FORTUNE SMILES ON VICTOR ECKARDSTEIN.
Eckardstein had a new master. Count Conrad had lain eight days in the
family vault, and his younger brother had taken the reins of authority.
That young officer, who had hitherto known no other home than in
barracks save that spring, when he had paid only a short visit to his
ancestral halls, now suddenly saw himself confronted by quite a new
task, and placed in entirely new circumstances. It was certainly
fortunate for him, that he had at his side his uncle and former
guardian, who was himself a landed proprietor, and now prolonged his
stay, in order to support his nephew both with advice and by action.
The gray, foggy weather of the last weeks had been followed by a mild
autumnal day. The sunshine lay bright upon the extensive forests that
stretched between Odensburg and Eckardstein, belonging, however, for
the most part, to the latter domain, for in Odensburg the woods had had
to give way constantly to the great industrial establishments, that had
continued to spread from year to year. Only a hunting-ground of
moderate dimensions and a forester's preserve remained.
Upon one of the woodland paths Count Victor and Herr von Stettin were
walking along. They had been inspecting the condition of the forests
and had now started on their return to the Castle.
They were about to cross the public road, that here led through the
middle of the woods, when, an open carriage rolled rapidly by, in which
sat two ladies in deep mourning. The younger turned with an expression
of joyful surprise when she perceived the young Count, and upon her
speaking a few words to the coachman the carriage stopped.
"Oh, Count Victor, I am very glad to see you again--if the occasion had
only not been such a melancholy one!"
Victor stepped up to the carriage-door with a low bow, but looked as if
he would rather have paid his respects from a distance. He only touched
lightly the little hand that was cordially extended to him, and there
was a perceptible reserve in his words as he answered:
"Yes indeed, a very melancholy occasion--but allow me, ladies, to
introduce my uncle, Herr von Stettin--Fräulein Maia Dernburg--Fräulein
Friedberg."
"Properly, I have only to renew an old acquaintance," said Stettin,
smiling, as he likewise drew near. "Years ago when I was on a visit at
Eckardstein, I used to see Fräulein Dernburg, but of the child of those
days, indeed, a young lady has grown up who may not remember me."
"Only dimly, at least, Herr von Stettin, but so much the more plainly
do I remember all the glad hours that I have passed at Eckardstein,
with Count Victor and Eric----" The young girl's eyes suddenly filled
with tears as she pronounced her brother's name. "Ah, death has invaded
our household too! You know, I suppose, Victor, when and how our poor
Eric died?"
"I have heard the particulars," said the young Count softly, "and have
bitterly felt how much I lost in the friend of my youth. His widow
remains at Odensburg, for the present, I learn."
"Oh, certainly, we could not let her leave us! Eric loved Cecilia so
dearly! She lives with us."
"And--Baron von Wildenrod?" Victor put this question quite
irrelevantly; his eyes at the same time being fastened upon the young
girl's countenance with a look of intense anxiety. She blushed deeply.
"Herr von Wildenrod?" she repeated with embarrassment. "He is also at
Odensburg."
"And stays there, I presume?"
"I believe so," said Maia with a singular sense of oppression that she
could not control, and which seemed altogether irrational. What was
there against it, if her youthful playmate should guess to-day, what
was no longer to be kept secret? But why did he look at her, in
general, so coldly and so reproachfully? What was the matter with him?
Herr von Stettin, who, meanwhile, had been talking with Fräulein
Friedberg, now turned again to the others; a few more questions were
asked, a few more pieces of information exchanged, then Victor--who
seemed strangely impatient to move on--closed the interview with the
remark:
"I am afraid, uncle, that we are detaining the ladies too long. May I
ask that our compliments be presented to Herr Dernburg?"
"I shall deliver your message to papa--but you will come yourself to
Odensburg, will you not?"
"Certainly, if it is possible," declared the young Count in a tone that
betrayed the impossibility of such an occurrence. He bowed and retired,
the ladies returned his salutation, and the next minute the carriage
was rolling away.
"That Maia Dernburg has developed into a charming girl!" said Stettin.
"It strikes me that it would be to your advantage to be a little less
formal than you were just now. I think you used to be an intimate
friend of her brother!"
Victor did not answer, and he cast down his eyes before the searching
glance of his uncle, who now paused in his walk.
