Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive
Transcriber's Notes:
1. Page scan source:
http://www.archive.org/details/3429917
2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].
CASTLE HOHENWALD
A ROMANCE
AFTER THE GERMAN
OF
ADOLPH STRECKFUSS
AUTHOR OF "TOO RICH," ETC.
BY MRS. A. L. WISTER
TRANSLATOR OF "THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET," "THE SECOND WIFE,"
"TOO RICH," "MARGARETHE," "ONLY A GIRL," ETC.
PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
1906
* * * * *
Copyright, 1879, by J. B. Lippincott & Co.
* * * * *
Copyright, 1906, by A. L. Wister.
CASTLE HOHENWALD.
CHAPTER I.
The music ceased. The gentlemen led their partners to their various
chaperones, and then crowded out upon the balcony to enjoy the cool
spring breeze, giving no attention to the remonstrances of their host,
the President, who, when he found how little heed was paid to his
warning against imprudence, turned away, declaring to his friend the
colonel that there really was nothing to be done with the heedless
young people of the present day. "They trifle with their health as if
their nerves were of iron and illness impossible," he added, a little
out of humour, perhaps, at the neglect of his advice.
"Why then, old friend, do you give a ball in April?" the colonel asked,
laughing.
"Could I help being born on the 20th of April? My son and daughter
insist upon my keeping up the old custom and celebrating the occasion
by a ball. This year it is perfect folly, but then no one could
foretell this early warm spring."
"Come, never trouble yourself about those young people; my officers
have often braved more sudden changes of temperature in the field
without being any the worse."
"But the Assessor? His constitution is none of the strongest."
"And suppose he does take cold; 'twill do him no harm. Come, come, let
the young people alone. We were once not a whit more prudent
ourselves."
And as he spoke the colonel took his old friend's arm and led him back
into the ball-room, while the young officers upon the balcony, who had
overheard all that had been said, laughingly grouped themselves about
the Assessor, rallying him upon the anxiety with regard to his health
manifested by the President.
"The President is right," said a black-bearded cuirassier, inclining
his tall figure towards the slightly-built Assessor. "You ought to take
care of yourself, my dear Assessor; the sensitive nature of which you
so often tell us can never endure what our coarser constitutions brave
with impunity. Put an end to the anxiety of your future father-in-law
and leave the balcony, I beseech you."
"Herr von Saldern, I beg----"
"Do not make the fair Adele a widow before she is a wife," chimed in
another officer.
"Herr von Arnim, such remarks are very much out of place. It is true
that I am peacefully disposed. I make no boast of it, for the gifts of
nature----"
"Are variously distributed," Herr von Arnim interrupted the Assessor by
completing his sentence. "Do we not frequently hear from your own lips
how lavishly mother nature has endowed you, denying you the gift of a
robust constitution alone? Spare your precious health,--preserve
yourself for the fair Adele, and for us, your tenderly attached
friends; follow the kind President's advice."
The Assessor gazed helplessly at the laughing faces about him; he was
the only civilian among these reckless young fellows, and he knew that
any serious remonstrance would but provoke anew Arnim's love of chaff.
The more prudent part was to laugh too and yield the field. This he
did, leaving the balcony and re-entering the ball-room.
To his astonishment he here recognized an acquaintance whom he had not
met for a long time, and he hastened across the room to greet him,
doubly pleased, since, if Arnim should chance to rally him upon his
flight, he could now declare that he had left the balcony to welcome
the arrival of Count Styrum.
The Count, a man of about the age of thirty years, was standing in the
background of the ball-room, in the doorway of one of the antechambers,
thoughtfully contemplating the brilliant scene. The elite of the large
provincial town was assembled in the President's rooms to-night, men
high in office, with their wives and daughters, the officers of the
garrison, and the most aristocratic of the county gentry.
The President enjoyed giving splendid entertainments, and his wealth
and position entirely justified him in gratifying his taste in this
direction. The hospitalities of his house were quite famous,--his balls
had been mentioned with favour by royalty itself,--had not the Prince,
upon a visit to the town, accepted an invitation to one of these
birthday fetes, and declared afterwards that he had never attended a
more brilliant entertainment or seen a more charming collection of
lovely women?
