The factory clock struck five as Kitty, accompanied by Doctor Bruck,
came out into the court-yard. It had grown colder, and the antique
sun-dial in the gable of the mill, which in the warm spring sunshine of
the earlier afternoon had clearly marked the time, looked worn and
indistinct again.
A clear peal from the bell at the gate summoned Franz from the mill, and
his wife followed him, stretching her neck to see all she could of the
newly-returned young mistress. Kitty begged them to pay every attention
to the invalid during her absence, which they duly promised to do. Just
then something rustled through the air, and a beautiful dove fell maimed
upon the pavement of the yard.
"Drat 'em! will they never stop that rogues' work?" cried Franz, with an
oath, as he sprang down the steps and picked up the bird. Its wing was
broken. "Just see here, wife," he said to her; "it's none of ours,--I
thought so. They're a God-forsaken pack of scoundrels over there. They
shoot the poor lady's pet doves under her very nose. Ah, if I were the
Herr Councillor!" And he shook his fist.
"Who is the poor lady, Franz? And who shoots her doves?" asked Kitty,
in surprise.
"He means Henriette," said Doctor Bruck.
"And they shoot them from the factory," cried Franz, angrily.
"What! my brother's workmen?"
"Yes, yes, Fraeulein, those men who eat his bread. 'Tis a sin and a
shame! There's the mischief, doctor! You see now what rogues they are.
You want to waste kindness on them; and a pretty business you'd make of
it. What will you get for your kindness? Small thanks, and such work
as this. No, no; down with them!--that's what I think,--or there'll be
no living here."
"Are there strikes here too, then?" Kitty asked the doctor, whose face
wore so grave and beautiful a smile that she could not help looking at
him.
"No, that is not the matter here," he said, shaking his head. His calm
voice was in striking contrast with Franz's angry gabble. "Several of
the best workmen, having saved a little money, asked of Moritz that when
the estate was divided he would allow them to buy a small piece of waste
land near the factory,--of small value in itself. They wanted to build
houses upon it to rent to the poorer workmen, who can hardly support
their families in town, where rents are so high. The councillor
encouraged their hopes, which he could do the more readily since the
strip of land still belonged to his park----"
"Excuse me for interrupting you, Herr Doctor," Franz here interposed,
"but that was the very reason why he could not let them have it. I
never thought the Frau President would allow it. Who would have such
neighbours if they could help it? The ladies over there were provoked,
and right enough they were; they would not have the building lots sold;
no, 'they would have it ornamentally planted,' and there was an end of
the business. And now the factory-hands are furious, and play all sorts
of tricks in revenge."
"A miserable revenge, indeed. Poor little thing!" said Kitty, taking
the dove from Franz.
"The worst of it is that the worthlessness of single individuals is
attributed to an entire class. No one can blame Frau Urach for not
allowing such people near her," Doctor Bruck said, and his face
darkened.
"I don't admit that. There are evil and revengeful people in all
classes of life," the young girl rejoined, eagerly. "I see a great deal
of the lower classes: my foster-father has many poor patients; and where
good, nourishing food and other help is wanted in addition to his
medicines, my dear Lukas comes to the rescue, and of course I accompany
her. One meets with much coarse ingratitude, 'tis true, but there are
also many true, noble natures to be found among those who are so poor,
so distressingly needy----"
"Not so bad as you think, Fraeulein; that kind of people will always
deceive you," Franz interrupted her, with a contemptuous wave of his
hand.
Kitty silently measured him from head to heel with a most expressive
look. "Heyday, what a magnificent person Franz has come to be!" she
said, with evident irony. "Whom are you speaking of? Are you not
yourself one of them? What were you in the castle mill?--A labourer
just like those in the factory; a labourer who was forced silently to
endure many an injustice, as I can testify."
The miller's dusty cheeks grew crimson. He stood utterly confounded
before the young girl, who had known so well how to remind him of the
truth. "Eh, don't take it amiss, Fraeulein; I meant no harm," he said,
at last, in loutish embarrassment, extending his broad palm.
"I believe there really is no harm in you; but you have been lucky, and
like to play the castle miller with money in his pockets," she said,
after a moment, laying her little hand in his, although the frown of
displeasure did not instantly vanish from her smooth brow. She took out
her handkerchief, laid the dove in it, and tied it up by the four
corners. "I will carry this little sufferer to Henriette," she said,
holding the handkerchief carefully like a basket,--it looked like a
scantily filled traveller's bundle.
The doctor opened a little side-door in the court-yard wall, leading
directly to the park, and the young girl passed through it, but stood
still, amazed, upon the other side. "I do not know myself here," she
cried, looking around her with an air of bewilderment; and then turning
to her companion: "it looks as if giant hands had shaken the park to
pieces. What are those people doing?" She pointed towards an extensive
ditch, where a large number of labourers heads were seen just
above-ground.
"They are digging a pond; the Frau President likes to see swans mirrored
in clear water."
"And what are they building there, towards the south?"
"A tropical conservatory."
She looked thoughtful. "Moritz must be very rich."
