RENEWED CONFIDENCE.
Herr Von Osternau passed a miserable night. Pastor Widman's letter had
excited him more than he cared to confess to himself. If he could have
told his faithful partner of the wretched epistle, he would soon have
been soothed to rest, but he could not do this for fear lest his Emma
should find in the Pastor's letter fresh reasons for urging her
oft-repeated desire for the tutor's dismissal. Herr von Osternau's
sense of justice revolted against condemning the accused without
allowing him a hearing.
As he had frankly confessed, his faith in the Candidate was shaken, and
the more he thought, during his sleepless night, of the Pastor's
letter, the more he suspected that he had bestowed his confidence upon
one quite unworthy of it. The Pastor's accusation of his nephew did not
seem like an invention, and if it were well grounded, Pigglewitch could
no longer be retained as Fritzchen's tutor. The man who could lose at
play money not his own was unfit for such an office, whatever might be
his intellectual acquirements. But perhaps he was not so guilty as he
seemed. He should not be judged before he had been allowed to speak in
his own defence.
The next morning Herr von Osternau awaited the tutor's visit with the
greatest impatience, continually consulting the clock as he walked to
and fro in his sitting-room. It was only half-past eight; there was
still half an hour to wait, since he had appointed the interview at
nine o'clock.
He was pleased and surprised when thus early, nevertheless, a knock was
heard at the door. Upon his "Come in," however, he was equally
disappointed by the entrance not of Pigglewitch, but of the Lieutenant.
"Is it you, Albrecht? I thought you had gone to the meadows," he said,
rather testily, but the next instant, perceiving that the Lieutenant
looked downcast and unhappy, he continued, kindly, "What is it,
Albrecht? You look out of sorts. I hope nothing is the matter."
The Lieutenant did not reply immediately. He had meant to look
desperate, and not merely out of sorts, and it cost him some effort to
make his features convoy the desired impression. Perceiving in an
opposite mirror that his efforts were crowned with a degree of success,
he said at last, in a trembling voice, "I come to you, Cousin Fritz, a
prey to remorse and despair. On the day before yesterday evening I
actually had my revolver in my hand to put an end to my wretched
existence, but I thought of you, and of the contempt which you feel for
a man who lays violent hands upon himself; the pistol dropped from my
grasp, I had a glimmer of hope. I remembered your inexhaustible
kindness. You have helped me so often that I cannot but look to you in
my extremity."
Herr von Osternau's face had grown dark as the Lieutenant spoke. He had
heard words like these too often not to know that they were the preface
to a demand for money to pay some extravagant or gambling debt. He
replied, indignantly, "Spare your words, cousin; they are useless. I
must remind you of what I told you last year when I paid two thousand
thalers for you. I assured you then that it was for the last time, and
the money was paid upon your solemn promise never again to contract a
debt which you could not pay yourself. It is of no use to continue this
conversation. I shall be true to my word."
"I implore you, Cousin Fritz----"
"I will hear nothing further. I should wrong my daughter by sacrificing
fresh sums of money to you. I felt free to do for you what I have done,
but now it is time that I should lay by Lieschen's portion, since I
have been spending my whole income all these years upon the improvement
of the estate."
"All that is needed is three thousand marks, an insignificant sum for
you. Would you for such a trifle drive me to suicide, Cousin Fritz?"
"It is sacrilegious to talk thus."
"Do you not force me to it? Can I live disgraced? I have signed a note
of hand. I must pay the money in fourteen days, or I shall be
dishonoured."
"You told me a year ago that you owed nothing."
"It was true, but--I am ashamed to confess my folly--I was insane
enough to be tempted to play. I fell in with some of my comrades the
day before yesterday in Berlin, and cards were proposed. I refused for
a long time to join the game, but I was overpersuaded. At first the
stakes were very low, and I won, but the luck changed, I lost my head,
and I came away with a debt of honour for three thousand marks. If it
is not paid in fourteen days I shall be dishonoured."
"You are dishonoured already, even though your debt were paid; you
promised me never again to touch a card."
"I was mad! I was mad!"
"Your word of honour should have kept you sane. But I shall not depart
from what I told you a year ago. You have no help to expect from me."
"At least lend me the three thousand marks. You can easily do so; you
have ten thousand there in your desk; the trifling sum can readily be
paid from my salary in two years at the latest."
"That cannot be done, either; you must learn to help yourself."
"You drive me to suicide."
"That threat is useless. It will not move me to break my word to you."
An evil look was the Lieutenant's only reply; he saw that further
entreaty would be of no avail. There was no need, then, to subject
himself to further humiliation. The expression of despair in his face
gave place to one of sullen defiance. Without another word he left the
room.
Herr von Osternau had been calm and decided so long as Albrecht was
present; but now that he was alone he grew restless and anxious. Had he
perhaps been too hard? No, he could neither speak nor act otherwise.
