They arrived at Lischnitz in the small hours of Sunday morning. The
colonel had forbidden any ceremonious reception, so that there was
nothing to be seen in the faint moonlight as they drove up but the dark
mass of shadows cast by the castle and its outbuildings. A couple of
maid-servants stood on the steps with lanterns in their hands, and a
tall lady, with a too slight figure, a wasp-like waist and a flaming
aureole of red-gold hair sprinkled with grey, threw two thin arms round
Lilly's neck, and in a plaintive, discordant voice spoke motherly words
of welcome, which instead of warming Lilly's heart filled it with
shyness and dread.
Worn out, Lilly sank on to a billowy white bed, on the gilded posts of
which pale-blue satin bows were perched like strange and wonderful
butterflies. On the wings of these butterflies Lilly was carried out of
a restless sleep into the new day of a new life.
A gold lamp, with opalescent glass and pale-blue silk shade, hung from
the ceiling. The walls were wainscoted with white enamelled woodwork,
and between were panels of brocade in the same shade of pale blue as
the counterpane, hangings, and lamp-shade. Through the heavy curtains a
ray of sunlight revealed all this on its way over the old-gold Persian
carpet, patterned with pale-blue wreaths.
Lilly, with an ecstatic exclamation, jumped out of bed and tripped
about on the soft carpet, the pile rising like waves of velvet over her
feet.
Nothing was to be seen or heard of the colonel. He had told her long
ago that they would have separate rooms, but his must be somewhere
near, perhaps on the other side of that glossy white carved door.
She opened it cautiously and peeped in. The window curtains were
hardly drawn back, the monster dark mahogany bed, with its tumbled
pillows, was empty. There were prints of race-horses on the walls,
hunting-crops, pistols, and military accoutrements. On the round table
by the sofa was a pipe-rack and tobacco-jar, and close to the bed lay
the familiar tube of gout ointment. Last night, then, he must have
massaged himself, and had thus deprived her of her sacred duty. In the
midst of her wounded feelings a shiver ran through her. Everything here
was so strangely hard and relentless; threats seemed to be lurking in
the corners. Hastily she shut the door again and withdrew into her pale
blue kingdom.
The room boasted two more doors; one led into the corridor, for through
it Fraeulein von Schwertfeger had brought her the night before. And once
more she shivered. Without any preliminaries, as a matter of course,
the thin melancholy person with lustreless eyes and imperious manner
had yesterday taken possession of her. She and the colonel had
exchanged a glance--a brief glance of understanding which meant, "I
hand her over to you," on one side, "And I am ready to do my best," on
the other; she was therefore at the spinster's mercy. Certainly she had
made an attempt to cajole Lilly by petting and addressing her by
endearing names, and bringing tea with her own hands to her bedside;
yet the girl, who was ordinarily so frankly responsive and trustful of
everyone, whether man or woman, felt conscious of an inward voice where
this woman was concerned calling aloud, "Beware!"
Now, as she gazed at the door which the claw-like fingers had thrown
open for her, and recalled some of the chilling incidents of her
arrival, a great loneliness and despondency oppressed her heart in
spite of her newly acquired splendour.
With impetuous hands she flung on the morning wrapper, which Fraeulein
von Schwertfeger must have unpacked, for it was hanging beside the bed.
The third door remained to be explored, and Lilly hoped that it would
lead her into the open air. She raised the latch softly, inquisitively,
and with a little cry recoiled. Her eyes were dazzled at what she saw.
A small room, flooded with sunshine and filled with flowers, laughed at
her like a garden from paradise. Azaleas, as tall as a man, spread
their coronets of pink blossoms over a lounge piled with cushions; a
sweet little escritoire stood near it, inlaid with tortoise-shell and
mother-of-pearl, and above waved the fronds of a feathery palm. But
that was not the most beautiful thing; the most beautiful and
surprising thing of all was the toilette-table. Veiled in white
lace, it greeted her modestly from a corner. The top was a sheet of
thick crystal glass polished at the edges, and on it stood a tall
three-sided swing-mirror, in which you could see every part of yourself
at once--your back hair, profile, dress fastening and all. Long had she
wished for a mirror like this, but would never have dared to ask for
it.
