THE "FRAU PROFESSORIN."
Dinner was over, and the married pair found themselves alone in the
family sitting-room. The professor, quite contrary to his usual habit,
was pacing uneasily up and down. He tried vainly to conceal his inward
perturbation, and was so deeply absorbed in thought that he did not
remark the silence of his usually talkative wife. Gretchen sat upon the
sofa, and for a long time gazed intently at her husband. At length
having studied her mode of attack, she advanced valiantly to the
charge.
"Emil," she began, with a solemnity which Hubert himself had never
equalled; "Emil, I am outrageously treated here!"
Fabian stopped short, and gazed at his wife in alarm and horror. "You?
Good heavens! By whom?"
"By my papa, and, what is worst of all, by my own husband."
The professor rushed to his wife's side and seized her hand, but with a
very ungracious mien she snatched it from him.
"Yes, the way in which I am treated is perfectly outrageous!" she
reiterated. "You show me no confidence, you have secrets from me, you
treat me like an ignorant child, _me_, a married woman, the
wife of a professor in the University of J----; it is atrocious!"
"Dear Gretchen," said Fabian, meekly, and then he stopped suddenly.
"What has papa been telling you? Why have you not confided it to me?
Why were you two so long closeted together? What are these momentous
secrets between you? O, you needn't deny it, Emil; you know that you
and papa have secrets that you don't tell me."
The professor attempted no denial; he gazed at the floor, and looked
very much depressed. His wife gave him a reproving glance.
"Well, then, I shall tell _you_," said Gretchen, "since you will not
trust me. There is another plot in Villica, a conspiracy, as Hubert
would say. Papa is involved, and is drawing you into it. The object of
the plot is the liberation of Count Morynski."
"Child, for God's sake be silent!" cried Fabian, in dismay; but
Gretchen paid no heed to the entreaty; she went on without a moment's
pause.
"And Herr Nordeck is not in Altenhof; if he were, you would not be so
anxious about him. What do you care for Count Morynski and his flight?
Ah, but I know why you tremble! Your beloved Waldemar is with him. I
shouldn't wonder if he himself had liberated the count; it would be
just like him."
The professor was dumb with amazement at his wife's penetration, and at
the clear, logical way in which she had stated the case. He thought her
incredibly clever, and yet he was horrified as she counted out to him
on her fingers the secrets he had believed impenetrable.
"And no one tells me a word of all these things," continued Gretchen,
in ever-increasing indignation, "not a word, when you and papa both
know that I can keep a secret. Who saved an outbreak at the castle by
sending Assessor Hubert on a fool's errand over to Janowo; who, indeed,
if not I alone? You hadn't a thing to do with it. The princess and the
Countess Wanda always know what is going on; the Polish women are the
confidants of their fathers and husbands; they are allowed to take part
in politics, and especially in conspiracies; but we poor German women
are always slighted and kept back by our husbands; they humiliate us by
the most insulting distrust, they treat us like slaves; they--" The
professor's wife could not go on; as a realizing sense of her slavery
and humiliation clearly dawned upon her mind, she began to sob aloud.
Her husband was almost beside himself.
"Gretchen, my dearest Gretchen, do not weep," he said, entreatingly.
"You know that I have no secrets from you which concern me alone, but
these secrets concern others, and I have pledged my word not to divulge
them, not even to you."
"How can any one exact a promise from a married man to withhold secrets
from his wife?" cried Gretchen, sobbing still more violently. "It is
not right; it ought not to be required."
"I have for this once given my promise," said Fabian, despairingly.
"Now control your emotion! I cannot bear to see you in tears. I--"
"Well, if this isn't a most beautiful display of petticoat government!"
interposed the superintendent, who had entered unremarked, and had
witnessed the pathetic scene. "My daughter errs in regard to the person
who suffers humiliation and slavery. Do you allow yourself to be
controlled in this manner, Emil? Do not take it ill of me if I say,
that although you are an excellent scholar, you play a most pitiable
part as a married man."
He could not more effectually have come to the aid of his son-in-law.
No sooner had Gretchen heard the disparaging words, than she rushed to
her husband's rescue.
"Emil is the noblest, the dearest, the most excellent of husbands," she
said, and her tears straightway ceased to flow. "You need not reproach
him, papa; it is only natural that he should love his wife."