For years he had been far too much influenced by the reflection that
Albrecht had been deprived of an inheritance which he had long
considered as his own. The sums which had been sacrificed for this
dissipated, reckless relative were enormous; the sacrifice had been
made in vain, Albrecht was utterly ungrateful. He seized every
opportunity for a visit either to Breslau or to Berlin to resume his
dissolute career, to contract fresh debts. There was no helping him,
least of all by compliance with his demands. Only by being thrown upon
his own resources, with no hope of assistance from his cousin, might he
perhaps be induced to resist the temptation to play.
Herr von Osternau was sure that he had acted for the best, but
nevertheless he felt very anxious. The thought that his cousin might
fulfil his threat of self-destruction, filled him with dread. His
kindly nature gave him no repose. He sat down at his writing-table and
scratched off a note to Herr von Sastrow begging him to write to
Albrecht and offer to lend him the money he needed upon his promise to
repay him from his salary. The money, Herr von Osternau assured his
uncle, should be repaid him,--for that he would go surety,--but of this
the Lieutenant must be kept in ignorance. He must believe that the
offer of help came unsuggested from Herr von Sastrow alone.
When the note had been handed to Wenzel, with orders to take it
directly to the post at Station Mirbach, Herr von Osternau felt
relieved, but so occupied had he been with the Lieutenant's case for
the last half-hour that it was only when the Candidate presented
himself punctually at the appointed time that he was reminded of Pastor
Widman's miserable letter, according to which the Candidate, like the
Lieutenant, had squandered his patrimony; like Albrecht, he was an
inveterate gambler, who had lost at play money not his own.
Involuntarily Herr von Osternau compared the two men in his mind. There
was no trace in the Candidate's face of the theatric despair which
Albrecht had laboured to display. Herr Pigglewitch was so calm and
collected that Herr von Osternau was half convinced of his innocence
before he had spoken a word, and not until the young man avoided his
searching glance did he again doubt him.
Did Egon suspect this? He looked up again frankly, and in a clear, calm
voice, without embarrassment, without waiting to be questioned, he
opened the interview which was to decide his future relations with the
lord of the castle.
"You made use of harsh language to me last evening, Herr von Osternau.
You told me that you had lost confidence in me----"
"No, I only said that my confidence in you was shaken. It was best to
be frank, and you could not but see that I was justified by the
Pastor's letter. The importance to be attached to that letter depends
entirely upon the explanation which I expect from you."
"I am ready to give you an explanation. I assure you that every word
which I am about to utter shall be perfectly true, but I do not deny
that the circumstances in which I find myself forbid my telling the
whole truth. I am forced to be silent with regard to these
circumstances, whilst I could by a single word prove the falsehood of
the ridiculous charges--ridiculous so far as I am concerned--contained
in the letter. This word, however, I shall not speak. If the
explanations which I am able to give you do not satisfy you, then, Herr
von Osternau, I must remind you of our agreement when I first came to
your house. We reserved for each of us perfect liberty to dissolve at
any given moment a connection which cannot continue to exist if you
withdraw your confidence from your son's tutor or believe him capable
of appropriating to himself money confided to him by others."
"This is a strange preface to your explanation, Herr Pigglewitch; it
can be answered only when I have heard you further."
"I do not ask a reply until then. I understand perfectly that this
letter, which I beg now to return to you, has shaken your confidence in
me. Your knowledge of me is of too recent a date to convince you that
in spite of grievous defects of character I am incapable of a
dishonourable act, and Pastor Widman's letter, containing as it does a
mixture of truth and falsehood, may well give you cause for reflection.
Let me refer to the letter in detail. It is untrue that Pastor Widman
befriended his sister's orphan boy. He treated him with great severity,
only sending him to school when he was forced to do so, the expenses of
his education being defrayed from the orphan boy's patrimony. On the
other hand, it is true that the weak, thoughtless young man squandered
the rest of his inheritance, and sacrificed his first situation to his
passion for gaming. Later, in another situation, he so won the esteem
of his employer that Doctor Kramser felt himself justified in
recommending him to you for your son's tutor. I candidly confess to
you, Herr von Osternau, that I have led a life far from blameless, that
I have foolishly squandered both time and money, but I swear to you
that I have never been involved in any dishonourable transaction. It is
true that the Schulze Brandes gave the sum in question to the nephew of
Pastor Widman for transmission to his uncle, and that this money has
not yet been paid him, but I have neither appropriated this money nor
have I lost it at play. The reason why this money has not been paid I
cannot now disclose to you, all I can say is that I have a perfect
right to refuse to give this sum to the Herr Pastor. Nevertheless, he
shall have his money without abatement of a penny; here it is, and I
beg of you, Herr von Osternau, to transmit it to him."
