"You really are too severe with poor Nanette," Fraeulein Aline von
Schlicht said to the young heiress.
Eva Schommer was conscious that there was justice in her friend's
reproof. Her impulsive temperament often led her to make use of hasty
expressions which she regretted afterwards, especially if she had been
actuated by anger, and she frequently seemed to show an insensibility
to the feelings of others which was by no means part of her character.
When she was irritated she would rebuke any omission of duty upon the
part of her servants with an undeserved severity, and she admitted to
herself that this had just been the case with Nanette. She had reproved
the girl upon mere suspicion as sharply as if the fault had been
proven. She was vexed with herself for her hastiness, but the dislike
with which Nanette's whole conduct had inspired her, and her conviction
that the girl had actually tried to play the part of eavesdropper, were
by no means weakened.
"You are right, Aline," she said, sadly; "I am ashamed of myself, but I
could not help it. The girl is so odious to me that I cannot conceive
how I came to take her into my service. I really think it would be best
to give her a quarter's or even a half-year's wages, and dismiss her."
"Do not be unjust, Eva. Has she given you any good reason to send her
away? Have you any right to break the contract which you tacitly
concluded with her when you engaged her as your maid?"
"But I will not break it. I will indemnify her duly."
"With money? Can it be done? If you send her away after three days in
your service, will it not be thought that she has been guilty of great
misconduct, perhaps even of dishonesty? Can money repair the harm done
to the girls reputation? How often you have told me how you despise the
wretched dross, and yet you propose to atone with money for the wrong
you will do poor Nanette by suddenly dismissing her from your service
without reason!"
"I will not do it, my dear, good Aline!" Eva cried, kissing her friend
tenderly. "You are my good angel," she continued; "you are always
right; I see how unjust I should be. I was wrong to take the girl into
my service simply upon Frau von Sturmhaupt's recommendation and
Wilhelm's request, when, in spite of her pretty face and figure, I was
not at all prepossessed by her, but now that I have made the mistake I
must bide by the consequences. I should have trusted my first
impressions and not taken her into the house. My dislike to her, which
increases daily, may easily make me unjust to her. Her affected smile,
her hypocritical humility, and her whole manner, indeed, confirm my
want of confidence in her. I do not believe her even when she is
telling the truth. I suspect her always of some sly ulterior motive in
all she says."
"Are you not unjust again, Eva dear? You are prejudiced against the
girl, and see faults in her which I fail to discover. To me she seems
amiable and willing. I have not known her to tell a falsehood. She is
neat, capable, and industrious, pleasant in her manner, and in short,
so far as I can judge from the few days she has been in your service,
she possesses all the qualities of an excellent lady's-maid. That she
is honest and trustworthy is proved by the excellent character she
brought you from Frau von Sturmhaupt, with whom she lived several
years."
"Why did she leave if Frau von Sturmhaupt was satisfied with her?"
"Nanette told you herself that as she has an old mother dependent upon
her, she was obliged to ask higher wages than Frau von Sturmhaupt--who
is by no means wealthy--felt herself justified in giving. I cannot see
that we have any reason to doubt the truth of this explanation. Is it
not natural that a poor girl should try to improve her condition?"
"I cannot argue the matter, Aline. All that you say is perfectly
correct, and nevertheless something that I can neither explain nor
contend with convinces me that Nanette is false, that her amiability is
hypocrisy, and that she returns with interest my dislike. I know she
hates me, and that she will show me that she does so as soon as she has
the opportunity."
"You will not allow such a vague 'something' to influence you?"
"No, Aline; I will follow your advice. I will try to conquer my
prejudice--for I confess that my dislike of Nanette is prejudice--but I
cannot promise more. I will not testify towards her the dislike with
which she inspires me, but I cannot command my confidence, and I cannot
pretend to show her any."
"She has no right at present to ask that you should. Your confidence in
her must be the result of faithful performance of her duties; and I
hope she will succeed in winning it, for you are too dear and good not
to resign a prejudice as soon as you know that it is unjust."
"I will try, my darling Aline," said Eva, taking her friend's hand and
tenderly kissing it, "I will try, and perhaps I shall succeed since you
are with me, for you are, as I said, my good angel. When I look into
your kind, loving eyes, and hear your gentle words, I think I can be
better; my wild, impulsive nature grows calm. I am not dear and good,
as you call me, Aline. I know I am not, but I want to be so. When I see
your heavenly gentleness and repose, I feel how hateful are my hasty
judgments, my sharp hard words, my unfeminine obstinacy. I long to be
like you, but I cannot; I forget all my good resolutions as soon as I
am provoked. I know how odious this is, and, when I think of it, I
cannot conceive how you, who are so infinitely better and gentler than
I, can love me. Oh, if I could only be like you!"
