The next morning all were astir at Villa Baumgarten. Towards midnight a
telegraphic despatch had announced the return of the councillor from
Berlin, and an hour later he had arrived. He brought with him two
business friends, commercial grandees, who were obliged to continue
their journey in the afternoon, and for whom, to give them an
opportunity of seeing several of their friends in the neighbouring
capital, the councillor, before he slept, arranged a large breakfast for
the next morning,--of course for gentlemen only. Cook and housekeeper
had their hands full, and servants ran hither and thither noiselessly.
Kitty passed a sleepless night. The events of the previous day, and
anxiety on Henriette's account, banished slumber from her eyelids.
Sitting for hours at her window, she gazed out over the wind-tossed
trees of the park, to distinguish, if possible, in the waning moonlight
and through the falling rain, a glimpse of the white weathercock on the
roof of the house by the stream; but the low dwelling had vanished, at
it were, and all was quiet there, although Kitty hourly expected that
some messenger sent thence would rouse the inmates of the villa with
evil tidings.
From the other window she had seen the councillor arrive. In a
twinkling, as if sprung from the ground, the villa servants had ranged
themselves about the carriage with their lanterns; the yellow light
illumined the white pillars of the porch, and sparkled and shone on the
silver-mounted harness and the sleek coats of the horses,--nay, it was
even powerful enough to bring into relief one or two of the marble
figures in the shrubbery on the other side of the drive. It all looked
most aristocratic. The councillor of commerce had sprang lightly from
the carriage, in his rich, fur-lined travelling cloak, every motion of
his lithe, youthfully-elastic figure proclaiming the man of wealth just
grown wealthier still,--a gleaming comet, to whose sparkling track the
glittering stream of gold was magnetically attracted. He had conducted
his guests to their apartments, leaving the house himself, accompanied
by a couple of lantern-bearing servants, towards two o'clock, to seek
his rooms in the tower. Then all had gradually grown quiet in the
villa; but the wind, whistling and shrieking about the house, still
drove repose from Kitty's eyes. At daybreak, however, she fell asleep,
to her great annoyance, for it made her late: instead of being in the
house by the river at six o'clock, as she had intended, it was nine
before she left the villa.
The morning was clear and beautiful. The tempest of wind had moderated
to that soft southern breeze that brings upon its wings the fragrance of
the first spring flowers, and caressingly but persistently seeks to draw
the brown veil from the soft, shy buds. The birds were twittering upon
the roof of the doctor's house, the boughs of the cherry-trees at one of
its corners were sprinkled with the tender white of the opening
blossoms, and the young grass could no longer hide from the light in the
glorious morning sunshine. The former bleaching-ground was covered, as
it were, with a misty green veil.
As Kitty crossed the bridge the waters were flowing clear and sunlit,
almost peacefully, beneath its decaying wooden arches. Strange! The
waves that last evening had received into their depths the rejected ring
were far on their way towards the distant ocean; they alone could tell
of the treacherous white hands that had burst asunder an oppressive
chain.
The house by the river was pervaded by what seemed almost an air of
festal solemnity. The red tiled floor of the hall was strewn with fine
white sand, and there was perceptible a delicate pastille fragrance; the
little table near the hall-door was covered with a fresh napkin, and
upon it stood an antique clay vase filled with evergreens, snowdrops,
and anemones. The faithful old cook-maid was once more installed in her
kitchen, with sleeves rolled up and a dazzling white apron tied around
her waist, her round red cheeks shining with good humour and content.
And why was the dean's widow thus early in the morning dressed in
dark-brown silk, with a fine old white lace barbe upon her gray hair,
and the same delicate material around her neck and wrists? Kitty's
heart sank within her. Was it all in honour of the false love who was
expected to-day to visit her sick sister?
The old lady said not a word with regard to it. She only seemed
agitated, and in her eyes and in her voice there were traces of tears.