"I have long since remarked that something was preying on your mind,"
said he--"something that has altered your whole being. What has gone
wrong with you? Be candid, Victor, and maybe your fatherly friend can
advise and help you."
"You cannot help me," gloomily declared the young lord, "but I will
confess to you--it may lighten the load on my heart.--You know the
ground of dissension between Conrad and me. At times Conrad was hard
upon me, and finally made his assistance, that I absolutely needed,
dependent upon one condition. He planned a union between Maia Dernburg
and me, that should henceforth lift me above care, and I--well, I was
irritated, embittered, I wanted to be rid of that galling dependence at
any price--and I acquiesced. I came here, saw Maia again, and then all
was over with calculation and sordid considerations of any kind--for I
fell ardently in love with the sweet girl the very first time we met.
And then--then I was punished severely enough, for having once
calculated."
"You were rejected? Impossible! The young girl awhile ago was as
cordial and unconstrained in her manners as possible."
"Maia knows nothing of my proposing to address her; it did not even
come to a declaration. Conrad's plan was reported to her father in the
most hateful manner. He took me to task about it, and as I could not
and would not deny the truth, he treated my courtship as a speculation
of the basest sort, myself as a fortune-hunter. He said the most
unfeeling things to me----" Victor clinched his teeth at the bare
recollection. "Excuse me from saying any more."
"So that is the way the matter stands?" said Stettin reflectively. "To
be sure, what cares this proud industrial prince for a Count
Eckardstein! Well, do not look so desperate though, my boy;
circumstances are entirely different from what they were six months
ago. Providence meanwhile has made you lord of Eckardstein, and you
have it in your power, by a renewal of your courtship, to prove to that
old hard-head the purity of your motives."
"I cannot get my own consent to do so--never! Maia is lost to me now
and forever."
"Do not be so rash, please! A few harsh words can always be borne with
from a future father-in-law, especially when he has not been altogether
wrong in the matter. If your pride forbids the making of any advance,
then let me take the initiatory steps. I shall have a talk with
Dernburg."
"Just to have it announced to you, with polite regret, that his
daughter is engaged to Baron von Wildenrod?" said Victor bitterly. "We
may as well spare ourselves that mortification!"
"What are you thinking of? Wildenrod is in his forties and Fräulein
Dernburg----"
"Oh, he has some demoniacal power of enchantment, and knows how to use
it. I am convinced that the insinuation which so infuriated Dernburg
against me originated with him. I was in his way, he was already basing
his calculations upon Maia's fortune. And Maia has not remained
indifferent to him; already they are everywhere talking of an
engagement, and just now I gained certainty as to the state of her
affections. Maia betrayed herself--I have nothing more to hope for."
The desperation of the young man plainly showed how deep was the
passion for his young playmate that stirred in his heart.
Stettin had become very serious.
"That would certainly be Wildenrod's master-stroke," said he, with
knitted brow. "So, it was not enough for him to share his sister's
portion, but he must needs win the Odensburg millions for himself!
There is still time for opening Herr Dernburg's eyes--his daughter
shall not become the prey of this adventurer."
"An adventurer! Baron von Wildenrod!"
"He became so when fortune and splendor deserted his house. Perhaps
fate had as much to do with it as guilt--never mind! He has forfeited
the right to connect himself with an honorable family."
"And were you aware of this that time at Nice, and did you keep
silence?" asked the young Count with bitter reproach in his tone.
"Was I to turn informer? And for the sake of whom? What right had I to
force myself upon the confidence of a strange family? At that time what
were these Dernburgs to me? One does not expose to public odium the son
of a man at whose house you had been received as a friend for long
years, without stringent necessity--and in this case I refrained."
"But you might have warned Eric in some way!"
"No warning would have availed at that period. If Eric had wanted to
see--the double part that his future brother-in-law played was known
all through Nice: I was not the only knowing one. But he walked blindly
into the snare spread for him. But comfort yourself. Now when I know
how close to your heart his sister is, no consideration shall hinder
his exposure."
"Yes, Maia must be protected from this man, cost what it will!" cried
Victor impetuously. "Uncle, I have concealed nothing from you, now; be
as candid towards me! Who and what is this Wildenrod?"
"You shall learn," said Stettin gravely. "But we cannot discuss such
things here, in the open woods. In ten minutes we shall be in the
Castle, where we can talk farther on the subject."