It was a stormy autumn evening; the last yellow leaves of the
beech-trees were whirling through the forest near Soroee, and the
usually calm lake was lashed into wild waves like those of the open
sea.
'Does Italian Franz reside in this wood?' asked a clear, manly voice
from the road, as Count Otto stopped his grey steed close to a
peasant's cottage, and knocked at the little window with his
riding-whip.
'You can't lose your way,' replied an old woman, opening the window a
very little. 'If you take the path on the left, alongside of the lake,
the first house you will come to is where the under-ranger lives.'
The young count thanked her and proceeded on. When he turned into the
path by the left, where the moon shone full through the trees, and cast
its silver rays upon the agitated lake, his horse shied, and sprang to
one side; at the same moment the count's eyes fell upon the trunk of a
hollow oak-tree by the side of the road, against which a figure
appeared to be leaning. It was that of a man in the garb of a hunter he
saw; his rifle lay at his feet; his horse, bound to the old tree, stood
by his side, and, as a moonbeam fell on his face, lighting up his
features, the young count felt, for the first time in his life, a
strange sensation of terror--it was as if he beheld before him a
well-known countenance, but terribly changed and distorted. He gave
himself no time to examine into the cause of this fear, a feeling which
he had never before experienced in any of his numerous journeys, not
even when he had fallen in with highwaymen and robbers, with whom he
had often had desperate encounters, but without reasoning one moment
with himself, or taking time to think why he felt such sudden dread, he
plunged his spurs into his horse's sides, and galloped on as fast as
possible. The solitary hunter leaning against the decayed tree was
Italian Franz. This name had been bestowed on him on account of his
having been in the employment of a noble family, with whom he had
resided for several years in Italy, and who, as a reward for his
faithful services to them, had obtained for him the rangership he now
held near Soroee. He was born in this part of the country, where his
father had been the owner of a mill. But his long residence in a
southern climate had tanned his originally fair northern complexion,
and imparted a swarthy, sunburnt hue to his cheek, while his light hair
had also become darker in these remote lands. He was a man somewhere
about forty years of age, and when he was in good spirits, or in a gay
humour, he might have passed for much younger, especially when he
indulged in the vivacity of manners he had acquired in the South. But
when his fierce and gloomy fits came over him, he looked so old, and
also so wild and formidable, that no one would willingly have met him
alone in the woods. He would often remain whole nights in the forest,
with his gun over his shoulder, whistling or singing Italian airs in
the moonlight, especially when autumnal gales whirled the leaves around
him, and the lake was dark and agitated.
While he thus wandered in the deep woods or by the lonely lake, his
only child, the beautiful Giuliana, who was born in Italy, sat, a
solitary being in the forest lodge, and gazed at the charming pictures
of Capri, Torrento, and Ischia, and many other lovely spots, views of
which her father had brought with him from her enchanting native land,
and which she in vain tried to recall to memory, for she had left it at
so early an age that she retained but a very faint recollection of it,
and to her its beauties were almost ideal. She did not remember her
mother at all; her father could never be induced to speak of her; and
from the time she first began to notice what was going on around her,
she had always felt inclined to cry when other children spoke of their
mothers, because she had none herself.
She was about three years of age when the Countess R. took her from
Salerno on her journey home from Italy, accompanied by her father, who
had attended the noble family on a previous journey; and thenceforth
Giuliana had never seen her beautiful unknown native land. During the
two years, over which period their travels had extended, her infantine
mind had opened considerably; and of that time she preserved many
reminiscences. She had always been a pet of the beautiful countess, and
had travelled in the inside of the carriage with her and the two young
counts Otto and Wilhelm, while her father went outside with the
servants, though he was by no means always their companion, for when
the party arrived at inns in towns where they knew no one, it was
always Jaeger Franzesco who enlivened them, and amused the whole party.
Giuliana well remembered how the countess and both her sons had wept
when her father, ten years back, took leave of them, and carried her,
then only five years of age, to the forest lodge at Soroee, while the
young counts, who were then nearly grown up, accompanied their invalid
and melancholy mother to some German watering-place.
From that time, no year had passed over Giuliana's head without her
having received several kind and costly souvenirs--dresses, and other
gifts--from the countess. She always wore, however, the simple dress of
a peasant girl, not to seem peculiar or arrogant amongst her
neighbours; and she looked much prettier on Sundays, in her knitted red
sleeves and flowered bodice, than the smartest country girls, who,
instead of appearing in their national costume, awkwardly attempted to
sport what they thought fashionable attire. It was only at weddings,
and on other great occasions, that she drew forth from her stores some
pearls, or other precious stones, to adorn herself; and occasionally
when she was alone, or on her father's or her own birthday, she could
not resist the childish temptation to put on the pretty foreign garb
which she knew was worn in her native country, and which, copying from
her father's Italian pictures, she had amused herself by making up out
of the foreign silks and other materials the bountiful countess had
sent her.
Jaeger Franz bad acquired more knowledge from his foreign travels than
was usually possessed by men in his situation of life. He had been a
great favourite of the deceased count, and had been treated by him more
as a friend than as a servant. Being the companion of so superior and
well-informed a man as the count, had improved him greatly. Up to the
last hour of the count's life, Franz had been, next to the countess and
their two children, his chosen associate; and when, on his return from
a scientific tour in Sicily and the coasts of Barbary, he was attacked
by a fever at Naples, which put an end to his life, the countess, being
at that time confined to her bed by illness, Franz was the only one
from whose hands he would take the medicines prescribed for him; and
his last request to his wife was, that she would provide for the future
days of his faithful Franz.
