Reinhold sat at his piano, improvising. The room was not lighted, only
the moon's rays, streaming fully in, hung over the flood of tones,
which now rose as if the storm were raging in its waves, now rolling up
mountains high, and then again disclosing the depths of an abyss. The
melodies flowed forth passionately, glowing, intoxicatingly, and then
suddenly they would start and change as if to harsh dissonance, to
jarring discord. Those were the tones with which Rinaldo for years had
reigned in the realms of music, with which he carried the crowd away to
admiration; perhaps because they lent language to that demon-like
element which slumbers in every one's breast, and of which every one is
conscious, partly with dread, partly with secret shuddering. There lay,
too, in these melodies something of that wild rush from pleasure to
pleasure, of that rapid change from feverish excitement to deadly
exhaustion, from that striving to benumb all feeling, which, sought for
ever, is never found; and yet there rang forth something powerful,
eternal, which had nothing in common with that element with which it
fought, and which was raised above it, only to be wrecked within it at
last.
The perfume of oranges rose from the gardens and streamed in through
the widely-opened doors on to the balcony, and was wafted
intoxicatingly through the apartments. Clear, full of great beauty and
intense peace, lay the moonlight above the old town, and the dim
distance disappeared in the blue, misty vapour. The fountain rustled
dreamily amongst the blooming trees, and the light which shone in the
falling drops illuminated with powerful distinctness the whole row of
apartments, with their marble treasures of art; it illuminated the
picture in the richly gilt frame, so that the witch-like, beautiful
figure above seemed to live; and the same light fell upon the
countenance of the man, whose brow, amid all this beauty and all this
peace, remained so heavily overcast.
How many years, and, indeed, much besides which weighed more heavily
than years only, lay between those long northern winter nights on which
the young musician created his first compositions, and this balmy
moonlight night of the south, on which the world-renowned Rinaldo
repeated, in endless variations, the principal theme of his newest
opera. And yet all vanished in this hour. Softly, recollection passed
before him, and let long-forgotten days live again, long-forgotten
pictures stand before him; the little garden house, with its
old-fashioned furniture, and the stunted vines over the window, the
miserable little strip of garden with its few trees and shrubs, and the
high, prison-like walls around it; the narrow, gloomy house, with the
so intensely hated business-room. Faint, colourless pictures--and yet
they would not give way, as above them floated smilingly a pair of
large, deep, blue child's eyes, which only there had shone for the
father, and which here, in this orbit, full of poetry and beauty, he
sought for in vain. He had seen them so often in his child's face, and
also once--somewhere else. The remembrance of this was certainly but
dim, almost forgotten; they had only then shown themselves to him for a
moment, before being veiled again immediately, as they had been for
years; but it was still those eyes, which hovered before him, as now,
out of the storming and rolling tones, a magically sweet melody arose.
An endless longing spoke in it, a pain which his lips would not utter,
and thus formed a bridge across into the far distant past. Now had
genius burst the fetters which then oppressed and confined him; now he
stood aloft on the once dreamed-of heights. All that life and success,
fame and love could give had become his portion, and now--again like a
storm, it swept over the notes, wild, passionate, bacchante-like, and
through it ever again that melody came plaintively, with its touching
pain, its restless longing, which could not be pacified.
* * * * *
"I fear our captain will not endure Mirando much longer. It is
dangerous having the sea thus ever before his eyes; he gazes over it
with such longing, as if the sooner that he could sail away from us the
better."
With these words Marchese Tortoni turned to his guest, who, for the
last quarter of an hour had taken hardly any part in the conversation,
and whom the young lord just caught in the act of a surreptitious yawn.
"Indeed not," said Hugo, defending himself. "I only feel myself so
utterly unimportant and ignorant in these ideal art discussions, and so
deeply impressed with the sense of my ignorance, that I have just gone
hurriedly through all the words of command during a storm, in order to
obtain for myself the consolatory conviction that I do understand
something."
"All evasion!" cried the Marchese. "You miss the female element
here, which you adore so much, and now appear unable to forego.
Unfortunately, my Mirando cannot offer you that charm, as yet. You know
I am not married, and have not been able to resolve upon sacrificing my
freedom."
