The event at the border-station, resulting in so serious an incident as
the ranger's death, could not long remain unknown at Wilicza, where, as
may be supposed, it caused great excitement. Nothing could have been
more unwelcome to the Princess than this open and bloody conflict.
Doctor Fabian and the steward were seized with consternation, and the
subordinates, according as they sided with the master or with the
Princess, ranged themselves in two opposite camps, and ardently took
part for and against the parties concerned. One person alone was, in
spite of its tragic termination, made happy by the startling
occurrence. Assessor Hubert, as has already been mentioned, chanced to
be staying at the steward's house at the time. He at once rose to the
height of the situation. The necessary enquiry which followed brought
him to the foreground, took him to the Castle in his official capacity,
compelled Herr Nordeck to enter into personal communication with
him--all things for which Hubert had long sighed, but for which he had
hitherto sighed in vain.
Waldemar had informed him with all brevity that, driven by the
necessity of self-defence, he had shot down the forester Osiecki, the
latter having made a murderous assault upon his person. He had at the
same time begged the official to take suitable measures for a clear
notification of these circumstances to the authorities at L----,
declaring himself ready to undergo any examination, and the
representative of the L---- police grew great in the sphere thus opened
to his activity. He rushed with overwhelming zeal into the inquiry, the
conduct of which devolved on him, and made the most wonderful
preparations for its prosecution. Unfortunately, the result of all his
efforts was small. He was naturally desirous, in the first place, to
interrogate all the foresters employed on the station. As witnesses of
the occurrence their evidence was of the greatest value; but next day
the house was found empty and deserted. The men had preferred to evade
any judicial intricacies by putting into execution a long cherished
design and escaping in the night across the frontier. Their thorough
knowledge of the country made it easy for them to effect their purpose,
in spite of the sharp watch kept up on either side. They had doubtless
joined the insurgent troops, with whose position they were well
acquainted, and were thus beyond the reach of the law which, as
personified in Assessor Hubert, stretched forth its arm so longingly
after them. Hubert was inconsolable.
"They have gone!" said he to the steward, in a lamentable voice. "They
have every one of them taken to their heels. There is not a single man
of them left."
"I could have told you that beforehand," said Frank. "Under the
circumstances, it was the best thing the fellows could do. Out yonder
they are safe from an enquiry which might possibly have shown them up
in their true light as accomplices."
"But I wanted to examine them," cried the Assessor, indignantly; "I
wanted to take them all into custody."
"It was just on that account they preferred to make themselves scarce;
and to be candid, I am glad it has happened so. It was always a danger
to us to have that wild lot out on the frontier; now we are free from
them without more disturbance. They will hardly come back again, so let
them run. Herr Nordeck does not want much fuss made about the
business."
"Herr Nordeck's wishes cannot be consulted in this case," declared
Hubert, in his most solemn official tones. "He must incline before the
majesty of the law, which demands the strictest enquiry, irrespective
of persons. There can, of course, be no doubt as to his conduct on the
occasion. He acted in self-defence, and only returned the ranger's
fire. His declaration to this effect is corroborated by the coachman's
evidence, by the foresters' flight, and by the general aspect of the
case. He will merely be subjected to an examination or two, and then be
absolved from all blame. But there are very different matters in
question here. We have to do with an insurrection, with an undoubted
conspiracy ..."
The steward sprang to his feet. "For Heaven's sake, don't begin with
that again!"
"With a conspiracy," repeated Hubert, paying no heed to the
interruption. "Yes, Herr Frank, it was such--all the circumstances of
the case tend to prove it."
"Nonsense!" cried the steward, shortly. "It was a revolt against their
employer, a personal affair, and nothing else. Deeds of violence were
the order of the day with Osiecki and his men, and the Princess closed
her eyes to all their misdoings, because she and her orders were held
in absolute respect. That rough set owned no authority but hers; and
when Herr Nordeck tried to enlighten them and show them _he_ was
master, they took to their rifles. Any other man in his place would
have been lost, but his energy and presence of mind saved him. He shot
down that rascal Osiecki without more ado, and his promptness had such
an effect on the others that not one of them dared move a finger. The
whole thing is as simple and clear as it can possibly be, and what
there is in it to put you on the conspiracy track again, I can't
conceive."