This enchanting little room was, of course, the boudoir. Lilly Czepanek
with a boudoir! Was such a miracle to be believed? An array of articles
was laid out on the glass top of the dressing-table. You could not take
them all in at a first glance, however wide you opened your eyes:
ivory-backed hairbrushes, a set of four, hard and soft, a hand-glass
with a daintily carved handle, a powder-puff in a round ivory box, a
glove-buttoner and shoe-horn--all silver and ivory. And more, still
more! Whoever saw such things? Only by degrees could you learn for what
mysteries of the toilette they were designed, and on every single one
flaunted in glistening gold the monogram "L. M." under the coronet with
seven points.
It was enough to drive you crazy with delight! Having gloried in
everything to her heart's content, she proceeded on her triumphal march
through her new territory. The room she was in had only one window, or
rather a glass door. This opened on to a balcony, where a rocking-chair
was placed, and where over a high iron trellis-work young creepers
rambled. Later in the year, when the leaves were fully out, you would
be quite shut in by high green walls; but now, in early spring, you
could easily be seen through the spaces in the leaves from below.
She slipped cautiously out through the glass door into the open air.
The stables and barns were seen on her left above the kitchen-garden
wall, forming a quadrangle round the yard; to the right were gigantic
trees, their trunks green with moss, their tangle of boughs only thinly
covered as yet with tender young leaves and buds. In them the birds
were making a vociferous riot, almost deafening to hear. Straight
opposite, at a few yards' distance, a gabled roof rose among the trees,
belonging to an ancient one-storeyed shooting lodge that abutted on the
park, and apparently had its entrance in the yard. Here at last some
human creatures were visible. Two gentlemen, one with a short grey
beard, the other middle-aged, stout, and as brown as a berry, walked up
and down together smoking, and deep in conversation. And a third----
Why! what did this mean? That slim, muscular youth with the high collar
and light yellow gaiters, sitting on the outside of one of the windows
at the gable end, while he coaxed a red puppy on a leash to climb
his knee--who was he? No other than Walter von Prell! Yes, there could
be no doubt about it! It was her lively comrade, the dear little
ex-lieutenant who boasted that he was unblessed with any sort of moral
sense, the only man in all the world who had kissed her lips ... except
the colonel, who didn't count.
Yes, she recognised the light eyelashes, and the jingling gold bangle
and the light almost inaudible laugh, which every time the red dog with
pricked ears fell off his knee convulsed him like an earthquake. The
one thing different about him was that his hair, close cropped of old,
like yellow velvet, was now rather long and straggling.
Lilly stretched out her arms toward him playfully, with a light-hearted
laugh.
"Herr von Prell! Herr von Prell!" she would have liked to call out, but
fortunately stopped herself in time.
Well, at any rate, she was no longer quite alone in this strange world.
Her merry comrade was here to be her knight and playmate; she owed all
her good fortune to him.
Then it came back to her how he had said that the old colonel was "dead
nuts" on him, and wanted him to come and play "Fritz Triddelfitz"--she
knew her "Stromtid"--on his estate.
Only, it was funny that the colonel had in all these weeks never
mentioned that he was there. He did not talk much about his home,
however, and Fraeulein von Schwertfeger was alone alluded to when his
young wife needed a reprimand.
Did he suspect that it was no other than Prell who had discovered her
and brought her into the light of day? Anyhow, she would certainly not
let the morning pass without telling the colonel and Fraeulein von
Schwertfeger that they were old acquaintances. It would not be
necessary to say anything about the kiss. After all, it had meant
nothing more than a kiss in a game of kiss-in-the-ring.
