AN ADVENTURESS.
When the physician left the room, the chancellor returned to the
bedside of the young woman; her position was the same, and her eyes
were still closed. She did not see, therefore, the sarcastic smile
with which Hardenberg looked down upon her, or the proud, triumphant
expression that was beaming from his eyes. Hers were closed, and,
notwithstanding her clairvoyance, she saw nothing, nor did
Hardenberg's voice betray to her aught of the expression of his
countenance or the character of his thoughts.
"Frederica," he said, in his soft, gentle voice, "speak to me now,
my seer; be my prophetess now, and let me see the future. Tell me
what I must do in order to reconcile all these dissensions, and
harmonize all these clashing interests. On which side is justice,
prosperity, and peace?"
"On the side of the great man whose gigantic strength has lifted the
world out of its hinges, and given it a new aspect," she said,
gravely. "Stand faithfully by the alliance with France, unless you
wish the crown to fall from the head of your king, and Prussia to be
divided into two provinces, one annexed to the kingdom of
Westphalia, and the other to the duchy of Warsaw."
"But will France then still have power to do so?" asked Hardenberg;
"is not France herself on the brink of the abyss into which she has
hurled all states, princes, and crowns?"
"France is as powerful to-day as she ever was," responded the seer.
"New armies at the beck of Napoleon will spring from the ground, his
military chests will be filled with new millions, and the invincible
chieftain will lead his legions to new victories. Woe then to
Prussia if she proves faithless--woe to her, if, in insensate
infatuation, she turns her back upon France, and allows herself to
listen to the insinuations and promises by which Russia is trying to
gain her over to her side! Russia herself is weak and exhausted; she
will be unable to afford Prussia any adequate support. Be on your
guard! Russia has always been a perfidious ally; she has always
crushed the hand of her allies in her grasp, while seemingly giving
a pledge of her good faith. France alone is offering to Prussia
substantial guaranties of peace; Napoleon alone must remain the
protector of Prussia. Banish, therefore, the insidious thoughts that
are troubling your soul; try no longer to dissuade the king from
adhering to the alliance. Do not try to persuade him to approve
York's defection! He is a traitor, whose head must fall; for such is
the decree of the laws of war. To approve his defection is to throw
down the gauntlet to France, and annihilate Prussia!"
"You have played your part to perfection!" exclaimed Hardenberg,
laughing. "Please accept my sincere congratulations, my dear child;
the greatest actress in the world could not perform her role any
better than you have done to-day, and ever since I became acquainted
with you."
At the first words of the chancellor, the clairvoyante gave a
violent start; a tremor pervaded her whole frame, and a deep blush
suffused her cheeks for a moment; but all this quickly passed away,
and now she was again as rigid and motionless as she was before.
Hardenberg's eyes were fixed on her. "You do not desire to
understand me, Frederica," he said. "Well, then, I will speak
somewhat more lucidly. Will you permit me to ask two additional
questions?"
"You know very well that I must reply when your soul commands me to
do so," said the young woman, in a perfectly calm voice, "for your
soul has power over mine, and I must obey it."
"Well, then--my first question: did I really, last night, on
returning to my residence, speak with no one but old Conrad? Was no
one but he in my room until I went to bed? Look sharp, open the eyes
of your soul as wide as you can, and then reply!"
"I see," she said, after a pause; "but I see that you were alone
with Conrad, and with the thoughts of a lady who loves you."
"I am very glad that you tell me so," said Hardenberg, calmly, "for
I understand from it that my enemies, who are furnishing you with
correct reports as to all my doings, have yet remained ignorant of
an affair in which I was engaged last night. For there really was
another person with me, and your patrons would give a great deal to
find out what instructions I gave to that person. Now, as to my
second question; but I hope you hear my words, ma toute belle, and
have not yet passed from an unnatural sleep into a natural one!"
"I hear you, and I am ready to answer if your soul commands me."
"Well, then," said Hardenberg, bending over her, and fixing his
piercing eyes upon her countenance, "my question is this: How much
do your protectors give you for playing the part which you performed
before me?"
A pause ensued. Suddenly the clairvoyante opened her eyes, gazing
with an indescribable expression on the face of the minister still
bending over her.
"They give me nothing," she said, in a firm, sonorous voice, "but
the hope of acquiring a brilliant position in the future."