"Not resolve upon sacrificing your freedom," intimated Hugo. "My God,
that sounds shocking. If you have not yet ascended the highest ladder
of earthly happiness, as books express it--"
"Do not believe him, Cesario," broke in Reinhold. "Notwithstanding all
his gallantry and knightliness, at heart he is of an icy nature, which
nothing warms too easily. He plays with all--has no feeling for any;
the ever-recurring romance, which he even sometimes calls passion,
lasts just so long as he is on shore, and disappears with the first
fresh breeze which wafts his 'Ellida' away on the sea. Nothing has ever
yet stirred his heart."
"Abominable character!" cried Hugo, throwing away his cigar. "I protest
against it most solemnly."
"Well you, perhaps, maintain that it is untrue?"
The Captain laughed and turned to Tortoni. "I assure you, Signor
Marchese, that I too can be unimpeachably true to my beautiful blue
ocean bride"--he pointed towards the sea--"to her I am pledged with
heart and hand. She alone understands how to chain and hold me fast
again and again, and if she do allow me now and then to look into a
pair of beautiful eyes, she never tolerates serious faithlessness."
"Until you look at last into a pair of eyes which teach you that you
also are not proof against the universal fate of mortals," said
Reinhold, half-jokingly, half with a bitterness which was intelligible
only to his brother. "There are such eyes."
"Oh, yes, there are such eyes," repeated Hugo, looking out over the sea
with an almost dreamy expression.
"Ah, sir, the tone sounds very suspicious," said the Marchese,
teasingly. "Perhaps you have already met with those kind of eyes?"
"I?" The Captain had at once thrown off the momentary seriousness, and
was again full of the old mischief. "Folly! I hope to defy long enough
yet the 'universal doom of mortals.' Do you hear?"
"What a pity you can find no opportunity here of proving this
determination," said Cesario. "The only neighbours whom we have keep
themselves so secluded that no attempt ever could be made. The young
Signora even--"
"A young Signora? Where?" Hugo jumped up eagerly.
The Marchese pointed to a country house, which, barely a mile distant,
lay half-hidden in an olive grove.
"The villa Fiorina yonder has been inhabited for some months. So far as
I hear they are also countrymen of yours, Germans, who have settled
there for the summer; but they appear to make the most perfect solitude
and invisibility their law. No one is received, no one allowed to
enter. Visitors from S----, taking advantage of their acquaintance at
home, were dismissed, without exception, and, as the family confine
their walks chiefly to the park and terrace, it is impossible to
approach them."
"And the Signora--is she beautiful?" asked Hugo, with most lively
eagerness.
Cesario shrugged his shoulders. "With the best will I cannot tell you.
I only saw her once slightly, and at some distance. A slight, youthful
figure; a head covered with beautiful golden plaits; unfortunately her
face was not turned towards me, and I rode pretty quickly past her."
"Without having seen her face? I admire your stoicism, Marchese, but
guarantee myself solemnly against the suspicion of doing likewise. By
this evening I will bring you and Reinhold information as to whether
the Signora be beautiful or no."
"You may find it difficult," laughed the Marchese. "Do you not hear,
all entrance is forbidden?"
"Bah! as if that would prevent me!" cried Hugo, confidently. "The
affair only now begins to be interesting. An unapproachable villa, an
invisible lady, who is, besides, fair and a German. I will enquire into
it, thoroughly examine into it. My duty as a countryman requires it."
"Thank God that you put him upon this scent, Cesario," said Reinhold.
"Now let us hope that his ill-concealed yawns will not disturb us any
more, when we talk of music. I wished to discuss the parts with you
again."
The young Marchese had risen and laid his hand entreatingly on
Rinaldo's shoulder.
"Well, and the opera? Do you stand immovably by your ultimatum? I
assure you, Rinaldo, it is almost impossible to carry out all these
alterations by the autumn; I have convinced myself of it. A new
postponement will be required, and the public and company have been
waiting for months already."
"They must wait longer." The words sounded haughty, and short in their
decision.
"Spoken like a dictator," remarked Hugo. "Are you always so autocratic
towards the public? The picture which Maestro Gianelli sketches of you
appears to possess some very striking traits of resemblance. I believe
it was not really so absolutely necessary to bring the entire opera
company, including his Excellency the intendant, into such despair as
you have done this time."
Reinhold raised his head with all the pride and indifference of the
spoilt, admired artist, who is accustomed to see his will obeyed as if
it were law, and to whom opposition is considered equal to an insult.