She greeted Kitty with the joyful intelligence that the invalid had
passed an excellent night, with no return of the hemorrhage.
In gratitude for this good news Kitty kissed the delicate hand extended
to her, when suddenly the widow, usually so reserved, clasped her arms
about the girlish figure and pressed her to her heart like a daughter,
before leading her into the sick-room.
Henriette was sitting propped up in bed while her maid was arranging her
abundant hair, the doctor having retired to take some rest only an hour
previously. The sick girl's long, thin face, in which the cheek-bones
stood out prominently and the large eyes were encircled by dark rings,
looked almost death-like, and Kitty was shocked at the alteration
produced in it by the last twenty-four hours, although its expression
was much happier. She could not say enough of the doctor's kindness and
care, nor of how comfortable and content she felt in the dear old room,
which she dreaded to think of ever leaving. She begged Kitty to return
to the villa to get a book which she had promised to the widow. Flora
had borrowed it of her sister and must be asked where it was. And then
she whispered in Kitty's ear that Flora and her grandmother must not
weary her by coming to see her too often. She had not the slightest
suspicion of the scene that had been enacted at her bedside on the
previous evening, and that by her means the long-threatened storm had
broken forth.
Kitty could hardly bear to meet her eye, and breathed a sigh of relief
when the invalid concluded by begging her to fetch the book as soon as
possible, and to bring her several articles from her writing-desk, the
key of which she handed to her.
In an hour, therefore, the young girl re-entered the villa. She was
thoroughly possessed by the melancholy impression made upon her by
Henriette's whole appearance,--the waxen pallor of her face, the sunken
features, and the large, brilliant eyes. She recoiled as if from a blow
when through the open door of the conservatory she saw the
breakfast-table set out with flowers and silver and every costly
delicacy that could be procured. A thick Turkish carpet covered the
entire marble floor of the Moorish room. The feet of the guests must be
made warm enough, and their heads also, to judge by the flasks of choice
wine just arrived from the tower cellar.
Kitty ascended to Henriette's room and collected all the articles the
sick girl had asked for, and then she dutifully went to bid the Frau
President good-morning. As she passed along the corridor her light step
was unheard in the hall below by two of the servants, one of whom had
just received a parcel from the letter-carrier.
"Good gracious, here is this parcel back again for the third time!" he
said, fretfully. "I am tired of the sight of it. I shall have to wrap
it up again to-morrow and put a fresh address upon the cover. Our
Fraeulein must think we have precious little to do." He turned the
parcel about irresolutely. "The best thing would be to throw it into
the kitchen fire and----"
"What is inside?" asked the other.
"Quantities of paper; and the Fraeulein has written upon it herself, in
big, sprawling letters, 'Woman.' It may be all very fine----" He
paused, in terror, and put on a respectful air: Kitty had descended the
stairs and passed by him to the Frau President's apartment.
She was not admitted. The maid came out and informed her that her
mistress was occupied in receiving an early visit from one of the ladies
of the court. Therefore Kitty went to Flora's room to get the book
Henriette wished for. She felt a repugnance to crossing the threshold,
her heart beat almost audibly from inward agitation, and she was obliged
to admit to herself that with this sister she had not one single spark
of sympathy. All the indignation which she had so tried to conquer
during the night stirred again within her and threatened to master her.
Perhaps Flora experienced similar sensations. She was standing in the
middle of the room, beside a large table covered with books and
pamphlets, and looked up with flashing eyes at the intruder. Ah, no;
her anger was probably due to the returned parcel. There it lay, torn
open, and its beautiful mistress had just scornfully tossed into the
wastepaper basket the letter that had accompanied it. It was well that
Fraeulein von Giese, the malicious maid of honour, was not looking on.
Flora's "little finger" had apparently made a small mistake with regard
to the destiny of "Woman."
"You have just come from Henriette," Flora said, hastily covering the
rejected manuscript with the blue paper in which it had been wrapped.
"I hear she is doing very well; I sent over at eight o'clock to inquire.