"You confess, then, that you have played a considerable farce?"
asked Chancellor von Hardenberg, smiling.
"I confess that I have played my part very badly, and that your
eagle eye is able to penetrate every thing. I confess that I adore
you for having unmasked me," she exclaimed, quickly encircling
Hardenberg's neck with her arms, drawing his head down to her, and
pressing a glowing kiss on his lips. Then, still keeping her arms
around his neck, she raised herself from the couch, and leaned for a
moment against the manly form of the chancellor.
Disengaging herself from him, she jumped from the bed to the floor,
and, spreading out her arms, and throwing back her head, she
exclaimed in a jubilant voice: "I am free! I need no longer play my
irksome role! Oh, I am free!"
Leaping into the middle of the room, as light-footed as a sylph, and
fascinating as one of the graces, she began to dance, raising her
feet and moving her arms in a slow, measured mariner, at the outset;
but, turning more rapidly, with more passionate movement and
increasing ardor, her countenance grew more glowing and animated.
Her large black eyes flashed fire--an air of wild, bacchantic
ecstasy pervaded her whole appearance, her cheeks were burning, her
beautiful red lips were half opened, and revealed her ivory teeth,
and her uplifted arms (from which the wide sleeves of her negligee
had fallen back to the shoulders) were of the most charming contour.
Concluding her dance, she glided breathless and with panting bosom
toward Hardenberg, who had sunk into the easy-chair, and was looking
on with wondering eyes. Bursting into loud, melodious laughter, she
sat at his feet, and, pressing her glowing face against his knees,
looked searchingly and suppliantly into his eyes.
"You are angry with me," she said; "oh, pardon me, but I had first
to give vent to my exultation. Now I will be quite sensible."
"And what do you call sensible, then?" asked Hardenberg, who, under
the power of the woman's glances, vainly tried to impart to his
countenance an air of gravity and sternness.
"I call it sensible to reply honestly to the questions your
excellency will put to me now," she said, in a caressing tone.
"Well, then, let us see whether you are really sensible or not,"
said Hardenberg. "In the first place, please rise."
She shook her head slowly. "No," she said, "I will remain at your
feet until you have heard my confession and granted me absolution."
"And suppose I refuse to grant you absolution?"
"Then I shall die at your feet!"
"Ah, it is not so easy to die."
"It is easy to die when one wants to, and has such a friend as this
is," she exclaimed, drawing from her hair one of the two long silver
pins with which her heavy black tresses were partially fastened.
"Strange girl!" murmured Hardenberg, surprised, while she was
looking up to him with radiant eyes, and a smile playing on her
lips.
"Will you ask me now?" she then said, gently and almost humbly. "I
am lying here at your feet as if you were my confessor, and I am
longing with trembling impatience for my absolution."
"Well, then, tell me, in the first place, who you are."
"Who am I?" she asked. "A cheat, who, by intrigues, cabals, and
cunning, tried to attain the object she yearned for so intensely,
namely, to lie at the feet of a noble and eminent man, as she is
doing now, and to tell him that she loves him. Who am I? An
adventuress, who has gone out into the world to seek her fortune; to
play, if possible, a prominent part; to acquire a distinguished
name, and to obtain riches, power, and influence. Who am I? A diver,
who has plunged with reckless audacity into the foaming sea, to find
at its bottom either pearls or a grave."
"But, my child," said Hardenberg, "do you not know that the divers,
when plunging into the sea to seek pearls, always gird a safety-rope
around their waist for the purpose of being drawn to the surface
whenever they are in danger of drowning?"
"The man who loves me will be my safety-rope and draw me up," she
said, gravely.
Hardenberg laughed. "In truth," he said, "I must admire your
sincerity and naivete. You must be very courageous to utter such
truths about yourself."
"Certainly, it would have been easier to play the virtuous,
forsaken, and unfortunate girl," she said, with a contemptuous
smile. "It would have been less troublesome to throw myself at your
feet, bathed in a flood of tears, and to say, 'Oh, have mercy upon
me! Free me from this unworthy role which has been forced upon me!
Save me from the torture of being compelled to dissimulate, to lie,
and to cheat. Virtue dwells in my heart, innocence and truth are
upon my lips. I have been forced to play a part that dishonors me.
