A WISE YOUNG JUDGE.
The spell which Bertha von Massenburg had cast around the inmates of
Castle Osternau upon her first appearance within its walls did not
fade, but grew stronger, and embraced in its charm every individual of
the household, with the exception of Lieschen. Both the inspectors,
Herr von Wangen and Herr Storting, and even all the servants succumbed
to it. Her sweetness and gaiety were unvarying; she had a word of
kindness for all, and knew exactly when to utter it.
She talked with Herr von Osternau of his farming, and displayed a
degree of knowledge and judgment in such matters rare indeed in a young
girl. Her entire childhood before the sequestration of her father's
estates had been spent in the country. She had kept alive all her
interest in country pursuits and occupations, and was never weary of
introducing a discussion of her uncle's favourite topic. It was a
genuine delight to the old man to be able to explain his theories and
practice to her, while her large black eyes gazed intelligently into
his own; and not less did he enjoy her gay talk of Koenigsberg and
Berlin, and her affectionate, caressing way of leaning her head on his
shoulder and stroking the gray hair from his forehead as she called him
her dear, dear uncle Fritz.
Nor could Frau von Osternau resist the influence which Bertha exercised
upon her also. There was no withstanding the girl's innocent, amiable
readiness to assist in any occupation in which her aunt was engaged.
She was sure to place the footstool just in the right place for Frau
von Osternau's feet, and was always ready to take up dropped stitches
in her knitting, or to ring the bell just when the servant was wanted,
or to make herself useful and indispensable in the household in a
thousand ways. Cultivated and well bred as she was, she disdained no
feminine occupation. Indeed, she was a pattern for Lieschen, who had
been allowed, her mother thought as she watched Bertha's ways, to run
wild altogether too long. And then how perfect was her behaviour
towards the gentlemen of the family! She received their homage with
genuine pleasure, but never exacted it, and armed herself with a
dignified reserve whenever there was the slightest risk of their
attentions becoming importunate. This was especially the case with her
treatment of the Lieutenant, who paid her decided court, and this often
in a way which annoyed Frau von Osternau, although Bertha was never
thrown off her guard, but preserved her maidenly dignity intact. On the
other hand, she encouraged the shy young inspector, Herr von Wangen, by
a charming degree of kindly interest in his labours.
Herr von Wangen was the only son of a wealthy landed proprietor in West
Prussia. His father had sent him to Castle Osternau to learn
agriculture upon a model estate, and in the hope of conquering his
great natural shyness by a stay among strangers. The bashful young
fellow, who at table scarcely spoke unless he was spoken to, and who
rarely accepted an invitation to join the family at tea, for fear of
transgressing some rule of social life, was suddenly metamorphosed by
Bertha's arrival. He began to converse at dinner with Bertha, who sat
next him, and as she kindly encouraged him he soon took part in the
general conversation, and gladly joined the family in the evenings.
Frau von Osternau was grateful to the girl for thus drawing out the
young man. She had frequently regretted that the son of one of her
husband's oldest friends should spend almost all his leisure time in
his own apartment. She observed with great satisfaction the signs in
Herr von Wangen of a budding attachment for her charming guest. Bertha
grew in favour with her as the good lady began to indulge in such plans
for the future as are dearest to the feminine mind. Herr von Wangen
was, to be sure, rather young,--only a couple of years older than
Bertha,--but he was an excellent match for her, since she had given up
all thoughts of Herr von Ernau. It seemed doubtful to Frau von
Osternau, however, whether Bertha would smile upon the young fellow's
suit; there were signs that her fancy had been suddenly caught by one
who, of all the men in the house, paid her the least attention,--Herr
Gottlieb Pigglewitch. She must be sure about this, and so she carefully
watched them both.
She soon made up her mind that Bertha was greatly interested in the
tutor; her tone of voice changed when she addressed him; she never
jested with him as she did with Herr Storting and Herr von Wangen, or
even with the Lieutenant; she was more reserved with him, although she
listened eagerly to everything that he said. When engaged in lively
conversation with others she nevertheless heard every word uttered by
the Candidate, and she watched him when she thought herself unobserved.
She was always present during Lieschen's music-lessons; she had asked
permission to be in the room, saying, with a smile, that she could not
ask Herr Pigglewitch to give her actual lessons, but that he could do
so indirectly if he would allow her to observe his method with
Lieschen. And she also joined the afternoon walks and rides which Herr
Pigglewitch took with Lieschen and Fritz. She was a bold, fearless
horsewoman, and especially enjoyed the rides. She certainly knew how
well she looked in her riding-habit, and how the hat upon her black
curls' became her.
And it was a significant fact, Frau von Osternau thought, that Bertha
was never to be induced either to play on the piano or to sing when the
Candidate was present, while in his absence she was always amiably
ready to do so. She evidently feared his criticism. When he played she
listened in rapt attention.
