He left her that day with a feeling that this was all a dream, a
bewitching dream. When he returned home he flung his arms around his
sister and laughed and cried and uttered a babble of foolish words. He
muttered rhythmic verses that sprang to his lips. At last he understood
love. He had made the great discovery.
His sister shared his ecstasy without knowing the cause. She knew Albert
was sentimental. She had often seen him act madly when reciting his
songs to her. This was her secret. That her brother had other secrets
was unknown to her.
Having exhausted the exuberance of his feelings upon his sister he
rushed out of the house in quest of Christian Lutz. He felt that with
Christian he could talk more freely.
He did not tell Christian at once of Hedwiga but talked of love and
death. He was just raving as Christian had often heard him rave about
flowers and the Rhine. He recited a ballad he had composed about an
imaginary maiden with golden locks and lips as red as rubies and a face
as blessedly sweet as the lily and the roses. He knew Hedwiga’s hair was
red, and only golden when the sun rested upon it, but he would not think
of red hair—it was always golden. Besides, it did not sound so
well—“_Ihr rotes Haar_”—No, it would not do; it would not ring as well
as “_Ihr goldenes Haar_”. Besides, the only color that was really
beautiful was golden; and the ever docile, acquiescing Christian
concurred in this. A short time before, when Albert discussed a Spanish
Donna, who was to figure in his great tragedy, and had gone into
raptures about the lustre of bluish-black hair, Christian had just as
readily, and whole-heartedly, admitted that raven hair was the most
beautiful in the world.
While Albert did not at first mention the name of his beloved, he talked
so much of golden hair, of a small mouth with red curving lips, of a
slender figure and clinging garments, of features more nobly chiseled
than those of Niobe’s daughters, of a certain hut on the bank of the
Rhine—the quaintest hut in the world—of innocent children who must
suffer for their father’s sins, and of a thousand other things that
Christian could not help but recognize the identity of the goddess his
friend was worshipping; and when finally, in a moment of great secrecy,
Albert whispered her lovely name—the loveliest name in creation and the
most melodious—Christian feigned such great surprise that Albert felt
flattered at the word picture he had given of her.
Mrs. Zorn had been watching the progress of her son’s infatuation with
anxious, yet amused, vigilance. She had always regarded romanticism as
mere froth, easily dissipated by the strong currents of reason. When her
husband told her again and again of the repeated rumors that had reached
him she only smiled. What was the calf-love of a youth of sixteen?
Besides, though she had drifted from the creed of her forefathers, the
centuries of segregation, the self-discipline, the enforced chastity of
her people had not only subdued but almost eradicated the romantic
instinct from her heart. The Ghetto had eaten itself into the very flesh
of the Jewish woman of those days and seared her passions. Hemmed in as
if a cordon had been thrown around her, all self-expression denied, her
intense romantic love, like a rushing current dammed on one side, turned
into another course and spent itself on filial devotion, conjugal
affection, domestic tenderness. Persecution, like the fire that purifies
gold and also brings forth dross, often ennobles the soul even while it
degrades the body.
Towards the end of that winter, however, Mrs. Zorn began to realize that
something had to be done to end her son’s foolish infatuation. Albert
was neglecting his studies more than ever and had become more subject to
nervous headaches, walked too much, brooded too much, and took to
reading poetry more assiduously. She began to fear her dream of making a
banker of him might not be realized. Her husband had suggested that he
be apprenticed to a banker in Frankfort, a friend of his.
The next day she broached the subject rather abruptly. She meant to
impress upon Albert the folly of his ways.
“Albert, I have something of the gravest importance to say to you.”
She paused. She wished to prepare him for the solemn occasion. There was
no one in the house. She had purposely timed the interview so that she
could speak to him alone.
“What is it, mother?”
“I hate to speak of it, but I wonder if you appreciate at what sacrifice
your father has kept you at school—“. Whenever she wished to impress
him she always spoke of his father, never of herself. “He has denied you
nothing—has given you a good home, good clothes—while he denied
himself almost everything.”
She turned her eyes away. Albert drooped his head, tears appearing in
his eyes. Her evident sorrow pained him.
“I’ll be glad to quit school and go to work,” he said promptly. “I don’t
want to be a burden to you.”
“No, you don’t understand me, Albert. No good parents ever find their
children burdensome. These burdens are pleasures—. I wouldn’t speak of
this if you—if you—”
She faltered. She could not find fitting words to clothe her present
thoughts. She wished to reprimand him without hurting his feelings.
He threw his arms around his mother’s neck, hot tears streaming down his
cheeks.
“I’ll go to work, mother dear—I’ll learn a trade—I’ll do anything to
lighten your burdens.” He kissed her hysterically.
“It’s not that. We don’t mind that in the least. The war is over and
father will resume business. But we have decided to apprentice you to a
banker in Frankfort. He is a good friend of father’s and will give you
every opportunity of learning the business.”
She paused, slyly watching the expression on his face. She feared his
temper—all the Zorns had such violent tempers!
“I should love to go to Frankfort,” he cried joyfully.
The mother heaved a sigh of relief.