Have mercy upon me, save me from the snares threatening me!'" While
saying so, she imparted to her features precisely the expression
that was adapted to her words; she had spoken in a tremulous,
suppliant voice, with folded hands and tearful eyes.
"Poor child," exclaimed Hardenberg, surprised, "you weep, you are
deeply moved! Ah, now at last you show me your true face, now you
cause me to see the poor, innocent, and unfortunate child that you
really are!"
She shook away her tears and burst into laughter. "No," she
exclaimed, "I have only proved to you that I would be able to play
the virtuous and innocent girl to perfection, and that I might,
perhaps, thereby succeed in touching your noble heart. But you have
commanded me to tell you the truth, and I have pledged you my word
to do so. I tell you, then, I am no persecuted, virtuous girl, no
innocent angel; I am a woman, carrying a heaven and a hell in her
bosom; I can be an angel, if happiness and love favor me; I will be
a demon, if fate be hostile to me. Yes," she exclaimed, jumping up
and pacing the room in great agitation, "there are hours and days
when I myself believe that I am a demon, an angel hurled down from
heaven, and doomed to walk the earth on account of some crime. There
are hours when heavenly recollections fill my imagination, when an
indescribable, blissful yearning is, as it were, enveloping me in a
veil--when there are resounding in my heart the sweetest and most
enchanting notes of sacred words and devout prayers, and when it
seems to me as though I were sitting in the midst of radiant angels,
surrounded by luminous clouds, at the feet of God, His breath upon
my cheek, and looking down with compassionate, merciful love upon
the world, lying at an unfathomable distance under my feet. And then
I say to myself: 'You have reviled and slandered yourself; you are,
after all, a good angel; God is with you, and prayer, love, and
innocence, are in your heart.' Then it suddenly seems to me as if my
heart were rent, and I heard loud, scornful laughter. I fall from my
heaven; I look around and behold men, with their bittersweet faces,
smiling on, and lying to each other; I see all their duplicity and
their infamy; I laugh at my own transports and swear never to be
human with humanity, but a demon with demons--to cheat as they
cheat, to lie, and win from them as much happiness, honor, and
wealth, as I can with some mimic talent, a cool and sharp mind, a
pretty figure, and an ugly face."
"Ah, you are slandering yourself," exclaimed Hardenberg, smiling.
"You have no ugly face."
She hastened to the looking-glass, and gazed on herself with
searching glances. "Yes," she said, "I am really ugly. My mouth is
too large, my lips too full, my face is angular and by no means
prepossessing, my nose is vulgar, my forehead too low and too wide,
these bushy eyebrows become rather a grenadier than a young lady,
and these large black eyes look like a couple of sentinels, which,
with sharp glances, have to watch the rabble of nose, mouth, ear,
and cheek, lest one should try to escape from disgust at the
ugliness of the others. But I do not regret my want of beauty, for
it is uncommon and piquant, and I can imagine that a gifted, eminent
man, who is tired of the pretty faces of so-called virtuous women,
may feel attracted by my ugliness. Beauty at least always becomes
tiresome, for it treats you at once to all that it is and has, but
ugliness excites your curiosity more and more from day to day, for,
at certain moments, it may be transformed into beauty!"
"Your own case shows that," said Hardenberg, "for, although you call
yourself ugly, there is a fascinating beauty in your whole
appearance."
She gazed on him with a long and radiant look. "You are a great man,
a genius, and you are, therefore, able to understand me. I will tell
you my history now, that you may at last grant me the blessing of
your forgiveness."
"Well, tell me your history," exclaimed Hardenberg. "Come,
Frederica, sit down by my side here on the couch on which you have
so often reposed as a modern Pythia, and proclaimed to me the
oracles which your mysterious priest had whispered to you. Now you
are no priestess uttering equivocal wisdom, but a young woman
telling the truth, and making me listen to the revelations of her
heart."
"A young woman," she repeated, sighing and reclining on the bed
close to the easy-chair on which Hardenberg was sitting. "Am I
young, then? It seems to me sometimes as though I were old--so old
as no longer to have any illusions, any hopes or wishes; as though I
were the 'Wandering Jew' who has been travelling through the world
so many centuries, seeking perpetually for the rest which he can
nowhere find. But still you are right; I am young, for I am only
twenty years old.".
"And who are your parents? Where do they live?"