"And how do you account for Countess Morynska's presence there?"
demanded the Assessor, with as much triumph as though he had convicted
an accused person of some crime. "What was the Countess doing at the
forester's station, which lies six miles from Rakowicz, and belongs to
the Wilicza property? We know the part both she and the Princess have
taken in the present movement. In this confounded country the women are
the most dangerous of all. They know everything, manage everything; the
whole political network of intrigues is woven by their hands, and
Countess Morynska is her father's true daughter, her aunt's most
proficient pupil. Her presence at the station is proof enough of a
conspiracy, proof clear as day! She hates her cousin with all the
fanaticism of her people; it was she, and she alone, who planned this
murderous surprise. That was why she appeared so suddenly among them,
in the midst of the tumult, as though she had risen from the ground;
that was why she tried to tear the revolver from Herr Nordeck's hand
when he levelled it at Osiecki. She urged and stimulated the ranger and
his men on to attack their master. But this Waldemar does not do
things by halves! Not only did he subdue the mutiny, but he took the
arch-instigator into safe custody, and brought her away with him by
force to Wilicza. In spite of her struggles and resistance, he dragged
his treacherous cousin out from the midst of her partisans, lifted her
into the sledge, and drove off as for the very life. Just imagine,
during the whole journey he never once addressed her--not a syllable
did they exchange; but he never loosed his hold on her hand for an
instant. He was determined to frustrate any attempt at flight. I am
fully informed of it all. I have examined the coachman minutely on the
subject ..."
"Yes, you were examining him for three mortal hours, until the poor
fellow lost his head, and said yes to everything," interrupted the
steward. "From his post outside the window he could not make out all
the details of what was passing. He could only see an angry crowd, in
the midst of which stood his master and Countess Morynska. Then came
the two shots, and by his own confession he at once rushed off to his
horse in the greatest alarm. You put all the rest in his mouth. Herr
Nordeck's deposition is the only reliable one."
The Assessor looked greatly offended. He felt very much inclined
to assume all the dignity of his office as representative of the
L---- police, whose proceedings were thus lightly esteemed and
criticised in his; but he bethought himself in time that it was his
father-in-law elect who was taking the liberty of setting him right,
and such things must be tolerated and passed over, in consideration of
their future close relationship. It was a sad pity, though, that the
steward should not feel a more becoming respect for his son-in-law's
infallible instinct in all official matters! Hubert gulped down his
annoyance and only replied, in rather an irritated tone--
"Herr Nordeck is giving himself sovereign airs as usual. He vouchsafed
me the information in as laconic a manner as possible; he would enter
into no particulars, and refused point-blank when I expressed a wish to
put some questions to Countess Morynska, alleging as a pretext that his
cousin was unwell. Then he takes upon himself to give orders and make
arrangements, exactly as if I were not there; and behaves as though no
one but he had a word to say in the business. He would hush it up
altogether if he could. 'Herr Nordeck,' said I to him, 'you are
completely in error in regarding this occurrence merely as an explosion
of private hatred. The question lies far deeper. _I_ can see through
it. It was a planned and premeditated insurrection, a prematurely
developed conspiracy, directed against you, no doubt, in the first
instance, but which had far wider aims in view. It was a conspiracy
against order, against law, against the Government. We must sift this
matter thoroughly; we must take all necessary measures.' What
do you think he replied? 'Herr Assessor, you are completely in
error in attributing the importance of a State conspiracy to an
ill--conditioned fellow's violent assault on me. There is no end to be
gained by your enquiry, now that all the men concerned have taken
flight; and in the utter failure of traitors and conspirators you would
be obliged to fall back on Dr. Fabian and myself, as happened to you on
a previous occasion. It is in your own interest, therefore, that I must
beg of you to moderate your zeal. I have provided you with the
necessary material for your reports to L----. As to any disturbance of
law or order here at Wilicza, you need feel no anxiety on that score. I
imagine that I alone should be equal to any emergency which might
arise.' With that he made me a cold majestic bow, and turned on his
heel."