The many foreign countries Franz had visited, and the intercourse in
which he had so long lived with his superiors, had much improved his
mind and tastes, and he was able to give his daughter a much better
education than the generality of country girls could aspire to. Italian
Franz's pretty daughter was, therefore, well known over the whole
district of Soroee, and the daughters of the principal burghers in the
town did not think it beneath them to visit her. If ever they took upon
themselves the least airs of superiority, she soon put them down in a
gay and seemingly whimsical manner. She was a favourite, also, among
the peasant girls, and they were not a little proud that she generally
classed herself amongst them, notwithstanding her intimacy with the
daughters of the clergyman and other young ladies in the neighbourhood.
Within the last few months, however, her numerous young female friends
had evinced some lukewarmness towards her, and she was left more to
solitude in her father's somewhat lonely house; but if those of her own
sex partly deserted her, the young gentlemen of the neighbourhood, both
those who belonged to town and country, began to pay much attention to
the little Italian, who was now fifteen years of age, and had been
confirmed the last Easter.
Franz had secretly embraced Roman Catholicism in Italy, but had not
found it possible to avoid letting his daughter be brought up in the
Lutheran religion, although in her early childhood she had learnt the
Ave Maria, and treasured the Holy Virgin and all the saints in her
heart.
In a small side-chamber in the forest lodge, into which no one entered
but the father and daughter, there hung over a little domestic altar,
made of oak-tree, a beautiful picture of the Queen of Heaven, before
which a lamp burned day and night, and Giuliana never forgot to keep
the lamp always trimmed, and to ornament the little altar with fresh
flowers on every festival day. Her father often retired to solitary
meditation, or prayer, in this little oratory; but on one particular
day every year he locked himself in there for twenty-four hours, and
always issued from it in a state of great agitation, and as pale as a
corpse, exhausted by fasting and earnest prayer. This was always on the
2nd of November, _All Souls' Day_.
Giuliana had once asked her father why he kept that particular day so
strictly, but she never ventured to repeat the inquiry, she had been so
frightened by the terribly withering look he cast upon her. There also
lay an impenetrable veil of mystery over her mother's fate, and the
history of her own childish years, which she never dared to attempt to
raise. She was always glad when her moody father seemed for a little
while to forget the past and the future. He also appeared to enjoy
these short intervals of forgetfulness, and many people thought him the
gayest and happiest man breathing. However, whenever All Souls' Day
approached, he avoided the society of his fellow-beings, and plunged
into the depths of the forest night and day, apparently in quest of
game; but he frequently returned on these occasions without having shot
anything, and often without having once discharged his gun.
It was on just such an evening in the beginning of October that
Giuliana, in her loneliness, had taken out her dear Italian costume, to
please herself by putting it on, and perhaps amuse her father when he
came home. She was sitting with the silver ornaments in her dark hair,
with the rose-coloured bodice and skirt of which she had read, and with
the little pictures she loved so much before her, fancying herself
amidst the charming scenes her imagination so often portrayed. It was
late in the evening when she heard the sound of a horse's feet
approaching, and observed that it had stopped at the paved pathway
which led to the house. She concluded it was her father, and rose to
meet him, when the door opened, and the young Count Otto entered,
starting with astonishment at seeing the beautiful Italian girl in a
Danish forester's house. He did not know if he was dreaming or awake,
for never before had he beheld any one so lovely, and the Southern
costume gave to the charming figure which stood before him an air
strangely fanciful and romantic.
'Giuliana!' he exclaimed, after a moment's reflection. 'Yes, you must
be Giuliana herself; and I am Otto,' he added--'the frolicsome little
Otto, who teazed you with bitter oranges in the corner of the carriage
ten years ago.'
'Otto!' cried Giuliana, calling to mind the half-grown boy who used to
be her playfellow, as she had often seen him in her dreams of
childhood. In her joy she had almost thrown her arms round his neck,
but she beheld a handsome young man before her, and drew back,
blushing. 'You have taken me by surprise, count,' she said, colouring
still more deeply. 'I was only a very little child when you last saw
me, and now you find in me but a big child. I expected no one but my
father this evening, and this dress--'
'Becomes you admirably,' interrupted the count, 'and transports me
back, as if by magic, to fair Italy. Do not thus cast your eyes down;
let me see if I can recognize my little pet of five years old again.
Yes, the eyes are the same; but I must not now speak so familiarly to
you, or call you "my Giuliana," as I did then.'
'And my little knight Otto, with his wooden sword, which was to protect
me from the brigands, has also disappeared,' said Giuliana. 'But tell
me, count, what fortunate circumstance has recalled us to your
recollection, that you should surprise us with a visit here, in our
remote hermitage?'
'I shall tell that to your father,' replied Otto, gravely. 'He is not
at home, I find: but do you not expect him back this evening?'
'He is out hunting in the forest,' said Giuliana. 'However, I hope he
will come home this evening; I have seen very little of him for some
days past. But you must be tired after your long journey, and must
require some refreshment. Please to make yourself at home here, Herr
Count, and excuse my absence for a few minutes; I will soon return.'
So saying, Giuliana tripped out of the room, and Count Otto sat down
near the table. At first he observed nothing around him; he could see
nothing but the image of the beautiful Giuliana, who had made a sudden
and strong impression upon him, which, however, he chose to ascribe to
her fanciful attire, and the surprise of their first meeting.
Nevertheless, he almost forgot why he had come, and that his visit was
more to the father than to the daughter. But he now decided on
remaining a little time at Soroee. Carelessly glancing over the table,
he observed some of the best travels in Italy that had ever been
published, and lying near them, collections of engravings of the
most remarkable places, and of national costumes. He also saw some
nicely-bound volumes, containing Tasso and Aristo in their original
language, and, on a shelf against the wall, handsome copies of the old
Danish tragedies, with selections from the best Danish and foreign
poets.
A small wooden crucifix, on which was placed a wreath of _immortelles_,
stood on a chest of drawers in an alcove, and at its feet lay an open
Bible. The count rose, and, approaching the recess, he saw a curtain,
which he drew aside, when a small bed on a pretty oaken bedstead in a
corner became visible.