No sooner had she got back to her bedroom and pulled back the curtains
than someone knocked at the door, three short, impatient taps which
seemed to freeze the marrow in her bones. It was Fraeulein von
Schwertfeger, of course. Who else could make her tremble so with
fright? Her forehead was kissed, her cheeks stroked with every sign of
approval and liking. But the glance of the great colourless eyes
measured her from head to foot; a sour suppressed smile hovered about
the hard-cut mouth, round which the skin was red and baggy, as is often
the case when women with once good complexions age prematurely.
Over her arm was thrown a pile of clothes, which Lilly recognised as
her own.
"I have brought you what you will require, my dear child," she said,
"so that you may dress properly for the morning. In the country it is
not customary to fly about the house in a morning wrapper. Meanwhile,
after breakfast, we are to make a little tour of the estate, so that
you can become acquainted with the people and see how the household
works."
"Shall I do the housekeeping?" asked Lilly, shyly.
"If you understand how," said Fraeulein Schwertfeger, and bit her lips
while her half-closed eyes squinted askance.
Lilly dimly apprehended that her harmless question had been taken as a
suggestion of infringing rights. So to make amends for her want of tact
the added haltingly, "At least, I should like to do it if I----" She
was going to add, "am allowed," but Fraeulein Schwertfeger interrupted.
"My dear," she said, drawing herself up, "you have come here as
mistress, and I am perfectly aware of the fact. But, if I may venture
to advise, I should make no demands in your place to begin with; you
will have enough to do in attending to your own behaviour. On this will
depend your ever becoming in reality what you are now in name only."
Lilly felt too snubbed and depressed to answer.
The duenna was showing her hand already.
"I should advise you further," she went on, "to feel very carefully the
ground on which you will afterwards have to move. For this you will
need a guide who is more familiar with it than yourself. Otherwise you
may be landed in difficulties from which you can never be rescued, and
that, considering your relations to the colonel, would be a great
pity."
Tears began to rise in Lilly's eyes. The old feeling of impotence,
which she considered her greatest fault, overcame her.
"Oh, please, don't _you_ be my enemy," she implored, clasping her
hands.
There was a sudden ray of light in Fraeulein von Schwertfeger's eyes,
which lay usually like extinct volcanoes beneath their heavy lids, and
whether it meant inquiry, astonishment, or compassion was not quite
clear. For a moment she continued to stare before her into space, and
Lilly beheld a grand noble profile that looked as if it had been
chiselled out of marble and seemed to belong to someone quite
different.
Then she found herself being encircled by two long thin arms, and held
in an embrace warmer and sincerer than any of the endearments Fraeulein
von Schwertfeger had previously lavished on her.
"My dear child!" she exclaimed, "you really are a dear child," and she
departed.
Half an hour later Lilly, attired in the clothes Fraeulein von
Schwertfeger had chosen for her, entered the dining-room, where old
Ferdinand, a withered, spindle-legged specimen of the ancient retainer,
was laying the breakfast. The impudent footman with the significant
smile was not there, Lilly was thankful to see.
The colonel came in from his early morning ride. His eyes sparkled with
the landlord's pride in his property. His thin cheeks glowed and
dewdrops hung on the grey bristles on his temples. His tweed jacket
became him, and his bowlegs were hidden beneath the table. Altogether
he looked a fine old Nimrod, both wicked and pleasing. Lilly flew into
his arms, and with a glance round he asked:
"Well? How do you like your home?"
Lilly kissed his hand for calling it _her_ home.
The dining-room was long and lofty, vaulted at each end, and filled
with dark carved-oak furniture. In spite of three bay windows opening
on the terrace the room was dimly lighted. From the terrace, railed
flights of steps led down into the park, where the sunbeams, playing on
the young foliage, made a lacework of green.
At breakfast they discussed the circular route which was to be taken to
show the young mistress her new domain. The colonel had no idea of
presenting her formally to the tenants. She was to take them as she
found them in their Sunday best, and they might gaze their fill at her
as she passed.
The head men on the estate, who from time immemorial had dined at the
castle on Sundays, would pay their respects to her later at dinner.
"The latest addition to them was once one of my officers, a Herr von
Prell," the colonel remarked, giving Lilly a reflective look. "He left
the army before I did, and has come here to learn farming," he added
quickly.
