THE HERR PRESIDENT SPEAKS.
Summer had come; it was only early summer still however, in the
mountains, for it was the middle of June; but the woods and meadows
were clothed in fresh green, and only the loftiest peaks wore the
mantle of snow which was never laid aside. Up there neither spring,
summer, nor autumn had any existence: winter reigned in eternal, icy
splendour.
The extensive Alpine valley which three years ago lay undisturbed in
its solemn, dreary solitude, now showed all the traces of the human
intellect which was then just invading it with its host of obedient
forces. Dark openings yawned in the walls of rock, and from the depths
a narrow path wound upward in serpentine lines,--the iron road to which
forest and rock had been forced to yield,--while across the Wolkenstein
chasm the masterpiece of the whole gigantic undertaking, the bridge,
now wellnigh completed, seemed to hover in air above the dizzy depths.
It had been no easy task to build this railway, and the Wolkenstein
domain had presented the greatest obstacles to its completion. They
seemed actually to spring out of the ground at every step; the
most careful calculations continually turned out to be imperfect,
well-devised schemes proved ineffectual, unforeseen catastrophes
occurred, and more than once imperilled the success of the undertaking.
But the man who conducted the road through the Wolkenstein section was
equal to every difficulty, was daunted by no obstacle, discouraged by
no catastrophe. He proceeded on his way with his myrmidons, step by
step subjecting to his sway the rugged and hitherto unquelled nature of
the Alpine fastnesses.
The railway company was well aware of the force it possessed in its
superintending engineer, and now extolled the wisdom of its president
in the choice it had at first opposed. Gradually a power to act almost
without limits was placed in the hands of the young man, and he knew
well how to keep and to use it. The engineer-in-chief had long given
nothing save his name to the undertaking; every project, every
decision, was the work of his energetic and talented chief of staff,
and when the young man was betrothed to Nordheim's daughter and became
the probable heir to millions, all opposition was mute,--everything
bowed before him.
Every trace of Wolkenstein Court had vanished; it was levelled to the
ground the year in which its master closed his eyes forever. There was
no longer any need to regard the feelings of the eccentric old man
whose heart had been broken by the invasion of his home. On the spot
where the ancestral abode of the Thurgaus had once stood there was now
a stately structure, the future railway-station, built just at the
entrance of the huge bridge. Until the line of railway should be opened
in the coming spring, the building was occupied by various offices, and
Superintendent Elmhorst had his rooms in the upper story. It formed, so
to speak, the head-quarters of the Wolkenstein section, and the centre
of gravitation of the entire railway.
Wolfgang had established himself here after the manner which had become
a necessity to him since his salary had been increased. The bright,
spacious apartments had a most comfortable aspect, the pleasantest
being his office, with its dark hangings and rugs, its carved oaken
furniture, and its well-filled bookshelves. The corner window before
which the writing-table was placed commanded the entire view of the
great bridge. The bold structure was always before the eyes of its
architect.
Elmhorst sat at his writing-table talking with Benno Reinsfeld, who had
just appeared. The young physician was unchanged in person and manner,
except that he had become rather more unconventional and awkward. Long
years passed in a retired mountain-village, the laborious nature of the
practice of a country doctor, and constant intercourse with men for
whom the forms of society did not exist, had produced their effect.
At present, indeed, the Herr Doctor was in full dress; he wore a black
coat, which saw the light only on state occasions; unfortunately, its
cut was that of ten years previous. He certainly did not show in it to
advantage, it pinched him too much; his gray jacket and felt hat were
infinitely more comfortable. There was no denying that Reinsfeld looked
a good deal like a peasant, and he was probably conscious of it
himself, for he was enduring with a very meek air the reproaches of his
friend, who shook his head as he looked at him.
"Do you want me to present you to the ladies in that coat?" he said,
irritably. "Why did you not put on your dress-coat, at least?"