'Here, then, that lovely creature sleeps,' thought he, 'happy in her
sweet, innocent dreams: and she has chosen very intellectual and
refined company for her solitude. Who would have expected to find such
a girl in an abode like this?'
At that moment a nice-looking peasant girl entered, and began to
arrange the table for supper--it was Giuliana, who had laid aside the
foreign costume in which she had felt so embarrassed before the
stranger. He thought she looked still more charming in the simple,
unpretending peasant dress, but he did not wish to make her feel
bashful by letting her see how much he admired her. He questioned her
about her father's circumstances, and her own position; and then
informed her of his mother's death, a piece of intelligence which made
a much deeper impression on Giuliana's feeling heart than he could have
anticipated.
He himself was much affected when he told of his bereavement; but his
extreme grief seemed to be caused by something more than even sorrow
for her loss. As soon as they had recovered themselves a little, the
count took pains to avoid entering further on a subject so distressing
to them both, and led the conversation towards those topics on which
the various books of travels scattered about made him think he could
venture. He soon perceived how the dim, childish recollections in
Giuliana's excitable mind had been revived, and kept from fading away,
by the beautiful engravings and interesting works depicting the
enchanting land of her birth, and how it was that she felt herself such
a stranger in the bleak North, and longed so much to return to the
sunny South. To her it appeared like a wonderful fairyland, where her
brightest dreams and hopes were centred. Her father's fits of deep
melancholy, and his frequent uncontrollable bursts of agony of
soul--the cause of which she could not fathom, and which she had no
means of alleviating--often grieved her extremely. The constraint under
which she generally felt with him, even when he was in good spirits,
and unusually cheerful, contributed much to increase her longing for a
change to a brighter land, and also to make her contrast in her young
mind the peace and happiness entwined amidst her childish
recollections, with her gloomy life in the lonely forest lodge.
She did not, however, express these sentiments to the young count, or
dwell upon her own feelings, but they were soon perceived by her
observant guest. He had begun to place before her some pleasanter
prospects for the future, and had just mentioned that he knew a
family who were soon going to Italy, and that they were in want of a
lady-companion, who would take charge of two little girls. He was just
speaking of this, and feeling in his own secret soul some dim,
undefined hopes of agreeable days to come, when the neighing of a horse
was heard close by. Suddenly the door was opened, and a man entered, in
whom the count recognized the solitary hunter he had seen near the old
tree in the forest, whose countenance had appeared so dreadful to him
in the pale moonlight.
'My dear father,' cried Giuliana, springing forward to meet him, 'guess
whom I have to present to you! Hush!' said she to Otto, 'let us see if
he can find out who you are.'
Otto, who had been standing in the shade, now came forward towards the
light which Giuliana held up near his face, and looked earnestly and in
silence at Italian Franz.
'What is the matter, father?' exclaimed Giuliana. 'You have turned
deadly pale--you seem to be seized with giddiness!'
'Who art thou?' cried Franz, starting back from Otto as if struck with
sudden insanity. 'If thou art a living being, speak!--speak, and do not
thus gaze like a spectre at me!'
'Good Heavens, father! it is only Otto!' said Giuliana, anxiously, yet
soothingly.
'We take turns in being afraid of each other this evening,' said the
count. 'For as I rode past you in the forest, Franz, I took _you_ for a
spectre, or some awful apparition, and now you pay me the same
compliment, I see. But how goes it, old Franz, and how are you?'
'Very well, Herr Count--very well, thank you,' said Franz. 'I recognize
you now by your voice, though it has, of course, become much deeper
than when I heard it last. So it was you who rode past me down yonder,
near the lake, upon that fiery horse? I was standing wrapt up in my own
thoughts, when suddenly a horseman sprang forward from among the trees,
and, passing me in wild haste, vanished speedily from my sight. By the
glimpse I had of him, I thought his face was not altogether unknown to
me, but I should as soon have expected to have seen the Wild Huntsman,
or a ghost, as you, Herr Count.'
'Am I so much changed?' asked the count. 'I can now quite recognize you
again, Franz, although you certainly look a little older. And
Giuliana's eyes shine like a pair of well-remembered stars from my
childhood's heaven. I believe I am as tall as my father was, and I am
thought very like him.'
'I can't see any very strong resemblance,' said Franz, turning away
from him. 'But has the count had no refreshment, Giuliana? Move that
light a little farther off, it hurts my eyes; sit down, Herr Count, and
let us be merry. I have still a flask of old Syracuse--we shall empty
that together to the health of your mother, the noble countess.'
'I wear this mourning for her,' said Otto, suppressing his emotion.
'Three months ago, at Toplitz, she was released from her long-continued
sufferings.'
'Dead!' exclaimed Franz, and covered his face with his hands. 'You
come, perhaps, Herr Count, as the envoy of the dead, and bring me a
word of farewell; or, more probably, she has latterly forgotten Jaeger
Franz. She has had no communication with me for ten long years.'
'My dying mother sent this ring to your daughter, said Otto, handing to
Giuliana a gold ring, with a little diamond cross on it. On the inside
of the ring was engraved, 'Keep watch over your soul, and pray for the
dead.'
'I have a few words to say to you, Franz, when we are alone.'
'Go, my daughter, and fetch us some wine,' said Franz, bending the
while a scrutinizing look upon Otto, yet trying to appear quite at his
ease, though a degree of nervousness and anxiety in his countenance and
demeanour proved that he was not so.
Giuliana left the room; and after a moment's silence, which seemed
embarrassing to them both, Otto took Italian Franz's hand, and said:
'You must solve an enigma for me, which embitters my remembrance of my
mother's last hours. She suffered exceedingly, but I think not so much
from bodily as from mental pain. In the last interview I had with her,
when I hoped she would have opened her mind to me, and have cast off
the burden of some secret which seemed to oppress her heart, it was
almost too late; she could scarcely speak, but she pronounced your
name, and said, in a trembling voice, "Go to him, and ask him if _that_
be true about which I have never ventured to ask him, and which, for
full fifteen years past, like a frightful suspicion, has haunted my
soul--ask him, for the sake of my eternal salvation, if--"'
'If what?' demanded Franz, springing up from his seat.