Frank laughed. "Do not be so hasty, child," he said, "I meant no harm;
and, after all, you excite yourself without cause. We are compelled to
draw you into our plot, which you have rightly divined. News has just
come that the princess and her niece will be here in the course of the
afternoon. You must go over to the castle and receive them, as Waldemar
is absent, and would naturally delegate that duty to his friend Fabian
and his wife. Our aim is to disarm the suspicion of the servants, who
well know that these ladies have not entered Villica for a year. The
princess and her niece know what is going on, and will await the issue
of events here. I shall drive over to the border-forester's, and wait
there with my horses, according to agreement. Your husband will explain
the rest to you, my child; I have no time."
He went, and Gretchen received full details of the plot for the count's
release from her husband. Her ill-humor vanished, and her face and
manner expressed supreme delight at the consciousness that she was at
last treated with as much respect as even a Polish woman could demand,
and allowed to have her share in the conspiracy.
* * * * *
It was night. The superintendent's house was wrapped in slumber, and
the servants at Villica had retired. Lights still gleamed from some
upper windows of the castle, and in the embrasure of one of them stood
a tea-table, which had been laid as usual, although no one had tasted a
mouthful. Gretchen's righteous soul was vexed; she was for the time
being mistress here, and liked to see things go on in an orderly
manner. She ere long compelled her husband to take a seat at the table,
and there gave him a mild but very impressive lecture.
"Do not torture yourself so with anxiety, Emil! Would you see me also
ill from excitement, like those ladies in the next room? Their pale
faces frighten me. I cannot endure the sight of their silent anguish. I
think they prefer for us to leave them alone. Our tea is ready; why
should we not drink it together?"
Fabian pushed aside the obtrusive tea-cup.
"Your despondency is past comprehension," added Gretchen. "Waldemar
Nordeck carries through all his undertakings; there must be something
in the superstition of these Villica people which declares him
bullet-proof. He will safely cross the line, and the count with him."
"God grant it!" ejaculated Fabian. "If that Hubert were not on their
track, I should be more confident. If he should meet the count and
Waldemar in any disguise, he would recognize them."
"Hubert has all his life been doing the most stupid things," said
Gretchen, disdainfully; "he will not be likely to do anything clever at
this late hour. He will make some blunder or other, you may rely upon
that."
The princess and Wanda remained in the adjoining parlor; the lamp which
was burning upon a side-table only partially lighted the lofty room,
its depths remained in shadow. The princess sat motionless amid the
dense shadows, in the same place she had occupied the morning when
Leo's unblest return had drawn that fatal catastrophe upon himself and
his family. The mother struggled painfully with the remembrances which
came thronging around her. What had become of those daring plans, of
those lofty hopes and glowing anticipations which had centred here?
They all lay in ruins; Bronislaw's rescue was the only boon it was in
the power of destiny to offer, but the rescue was only half
accomplished, and perhaps at this very moment Waldemar was paying for
his hazardous venture with his life.
Wanda stood in the niche of the large central window and gazed out with
straining eyes, as if she would pierce the outer darkness. She had
opened the window, but she did not feel the sharp night-air; she was
not conscious how she shuddered at its chilling breath. No memories of
the past, with its blighted plans and hopes, haunted this hour for her;
she thought only of the danger of the two beings she loved best on
earth, and her heart asserted its right; she trembled most for
Waldemar.
It was a cold, foggy night, and no moon was visible. Only now and then
a star gleamed forth, to vanish soon behind the clouds. No sound broke
the profound silence all around the castle; the park lay dark and
still; and amid the pauses, when the wind was lulled to rest, every
falling leaf was heard.
Wanda started suddenly, and a half-suppressed cry passed her lips. The
next moment the princess stood at her side.
"What is it? Do you see anything?"
"No; but I think I hear a sound of hoofs in the distance."
"I fear it is only imaginary, we have so often been deceived."
The two women leaned far out of the window, and listened in breathless
silence. They fancied they heard a sound distant and half audible, but
the wind rose anew and drowned it. After some ten minutes of agonized
suspense, a sound of muffled footsteps was heard in an alley of the
park which led into the forest. By straining their eyes to the utmost,
Wanda distinguished amid the darkness two forms emerging from among the
trees.
"They are here," whispered Fabian, with white lips, as he burst
suddenly into the room. "They are coming down the side-steps, and will
enter through the back gate which I opened half an hour ago." Wanda's
first impulse was to rush to meet them, but Gretchen held her back. "We
are not alone in the castle," she said; "we must be quiet and
cautious."