"Who are my parents?" she asked, laughing. "My father was a holy
man, a high-priest in the temple of Time. It depended on him when
men were to awake or sleep, eat or work. It was his will that
regulated rendezvous and weddings, parties and arrests, and he had
no other master than the sun. He allowed the sun alone to guide him,
and still he was no Persian!"
"But he was a watchmaker?" asked Hardenberg, smiling.
"Yes, he was a watchmaker, and, thanks to him, the whole town where
he lived knew exactly what time it was. Only my mother did not know
it. She believed herself to be a great lady, although she was only a
poor watchmaker's wife, but was unable to efface the recollections
of her youth. She was the daughter of a French marquis, who, after
gambling away his whole fortune at the court of Louis XV., had
emigrated with his young wife and daughter to Berlin, in order to
seek another fortune at the court of Frederick the Great. But
Frederick the Great had already become somewhat distrustful of the
roving marquises and counts whom France sent to Berlin. Marquis de
Barbasson, my worthy grandfather, received, therefore, no office and
no money, and a time of distress set in, such as he would previously
have deemed utterly unlikely to befall the descendant of his
ancestors. He left Berlin with his family, to make his living
somewhere else as a teacher of languages. He travelled from one
place to another, and arrived at length at a small town called New
Brandenburg. There he remained, for his feet were weary, and his
poor wife was sick and tired of life. Well, Madame la Marquise de
Barbasson died, and the marquis taught the young ladies of New
Brandenburg how to conjugate avoir and etre; his daughter assisted
him, and, as she was very pretty, she taught many a young man how to
conjugate aimer. But who would have thought of marrying the daughter
of a French adventurer, who, it is true, styled himself marquis, but
was as poor as a beggar! He was unable long to bear the privations
and humiliations of his life; he fled from his creditors, and
perhaps also from his remorse, by committing suicide; and his
daughter, who was twenty years of age at that time, remained alone,
and without any other inheritance than the debts of her father. One
of the principal creditors of the marquis was the proprietor of the
house in which father and daughter had lived for three years without
paying rent, or refunding the small sums he had lent to them. This
proprietor was a young watchmaker, named Hahn, an excellent young
man, who had given the family of the French marquis not only his
money, but his heart. He loved the young Marquise de Barbasson,
unfortunate, or, if you prefer, fortunate man! for his courtship was
successful. Now, after the death of the old marquis, he played the
part of an importunate creditor, and told her she had the
alternative of paying or marrying him. The young Marquise de
Barbasson married him, and then paid the poor watchmaker in a manner
which was not very pleasant to him. She never forgave him for having
reduced her to the humble position of a watchmaker's wife, and found
it disgusting to be obliged to call herself Hahn, after having so
long borne the aristocratic name of Barbasson. However that might
be, she was his wife, and I have the honor to represent in my humble
person the legitimate daughter of Hahn, the watchmaker, and the
Marquise de Barbasson."
"And I must confess that you are representing your mother and your
father in a highly becoming manner," said Hardenberg. "You have the
bearing and the savoir vivre of a French marquise, and from your
oracular sayings I have seen that you are as familiar with the time
as a watchmaker is. But I can imagine that the descent of your
parents produced many a discord in your life."
"Say rather that my whole life was a discord," she exclaimed,
vehemently, "and that I have lived in an unending conflict between
my head and my heart, my reality and my imagination. Oh, how often,
when lying in dreary loneliness, in the shade of an oak on the shore
of the charming lake near the small town in which we lived--how
often did I utter loud cries of anguish, and say to the billows that
washed the shore with a low, murmuring sound: 'I am a French
marquise; there is aristocratic blood in my veins; it is my vocation
to shine at the courts of kings, and to see counts and princes at my
feet!' Yet none but the waves of the lake believed my words; men
treated me never as a Marquise de Barbasson, but only as little
Frederica Hahn, daughter of a poor watchmaker. I felt this as a
personal insult, and at many a bitter hour it seemed to me as
though, like my mother, I hated my poor father because he had robbed
us of our brilliant name and our nobility. My father bore my whims
patiently, for he loved me, and I believe he loved nothing on earth
better than his daughter. He saw that I was pining away in the
wearisome loneliness of our dull life; he knew that ambition was
burning in my heart like a torrent of fire, and he wept with me and
begged my pardon for being a poor watchmaker, and no nobleman. He
did all he could to make amends for this wrong; he treated me not as
his daughter, but as his superior; and, although we were scarcely in
easy circumstances, he surrounded me with all comforts becoming an
aristocratic young lady. I had my servants, my own room, a tolerably
fashionable toilet, a piano, a small library; and my father was
proud of being able to have me instructed by the best and most
expensive teachers, and of hearing that I was their most industrious
and talented pupil. But what good did all this do me? I remained
what I was--Frederica IIahn, the watchmaker's daughter--and the
blood of the Barbassons revolted against my position in life; and
the marquises and viscounts, my distinguished ancestors, appeared to
my inward eye, and seemed to beckon me and call me to the proud
castles which had formerly belonged to our family. But how should I
get thither?--how escape from my small native town?--how rid myself
of the burden of my name and my birth? That was the question which
put my brain night and day on the rack, and to which my intellect
was unable to make a satisfactory reply. An accident, however, came
to my assistance."