'I could not understand another word; she was dying, and her speech was
very imperfect. Suddenly a convulsive fit came on, and in a moment she
was gone. It is now, alas! too late to obtain, for _her_ peace, an
answer to the mysterious question; but for the sake of my own peace, I
would claim it. Tell me, Franz, what is it you know which made my
mother so miserable on her death-bed?'
'And did she really and truly say nothing more?' asked Franz, with a
relieved look.
'Not another word. But you must tell me the rest.'
'Thank your God that you have escaped hearing more, Herr Count! I will
carry to my grave what I know; it would be good neither for you nor for
myself, were I to disclose it.'
'You shall, though,' cried the count, grasping his short sword. 'I will
know it, or--'
'Act as you please, Herr Count,' said Franz, coldly, and without
appearing to be in the least intimidated by the threat. 'You would be
doing me a service by putting an end to a life which I care not to
hold; but no power on earth shall wring from me one word I do not
choose to utter.'
The coolness of Franz checked the rising anger of the young man.
'Forgive my impetuosity, Franz,' he said, in a lower tone; 'your
firmness and your calm demeanour put me to shame; I have no right to
insist on any explanation from you. But I shall remain for a little
while in this neighbourhood; we shall probably meet often, and when you
are convinced of the great importance it is to me to discover what you
now think advisable to conceal, perhaps you will change your
determination.'
'I doubt that,' replied Franz. 'If you were a holy priest, Herr Count,
and belonged to the true church, in which alone salvation can be found,
but which is proscribed hereabouts, it would be another thing.'
'It is, then, a matter of conscience, Franz, about which my mother--'
'Think what you will of me, Herr Count, but do not implicate your
mother! Whatever she may have fancied, and whatever account I may have
to render to Him who will judge every soul, and the actions of every
being, at the great day of doom--for the sake of your own peace of mind
seek not to dive into the mystery of my gloomy fate; enough that it
casts a dark shadow over my life. For Giuliana's sake, let me also
entreat of you to keep this conversation secret from her, and if you do
not wish to destroy the childish simplicity and peace of that
unfortunate girl, leave us as soon as you possibly can, that she may
not witness such scenes between you and myself.'
'I have a plan in regard to Giuliana, Franz, which I shall tell you
to-morrow. To-night I do not feel in spirits to enter on the subject.
Farewell!'
So saying, the young count left him, and when Giuliana entered shortly
after with the wine, she found her father alone, and asked why Count
Otto had gone away in such a hurry, and without even bidding her
farewell.
'He had business to attend to, my child,' replied her father; 'but he
intends to remain at Soroee to-night, and he will pay us another visit
before he goes away.'
'What! is he going away so soon?' sighed Giuliana. 'I thought he meant
to have stayed some time among us.'
'Have you, then, much pleasure in the thought of seeing him, my
daughter?' asked Franz.
'Oh yes, yes! he is my dear old playfellow, and it seems to me as if we
had always known each other. If he had not been so tall, and also a
count, a nobleman of high rank, I would actually have embraced him when
he came in so suddenly, and told me he was little Otto.'
'Never forget, my child, to behave to him with the respectful distance
which becomes the difference between his situation and ours,' said
Franz gravely, and fell into a gloomy mood.
In the hope of enlivening him, Giuliana took up the little Italian
mandolin which her father had brought from her native land, and sang,
in the language of that foreign country, Franz's favourite song, which
ran as follows:--
'If life's joys thou wouldst find,
'Twere well oft to be blind,
Let the changeful hours roll as they may.
The stranger who goes,
Where the summer wind blows,
Dreads to think of a dark wintry day.
'The stranger who goes,
Where the summer wind blows,
Dreams that brightness and beauty shall last.
But too oft as he strays,
Where life's fountain plays,
He turns with regret to the past.
'Yet sometimes he strays,
Where life's fountain plays,
And pleasures unfading are met.
Where the balmy breeze sighs,
'Neath the soft Southern skies,
His soul can all sorrow forget!'
The next day Count Otto came again. Contrary to his usual custom, Franz
remained at home, and he sought, by lively conversation and jovial
manners, to efface the remembrance of the painful scene of the previous
evening. He seemed determined to entertain his guest himself without
any assistance from Giuliana, with whom Otto had, therefore, very
little communication. Thus several days passed, yet the young count did
not seem to think of his departure, although Franz often reminded him
of it by drinking to his safe journey home.
Otto no longer doubted that Franz had observed the impression which the
beautiful Giuliana had made upon him, and at the same time he became
more watchful of his own feelings. Upon reflection, he allowed to
himself that the father was acting wisely in wishing to check a passion
which, if it were implanted and nourished in the heart of the lovely
Giuliana, might cause, on account of the difference in their rank and
station in life, great unhappiness to both. For several days he battled
with himself, and several times he resolved to go away at once, and to
give up the plan about Giuliana, which he had not yet communicated to
her father. This plan would indeed gratify her long-cherished desire to
visit her dear native land, but it would necessarily place her and him
in a position which might be dangerous to the peace of both, unless he
could sacrifice for her the opinions of his family, and the prejudices
inherent to his standing in life. The longer he considered the matter,
the more he felt convinced that the situation he proposed her filling
was far beneath Giuliana. After all, he was his own master, and _he_
valued mind, beauty, and amiable disposition more than all the
genealogical trees and worm-eaten patents of nobility that ever
existed.