"I have no dress-coat," Benno said, by way of excuse. "There is no use
for one here, and it would have been a needless expense; but I have had
my old hat ironed out, and I bought myself a pair of gloves in
Heilborn."
He produced from his pocket as he spoke a huge pair of gloves,
intensely yellow of hue, and displayed them with much self-satisfaction
to his friend, who looked at them in dismay.
"But, good heavens, you are not going to wear those monsters!" he
cried. "They are a great deal too big for you."
"But they are quite new, and such a fine yellow," Benno rejoined,
disappointed, for he had reckoned upon some expression of approval of
his unwonted outlay in the interest of his toilet, having made up his
mind to such expense only after due consideration.
"You will cut a pretty figure at the Nordheims'," said Elmhorst,
shrugging his shoulders. "There is positively nothing to be done with
you."
"Wolf, must I pay this visit?" the doctor asked, in a tone of piteous
entreaty.
"Yes, Benno, you must. I want you to treat Alice while she is here, for
her wretched health makes me very anxious. She has had all sorts of
physicians in town and at Heilborn, but each one's diagnosis is
different from all the rest, and not one of them has done her any good.
You know how highly I rate your medical skill, and you will not refuse
to do me this favour."
"Certainly not, if you desire it; but you know my reasons for wishing
to avoid any personal intercourse with the president."
"What! that old difference with your father? After all these years, who
remembers it? Hitherto, in accordance with your wishes, I have not
mentioned your name, but now when I ask your help for my betrothed
I am forced to introduce you. Besides, you will not meet my future
father-in-law, for he was going back to town this morning. Confess,
Benno, your true reason is that you are so used to practising among
your peasants that you would if you could avoid intercourse with
ladies."
Perhaps he was right in this conjecture, for Reinsfeld did not
contradict him, he only sighed profoundly.
"You will absolutely degenerate in the life you lead," Wolfgang went
on, impatiently. "Here you have been planted for five years in this
wretched little mountain-nest with a practice which makes the most
tremendous demands upon you, and brings you but the poorest
remuneration, and here you will perhaps stay all your life, only
because you have not the courage to grasp anything else that offers.
How can you endure such an existence?"
"My home certainly does present an aspect unlike that of your rooms,"
said Benno, good-humouredly, as he looked around him. "But you always
had the tastes of a millionaire, and years ago you determined to be
one, and you understand how to grasp fortune boldly; no one can deny
that."
Elmhorst frowned, and replied, in an irritated tone, "What! you too?
Must I always be assailed by these hints as to Nordheim's wealth, as if
my importance were entirely due to my betrothal? Am I nothing of myself
any longer?"
Reinsfeld looked at him in surprise: "What do you mean, Wolf? You know
that I enjoy your good fortune with all my heart, but you are strangely
sensitive whenever I allude to it, although you certainly have every
reason to be proud, for if ever a man achieved a speedy and brilliant
success, you are that man."
Upon Wolfgang's writing-table stood a photograph of Alice in a
richly-carved frame. It was a likeness, but a very unflattering one;
there was little justice done to the delicacy of her features, and the
eyes were entirely without expression. That slender, overdressed girl
produced the impression of one of those nervous, superficial creatures
who are so frequently to be met with in the fashionable world. This
seemed to be Dr. Reinsfeld's opinion; he looked at his friend and then
at the picture, remarking, drily, "Your attainment of your goal,
however, has not made you happy."
Wolfgang turned upon him: "Why not? What do you mean?"
"Come, come, do not be angry again. I cannot help it, you are much
changed from the Wolfgang of a few months ago. I hear of your
betrothal, and expect you to return to me beaming with the triumphant
consciousness of the realization of all your plans, instead of which
you are now always grave, not to say out of humour, and irritable to a
degree,--you who used to be so even-tempered. What is the matter with
you, Wolf? tell me."