Aline returned her friend's kiss, and said, with a smile, "Who would
believe that the charming Eva could be guilty of such folly, that the
proud beauty whom all adore could wish to resemble poor insignificant
me, whom no one cares for except the friend whose affection blinds her?
No, stay as you are, dear, for as you are you conquer every heart."
The lovely, gentle smile that had transfigured Eva's face as she had
caressed her friend vanished at Aline's last words, her dark eyes
flashed, and the lines about her mouth grew hard. "Yes," she said,
bitterly, "as I am I conquer the hearts of all the men who have set
their hearts on my wretched millions, the most unfortunate inheritance
which my good father could have bequeathed to me. He never dreamed,
while he laboured night and day to give wealth to his darling child,
that this miserable money would be the curse of her existence,
poisoning her very soul!"
Aline looked at her, with a smile. "If your wealth is your greatest
misfortune," she said, gayly, "I am afraid you will find but little
sympathy for it among your heartless fellow-mortals, and that you will
be obliged to learn to endure with stoicism the burden of your
millions."
"You too, Aline!" Eva cried, reproachfully. "Can you consider wealth a
blessing? I know perfectly well that others envy me, but if they
dreamed what misery this wretched money has brought me, how it daily
embitters every enjoyment of life, filling my mind with distrust and
suspicion, making me despise those about me, they would give me pity
instead of envy. Wherever I go I am received with delight and loaded
with courtesies. I? No, my millions! I represent to these sordid souls
their idol,--wealth. I am nothing to them but the heiress, and as such
beautiful, lovely, talented, feted and caressed wherever I go. Have I
not known this from my earliest childhood? Gray-headed servants cringed
and yielded to every wish of the spoiled wayward child, finding all
that she did charming and attractive because she was an heiress. Can I
be happy in kindness shown not to me but to my money? As soon as I
appear in society all the men vie with each other in doing me homage.
One flatters me, another exerts all his wit to entertain me, a third
sighs and languishes at my feet,--and it is all a lie, all wretched
hypocrisy! These very men who flatter and woo me would never accord me
a moment's notice if I were poor. Oh it is hard to be obliged to repeat
over and over to one's self, 'You yourself are nothing; these wretches
adore your millions, not you!' What do they care although I treat them
with the greatest arrogance and contempt? I am rich, and all I say and
do is charming, and would be although I united in my one character
every possible vice. I despise them and show them that I do so, and
they adore me! They sue for my hand and not one thinks whether I can be
a faithful, loving wife. I bring the man whom I marry millions, and who
cares whether a heart accompanies them? The more persistently they pay
court to me the more I am humiliated in my own eyes, the more
thoroughly I hate these miserable, sordid men! Yes, I hate them so
thoroughly that even that vain aristocrat, Count Waldheim, and that
_blase_ fop, Paul Delmar, seem delightful to me, only because I know
that they never think of marrying me; they at least are not to be
bought with my money. Waldheim's pride of birth protects him from such
degradation, and Delmar is richer than I; he wants none of my fortune."
"Poor child!" Aline said, sadly.
"Yes, you are right now!" Eva continued, with emotion. "I am poor,
terribly poor; in the midst of my wealth I am destitute of everything
that constitutes happiness. It is a sad fate, indeed, never to be loved
for one's self alone!"
"Never, Eva?" Aline asked, reproachfully. "Do you mistrust me?"
"No, never!" the girl cried. "You and dear old Uncle Balthasar are the
only people in the whole world whom I really love and trust with my
whole heart,--you two, and perhaps Aunt Minni, who, I think, gives me
as much affection as she can spare from her lap-dog Azor. If it were
not for you I should be desperate indeed in this cold heartless sordid
world!"