"So they say." It sounded cool and indifferent, to the extent almost of
an intentional avoidance of hinting his own opinion upon the subject.
He was a striking person, this Doctor Bruck, she could not but admit to
herself, as he stood there in the red gleam of the late afternoon.
There was something soldierly erect in his figure, while his handsome
bearded face, embrowned by sun and air, expressed only a gentle gravity.
There was not in his bearing a trace of the depression of mind that one
might suppose consequent upon such a misfortune as had befallen him.
"Let me show you the way," he said, as he saw her eyes wander
irresolutely hither and thither over the unaccustomed surroundings. He
offered her his arm, and she took it without hesitation. Strange,--just
so her sister Flora, she thought, walked beside him; and the thought
that a few minutes would confront her with this sister, intellectually
so greatly her superior, fell upon her heart like lead.
She paused, and, after a deep-drawn sigh, said, with an embarrassed
smile, "Oh, what a coward I am! I really believe I am frightened.
Shall I see Flora as soon as I reach the villa?"
She saw the colour mount darkly to his cheek. "To the best of my
belief, she is out driving," he answered, in an under-tone; adding
immediately afterwards, as if to avoid further questioning, "You will
find the household still in a certain state of agitation: the prince
sent Moritz a patent of nobility a few days ago."
And he had just thought to tell her this! "For what?" she asked,
amazed.
"Well, he really has done good service in the cause of national
industry," he replied, quickly and eagerly, as if to bar any
unfavourable judgment. "And Moritz is an exceedingly kind-hearted man;
he does a great deal for the poor."
Kitty shook her head. "His good fortune makes me anxious."
"His good fortune?" he repeated, with emphasis. "That depends upon how
he himself regards these turns of the wheel."
"Oh, be sure they are just what he delights in," she replied, decidedly.
"I know from his letters that the getting and gaining of the goods of
this world is his chief aim in life. His last communication to me was
enthusiastic in tone, because my fortune had proved to be so much larger
than had been expected."
He walked on silently for a moment, and then asked, with a side-glance
at her, "And you,--does all this wealth find you coldly indifferent?"
Kitty leaned slightly forward, and looked him in the face with a pretty
air of waywardness. "You doubtless expect a very grave 'yes' from my
advanced age, but I can't bring myself to utter it. I find it
excessively delightful to be rich."
He laughed softly to himself, and asked no further question. They walked
on quickly, and soon reached the linden-avenue. It had not been altered;
fresh gravel had lately been spread upon its entire length. "Ah, there
I see a dear old-time friend!" the young girl cried, pointing to a
decaying wooden bridge, the arches of which spanned the stream at some
distance.
"It leads to the fields on the other side----"
"Yes, to the orchard and meadows. There is a pretty old house
there,--once a dependency of the castle,--embowered in grape-vines, with
a broad flight of stone steps before the door. Oh, it is deliciously
home-like and peaceful there! Susie used to make the garden her
bleaching-ground; it was blue with violets every spring; I used to find
the earliest there always."
"You may do so still; the little place has been mine since this
morning." And as he spoke he cast a satisfied glance towards it.
Kitty thanked him, and looked down thoughtfully as she walked along upon
the fresh gravel. Was her beautiful sister to reign as mistress in that
house? Flora, with her haughty carriage, her flowing robes! Flora
Mangold, whose aspirations were so lofty that a palace could hardly
content them, at home in the lonely house, with its huge green porcelain
stove and its worn wooden floors! How she must have changed for his
sake!
A distant noise of wheels startled her. She looked up, and found
herself so close to the villa that she could distinguish the pattern of
the lace curtains at its windows. All was quiet there, but along the
drive that swept by the stately front of the mansion a barouche swiftly
approached, drawn by a pair of magnificent horses and glittering in all
the pride of fresh varnish and silver mountings. A lady held the reins
with a firm hand; her figure, shown to advantage in a dark velvet
costume, trimmed with fur, sat airily and gracefully upon the high
cushion. White plumes floated back from her brow, and about her classic
face and white throat clustered fair curls.
"Flora! Ah, how beautiful my sister is!" Kitty cried, with enthusiasm,
extending her hand involuntarily towards the fair driver; but neither
Flora nor the councillor, who sat by her side with folded arms, heard
her exclamation. The barouche flew past around the opposite corner, and
was heard to draw up before the principal entrance.
A pebble flew across Kitty's path,--the doctor's cane had playfully, as
it were, tossed it away. Then first the girl observed that in her
eagerness she was outstripping him, and she turned towards him. He was
walking at his previous pace, but his bearing seemed to have become a
trifle more erect, more proudly reserved. As she looked at him, his
glance was hastily averted with what almost seemed embarrassment. She
suppressed with difficulty an ironical smile, surmising that she had
detected in him some such thought as, "Heavens, what a clumsy creature
is here as compared with my graceful sylph!"
"Flora's courage in driving surprises me," she said, as they again
walked side by side.
"Her companion's contempt of danger is much more astonishing. This was a
'trial-trip:' the councillor bought those young horses only yesterday."
He was greatly irritated. She could hear it in his voice, and fell
silent in dismay.