Moritz has no consideration; he sent me a note, written over-night, in
consequence of which I was obliged to rise early to be dressed in time,
as he wished _a tout prix_ to present his guests to grandmamma and me
before breakfast. As if the fate of the world hung upon this
presentation! Grandmamma will not be greatly edified."
She looked charming. It has been said that we are all apt involuntarily
to dress in accordance with the mood of the hour. If this be true,
Flora's awakening must have been unusually gay and glad, for her whole
figure was draped in the blue of the summer skies. Even in her light
curls there was a blue ribbon.
The dress harmonized but ill, to be sure, with the apartment, which
looked gloomy and chilly to one entering from the brilliant sunshine
outside, and would have been a more fitting background for the figure of
some pale, worn scholar than it was for this graceful azure fairy.
Neither did the bright and yet delicate hue suit the lady's expression
of countenance, which betokened ill humour and a depression not to be
concealed. Not a word was said of the occurrences of the previous
evening. Apparently they were buried and forgotten; even the finger so
lately stripped of its ring had found indemnification for its loss, and
sparkled in the splendour of diamonds.
At Kitty's request, Flora went to a book-shelf and took from it the
wished-for volume. "Henriette is not going to read herself?" she asked,
over her shoulder.
"Doctor Bruck would hardly allow it; his aunt wishes to read the book,"
Kitty replied, coldly, as she took the volume from her sister.
A sneer hovered upon Flora's lips, and vexation shone in her eyes. She
evidently regarded this mention of Bruck's name as great want of tact
upon Kitty's part.
Kitty turned to go. But, as she opened the door, the councillor made
his appearance, in a state of great hurry and agitation, although he
looked quite radiant.
"Stay, Kitty!" he exclaimed, gaily, and stretched out his arms to bar
her way. "I must convince myself that you are well and uninjured." He
led her back into the room, closed the door, and threw his hat upon the
table. "Now tell me, for heaven's sake, the truth of this harrowing
story which Anton has been narrating to me as I have been dressing!" he
went on. "My people, foolishly enough, said not one word of it all to
me last night, for fear of spoiling my night's rest. I have strictly
forbidden any such ill-judged forbearance for the future." He ran his
hands through his hair. "I am outraged! What will the world think of
my want of feeling? Henriette sick in bed, and a formal breakfast
arranged for this morning! Tell me the truth of it. They say you were
attacked by a mob of furies."
"_I_ alone was the object of the attack, Moritz," said Flora, "Henriette
and Kitty suffered only because they were with me. I cannot help saying
that, to my mind, the principal blame in allowing matters to come to
such a point is your own: you ought to have taken decided measures at
the first hint of discontent among these wretches. A man of sufficient
force of character is always master of such a situation. But your
perpetual dread of offending and shocking makes you so weak----"
"Yes, weak enough with you, and with grandmamma," the councillor, pale
with vexation, interrupted her. "You, especially, never rested until I
recalled the promise I had given my workmen, and so irritated them
intensely. Bruck is right----"
"I beg you spare me there!" Flora angrily exclaimed. "If you have no
other authority upon whom to rely----"
The councillor approached her and looked into her eyes with amazement in
his own. "What, Flora, still so hostile?"
"Do you imagine me so deplorably weak that I can assume and lay aside my
views as one puts on and takes off a garment?" she asked, in reply.
"No, not that; but are you not rash thus to defy our whole cultivated
society?"
"What is society to me?" She laughed aloud. "'Our whole cultivated
society!'" she repeated. "Will you tell me how you can possibly find
any connection between it and your poor failure of a protege?"
The councillor shook his head, and took her hand in his; he was almost
speechless with surprise. "Why, is it--can it be possible? Do you not
know----"
"Good heavens! what is there to know?" she interrupted him, with an
impatient frown, and a slight stamp of her small foot.
