Face to Face.
A few days later, two gentlemen in elegant travelling dress, were
walking from the railway station, up the street leading to Doctor
Stephen's house.
"Don't be in such a hurry, Alison!" said the elder, somewhat pettishly;
"I cannot keep up with you in this heat, and what will Miss Jane think
if she happens to be at the window and sees you coming along at such a
break-neck pace?"
The warning, superfluous as it might seem, was quite in place here;
Alison moderated his pace as if he had been guilty of some unheard-of
crime, and turned the glance with which he had been impatiently
scanning the houses, to his companion.
"Meeting you was a great surprise," continued Atkins. "We believed you
in London; was it not your plan to go directly from there to Paris?"
"Certainly, but as business called me to the Rhine, and as Miss Forest
had been for some weeks in B., I came out of my way so as to pass a few
days with her. I was very much surprised at your decision to accompany
her to Germany."
"You were surprised because I always derided the country," returned
Atkins indifferently. "I came here mostly on Miss Forest's account, she
is the only practical thing in this sentimental land; I am nominally
Miss Jane's guardian, although she is more than independent in all
things; and I did not think it proper for her to cross the ocean alone.
And, besides, as I know so many Germans in America, I would not deny
myself the satisfaction of admiring them in their own much vaunted
fatherland. I hope you thank me for remaining at the side of your
betrothed."
"Certainly!" replied Alison in a somewhat chilly tone, "I am only
astonished that the requirements of Miss Forest demanded so long an
absence on your part."
The old sarcasm again appeared in its full sharpness on Mr. Atkins'
face, as he cuttingly replied. "Give yourself no uneasiness, Henry.
Your future fortune is in safe hands."
"I did not ask in my own interest," said Alison angrily.
"But in those of Miss Jane, which in a year's time will be yours. Well,
do not get angry! It is only natural that you should concern yourself
with this matter, and I perhaps owe you some explanation. You know, I
suppose, that the deceased Mr. Forest, during the last years of his
life, converted most of his property into money. The money is safely
deposited, all the other business was settled in two months after his
death; the landed property is in good hands; a fortune entrusted to my
stewardship would not be placed in jeopardy for the sake of a pleasure
tour, Mr. Alison."
In spite of his displeasure, Henry had listened with marked attention
and satisfaction, he now knew the most important thing, and quickly
changing the subject, he asked:
"And how do you like Germany?"
"I find it tedious enough. It is just what I thought, and the life here
in this learned city of B. is perfectly unendurable! I assure you that
by staying here Miss Jane makes a sacrifice to her father's wishes. I
assure you she is thoroughly disgusted with these formalities and
sentimentalities among which she gets so hopelessly entangled, while I
take an unceremonious flight away from them all."
"And was it on this account you went to Hamburg?"
"No, I had business there."
"Do you employ your European travels in business transactions," asked
Alison gravely.
"Not I; I went in Miss Forest's interests. It was to look after an old
debt we have often tried to settle, but in vain."
The young merchant's attention was now fully aroused.
"Is the debt a large one?" he asked, as if incidentally.
"Yes."
"And you hope to secure it?"
"I hope so."
"Then I wish you success," said Alison with animation. "It is always
pleasant for a merchant to cancel old debts."
"Do you think so?" asked Atkins maliciously. "It may cost us half a
million."
Happily, Alison did not hear these last words, which were spoken only
half aloud; for at this moment, his whole attention was directed to the
windows of the house before which they halted. Atkins rang the bell and
the door was opened by Frederic who was expecting his master. His face
grew noticeably long as he saw Mr. Atkins, who, during his stay in B.,
had not laid claim to the doctor's hospitality, but had lodged at a
hotel, daily calling at the house where his ward was staying.
"Is Miss Forest at home?"
"No."
"And Doctor and Mrs. Stephen?"
"They, too, have gone out."
"Are they expected back soon?"
"Every minute."
"Then we shall do better to wait here in the garden than to go back to
the hotel," said Atkins. "Frederic, announce our arrival to the family
immediately upon their return."
Frederic gazed after the retiring gentleman with open displeasure. "And
here is another! This makes the third who has come. These American
guests will at last drive us out of house and home. I wish"--His
further mutterings were lost in the closing of the door which he had
shut with such violence that the window panes rattled.
"What is the matter with the fellow?" asked Alison, as they entered the
garden, "he gave us a very singular reception."
Atkins laughed. "A German bear, gigantic, snappish, awkward, into whose
wooden head a sort of national antipathy against us seems to have
entered. I cannot boast of having seen anything but this bearish manner
in him, although to others he is harmless and good natured, even to
stupidity."
"Is he a servant out of the house?"
"Not exactly, he is in the employ of a--Ah, Professor Fernow!"
exclaimed Atkins suddenly interrupting himself, "I am delighted to see
you!"
The professor, who was just returning from the university, and had, as
usual, taken the path through the garden, returned the salutation and
drew nearer.
"How do you do, Professor Fernow?" asked Atkins patronizingly. "You
look ill; that comes from your learning! Will you permit me to
introduce you to a countryman of mine? Mr. Alison, Mr. Fernow,
professor in the university, and inmate of Doctor Stephen's house."
Countryman! Inmate of the doctor's house! These were two very
indifferent, commonplace designations, upon which Atkins had not laid
the slightest emphasis, and still they appeared to strike both young
men in the same way. Alison's dark glance, with a suddenly awakened
suspicion, fixed itself sharply and searchingly upon the professor's
face, and Fernow's blue eyes flamed up in painful excitement, as he
returned the glance with unwonted spirit. It was as if both in this,
the first moment of their meeting, had a presentiment of hostile
relations hereafter. Each bowed coldly and haughtily, as if an
invisible barrier already lay between them.