The steward laughed. "He has got that from his mother. I know the
style. Princess Baratowska has often nearly driven me wild with it. No
just anger, no consciousness of being in the right will avail a man
against that grand, calm way of theirs. It is a peculiar form of
superiority, which is imposing in spite of everything, and in which
Prince Leo, for instance, is altogether deficient. He allows his hasty
temper to get the better of him continually. It is only the elder son
who has inherited this trait; at such times one might fancy his mother
herself was there before one, though he is little enough like her in a
general way. But Herr Nordeck is right in this. Moderate your zeal. It
has brought you into trouble once already."
"Such is my fate," said the Assessor, resignedly. "With the noblest
aims, with unwearying devotion, and the most ardent zeal for the
welfare of the State, I earn nothing but ingratitude, misconstruction,
and neglect. I persist in my opinion. It was a conspiracy. I had
unearthed one at last, and now it slips through my fingers. Osiecki is
dead, his men have fled, no confession can be extracted from Countess
Morynska. If only I had gone over to the station yesterday! This
morning I found it empty. It is my destiny ever to arrive too late!"
The steward cleared his throat in a marked manner. He thought he would
take advantage of Hubert's elegiac humour to bring the conversation
round to the subject of his wooing, and then and there roundly to
declare to him that he must entertain no hopes of winning his
daughter's hand. Gretchen had not thought better of it, but had
persisted in her refusal; and her father was about to crush the poor
lover with this afflicting disclosure, when Waldemar's coachman--the
same who had driven his master and Countess Morynska on the preceding
day, and who since then had been a victim to the Assessor's constant
cross-examinations--entered the room with a message from Herr Nordeck.
It was all over now with Hubert's resignation, all over too with his
attention for other things. He forgot past misconstruction and neglect;
remembering only that he had several most important questions to put to
the coachman, he dragged that unfortunate witness, in spite of all
Frank's protests, up with him to his own room, there to proceed with
the examination with renewed vigour.
The steward shook his head. He himself began now to incline to the
opinion that there was something morbid about the Assessor's mind; it
dawned upon him that his daughter might, after all, not be so far wrong
in refusing this suitor whose furious official zeal was so hard to
moderate, and whose fixed ideas on the subject of general and
all-pervading conspiracies were proof against all argument.
Just at this moment, however, Gretchen happened to be following the
Assessor's example. She too was cross-questioning, and that in a very
thorough and businesslike manner, the person who was closeted with her
in the parlour, and who was no other than our old friend, Dr. Fabian.
He had been obliged to report in detail all that he had heard from Herr
Nordeck of yesterday's event. Unfortunately he had little more news to
tell than what was already current in the steward's house. Waldemar had
told the Doctor what he had told every one else; confining himself to
the bare facts of the case, and maintaining an absolute silence with
regard to much that was interesting--with regard, for instance, to the
part Countess Morynska had played in the drama. This, however, was
precisely the point which Gretchen Frank desired to have cleared up.
Hubert's assertion that the young Countess hated her cousin, that she
had even planned the surprise at the forester's house, did not quite
approve itself to her mind. With true womanly instinct, she divined
some far different and secretly existing relation between the two, and
she grew very cross on finding that no more accurate information was to
be obtained.
"You don't understand how to use your influence, Doctor," said she,
reproachfully. "If I were Herr Nordeck's friend and confidant, I should
have rather a better knowledge of his affairs. He would have to come
and confess the most trifling thing to me. I should have trained him to
it from the first."
The Doctor smiled a little. "You would hardly have succeeded in that.
It is not so easy to train a nature such as Waldemar's in any
particular course, and communicative you certainly never could have
made him. He never feels the need of speaking his thoughts, of
unburthening his mind to another person. Trouble and gladness alike he
keeps to himself. Those about him see nothing of it, and one must know
him long and intimately, as I have known him, to find out that he is
capable of any deep emotion."