At this moment the door opened, and the Frau President entered. She was
simply dressed in violet silk. It might have been that the colour made
her face look shrunken and sallow, or perhaps she had had a restless
night as the result of her yesterday's agitation,--she certainly looked
haggard and old.
The councillor hurried towards her and kissed her hand respectfully,
reminding her that he had been desirous of paying his respects to her
half an hour before, but had been informed that she had not yet left her
sleeping-apartment, where she was receiving a visit from Fraeulein von
Berneck, one of the court ladies.
"Yes, the good creature came to express her sympathy for Henriette's
illness and the shameful attack made upon Flora," she said. "We shall
have a most trying day to-day: the whole town is ringing with what has
occurred, and our friends are indignant; they will all be here to
inquire for us."
She sank wearily into an arm-chair; her voice trembled, and all the
elasticity which usually triumphed so victoriously over her years seemed
gone. "Fraeulein von Berneck had another reason, and a principal one,
be sure, for coming," she began again. "I know her well: she is one of
those who long to be the first to tell a piece of good news, and is
quite careless as to whether it may still be a court-secret or not. She
came to tell me privately of the good fortune that has befallen our
family." She rose and clasped her hands. "And yet what a terrible
dilemma for me! I cannot tell absolutely whether to mourn or to
rejoice. It certainly is most distressing that at court, where the best
example ought to be set, the old proverbial ingratitude should be shown.
What sacrifices Baer has made for the royal family! And suddenly he is
set aside as if the faithful old man were not in existence. And so full
of vigour as he is, in body and mind,--they are going to pension him!"
"And this is old Von Berneck's good news?" Flora asked, indignantly.
"Of course not!" the Frau President replied, emphasizing her words
strongly. "Flora, the strangest things are happening every day. Could
you have thought it possible an hour ago that Bruck should be Hofrath
and physician to the royal household?"
"Nonsensical court gossip! What will not idle brains contrive!" laughed
Flora. "Hofrath and court-physician! And you listened to such
ridiculous stuff, grandmamma, and were congratulated upon it?" And she
broke again into a ringing laugh.
"Do you really live so far here from the civilized world that you read
no newspapers?" exclaimed the councillor. "Do you actually know
nothing--positively nothing--of all that has occurred, and that concerns
us so nearly? Why, I have returned a day earlier on this very account.
I could not rest for joy. All the papers are full of the wonderful
skill Bruck has shown in L----g: it is the topic of the day in Berlin
society. The Crown-Prince of R----, who is studying in L----g, had a
fall from his horse, and his head was so seriously and dangerously
injured that no surgeon could be found willing to undertake the only
operation that could save his life: even the famous Professor H----
refused to operate. But he remembered that Bruck had treated
successfully a similar case in his last campaign, to every one's
astonishment. So he instantly summoned him by telegraph----"
"And you imagine this to have been _your_ Bruck, your protege?" Flora
interrupted him. She tried to smile, but her ashy lips, as well as her
whole pale, mocking face, seemed paralyzed to marble.
"It certainly was _my_ Bruck, as I am proud to call him," the councillor
replied, with evident satisfaction. He was rejoiced indeed at this
fortunate turn of affairs. True, he had long ceased to have any
scruples with regard to his silence in a certain matter; the manner of
the miller's death no longer troubled his repose,--for he was a genuine
child of the times, an egotist, who, when the choice was to be made
between "another" and "self," was never for a moment in doubt that
"self" was to be preferred. "And, besides this, a pamphlet he has just
published has made an immense sensation in medical circles," he
continued. "They say he has made a surgical discovery of great
importance to the profession. Oh, there is no denying it,--a brilliant
career awaits Bruck."
"Impossible!" Flora said, in a strangely altered tone. She looked like
a player who stakes his last guinea upon one card. "I am not to be
imposed upon! Either there is some mistake here as to the name, or--the
whole story is a fabrication."
At this obstinate and unjustifiable incredulity the councillor fairly
forgot the courteous forbearance and self-control he was wont to
exercise in his intercourse with the ladies of his household. He
stamped his foot angrily and turned away.