"Ah, in truth, I am anxious to hear this," exclaimed Hardenberg,
"for I am listening to you in breathless suspense, and am as eager
to learn the conclusion of your history as though it were the
denouement of a drama. An accident, then, furnished you with a
reply, my beautiful Marquise de Barbasson?"
"Yes, your excellency, and never shall I forget the day and the
hour. It was on a beautiful day last autumn. As I was in the habit
of doing every day, I had gone with my book into the forest on the
shore of the lake. I lay in my favorite place under a large oak, in
the dark foliage of which the birds were singing, while the waves of
the lake at my feet were a sweet accompaniment. I was reading the
lately published poetry of my favorite bard, Goethe, and had just
finished 'The Wandering Fool.' This poem struck my heart as
lightning. I dropped the book, looked up to the clouds and shouted
to them: 'What are you but wandering fools! Oh, take me with you!'
But the clouds did not reply to me; they passed on in silence, and
my sad eyes turned to the lake extended before me like a polished
mirror, and mingling with the blue mists of the horizon, and I said
to the murmuring waves, as I had said to the clouds: 'Take me with
you, wandering fools! I am suffocating in my captivity! I must leave
this small town; it is a prison--an open grave!' At this moment, the
oak above me shook its foliage; a wind drove the waves faster, until
they broke on the shore; and a sheet of paper, which some wanderer
might have lost, was blown toward me. I took it, and suddenly the
wind was silent as though it had accomplished its mission; the oak
stirred no more, the lake was tranquil, and even the clouds seemed
to pause and look on while I unfolded and read the paper."
"Oh, I imagine what it was!" exclaimed Hardenberg. "A love-letter
from one of your admirers, who knew that the beautiful nymph of the
lake had selected that spot for her sanctuary."
"Ah, you do not imagine very well, your excellency. It was no love-
letter, but a newspaper! It was a copy of your dear, venerable
Vossische Zeitung. [Footnote: The Vossische Zeitung, one of the
oldest Berlin newspapers, is still published.] I read it at first
very carelessly, but suddenly I noticed an article from Berlin,
which excited my liveliest attention. It alluded to the strange
cures performed by Doctor Binder, a magnetizer. It related that many
sufferers came to Berlin from distant cities to be cured by the
doctor, whose whole treatment consisted of laying his hands and
fixing his eyes on his patients. It dwelt especially upon the
adventures of a young woman whose strange disease had riveted the
attention of all Berlin, and who, in consequence of the doctor's
treatment, had become a clairvoyante. It said that the truly
wonderful sayings and predictions of the young woman were creating
the greatest sensation, and that even ministers and distinguished
functionaries were visiting Doctor Binder's 'Hall of Crises,' in
order to listen and put questions to the clairvoyante."
"Ah, that was little Henrietta Meyer, who died a few months ago,"
said Hardenberg.