All these observations confirmed Frau von Osternau in her suspicion
that Bertha was in danger of falling in love with the tutor, but she
was led to doubt this again by certain observations and remarks of the
young girl's, which gave her much food for reflection,--remarks similar
to those which had so shocked her uncle Sastrow, and which were
exceedingly singular in the mouth of a lovely young girl, since they
betokened a perfectly materialistic conception of life and its duties.
Bertha was wont in conversation to play the part of a listener; she was
usually reserved in the expression of her own views, and it was only
when very much interested that she took a lively part in any
discussion, but then she was apt to become eager and to express herself
with reckless frankness. Thus at times she advanced opinions which
shocked Frau von Osternau no less than they had Herr von Sastrow.
One evening, when the conversation turned upon a distant relative of
Herr von Osternau, a beautiful young girl of an ancient noble family,
who had just become the wife of a poor young bourgeois councillor, with
whom she had long been carrying on a compromising love-affair, a sharp
war of words had arisen between Herr von Osternau and the Lieutenant,
the former expressing his great satisfaction in the marriage as the
only atonement for the past, while Albrecht severely denounced the
_mesalliance_ with a poor man from the people. Bertha agreed eagerly
with the Lieutenant, declaring that a daughter of an ancient and noble
race might be pardoned for yielding, in a moment of weakness, to an
impulse of the heart, in bestowing her love upon a man her inferior in
rank, but that she acted unpardonably in degrading herself and her
family by a marriage with this inferior, especially if he were poor.
There was only one thing which could justify such a _mesalliance_, and
that was immense wealth on the part of the inferior in rank,--wealth
that could reinstate in splendour an impoverished family of noble
descent. The present Frau Councillor had been both unprincipled and
foolish: unprincipled in forgetting what was due to her noble descent,
and foolish in forgetting what was due to herself. The highest aim of
existence was enjoyment, and it was unpardonable folly to resign all
the delights which wealth could procure for the sake of indulging in a
brief dream of love from which one must soon awake to bitter repentance
and misery.
Frau von Osternau listened in dismay; her favourable opinion of Bertha
was shaken by her avowal of such sentiments, but the unpleasant
impression faded when Bertha immediately afterwards showed herself so
sweet-tempered and charming that it was impossible to resist her. Frau
von Osternau could not but think that in her interest the young girl
had been led to say more than she meant; it was a pity, but excusable;
she was sure that Bertha herself would never conform her actions to the
opinion which she had asserted, and the girl's evident interest in Herr
Pigglewitch seemed to her suspicious.
The good lady could not decide as to the sentiments entertained by the
tutor for her guest, indeed the young man was more of a puzzle to her
than ever. Immediately after his arrival at the castle he had become
quite a different creature, had been transformed from an awkward,
uncouth Candidate into a courteous, well-bred gentleman, a restlessness
of manner peculiar to him had entirely vanished, and now since Bertha's
arrival he had undergone another metamorphosis.
His eyes again showed the same restless gleam that animated them when
he was agitated, the scornful smile, so long absent from his lips,
again often hovered there, accompanying some sneering remark, and there
was a want of repose about him which made itself especially apparent
when he improvised upon the piano. Frau von Osternau often seemed to
hear the cry of a wounded heart in the strange, wild melodies that
echoed beneath his fingers, and anon she would be carried away by the
din and strife of a chaos of tones which harassed and troubled her, and
from which there was no escape save by a crashing dissonance. His
playing was always admirable, but it no longer brought refreshment to
the mind, it was bewildering, confusing. Lieschen was profoundly aware
of this; her eyes did not fill with tears as she listened, but her
cheek paled and her downcast glance would avoid that of the player when
he had finished. When he noticed this he would turn away with a shiver,
and pass his hand across his eyes as if to brush away some cloud, then,
seating himself again at the instrument, he would evoke from it such
touching sounds as quickly reconciled Frau von Osternau to the artist.
His conduct towards Bertha grew to be as contradictory as his music.
When he gazed at her his eyes would glow darkly, but when they were
turned upon Lieschen their fire faded, a happy expression took its
place, too often to be banished again by the mere sound of Bertha's
voice. He seldom appealed directly to her in conversation; he even
avoided all _tete-a-tetes_ with her, but what he said to others was
constantly addressed indirectly to her. And this was frequently the
case, as Lieschen told her mother, during their rides. The Herr
Candidate addressed Fritzchen or herself, but what he said was meant
for Bertha.
In short, Pigglewitch had become entirely changed since Bertha's
arrival; he was the same only in one respect,--his duties were most
scrupulously fulfilled. Over Fritzchen he exercised the same
affectionate superintendence, beneath which his little pupil made
extraordinary progress, and he acted with the same conscientiousness in
his instruction of Lieschen. During the music-lessons he had neither
eyes nor words for the lovely Fraeulein von Massenburg, he seemed to
live only for his pupil, and Lieschen showed her gratitude by giving
him her undivided attention.