The Frau President stood by the table, her white, wrinkled fingers
playing nervously upon its surface, her eyes fixed anxiously upon her
grandchild. She entirely understood what she must feel upon hearing
thus extolled the man whom she had so shamefully depreciated and
slandered. It was a lamentable defeat; but these were moments in which
a true woman of the world was bound to assert her supremacy.
"You cannot help yourself, Flora," she said, calmly; "you will have to
believe it at last. For my part, strange as it is, I doubt no longer.
The Duke of D---- is uncle on the mother's side to the crown-prince; of
course he is rejoiced at his nephew's recovery, for yesterday evening I
saw the order of the D---- royal household lying upon Bruck's
writing-table."
"And you tell me this _now_ for the first time, grandmamma?" Flora
almost screamed. "Why was I not told yesterday? Why have you kept it
from me?"
"Kept it from you?" the Frau President repeated, so indignantly that her
head shook with the tremulousness that frequently attacks the old when
angry. "What impertinence! What, I should like to know, could induce me
to keep such a matter to myself, except the fact that during the last
few months you have resented the mention of Bruck's name in your
presence? I have certainly avoided it----"
"Because my views on the subject were quite in accordance with your own,
chere grand'mere."
"Not at all; but because my whole soul revolts at outbursts of passion.
You have been his bitterest opponent; you have judged him more harshly
than the severest of his colleagues: the slightest attempt to excuse him
always provoked a scene. Poor Henriette and Moritz can tell a tale upon
that subject. And have you not this very moment shown how any favourable
intelligence with regard to him is received by you?" She must have been
agitated indeed so far to forget her almost invariable rule of silence
upon disagreeable topics as thus to pass in review before others Flora's
misconduct.
Flora was silent. She stood at the window, her back turned to the rest,
but her gasping breath showed the struggle through which she was
passing.
"And, besides, tell me when I could have told you," the Frau President
continued. "Hardly yesterday, when you scarcely showed yourself in the
drawing-room, after you came home, to say 'good-evening' either to me or
to my guests. Neither was there any time to tell you while we were never
alone at the doctor's, when the meagre comforts of his home had put you
into such an ill humour."
"They were a source of annoyance to you, my dear grandmother, you will
please to remember. You are mistaken as regards myself."
Kitty opened wide her honest brown eyes at this audacious denial; the
anathema hurled yesterday against the "dreary old barn" still rang in
her ears.
"There is no reasoning with you. I know you well. With all your
boasted love of honesty and straightforwardness, you are ready to hide
behind a falsehood as soon as it suits you to do so!" the Frau
President, by this time thoroughly angry, declared, and, as she moved
her hand upon the table, she pushed aside the bundle of manuscript lying
there. The cover again fell off, revealing the "big, sprawling letters"
of the title.
"Ah, is this here again upon its zigzag journey through the world?" she
asked, pointing to the papers. Her tone showed how malicious she, the
advocate of moderation in all things, could be. "I should think you
might at last allow it its natural rest in the waste-paper basket. This
perpetual offering of it for publication, with the consequent repeated
rejection of it by the publishers, is, since you are so nearly connected
with me, becoming unendurable. I should like to know how you would bear
it if one of us should even hint a doubt of your 'great intellectual
capacity;' and yet it comes to you from others every four or five weeks,
put down in black and white----"
"Do not chafe yourself needlessly, grandmamma. You, as well as certain
other people, may easily be mistaken," Flora interrupted her, glancing
the while angrily towards her young sister. Had not the chit heard a
like unfavourable judgment passed upon her mental powers on the previous
day? "You are out of sorts, because you have lost in Von Baer a good
friend at court,--and indeed I cannot but sympathize with you, for Bruck
will hardly understand how to further your small interests there, even
for my sake. It is hard for you, very hard, and yet I cannot see why I
should be your victim. I will ask permission to withdraw until the
household skies are again clear." She gathered together her papers, and
vanished, like a blue cloud, behind the door leading to her
dressing-room.
