Tea at the Castle
Several days after Esther's concert Lieutenant von Reuter persuaded Mrs.
Ashton and Miss Adams to bring Betty and Polly with them to afternoon
tea at the castle with his father. And as Anthony Graham, not knowing
their plans, had come from Berlin for a farewell visit on the same day,
he of course was included in the little company. Esther had been urged
and had almost promised to be one of them, but when the morning of the
party arrived she had pleaded to be excused. Immediately then Polly and
Betty had both insisted that she change her mind and had tried coaxing
and scolding and almost every possible form of influence until at last
Mrs. Ashton had come to her rescue. For Esther had been extremely tired
since her _debut_ and very unlike herself both girls considered. Indeed,
they even went further in thinking that she failed in proper
appreciation and gratitude for her own success. However, Esther
naturally believed that her friends were overestimating her achievement,
yet she had recently scarcely understood herself. For it was odd and
stupid of her not to feel more elation and more interest in her own
future. Had not Professor Hecksher himself written her that she had sung
better than he expected? And this from the master was praise indeed!
However, he had also written that she was to allow herself a complete
rest before they had a talk about her future plans. So with this defense
and Mrs. Ashton's additional authority Esther was finally allowed the
privilege of staying at home alone except for their maid.
"Dick may be back a little earlier this afternoon, dear," Betty said as
she kissed her sister good-by. "He has not so much to do in Berlin now
that he has finished his lectures and is just closing up his affairs.
Keep him with you if you feel like talking to him, but if not, ask him
to come over to the castle and drive back home with us. It is absurd
for Dick to be so prejudiced against Lieutenant von Reuter and
dreadfully embarrassing to me. For I am sure he hasn't a reason in the
world, and yet it is plain enough to everybody."
And as Betty walked away after this final speech Esther had a momentary
pang of regret that she had not conquered her own disinclination and
gone along with them. For they and Mrs. Ashton were leaving the country
for Berlin as soon as the others sailed, and this might prove an
excellent chance for the young foreigner to declare his feeling for
Betty, _if_ his admiration really was serious. Also Esther regretted
that she had failed in asking Polly to keep a careful watch upon them,
although this she understood that Polly was more than inclined to do
without further suggestion.
After Betty and her mother had climbed into the carriage, Anthony Graham
accompanying them, and Betty had waved her hand in farewell, Esther, who
was standing on the porch watching them depart, suddenly recalled
Richard Ashton's half-jesting wish that their sister Betty were not
quite so pretty. And this afternoon for the first time Esther believed
that she agreed with him. It was absurd to send a girl looking like the
Princess did at this present moment into a young man's home with the
hope that he would cease to feel an interest in her.
Because it was cold Betty wore a long white cloak over a china blue silk
dress of her favorite shade and a white felt hat with a band of the same
material about it. No costume could have been simpler, and yet
excitement or pleasure or some unusual emotion had made the girl's color
brighter in her eyes, her cheeks and even her hair, so that there seemed
a kind of mysterious shining about her like a star--a glow which Polly
O'Neill recognized instantly as she took her place beside her in the
carriage with Anthony Graham in front with the driver and Miss Adams and
Mrs. Ashton together on the back seat. Indeed, it inspired Polly to give
her friend rather a malicious pinch which actually hurt a little and yet
for which she would neither apologize nor explain. Betty presumed that
it must have something to do with Anthony Graham's presence, since
Polly immediately began making herself more than usually agreeable to
him, insisting that he give them his impressions of Germany and the
Germans, when Anthony would much have preferred remaining silent. Polly
hoped that thus she might be enabled to make her friend realize how much
cleverer and more worth while an American fellow was than any blond
Siegfried whom she might have met by accident in a foreign land.
Carl von Reuter's old feudal estate, however, was picturesque enough to
excite even Polly's undivided admiration, as they drove along an avenue
of oak trees, some of them more than a century old, and crossed a
drawbridge over a moat, which now formed the bed of a stream flowing
down from the hills.
Outside in the garden in front of the house the visitors found
Lieutenant von Reuter, his cousin Frederick and his father walking about
in the afternoon sunshine waiting to receive their guests. And the young
count wore his full dress uniform as an officer in one of the Kaiser's
regiments. He was undeniably handsome, and there was no doubt but that
he and Betty made a striking picture as they stood side by side for a
moment before entering the house, while the young man showed the girl
the view of their hunting forests over to the right where she had had
her accident.
Tea was served in the most splendid apartment that either the two
American girls or Anthony Graham had ever seen before in their lives.
Perhaps there was some motive in their host's inviting them into the big
banqueting hall in an upper part of the castle rather than in the shabby
drawing rooms on the first floor, where the poverty of the family was so
much more apparent. But even if this were true, the selection was a
happy one, for which his guests were unfeignedly thankful. The great
room was fifty feet long and about two-thirds as broad. It had heavy
black oak paneling midway to the ceiling, which was formed of heavy
beams and rafters of the same wood. And along the ledge of the
wainscoting were old tankards of silver and pewter, plates hammered
deep with the armorial bearings of different branches of the family.
Shields hung against the walls and battered helmets, while standing in
groups or in solemn solitary dignity were the "iron men" or the "knights
in armor," who had fought for their war lords long before Germany was an
empire.
The old count, although he spoke English much less well than his son,
led his guests toward a circular space underneath a great stained-glass
window, where the light of the afternoon sun shone rose and gold upon
the carved table and high-back chairs. He appeared genuinely pleased
with their interest and enthusiasm over his estate and the country near
by, until Polly, whose sense of the dramatic was always stronger than
any other, felt herself becoming as ardently admiring of the older man
as she was critical of his son. And after tea was over and the others
sat discussing unimportant matters, in a moment of thoughtlessness,
Polly allowed the old count to lead her and Anthony Graham to another
part of the house in order to show them his library. Mrs. Ashton and
Miss Adams had expressed themselves as too tired for the climbing of
more stairs, while Betty, Carl and Frederick von Reuter, though making
no excuses, yet failed to join them.