Count Styrum, too, thought that he had rarely seen so many lovely faces
assembled in one room, and he gazed with delight at the charming groups
laughing and jesting on all sides, wondering while he gazed whom he
should pronounce fairest among so many that were fair. His doubt on
this head vanished, however, as his eye fell upon a young girl seated
upon a low divan near him.
He was quite lost for a moment in admiration of her beauty; the
features might, it is true, have been more regular, but the face was
indescribably lovely and attractive. The slightly pouting lips could
surely smile charmingly, although now there were pensive lines about
the mouth which accorded well with the melancholy expression of the
large and eloquent brown eyes.
The Count felt an immediate and lively interest in this lovely girl; he
had never seen her before, and yet he longed to know why she, the
fairest among this gay throng, should look so sad and take apparently
so little interest in what was going on around her.
She could hardly number twenty years; could she be preyed upon by any
secret grief? What was she thinking of at this moment? Scarcely of the
whispered words of the man on the low seat beside her, for she never
looked at him, and even turned away from him with a gesture betokening
that his conversation was anything but agreeable to her.
"I see I am right! It is really yourself, my dear Count. I thought you
were in Rome or Naples, and am most heartily delighted to welcome you
here!"
It was thus that the Assessor addressed the Count, who, in
contemplation of the beautiful girl on the divan, had not noticed his
approach. Now, however, he held out his hand, saying, not unkindly, and
with a smile, "You here in the provinces, my dear Hahn? I had not
expected to meet the lion of the metropolis here; how does it happen?"
The Assessor, greatly flattered by the question, conceitedly twirled
his light moustache and tried to look as much as possible like a
flaxen-haired lion of the metropolis; not very successfully, however.
His face would look boyish in spite of the moustache, and his head
barely reached to his distinguished friend's shoulder, as he replied,
"I have been here two years. Just after your departure, when I had
passed my third examination, I was appointed to the post of assessor
here. It is true that we forego much in the provinces, where however
the heart finds truer contentment than amid the whirl of the capital,
and therefore I am abundantly satisfied with my present life, which,
unfortunately, I must shortly resign, for I am ordered to Altstadt. It
is difficult to tear one's self away from loved surroundings and
companionship. I am endowed with more than my share of sensibility, I
know; not that I would make a boast of it, for it is mine from the hand
of nature, and her gifts are variously bestowed."
A smile hovered upon the Count's lips as he replied, "I am glad to find
you unchanged, my dear Hahn. Of course you are entirely at home in this
society, where I am a total stranger. Not a soul in the room do I know
except my uncle Guntram and my cousins Adele and Heinrich. You will
tell me who all these delightful people are."
"With pleasure. I know all your uncle's guests. You know the poetry of
my nature. I make no boast; nature's gifts are various, but as a poet
nothing interests me more than the study of human feeling and
aspiration. You have applied to the right quarter for information with
regard to the character and circumstances of all these people."
"I am sure of it. I have always admired your obliging amiability no
less than your profound study of character."
"You do me honour. I am obliging by nature, but I make no boast of it.
Question me; I am quite at your service."
"To put you instantly to the test, tell me who is the charming girl
dressed simply but elegantly in white, there, on the divan to my left,
with brown hair and the wreath of snow-drops; the beautiful creature
who evidently cares not one whit for all that the fellow with the black
beard, leaning over her, is pouring so eagerly into her ear."
The Assessor listened with a smile to this enthusiastic description.
"Evidently hit, my dear Count," he said.
"Not at all; but the melancholy on that charming face interests me
excessively."
"Poor Frau von Sorr! She may well be melancholy."
"Frau? Impossible! You do not know whom I mean."
"Ah! yes I do. No one could fail to know from your description, and it
is not to be wondered at that you take Frau von Sorr for a young
girl: it is the same with every one who first sees her. She is just
twenty-two and looks much younger."
"And the man talking to her is, I suppose, her husband."
"Not at all. That is Count Repuin, an enormously wealthy Russian, a
bosom-friend of Herr von Sorr, and a gambler and spendthrift, who
throws away his money by thousands. They say Herr von Sorr knows how to
pick it up, and that is the secret of the friendship between them, and
also why Sorr allows Repuin to pay such court to his wife."