These lesson-hours had come to be the happiest time of the day for the
young girl, who had so lately been little more than a careless, happy
child. Since Bertha's coming to the castle there had been a change in
the daughter of the house, which filled her mother with anxiety. The
girl no longer ran races with Fritzchen when lessons were over, her
merry laughter no longer came floating up every day from the lawn, the
charming romp, who had deserved and received many a loving reproof from
her father, had vanished, and in her stead there was a serious, gentle,
sensible maiden, almost too serious, her mother thought, remembering
her former playfulness. It did not please Frau von Osternau that
Lieschen had suddenly lost all pleasure in her childish games, that she
would sit for a long while at times over her embroidery, not always
working, sometimes in a profound revery, with hands clasped in her lap.
Of what could she be thinking? Her mother would have given much to
know; such knowledge might have relieved her of a great dread,--a dread
never quite laid to rest in her mind,--lest Lieschen should cherish
a warmer affection for her music-teacher than her parents could
approve,--an affection now shown, perhaps, by an awakening jealousy of
Bertha von Massenburg.
This really seemed the only explanation of the change wrought in the
young girl. This might be the reason why Lieschen withstood the charm
which Bertha exercised upon all the other members of the household. She
alone treated Bertha with a scrupulously courteous reserve, which was
not to be overcome by any effort on the part of the guest to win her
affection.
"What is your objection to Bertha Massenburg?" Frau von Osternau asked
her daughter one morning when they were alone together, Bertha having
accompanied her uncle in his walk in the fields. "You treat her with a
coldness and reserve that she really does not deserve at your hands.
She will surely be offended by your manner some day."
"I think I show her all the courtesy that is her due," Lieschen
replied, gravely, looking up from her work. "She has never heard an
unkind word from me."
"That is not what I mean. It only seems to me that you might be more
cordial and frank to so amiable a girl."
"I cannot feign what I do not feel."
"I do not understand you, Lieschen. Bertha treats you with special
sweetness. She is fond of you, and shows that she is so by not being
hurt by your coldness."
"I do not believe in the sincerity of her sweetness and cordiality. Now
and then when she forgets herself in the heat of conversation she
betrays her real thoughts and feelings, and a curtain suddenly seems
lifted from before her inner self. Do you not remember how she spoke a
while ago of Valerie Laupe?"
Frau von Osternau looked at her daughter in surprise, and, more for
something to say than from a desire to defend Bertha, replied, "We
ought not to weigh every hasty word with such nicety. One often says
more in the heat of argument than reason would justify; you do so
sometimes, as every one does. What, for example, should we think of
Herr Pigglewitch, if all his words were so harshly criticised?"
Lieschen's cheek flushed slightly, but she looked up at her mother and
replied, without embarrassment, "They are both puzzles to me. In a
certain way they are alike,--the true self of each seems hidden behind
a veil; but when this veil is slightly lifted in his case I seem to see
a poor, harassed heart, a spirit longing for the noble and the true. In
Bertha's case the veil covers an abyss of selfishness, avarice, and
love of pleasure."
"Good heavens, child! what puts such thoughts, such words into your
head?" Frau von Osternau exclaimed in dismay.
"I cannot tell, mother. I have been thinking a great deal about these
two people, and I have come to this conclusion."
Her mother did not continue the conversation, but at night, when she
was alone with her husband, she repeated to him word for word what
Lieschen had said. "If that extraordinary man had only never come
inside our doors,"--it was thus she concluded her tale. "He, and not
Bertha, is to blame for the sad transformation which our child has
undergone. For my sake, Fritz, dismiss him. Pay him his salary for an
entire year; only let him leave the house."
Herr von Osternau shook his head. "Do you think Lieschen conceals
anything from you?" he asked.
"No, assuredly not."
"Did she ever complain that he had spoken to her otherwise than as a
teacher should speak to a pupil, or have you ever observed that he has
in his lessons or in social intercourse with us transgressed any law of
good breeding?"
"I cannot say that he has, but----"
"Has he ever neglected the duties which he undertook to perform when he
entered our house? Is he not a conscientious and affectionate tutor for
Fritzchen? Has he ever done anything for which he could justly be
reproved?"
"No. I do not ask you to dismiss him abruptly. If you would pay him his
salary for an entire year----"
"Do you suppose that a man of honour could be compensated by a year's
salary for being turned from our door? I think there was a great deal
of truth in what Lieschen said of him, and I should never forgive
myself for wounding him by injustice. He certainly is not a happy man.
So long as he does his duty we must do ours. Good-night, Emma."