Arwed had soon become accustomed and reconciled to his exile at
Gyllensten. Excursions among its environs under the pretext of hunting,
afforded him ample enjoyment of the beauties of nature and free scope
for the play of his imagination; and these, together with the business
of the governor's bureau, in which, at his own request, he was
permitted to take a part, occupied his days; while the evenings were
employed in reading to the family circle, and in playing chess, a
favorite game with his uncle. Thus, by means of constant and varied
occupation, the time passed rapidly and pleasantly at the solitary
castle. Meanwhile Megret, who had already obtained two extensions of
his furlough, continued to besiege the heart of the fair Christine, and
to submit with patient resignation to all the caprices by which that
eccentric maiden chose to prove the constancy and perseverance of her
adorer. He was, indeed, almost the only one at Gyllensten who had to
suffer from them; for Arwed, true to the brotherly character which he
had assumed, did not spare his beautiful sister, and every instance of
arrogance in which the unevenness of her humor led her to indulge, was
quietly though earnestly reproved, until she was oftentimes brought to
despair. These little quarrels usually ended with tears and
supplications on the part of Christine, which were so touching that it
required all the influence of Georgina's memory and the conviction of
Christine's secret love for another, to cool his youthful heart to that
degree of circumspection necessary in his peculiar circumstances. Mac
Donalbain's frequent visits to Gyllensten, moreover, seemed to exercise
a great and unhappy influence upon the disposition of the otherwise so
lovely maiden. During his presence she exhibited a constant excitement
which immediately after his departure changed to a deep melancholy, out
of which she emerged only to torment all who would suffer themselves to
be tormented by her, with her caprices. From her father she concealed
the state of her feelings as much as possible, and if it occasionally
occurred to him that all was not as it should be, the business of his
office, in consequence of the critical situation of the country,
prevented his looking too deeply into the affairs of his household or
his daughter's heart; and Arwed, though Christine still remained
indebted to him for her promised confidence, could not bring himself to
betray her to his uncle.
In this manner the summer had arrived, when one evening at the supper
table, in Megret's and Mac Donalbain's presence, the governor asked
Arwed if he had a desire to see a natural curiosity, to visit which
Charles XI did not hesitate to make a long journey.
Arwed joyfully assured him that he regarded the wonders of the natural
world as a spectacle, in comparison with which the greatest efforts of
human ingenuity were of little value,--and that it was, indeed, one of
his favorite occupations to contemplate them.
'The Tornea-Laplanders have lately made many complaints to me,' said
the governor. 'They complain especially of the collectors of the royal
taxes, and of the excesses of the Finlanders, attracted within their
boundaries by the chase. Since my gout has left me, I will myself ride
to Tornea, to examine and adjust all these affairs upon the spot; and
have selected the longest day in the year for that purpose. It is their
court day, and also the day of their annual fair, which collects
together the inhabitants of the whole country surrounding Tornea; and
we can at the same time enjoy the rare and beautiful spectacle of the
sun, which on this day does not set at all, enabling the king of Sweden
in a certain sense to claim the same honor of which the sovereign of
Spain and the Indies makes his boast.'
'I thank you heartily for offering me this rare enjoyment,' said Arwed,
and Christine timidly requested to be allowed to make one of the party.
'Certainly, if it will afford you pleasure, and you prefer going with
us to staying at home,' answered her father significantly. 'We have for
some time past become somewhat strange to each other, without my being
able to guess precisely what is the cause of it.'
Christine cast a melancholy and complaining glance upon her neighbor,
Mac Donalbain, and Megret eagerly begged to be added to the company.
'Your society is always agreeable to me,' answered the governor. 'How
stands it with you, sir Mac Donalbain?' he kindly asked the Scot, 'will
you also be of our party? Rich as your Scotland is in natural wonders,
you cannot see this spectacle there. Scandinavia is the only country of
Europe which exhibits it, with the exception of poor Iceland, which
hardly deserves to be regarded as belonging to our part of the world.'
'I do not know when you intend to undertake the excursion,' answered
Mac Donalbain with some embarrassment.
'We start to-morrow morning at day-break,' answered the governor.