"Naturally enough--he has no heart," said Gretchen, who was always very
ready with her judgments. "One can see that at a glance. He chills the
room directly he comes into it, and I begin to shiver whenever he
speaks to me. All Wilicza has learned to fear, but not a single
creature to love him; and in spite of the friendliness and the
consideration he has shown us, he is just as great a stranger even to
my father as on the day of his arrival. I am convinced he has never
loved any human being--certainly no woman. He is perfectly heartless."
"Pardon me, Fraeulein,"--Fabian grew quite hot as he answered her--"you
do him great injustice there. He has heart enough, more than you fancy;
more perhaps than that fiery, passionate young Prince Baratowski. But
Waldemar does not know how, perhaps does not wish, to show it. Even as
a boy I noticed this trait in him, this close, persistent reserve; for
years I strove in vain to overcome it, until a chance occurrence, a
danger threatening me, all at once broke the ice between us. From that
hour I learned to know Waldemar as he really is."
"Well, amiable he is not, that is certain," decided Gretchen. "I can't
understand how you can be so tenderly attached to him. You were almost
distracted yesterday when you heard of the peril he had passed through,
and something must have happened up at the Castle again to-day, for you
are quite cross and excited. I saw it directly you came in. Come,
confess to me at once. Is Herr Nordeck menaced by any fresh trouble?"
"No, no," said the Doctor, hastily. "It has nothing to do with
Waldemar--this matter concerns myself alone. It has excited me a
little, certainly; but as to being cross--oh no, I certainly am not
that, Fraeulein. I have had news from J---- this morning."
"Has that scientific and historic monster, Professor Schwarz, been
annoying you again?" asked the young lady, with as warlike a demeanour
as though she were ready to throw down the glove and do battle with
that celebrated man on the spot.
Fabian shook his head. "I fear it is I who am to bring annoyance on him
this time, though I may truly say, in a manner altogether independent
of my will. You know that it was my 'History of Teutonism' which was
the original ground of contest between him and Professor Weber. This
contest has grown hotter and hotter, until at last it has passed all
bounds. Schwarz, with his hasty temper, irritated too by the importance
they attached to my book, allowed himself to be so far carried away as
to stoop to personal invective and to unwarrantable rudeness towards
his colleague; and, when the whole University declared itself on
Weber's side, he threatened to send in his resignation. He only meant,
by so doing, to show them how indispensable he was--he never seriously
thought of leaving J----; but his harsh, imperious manners have made
him many enemies among the leading personages there. In short, no
attempt was made to detain him, and what he merely intended as a threat
was accepted as an accomplished fact. He had no choice but to persist
in the resolution he had so publicly avowed. It is decided now that he
is to leave the University."
"A very good tiling for the University," said Gretchen, drily; "but I
do really believe you are capable of worrying yourself with remorse
about the business. It would be just like you."
"That is not all," said Fabian, in a low, hesitating voice. "There
is some talk of--of my taking his place. Professor Weber writes
me word that they intend offering me the chair which has become
vacant--offering it to me, a simple private scholar, who can boast of
no academic usefulness, whose only merit lies in his book, the first he
has published! It is something so unusual, so astounding, that at first
I positively could not believe it. I really could not get over my
surprise, my utter amazement."
Gretchen showed no amazement; she seemed to think it the most natural
thing that could have happened. "Well, they have shown themselves very
sensible," said she. "You are a man of much higher mark than Professor
Schwarz. Your book is far superior to anything he ever wrote; and when
you are once seated in his professorial chair, he will soon find his
fame obscured."
"But, Fraeulein, you don't know the Professor; you have not read his
works," put in the Doctor, timidly.
"Never mind, I know you," declared the girl, rising superior to
argument. "Of course you mean to accept the nomination?"