Notwithstanding all her father's efforts to prevent Giuliana from being
much with the count, he met her frequently by accident, and often saw
her when Franz's occupations obliged him to be absent, and it was not
long before he perceived that the interest she took in him, and the
attention she paid him, sprang from something more than mere good will,
or simple childish affection. She tried, indeed, to obey her father's
directions, and to be distant and respectful; she called him, as she
had been desired, 'Herr Count,' and always corrected herself when the
familiar 'Otto' trembled on her lips. Yet, from a thousand little
circumstances, the said Otto could not fail to see that he was very
dear to her, and when his departure was mentioned, it was evident that
she tried in vain to conceal her distress at the idea of his going.
One evening, on returning home, Franz found Count Otto at the forest
lodge, where he was sitting close to Giuliana, reading some beautiful
old ballads to her; the sight of their intimacy displeased him, and by
way of reminding the count of his long-delayed journey, he asked what
day of the month it was.
'It is the second of November,' replied Otto; whereupon Franz, who for
some weeks past seemed to have dismissed all his old sad thoughts, and
had been always cheerful, often in a gay humour, became suddenly silent
and gloomy. In a minute or two he rose with a grave air, and entering
the little side-room, which he had fitted up as an oratory, he locked
himself in. As he did not come back, Otto asked Giuliana what could
detain him so long there.
'This is All Souls' Day,' she replied; 'my father did not remember it
until you mentioned the day of the month. He keeps _this_ day more
strictly than any of the other fasts or festivals of the Church. He
always passes it in fasting and prayer. I shall not see him again until
about this time tomorrow evening.'
'Who would have thought that Jaeger Franz was so pious?' said Otto. 'For
some days after my arrival he scarcely gave me an opportunity of saying
one serious word, he was so full of mirth and pleasantry.'
'My father's humours are very changeable now-a-days,' sighed Giuliana,
'and I am certain he would be happier if he did not get into such wild
spirits sometimes. These strange fits of gaiety are generally succeeded
by moods of deep dejection. Do you remember,' she continued, 'the
evening that you arrived--'
'Let us not think of that evening,' cried Otto, interrupting her, while
his countenance darkened at the recollection of the dreadful secret
which he had come on purpose to discover, but his anxiety about which
had given way to the new and softer feelings which his daily
intercourse with the beautiful Giuliana had awakened in his heart. He
tried in vain to recover his equanimity of manner, and finding that
even _her_ society could not, that evening, chase away the gloom that
was stealing over his mind, he took his leave earlier than usual.
When Count Otto returned the next evening, he found that Franz had not
yet made his appearance, and that Giuliana was very uneasy at his long
self-imprisonment; but she did not dare to knock at the door, or in any
way to intrude on his solitude. At length the door of the oratory was
slowly opened, and Franz came out of it, but so altered in appearance
as scarcely to be recognized. There was such agony in the expression of
his wild, almost livid face, that he looked like one who might be
supposed to have died in a state of despair, and arisen from the grave
because he could find no rest there.
'But, dear Franz, what strange whim induces you to do such terrible
penance?' asked Otto, with a mixed feeling in his own mind of horror
and compassion.
Giuliana made a sign to him to be silent, while she quickly, yet
quietly, set about getting something to revive and strengthen her
father. It was not until he had drunk a whole flask of wine that he
seemed to recover his consciousness, and to observe who was in the
room.
'What, you still here, Herr Count?' he said, turning to Otto. 'I
thought you had gone long ago. I have been ill, as you may perceive,
and my memory is not quite clear yet, but I shall soon be better. Some
good wine and the fresh air will speedily set me to rights. Will you
hunt with me to-morrow?'
'Oh yes, with pleasure,' replied Otto, who treated him almost as if he
were a lunatic, who must be coaxed and humoured. Before he left the
lodge, however, that evening, Franz had quite recovered himself, and
was as talkative and lively as usual.
'I have done penance long enough,' said he, as he emptied glass after
glass of wine. 'Let us be merry now, as long as we can.'
The next day they rode out hunting together. On their way homewards
Giuliana became the subject of their conversation, and Otto praised her
warmly, and commended Franz for the care he had taken in educating her
so well, and in cultivating her natural taste for all that was grand
and beautiful. 'But,' he added, 'what sort of abode is a forester's
lonely cottage for such a superior girl? Such a jewel would adorn a
crown, and is too good to be thrown away among low people, or hidden in
obscurity. She is fitted to shine in a much higher station of life.'
'I pray you not to put any such nonsense into the girl's head, count,'
replied Franz. 'I see that you like her, but she can never be a
countess; and if you say one syllable to her touching upon love or
admiration, I shall be compelled to make it my earnest request to you
to give up coming to my house.'
'But if I now ask her hand, Franz--'
'Are you mad, Herr Count?' said Franz, stopping his horse, and looking
inquiringly at him. 'If things have really come to this pass, I must
only warn you, Herr Count, that you will have to put up with my society
alone for the future, should you continue to honour us with your
visits, for hereafter I shall lock Giuliana up out of your way.'
'But if she herself, as I hope--'
'So much the worse,' cried Franz, interrupting him. 'She shall _never_
be yours, Herr Count; rather than that, I would bury her in a convent,
if I could find one here.'
'But what are your reasons?'
'I am the girl's father, and do not choose to give my consent; if that
is not a sufficient reason, fancy any one you please. Cast a glance at
your genealogy, and see how well a woodman's daughter would look among
such a noble assemblage. Doves may not mate with eagles--that is _my_
opinion. Breathe not a single word about love to Giuliana, Herr Count;
not a single whisper. Promise me this, upon your honour, or you shall
never see her again.'
'Well,' replied Otto, 'for the present I cannot escape giving you the
promise you require; but you must, and shall, withdraw your
unreasonable objections.'
'Never, as long as I live. Nothing can make me alter my decision while
I have life; and when I am dead, perhaps you will change your mind
yourself.'