"Nothing. Let me alone," was the rather peevish reply; but Benno went
up to him and laid his hand upon his shoulder:
"If your betrothal had been an affair of the heart I should think
something there had gone wrong, but----"
"I have no heart; you have told me so often enough," Wolfgang
interposed, bitterly.
"No, you have nothing but ambition,--absolutely nothing," Reinsfeld
rejoined, seriously.
Elmhorst made an impatient gesture: "Don't lecture me again, Benno! You
know we never shall understand each other on that point. You are, and
always will be----"
"An overstrained idealist who would rather eat dry bread with the
darling of his heart than drive about in a gorgeous equipage beside a
grand wife whom he did not love. Yes, I am unpractical in the extreme,
and since at present I have not bread enough for two, it is fortunate
that there is no darling of my heart."
"We must go," said Wolfgang, rising; "Alice expects me at twelve
o'clock. And now do me the favour to look your best. I do not believe
you know even how to make a bow."
"My patients are glad enough to be cured without one," said Benno,
defiantly. "And if I do you no credit in your betrothed's society, it
is your own fault: why do you take me there like a lamb led to the
slaughter? I suppose Fraeulein von Thurgau is there too?"
"She is."
"And has she grown to be a grand lady too?"
"I suppose you would call her so."
These answers were not very reassuring to the poor doctor, who looked
forward to this visit with positive dread. He did not rebel, however,
for he was accustomed to yield to his friend. So he took from the table
his hat, which, in spite of its late ironing, did not belie its years,
and prepared to draw on the yellow gloves, saying, submissively, "Well,
then, what must be, must."
Beyond the line of railway, about half a mile from the future station,
lay the president's new villa. The house, built after the fashion
common in the mountains, with an overhanging roof and graceful
galleries, accorded well with its surroundings, while everything within
was arranged to suit the grand scale upon which Nordheim's mode of life
was conducted. The views of the finest portions of the mountain-range
were magnificent, the meadows about the villa had been laid out in
gardens, and the adjoining forest so cleared as to form a natural park.
There had been an immense outlay of money that the place might serve
for a six-weeks' residence in the summer, but Nordheim never took the
expense into account when he laid his plans, and had given his
architect _carte blanche_. Elmhorst had, in fact, created a masterpiece
of beauty in this mountain-retreat, and it was to be his wife's
property.
Within, all appearance of simplicity vanished. The sunlight came
through costly coloured glass to fall upon brilliant rugs and hangings,
while carpeted stairs and corridors led to suites of apartments which,
if not so splendid as those in the city, quite equalled them in luxury,
and from every room there was an exquisite distant view.
Hither the president had now brought his family, and Alice was to pass
the summer months here for the sake of the mountain-air which had been
prescribed for her. As usual, Nordheim himself had no time to spend in
relaxation; he stayed only long enough to oversee the work on the
railway before he was recalled to town by business. He had intended to
take his departure in the early morning, but several letters had
arrived to which he was obliged to attend, and this had delayed him for
a few hours. His carriage was waiting while he himself sought out his
niece, with whom he wished to speak before leaving for town.
Erna's room was in the upper story; the glass door leading out upon the
balcony was open, and outside lay Griff comfortably stretched out in
the sunshine.
The dog was almost the only relic left the girl of her home; but Griff
she had insisted upon taking with her when she left Wolkenstein Court,
in spite of the opposition of her uncle and of Frau von Lasberg, who
could not endure 'the creature.' At the suggestion of leaving it behind
there had been a scene; Erna had positively refused to go from the
house unless Griff accompanied her, and Nordheim had yielded at
last upon condition that the dog was never to be admitted to the
drawing-room.
This condition had been fulfilled; and, moreover. Griff had grown
extremely well behaved, and it would now never have occurred to him to
raise a riot in any room. He was no longer a puppy, but had developed
into a magnificent animal. There was something lionlike in his
appearance as he lay with huge, tawny paws stretched out, his large
black eyes following every movement of his young mistress.