Here was Lilly's golden opportunity of telling her husband that she
knew him, but the confession died in her throat. She couldn't tell him;
it wouldn't do. She would at once involve herself in a mesh of
suspicions.
The great pale eyes of Fraeulein von Schwertfeger were already fixed on
her face full of searching scrutiny.
Anyhow, one thing was clear, the colonel knew nothing. He had not
mentioned the young reprobate's presence on the estate before,
evidently because he didn't think him worth it.
"How is he behaving?" he asked, turning to Fraeulein von Schwertfeger.
"Good gracious, colonel, don't ask me!" she exclaimed, regarding the
nails of her long thin fingers, which shone like mother-of-pearl. "You
know I never find fault till I am obliged."
"Damned young scoundrel!" the colonel laughed, and Lilly, who
involuntarily took her comrade's part, felt that was fault-finding
enough.
After breakfast the tour began. Lilly walked between the colonel and
Fraeulein von Schwertfeger. They were joined by a pack of dogs, with
whom she was instantly on friendly terms. First they went to the
kitchen. It was a simply wonderful kitchen. It had walls of Dutch
tiles, copper taps out of which streams of hot and cold water gushed,
and a hearth of solid porcelain. Everything was so astonishing you
hardly knew what to look at first. And there was a face, an old rugged,
weather-beaten, thick-lipped face that looked up with moist eyes,
dumbly inquiring, "Don't you remember me, then?" And Lilly's eyes
answered, "Yes, I remember you." But she dared not speak with her lips
as well as her eyes, in case Fraeulein von Schwertfeger should be
started on investigations of the most crucial hour of her life, and
have a greater contempt for her than she had already. So she gave the
old cook her hand in silence, which renewed their bond of friendship.
Next they wait to the farm-servants' kitchen, where the Sunday soup was
boiling and bubbling in a huge copper cauldron like a stormy sea. Then
to the laundry, where the wringers and mangles shone like plated
dreadnoughts and the fragrance of soap lingered pleasantly in every
corner and cranny. The dairy and storerooms came next. Great hams hung
from the rafters like giant bats, wrapped in grey muslin; sausages,
too, like brown polished bolsters; and on straw there lay, even now in
April, piles of winter apples, golden pippins, and other rare kinds.
Rows of wide-lipped jars stood on the store-closet shelves. They
contained the preserves and dried fruits, to which one might help
oneself. Now the trio crossed the paved yard, where the waggons and
threshing-machines stood in line like soldiers on parade, to the barns
and stables. The saddle-horse stable! Heavens! what a palace! Wicker
chairs with cushions and footstools in front of them were scattered
about inviting you to rest. Over the stalls ran a matting frieze, with
porcelain plates on which the names of the thoroughbreds who dwelt
inside were engraved. Glossy slender necks and silken manes were thrust
forth to greet the beautiful young mistress, and intelligent human eyes
looked at her beseechingly.
"You must choose one of these to ride," said the colonel.
"But I can't ride," replied Lilly, embarrassed.
The grooms in red coats, who stood about with their caps in their
hands, grinned incredulously. A "gracious" lady who couldn't ride had
never come their way before.
Then they visited the stalls of the cart-horses. These were less
interesting. Some of them were dirty and not sweet-smelling. As for the
cowsheds, they made you feel nearly ill. But she took care not to show
what she felt, and, eager to learn, listened attentively to all the
colonel's and Fraeulein von Schwertfeger's explanations.
The severest ordeal was yet to come--the progress through the
labourers' quarters. The people had just come home from church, and
stood in little expectant groups before their doors. The worthiest and
most venerable were the first to be introduced. There were many names
difficult to master, dirty hands and faces that stared at her awed, but
with a subdued "Who are you?" expression.
Lilly, nevertheless, acquitted herself of her task as if born to it.