"Yes, she was so accommodating as to die and make room for me,"
exclaimed Frederica, smiling. "When I had read this article about
her, it seemed to me as though a veil dropped from my eyes, and I
were only now able to descry my future distinctly. I jumped up and
uttered a single loud cry that sped over the lake like a storm-bird,
and was repeated many times by the distant echo. Thereupon I ran
back to town, as if carried on the wings of the wind. The men on the
streets, who saw me running past, gazed wonderingly after me. Some
of them hailed and tried to speak to me, but I took no notice of
them, ran on, reached at last the humble dwelling of my parents, and
there I fell panting and senseless. They lifted me up, and carried
me to my bed. I lay on it motionless, and with dilated eyes. No one
knew my thoughts, or heard the voices whispering in my breast and
ominously laughing. I stared upward, and matured my plan of
operations. My poor father sat all night long at my bedside, weeping
and imploring me to look at him, and tell him only by a single word,
a single syllable, that I recognized him. My tongue remained silent,
but my eyes were able to glance at and greet the poor man. But why
tell you all the particulars of my wonderful disease? In short, all
my limbs were paralyzed, and even my mind seemed affected and
confused. I could eat and sleep, but I was unable to rise, and could
not utter a word. The physicians of our small town tried all the
remedies of their science to cure me. In vain! I remained dumb. Only
once, four weeks afterward, I recovered the power of speech. It was
in the night-time, and no one was with me but my poor father, who
passed nearly every night at my bedside, always hoping for a moment
when I might get better--when the spell would leave my tongue, and
the power of speech be restored. This moment had come now; I
intimated it to my father with my eyes, stared at him, and said in a
slow and solemn voice, 'Doctor Binder, at Berlin, is alone able to
cure me!'"
"Ah," exclaimed Hardenberg, drawing a deep breath, "I give you
permission to laugh at me. I was just as foolish as your father was.
Up to this time I believed in the reality of your sickness, and felt
quite anxious and alarmed. The words you uttered during that night
quiet me again, and illuminate the gloom, like a welcome miner's
lamp in a deep shaft. I hope, however, that they did not exert the
same effect upon your father."
"No, your excellency, fortunately they did not, and the proof of it
is that I rode, a week afterward--in a comfortable carriage, and
accompanied by my father--to Berlin, to place myself under the
treatment of Doctor Binder."
"Did the doctor promise to cure you?"
"He gave me hopes at least that he would be able to do so, and,
after accepting three months' pay in advance, received me into his
house, and the cure commenced. I willingly submitted to his piercing
glances and to his laying-on of hands. I was so obliging as to fall
asleep, and scarcely three days elapsed when I began already to
become slightly clairvoyant. The doctor was himself surprised at the
rapid effect of his cure; he informed some of his distinguished
patrons of the presence of a new clairvoyante at his house, and
invited them to witness my next awakening. Among these patrons were
some influential courtiers, Prince Hatzfeld and Field-Marshal
Kalkreuth. I had been told that these gentlemen were the most
zealous adherents of the French alliance, and the most ardent
admirers of Napoleon. It was but natural, therefore, that when I
became clairvoyant on that day, in the presence of these gentlemen,
I was the enraptured prophetess of a golden future for Prussia,
provided we maintained the alliance with France. The two courtiers
were visibly surprised and delighted at my prophecies; and when the
doctor had left the room for a moment, I heard Prince Hatzfeld say
to Field-Marshal Kalkreuth, 'Ah, I wish Hardenberg were here, and
heard the predictions of this wonderful girl! He believes in
clairvoyance, and her words, therefore, would make a profound
impression upon him!' ' We must try to have him brought hither,'
said Field-Marshal Kalkreuth; 'we must try to influence the stubborn
fellow in this way.' "
"That was a very clever idea," said Hardenberg, smiling; "I almost
envy those gentlemen their very pretty intrigue. They then made
offers to you, did they not?"
"No, I made offers to them."
"How so?"
"Listen to me. When the gentlemen left, and I was again alone with
the doctor, I suddenly awoke from my trance; rising from my couch, I
stepped up to him, and made him a respectful obeisance. He looked at
me in dismay, and seemed paralyzed with stupefaction, for you know
all my limbs were palsied, and I could only move my tongue. 'My dear
doctor,' I said, very calmly, 'I hope I have proved to you now that
I am possessed of considerable talent as an actress, and that I am
as well versed in playing my part as you are in yours. Both of us
try to obtain fame and wealth, you as a magnetizer, I as a
clairvoyante, and we stand mutually in need of each other. You are
the stage-manager, and possessed of a theatre that suits me, and I
am the leading actress, without whom you would be unable to perform
your play in a satisfactory manner. Let us, therefore, come to an
understanding and make an agreement.' Eh bien, your excellency, we
did come to an understanding; we did make an agreement. With a view
to a better position that soon would be accessible to me, I remained
temporarily the first actress, and, thanks to my performances, I
attracted an audience as distinguished as it was munificent."