When nearly midway down the room it did occur to Polly as unwise to be
leaving Betty unchaperoned by her own vigilance, yet as Betty now shook
her head, declining positively to be lured into this excursion, there
was nothing to do but to trust her friend to Mrs. Ashton and Margaret
Adams for a few moments.
Nevertheless Polly should have understood that Mrs. Ashton would not
oppose any suggestion for a more intimate conversation with Betty that
the young lieutenant might chance to make. And of course it was
impossible for Miss Adams to object unless Betty's mother did. As for
Frederick von Reuter, the attraction he once entertained for the
American girl seemed to continue now only in a kind of transferred
interest in his cousin's success.
So that five minutes after Polly disappeared out of one door at the far
end of the hall, Carl von Reuter led Betty through another, ostensibly
to show her a celebrated portrait in the family gallery, but without
inviting the others to accompany them. And Betty seemed quite willingly
to have accepted his invitation.
Once inside the gallery, she appeared more deeply interested in the
pictures than the young man expected or desired. For the greater number
of them were ugly old men and stout elderly _Frauen_ with no very strong
attraction even for their descendant. And there at the end of the dark
room near a window hung with a faded velvet curtain, stood a small oak
seat, while beyond was a particularly fine view of the park.
But Betty could only be lured to this seat by long effort and the moment
after seating herself suggested that they had best return to the others
now that the pictures had been seen, since it must be almost time for
leaving for home. Nevertheless, as her host did not stir or even seem to
have heard her request, Betty subsided for a few moments. She was
honestly weary, being unaccustomed to such a vast house with its miles
of steps and endless passage-ways.
"Miss Ashton," said Lieutenant von Reuter suddenly and quite formally,
"will you do me the honor to become my wife? In my country you know it
is the custom to speak first to the parent, but I understand that it is
not so in your United States."
Then as Betty gazed at him without answering, although her face had
flushed deeply, he went on with more feeling: "You know I have cared for
you always since our first meeting. I have been unable--I have not cared
to conceal it."
Frightened and uncertain, Betty bit her lips to keep them from
trembling. This was her first proposal, and she could not help thinking
of that for a moment; besides it was so romantic! No one of her friends
would ever be apt to experience anything like it. Here she and
Lieutenant von Reuter were in his splendid, shabby old castle sitting
together in the shadow of his ancestors. Why, what he had just said to
her meant that she might some day be a countess if she wished! But
Betty brought herself together with a slight frown and a feeling of
distaste and shame of herself. What absurd ideas were in her mind in the
presence of so tremendously serious a subject! Here she was thinking and
behaving like a foolish dreaming child. Did she care for Carl von Reuter
for himself? Would she have cared had he been of more humble origin, had
he been less handsome? Betty glanced at the young fellow almost
fearfully. She had been trying to decide how much she liked him before
this without success. Yet because until today he had not declared his
feeling toward her, she had not felt it necessary wholly to make up her
mind.
"But I thought, Lieutenant von Reuter," Betty answered slowly, "that it
was impossible for you to marry any one who was not wealthy, that your
estates were mortgaged and that your father looked to you to make your
old name prominent once more."
Until now she had kept her head slightly turned away; but with her
question Betty faced her companion, her expression grave and
interested.
Yet she was surprised to see that the young man's blue eyes now closed
slightly while his fair face flushed with what appeared to be an odd
combination of satisfaction and regret.
"But you are no longer poor, Miss Ashton," he answered unexpectedly. "I
have lately heard of your good fortune, and while it is very little
compared to the amount my father expected me to marry, it may be enough.
At least, I have been able to persuade him that I care for you so much
that we must make it do."
Carl von Reuter spoke quite frankly without any special embarrassment,
for it did not seem to him that his speech was in any way remarkable.
Indeed, it should make Betty realize the extent of his admiration for
her that he had been able to overlook the smallness of her inheritance
in comparison with his own needs. Why, a week before he should not have
been able to make any declaration of his own feelings! Yet now he was
offering his title, his castle, almost his whole future, to an American
girl whose estate was so small that it could scarcely do more than
cover their debts. And that Betty should not be honored by his offer was
beyond his point of view. A German girl would have appreciated the
sacrifice he was making; so why not an American?
Betty sat perfectly still during his explanation, with her hands clasped
tightly together, showing white against the blue folds of her dress. In
her whole life she had never felt so astounded, so completely
overwhelmed, and in truth so angry. How could any man coolly say to her
that he was willing to marry her in spite of the smallness of her
fortune, plainly insinuating at the same moment that unless she had had
the good luck to come into her unexpected inheritance she should never
have received the honor at all.
The girl's cheeks first flushed hotly and then she felt herself growing
pale and self-possessed. Never in her life had she had a more important
demand made upon her dignity and good sense. For she must not show any
kind of ill-feeling. Thank goodness that she was able to give the only
kind of reply that could carry any kind of weight or conviction to her
companion and that she could say it with all truthfulness. For never had
Betty Ashton felt less affection for any friend she had ever had than
she did at this instant for the young nobleman.
"You are very kind, Lieutenant von Reuter," she now answered quietly,
"and I greatly appreciate the honor which you feel you have given me.
But I don't care for you in the way that you wish me to and I am very,
very sure that I never can. Do you not now think it time for us to go
and join the others?"
And Betty talked pleasantly and unaffectedly of other things, while her
host led her back on the return journey between his lines of
distinguished ancestors, although the young man himself scarcely made a
reply to one of her remarks.