"I dispose of my work and its performance. Either the opera shall be
heard in the form I wish, or not at all. I have left them the choice."
"As if there were any choice!" said Cesario, shrugging his shoulders,
as he turned to his servant to give him an order, and left the two
brothers alone.
"Unfortunately, there appears to be none in this case," said Hugo,
looking after his young host. "And Marchese Tortoni will have you on
his conscience also, if you become thoroughly spoiled at last with this
senseless worship of you. He does his utmost, like the rest of your
adoring circle! They set you up in their midst like a Llama, and group
themselves respectfully around you to listen to the remarks of your
genius, even if it should please your genius to maltreat your
infatuated, surrounders. I am sorry for you, Reinhold. You are driving
yourself with certainty to the rock on which already so many valuable
powers have been wrecked--self-adoration."
"Hum! in the meanwhile you take care that this should not occur,"
replied Reinhold, sarcastically. "You appear to like the part of the
faithful Eckhard in a remarkable degree, and rehearse it at every
opportunity; but it is the most thankless of all. Give it up, Hugo! It
does not suit your nature in the least."
The Captain knit his brows, but he remained quite calm at the tone,
which might easily have irritated another, threw his fowling-piece over
his shoulder, and went out. A few minutes later he found himself by the
shore, and only when the fresh sea breeze cooled his head, did the
Captain's seriousness leave him; he struck at once into the road to the
Villa Fiorina.
To tell the truth, Hugo began to be wearied of Mirando and the
prevailing artistic atmosphere which the Marchese's inclination and his
brother's presence created there. The paradise-like situation of the
property was nothing new to the sailor, who knew so well the beauties
of the tropical world, and the solitude to which Reinhold gave himself
up with an almost sick longing did not at all suit Hugo's joyous
nature. Certainly S----, so much frequented by strangers, lay pretty
near, but he could not sail over to it too frequently, and thus
indicate to the young host that he missed companionship. Therefore this
probably beautiful, and at any rate interesting and mysterious
neighbour was very welcome, and Hugo resolved immediately to utilise
it.
"Let some one else endure these art lovers and art enthusiasts!" said
he, annoyed, as he followed the road by the sea. "Half the day long
they sit at the piano, and the rest of the time talk of music. Reinhold
always is in extremes. From the midst of the wildest life, out of the
most senseless excitement, he rushes head over heels into this romantic
solitude, and will hear and know of nothing but his music; I only
wonder how long it will last. And this Marchese Tortoni? Young,
handsome, rich, of a most noble line; this Cesario does not know what
better to do with his life than to bury himself for months in his
lonely Mirando, to play the _dilettante_ in grand style, and, with his
endless worship, turn Reinhold's head still more. I know how to spend
my time better than that."
At these last words, spoken with great self-satisfaction, the Captain
stopped, as the end of his walk was already, so far, attained. Before
him lay the Villa Fiorina, shaded by high fir trees and cypresses, and
buried almost in blooming shrubs. The house itself appeared magnificent
and roomy, but the chief facade as well as the terrace turned towards
the sea, and were so thickly overgrown and surrounded by roses and
oleander bushes that even Hugo's hawk's eye was not able to penetrate
the balmy fortification. A high wall, covered with creeping plants,
enclosed the park-like grounds, which terminated in the olive grove
which surrounded the estate. It might formerly have been, judging by
the size of the grounds, the property of some great family, then, like
so many others, have often changed owners, and now served as temporary
residence for rich strangers. At all events, in beauty of situation, it
did not yield the palm to Marchese Tortoni's highly prized Mirando.
The Captain had already formed his plan of campaign; he therefore only
scanned the country slightly, made a vain attempt to obtain a better
view of the terrace from the seaward side, measured the height of the
garden walls with his eye, in case of accident, and then went direct to
the entrance, where he rang the bell, and demanded to see the owners,
without hesitation.
The porter, an old Italian, appeared to have received his instruction
for the like cases, as, without even asking the stranger's name, he
explained shortly and decidedly that his master and mistress received
no visits, and he regretted that the Signor had troubled himself in
vain.
Hugo coolly drew out a card. "They will make an exception. It is
concerning an affair of importance, which requires a personal
interview. I will wait here in the meanwhile, as I am sure to be
received."
