Peter, meditating on the banks of the river at Estcourt, came to the
conclusion that a journey to London would be made unnecessary by the
equal efficacy of a congratulatory letter.
He had been greatly moved by the news of his sister's good fortune, and
in the first flush of pleasure and sympathy had ordered his things to be
packed in readiness for his departure by the night train. Then he had
gone down to the river, and there, thinking the matter over quietly,
amid the soothing influences of grey sky, grey water, and green grass,
he gradually perceived that a letter would convey all that he felt quite
well, perhaps better than any verbal expressions of joy, and as he would
in any case only stay a few hours in town the long journey seemed hardly
worth while. He sent a letter, therefore, that very evening--a kind,
brotherly letter, in which, after heartily congratulating his dear
little sister, he said that it would be necessary for her to go over to
Germany, see the lawyer, and take possession of her property. When she
had done that, and made all arrangements as to the future payment of the
income derived from the estate, she would of course come back to them;
for Estcourt was always to be her home, and now that she was independent
she would no longer be obliged to be wherever Susie was, but would, he
hoped, come to him, and they could go fishing together,--"and there's
nothing to beat fishing," concluded Peter, "if you want peace."
But Anna did not want peace; at least, not that kind of peace just at
that moment. Sitting in a punt was not what she wanted. She was thrilled
by the love of her less fortunate fellow-creatures, and the sense of
power to help them, and the longing to go and do it. What she really
wanted of Peter was that he should take her to Germany and help her
through the formalities; for before his letter arrived she too had seen
that that was the first thing to be done.
Of this, however, he did not write a word. She thought he must have
forgotten, so natural did it appear to her that her brother should go
with her; and she wrote him a little note, asking when he would be able
to get away. She received a long letter in reply, full of regrets,
excuses, and good reasons, which she read wonderingly. Had she been
selfish, or was Peter selfish? She thought it all out carefully, and
found that it was she who had been selfish to expect Peter, always a
hater of business and a lover of quiet, to go all that way and worry
himself with tiresome money arrangements. Besides, perhaps he was not
feeling well. She knew he suffered from rheumatism; and when you have
rheumatism the mere thought of a long journey is appalling.
Susie, whose head was very clear on all matters concerning money, had
also recognised the necessity of Anna's going to Germany, and had also
regarded Peter as the most natural companion and guide; but she was not
surprised when Anna told her that he could not go. "It was too much to
expect," apologised Anna. "He often has rheumatism in the spring, and
perhaps he has it now."
Susie sniffed.
"The question is," said Anna after a pause, "what am I to do, helpless
virgin, in spite of my years,--never able to do a thing for myself?"
"I'll go with you."
"You? But what about your engagements?"
"Oh, I'll throw them over, and take you. Letty can come too. It will do
her German good. Herr Schumpf says he's ashamed of her."
Susie had various reasons for offering herself so amiably, one being
certainly curiosity. But the chief one was that the same woman who had
been so rude to her the day Anna's news came, had sent out invitations
to all the world to her daughter's wedding after Easter, and had not
sent one to Susie.
This was one of those trials that cannot be faced. If she, being in
London at the time, carefully explained to her friends that she was ill
that day, and did actually stay in bed and dose herself the days
preceding and following, who would believe her? Not if she waved a
doctor's certificate in their faces would they believe her. They would
know that she had not been invited, and would rejoice. She felt that she
could not bear it. An unavoidable business journey to the Continent was
exactly what she wanted to help her out of this desperate situation. On
her return she would be able to hear the wedding discussed and express
her disappointment at having missed it with a serene brow and a quiet
mind.
It is doubtful whether she would have gone with Anna, however urgent
Anna's need, if she had been included in those invitations. But Anna,
who could not know the secret workings of her mind, once more remembered
her former treatment of Susie, so kind and willing to do all she could,
and hung her head with shame.