After this conversation, Otto determined, as soon as possible, to tear
himself away from the vicinity of the beautiful Giuliana, that he might
not be tempted to break the promise her singular father had wrung from
him; but he also resolved, in the course of a very few years--under, he
hoped, more propitious circumstances--to return, and seek future
happiness in a marriage with the beautiful girl, to whom, he now felt
convinced, his whole soul was bound by the most delightful and
indissoluble of chains, and from whom, he thought, that only an absurd
and obstinate whim was the cause of his present needless separation. He
had not, as yet, said a single syllable to Giuliana of his feelings for
her; but she had not failed to read them in his amorous glances, and
perceived them in the warm interest he took in her, and in his pleasure
at the congeniality of their minds and tastes. That she seemed to find
new life in his society, that he had made a deep impression on her
heart, and that her sentiments were an echo of his, were evident to him
also; he saw that a word, a breath from his lips, of love, would
develop the sweet feeling of affection, which she scarcely understood
herself, and cause the opening rosebud to burst into the full-blown
charming flower. If that word were not to be spoken, Otto knew that he
must fly from the lovely girl. But he was angry at himself for not
having resisted the opposition he had encountered from selfish tyranny,
and for having bound himself by a promise, which he could not break
without creating disunion and unhappiness in a family circle; a
proceeding from which he shrank, even though he believed that despotic
and unjust authority was exercised on one side. He determined, however,
once more to endeavour to make Franz yield to his wishes; and while
waiting for an opportunity of doing this, an event occurred which
materially changed the face of affairs.
The celebrated painter, Carl van Mander, who was invited by Christian
IV. from the Netherlands, to improve the arts in Denmark, resided for
some time at Soroee, where he painted an altar-piece for the church. He
was an ardent lover and studier of nature, and was anxious always to
give truthful design and colouring to his pictures. This caused him
often to introduce real portraits into his historical or Scripture
pieces, and whenever he beheld a striking countenance he hastened to
make a sketch of it, which he afterwards worked up to suit different
subjects.
Thus the countenance of Italian Franz had often almost terrified him
when he met him accidentally in the woods, and on one occasion he had
seized an opportunity of sketching him while they were both sitting,
among other chance visitors, in a little tavern to which the painter
sometimes resorted for the purpose of seeing a variety of faces.
Without considering that there might be any harm in so doing, the
painter transferred the likeness of Franz to his altar-piece for the
church of Soroee. The artist had gone, and the picture was put up in its
proper place in church. Everyone, from far and near, hastened to see
it, and Carl van Mander's 'Last Supper' was pronounced a masterpiece.
Italian Franz seldom attended church; he liked the doctrine of
absolution, and the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, which he had
joined in Italy; and there being none within reach of his residence, he
had fitted up an oratory in his own house. When he felt indisposed, or
his gloomy fits came on, he often lamented that no Catholic priest was
near to give him absolution, or to administer extreme unction to him
when he should be at the point of death. At such periods of excited
feelings he would lock himself into his oratory, and, as he had no
priest to whom to make his shrift, he would write his confessions in
secret, with injunctions that the document should not be opened until
after his death. He had often thought of taking a journey to the
capital to see a priest, but had always put it off, and sometimes he
seemed to forget altogether that he had anything to confess.
Franz had acquired in Italy a taste for the arts--he had become fond of
paintings; therefore, when he heard that the new altar-piece was
finished and hung up in the church, he felt a wish to see it, and
agreed to accompany Count Otto to the morning service one Sunday. They
entered just as the clergyman was finishing his sermon. He had been
endeavouring to awaken to a sense of their sins the souls around him;
and with fervent eloquence was likening those careless Christians, who
heard the Word but did not obey it--who acknowledged Christ with their
lips, but denied him in their actions--to Judas Iscariot, who, with a
kiss, betrayed his kind Lord and Master.
Franz started at these last words. At that very moment his eyes fell on
the altar-piece, in which he instantly beheld his own likeness in the
face of Judas Iscariot, who sat like a traitor amidst the holy group.
'Yes, I am Judas!' he shrieked, in accents of agonized despair. 'Do you
not all see that I am Judas? Why do ye not curse me? Why do ye not
stone me? I am Judas--the execrable Judas!
The entire congregation turned and looked with horror at the frantic
being, who stood like a maniac, his whole countenance fearfully
distorted, gazing wildly at the picture over the altar, and who, at the
first sound of the organ, rushed out of the church with a piercing cry,
as if its deep tones had sounded on his ear like the last trumpet's
blast.
Otto was so overwhelmed with astonishment at this extraordinary scene,
that he stood for a time as if nailed to the floor of the church. When
he remembered himself, and hastened after the unfortunate Franz, whom
he now sincerely believed to be deranged in his intellects, and who, he
feared, might commit self-destruction in his access of insanity, that
individual was nowhere to be found. After he had in vain sought for him
in the town, he decided on taking the road to the forest lodge, to see
if he were there, and to prepare Giuliana to hear of the calamity, the
existence of which he thought could no longer be doubted. As he pursued
his way in much anxiety, a terrible suspicion crossed his mind--a
dread, which Franz's strange conduct, and his last astounding outbreak,
rendered but too likely to be realized. When, on following the path to
the left through the wood, he approached the shores of the lake, he
beheld a crowd of peasants gathering round a tree, on which some
miserable person had hanged himself, but whom, in their terror at the
sight, and their horror of a suicide, they had not attempted to cut
down.
It was Italian Franz, who thus fearfully had carried out his insane
fancy that he was Judas, and who had put an end to himself in this
dreadful manner. Count Otto had the body cut down instantly, and he
resorted to every means of restoring animation, but in vain, for life
was quite extinct. With many entreaties, and considerable bribes, Otto
at length prevailed on some of the peasants to remove the corpse, at
dusk, to the town, where it was quietly buried in the churchyard, and
the affair was hushed up as much as possible.