"Because you see the world much more cold heartless and sordid than it
really is,--because you regard men with a suspicion that they do not
deserve. I cannot comprehend how you can be so mistaken as to believe
that every one who comes near you to show you kindness or preference
thinks only of your fortune,--that every man who wooes you desires your
money only. Look in your mirror, and if you are not blind it must tell
you that your beauty----"
"Not another word, Aline! You argue against yourself. Is all their
homage paid to my beauty? Why, this is almost worse than if it were
paid to my wealth. How can beauty without mind and heart attract any
man of genuine worth? Because they all praise my beauty I despise them
the more. Has one of the crowd about me ever had an opportunity of
discovering whether I possess either heart or intellect? I scarcely
reply to their flatteries; I treat them with the cold contempt that
they merit, but they cringe all the more. Remember that fete at
Schoensee. I was in the worst of humours, and intentionally as
disagreeable as possible; you, on the contrary, were as charming, as
lovely, as--well, as you always are. You are much handsomer than I."
"But, Eva----!"
"Let me finish. You have brought this on yourself. I know that I am not
ill-looking, but I am not so conceited as to compare myself with you.
And that day you looked so lovely that I was positively enchanted with
you. The air had deepened the colour on your cheeks, your glorious blue
eyes were sparkling with pleasure, and as the wind played among the
golden curls on your forehead you looked like some angel just flown
down from heaven."
"Oh, Eva, Eva!"
"I will not be silenced; you shall hear me out. You were so lovely and
so gay, you talked so charmingly that all the women envied me for
having such a friend. And the men? they crowded about me, unamiable,
silent, repellant as I was, and neglected you who were all loveliness.
But no; now I recollect. Lieutenant von Herwarth did not neglect you;
but he was the only one who bestowed upon me no more than a due share
of attention, and therefore I liked him better than all the others."
Aline's cheeks flushed crimson at this mention of Lieutenant von
Herwarth, and Eva laughed merrily. But it was her turn to blush when
Aline, recovering from her embarrassment, said, "Herr von Heydeck
certainly paid you no especial attention,--he and Herwarth make two; so
you see all the men do not deserve your censure."
"I will except Herwarth for your sake!" Eva replied, gayly.
"And Herr von Heydeck?"
"I know him too slightly. I suppose he would have been like all the
rest, but I scarcely spoke to him when Uncle Balthasar presented him."
"And he took it very ill of you, my dear," said a deep voice behind the
two girls.
It was Uncle Balthasar who thus interrupted them; he had come through
the drawing-room without being perceived by the two friends, whose
faces were turned towards the garden, and he now stepped out upon the
veranda. Nodding pleasantly to his niece and raising his straw hat to
her friend, he drew a chair up to the table at which they were sitting
and took his place beside them.
Uncle Balthasar was conscious of the possession of an important and
interesting piece of news, and he comported himself accordingly. He did
all that he could to assume a grave and dignified expression,
succeeding but ill however, for the good-humoured smile would not
resign its wonted place upon his face and shone through his affected
gravity. He twirled his moustache until the two ends pointed directly
upwards, then folded his arms and cast down his eyes reflectively,
never stooping to pick up his gold-headed cane, usually his favourite
toy, when it fell on the floor at his feet.
The two girls exchanged a smiling glance of mutual understanding; they
knew Uncle Balthasar, and that he was longing to impart to them some
fresh piece of gossip.
Eva, always ready to please him, opened the way for him by a question:
"You come from the city, uncle? Is there any news? You look so solemnly
important that we are dying of curiosity."
Uncle Balthasar gave his moustache a fresh twirl and nodded with
exceeding gravity. "There is bad news," he said, slowly and seriously;
"yes, yes, my dear, very bad news, I can assure you. The thing occurred
as I tell you. I had just drunk my usual can, and was sauntering home,
when I met Count Waldheim, or rather he overtook me and tapped me on
the shoulder. 'Good-morning, Herr Balthasar,' said he. 'Count, your
most obedient servant,' said I. 'How is your niece to-day?' said he.
'Thanks for your kind inquiry; she is very well,' said I. And we went
on talking most sociably."
Here he paused and looked thoughtfully at the mosaic top of the table
before him, pondering how to convey his news to his listeners in the
most impressive manner.
But Eva misunderstood him; she thought he had finished, and she said,
laughing, "And is this your bad news, uncle?"
Uncle Balthasar was quite offended by his niece's tone and words, and
gave vent to this feeling with all the sharpness in voice and manner of
which he was capable,--"I take your sneer extremely ill, my dear. I
take the greatest pains to consider how best to spare your feelings in
telling you what Count Waldheim has just told me of Herr von Heydeck,
and you sneer at me. My dear, you are wrong, very wrong."
The merry smile vanished from Eva's face at her uncle's mention of the
name of Heydeck; she blushed and looked up at him eagerly. "Don't be
angry with me, uncle dear," she begged, "I did not mean to offend you.