'My engagements will not allow me to join the interesting expedition so
soon,' said Mac Donalbain. 'It is barely possible that I may so manage
my affairs as to be able to meet and pay my respects to you at Tornea.'
'It must be a strange business,' said Megret, 'which prevents your
accompanying us, and at the same time permits you to meet us at the end
of our journey.'
'I do not consider, colonel,' cried Mac Donalbain, with a look of
deadly hate and a low bow to the scoffer, 'that I am under any
obligation to account to you for my business, or the manner in which it
is pursued.'
'By no means, sir Mac Donalbain,' answered Megret, returning his bow;
'I am not one of the police-officers of this province, and have no
official inducement to trouble myself about your pursuits.'
'Death and hell! what mean you by that?' exclaimed Mac Donalbain,
springing from his seat,--but Christine pulled him down again and
anxiously whispered to him some words of entreaty.
'Forget not, gentlemen,' cried the governor in an authoritative tone of
voice, 'that you are both my guests, and that it does not become you to
quarrel upon my hearth, where you have both been freely welcomed. I
esteem you both and would resign the society of neither, but I have a
right to demand that you respect this castle, and seek a more suitable
place for the indulgence of the secret enmity which you appear to bear
toward each other. This time, colonel, you are in the wrong. I regret
to be compelled to say to you that, if sir Mac Donalbain took your
remark somewhat too sharply, yet you gave occasion therefor by the
scornful tone in which it was made. Therefore you owe it to me and to
him to take the first step toward a reconciliation; and you cannot be
considered my friend, if you refuse to drink the health of this noble
Scot, which I now propose.'
A struggle was now seen in the proud Frenchman, between the hatred he
bore his enemy and the respect due from him to the father of Christine.
He cast a tiger glance upon Mac Donalbain, which was met by one equally
fierce, and not being able to come to a determination what to do, he
waited in moody silence, neither accepting nor rejecting the goblet
offered to him by the governor.
'Do you hesitate?' earnestly asked the governor. 'As yet neither of you
has said any thing to the other which can be considered injurious to
the honor of a gentleman. This is only a misunderstanding, which must
be completely reconciled. If you refuse this, you thereby confess an
intention to offend sir Mac Donalbain, and it will become my duty as
host to resent it as if the offence were intended for me.'
Megret seized the goblet, 'The lord of this castle,' said he with
suppressed rage to Mac Donalbain, 'calls you a noble Scot. As I have
not the pleasure of an intimate acquaintance with you, I am willing to
consider the statement which has so noble a voucher as true, and upon
that supposition I drink your health.'
'I receive the toast and return it with as much sincerity as it was
offered,' answered Mac Donalbain, emptying his glass.
The governor, observing that the anger of the two belligerents still
remained, in spite of the constrained and ambiguous reconciliation,
thought it prudent to give the signal for retiring.
'That we may be able to start early in the morning,' said he, rising,
'I hope my worthy guests will excuse me if I break up the sitting
earlier than usual. I intend to seek my bed betimes, that I may be the
better prepared for the fatigues of the journey, and therefore wish you
a good night.'
'I shall have the honor to be at the door of your carriage by sunrise,
ready for the journey,' said Megret, bowing and retiring.
'As I must start this evening for Arnaes,' said Mac Donalbain, 'allow
me to wish you a pleasant ride. At Tornea I hope to meet you again.'
He departed with a significant glance at Christine, who followed him
out, and Arwed was left alone with his uncle.
The governor remained some time in a deep reverie, rubbing the wrinkles
from his forehead, which as constantly reappeared there, and finally
asked Arwed: 'what think you of our two guests?'
'You must long since have observed that neither of them is particularly
agreeable to me. Being your guests, I would have said nothing against
them; but since you expressly ask my opinion, I will give it honestly:
they appear to me like two wolves engaged tooth and nail in fighting
for a noble deer. God grant that the victim may save herself during the
contest, and both the monsters have an empty reckoning.'
'Your comparison appears to me to be overstrained; you may not, however
be wholly wrong. As soon as I return from Tornea I will adopt different
measures. I begin to think it would have been better had I done so at
an earlier period. Good night.'