"She is so very eccentric," the Frau President said, with a sigh.
"There is nothing in her of her mother, who was all gentleness and
docility. Mangold did very wrong in placing her at the head of his
household while she was so young. I did all I could to prevent it, but I
might as well have talked to the wind. You know well enough, Moritz,
how obstinate Mangold could be."
Kitty went towards the door to leave the room. It was undeniable that
Flora's early release from all authority had been an injury to her, but
the young girl could not stay and hear her dead father so blamed
for--refusing, for excellent reasons, to allow his mother-in-law to take
the lead in his household.
The councillor followed her and took her hand. "You are so pale, Kitty,
so grave and quiet," he said. "I am afraid you we still suffering from
the effects of the events of yesterday, my poor child." It was not said
at all in the tone of an elderly guardian.
"Kitty has been pale and silent for some days now," the Frau President
hastily remarked. "I know what is the matter with her: she is homesick.
You need not wonder at it, my dear Moritz. Kitty is used to the quiet
life of the middle classes; they make an idol of her in Dresden;
everything in the modest household revolves about the wealthy
foster-child. With the best will on our part, that cannot be so here.
We live too much in the world; all our social customs, the elements of
our society, are so different, that she must necessarily feel oppressed
and uncomfortable with us." She approached the young girl and gently
stroked her cheek. "Am I not right, my child?"
"I am sorry to be forced to say 'no,' Frau President," Kitty replied,
firmly, and, as she spoke, she drew back her head, evidently in protest
against further caresses. "I am not made an idol of; everything in the
household does not revolve about the heiress." She laughed archly.
"The poor heiress has more than ever expected of her, and her errors and
less indulgence than they did before she was rich. And the
distinguished elements of your social circle are by no means so foreign
to me as you suppose. The Prime-Minister Von B---- is a near friend of
my foster-parents. Our drawing-room is, it is true, too small to
accommodate card-tables, but it is a rendezvous for eminent literary
men, and is often sought by musical celebrities, when, I assure you, my
poor little cottage piano does good service." And again a charming and
merry smile hovered upon her lips,--not, however, devoid of sarcasm:
there was, indeed, an antagonistic vein in her composition.
"Thank God, my temperament is such as not to allow of my being homesick
wherever I know that I am of use," she said, turning to the councillor.
"So do not be afraid, Moritz, but rather give me leave to remain here
for an indefinite length of time--for Henriette's sake."
"Good heaven, I have no more earnest desire than to keep you here!" he
exclaimed, with an eagerness that struck even Kitty as strange.
The Frau President was again standing by the table, turning over the
leaves of a book, at which she was looking so earnestly that she seemed
to have neither eyes nor ears for aught else. "Of course, my dear
Kitty," she said, indifferently, "you will remain here as long as you
are content to do so; only your stay must not partake in the smallest
degree of the character of self-sacrifice,--that we must most decidedly
prohibit. Nanni is an excellent nurse, and my maid is ready to assist
her if necessary. You can leave your dear invalid without anxiety."
"Let the motive be what it may, dearest grandmamma, it suffices that
Kitty wishes to stay with us," the councillor eagerly interposed. He
could not turn his eyes away from the young girl, who stood entirely
unmoved by the words either of the Frau President or of her guardian.
"Why, in the joyful hope that you would stay with us, I ordered the new
grand piano----" He broke off to breathe an ecstatic kiss upon the
closed thumb and forefinger of his right hand. "Kitty, you have an
instrument now in comparison with which the one in the music-room is a
mere spinnet. I ordered it, I say, sent directly here."
"Oh, Moritz, that is not what I meant!" cried the young girl,
thoughtlessly, with a look of actual terror in her eyes. "God forbid!