Fabian looked down, and some seconds passed before he answered--
"I hardly think so. Honourable as the distinction is to me, I do not
venture to avail myself of it, for I fear I should not be equal to so
important and prominent a post. The long years I have spent in
retirement, in solitude over my books, have unfitted me for public
life, and have made me quite incapable of meeting all those social
calls upon me which such a position would entail. Finally--and this is
the principal reason of all--I could not leave Waldemar, especially now
when troubles are coming in upon him on all sides. I am the only person
with whom he can be said to be on intimate terms, whose society he
would miss. It would be the height of ingratitude on my part, if for
the sake of some outward advantages ...."
"It would be the height of selfishness on Herr Nordeck's part, if he
were to accept such a sacrifice," interrupted Gretchen. "Luckily, he is
sure not to do so; he will never consent to your abandoning for his
sake a career which must seem to you to comprise every earthly
happiness."
"To me?" repeated the Doctor, sadly. "No, there you are mistaken. I
have ever sought and found all my pleasure in study, and I looked upon
it as a special favour from Providence when, in the pupil who at one
time stood so coldly aloof from me, a true and faithful friend grew up.
That which is called earthly happiness--a home, a family--I have never
known, and am not likely now to learn. At this moment, when such
undreamt-of success has come to me, it would be sheer presumption to
covet that also. I can well afford to be satisfied with that which has
fallen to my lot."
In spite of his resignation, the words sounded sorrowful enough; but
his young listener was apparently not moved to pity. Her lip curled
disdainfully.
"You are of a singular nature, Doctor. I should be in despair if I had
to take so gloomy a view of life, to renounce all its bright side."
The Doctor smiled sadly. "All, with you it is very different. One who
is young and attractive as you are, who has grown up in free and happy
circumstances, has a right to expect--to demand all good things from
life. May they be granted you in fullest measure! It is my earnest, my
heartfelt wish; but, indeed, there can be no doubt of it. Assessor
Hubert loves you."
"What has Assessor Hubert to do with my happiness?" flashed out
Gretchen. "You alluded to this once before. What do you mean by it?"
Fabian was seized with dire confusion.
"I beg you to forgive me, if I have been indiscreet," he stammered. "I
know that the circumstance is not made generally known at present; but
the deep, the sincere interest I take in you must be my excuse, if
I ..."
"If you what?" cried the girl, vehemently. "I do believe you seriously
take me to be engaged to that stupid, tiresome Hubert, who talks of
nothing the whole day long, but of conspiracies, and of his future
grand Counsellorship."
"But, Fraeulein," said Fabian, in utmost perplexity, "the Assessor
himself told me last autumn that he had good grounds for his hopes, and
that he could reckon with all confidence on your consent."
Gretchen sprang up with a bound which sent her chair flying backwards.
"There, it is out at last! But it is your fault, Doctor Fabian, your
fault entirely. Don't look at me with that astonished, frightened face.
It was you who misguided me into sending the Assessor to Janowo, where
he caught his cold. For fear of his falling ill in earnest, I took
charge of the patient myself. Ever since that time the fixed idea has
rooted itself in his mind that I am in love with him, and when once he
gets a fixed idea there is no curing him of it. You can see that by the
nonsense he is always talking about plots."
She was almost crying with vexation; but the Doctor's face grew
absolutely radiant at sight of this unfeigned indignation.
"You do not love the Assessor?" he asked. "You do not intend to bestow
your hand on him?"
"I will bestow a lesson on him such as he never had before, and send
him about his business," the young lady replied energetically, and
would have launched out into strong and injurious speech against poor
Hubert, had she not just then met the Doctor's gaze. At this she turned
crimson and was dumb.
A rather long pause ensued. Fabian was evidently striving to fortify
himself in some resolution from which his timidity shrank abashed.
Several times he tried to speak, but in vain. His eyes, however, told
his tale so plainly that Gretchen could be in no doubt as to what was
impending. On this occasion it did not occur to her to beat a retreat,
or to fly to the piano and perform on it until the strings snapped, as
she had been pleased to do when the Assessor had attempted to give vent
to his feelings. She sat down again, and waited for what was coming.