They left London a day or two before Easter, Letty and Miss Leech, both
of them nearly ill with suppressed delight at the unexpected holiday,
going with them. They had announced their coming to Uncle Joachim's
lawyer, and asked him to make arrangements for their accommodation at
Kleinwalde, Anna's new possession. Susie proposed to stay a day in
Berlin, which would give Anna time to talk everything over with the
lawyer, and would enable Letty to visit the museums. She had a hopeful
idea that Letty would absorb German at every pore once she was in the
country itself, and that being brought face to face with the statues of
Goethe and Schiller on their native soil would kindle the sparks of
interest in German literature that she supposed every well-taught child
possessed, into the roaring flame of enthusiasm. She could not believe
that Letty had no sparks. One of her children being so abnormally
clever, it must be sheer obstinacy on the part of the other that
prevented it from acquiring the knowledge offered daily in such
unstinted quantities. She had no illusions in regard to Letty's person,
and felt that as she would never be pretty it was of importance that she
should at least be cultured. She sat opposite her daughter in the train,
and having nothing better to do during the long hours that they were
jolting across North Germany, looked at her; and the more she looked the
more unreasoningly angry she became that Peter's sister should be so
pretty and Peter's daughter so plain. And then so fat! What a horrible
thing to have to take a fat daughter about with you in society. Where
did she get it from? She herself and Peter were the leanest of mortals.
It must be that Letty ate too much, which was not only a disgusting
practice but an expensive one, and should be put down at once with
rigour. Susie had not had such an opportunity of thoroughly inspecting
her child for years, and the result of this prolonged examination of her
weak points was that she would not let any of the party have anything to
eat at all, declaring that it was vulgar to eat in trains, expressing
amazement that people should bring themselves to touch the
horrid-looking food offered, and turning her back in impatient disgust
on two stout German ladies who had got in at Oberhausen, and who were
enjoying their lunch quite unmoved by her contempt--one eating a chicken
from beginning to end without a fork, and the other taking repeated sips
of an obviously satisfactory nature from a big wine bottle, which was
used, in the intervals, as a support to her back.
By the time Berlin was reached, these ladies, having been properly fed
all day, were very cheerful, whereas Susie's party was speechless from
exhaustion; especially poor Miss Leech, who was never very strong, and
so nearly fainted that Susie was obliged to notice it, and expressed a
conviction to Anna in a loud and peevish aside that Miss Leech was going
to be a nuisance.
"It is strange," thought Anna, as she crept into bed, "how travelling
brings out one's worst passions."
It is indeed strange; for it is certain that nothing equals the
expectant enthusiasm and mutual esteem of the start except the cold
dislike of the finish. Many are the friendships that have found an
unforeseen and sudden end on a journey, and few are those that survive
it. But if Horace Walpole and Grey fell out, if Byron and Leigh Hunt
were obliged to part, if a host of other personages, endowed with every
gift that makes companionship desirable, could not away with each other
after a few weeks together abroad, is it to be wondered at that weaker
vessels such as Susie and Anna, Letty and Miss Leech, should have found
the short journey from London to Berlin sufficient to enable them to see
one another's failings with a clearness of vision that was startling?
On the lawyer, a keen-eyed man with a conspicuously fine face, Anna made
an entirely favourable impression. When he saw this gracious young lady,
so simple and so friendly, and looked into her frank and charming eyes,
he perfectly understood that old Joachim should have been bewitched. But
after a little conversation, it appeared that she had no present
intention of carrying out her uncle's wishes, but, setting them coolly
aside, proposed to spend all the good German money she could extract
from her property in that replete and bloated land, England.
This annoyed him; first because he hated England and then because his
father had managed old Joachim's affairs before he himself had stepped
into the paternal shoes, and the feeling of both father and son for the
old man had been considerably warmer than is usual between lawyer and
client. Still he could not believe, judging after the manner of men,
that anything so pretty could also be unkind; and scrutinising Lady
Estcourt, because she was unattractive and had a sharp little face and a
restless little body, he was convinced that she it was who was the cause
of this setting aside of a dead benefactor's wishes. Susie, for her
part, patronised him because his collar turned down.
Whenever Letty thought afterwards of Berlin, she thought of it as a
place where all the houses are museums, and where you drink so many cups
of chocolate with whipped cream on the top that you see things double
for the rest of the time.
Anna thought of it as a charming place, where delightful lawyers fill
your purse with money.
Susie thought of it with satisfaction as the one place abroad where, by
dint of sternest economy, walks from sight to sight in the rain, and
promiscuous cakes instead of the more satisfactory but less cheap meals
Letty called square, she had successfully defended herself from being,
as she put it, fleeced.
To Miss Leech, it was merely a place where your feet get wet, and your
clothes are spoilt.
Early the next morning they started for Kleinwalde.