As he spoke, Egon took out his pocket-book and counted out the notes
upon the table.
Herr von Osternau was amazed. "You have the money? Why then did you not
send it to your uncle long ago?"
"I regret that I cannot answer this question, for in doing so I should
be obliged to refer to matters which were best passed over in silence,
at least for the present. I can only assure you that I never even
dreamed of depriving Herr Pastor Widman of his property. If this does
not suffice you, Herr von Osternau, I can no longer remain in the
castle; I must resign my situation here, much as I regret to do so. I
can no longer be your son's tutor if you have lost faith in me."
"No, I have not lost it. I believe you to be incapable of anything
dishonourable, but I tell you candidly that I do not like your wrapping
yourself up in mystery."
"I regret being forced to do so. At present I cannot tell you the whole
truth, and I will not tell you a falsehood."
"I have no right to force your confidence or to lay down the law to
you, but, as a man much your elder, I have a right to tell you honestly
what I think. The manner in which you speak of your uncle displeases me
as much as does your foolish mystery. You speak of him as Herr Pastor
Widman, in the most formal way; however harshly he may have treated you
years ago, you are wrong thus to bear malice. When there has been a
coolness or a quarrel between relatives, it is the duty of the younger
to take the first steps towards a reconciliation. If my good opinion is
worth anything to you, you will accept my advice to put back into your
pocket-book the money you have counted out upon the table. I will not
undertake to mediate between uncle and nephew. You ought to return his
property to him; if you comply with my wishes, you will take it to him
yourself. Wennersdorf is only a few hours' journey from Breslau. The
journey thither is neither difficult nor expensive. Take your uncle his
money, pay him a visit of a few days, and be reconciled with him. I
will gladly give you leave of absence for a week. Will you not start
early to-morrow morning?"
Egon hesitated to reply. He had not expected such a proposal. Could he
accept it, since he could not possibly deliver in person Pastor
Widman's money? He could not positively reject it without wounding Herr
von Osternau, and, besides, it had a certain attraction. If he could be
delivered for a few days from the spell that bound him, if he could
make a short excursion in the Riesengebirge, he might perhaps come to
some clear conclusion in his own mind. After a short pause for
reflection, he said, "I can give you no decided promise, Herr von
Osternau. If you will allow me leave of absence for a few days, I shall
be grateful for it. I shall then go to Breslau to-morrow, but whether I
shall go thence to Wennersdorf, or employ the time granted me in making
a pedestrian excursion among the mountains, I cannot at present tell
you."
"I do not ask you to tell me. I hope that calm reflection will show you
the right path to pursue. At all events I am glad that our interview
has had the effect of entirely restoring my confidence in you, in proof
of which I beg you to transact a little business for me in Breslau
to-morrow. A manufacturer in Breslau, whom I have known for many years
as an honest, industrious man, became some time ago so involved in his
pecuniary affairs as to solicit of me a loan of some ten thousand
marks, for which he gave me his note. It falls due to-morrow. I do not
wish this note presented at the bank, it might injure the man were it
known that he had borrowed money of a private individual; nor do I wish
the note to be protested if he should not be quite ready to pay the
money. I have entire confidence in his honesty, and I do not wish to
embarrass him. I thought of sending my cousin Albrecht to-morrow to
Breslau to attend to this affair for me, but since you are going I
should be much obliged by your undertaking it. Will you do so?"
"With pleasure."
"Use your own discretion. I do not want to have my debtor harassed. If
he pays the money, please send it to me immediately by post, I shall
receive it to-morrow afternoon; if he does not, send me back the note."
Herr von Osternau went to his secretary and opened it. In one of its
centre partitions stood an iron-bound box with a patent lock. From it
he took first a pile of bank-notes representing a considerable sum;
these he laid on the desk of the secretary until he had found the note,
then returning them to the box, he locked it and the secretary, and
turned to Egon. "I hope," he said, kindly, "that our conversation
to-day, painful as it was at first, has left no unpleasant impression
on either of us. I shall be glad if it is the means of reconciling
relatives at present at odds. And now, Herr Pigglewitch, I will detain
you no longer. Fritzchen is, I am sure, awaiting you."
He dismissed Egon with a friendly grasp of the hand, and when the young
man had left the room, gave himself over to reflection as to whether he
had not been somewhat hasty in putting so much trust in him. "I am sure
he will justify it," he concluded. "If he had not held sacred the money
intrusted to him for his uncle he would have used it in Breslau to
purchase what he so greatly needed; he would not have paid for his
clothes by instalments. I would far sooner trust him than Albrecht with
ten thousand marks. Still he is a strange, incomprehensible fellow, and
I detest mysteries. He said himself that he could not tell me the whole
truth. I wonder what he suppressed." Upon this he pondered for some
time without coming to any conclusion.