HUBERT GROWS MISANTHROPIC.
The Polish insurrection of 1863-4, whose events have already passed
into history, was subdued; tranquillity reigned throughout the
conquered province, but it was the tranquillity of desolation. Those
wintry March days of a year ago, which had brought such calamity to the
main actors in our story, had also witnessed the downfall of a nation's
cause and crushed out the last hope of national freedom from the hearts
of a brave, patriotic people. Russia, aided by Prussia and with the
connivance of Austria, had trampled out the last embers of the
revolution. The overthrow of Count Morynski's corps had been the
turning-point of the revolt on the German frontier. From that moment
the course of the revolution in Prussian Poland was downward.
The loss of Count Morynski, who was by far the ablest revolutionary
leader in this province, and the death of Leo Zulieski, whose name and
family traditions gave so much prestige to the patriot cause, were
heavy blows for a faction already rent by internal discord and rivalry.
Now and then the waning star, which was destined so soon to go out in
utter darkness, flamed up anew; there were still battles and skirmishes
animated by the courage of despair and signalized by heroic deeds; but
the fact became more and more apparent that the cause for which Poland
was fighting was a lost cause. The revolt, which had at first extended
over the whole country, became pent up within ever-narrowing limits;
one post after another fell, one division after another was dispersed
or disbanded, and the insurrection, which had at first assumed such
alarming dimensions, was extinguished even to the last spark. Only
desolation and ruin marked the final desperate struggle of a people
whose heroism and misfortunes appeal to the sympathies of the civilized
world, but which was doomed to such entire defeat and ruin, that the
country for which they fought exists no longer as an independent power
upon the map of nations.
A long time elapsed ere the fate of Count Morynski was decided. He
awoke to consciousness in a prison, and as the surgeons pronounced his
wound mortal, no legal proceedings could be instituted against him. For
many months he hovered between life and death, and upon his partial
recovery he was condemned to execution. A revolutionary leader taken in
arms upon the battle-field could expect no other fate. Severe illness
alone prevented the immediate carrying out of his sentence; upon his
final recovery the revolt was quelled, the rebel army annihilated, and
the victors could afford to be magnanimous. His sentence was commuted
to life-long banishment to one of the remotest provinces of Siberia,--a
questionable act of clemency to a man whose whole existence had been
one long aspiration for freedom, and whose personal liberty had never
known restraint save during his brief period of exile in France.
He had not seen his family since that evening at Villica when he had
bidden them adieu for the battlefield. Neither his daughter nor his
sister was allowed to visit him, his rigid confinement being due to the
attempts they had made to liberate him. In one of these ineffectual
attempts, Paul, the old, faithful servant of the family, had been shot
dead by the prison-guard. The princess and Wanda finding all attempts
at rescue unavailing, had been compelled to yield to the inevitable,
and leave the unhappy man to his fate.
The princess, immediately after the death of her younger son, went to
live at Radowicz. It seemed only natural that the bereaved mother and
the afflicted daughter should seek each others society; but Waldemar
better understood the reason of his mother's departure: he knew that
she could not endure the daily presence of the son who had
unconsciously defrauded the other and dearer one of Wanda's love, who
had goaded him on to that rash deed which led to his untimely death and
to the defeat of the cause so near her heart. He knew also that his
manner of ruling Villica wounded and exasperated his mother; he had
seized the reins with an iron grasp, and he would not let go his hold.
No sooner had the outside revolt, which had so deeply implicated his
estates, been suppressed, than he set about a thorough reorganization
of Villica, bringing everything under his own personal control, and
holding all his subordinates to a strict account, after he had
summarily dismissed those who refused to obey his commands. His aim was
to create a new order of things from the ruins of the old; and although
the task was a herculean one, he was equal to it. His tenants soon
learned to recognize the controlling hand of the master and to yield to
it; revolt upon his estates ended with the departure of the princess
and the downfall of the revolution.
Superintendent Frank, at the young landlord's earnest solicitation,
concluded to remain a year longer at Villica, but when affairs there
were settled upon a secure basis, he carried out his long-cherished
purpose and bought an estate of his own, a pleasant and well-ordered
manor in another province. In two months he would take possession.
At Gretchen's marriage, her father had given her a dowry far surpassing
even Assessor Hubert's selfish anticipations. The marriage had taken
place in October, and the newly-wedded pair lived in J----, where
Professor Fabian had entered upon the duties of his new position, and
where he was meeting with very flattering success. He soon overcame his
morbid fear of publicity, and fully justified the expectations he had
raised as author of "The History of Ancient Germany." His modest and
amiable disposition, so unlike the offensive egotism of his
predecessor, won him general favor; and his handsome young wife, who
was enabled by her father's generosity to make his home elegant and
attractive, knew how to do the honors of her house and to maintain her
husband's position so worthily, that the Fabians stood socially upon a
most agreeable and enviable plane. They had not visited the old home
since their marriage, but they were expected there in a few days.
Assessor Hubert had meantime suffered much from the "slings and arrows
of outrageous fortune," and yet many would have considered his lot an
enviable one, Professor Schwarz having died unmarried, and left him a
considerable fortune. But what availed pecuniary independence, when the
young lady he had chosen out of all the world, and upon whose hand he
had counted with such assurance, belonged to another; when he had not
reached the goal of his life-long ambition, the post of government
counsellor? In spite of his untiring zeal and his laudable efforts to
serve the state, he met with the most atrocious treatment. The state,
far from appreciating his ability, self-sacrifice and devotion, seemed
to incline to Superintendent Frank's opinion, that Assessor Hubert went
on perpetrating one blunder after another, and was really unfit for the
public service.
In truth, Hubert was so palpably slighted in every official promotion,
that his colleagues began to jeer at him, and his aspiring soul,
wounded to its depths, formed a grim resolve to leave the police
department of L---- to its own destruction. His uncle's legacy placed
him above pecuniary want, why should he longer endure unappreciation
and neglect; why submit to non-advancement? Why longer serve a
thankless government which persistently refused to recognize his
brilliant qualities, while it appointed commonplace men like Doctor
Fabian to the highest positions, and conferred the most honorable
distinctions upon them?
The more Hubert thought upon the wrongs and slights he had endured, the
deeper became his indignation; at length it carried him so far that he
went to the governor and hinted at resigning. To his great chagrin the
hint was received eagerly and without one word of protest. He was
declared wise in laying aside the cares and fatigues of active service
now that he had no need of its pecuniary rewards, and the governor
added that he really was rather too nervous and excitable to perform
the duties of an office which required both courage and self-control.
As Hubert went forth from this interview to draw up his formal
resignation, he felt a touch of his renowned uncle's misanthropy and
contempt for the world. The resignation was sent in and actually
accepted. When it took effect, to Hubert's great surprise the state and
police departments were not dissolved, and the world went on as usual!
The ex-assessor had only imitated his uncle's stupid man[oe]uvre, like
him anticipating the direst consequences; but in neither case did the
expected catastrophe arrive.