Giuliana was sitting alone at the forest lodge when Count Otto entered,
and broke to her, cautiously and kindly, the sad intelligence of her
father's sudden death; but he considerately withheld from her the
knowledge of the mode of his death, as well as the strange scene in the
church. But when she insisted on seeing the body, and was told that it
was already consigned to the grave, she herself suspected what Otto had
taken such pains to conceal from her. Her tears then flowed in silence,
and in silence she prayed, with her whole soul, to the Almighty for the
salvation in eternity of her unhappy parent.
While Giuliana sat absorbed in her sorrow, Otto, who had constituted
himself the guardian and adviser of the orphan girl, undertook the duty
of looking through the papers of her late father. During his search
among them, he found, in a hidden drawer, the secret confession, which
the unfortunate deceased had written in his moments of wretchedness and
self-upbraiding. He carried it privately away with him, and read it
when quite alone.
When Giuliana met Otto again, she almost forgot her own grief in her
distress at the deep affliction which she saw in his countenance. She
anxiously inquired if he were ill, and she forced herself to battle
against her own dejection in order to cheer him, and restore peace and
happiness to his heart. But the more warmly and affectionately she
showed him her sympathy and solicitude--the nearer their common sorrow
seemed to bring their hearts, and to accelerate the moment, when their
deep, though unconfessed mutual attachment need no longer be pent up,
but all, of which neither could doubt, might be openly admitted--the
more unaccountable became Otto's melancholy and singular conduct. He
avoided all intimate conversation. He assumed a measured calmness of
manner, and a degree of distance in his communication with her, which
she would have believed to arise from coldness, indifference, or a
narrow-minded regard to their different positions in life, had she not
before observed such unmistakable marks of his love for her, and known
how little he cared for the distinctions of rank, and how capable he
was of overcoming all such obstacles if he pleased.
'I can no longer delay my departure,' he said to her one day, when the
constraint which prevailed between them was most painful to both; 'but
I am not now going to Italy--America is my destination.' He then
entreated the astonished Giuliana to accept of a large portion of his
fortune, in order to secure her from all pecuniary adversity in the
future, and which would enable her to purchase a small property in the
country, or to reside in the capital with a respectable family, to whom
she was related, and who would receive her kindly.
Giuliana could hardly suppress her tears, but she forced herself to
smile, while she declined any assistance.
'I thank you, Herr Count,' she said, with composure--'I thank you much
for the sympathizing kindness you, unasked, have shown me. I have but
one wish in this world, and that is to see my native country again.
Here I cannot live, and if you have any benevolent desire to benefit
me, Herr Count, have the goodness to procure for me a situation as
waiting-maid, or in some other capacity, in a family who are going to
Italy. You once yourself proposed this; and I venture to hope that
perhaps you will, if possible, indulge me in my dearest wish, now that
I am left a solitary being in the world.'
'Well, then,' said the count, after a moment's reflection, 'since your
longing to revisit your native country is so strong that you cannot
live happily anywhere else, I will myself accompany you thither, and we
shall adopt my original plan. You shall travel as companion to my aunt,
and go with her and her children to Rome and Naples, where I shall see
you safely settled in some agreeable family circle before I set off on
my more distant voyage.'
Giuliana's childish delight at the hope of seeing the much-loved land
of her birth could not, however, overcome her deep, secret sorrow at
the alteration which had taken place in Count Otto; and her wounded
feelings would not permit her to accept of his offer, for her sake, to
relinquish for a time the visit to another continent, on which he had
so recently determined. She entreated him, therefore, earnestly not to
delay his voyage, but allow her to attend his aunt and her children,
without himself accompanying them.
But he had made up his mind to go, and he told her that, without _his_
escort, his aunt would not undertake to travel so far as Italy.
All was soon prepared for the journey. The aunt was informed of the
count's plan for Giuliana, to which, fortunately, she was willing to
agree. In a few days afterwards she made her appearance in her
travelling carriage at the door of the principal hotel at Soroee; the
count met her there, and took her and her children to the forest lodge,
where they were introduced to their travelling companion, who
immediately joined them, and who soon made a favourable impression on
them all by her beauty and sweetness of manners.
The aunt had conjectured that there was some love affair between the
young count and the pretty daughter of the sub-ranger, in whose
neighbourhood he had remained so long, and she fancied that, in order
to escape the taunts and gibes of the other members of his family, her
nephew intended to marry Giuliana in a foreign country. Rumour had not
failed to busy itself in the capital, by assigning a reason for the
count's stay at Soroee. Poor Giuliana had been described sometimes as a
simple peasant girl, who had allowed herself to be deluded by the gay
count, and who believed his fine speeches, mistaking them for more
honest ware; sometimes as an artful, half-Italian wood-nymph, who,
under the mask of modesty and virtue, had enticed the hoodwinked young
count into a snare, from which he could not escape.
His aunt had not troubled herself much about all this gossip; she
educated her children herself, and had only accepted Giuliana's
companionship because the count had made _that_ the condition of his
escort, without which she would not have liked to have ventured on so
long a journey.
Now, however, she was very curious to ascertain the exact nature of
their connection, and found, to her great surprise, that they
themselves avoided that degree of intimacy and freedom in behaviour
which travelling together almost rendered necessary; and that, far from
seeking each other, they rather seemed to shun every opportunity of
being near each other, even though these often occurred by accident. On
the other hand, she could not but remark the anxious attention, nay,
even devotion, with which the count forestalled every wish of Giuliana;
and the quiet, retiring manner in which she sought to take her place as
an inferior among the travelling party, although in mind and manners
fitted to be their equal. The expression of patient sadness in her
countenance, which neither her youthful pleasure at approaching
Italy, nor the enlivening effect of the frequent changes of scene
during a long journey, seemed to chase away, soon won the heart of the
good-natured baroness; and she was pleased to see that Giuliana had
also become a favourite with her children. The young girl seemed to be
always more at ease and more cheerful in the count's absence than when
he was present. Giuliana had taken her mandolin with her in the
carriage, and she often amused the children by playing on it, and
singing for them. When they stopped at the different inns, and she was
alone in her own room in the evening, the baroness sometimes heard her
playing and singing there also, but not the lively airs she sang in the
carriage. Her songs were all expressive of deep sadness, and if the
baroness entered her room unexpectedly, she generally found the sweet
songstress with tears in her eyes.