Something special must have occurred to bring the president thus to
Erna. He was wont to have neither time nor inclination for the joys of
domesticity; he was absent from his home for weeks and months at a
time, and when there, was seen by his family only at meal-times. Even
his relations with his daughter were far from intimate, and with his
niece he stood on a very formal footing. He lived and moved in the
world of affairs; everything else was subordinate to his business
interests.
He entered Erna's room in his travelling-suit, and said, without
sitting down and as if by the way, "I wanted to tell you that an hour
ago I had a letter from Waltenberg. He came to Heilborn yesterday,
intending to spend some weeks there, and will probably pay you a visit
to-morrow."
The words seemed to be carelessly spoken, but they were accompanied by
a keen glance at Erna, who received the intelligence with indifference,
and replied, "Indeed? I will let Alice and Frau von Lasberg know."
"Frau von Lasberg knows it already, and will pay him all requisite
attention; but I should wish a certain regard accorded him
from--another quarter. Do you hear, Erna?"
"I was not aware, uncle, that I had seemed regardless of your guest."
"My guest? As if you did not know as well as I what attracts him to
this house, and what has brought him to Heilborn. He wishes to know his
fate with certainty, and I cannot blame him for wearying, after being
trifled with all these months."
"I have never trifled with Herr von Waltenberg," Erna rejoined, coolly.
"I merely thought it best to maintain a degree of reserve with him,
since he seems to imagine that he has only to stretch out his hand to
obtain whatever he may desire."
"Well, we will not dispute about that, for you seem to have pursued
precisely the right course, with your cool reserve. Men like
Waltenberg, who make a positive cult of their liberty, and regard all
family ties as so many fetters, need to be dealt with very carefully.
Too ready a welcome might have made him shy. What is withheld attracts
him."
The girl's eyes flashed indignantly: "Such calculation is yours, uncle,
not mine!"
"No matter, if it is correct," said Nordheim, paying no heed to the
reproach contained in her words. "I have refrained from interfering
hitherto because I saw that the affair was progressing as I would have
it, but now I desire you no longer to avoid a declaration on
Waltenberg's part. I have no doubt that he will shortly propose to you,
and your answer----"
"May, perhaps, not accord with his wishes," Erna completed the
sentence.
The president turned and looked searchingly at his niece: "What does
that mean? You would not be insane enough to reject him?"
She was silent, but the same obstinacy was legible in her face that had
characterized the girl of sixteen. Nordheim probably recognized the
look and what it foreboded, for he frowned darkly.
"Erna, I confidently expect to find no obstacles in the way of my
serious and well-considered plans. The matter in question is your
marriage with a man----"
"Whom I do not love," she interrupted him.
Nordheim smiled, half contemptuously, half compassionately: "I supposed
there was some exaggerated nonsense in the background. Love! What are
called love-matches always end in disappointment. A marriage should be
contracted upon a more sensible basis, and Alice sets you an example.
Do you suppose that she was influenced by any romantic ideas in her
betrothal, or that they have any weight with Wolfgang?"
"Oh, no; least of all with _him_," Erna said, with evident contempt.
"Which, of course, amounts to a crime in your eyes! Nevertheless I
confide to him my daughter's future in the conviction that he will be
to her an excellent husband. I certainly should not have chosen an
enthusiast for my son-in-law. Waltenberg indeed can allow himself any
luxury in the way of romance,--his means are ample. He is as eccentric
as yourself; in fact, you are extremely alike, and I cannot understand
what objection you can have to him."
"His egotism! He lives only for himself and for what he considers the
enjoyment of life. He knows neither country nor profession, neither
duty nor ambition, nor does he choose to know them, because they might
disturb his enjoyment. Such a man can never live a life of earnest
endeavour; he has no future, nor can he love a wife, for he loves
himself alone."