Pray go on."
"I am not angry," the kindly old man declared, "but you have quite put
me out. I wanted to spare your feelings, and now I really do not know
how to begin."
"Spare my feelings? Has any misfortune occurred?" Eva asked, anxiously.
"But no, that is impossible! I saw Herr von Heydeck hardly half an hour
ago, under Buechner's awning."
"Just so; it was at Buechner's that the affair took place. One of them
will of course be killed; probably Herr von Bertram, for Herr von
Heydeck is sure of his man at a hundred paces."
"For God's sake what has happened? I pray you do not keep me in
suspense!"
"Why you see, Eva my dear, I don't know very well myself. I only know
what Count Waldheim told me. He was there when Herr von Heydeck, under
Buechner's awning, abused you, and Herr von Bertram would not permit it;
and so they both went at it. The Count says there must be a duel, for
Herr von Bertram flew into such a rage that Herr von Heydeck must
challenge him and shoot him of course. But Herr von Bertram won't mind
giving his life for you in the least. That's what the Count said; and
he was coming to tell you all about it, but meeting me, he said I would
do just as well. He would send Herr von Bertram himself, who could tell
you everything. And that's all I know about it."
And Uncle Balthasar, leaning back in his chair with an air of immense
satisfaction, picked up his cane, and lightly tapped with it his patent
leather boot-tips.
Eva had listened eagerly to all he had to say, growing alternately red
and pale the while. When she heard that Herr von Heydeck had spoken ill
of her, her black eyes flashed and her cheeks burned with
mortification; when she heard that Bertram had been her champion, she
grew pale. That he--he whom of all her numerous admirers she most
hated--should have undertaken her defence, and against Heydeck! Her
heart beat violently: a mist came before her eyes; she sank back half
fainting into the arms of Aline, who kissed her brow tenderly and
compassionately.
Uncle Balthasar, seeing the effect his narrative had produced upon his
niece, started to his feet. "Eva my dear girl, what is the matter?" he
cried, frightened out of his wits. "The doctor! where is the doctor?
Where is the bell? Send Wilhelm for the doctor!"
In the wildest distress he ran hither and thither, perfectly uncertain
what to do; but his anxiety soon ceased, for Eva quickly recovered
herself and arose. "Compose yourself, uncle," she said, gently, "I am
not ill; the fright overcame me for a moment, but I need no physician.
I am quite strong again and ready for what must be done! This duel must
not take place!" She took from the table before her a little silver
bell and rang it violently.
"What are you going to do?" Aline asked, with anxiety.
"I do not know just yet; I only know that a duel must be
prevented,--prevented at all hazards."
Nanette instantly obeyed her mistresses summons, and was devoured with
curiosity at sight of Eva's pale face and flashing eyes, although she
received her orders without any sign of interest. "Send Wilhelm," Eva
said, "to Lieutenant von Bertram. If he does not find him at home, let
him go after him, wherever he is, and beg him to come to me as quickly
as possible. I will await him here on the veranda."
"But, Eva, you must not do this," Aline interposed. "What will Herr von
Bertram think of such an invitation?"
"What are conventional forms to me when two human lives are at stake?
No, Aline, I shall follow the dictates of duty; nothing that you can
say will shake my resolution. Dearly as I love to follow your advice, I
cannot do so now. What are you waiting for, Nanette? Do you not
understand my orders?"
"I thought perhaps the Lady Aline----"
Eva was about to give vent to the irritation caused her by these words,
but she remembered in time her late conversation with Aline, and she
merely said, in a gentler tone than she was used to employ towards
Nanette, "I wish Wilhelm to request Herr von Bertram to come to me as
soon as possible. Make haste and carry him my orders. Go!"
Then, when Nanette had left the veranda, she turned to Uncle Balthasar:
"Will you do me a favour, uncle dear?"
"A thousand if you will, my darling. You know I do everything that you
wish," Uncle Balthasar hastened to assure her.
"Then pray go to Count Waldheim. I am afraid Wilhelm will not find Herr
von Bertram, but Count Waldheim will surely know where he is. I must
see Herr von Bertram. Bring him to me, there's a dear good uncle!"
"You shall have him, my pet, you shall have him! I'll bring him to you,
be sure, my poor little darling! I know where to find him. Count
Waldheim told me he was to dine with him at the Casino. You shall have
him; I'll bring him."