It was in the end of February, shortly before the close of the
carnival. Truyn, going to the Sterzls' with his little girl to take a
walk with Zinka, saw at the door of the palazetto a hackney carriage
with a small portmanteau on the top. Sterzl's man-servant, an elegant
person with close-cut hair, shaved all but a short beard, and wearing
an impressive watch-chain, was condescending to exchange a few words
with the driver blinking in the sunshine.
The drawing-room into which Truyn and his daughter were admitted
unannounced was in the full blaze of light. The motes danced their
aimless rainbow-colored dance; in the middle of the room stood Zinka
with both hands on a table over which she was bending to gaze at a
magnificent basket of flowers. There was something in her attitude,
quaint but graceful, in the elegant line of her bust, the pathetic joy
of her radiant face, the soft flow of her plain long dress, which
stamped the picture once and for ever on Truyn's memory. A sunbeam
wantoned in her hair turning it to gold and her whole figure was the
embodiment of sweet and happy spring delight The basket of flowers,
too, was a masterpiece of its kind--a _capriccio_ of lilies of the
valley, gardenias, snow-flakes, and pale-tinted roses, that looked as
though the wayward west-wind had blown them into company. Sterzl was
standing by, with a pleased smile, and the baroness, in an attitude of
affected astonishment, stood a little apart with a visiting-card in her
hand. Neither Cecil nor his sister--she absorbed in the flowers and he
in gazing at her--had heard Truyn arrive. When he knocked at the door
the baroness said "come in," and gave him the tips of her fingers;
then, with a wave of her hand towards the basket, she lisped out: "Did
you ever see such extravagance!"
Zinka looked up and welcomed him and so did Sterzl. "It is perfect
folly ... quite reckless...." sighed the baroness, "such a basket of
flowers costs a fortune. Why, only one gardenia...."
Zinka's underlip pouted impatiently and Sterzl said in his dry way:
"My dear mother, do not destroy Zinka's illusions; the basket fell from
heaven expressly for her and she does not want to believe that it was
bought, just like any other, in the Via Condotti or Babuino. What do
you say, Count? Sempaly sent it to her to console her for the departure
of her brother. The reason is too absurd, do not you think? I do not
believe you would miss me particularly for a few days, child?" and he
put his hand affectionately under her chin.
"Where are you off to so suddenly?" asked Truyn very seriously.
"To Naples. Franz Arnsperg has telegraphed to me to ask me to meet him
there; he is on his way to Paris from Constantinople, and he is a great
friend of mine and has come by way of Naples on purpose that we may
meet."
"The Arnsperg-Meiringens; you know their property adjoins ours," the
baroness explained. Sterzl, who knew very well that Truyn was far
better informed as to the Arnsperg-Meiringens than his mother, was
annoyed and uncomfortable. However, he kissed her hand and then turned
to his sister:
"God shield you, my darling butterfly--write me a few lines, or is that
too much to ask?" Then he kissed her and whispered: "Mind you have not
lost those bright eyes by the time I return."
Truyn accompanied him to the carriage with a very long face; he and
General von Klinger had watched Sempaly's conduct with much
disquietude, they knew him to be susceptible but not impressionable,
alive to every new emotion; and Truyn would ere this have spoken to
Sempaly on the subject if he had not been sure that it would merely
provoke and irritate him without producing any good effect; the
general, on the other hand, could not make up his mind to open Sterzl's
eyes to the state of affairs because, like Baron Stockmar, he had an
invincible dislike to interfering in matters that did not concern him.
Like that famous man, not for worlds would he have committed an
indiscretion to save a friend for whom he would have sacrificed his
life; and this terror of being indiscreet is a form of cowardice which
is considered meritorious in the fashionable world.