"He offers you his hand, however, and that is the matter to be
considered at present. If you require in your future husband only
ambition and energy, you should have married Wolfgang. He _has_ a
future,--for that I'll go warrant."
Erna shrank from him, and her tone was almost sharp as she exclaimed,
"Spare me such jests, uncle, I pray you."
"I am not given to jesting; but, by the way, Erna, your relations with
Wolfgang are very unpleasant, and the manner in which you conduct
yourselves towards each other is most disagreeable for those about you.
Let me seriously request you to modify the extreme coldness of your
manner to him. But to return to the subject of our talk. You seem to
think that you have but to make your choice among a crowd of suitors of
one who shall conform to your ideal. I regret being obliged to show you
your mistake, but the truth is, you have no choice. A girl without
means will certainly be admired and flattered if she is beautiful, but
married she will not be, for men are very calculating. This offer is
the first you have had, and will probably be the only one; moreover, it
is a more brilliant one than you had any right to expect. There is
every reason why you should accept it."
His words were not uttered in a tone of well-meant admonition; there
was something indescribably heartless and offensive in the way in which
President Nordheim explained to his niece that in spite of her beauty
she had no claim to be loved and wooed, since she was poor. Erna turned
pale, and her lip quivered, but her face was by no means expressive of
docility.
"And if, notwithstanding all this, I do not accept it?" she asked,
slowly.
"Then you must abide by the consequences. Your position will hardly be
an enviable one if you remain unmarried. Alice is to be married next
year, as you know."
"And in the same year I shall be of age--and free!"
"Free!" sneered Nordheim. "How grand it sounds! Have you, then, been
fettered in chains in my house, where you were received as a daughter?
or are you longing for your patrimony? It is the merest pittance, and
you are accustomed to the requirements of a lady."
"I lived with my father in the simplest way," said Erna, bitterly, "and
we were happy. I have never been so in your house."
The president shrugged his shoulders: "Yes, you are emphatically your
father's daughter. He too preferred to live in a peasant's hut rather
than, with his ancient name, to have a career in the world. Well,
Waltenberg offers you the freedom for which you pine. As his wife you
can have wealth and position; he will fulfil your every wish, gratify
your every whim, if you but understand how to manage him. For the last
time I entreat you to take a rational view of the matter. If you refuse
to do so, you and I have done with each other. I have no toleration for
exaggerations, which appear to be hereditary in the Thurgau family."
Erna made no reply, and her uncle seemed to expect none, for he turned
to go, pausing, however, on the threshold of the door to say, with
frigid emphasis, "I confidently hope to find you betrothed when I
return. Farewell!"
He left the room, and a few minutes afterwards his carriage rolled down
the road.
Erna threw herself into an arm-chair, more agitated than she had cared
to show to a man so cold,--a man who regarded her marriage as solely a
business arrangement.
Betrothed! She had a dread of the word, so apt to beguile a maiden's
ear; and yet she was beloved by this man: the only one who never
questioned whether she were rich or poor, but asked only to carry her
from this house, where money was all in all, far away into a world of
freedom and beauty! Perhaps she might learn to love him, perhaps, in
spite of all, he was worthy to be loved. Could she not overcome
herself?
She covered her face with her hands. Suddenly she was aware of a gentle
touch. Griff had approached unperceived, and was close beside her. He
laid his huge head in her lap, and looked at her inquiringly out of his
beautiful, large eyes as if he felt his young mistress's grief. She
looked up; the dog was the only thing preserved to her from the time of
her sunny, happy youth among the mountains with her father, whose
idolized darling she had been. He had long been at peace in the grave,
his dear old home had vanished from the face of the earth, and his only
child lived among those who were strangers to her in spite of the ties
of kinship.
Suddenly the girl sobbed aloud, and as she threw her arms about the
dog's neck she whispered, "Oh, Griff, if we were only in Wolkenstein
Court once more! if these strangers had only never come! They brought
death to your master, and to me what was far worse!"