Dresden is and always must be my home, and Villa Baumgarten only a
temporary abode." She laughed merrily. "A grand piano would be a clumsy
piece of luggage to carry about with me."
"I venture to predict that you will entertain another opinion with
regard to Dresden one of these days," he rejoined, with a meaning smile.
"The grand piano will be here to-morrow, and will be placed for the
present in your room."
The Frau President closed her book and rested her small white hand upon
the cover. "You have made other arrangements than those we agreed
upon," she said, with apparent composure. "They embarrass me somewhat,
but I willingly comply with them. I will write to Baroness Steiner
to-day and postpone the visit she was to pay us during the month of
May."
"But I cannot see why----"
"Because we cannot accommodate her, my dear Moritz. Her companion, who
comes with her, was to have Kitty's room."
The councillor shrugged his shoulders. "I am very sorry, then. Of
course my ward must stay where she is."
He opposed her! He dared to look calmly into the irritated old lady's
angry eyes and think it quite natural that the Frau Baroness von Steiner
should give place to Kitty,--he who once would have moved heaven and
earth, who thought no sacrifice too great, if thereby he might tempt any
person of distinction to be his guest! The thin coating of social
varnish which his intercourse with refined society had given him had
suddenly been rubbed off, exposing the coarse, common nature of the
parvenu. True, he now possessed rank, and was wealthier than most
others of his present station,--he had just reaped another golden
harvest,--he could plant himself defiantly upon his money-bags,
and--this he was doing.
The old lady bit her lip. "I will write immediately," she said, and
gathered up her train to go. "The situation in which I find myself
placed, from no fault of my own, is scarcely an enviable one, I must
say," she said, in a tone of some bitterness, elevating her eyebrows and
speaking over her shoulder.
"And all on my account!" Kitty exclaimed, approaching, and extending her
hand to detain the Frau President. "Moritz, you cannot mean that I,
young girl as I am, should exclude any friend of the Frau President's.
It cannot be. Have I not my own home in the mill? I shall take up my
abode there when Frau von Steiner arrives."
"That you certainly will not, my dear Kitty; I decidedly protest against
that," the Frau President rejoined, coldly but firmly, and all the
haughty arrogance of her nature shone in her eyes. "Your mother never
had any unkindness upon my part to complain of; but this intimate
association of the villa and the mill is repugnant to my very soul, and
least of all would I expose such a connection to the severely critical
eye of my refined and aristocratic friend." She stiffly inclined her
head. "I shall be in the blue drawing-room, Moritz, in case you wish to
present your guests." And she left the room.
The councillor waited with a scornful air until the rustle of her silken
robes had died away and the door of the music-room had closed audibly,
and then he indulged in a low chuckling laugh.
"You have had your lesson, Kitty," he said. "There is no doubt that the
velvet paws conceal sharp claws. Yes, yes, the old cat knows how to
scratch. I myself could show scars enough. But, thank Heaven, her turn
has come! She must endure what she most abhors; she is no longer
dangerous. With Von Baer pensioned, her influence at court and in
society is destroyed." He rubbed his hands in smiling satisfaction.
"Not a hair's-breadth shall you stir, my dear child; you have a better
right in my house than all the rest of them,--remember that!"
He was interrupted. A servant entering announced that the guests
awaited their host. Moritz hastily seized his hat, and would have given
Kitty his arm, but she slipped past him into the corridor. This
transformed guardian, with his bewildering tenderness of voice and
manner, pleased her not at all; his cold, business-like letters had been
much more to her taste. What a strange change there was in him!
Involuntarily she thought of her recent reception in this house; she
seemed still to hear the anxious whisper in which the councillor had
reminded her of the respect she owed to the Frau President; and here he
was, sneering at her behind her back, and beginning to set bounds to her
power, hitherto so unquestioned beneath his roof. All this terrified
the young girl; it was inexplicable, and as uncomfortable as the close
crimson room, with its musty odour of books and papers upon which she
now turned her back to return to the house by the river.