"Now I comprehend every thing. You must permit me, however, another
question. Are Prince Hatzfeld and Field-Marshal Kalkreuth aware that
you are nothing but an--actress?"
"By no means, your excellency. They are so kind as to take me for a
bona fide clairvoyante. The doctor told them that, by my spiritual
connection with him, I was compelled to say, think, and do whatever
he wanted and commanded me, and that, if he gave me my instructions
while I was awake, I had to act and speak in my clairvoyant state in
strict accordance with them. In this way it happened, your
excellency, that I was used as the fox-tail with which the
electrical machine is set in motion--to make an impression upon you,
and to cure you of your hostility to France. The doctor became the
confidant of these gentlemen, who desired to cure you. They
surrounded your excellency with spies, a minute diary was kept of
your movements, and this diary was brought early every morning to
the doctor, who read it to me, and we agreed then as to the manner
in which I should avail myself of the information."
"And dupe me!" exclaimed Hardenberg, laughing. "Fortunately, I did
not allow myself to be thus dealt with, but penetrated the handsome
little swindle at the outset; yet I made up my mind to continue
playing the farce for some time, because it afforded me an
opportunity to discover and foil the intentions, wishes, and schemes
of my adversaries. But tell me now, my pretty young lady, what would
have happened if I had not allowed you to perceive to-day that I was
aware of the whole trick?"
"In that case I myself would have disclosed the intrigue to your
excellency. Did I not send my young nurse twice to your house
yesterday, in order to pray you to come to me, if possible, last
night, because I had important news to communicate to you? Did I not
write to you that the doctor would not be at home during the whole
evening, and that I might, therefore, communicate an important
secret to you without being disturbed?"
"Unfortunately, I was not at home, and the supper at Marshal
Augereau's, which you used so skilfully during your pretended
trance, deprived me of an hour of important disclosures! But suppose
I had come, and met you alone; what would you have told me then?"
"Precisely what I tell you now. I would have fallen down before you
as I do now, and, clasping your knees in this manner, would have
said what I say now: 'Mercy, my lord and master, mercy! I can lie
and dissimulate no longer before your noble face; your eyes
embarrass me; your smile overwhelms me with shame; the farce is at
an end, and the truth commences. The truth, however, is that I adore
you; that I will no longer unite with your adversaries against you;
that I will serve you and none but you, and devote to you my whole
life and every pulsation of my heart!'" She attempted to conceal her
face, bathed in a flood of tears; but Hardenberg softly laid his
hands upon her cheeks, and, gently raising her head, gazed at her
long and smilingly.
"What talent!" he said; "in truth, I admire you! It was a charming
performance. True love and passion could express themselves no
better, or surpass your imitation."
She arose from her knees and looked at him with eyes flashing with
anger. "You do not believe me?" she asked, almost menacingly. "You
suspect me, although I have revealed my heart to you as sincerely as
I have ever revealed it to Heaven itself."
"Foolish girl, how can I believe you?" he asked. "Have you not gone
out into the world to plunge into adventures, and to seek your
fortune? Have you not dived into the sea to find pearls? Can you
wish me to play the agreeable part of your safety-rope--that is
all!"
"No, no!" she exclaimed, wildly stamping with her feet; "that is a
vile slander! Why should I choose precisely you for my safety-rope?-
-why reveal my soul to you? Do you not believe that those gentlemen
who are using me against you, who worship and admire me, would not
be ready to assist me? But I have rejected their homage and their
offers; I despise and abhor them all, for they are your enemies. I
hate France, I detest Napoleon, for you are opposed to the French
alliance, and you have been reviled by Napoleon; I am longing for an
alliance with Russia, for I know this to be your wish, and I have no
wishes but yours, no will but your will!"
"Ah!" exclaimed Hardenberg, laughing, "this is the strangest
political declaration of love which woman ever made to man!"
"Great Heaven! you are laughing!" she cried angrily. "You do not
believe me, then? How shall I be able to convince you?"
"I will show you a way to do so," said Hardenberg, suddenly growing
very grave.
"Tell me, and I swear to you that I will try it!"