After a while the Doctor drew nearer, but shyly still, and with an
anxious face.
"Fraeulein," he began, "I did indeed believe--that is, I supposed--the
Assessor's strong attachment ..."
Here he came to a stop, remembering that it was highly unpractical to
talk of the Assessor's strong attachment when it was rather of his own
that he wished to speak. Gretchen saw that he was getting hopelessly
involved--that it would be necessary for her to come to his assistance,
if he were to be extricated from the labyrinth. She merely cast one
glance at her timorous suitor; but if his eyes had been explicit
previously, it was evident that hers were no less eloquent. The Doctor
took courage all at once, and went on with astounding courage.
"The mistake has made me very unhappy. Yesterday I should not have
dared to confess it to you, though the trouble has weighed cruelly on
my heart. How could I, who was altogether dependent on Waldemar's
generosity, dare to approach you with any such words? But this morning
has brought about a change. The future which is now offered for my
acceptance has in it prosperity enough to enable me, at least, to speak
of my feelings without presumption. Fraeulein Margaret, you reproached
me just now with my too pliant nature, with my tendency to give up
weakly, without a struggle. If you knew how renunciation has ever been
my lot, you would take back your words. I have gone through life lonely
and uncared for. My youth was dreary and joyless. I had to impose upon
myself the greatest privations in order to continue my studies, and I
gained nothing by them but a weary dependence on other people's
caprices, or on their good feeling. Believe me, it is hard, after the
most earnest endeavours, with elevated aims and a glowing enthusiasm
for science at one's heart, to have to instruct boys day by day in the
very rudiments of learning, to descend to the level of their
intelligence; and this I had to do long, very long--until Waldemar
enabled me to live for study alone, and so opened to me the career
which now offers itself. It is true that I meant to make the sacrifice
of it. I would have concealed my nomination from him; but at that time
I looked on you as the betrothed of another man. Now"--he had taken
possession of the girl's hand; shyness and embarrassment were things of
the past; now that the floodgates were fairly opened the words came
freely enough from his lips--"the future seems to promise me much.
Whether it has happiness in store for me as well is for you alone to
decide. Say, shall I accept or refuse, Margaret?"
He had now reached the point at which the Assessor had chosen to make
his great dramatic pause, preparatory to falling on his knees, but had
missed his effect, in consequence of the object of his adoration taking
flight at the critical moment. The Doctor did not attempt to kneel; he
even skilfully avoided that fatal pause, saying what he had to say
without hesitation or difficulty, while Gretchen sat before him with
downcast eyes, listening with infinite satisfaction; so that in a very
short time the offer was made, accepted, and even ratified by an
embrace, all going smoothly as a marriage bell.
Herr Assessor Hubert came downstairs. Having brought to an end his long
and minute examination of the coachman, which had left both him and his
victim in a state of semi-exhaustion, he determined to seek relaxation
from the strain of his official duties by giving free play to the
tenderer emotions of his heart. Poor Hubert! He had said that it was
his fate always to arrive too late. As yet, however, he little dreamed
how thoroughly his words would that day be verified. His departure had
been fixed for that afternoon; but, before leaving, he had made up his
mind to come to some clear understanding on the subject of his suit. He
would not set out on his journey without obtaining a definite and
favourable answer. In the glow of this valiant resolve he opened the
door of the anteroom so energetically, and with so much noise, that the
lovers in the adjoining parlour had time to settle themselves in a
perfectly innocent and unsuspicious attitude. Gretchen was discovered
sitting quietly at the window, while the Doctor stood near her, close
to the piano, which, to the newcomer's great relief, was closed to-day.
Hubert nodded condescendingly to Fabian. There was always something
patronising in his manner towards the Doctor, who, in his eyes, was
only an old tutor possessed of no importance but such as he borrowed
from his connection with Wilicza. To-day, with this business of his
love-making on hand, the man was actually in his way, and he gave
himself no trouble to hide it.
"I am sorry to disturb you. Practising French, I suppose?"