He sat down quietly on the stone bench, and this immovable confidence
impressed the porter so much that he really began to believe in the
importance of the pretended mission. He disappeared with the card,
while Hugo, quite unconcerned as to the possible consequences, awaited
the result of his impudent man[oe]uvre.
The result was unexpectedly favourable, as in a short time a servant
appeared and addressed the stranger, who had introduced himself by a
German name, in that language, and begged him to enter. He conducted
the Captain into a garden parlour and there left him alone, with the
intimation that his master would appear immediately.
"I must be a lucky man," said Hugo, himself somewhat surprised at this
unexpected, rapid success. "I wish Reinhold and the Marchese could see
me now. Inside the 'unapproachable' villa, expecting the lord and
master of the same, and only a few doors apart from the blonde Signora.
That is certainly enough for the first five minutes, and what my
charming brother could not have attained, although all doors fly open
before him. But now I must be charming,--in lies, that is to say--what
in the world shall I say to this nobleman, to whom I have had myself
announced concerning some important affair, without ever having heard a
syllable about him, or he of me? Ah! some one or other, on some of my
voyages has given me some commission. In the worst case I can always
have mistaken the person; in the meanwhile the acquaintance has been
begun, and the rest will follow of itself. I will arrange the
improvisation according to the character of the person; at any rate I
shall not leave the place without having seen the beautiful Signora."
He sat down and began to examine the room in a perfectly calm state of
mind. "My respected countrymen appear to belong to the happy minority,
who have at their disposal an income of several ten thousands. The
entire villa, with the park, rented for their exclusive use--the
arrangements made at great cost; one does not find this comfort in the
south--brought their own servants with them; I see no fewer than three
faces outside, on which German descent is written. Now the question
remains, have we to do with the aristocracy or the exchange? I should
prefer the latter; I can then pretend it is about some mercantile
affairs, while before some great nobleman, in the nonentity of a
citizen, I--how, Herr Consul Erlau!"
With this exclamation, made in boundless astonishment, Hugo started
back from the doorway in which the well-known figure of the merchant
now appeared. The Consul had certainly aged much in the course of
years; the once luxuriant dark hair appeared grey and scant; his
features bore an expression of unmistakable suffering, and the friendly
good will which formerly enlivened them had given way, momentarily at
all events, to a distant coldness, with which he drew near to his
guest.
"Herr Captain Almbach, you wish to speak to me?"
Hugo had already recovered from his astonishment, and resolved at once
to take every advantage in his power of this unexpectedly favourable
chance. He put forth all his capacities for pleasing.
"I am much obliged to you, sir. I hardly dared hope to be received
personally by you."
Erlau sat down, and invited his guest by a sign to do the same.
"I am also medically advised to avoid visits, but at the mention of
your name, I thought I ought to make an exception, as probably it
concerns my guardianship of your nephew. You come on your brother's
behalf?"
"On Reinhold's behalf?" repeated Hugo uncertainly, "How so?"
"I am glad that Herr Almbach has not attempted any personal
intercourse, as he did once already in writing," continued the Consul,
still in the same tone of cold restraint. "He appears, notwithstanding
our intentional seclusion, to know of his son's presence here. I
regret, however, being obliged to inform you, that Eleonore is not at
all disposed--"
"Ella? Is she here? With you?" exclaimed Hugo so eagerly, that Erlau
gazed at him in utter amazement.
"Did you not know it? Then Herr Captain Almbach, may I ask what has
really caused me the honour of your visit?"
Hugo considered for a moment; he saw plainly that Reinhold's name,
which had opened the doors for him, was nevertheless the worst
recommendation which he could bring, and made his decision accordingly.
"I must first of all clear up a mistake," replied he, with thorough
frankness. "I neither come as my brother's ambassador, which you seem
to imagine, nor am I here, indeed, in his interest or with his
knowledge. I give you my word for it, at this moment he has no
suspicion that his wife and son are in the neighbourhood, or, still
less, that they are even in Italy. I, on the contrary"--here the
Captain thought it necessary to mix a little invention with the
truth--"I on the contrary was put by chance on the track, and wished
first of all to satisfy myself of its correctness; I came to see my
sister-in-law."
"Which had better remain undone," said the Consul, with remarkable
coldness. "You will comprehend that such a meeting could only be
painful for Ella."