"And does she encourage it?" Count Styrum asked. "How deceived one may
be by a face! I thought hers so innocent and refined in expression."
"And the expression does not belie her," the Assessor rejoined. "Herr
von Sorr is a despicable fellow enough, and bears the worst possible
reputation; but scandal itself could not touch his charming wife. It is
only on her account that he is endured in society in spite of his
notorious past and his more than doubtful present. Your uncle would
never have invited him here to-night except for the sake of his wife,
who is the dearest friend of Fraeulein Adele."
"But the Russian----"
"Is desperately in love with her. He throws away incredible sums upon
her worthless husband, while she sternly refuses to accept any of his
attentions. My observation is naturally very keen. I make no boast of
it, but it is; and I am convinced that at this moment that poor woman
is suffering agonies because, without exciting observation, and for the
sake of her good-for-nothing husband, she cannot repulse that fellow
indignantly."
The Assessor's words increased the interest with which the beautiful
Frau von Sorr had inspired the Count, and it was still further
heightened by a little scene that passed unobserved by any eyes in the
ball-room except his own and the Assessor's.
Frau von Sorr, who had hitherto endured, rather than heard, in perfect
silence what her neighbour was saying to her, never even varying by a
look the cold indifference of her bearing, suddenly turned upon him
eyes flashing with indignation. The delicate colour in her cheek
deepened to crimson, the beautiful lips unclosed as if to speak, when
suddenly second thoughts seemed to assert their sway, and rising, with
a look of inexpressible contempt at Repuin, she turned from him and
walked slowly across the ball-room to join a group of young girls
gathered about the daughter of the house, Adele von Guntram.
"What does that mean, do you think?" Count Styrum asked the Assessor.
"It means that the fellow went too far, and she turned her back upon
him."
"Poor young creature! she interests me, and I must hear more of her;
pray tell me, my dear Hahn, what you know of her husband."
"Certainly. What I know everybody knows, and there can be no
indiscretion in relating it; for the world I would not be indiscreet.
In fact, I am discretion itself. I make no boast of it, but I am. Of
course I may tell you what all the world knows. Well, then, Herr von
Sorr is utterly worthless. In the last few years he has squandered his
own considerable property and his wife's fortune upon all sorts of
follies, and worse, in the capital. What he now lives upon no one
knows. All sorts of strange stories are told about that. They may not
all be true, of course, but there must be some foundation for them,
since Lieutenant von Arnim lately declared that he would not play when
Herr von Sorr kept the bank, and that he did not like to have him for
next neighbour when he kept it himself, for it was so disagreeable to
have to keep a sharp eye upon the pile of money before him."
"Rather strong, I should say."
"It was indeed; but no one expressed any surprise at Arnim's
declaration; indeed, I heard it whispered that one night when he sat
next Sorr at play a hundred-thaler note had unaccountably disappeared;
as I said, the man's character, or want of it, is such that were it not
for his lovely wife every respectable house in the town would be closed
against him."
"But how did the fellow come to have so lovely a wife?"
"Six years ago, when he married Fraeulein Lucie Ahlborn, his reputation
was good; he was held to be a wealthy man of rank, and such he was,
although even then he had squandered a large part of his property. Herr
Ahlborn, his wife's father, was a rich manufacturer; he never thought
of saying 'no' when Sorr applied for his daughter's hand,--he was
probably flattered by the proposal,--and if he thought the young man
rather wild, supposed that marriage would cure all that. Fraeulein
Ahlborn brought her husband a fine estate, which she had inherited from
her mother."
"Was she forced into the marriage by her father?"