The tone was so nonchalant, so exactly that which he would have used to
a paid teacher, that even the Doctor's good-humour was not proof
against it. He had never hitherto found courage to show displeasure at
the behaviour Hubert had thought proper to adopt towards him, but
to-day it wounded him severely in his new dignity of an accepted lover.
He drew himself up, and said with an assured bearing which aroused in
Gretchen the liveliest satisfaction--
"No, you are wrong. We were practising a very different science."
The Assessor remarked nothing unusual; he was busy thinking how he
could most speedily get rid of this troublesome person.
"Ah, historical, no doubt!" said he, maliciously. "That is your hobby,
I think. Unfortunately it is hardly one suited to the taste of young
ladies. You will weary Fraeulein Margaret, Doctor Fabian."
The Doctor was about to answer, but Gretchen forestalled him. She
considered it was high time to put a damper on the Assessor, and set
herself to the task with infinite enjoyment.
"You will have to give the Doctor another title soon," said she, with
great emphasis. "He is on the point of accepting a professorship
at J----, which has been offered him on account of his extraordinary
literary and scientific merit."
"What--what?" cried the Assessor, startled, but with an expression of
extreme incredulity. He could not believe in this sudden transformation
of the neglected Fabian into a University Professor.
The latter's good humour had regained the upper hand already, and the
thought of the double mortification which he must of necessity inflict
on the nephew of his rival and the unsuccessful suitor of his
betrothed, revived anew all his conscientious scruples.
"Herr Hubert," he began, supposing that gentleman to be already
acquainted with the recent events at the University-- which was far
from being the case--"it is very painful to me to think that your uncle
should misjudge me, as would, unfortunately, appear to be the case. No
one can more sincerely appreciate and recognise his worth than I do. Be
assured that I had not the smallest share in the controversy which my
'History of Teutonism' provoked. Professor Schwarz seems to think that
I stirred up the dispute from interested motives, and purposely
envenomed it."
A light, a terrible light, began to dawn on the Assessor. He did not
know the name of that obscure individual whom the opposite party had
glorified, by attempting to place his work on a level with, nay above,
Schwarz's writings; but he knew that the book in question was a
'History of Teutonism,' and Fabian's words left no room for doubt that
the author of that book, the intriguer, the criminal aggressor, who had
disturbed the peace of the family celebrity, now stood before him in
person. He would have given vent to his astonishment, to his
indignation in words; but Gretchen, who already felt it incumbent on
her to represent the future Professor's wife, interfered again.
"Yes, Professor Schwarz might be led to fancy so, particularly as Dr.
Fabian is nominated to succeed him in his chair at the University of
J----. You know, of course, that your uncle has sent in his
resignation?"
The Assessor fairly gasped for breath. Fabian cast a supplicating look
at his betrothed, but Gretchen was merciless. She could not forget that
Hubert had boasted but a few months ago of her favour and certain
acceptance of him. She was determined to give him a lesson; so she
played her last trump, and, taking the Doctor by the hand, with solemn
formality proceeded thus--
"At the same time, Herr Assessor, allow me the pleasure of introducing
to you, in the future Professor Fabian, the successor of your
celebrated uncle, my affianced husband."
"I think the Assessor has turned crazy," said Frank, addressing the
Inspector with a look of real uneasiness, as they stood together
outside in the courtyard. "He has just rushed out of the house, like a
lunatic, nearly running over me, and without a word of excuse or
apology shouting for his carriage. He has been so excited all the
morning. I hope this conspiracy business won't turn his head. Just go
after him, will you, and see what he is about, and if he is likely to
do any mischief."
The Inspector shrugged his shoulders, and pointed to the carriage,
which at that moment was seen rolling away at full speed. "It is too
late, Herr Frank. He is off yonder."
Frank shook his head gravely, and went into the house, where he
received an explanation of the Assessor's stormy exit, which calmed his
apprehensions on the score of that gentleman's sanity. The Castle
coachman, who was also standing before the house, folded his hands, and
said with a deep sigh of relief, "He is gone, thank God; now he can't
examine me any more!"