"Ella knows best how I have ever stood as regards the whole affair,"
interrupted Captain Almbach, "and she will certainly not refuse me the
wished for interview."
"Then I do so in my adopted daughter's name," declared Erlau
positively. Hugo rose--
"I know, Herr Consul Erlau, that you have gained a father's rights
towards my nephew, and also his mother, and honour these rights.
Therefore I entreat you to grant me this meeting. I will not wound my
sister-in-law with one word, with one recollection, as you appear to
dread, only--I should just like to see her."
Such a warm appeal lay in the words, that the Consul wavered; perhaps
he remembered the time when young Captain Almbach's courage had saved
his best ship, and how politely, but positively, he had rejected the
gratitude which the rich merchant was ready to bestow so oppressively.
It would have been more than thankless to have persisted in his sturdy
refusal towards this man--he gave way.
"I will ask if Eleonore be inclined for this interview," he said
rising; "she is already informed of your being here, as she was with me
when I received your card. I must ask you to be patient for a few
moments only."
He left the room. A short period of impatient waiting passed, when at
last the door was again opened, and a lady's dress rustled on the
threshold. Hugo went quickly towards the new comer.
"Ella! I knew you would not--" he stopped suddenly; his hand, stretched
out in welcome, dropped slowly, and Captain Almbach stood as if rooted
to the ground.
"You do not seem to recognise me quite," said the lady, waiting in vain
for the rest of the greeting, "am I so much altered?"
"Yes, very much," said Hugo, whose glance still hung in intense
astonishment on the figure of the lady before him. The impudent,
confident sailor, who had hitherto always shown himself equal to every
circumstance in his life, stood now dumb, confused, almost stupified.
Who, indeed, could ever have deemed this possible!
This was what his brother's former wife had become, the shy, frightened
Ella, with the pale unlovely face, and the awkward timid manner! Now
only could one see how the dress had sinned, in which Eleanor Almbach
always appeared like the maidservant, and never like the daughter of
the house, and also that enormous cap, which, as if made for the brow
of a person of sixty, had covered the youthful woman's head day after
day. Every trace of all this had entirely disappeared. The light airy
morning dress let the still girlishly, slight, delicate figure display
itself in its full beauty, and the rich ornament of her fair plaits,
which were now worn uncovered, encircled her head in all their heavy,
glimmering, golden glory. Marchese Tortoni had not seen the face of the
"blonde Signora," but Hugo saw it now, and during this contemplation of
some seconds' duration, he asked himself, again and again, what had
really taken place in these features, which were once so stolid and
vacant that one reproached them with stupidity, and which now appeared
so full of intellect and thought, as if a ban had been lifted from off
them, and something, never suspected in them, awakened to life.
Certainly around the mouth there lay a line of tender, unconquered
pain, and her brow was shaded by a sadness it had formerly not known,
but no more did her eyes seek the ground timidly, as if veiled; now
they were clear and open, and they had truly forfeited none of their
former beauty. Ella appeared to have learned not to hide any longer
from the gaze of strangers that with which nature had endowed her. When
she was eighteen, every one asked, shrugging his shoulders, "how does
this wife come by that husband's side?" At eight and twenty, she was an
apparition, fitted to compete with any one. How heavily must the burden
and chains of her parents' house have rested upon the young wife, when
only a few years in freer, nobler surroundings had sufficed to remove
the former shroud, to the very last morsel, and to loose the wings of
the butterfly. The almost incredible alteration proved of what her
youthful education was guilty.
"You wished an interview with me, Herr Captain Almbach?" began Ella, as
she seated herself upon an ottoman, "May I offer you a seat." Words and
bearing were as assured and easy, as if coming from a perfect woman of
the world receiving a visitor, but also distant and cool, as if she had
no deeper concern in this visit. Hugo bowed, a slight colour tinged his
cheeks, as he, following the invitation, sat down beside her.
"I begged for it. Herr Consul Erlau thought himself obliged to deny me
this interview in your name, but I persisted in a direct appeal to you.
I had more confidence in your goodness, my dear Madame."
She looked inquiringly with open eyes at him, "Are we become such
strangers? Why do you give me this name?"