"Serve me in the same manner as you have hitherto served my enemies.
Become the prophetess of my policy, as you have been the prophetess
of the policy of my opponents. Permit me to become the prompter of
the clever clairvoyante, and play now as inimitably against my
adversaries as you have played for them."
Frederica Hahn burst into loud laughter. "In truth, that is a
splendid idea," she said, "a revenge which your excellency has
devised against the other gentlemen. Here is my hand. I swear to
serve and to be faithful to you as long as I live. Do you now
believe in the truth of my love?"
"Let me first see the actions inspired by this love," said
Hardenberg, smiling. "I will prove to you immediately that I confide
in your head, although I am not vain enough to believe in your
heart. Listen to me, then! It is my most ardent desire that the king
should leave Berlin, and be withdrawn from the influence of the
French. Prince Hatzfeld and old Field-Marshal Kalkreuth, however,
insist that he remain at Berlin, and thereby manifest the adhesion
of Prussia to the alliance with France. I suspect, nay, I might say,
I know, that the king is in danger, and that, as soon as he utters a
free and bold word, the French will use it as a pretext to seize his
person and imprison him, as they have done Charles and Ferdinand of
Spain. Caution, therefore, the sanguine and credulous gentlemen;
point out to them the dangers menacing the king here; tell them
that. it is the bounden duty of his majesty to save himself for his
people; shout with your inspired and enthusiastic voice: 'Go!
Destruction will overwhelm you at Berlin! Save the king! Convey him
to Breslau!'"
"I will play my part so skilfully that even the boldest will be
filled with dismay," cried Frederica, with flaming eyes, "and that
dear old Field-Marshal Kalkreuth will implore the king on his knees
to leave Berlin, and go to Breslau. But, when I have played this
part for you--when you have attained your object, and I have given
you proofs of my fidelity and obedience--will you then believe that
I love you?"
"We shall see," he said, smiling. "I am, perhaps, not as wise as
Ulysses, and shall not fill my ears with wax, but listen to the song
of the siren, even at the risk of perishing in the whirlpool of
passion. Let us not impose upon ourselves any promises concerning
the destiny of our hearts; but your position in the world is an
entirely different question. As to this, I must make you promises,
and swear that I shall fulfil them. You promise that you will serve
me, enter into my plans, and support my policy?"
"Yes, your excellency, I swear to you that your opponents themselves
shall beseech the king to leave Berlin, and renounce France."
"Well, then, on the day the king arrives safely at Breslau, you will
receive from me a document securing you an annuity on which you will
be able to live independently here at Berlin."
"And is that all?" she asked, in a contemptuous tone. "You promise
me nothing but money to keep me from starvation?"
"No," said Hardenberg, smiling, "I promise you more than that. I
promise that little Frederica Hahn, the watchmaker's daughter, shall
be transformed into an aristocratic lady, and that I will procure
you a husband, who will give you so distinguished a name that the
daughter of the Marquise de Barbasson need not be ashamed of it. Are
you content with that, my beauty?"
"Would it be necessary for me to love and honor the husband whom
your excellency will give me?" asked Frederica, after a pause.
"Suppose I reply in the affirmative?" asked Hardenberg.
"Then I answer: I prefer remaining Frederica Hahn. for then I shall
at least have the right to sit at your feet and worship you, and no
troublesome husband will be able to prevent my doing so."
"Well, then, my charming little fool, I shall select for you a
husband who will, like a deus ex machina, appear only in order to
confer his name upon you at the altar, and who will then disappear
again. Do you consent to that?"
"Your excellency, that would be precisely such a husband as I would
like to have, and as my imagination has dreamed of--a husband sans
consequence--not a man, but a manikin!"
"I shall, however, see to it that this manikin, besides his name,
will lay at your feet another splendid wedding-gift, and a corbeille
de noce, which will he worthy of you. You accept my offers, then, my
friend?"
"No, unless you add something to them."
"What is it, Frederica?"
"Your love, your confidence, your belief in my love!" she exclaimed,
sinking down at his feet.
"Ah," said Hardenberg, "let us not be so audacious as to attempt to
raise the veil that may perhaps conceal a magnificent future from
our eyes!" [Footnote: This scene is not fictitious, but based upon
the verbal statements and disclosures of the lady who played so
prominent a part in it.--L. M.]