She had little kind speeches ready that went straight to the hearts of
the sick and aged, and when she fell on her knees to draw a toddling
baby into her arms and kiss it, a murmur of approval cheered her on her
way. At the further end of the settlement were two or three barnlike
buildings that seemed to have been made into dwelling-houses as an
afterthought. They had irregular windows with casements painted red and
blue, and the single doorway had been partially bricked up. Here the
Polish immigrants were housed. They came originally as hirelings from
distant provinces to help with the harvest, and had never returned.
The district in which the castle was situated had always, from ancient
times, been Teuton, and staunchly Teuton it had remained through the
Slav invasion. It was necessary, therefore, Fraeulein von Schwertfeger
said, to uphold the banner of Teutonism. She spoke in so warning a tone
that Lilly felt ashamed, as if she had done something to pull it down.
Scarlet head-kerchiefs prevailed here, and great blue hunted-looking
eyes gazed at her, imploring sympathy. Here and there an obeisance was
made to the very hem of her skirts, a shy kiss was pressed on her
sleeve. "Niech bedzie pochwalony Jezus Chrystus" fell fluently on her
ear, and she responded instinctively: "Na wieki wiekow! Amen." For she,
the Catholic, knew from childhood that this was the correct answer to
the Polish greeting.
There arose a joyous hum and glad whispering among the little herd as
they huddled cringingly together. This fair young Pana had spoken to
them in their own language and the language of their God.
"I never knew that you spoke Polish," remarked the colonel, with a
jarring note of blame in his voice; and Lilly, laughing nervously,
explained how she came by the phrase.
They did not linger long at the next building, where a group of youths
in gray blouses stood awkwardly bowing and twirling their caps. She was
scarcely given time to bestow on them a kindly smile and nod, and even
this was evidently not approved. Though she said nothing, Fraeulein von
Schwertfeger's aristocratic nose held Teutonism aloft by sniffing in
the air.
"Now, darling," she said, when they were on the castle steps again,
"you will change into your dark-blue cloth gown. I have had it unpacked
and pressed out, and you will find it in your dressing-room with a lace
collar. It is the fitting costume for Sunday dinner."
Lilly arrayed herself obediently in the dark-blue cloth, in which she
looked extra slight, and her heart beat in trepidation at the thought
of meeting her merry friend, who could not be supposed to know that she
had disowned him, and who might betray both of them at the outset by
some careless allusion to their former friendship.
The dinner-gong sounded through the house, and the next minute came
those three quick, incisive taps on the door.
She started back from the mirror, for on no account must Fraeulein von
Schwertfeger guess she was vain. The latter regarded her silently for
a moment from head to toe, then, seizing both her hands while her
pale-blue eyes burned into her, she said, "God grant that you don't
work too much mischief in this world, my child."
"Why should I do mischief?" stammered Lilly, once more humiliated. "I
have never done anyone any harm."
Fraeulein von Schwertfeger smiled. "The one good thing about you is that
you are ignorant of what you are," she said, and drew her by the arm
out into the corridor and down the creaking old staircase to the
dining-room.
There, with the colonel, drawn up in line, stood four dark manly
figures ready to greet her. He of the pointed grey beard was introduced
as "Herr Leichtweg, our head steward." He of the stout form and
sunburnt coppery skin as "Herr Messner, our book-keeper"; and then
another, and then--"Lieutenant von Prell, agricultural pupil," said the
colonel.
A slight inclination of her head to him as to the others. She dared not
let it be more.
"But, oh!" she thought, "my poor merry comrade, what have you done to
yourself?"
A long frock-coat fell to his knees, his small pointed head was lost in
the high collar. All was correct to a fold. His expression, gestures,
bearing, everything about him was marked by obsequious formality and
rigid propriety.
Lost in pitying amazement, she contemplated him. Had she not seen him
that very morning so different!
"You should shake hands with them," the Schwertfeger voice prompted
behind her.
She collected herself, and returned the pressure of the two honest
countrymen's sun-tanned palms with more warmth, perhaps, than became a
stately young chatelaine; but from Prell's freckled but still carefully
kept hand she withdrew hers quickly.
"What a blessing! I needn't be afraid of his giving me away," she
reflected.
Then came grace.