"Because I see that my visit here is considered as an intrusion to
which I have no right, which I was not utterly denied, only on account
of the name which I bear," replied Hugo, rather bitterly. "Herr Consul
Erlau made me feel that already, and now I experience it a second time,
and yet I can only repeat to you, that without the knowledge or on
behalf of another, am I here, and that the other up to this moment has
no suspicion of your vicinity."
"Then, I beg you to allow this vicinity to remain still a secret," said
the young wife earnestly. "You will understand that I do not wish my
presence to be betrayed, and S---- is far enough to make that
possible!"
"Who told you that we are staying in S----?" asked Hugo, somewhat
struck by the certainty of this conviction.
She pointed to some newspapers lying on the table--
"I read this morning that two of the greatest musical celebrities were
expected there. The news has been delayed, as I see, and you are your
brother's guest."
Hugo was silent; he had not courage to tell her how much nearer her
husband was, and he could easily explain the notice in the papers to
himself, as he knew of Beatrice's intended arrival. People were
accustomed always to name her and Reinhold together, and although the
latter was now even staying in Mirando, they considered his coming
as certain, the moment she arrived in S----. Indeed it was also a
pre-arranged meeting between the two, and could not be denied.
"But why this concealment?" asked he, leaving the dangerous point quite
untouched. "It is not you, Ella, who have to avoid or flee from a
possible meeting."
"No! but I will protect my boy at any cost from the possibility of such
a meeting."
"With his father?" Hugo laid a reproachful stress upon the last word.
"With your brother--yes!"
Captain Almbach looked up surprised. The tone sounded freezingly cold,
and a stony, icy look lay on the young wife's countenance, which all at
once displayed the expression of an unbending will, such as no one
would have expected in so pleasing an apparition.
"That is hard, Ella," said Hugo softly. "If you now render yourself
unapproachable--I can understand it, after all that has happened; but
why the boy also? Reinhold tried once already to communicate with his
child; you repulsed him."
Ella interrupted him--
"You have told me that you come without any commission, Hugo, and I
believe you; therefore this subject need not be discussed between us,
let it rest! I was greatly astonished to see you again here, in Italy.
Do you purpose remaining long?"
Captain Almbach took the hint given him, although somewhat taken aback
by it. He was so unaccustomed for his young sister-in-law, whom he had
almost always known as a silent, frightened listener, to govern the
conversation so entirely, and lead it with such decision and ease to
another topic when the former one had become painful to her.
"Most likely longer than I thought at first," said he, replying to her
question. "My stay was originally only intended to be a short one, but
a storm which caught us on the open sea, so dismantled the 'Ellida,'
that I only reached the Italian harbour with great difficulty, and for
the present cannot think of another voyage. The repairs will occupy
some months, and my leave has therefore been prolonged indefinitely. I
certainly never anticipated finding you here."
A shadow passed over the lady's face.
"We are here by medical advice," she replied sadly. "Weakness of his
chest, obliged my adopted father to seek the south; his wife has been
dead some years, and you know that he is childless. I had long since
received all the privileges of a daughter, so that, of course, I also
undertook the duties of one. The doctor insisted particularly upon this
place, which indeed seems to exercise a most beneficial effect, and
however much I might have desired to avoid Italy, I could not persuade
myself to allow the invalid, to whom my presence is a necessity, to
travel alone. We hoped to escape any painful meeting by avoiding the
town in which Signor Rinaldo lives, and chose the most lonely, retired
villa in order to obtain the greatest seclusion possible. Our
precautions were in vain, as I see; you were no sooner in my vicinity
than you discovered my whereabouts."
"I? Yes certainly," said Hugo with involuntary confusion. "And you
reproach me with it."
Ella smiled.
"No, but I wondered that Herr Captain Hugo still entertained sufficient
interest in the little cousin Ella, to insist so obstinately upon
seeing her, when he was at first refused. We thought we had guarded
amply against strange visits. You knew, nevertheless, how to force your
entrance, and this shows me that I even possessed friends in my former
life. Until to-day, I doubted it, but it is a fact which does me good,
and I thank you for it, Hugo."
She raised her eyes clearly and openly to him; and with a charming
smile, which made her face appear intensely lovely, she stretched out
her hand to him. But the kindly thanks met with no response. Captain
Almbach's brow burned deeply red, then he sprang up suddenly and pushed
her hand aside.
END OF VOL. I.