the dull silence and loneliness of the castle, Especially the female part showed a very noticeable excitement. As soon as the chambermaid entered the maid's room in the morning, she could perceive that the girl had dressed much more gracefully than usual; but in the kitchen, too, the maids appeared dressed up in their own way and walked about in useless bustle, while even the aged, well-dressed cook had put on a fresh bonnet of brightly colored ribbons.

  So the tenth hour gradually came closer. The sky had cleared up in the meantime, and the spouses came out on the balcony. From there one had the road in sight, which, as far as the eye could see, stretched in multiple bends through the corridors, and on which now the riders had to approach. And really, there in the farthest distance it suddenly sparkled like fire. These were the helmets, which caught and reflected the bursting sunbeams. And already the troupe with their white coats came to the fore, like a strange, bright, glistening giant snake winding itself closer and closer. Already one could distinguish the individual horses, the officers from the crew, could perceive the standard, which in its coating of black oilcloth protruded into the air. And now a bright trumpet signal. shouted commands rang; the sabers flashed out of their sheaths-and in closed rows, under long fanfares, the squadrons marched into the market-places, from which a crowd of people had already run.

  “There they are,” said the Baron, stepping back into the drawing room with Klothilde. “It will be a while before we get our share.”

  “Let's wait and see,” she said, shivering the scarf she'd thrown over her morning suit over her chest. Then she went to get dressed for the day.

  But he sat down at a window and looked expectantly out.

  There was nothing for a long time; only the rain was pouring down the avenue of the Avenue. Apparently the dragoons had been stationed at the bottom of the marketplace, and the process of quartering was now gradually taking shape. From time to time a trumpet signal came through the silence.

  Now hoofbeats were audible, and it was not long before a small group of men rode up the avenue in rapid trot. The horses splashed with dung over and over, dripping wet. An officer on a slender-legged raven in the front, his coat collar raised, revealed only a boldly curved nose and two dark eyes, which looked up quickly and hastily at the castle windows. A groom with two hand-horses wrapped in blankets followed; At the very last moment a light Fourgon drove off.

  The steward, who had been commissioned to receive the new arrivals, had already rushed to meet them, and now led them sideways round the castle to the court, where the stables and the office were.

  After some time he appeared to the Freiherr, who had meanwhile visited his room, with the message th
at everything be housed in the best. Only one officer had come, a captain whose lieutenant was left sick in the last station. The apartment in question was given to the sergeant, who probably represented his position.

  When the steward had left, the valet soon entered, handing over a card. The Baron took them and read: “Captain Count Poiga-Reuhoff.”

  The Count, the valet reported, had asked through his groom whether he could have the honor of attending to His Excellency in the course of the morning, which the Baron affirmed in the most authoritative manner. He then went down to the first floor to inform Klothilde. She was in her dressing room and he knocked softly on the door. “Are you alone?” He asked.

  “Yes. I'll be ready in the next moment -”

  He sat down on a chair with the card in his hand.

  Klothilde soon appeared. She looked a little pale, but wonderful in a high-necked dress made of brown foulard with a matte gold sheen. A transparent white frill lifted the enamel of her face.

  The Freiherr looked at her with admiration, but said nothing and merely handed her the card.

  She glanced at it: “A count?” She said then.

  “As anticipated. If I am not mistaken, the Poiga in Bohemia - in the vicinity of Prague are wealthy. He wants to visit us immediately.”

  “Us? Do I have to be there?”

  “Certainly. Otherwise one would have to devise an excuse. And why - because you'll have to get to know him.”

  “It's true,” she replied firmly. “We are actually quite stupid. In the meantime I have thought about it and found that we put too much emphasis on this billeting.”

  “You are right,” he replied with a smile of agreement, “We behave as if we have never misused people in our lives.”