A few moments passed, then the door opened softly. Count Morynski stood
on the threshold, and behind him towered up Waldemar's stately form.
That very instant Wanda was clasped in her father's arms.
The professor and his wife had tact enough to withdraw, and Waldemar
also followed them, giving both a cordial greeting.
"What a desperate undertaking, you have been engaged in, Waldemar!"
said Professor Fabian. "Supposing you had been discovered?"
Waldemar smiled. "Before engaging in any bold venture, we must count
the chances," he said; "in leaning over a precipice, if we think of
dizziness, we are lost. I went straight on to my purpose, looking
neither to the right nor the left."
He threw aside his cloak, and taking a revolver from his breast-pocket,
he laid it on the table. Gretchen, who was standing near, stepped back.
"Do not be frightened, madam," he said. "The weapon is not cocked; the
affair has been carried through without bloodshed. We found an
unexpected helper in Assessor Hubert."
"The new government counsellor?" asked Gretchen, in surprise.
"The very same. And so he has really become counsellor! Well, he can
air his new dignity over in Poland. We drove across the border in his
carriage with his pass and credentials."
The professor and his wife were speechless with amazement.
"O, but he did not grant us this favor of his own accord," continued
Nordeck; "he will be sure to call us highway robbers; but necessity
knows no law. Our freedom and life were at stake, and we had to act
promptly. Yesterday afternoon we arrived at a Polish village-inn, only
a dozen miles from the border. The landlord was a Pole, and warned us
against pursuing our journey before dusk, as the officers were on our
track. Both his sons had served the revolution under Count Morynski,
and the whole family would have risked their lives to save him. Toward
nightfall our horses stood saddled in the stable, and we were about to
depart, when all at once Assessor Hubert appeared at the inn, making
inquiries for us. His carriage had received some injury on the way, and
he had left it at the blacksmith's to be repaired. The landlord
concealed us in the garret, and pretended to know nothing of us. We
distinctly heard the assessor down-stairs haranguing, in his usual
voluble style, about conspiracies and arch-traitors. In the course of
his remarks he gave us the very information in regard to his plans for
arresting us which we most of all wished to obtain. No choice was left
us; we must leave as quickly as possible. Immediate proximity to danger
gave me a happy thought, and I imparted it to the landlord, who at once
informed the assessor that his carriage would not be ready for an hour.
Hubert was exasperated at the delay, but he consoled himself in a
measure by doing ample justice to the very excellent supper which was
set before him. Meantime we slipped out at a back-door, and upon
arriving at the smith's, we found the carriage in readiness. I stepped
inside, my uncle, who passed for my servant, mounted the box, the
landlord's son handed him the reins, and we drove out of the village by
an unfrequented road.
"No sooner had I entered the carriage than I made an invaluable
discovery. The assessor's overcoat lay upon the back seat, and in its
breast-pocket I found his letter-case with his pass, his credentials
for his present mission, and other valuable papers. I, with my giant
stature, could make no use of the pass, but the other papers did me
good service, for they contained minute directions in regard to the
methods to be pursued in our arrest. We were, of course, unprincipled
enough to use for our own benefit the documents issued against us.
"As the assessor had informed the people at the inn that he had passed
through A---- that morning, we took a by-road to the next border
station, and drove boldly through the town as Government-Counsellor
Hubert and his coachman. I showed my papers, and demanded permission to
pass on quickly as possible, for fear lest the fugitives I was pursuing
might escape me. So great was my apparent haste, that my pass was not
demanded. We left our carriage a few miles on this side of the
boundary, pursuing the way to our border-forester's on foot. There Herr
Frank met us with his horses, and--here we are!"
Gretchen, who had listened intently, could not conceal her delight at
the trick which had been played upon her former admirer, but Fabian,
always inclined to sympathize with the unfortunate, asked, anxiously,
"What has become of poor Hubert?"
"He remains over in Poland, without a carriage and without
credentials," replied Waldemar, dryly; "and he may think himself
fortunate if he is not looked upon as an arch-traitor. Circumstances
are very much against him, and he may even now be enjoying the
pleasures he had destined for us."
"What a delightful conclusion of his official career!" exclaimed
Gretchen, mockingly, and regardless of her husband's warning glance.
"We may as well let Hubert rest!" said Waldemar. "Shall I not see you
both in Villica on my return? I am here to-night _incognito_, but in a
few days I shall return from Altenhof, where I am supposed to be at
present. Now I must greet my mother and my--cousin."