"Not at all. I do not know that she was very devoted to her bridegroom,
but possibly she was, for he was a handsome enough young fellow,--his
wild life has told upon him now,--but then he might easily have
captivated the fancy of a girl of sixteen. This I grant, although I was
a student then, visiting very frequently at Herr Ahlborn's, and a
little in love with the fair Lucie myself, which did not prepossess me
in favour of my fortunate rival. Neither I nor any one else dreamed
that Sorr would ever sink so low as he has done. Everybody thought the
match an excellent one, and regretted that the charming couple withdrew
to the retirement of Frau von Sorr's estate to enjoy their conjugal
felicity. Their seclusion, however, did not last longer than a few
months. They then returned to town, where Sorr played like a madman,
kept a costly racing stud, and spent huge sums upon a notorious
ballet-girl, scandalously neglecting his poor wife, who, however, bore
her sad fate with divine patience. Fortune dealt her its heaviest
blows, for she lost her father, with whom she might have sought a
refuge from her husband. Herr Ahlborn was ruined by the bankruptcy of a
large business firm, and failed. There might have been some composition
with his creditors, but being a man of an even exaggerated sense of
honour, he gave up everything. Not one of his creditors lost a penny,
but he forfeited his entire fortune. His business friends offered him
money and credit wherewith to re-open his manufactory, but he could not
endure the thought of beginning life again in a place where he had
occupied so high a position. He became gloomy and misanthropic, even
refusing to accept assistance from his daughter, who would gladly have
given it to him. Taking with him but a small sum of money, the remnant
of his large fortune, he left the scene of his former activity,
ostensibly to sail for America. They say he never took leave of one of
his old friends, but went, without even bidding good-bye to his
daughter. This was more than four years ago, and nothing has since been
heard of him; he has never written to his daughter, and she does not
even know the name of the vessel in which he sailed from Germany.
Shortly before his departure he declared that he would either return as
a wealthy man or not at all. If he really went to America, which is
doubtful, he may not have been successful; perhaps he is dead,--no one
knows anything about him. His daughter mourned him deeply; but she soon
needed to mourn still more deeply for herself for her miserable
husband, after spending all his own fortune, did the same by hers,
mortgaging her estate until it had to be sold. Since that took place,
how he lives is a mystery. I have told you some of the current
explanations of it, and I am sure you must now find it very natural
that there should be an expression of melancholy upon Frau von Sorr's
lovely face."
The doors of the adjoining supper-room were here opened, and the
Assessor broke off his long narrative, saying, "Excuse me, my dear
Count, for leaving you, but duty calls. Your charming cousin, Fraeulein
Adele, has promised to allow me to take her to supper."
And bowing, he hurried towards the group of ladies, of which Adele was
the centre. He need not have been in any haste, however, for she
herself, accompanied by Frau von Sorr, advanced to meet him, saying,
with an enchanting smile that transported the little man to the seventh
heaven, "I have a request to make of you, Herr von Hahn, and I am sure
you will grant it."
"Ask what you will, Fraeulein Adele. You cannot ask what I shall not be
proud to grant."
"I will not put your amiability to any severe test," she rejoined; "the
fulfilment of my request brings with it its own reward. Pray take my
dear Lucie, instead of myself, in to supper."
The Assessor was not altogether charmed, since he had engaged his fair
partner for supper a week previously; but he was too courteous to allow
a shade of disappointment to appear in his countenance, and his
momentary annoyance vanished when Adele continued, "We must be
neighbours at supper, however; keep two places for me at your table,
and I will follow you with my cousin, Count Styrum, who, not knowing
the customs of our house, has, I fear, engaged no one to go with him to
supper."
The Assessor was made supremely happy by her words and manner. Never
had this charming creature, to whom for the time he was devoted heart
and soul, treated him with such a degree of amiable confidence. He knew
better than any one else how far he was from the attainment of his
hopes, and therefore the badinage of his military friends had for him a
peculiar sting; but now on a sudden his fair one's manner was such as
seemed to him to justify his aspirations.
It was the custom at the President's to have the supper-room arranged
with many small tables, accommodating each from four to eight persons,
at which the guests seated themselves in groups selected among
themselves beforehand. This obviated the necessity for caution lest the
rules of precedence should be infringed,--a very important
consideration in a provincial town,--and greatly promoted the ease and
comfort of the guests.
With his head proudly erect, the Assessor conducted Frau von Sorr into
the adjoining room, into which other couples were thronging. He soon
found an unoccupied table, and was looking round for Count Styrum and
Adele, when Count Repuin approached, and, without according him any
salute or attention, addressed Frau von Sorr. "Surely, madame, you
cannot have forgotten that you promised me the honour of your society
at supper?"