The count's melancholy surprised his aunt still more, as he had always
been remarkable for his gaiety and high spirits. He would now sit for
hours in the carriage without uttering a syllable, and when they were
all enjoying themselves at the evening's repast, after the fatigues of
the day, he would often start up and leave them, complaining of a
violent headache.
However, when they had crossed the Simplon, and were descending into
the paradise of Giuliana's dreams--when they beheld the rich plains
where the vines festooned themselves gracefully around the elms--where
the lovely lakes were studded with beautifully wooded islets, and the
lofty hills reared their blue summits to the skies, all gloomy thoughts
seemed to have vanished, and everyone gazed with delight on the
enchanting view. Giuliana clapped her hands in her transport of joy,
and seizing Otto's hand, she pressed it to her heart, while she
exclaimed:
'May God bless and reward you, dear count! I shall never cease to thank
you for affording me yonder sight, and this happy moment!'
Tears sprang to Otto's eyes, and throwing his arm round her, he pressed
her suddenly with impetuosity to his heart; but as if frightened at
this unpremeditated act, he immediately afterwards got out of the
carriage, and thenceforth took a seat on the outside, where, he said,
he could have a better view of the country.
This scene in the carriage, of which the baroness had been a witness,
fully convinced her of Otto's suppressed passion for Giuliana; and soon
after their arrival at Florence, some words spoken to herself in her
own apartment by Giuliana, in which Otto was named in terms of deep
attachment--and the words of a song which she sang in her solitude, all
of which had been overheard by the baroness--proved to her that the
same sentiments pervaded both their hearts, though both seemed to wish
to conceal their feelings.
She had, in consequence, a serious conversation with Otto, and urged
him to explain what was the reason of his conduct, and why he seemed
thus to seek and to repress the poor girl's affection.
In reply, he placed before her the confession of Italian Franz, and
then hastened out to order post-horses for Leghorn, where the American
ship, by which he had engaged a passage, was lying almost ready to
sail.
The baroness shut herself up in her own chamber, and read:
'I, Franz Ebbeson, born September--, anno Domini 1--, and, when this
shall be read, dead, as I hope, in sincere repentance, and trusting to
mercy hereafter, confess and make known, that in my irregular youthful
days I burdened my soul with fearful sins, for which I pray that the
mediation and 'good offices of the Holy Church may be granted,
therewith to obtain pardon for me at the great day of judgment.
'For some years I attended the noble family of R--ske while they were
travelling and residing in Italy. The count was very kind to me, and
raised me from the situation of his servant to that almost of a friend.
But, notwithstanding his goodness, I betrayed and wronged him, out of a
criminal love for his beautiful wife. In his absence on a scientific
tour in Sicily and the coast of Barbary, which lasted nearly two years,
during which he had left his family to my care at Naples, T took
advantage of the weakness and the kind condescension of the young
countess. At the time of the count's return, the consequences of the
countess's and my faithlessness were too evident; and she pretended
illness to screen herself. The count, almost immediately after his
arrival, was taken ill, and I was the only one whom he would allow to
attend him. In my wretchedness at having plunged myself and the
countess into a misfortune which would lead to inevitable disgrace, the
Wicked One inspired me with a horrible thought--a dreadful temptation
that my sinful soul could not chase away; and when I ought to have
mixed a few drops of laudanum with the medicine the poor count was to
take, my hand trembled, and more than a hundred drops fell into it. I
was going to throw the medicine away, but it seemed as if Satan seized
my hand, and--I carried the deadly mixture to my unfortunate master.
'"God reward you for your kind attention to me, Franz," he exclaimed;
and he speedily fell into that deep sleep from which he never more was
to awaken. For fifteen years I have borne alone the burden of this
guilty secret, of which neither the repentant countess, nor her and my
daughter Giuliana, had the slightest knowledge, though perhaps during
our last journey together, the countess might have suspected it. On All
Souls' Day--the day of my ill-requited master's death--I have for ten
years past devoted myself to praying for his eternal salvation. On that
solemn day may some purer spirit pray for me, and may God have mercy on
my sinful soul!'
The paper fell from the hands of the baroness, but she instantly caught
it up, and destroyed it.
'Then they are half-sister and brother!' she exclaimed. And she
understood what had seemed poor Otto's strange conduct.
But did Giuliana know it also?
At that moment a letter was brought to her from the young count, in
which he entreated her to conceal from Giuliana what it would be better
she should never know, and to treat her with motherly kindness for his
sake. He added, that he had himself provided for her future comfort in
pecuniary matters. There was, however, a little note addressed to
Giuliana enclosed, which he requested should only be given to her if it
were necessary to calm her grief for his departure.
A few days after he had left them, Giuliana became extremely ill and
the baroness, thinking it was better she should know the truth, handed
her Otto's farewell letter, which ran as follows:
'EVER-BELOVED SISTER,--In this world we must separate, but yonder,
where bride and bridegroom are as sister and brother, where there are
no ties of blood, you will find the fond and faithful spirit, which is
eternally bound to you, before Him who is Lord of the living and the
dead.'
Giuliana outlived her grief for being separated from Otto, and learned
to love him as an angel whom she would meet in future at the holy gates
of the heavenly paradise. She retired into a convent dedicated to the
Virgin Mary, and never forgot, on All Souls' Day, to pray for the
repose of her unhappy father's spirit.
Count Otto returned no more to Europe. He died in a skirmish with some
savage Indians. But by his papers which were sent to his family, it was
evident that, unlike the more tranquil Giuliana, he had never overcome
his unfortunate passion, but had carried that fatal attachment in its
full force to his distant grave.