The Count uttered these words in a tone almost of menace, scarcely
consistent with the rules of polite society. He was, as was evident
from his flashing eyes and his dark frown, controlling himself with
difficulty, and the Assessor was very much embarrassed. He was
perfectly conscious of the obligation laid upon him to assert his right
to escort to supper Frau von Sorr, whose hand still rested upon his
arm, but such assertion was by no means easy,--the Russian's gleaming
black eyes were so wrathful, and just at the moment the Assessor could
not but remember the man's reputation as an unerring pistol-shot, and
his great readiness to send a challenge.
Poor Herr von Hahn! He had a most uncomfortable sensation about the
throat, somewhat as if his cravat had been suddenly tightened. He
cleared it, but could scarcely utter a word; nevertheless something
must be ventured, else what would Fraeulein Adele, what would all his
acquaintances say? "Count Repuin, excuse me, but I have the honour of
being this lady's escort----"
Count Repuin looked down upon him with undisguised contempt as he
rather stammered than uttered these words, and then haughtily replied,
with a coldness that was almost insulting, "I did not address you, sir.
It was not of your mistake that I spoke, but of Frau von Sorr's. Of
course you will yield me the right I desire as soon as madame accords
it to me."
"Which I shall not do," Frau von Sorr interposed.
She had relinquished the support of the Assessor's arm, and stood tall
and stately before the Count, meeting his eye with calm resolve,
evidently ready to brave his anger.
Repuin's face flushed crimson,--he bit his lip, and said, with forced
calmness, "Have you forgotten, madame, that by your husband's
permission I this morning requested to be allowed to conduct you to
supper to-night, and that you consented to my request?"
"I have forgotten nothing. Count Repuin, not even the words you
addressed to me a few moments ago; let me beg you to leave me."
"I refuse to yield my right," the Count angrily retorted. "If you deny
me thus, I must appeal to Herr von Sorr to support my claim."
"I think not, Count Repuin. My friend Frau von Sorr is, I trust, secure
from all insult beneath my father's roof."
The words were Adele von Guntram's. She had arrived, leaning upon Count
Styrum's arm, just in time to hear Repuin's angry threat, and now,
stepping to her friend's side, she turned to Count Repuin with a degree
of dignity and resolution that added much to the Assessor's already
great astonishment at such a manifestation on the part of so gentle and
amiable a girl, and said, "You have permitted yourself to be carried
away by your annoyance, Count, to the extent of addressing a lady in
terms inconsistent with our German ideas of courtesy. I must beg you to
apologise to my friend."
Count Repuin angrily compressed his lips, but he perfectly understood
that he had gone too far, and that upon this antagonist he had not
reckoned. If he would not entirely lose the game he was playing he must
control himself, and, difficult although it might be, comply with
Adele's demand. He therefore smothered his rage, and, taking Adele's
hand and kissing it with respectful humility, he said, "You shame me,
Fraeulein von Guntram, yet I cannot but be grateful to you for recalling
me to a sense of the duty which, according not only to German ideas,
but also to those entertained in Russia and throughout the world, every
gentleman owes to a lady whom he has been so unfortunate as to offend.
I beg Frau von Sorr's pardon from my soul, and venture to hope for her
forgiveness, the more confidently as my irritation was the consequence
of my great disappointment at losing a pleasure which she will admit I
had some right to anticipate."
Frau von Sorr heeded his apology no more than his threat, but turned to
Adele, who replied to his words and farewell bow by a cool and
dignified curtsey.
As soon as he was out of hearing the young girl gave a sigh of relief
"Thank Heaven, he is gone! He actually terrifies me, and I had to
muster up all my courage to become my poor Lucie's defender. The man is
indescribably odious,--Russian from head to foot,--rough, coarse, and
brutally passionate one moment, courteous, smooth, and smiling the
next, but always false and untrustworthy. However, he has gone, and we
will not spoil our pleasure by thinking of him an instant longer.
Cousin Karl, let me present you to my dearest friend, Frau von Sorr. My
cousin, Count Karl Styrum, Lucie dear; and now let us enjoy our supper
together."